A yellow ribbon

Finaliza Julio en Iraq

2008-07-31T14:26:00.001+02:00

Troops deployed in Kirkuk amid upsurge in violence in oil-rich city
By Kareem Abed-Zair
31 July 2008 (Azzaman)

Iraqi troops are being deployed in Kirkuk to ward off attacks and bombings which have disturbed this city’s relative quiet in the past few months.

A suicide bomber targeted a demonstration organized by Kurdish factions in the city on Monday. At least 22 people were killed and 150 others injured.

Shortly after, Kurdish militiamen opened fire on offices belonging to the Turkmen Front which opposes the Kurdish dominance of the city. Several of the front’s offices were burned and vandalized.

The government decision to send in troops signals a rise in tension among the city’s disparate in occasionally warring groups.

The mixed city is crucial to Iraq’s economy. Its old but still prolific fields are currently producing nearly half a million barrels a day most of it shipped to terminals in Turkey for export.

The Kurds want to annex the city to their semi-independent enclave but Arab and Turkmen are fiercely resisting the move.

What happened in Kirkuk?
Hundreds wounded, dozens injured in what began as a peaceful demonstration.
By Qassim Khidhir
31 July 2008 (Kurdish Globe)

Barzani and Talabani urge Kirkuk residents to maintain stability and the spirit of brotherhood among all ethnicities in Kirkuk.

About 200, 000 people, mainly Kurds and a number of original Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians, demonstrated on Monday in Kirkuk city to protest the provincial council elections law.

When protesters neared the Turkmen Front main office in the city, a suicide attacker blew herself up amid them. After that, guards inside the Turkmen Front office opened fire on the protestors. As a result of both events, 23 Kurdish civilians were killed and more than 150 were wounded.

Gen. Sarhad Qadir, the police chief of Kirkuk's outskirts and towns, stated that the female suicide attacker wore a bomb belt. Police forces had detained seven guards of the Turkmen Front office because of the shooting.

The demonstration was peaceful until both incidents occurred, said Gen. Qadir. People then became angry, attacked the Turkmen Front office, burned an office, and wounded several guards inside.

Some of the wounded protestors were immediately taken to hospitals in Erbil and Suleimaniya, and people rushed to hospitals to donate blood for the victims.

After the attacks, security forces in Kirkuk imposed a curfew from 5:00 p.m. on Monday until 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, and a cautious calm dominated Kirkuk after the curfew took effect.

Meanwhile, a source in the Asayish (Security) Department in Kirkuk said their forces neutralized a BMW rigged with explosives at the North Terminal in downtown Kirkuk province.

Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged Kirkuk residents to maintain security and stability.

Barzani, currently in Baghdad to discuss Iraq-U.S. security agreements and the provincial council elections law, condemned the security incidents in Kirkuk and demanded Kirkuk residents maintain the spirit of brotherhood among Kurd, Arab, and Turkmen, and not allow terrorists and the enemies of Kurdistan and Iraq to achieve their goals.

Kurdistan Parliament and the Kurdistan Council of Ministers condemned the security incidents in Kirkuk. Also, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Multi-National Forces strongly condemned the suicide bombings that occurred in both Baghdad and Kirkuk.

"The targets of these vicious and cowardly attacks were innocent Iraqi men, women, and children who were freely practicing their democratic rights and religious faith," read a joint statement issued by Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and Gen. David H. Petraeus, a copy of which was received by the Globe.

Kurds blamed Iraqi Parliament for what happened in Kirkuk; Kurdish politicians stated that if Iraqi Parliament had not secretly voted for Article 24, the incidents would not have occurred in Kirkuk.

On July 22, Iraqi Parliament passed the provincial council elections law and secretly voted for Article 24, which delays elections in Kirkuk and divides authority there based on percentages of ethnic Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians. This occurred after the Kurdistan Coalition (KC) withdrew from the session and without any KC agreement on the vote.

The law was illegally passed by Parliament since Article 24 was voted on secretly. According to the Iraqi Constitution, no article can be voted on secretly except to elect a head of Parliament or an Iraqi president.

"The Parliamentary blocs that inserted item 24 in the provincial election bill bear the responsibility for the security disturbance that took place in Kirkuk and the resulting casualties," said Saad Barznji, a member of Iraqi Parliament's Kurdistan Coalition list.

"The attack on the Turkmen Front's headquarters was conducted by angry demonstrators after they came under fire from sources within the headquarters," Barznji said.

Barznji accused those whom he described as "dark forces" of being responsible for the suicide bombing that targeted the demonstrators because "democratic expression did not suit them."

Police forces nab 3 armed group operatives in Kirkuk
Kirkuk, 31 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

Police forces captured 3 operatives of a newly-founded armed group in Kirkuk, a security official said on Wednesday.

"Police forces arrested three gunmen of a newly-founded armed group proclaimed as Nisoor al-Majd (Glory Eagles) in Dumeez district, south Kirkuk," Brig. Anwar Qadir Ahmed, chief of Dumeez police station, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

The local security official pointed out "police seized documents and threatening fliers which the group aimed to send to the upper-class figures in the city to extort money and to buy explosive for their armed operations."

"Authorities believed the detainees were involved in car bomb operations that took place in the city," he added.

Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad, is a center for ethnic rivalry between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, and has recently witnessed a of car bombs.

4 rockets, 9 launchers found in Basra
Basra, 31 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Police forces on Wednesday found four rockets and nine launchers in Basra's northern area of al-Maqal, a local police media source said.

Government keen to protect Iraqi Christians - PM
Baghdad, 31 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Wednesday that his government is keen to provide appropriate security atmosphere to protect Iraqi Christians.

35 wanted men detained in Diala
Diala, 31 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- A total of 35 wanted men were arrested, 12 large depots were detonated and 10 bombs were found within large-scale security operation in Diala, the official spokesman.

Iraqi security forces arrested yesterday 35 wanted men, suspected of being members in terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, using arrest warrants, detonated weapons caches, defused 10 bombs and seized amounts of weapons and equipments within the security operation in Diala," General Mohamed al-Askari said at a press conference in Baghdad.

"Gunmen in Diala started to escape to neighboring provinces wearing women's dresses and fake IDs," the general noted.

Con retraso,pero volvemos

2008-07-20T11:27:00.002+02:00

- Joint operations with Iraqi troops start north of Basra – MNF
________________________________________
Basra, 18 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

The Multi-National Force (MNF) in southern Iraq said on Friday that it will start joint operations with Iraqi forces to "track down extremists and deny them chances to attack Iraqi civilians and security personnel".
"The joint operations will take place on Friday in the area of al-Latif, (15 km) north of Basra, and were planned to continue for a week," the media spokesman for the MNF in southern Iraq, Cap. Chris Ford, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
"The MNF troops will be backing Iraqi security forces and help them maintain security in Basra," he said.
British soldiers were stationed in one base - the Basra International Airport, 25 km northeast of the province - after handing over the former presidential palaces, which they took as a military base, to the Iraqi forces.
The British forces in the port city keep only 4,100 troops within the MNF in Iraq after more than half troops were withdrawn during the past months.

- Sahwa fighters capture al-Qaeda leader in Samarra
________________________________________
SALAH Al-DIN, 18 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

Sahwa fighters on Friday arrested al-Qaeda leader who was wearing women’s clothes and seized explosive belts and weapons in east of Samarra, a police source said.
“Sahwa fighters in al-Jabieriya region, east of Samarra, arrested this afternoon Ahmed al-Sameraei, al-Qaeda leader, who was wearing women’s clothes,” the source, who asked to be unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI).
“The detainee is wanted for killing several army and police elements as well as many civilians,” he also said.
“The fighters found also explosive belts and medium and light weapons,” he added.
Sahwa councils were set up in a number of Iraqi provinces such as al-Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din with the aim of bolstering political and local tribal powers to fight armed groups, particularly al-Qaeda network, in those areas.
These councils are usually led by tribal chiefs or notables in the provinces

- 9 wanted men detained in Mosul
________________________________________
Ninewa, 18 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

Iraqi army forces on Friday arrested nine wanted men during two separate operations in western Mosul, the official spokesman for the Ninewa operations command said.
“The forces arrested three gunmen, believed to be members of the Islamic State in Iraq, in 17 Tammuz and al-Islah al-Zeraei regions in western Mosul,” Brigadier Khaled Abdul Sattar told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI).
“The operation was based on intelligence information,” he noted.
“Another army force arrested six wanted men during a security raid in al-Tenk neighborhood in western Mosul,” Abdul Sattar added.
Iraqi security forces have been launching a large-scale military campaign since May 10. The operation, codenamed Za'eer al-Assad (Lion's Roar), was aimed to track down gunmen in Ninewa province. Five days later, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the operation's second stage under the name Umm al-Rabiain (Mother of Two Springs).
Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, lies 405 km north of Baghdad.
The original city of Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient biblical city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linking the two sides.
Despite having an amount of Kurdish population, it does not form part of the area controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The fabric Muslin, long manufactured here, is named for this city. Another historically important product of the area is Mosul marble.
The city is also a historic center for the Nestorian Christianity of the Assyrians, containing the tombs of several Old Testament prophets such as Jonah, Yunus in Arabic, and Nahum.

- U.S. and Iraqi forces mulling new offensive on Falluja
By Omer al-Mansouri
________________________________________
18 July 2008 (Azzaman)

The city of Falluja has been placed under tight curfew as U.S. and Iraqi troops are said to be gearing for a new offensive.
Iraqi security forces have established checkpoints forbidding movement of people and traffic.
Pick-up trucks mounted with loudspeakers roam the city warning residents that Qaeda operatives have infiltrated Falluja once again.
Police and troops from other areas are being deployed in the city in what police officials say is a harbinger for a major attack.
U.S. occupation troops are not far away as they are still deployed in camps across the Province of Anbar, of which Falluja is a major city.
Iraqi military sources, refusing to be named, said the government has made it clear to U.S. army commanders that it cannot do the job on its own without direct U.S. military intervention in the “imminent offensive”.
The sources said an operation on the scale of latest campaigns to subdue Diyala and Mosul was necessary.
Any delay would certainly be to ‘enemy’ advantage, they said.
Violence is returning to the Province of Anbar after months of relative quiet.
Falluja was once the main stronghold of Iraqi resistance groups and Qaeda.

Related articles

• 4 civilians wounded in Diala (18th Jul 2008)
• 4 wanted men detained in Mosul (18th Jul 2008)
• 3 soldiers killed, 7 wounded in suicide blast in Mosul (18th Jul 2008)
• Three civilians injured in bomb explosion in Baghdad (18th Jul 2008)
• Anti-Qaeda groups spokesman escapes assassination attempt in Diala (18th Jul 2008)
• 10 persons arrested in Diala (18th Jul 2008)
• U.S. soldier killed in Mosul - Pentagon (18th Jul 2008)
• 9 wanted men detained in Mosul (18th Jul 2008)
• Daawa Party-Iraq Organization still boycotting UIC meetings (18th Jul 2008)
• Sahwa fighters capture al-Qaeda leader in Samarra (18th Jul 2008)
• Joint operations with Iraqi troops start north of Basra – MNF (18th Jul 2008)
• Iraqi paper welcomes Diwaniya security handover (17th Jul 2008)
• Joint forces arrest head of Baaquba municipality council (17th Jul 2008)
• Police free kidnapped girl in Wassit (17th Jul 2008)
• 3 al-Qaeda members detained in Mosul (17th Jul 2008)
• 16 suspected al-Qaeda gunmen captured in south of Samarra (17th Jul 2008)
• Police detonate small shop in eastern Mosul (17th Jul 2008)
• UNAMI calls for investigation over activist's assassination in Ninewa (17th Jul 2008)
• 15 wanted, suspects arrested in Baghdad in 24 hours (17th Jul 2008)
• Police: Iraq suicide bombers kill 28 army recruits (16th Jul 2008)
• Wave of suicide bombings claims 37 victims in Iraq (16th Jul 2008)
• Iraqi Diwaniya Province announces curfew in-wait for security handover decision (16th Jul 2008)
• Iraq, Afghanistan wars creating new arms markets (16th Jul 2008)
• Saddam deputy in 'message' to Iraq insurgents (16th Jul 2008)
• Britain to send 120 more troops to Iraq (16th Jul 2008)
• Baghdad prepares for 'a decisive' campaign against Al Qaida (16th Jul 2008)
• Iraqi and US forces gear up for massive operation (16th Jul 2008)
• Violence returns to Anbar following months of relative quiet (16th Jul 2008)
• 2 U.S. soldiers killed in Diala, Anbar (16th Jul 2008)
• 72 detainees freed in Diala (16th Jul 2008)
• 2 civilians injured by bomb blast in Mosul (16th Jul 2008)
• Three gangs busted in Karbala (16th Jul 2008)
• 4 civilians killed, injured in two attacks in Babel (16th Jul 2008)
• IED injures Sahwa fighter in Babel (16th Jul 2008)
• Suicide bomber wounds 6 civilians in Mosul (16th Jul 2008)
• Security forces lift curfew on Diwaniya (16th Jul 2008)
• Rockets, roadside bombs seized in Kut (16th Jul 2008)
• Arms, ammunition seized in Baghdad (16th Jul 2008)
• Another car bomb leaves 11 casualties in Mosul (16th Jul 2008)
• IED defused in Kut residential area (16th Jul 2008)
• 26 persons captured in 24 hours (16th Jul 2008)
• Security plan in Karbala ahead of Shiite imam's birthday (16th Jul 2008)
• Merchants' mass execution court resumes (16th Jul 2008)
• VP vows to continue lawsuit of kidnapped Olympic Committee members (16th Jul 2008)
• 109 killed, wounded in Talafar car bomb (16th Jul 2008)
• Man, daughter wounded by mortar in Mosul (16th Jul 2008)
• Member of Shiite sect survives assassination attempt in Basra (16th Jul 2008)
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• Iraq hopes for full security control by year-end (16th Jul 2008)

Dos heroes más

2008-06-30T21:19:00.002+02:00

En estos casi quince días de ausencia,hemos de lamentar la muerte de dos servidores de la patria en tierras que ya por desgracia han visto derramada mucha sangre española, mi más emocionado recuerdo, al Teniente Santiago Hormigo Ledesma y el Sargento Joaquín López Moreno.Tampoco quiero olvidar a los otros veinte héroes cuyos nombres figuran en el monumento en la plaza de España en Mostar,todos ellos descansen en paz y que jamas olvidemos que España se hace de muchas formas y no solo cuando ganamos la Eurocopa.

Y ahora retomemos lo que ha ocurrido en Iraq.

- Deadly suicide bombing hits northern Iraq
Tikrit, 30 June 2008 (Gulf News) -- A suicide bomber struck a police patrol in northern Iraq's Salahuddin province on Sunday, killing at least seven policemen.

- Iraq pledges $100m to rebuild Sadr City slum
Baghdad, 30 June 2008 (Gulf News)

Iraq will spend $100 million to rebuild the east Baghdad slum of Sadr City and create jobs for many of its two million residents, an official said on Sunday.

The Shiite slum is a stronghold of anti-American cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's Mahdi Army.

Sadr City was largely outside the government's control until the truce allowed Iraqi soldiers to deploy.

"The government has ordered an allocation of $100 million to reconstruct and develop Sadr City," government spokesman Tahseen Al Sheikhli told a news conference.

He did not give a timeframe for spending the money, but said that part of the funding would go toward easing unemployment. Another $10 million would be used for rebuilding infrastructure.

A separate $50 million would be spent redeveloping the Baghdad neighbourhood of Shula, another poor Shiite district.

Sheikhli said the funds for Sadr City would be spent on a variety of projects, including building two sports stadiums, several schools, health clinics and a blood bank, a dental clinic, markets and parks.

Iraqi Officials Angered by U.S. Raid near Kerbala
Baghdad, 30 June 2008 (Reuters)

Iraqi officials have expressed outrage over a U.S. raid near the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala, which they said should have been approved by local authorities since security for the area is under Iraqi control.

One man was killed in the early morning raid on Friday, the officials told a news conference. They described him as a civilian.

The U.S. military has not responded to questions about the incident.

The row comes at a sensitive time for Washington, which is negotiating a new security pact with Baghdad to provide a legal basis for American troops to stay in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires on December 31.

- Hopes, concerns ahead of Anbar security handover
Anbar, 29 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

A few days ahead of the security handover of Anbar, a Sunni province that once was once Iraq's most dangerous, some Iraqis have voiced their concerns over their national security forces' ability to handle the situation on their own, with others expressing their happiness about the return of self-governance.

Speaking to Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq- (VOI), Colonel Dawoud al-Maree, a spokesman for Falluja police, said that Iraqi forces are ready to receive the security responsibilities from the Multi-National Force (MNF), ruling out any deficiencies in military equipment.

"The shortage of police personnel is not a shortcoming that hinders the security handover," the colonel said.

On Friday, the U.S. army said that the ceremonies to hand Anbar to Iraqi control, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, were indefinitely put off due to expected bad weather conditions in the Sunni province.

The colonel explained that the fall in violence had paved the way for the security transfer of the province, arguing that incidents of sporadic violence will not affect the work of Iraqi police personnel.

Expressing a different view on the issue, Faris Na'em al-Alwani, a 29-year-old owner of a mobile phone shop, said that Iraqi security forces lack experience and are in urgent need of the services of "senior officers from the former army."

"Army and police personnel can take over from the U.S.-led coalition if qualified officers from the former army took control," Alwani noted.

Alwani said that the security situation in Falluja has recently deteriorated, in reference to explosions and suicide bombings that ripped through several parts of Anbar city, which lies 45 km west of Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Colonel Khudeir Rasheed al-Fahdawi from Anbar police told VOI that Iraqi security forces have strengthened their capabilities throughout the past five years. "All areas in Anbar province that were once under al-Qaeda control are currently controlled by the Iraqi forces," the colonel added.

Ghayth Ahmed Muhammadi, a 33-year-old government employee and a resident of Anbar, said that Iraqi officers are torn between their loyalty to their parties and their country. The struggle over power has driven the city to the verge of explosion, Muhammadi said, noting that local residents are the major victims of political instability.

A few residents of the province praised what they described as the "relative success" of Sahwa (Awakening) councils in restoring stability and driving al-Qaeda operatives from the province.

The Sahwa councils were set up in a number of Iraqi provinces such as Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din with the aim of bolstering political and local tribal powers to fight armed groups, particularly al-Qaeda network, in those areas. These councils are usually led by tribal chiefs or notables in the provinces.

Anbar should have been the 10th out of Iraq's 18 provinces to receive security responsibilities since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the first Sunni province to be handed to Iraqi control.

Thamir Mustafa al-Aani, a government employee, said: "The Iraqi police have done a lot to the province…and have managed to purge many areas of al-Qaeda fighters."

"Falluja police are able to impose security in the province," al-Aani, 37, said.

Linking domestic stability to Iraq's neighboring countries, Sheikh Abu Muhammad, an Aameriya al-Falluja Sahwa council leader, said: "It is not possible to tell whether the Iraqi police and army are fully prepared to take over security responsibilities. Anbar is a large province and has borders with three countries." The tribal leader accused foreign bodies of attempting to destabilize security in the country, calling on Iraq's neighbors to abide by their commitments to Iraq.

- Security forces release 1213 detainees in Mosul
Ninewa, 29 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

Ninewa security official on Sunday said 1213 persons held in Iraq’s detention centres were released in Mosul.

"438 people who surrendered to security forces were released according to an amnesty decree issued by Premier Nouri al-Maliki, during the military operations in Mosul city," Brigadier Khalid Abdul-Sattar, spokesman for Ninewa security operation, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

The spokesman noted “775 detainees were set free in groups after investigations cleared them of charges.

- Wassit ready for security handover – Police chief
Wassit, 29 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

Wassit Police chief on Sunday expressed his forces’ readiness for security handover from Multi National Forces (MNF) in the border province.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference held in Wassit, Brig.Gen. Abdul-Haneen Humood said "Wassit police forces are ready for security handover from MNF, at any time or place."

"Wassit has seen a big security improvement, and is able to handle security issues and provide protection for residents," he noted.

The police chief pointed out "security responsibility in Wassit is currently in the Iraqi forces' hands, but MNF have some security activities in the province in cooperation with Iraqi authorities".

He indicated "crime levels in Wassit have gone down, except for some exceptional cases of vendetta killings or tribal scores settling”.

The security official highlighted “no crimes were recorded for sectarian reasons,” adding "the province sects live in harmony”.

He asserted Wassit Police forces are “bent on enforcing law, fighting gun-bearers and criminals, and any act that may disturb security regardless of the results”.

Kut, the capital city of Wassit province, which borders The U.S bitter enemy Iran, is 180 km southeast of Baghdad.

- 13 persons captured in Baghdad in 24 hours
Baghdad, 29 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

A total of 13 suspects and wanted persons were arrested over the past 24 hours in different parts of the Iraqi capital, an official spokesman for Baghdad's operations command said on Sunday, noting that a large amount of arms and ammunition were seized during the operations.

"Security forces captured nine wanted individuals and four suspects, defused five improvised explosive devices, and seized a large amount of arms, ammunition, and explosives throughout the past 24 hours in different parts of Baghdad," Major General Qasim Ata told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI)

- 7 wanted men arrested in Baghdad
Baghdad, 29 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Seven wanted men were captured and a large number of mortar shells seized in two separate security operations in western and southeastern Baghdad on Sunday.

- 4 wounded in Diala attacks
Diala, 29 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Three farmers and a civilian were wounded in two separate attacks north and south of the city of Baaquba on Sunday, a police source in Diala said.

- Basra intel. chief assassinated
Basra, 29 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Unidentified gunmen assassinated the Basra intelligence chief while he was on vacation in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a security source in Basra said on Sunday.

- # U.S. army says 3 Marines, 2 interpreters killed in Anbar (28th Jun 2008)
# Baghdad test center shooting investigated – PM (28th Jun 2008)
# National project to eliminate unemployment in Iraq – VP (28th Jun 2008)
# Parl't committee urges solutions over families to be evacuated from govt. buildings (28th Jun 2008)
# Judge assassinated in Baghdad (28th Jun 2008)
# Random arrests among Sadrists in Karbala (28th Jun 2008)
# U.S troops transfer 1000 Humvees to Iraqi security forces (28th Jun 2008)
# U.S. military aircraft makes emergency landing in Baghdad (28th Jun 2008)
# Security condition still fragile – VP (28th Jun 2008)
# Anbar security transfer delayed due to bad weather – U.S. (28th Jun 2008)
# U.S. army replaces troops in Wassit (28th Jun 2008)
# 2 wanted al-Qaeda members captured in Anbar (28th Jun 2008)
# 12 wanted men arrested in Basra (28th Jun 2008)
# U.S. forces detain al-Dor police chief (28th Jun 2008)
# 43 arrested in Baghdad during past 48 hours (28th Jun 2008)
# 15 arrested in separate operations until Saturday noon (28th Jun 2008)
# Key gunman, 4 others captured in Huweija (28th Jun 2008)
# U.S. forces release Salah al-Din journalists' syndicate's chief (28th Jun 2008)
# 10 arrested in raid south of Kirkuk (28th Jun 2008)
# 2 senior al-Qaeda members arrested in Diala (28th Jun 2008)
# Basra's Sadr office manager arrested in Amara (28th Jun 2008)
# 5 wanted al-Qaeda elements arrested in Mosul (28th Jun 2008)
# 2 policemen wounded in Mosul (28th Jun 2008)
# Debaathification law not applicable to security agencies – MP (28th Jun 2008)
# Dozens of Thi-Qar residents demonstrate to join police force (28th Jun 2008)
# Discovery of weapons in school playgrounds rings alarm bells in Missan (28th Jun 2008)
# Iraqi Supreme Court judge shot dead in ambush (28th Jun 2008)
# At least 38 killed in Iraq bombings (27th Jun 2008)
# Conditions worsen in Mosul following short period of relative calm (27th Jun 2008) * Bush tries to allay suspicions over strategic pact with Iraq (26th Jun 2008)
* Iraq-Kuwait talks on Kuwaiti missing, property must be in conformity with UNSC resolutions - Al-Murad (26th Jun 2008)
* Bush meets Iraqi president on strategic framework agreement (26th Jun 2008)
* Britain can't fight two wars at same time (26th Jun 2008)
* 'More must be done to meet needs of Iraqi child refugees' (25th Jun 2008)
* London mayor fumes over Iraq cigar case probe (25th Jun 2008)
* Are They Really Oil Wars? (25th Jun 2008)
* Iraq and EU to sign cooperation agreement (24th Jun 2008)
* Two Caliphates in Baghdad (24th Jun 2008)
* 2 U.S. reports stress security improvements, pessimistic about politics, economy (24th Jun 2008)
* U.S Ambassador Crocker laments U.S nationals killing in Sadr City (24th Jun 2008)
* Turkish-Iraqi talks on promoting cooperation (23rd Jun 2008)
* Iran's role in Iraq, stance on security agreement in Arab press (22nd Jun 2008)
* Maliki and Bush discuss "SOFA" framework (22nd Jun 2008)
* Obama or McCain, a same priority in Iraq (22nd Jun 2008)
* Political pressure may delay US-Iraq security deal (22nd Jun 2008)
* Ahmadinejad reveals attempt on his life during Baghdad visit (21st Jun 2008)
* Negotiations between Iraq, U.S. on MKO headquarters (21st Jun 2008)
* Iraq and US: the Path of the Future (20th Jun 2008)
* Amid worsening wars, Brown spins (20th Jun 2008)
* Congress to vote on USD 162 billion Iraq, Afghanistan war funding (20th Jun 2008)
* Afghanistan replacing Iraq as focus of terror war (20th Jun 2008)
* Jokes and kebabs help hammer out strategic pact (20th Jun 2008)
* US official: security deal includes handing over prisons to Iraqis (19th Jun 2008)
* Iraq, EU talks enter its 5th season (19th Jun 2008)
* 52 Iraqi Kurdish Asylum Seekers forcibly deported to Sulaimania Airport, refugee org (19th Jun 2008)
* British parliamentary group calls for UK to support Kurdistan Region as model for Iraq (19th Jun 2008)
* The US should devise a new relationship with Iraq (19th Jun 2008)
* Torture techniques linked to top Bush officials (19th Jun 2008)
* Embrace Iraq back into Arab family, says US (19th Jun 2008)
* Iraqi FM meets Bush on security agreement (19th Jun 2008)
* President to discuss security deal Washington (18th Jun 2008)
* Over 6000 Families Return Back Homes (18th Jun 2008)
* Iraq deal with US to end immunity for foreign contractors (18th Jun 2008)
* Obama plans pre-election trip to Iraq (18th Jun 2008)
* Haditha charges dropped against Marine officer (18th Jun 2008)
* FM, U.S. vice president agree on completing security pact before end of July (18th Jun 2008)
* Iranian embassy welcomes Iraqi govt. stance against opposition group (18th Jun 2008)
* Bush denies Iraq row with Brown (17th Jun 2008)
* US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,098 (17th Jun 2008)
* Europe urged not to turn away Iraqi refugees (17th Jun 2008)
* Iran shells border areas in northern Iraq (16th Jun 2008)
* Bush flies to London to warn over troop cut- paper (16th Jun 2008)

-

Volvemos con noticias de Iraq

2008-06-16T22:07:00.002+02:00

Ante todo mi recuerdo a un soldado de España muerto en acto de servicio en tierras lejanas,el caballero legionario Felipe Jasón Ospina Velez(D.E.P),un abrazo muy fuerte para su seres queridos y toda la familia militar.

- Iraq readies forces for militia crackdown
Amara, 16 June 2008 (Reuters)

Iraq's government beefed up army and police units in the southern city of Amara on Sunday for a new crackdown on Shiite militias, witnesses said.

Convoys, including armoured vehicles and tanks, were moving through the northern side of the city, said a Reuters reporter. The operation, which officials say will start on Thursday, is the latest stage in Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's drive to stamp his government's authority on areas previously controlled by Shiite militias or Sunni Arab insurgents.

Army Major-General Tareq Abdul Wahab, leader of the security operation, said government forces had a list of hundreds of "outlaws, criminal gangs and those who violate security" it would hunt down.

Amara is a stronghold of Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, who agreed to a ceasefire after US-backed Iraqi forces launched a major offensive on his Mehdi Army militia in Basra in March.

Success in Amara could boost Maliki's image ahead of provincial elections, due on October 1, seen as the battleground for a power struggle that could redraw Iraq's political map.

- Baghdad Green Zone provides lucrative job opportunities
By Basil Adas
Baghdad, 16 June 2008 (Gulf News)

The Green Zone, which is the US military headquarters and also houses coalition states' embassies and major Iraqi government offices, is also the place which offers job opportunities with salaries unmatched in most of Iraq.

The Green zone is Baghdad's most secured area with strict procedures.

The procedures start with providing the civil status identity to those who wish to enter the Green Zone and are searched thoroughly followed by personal inspection done by American security companies and the Iraqi army.

Strict security

As the last stage in security search, police dogs search vehicles. The police dogs are trained to detect gunpowder or explosives, and they decide who and which vehicle enters the Green Zone.

The people who enter the Green Zone are classified into guests and employees, who go through strict security measures.

Haleem, a 17-year-old, told Gulf News: "I left school two years ago to work inside the Green Zone. I work in lavatories [as a cleaner]. In return I get $450 [about Dh1,653] in addition to free lunch and tips. It is very comfortable to me compared with employees who do the same job I do outside the Green Zone where they receive $100-150 per month."

At 2pm, workers start leaving the Green Zone through the four or five gates specifically devoted to them, triggering off traffic congestion especially near Karada Bridge and Salhia near Jumhoria Bridge.

Fadel Khalil, 44, an Iraqi, told Gulf News: "I am an electrician and worked in the Green Zone for four years. The salaries here are magnificent. The small contracts I took here earned me a salary exceeding $3,000 per month. It may equal wages of contract work abroad."

Residents say working inside the Green Zone is like travelling abroad to save money and improve one's economic situation.

Some analysts think that the Green Zone might become a place that provides thousands of job opportunities if the reconstruction of roads and facilities start within the region.

Jabar Mirza, an Iraqi economic analyst, agreed: "More than 95 per cent of the installations, roads, and water, electricity and sewage systems in the Green Zone require [huge manpower].

"Besides there are hundreds of projects planned by the Iraqi government ... in the region and of course this needs thousands of workers and employees."

- Iraq's Al Maliki issues final warning in crackdown
Baghdad, 16 June 2008 (Gulf News)

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki called on outlaws on Saturday to surrender to authorities in a new government security crackdown on militias in southern Iraq.

In a statement read on Al Iraqiya television hours after local officials said army and police units had been sent to Amara in southern Maysan province, Al Maliki issued whate he called a final warning to outlaws and criminals to hand over their weapons.

* IED blast leaves 4 casualties in Kirkuk (16th Jun 2008)
* Academic gunned down in northern Mosul (16th Jun 2008)
* 4 cops wounded in Salah al-Din blast (16th Jun 2008)
* IED defused, ammunition found in Missan (16th Jun 2008)
* New police chief for Missan ahead of security operation (16th Jun 2008)
* Three wanted men arrested in eastern Baghdad (16th Jun 2008)
* Parliament's employees protest new search procedures (16th Jun 2008)
* 6 people killed, 22 wounded in Iraq in 24 hours (16th Jun 2008)
* Wassit provincial council gives police 14 explosives/drugs detectors (16th Jun 2008)
* Al-Qaeda intends to send 25 female suicide bombers to Diala (16th Jun 2008)
* Security forces arrest 3 suspects in Diala (16th Jun 2008)
* Diwaniya security handover in July – military spokesperson (16th Jun 2008)
* Gunmen kill lawyer at office in Mosul (16th Jun 2008)
* Security forces arrest 11 wanted persons, seize weapons in Basra (16th Jun 2008)
* Police foils suicide car bomb attack in Ninewa (16th Jun 2008)
* Iraq's Al Maliki issues final warning in crackdown (16th Jun 2008)
* Female suicide bomber targets football fans in Iraq (16th Jun 2008)
* Troops and police sent to Iraqi city of Amara (16th Jun 2008)
* 1 Sahwa fighter killed, another wounded in Diala blast (14th Jun 2008)
* "Dangerous" al-Qaeda member captured in Diala (14th Jun 2008)
* 3 Iraqi soldiers killed, wounded in blast (14th Jun 2008)
* Al-Qaeda operative killed, 15 suspects captured in Mosul-MNF (14th Jun 2008)
* 8 wanted persons captured, 2 arms caches seized in Baghdad (14th Jun 2008)
* Cop wounded in attack on Basra checkpoint (14th Jun 2008)
* Woman wounded in eastern Mosul blast (14th Jun 2008)
* 4 suspects arrested, IED defused in Ninewa (14th Jun 2008)
* Army force mistakenly shoots "mentally ill" man- authorties (14th Jun 2008)
* Arms found in downtown Mosul cellar - spokesman (14th Jun 2008)
* Missan residents urged to stay home when security operation begins (14th Jun 2008)
* Security forces deployed to Missan's outlets, border areas (14th Jun 2008)
* Diala suicide bombing casualties up to 39 (14th Jun 2008)
* Militant leader's aide captured in Kirkuk (14th Jun 2008)
* Maliki says Missan disarmed, gives gunmen 4 days to hand over weapons (14th Jun 2008)
* Sons of Iraq members arracked by Al-Qaeda fighters in Salahuddine (13th Jun 2008)
* 12 wanted men arrested, weapons seized in Basra (13th Jun 2008)
* 2 unknown bodies found in Baghdad (13th Jun 2008)
* Five civilians killed, wounded in Hilla (13th Jun 2008)
* 3 cops injured as bomb explodes in Mosul (13th Jun 2008)
* 9 killed, 28 injured until Friday afternoon (13th Jun 2008)
* Explosion kills 2 Iraqi troops in Salah al-Din (13th Jun 2008)
* U.S. fatalities in June rise to 14 as 2 soldiers die (13th Jun 2008)
* Charge targets cop's house in Kirkuk (13th Jun 2008)
* Shiite cleric Sadr authorizes setting up "resistance cells"-Sadrist (13th Jun 2008)
* Police officer killed while freeing captive in Diwaniya (13th Jun 2008)
* Calls to protect journalists in Diala on Aref’s first anniversary (13th Jun 2008)
* U.S., Iraq fight insurgents in Mosul (12th Jun 2008)
* Top secret British reports on Al-Qaeda, Iraq left on train (12th Jun 2008)
* Iraqis feel imprisoned in Baghdad's Sadr City (12th Jun 2008)
* Roadside bomb kills 5 riding minibuses in Baghdad (12th Jun 2008)
* Iraqi women left without husbands or hope (12th Jun 2008)

Noticias desde Iraq.

2008-06-03T14:44:00.002+02:00

- 3 members of al-Qaeda killed in clashes east of Baaquba
03 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

Three operatives of al-Qaeda network were killed in clashes that erupted near a checkpoint of the Sahwa (Awakening) tribal forces east of Baaquba on Tuesday, a police source said.

"Three members of al-Qaeda were killed on Tuesday when clashes broke out near a checkpoint of the Sahwa fighters in al-Mufisa village, Abu Sayda district, (20 km) east of Baaquba," the source, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

Baaquba, the capital city of Diala, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

The Sahwa councils were set up in a number of Iraqi provinces such as al-Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din with the aim of bolstering political and local tribal powers to fight armed groups, particularly al-Qaeda network, in those areas.

These councils are usually led by tribal chiefs or notables in the provinces

- U.S. army says captured Special Groups leader, 5 aides in Kut
Baghdad, 03 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

Multi-National Force (MNF) troops captured a Special Groups leader and five of his aides during a military operation southeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, the U.S. army said in a statement.

"Acting on intelligence tips, Coalition forces closed in on the presumed residence of an individual suspected of being one of the top criminal leaders in al-Kut, (180 km) southeast of Baghdad. The man has been identified as involved in the murdering of Iraqis and attacking of Coalition forces," according to the U.S. statement received by Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

"The wanted man and his associates surrendered without incident," the statement added.

The U.S. army lends the name Special Groups to gunmen believed to receive direct support from Iran.

-///* Suicide car bomber kills 9 in Iraqi city of Mosul (3rd Jun 2008)
* 2 civilians wounded in Kirkuk (3rd Jun 2008)
* Child's body found west of Baaquba (3rd Jun 2008)
* U.S.-Iraqi agreement captures Baghdad press (3rd Jun 2008)
* Iraq, U.S. haunt Arab press (3rd Jun 2008)
* 10 soldiers wounded in blast in Diala (3rd Jun 2008)
* 3 members of al-Qaeda killed in clashes east of Baaquba (3rd Jun 2008)
* 3 Iraqi officers wounded by IED in Tikrit (3rd Jun 2008)
* US Records Lowest Monthly Death Toll as Iraq Unrest Dips (2nd Jun 2008)
* At least two dead in blast outside Iranian embassy in Baghdad (2nd Jun 2008)
* Two US soldiers injured in Iraq helicopter crash (2nd Jun 2008)
* Three Sahwa fighters wounded in Diala blast (2nd Jun 2008)
* Policeman killed while trying to free a hostage in Kirkuk (2nd Jun 2008)
* Police forces arrest five gunmen western Baghdad (2nd Jun 2008)
* 41 prisoners released in Diala (2nd Jun 2008)
* 2 civilians wounded in IED blast in Ninewa (2nd Jun 2008)
* Hilla explosion leaves no casualties (2nd Jun 2008)
* Al-Qaeda operative arrested, hostage freed in Diala (2nd Jun 2008)
* Civilian killed, 3 wounded in central Baghdad blast (2nd Jun 2008)
* Armed group's spiritual theorist captured in Basra (2nd Jun 2008)
* Hostage freed in Baghdad, kidnappers arrested (2nd Jun 2008)
* Six wanted persons arrested in Diwaniya (2nd Jun 2008)
* PM, Shiite leader discuss long-term Iraq-U.S. deal (2nd Jun 2008)
* 81,397 released within pardon law-spokesman (2nd Jun 2008)
* 19 killed, injured in Iraq until Monday afternoon (2nd Jun 2008)
* Senior employee arrested in petrochemical laboratory in Basra (2nd Jun 2008)
* Iraqi-U.S. deal envisages handing over detainees to Iraq’s authorities – official (2nd Jun 2008)
* Gunman killed, 13 wanted men detained in Baghdad (2nd Jun 2008)
* University professor killed by bomb blast in Mosul (2nd Jun 2008)
* U.S. soldier dies in non-combat incident (2nd Jun 2008)
* 18 wanted men detained in Basra (2nd Jun 2008)
* 7 killed, 30 injured in suicide attack in Mosul (2nd Jun 2008)
* U.S. forces kill 2 gunmen, arrest 30 in central, northern Iraq (2nd Jun 2008)
* $195 million allocated for refugees' return - MP (2nd Jun 2008)
* Mosul suicide bombing casualties up to 9 dead, 46 wounded (2nd Jun 2008)
* IHEC approves 500 new political bodies (2nd Jun 2008)
* Anbar provincial council sacks police chief for "mismanagement" (2nd Jun 2008)
* Key leader of al-Qaeda captured near Touz Khormato (2nd Jun 2008)
* 20 persons suspected of attacking army base arrested in Diala (1st Jun 2008)
* Kouchner meets VP, stresses readiness to launch projects in Iraq (1st Jun 2008)
* 3 gunmen arrested in Diala (1st Jun 2008)
* IED blast leaves 10 casualties in Baaquba (1st Jun 2008)
* 12 wanted men captured in Baghdad (1st Jun 2008)
* U.S. army says captured senior Special Groups leader in Baghdad (1st Jun 2008)
* U.S. soldier killed in Iraq (1st Jun 2008)
* Car bomb kills two, wounds five near Iranian embassy in Baghdad (1st Jun 2008)
* U.S. helicopter crash south of Baghdad-army (1st Jun 2008)
* State property evacuated in Mosul (1st Jun 2008)
* Explosion wounds six cops, two civilians in Kirkuk (1st Jun 2008)
* Clashes leave child dead, three civilians wounded in Diala (1st Jun 2008)

Noticias sobre Iraq y despedida a Blindablog

2008-05-30T13:58:00.003+02:00

""Antes que nada, lamentar el cierre de Blindablog que era un blog de referencia en este mundo,mis mejores deseos para su autor alla donde este."

Y ahora noticias de ese atribulado pais.

- Construction committee continues work to support security in Mosul
Mosul, 29 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

The construction amounts, ordered by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, arrived in Mosul, to begin supporting the security operation currently being implemented in Ninewa province, a source from al-Maliki's office said on Thursday.

Zoheir al-Jalabi said that he returned to Mosul, leading a delegation formed by al-Maliki.

"The committee returned to Mosul after finalizing the transmission of all amounts (USD 100 million),

ordered by the premier, to the Central Bank of Iraq," al-Jalabi told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).
Earlier in May, the commander of Ninewa operations, Staff Lieutenant General Riyadh Jalal, announced the commencement of Operation Lion's Roar with the aim of tracking down al-Qaeda operatives. Five days later Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched another security campaign dubbed Um al-Rabieen with the same purpose.

Mosul, the capital of Ninewa, is 405 km north of Baghdad.

- Iraq violence at lowest level in four years.
The violence in Iraq has dropped to a lowest level within the past week.
29 May 2008 (CNN)

The level of violence in Iraq has dropped within the past week to a level not seen in four years, a military spokesman said Sunday.

"Iraq-wide, we have seen a significant reduction of violence," said Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, spokesman for the Multi-National Forces.

"In the past week, security incidents decreased to levels we have not seen since March of 2004. These figures reflect a decrease in attacks of some 70 percent since the surge operations began in June of 2007," he said.

However, two separate blasts wounded at least 16 people in Baghdad earlier Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.

A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol went off near the Turkish Embassy in the Waziriya neighborhood in northern Baghdad on Sunday morning, the ministry official said. The blast wounded at least five people: two police officers and three bystanders.In the second attack, a bomb inside a parked car went off as a convoy for Babil's provincial governor drove by in western Baghdad on Sunday afternoon, an Interior Ministry official said. It was not not immediately known whether Gov. Salim al-Muslimawi was part of the convoy when the bomb went off. The blast hurt 11 people, including seven members of the governor's security detail.

Driscoll also updated numbers from raids conducted in several Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad on Friday. More than 513 people of interest were initially screened by Iraqi National Police, he said, and the Iraqi Army detained 128 people. U.S. forces screened 385 people, he said, and 344 were released.

Troops from Multi-National Division -- Baghdad took 40 people into custody, he said. Five of those were wanted criminals, and the remaining 35 were detained for questioning.

- US to withdraw 4,000 troops from Iraq
Baghdad, 30 May 2008 (Middle East Online) -- The US military on Thursday announced the withdrawal of another 4,000 troops from Iraq next month as violence across the country hit a four-year low.

- Int''l community praises progress in Iraq
STOCKHOLM, 30 May 2008 (Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)

The international community, at the conclusion of a meeting of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) here Thursday, commended the progress made by the Iraqi government in different domains.

The Stockholm Declaration said a report by the Iraqi government and the UN has indicated the big progress achieved by the Iraqi government in enforcing law, boosting economy coupled with high oil revenues.

UN secretary general advisor Ibrahim Gambari and Iraqi deputy prime minister Barham Saleh took part in the ICI.

The Declaration said the participants, including Kuwait, acknowledged the big efforts of the Iraqi government to providing security and order, and fighting terrorism and sectarian violence nationwide.

The participants also acknowleged progress at legislative front providing political, security and humanitarian challenges facing the country.

The Iraqi government called on its international partners to invest in Iraq to help the country blend with its neighbors, said the declaration which urged Baghdad to create a good atmosphere for trade.

The declaration welcomed the progress in Iraq's accession talks with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The participants, said the declaration, reiterated commitment to backing the Iraqi government and people to building a united, federal and democratic country based on rule of law, respect of human rights and its neighbors.

They agreed to meet every year until 2012 to review progress made on the ground in Iraq.

The ICI was signed in Sharm El-Sheikh in May 2007. It aims at establishing a united and federal Iraq enjoying prosperity thus enabling it to merge with economies by 2012.

Corazones y mentes en Sadr City

2008-05-20T20:12:00.000+02:00

US forces keen to win over Sadr City's youngsters
By Basil Adas
Baghdad, 20 May 2008 (Gulf News)

Despite the recent ceasefire agreement signed between the Sadr trend and the Shiite ruling coalition, sporadic fighting is still going on.

"As soon as the sun sets and it gets dark, we live in fear," Saadi Abbas, a Sadr City resident, told Gulf News.

"I do not know why the Americans love to launch raids at nights, especially after midnight. It seems that Americans are so cruel and tyrannous yet when the sun rises they turn into humble children and religious men who give presents such as clothes, sports equipment and sometimes financial aid to young Iraqis and teenagers," he added.

According to reports issued by several Iraqi ministries including the Labour and Social Affairs ministry, unemployed young men in Sadr City make up more than 70 per cent of its estimated three million citizens. Ministry of Education statistics show more than 80 per cent of school age children do not go to school.

"The Americans gave us an entire sports kit for our soccer team that represents our sector; they also helped prepare some open spaces into a football pitch. Some of the Mahdi Army leaders came and threatened us and demanded we return the gifts to the Americans," Wissam Shubar, aged 17, told Gulf News.

Young women in Sadr City, most of whom wear the hijab, have also had their share of gifts offered by female American soldiers.

Rawdha Hussain, a university student, told Gulf News: "My friends and I who live in Sadr City received financial aid from the humanitarian assistance centre affiliated to the US Army; we have received some clothes and some books that are useful for our academic study."

Sources close to the Iraqi government said that Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki ordered service ministries to form a field committee to study living conditions in Sadr City and draw up a plan to employ large numbers of unemployed young men.

"The American way to win Iraqi hearts and the Iraqi government's approach toward developing the city is aimed at undermining the Mahdi Army's ability to recruit young people ... because most recruitment operations depend on exploiting the poor living conditions and lack of education among the Sadr City population," Sami Jaber Saloum, an Iraqi political analyst, told Gulf News.

Noticias varias.

2008-05-15T15:42:00.002+02:00

Security forces arrest 11 wanted suspects, seize weapons in Basra
Basra, 15 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Security forces on Wednesday arrested eleven wanted suspects and seized ammounts of ammunitions during raid operations conducted in Basra.

Ceasefire in Sadr City is not applied until now – Baghdad operations command
Baghdad, 15 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- The ceasefire agreement in Sadr City is still in "the first square," and has not yet been applied on the ground, Baghdad operations command's.

Al-Sadr movement reiterates commitment to Sadr city truce deal
Baghdad, 15 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

A spokesman for al-Sadr movement loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday said his group would lay down their arms, abdiding by the deal they brokered with ruling Shiite Alliance.

“Al-Sadr movement intends to lay down their arms on Thursday despite provocative measures undertaken by security forces in Sadr city and other areas, sowing seeds of mistrust among against the deal brokered with the government,” Sheikh Salh al-Ubaidi, spokesman for Sadr movement, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq -.

Iraqi PM orders lifting citywide curfew over Mosul
Ninewa, 15 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday ordered lifting the curfew imposed on the northern city of Mosul starting Thursday morning.

“The PM al-Maliki ordered lifting the city-wide curfew imposed on Mosul starting from Thursday six a.m . until six p.m.,” Lt. Gen. Riadh Jalal, Ninewa operations commander, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq (VOI).

A curfew was imposed over Ninewa province due to the start of a major offensive codenamed Za'eer al-Assad Fi Saulat al-Haq (Lion's Roar in Rightful Assault) to hunt down alQaeda network fighters who regrouped in the northern city after escaping dribes in Baghdad, Anbar, and Diala.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki flew to the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday to take charge of a big offensive against al-Qaeda in what the U.S. military says is the group's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

Consejo supremo de Iraq

2008-05-15T15:39:00.000+02:00

Strategic Agreement with US is in the Interest of Iraq - Official
By Shadha al-Jubori
London, 15 May 2008 (Asharq Alawsat)

Shiekh Jalaluddin al Saghir, a leading member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) and member of the United Iraqi Alliance has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the strategic agreement that will be approved this summer between Iraq and the United States is in the interest of Iraq will not harm the interests of Iraq’s neighbors.

Al Saghir’s comments to Asharq Al-Awsat came in response to the objections raised by Hussein Shariatmadari, adviser to the Iranian Supreme Guide Ali Khamanei published in Asharq Al-Awsat Tuesday against the agreement.

Me uno Al Alijar en la campaña por los MRAPS

2008-05-15T11:02:00.003+02:00

Que tan necesarios son para la seguridad de nuestras tropas,que la negligencia de nuestro políticos y su terrible indolencia no sea motivo de más muertes.MRAPS YA

11 de Mayo,notiicias de Iraq.

2008-05-11T18:20:00.002+02:00

US troops deny asking Sadr City residents to leave.

Baghdad, 09 May 2008 (Associated Press

A rocket hit a downtown Baghdad park on Thursday, killing two civilians even as US-backed forces tried to weaken Shiite extremists and disrupt rocket and mortar strikes from the militia stronghold of Sadr City.

It was the second rocket that landed in a downtown park in three days, apparently after failing to reach the US-protected Green Zone, which includes the US Embassy and key Iraqi government offices.

US forces have increased air power and armoured patrols in an attempt to cripple Shiite militia influence in Sadr City, a slum of 2.5 million people that serves as the Baghdad base for the Mahdi Army led by anti-American cleric Moqtada Al Sadr. Seventeen fighters were killed in clashes since Wednesday, the military said on Thursday.

The rocket that landed in the park near the Al Sadoun street yesterday also wounded six civilians, police said.

Earlier yesterday, some residents in southeastern section of Sadr City claimed that Iraqi soldiers warned them to leave their houses and go to nearby soccer stadiums for security reasons. But the US military denied the claim and called it a "rumour."

Leader of al-Qa'ida in Iraq is 'captured' in Mosul raid
By James Macintyre
09 May 2008 (The Independent)

The leader of al-Qa'ida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been arrested, according to the country's Defence Ministry.

The Egyptian-born militant, who took over as leader of the group from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after he was killed in a US air-strike in June 2006, was apprehended late last night in the northern city of Mosul, unconfirmed reports claimed. He is now being held and questioned by US forces, according to some reports, also unconfirmed.

The Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of Masri – also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir – was confirmed to him by the Iraqi commander of the province, but there was no immediate confirmation of the arrest from US forces or the White House, which considers the militant as its number one target in Iraq.

The US military in Baghdad said: "We are currently checking with Iraqi authorities to confirm the accuracy of this information."

The Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf told the Associated Press in Iraq that Mosul police "arrested one of al-Qa'ida's leaders at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir."

Ayuda para Sadr City

2008-05-08T23:44:00.000+02:00

Iraqi gov't to shelter people feeling Sadr city's clashes
Baghdad, 08 May 2008 (Kuwait News Agency (KUNA))

The Iraqi government said Wednesday it would set up special areas to shelter locals who fled from Al-Sadr city in Baghdad fearing military confrontations.

Tahsin Sheikhali, spokesman of the Law Enforcement plan, said the government would provide special places to shelter those feeling the military operations taking place in Al-Sadr city.

"The government plans to establish special areas used by people from Al-Sadr city who left their houses and lived in more secured areas because of threats posed by outlawed gunmen on one side and the military operations taking place inside the city on the other," He told a news conference.

Sheikhali said Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has instructed the delivery of oil products and food for needy in Al-Sadr city, and the reopening of schools used by gunmen as launching pad for operations against government forces.

Ofensiva inminente en Mosul y otras noticias

2008-05-06T00:27:00.003+02:00

# Troops mass as attack on Mosul looms
By Abdulhussain al-Khurafi
05 May 2008 (Azzaman)

The government is massing troops for an imminent attack on the northern city of Mosul, the interior minister said.

The minister Jawad al-Bolani said the government has deployed “elite units” in the city, home to nearly three million people and currently one of the most violent places in the country.

U.S. troops will assist with aerial bombardment, logistics and artillery. U.S. marines will intervene if necessary.

The battle to overtake Mosul is billed as the ‘last’ major offensive Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki intends to launch to bring the country under control.

Mosul is now a bastion of al-Qaeda whose fighters have been under extreme pressure from the so-called Sahwa (Awakening) Council, a newly formed militia of Sunni tribesmen financed by the U.S., in other Sunni-dominated areas.

Bolani said the troops sent to calm down Basra were being redeployed in Mosul.

Analysts say the battle for Mosul is expected to be one of the bloodiest since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

Mosul is a mixed city. Though predominantly Sunni Arab, it holds sizeable communities of Kurds, Christians, Shebeks and Yezidis.

# Ten killed in Baghdad clashes
American forces clash overnight with Shiite militiamen in Sadr City, in Mansur in Iraqi capital.
Baghdad, 05 May 2008 (Middle East Online)

At least 10 people were killed in overnight fighting between American forces and Shiite militiamen in Baghdad, six of them in Sadr City, the US military said on Monday.

An Iraqi medic from Sadr City, the stronghold of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said that another 40 people, including women and children, were wounded in the clashes in the district.

# Jordan stopped importing Iraqi oil due to worsening security situation
05 May 2008 (Iraq Directory)

Jordan stopped importing crude oil and industrial fuel from Iraq because of the inability to transfer the amounts agreed upon due to the deteriorating security situation on the international road between the two countries.

Riyad Barakat, General Manager of Al-Qawasmi company which is one of the two companies responsible for loading and unloading at Al-Karama border point, said that the quantities of imported crude oil since mid last year did not exceed five thousand tons which is equivalent to 36 thousand barrels and they only form a third of the daily needs of the Kingdom.

1 de Mayo fiesta del trabajo menos en Iraq.

2008-05-01T13:38:00.003+02:00

# 113 detainees released in Mosul.
on Wednesday morning from Ninewa police prisons, according to the general amnesty law, said the official spokesperson of Ninewa Operations.

# Joint forces kill 20 al-Qaeda fighters in Diala.
Diala, 01 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Twenty al-Qaeda network fighters were killed during a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation conducted in Diala.

# 6 people killed, 9 wounded in Iraq in 24 hours
Baghdad, 01 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Six people were killed, nine were wounded, and 52 suspects were arrested in the violent acts that took place throughout Iraq during the last 24 hours.

# Tikrit court sentences al-Qaeda-linked group leader to death
Salah al-Din, 01 May 2008
The Criminal Court in Tikrit on Wednesday sentenced a senior commander of an al-Qaeda-linked group to death, a Salah al-Din police source said.

# U.S. soldier's death pushes monthly toll to 7-month high in Iraq.

# Police forces arrest gang forging money in Diwaniya
Diwaniya, 01 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Police forces on Wednesday arrested a 5-member gang in possession of one hundred million Iraqi dinars in forged bills in central Diwaniya.

# At least 925 killed in Sadr city clashes- spokesman
Baghdad, 01 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

More than 900 people have been killed in clashes between militiamen and security forces in Baghdad's Sadr City that broke out last month, a senior Iraqi official said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference with U.S. army spokesman Kevin Bergner held in Baghdad, Tahseen al-Sheilhly, civil spokesman for Baghdad's security plan, put “the casualty toll from military operations launched by U.S.-Iraqi forces since March 25 at 925 deaths and 2605 wounded.”

PM vows to continue crackdown on militiamen
Arbil, 01 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

# Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday said that whoever wants to join the political process has to provide information about gunmen and hand over wanted men, asserting his resolve to hunt down ‘militias.’

At a press conference, aired by al-Iraqia satellite television, the premier said “those who want to join the political process have to help the state in handing over gunmen or information about the hideout of the criminals and wanted men.”

“We are not talking about one militia, but several militias, al-Qaeda and other armed groups, and security forces must be informed about the places of these outlaws…and no one has the right to prevent us from tracking them down".

# Iraq to hand over Saudi detainees to Riyadh - MP
Baghdad, 01 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

The Iraqi government plans to hand over 12 Saudi detainees to Riyadh within a security agreement between the two countries.

In statements published today in Saudi daily al-Watan, Bahaa al-Araji, from the Sadrist bloc, said “the government could hand over 12 wanted men who were detained in Iraq.”

“They were involved in implementing terrorist acts,”

Sadr City,la visión de ejercito Mahdi

2008-04-26T14:44:00.002+02:00

U.S. kills 800 in 3 weeks in Sadr city
By Laith Jawad
25 April 2008 (Azzaman)

U.S. occupation forces have killed more than 800 people, most of them innocent civilians, in their three-week long military campaign to subdue the Mahdi Army in Sadr City, the leader of Sadr movement in Baghdad said.

Sheikh Salaman al-fariji said the troops have also injured more than 1,800 people and caused large-scale destruction of private property and the city’s rickety infrastructure.

Fariji made the remarks as he accompanied a delegation of 20 members of parliament on a tour of the impoverished city home to more than 2 million people.

U.S. troops have imposed a tight embargo on the city and bombing by war planes and helicopter gun ships in the densely populated Baghdad neighborhood continued even during the MPs’ tour.

Falah Shanshal, an MP, said the group would write to the parliament to lift the siege of Sadr City and reach a peaceful solution to the standoff with Mahdi Army.

Mahdi Army is the military wing of Sadr movement which has 30 deputies in parliament.

“The MPs were shocked by the scale of damage,” said Fariji.

Shanshal said: “The people of Sadr City undergo horrific humanitarian conditions as a result of U.S. military operations and embargo.”

Tom Engelhardt,y su visión de Iraq.

2008-04-23T16:40:00.001+02:00

Can there be any question that, since the invasion of 2003, Iraq has been unraveling? And here's the curious thing: Despite a lack of decent information and analysis on crucial aspects of the Iraqi catastrophe, despite the way much of the Iraq story fell off newspaper front pages and out of the TV news in the last year, despite so many reports on the "success" of the President's surge strategy, Americans sense this perfectly well. In the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, 56% of Americans "say the United States should withdraw its military forces to avoid further casualties" and this has, as the Post notes, been a majority position since January 2007, the month that the surge was first announced. Imagine what might happen if the American public knew more about the actual state of affairs in Iraq -- and of thinking in Washington. So, here, in an attempt to unravel the situation in ever-unraveling Iraq are twelve answers to questions which should be asked far more often in this country:

1. Yes, the war has morphed into the US military's worst Iraq nightmare: Few now remember, but before George W. Bush launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, top administration and Pentagon officials had a single overriding nightmare -- not chemical, but urban, warfare. Saddam Hussein, they feared, would lure American forces into "Fortress Baghdad," as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld labeled it. There, they would find themselves fighting block by block, especially in the warren of streets that make up the Iraqi capital's poorest districts.

When American forces actually entered Baghdad in early April 2003, however, even Saddam's vaunted Republican Guard units had put away their weapons and gone home. It took five years but, as of now, American troops are indeed fighting in the warren of streets in Sadr City, the Shiite slum of two and a half million in eastern Baghdad largely controlled by Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The US military, in fact, recently experienced its worst week of 2008 in terms of casualties, mainly in and around Baghdad. So, mission accomplished -- the worst fear of 2003 has now been realized.

2. No, there was never an exit strategy from Iraq because the Bush administration never intended to leave -- and still doesn't: Critics of the war have regularly gone after the Bush administration for its lack of planning, including its lack of an "exit strategy." In this, they miss the point. The Bush administration arrived in Iraq with four mega-bases on the drawing boards. These were meant to undergird a future American garrisoning of that country and were to house at least 30,000 American troops, as well as US air power, for the indefinite future. The term used for such places wasn't "permanent base," but the more charming and euphemistic "enduring camp." (In fact, as we learned recently, the Bush administration refuses to define any American base on foreign soil anywhere on the planet, including ones in Japan for over 60 years, as permanent.) Those four monster bases in Iraq (and many others) were soon being built at the cost of multibillions and are, even today, being significantly upgraded. In October 2007, for instance, National Public Radio's defense correspondent Guy Raz visited Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad, which houses about 40,000 American troops, contractors, and Defense Department civilian employees, and described it as "one giant construction project, with new roads, sidewalks, and structures going up across this 16-square-mile fortress in the center of Iraq, all with an eye toward the next few decades."

These mega-bases, like "Camp Cupcake" (al-Asad Air Base), nicknamed for its amenities, are small town-sized with massive facilities, including PXs, fast-food outlets, and the latest in communications. They have largely been ignored by the American media and so have played no part in the debate about Iraq in this country, but they are the most striking on-the-ground evidence of the plans of an administration that simply never expected to leave. To this day, despite the endless talk about drawdowns and withdrawals, that hasn't changed. In fact, the latest news about secret negotiations for a future Status of Forces Agreement on the American presence in that country indicates that US officials are calling for "an open-ended military presence" and "no limits on numbers of US forces, the weapons they are able to deploy, their legal status or powers over Iraqi citizens, going far beyond long-term US security agreements with other countries."

3. Yes, the United States is still occupying Iraq (just not particularly effectively): In June 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), then ruling the country, officially turned over "sovereignty" to an Iraqi government largely housed in the American-controlled Green Zone in Baghdad and the occupation officially ended. However, the day before the head of the CPA, L. Paul Bremer III, slipped out of the country without fanfare, he signed, among other degrees, Order 17, which became (and, remarkably enough, remains) the law of the land. It is still a document worth reading as it essentially granted to all occupying forces and allied private companies what, in the era of colonialism, used to be called "extraterritoriality" -- the freedom not to be in any way subject to Iraqi law or jurisdiction, ever. And so the occupation ended without ever actually ending. With 160,000 troops still in Iraq, not to speak of an unknown number of hired guns and private security contractors, the US continues to occupy the country, whatever the legalities might be (including a UN mandate and the claim that we are part of a "coalition"). The only catch is this: As of now, the US is simply the most technologically sophisticated and potentially destructive of Iraq's proliferating militias -- and outside the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, it is capable of controlling only the ground that its troops actually occupy at any moment.

4. Yes, the war was about oil: Oil was hardly mentioned in the mainstream media or by the administration before the invasion was launched. The President, when he spoke of Iraq's vast petroleum reserves at all, piously referred to them as the sacred "patrimony of the people of Iraq." But an administration of former energy execs -- with a National Security Advisor who once sat on the board of Chevron and had a double-hulled oil tanker, the Condoleezza Rice, named after her (until she took office), and a Vice President who was especially aware of the globe's potentially limited energy supplies -- certainly had oil reserves and energy flows on the brain. They knew, in Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz's apt phrase, that Iraq was afloat on "a sea of oil" and that it sat strategically in the midst of the oil heartlands of the planet.

It wasn't a mistake that, in 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney's semi-secret Energy Task Force set itself the "task" of opening up the energy sectors of various Middle Eastern countries to "foreign investment"; or that it scrutinized "a detailed map of Iraq's oil fields, together with the (non-American) oil companies scheduled to develop them"; or that, according to the New Yorker's Jane Mayer, the National Security Council directed its staff "to cooperate fully with the Energy Task Force as it considered the 'melding' of two seemingly unrelated areas of policy: 'the review of operational policies towards rogue states,' such as Iraq, and 'actions regarding the capture of new and existing oil and gas fields'"; or that the only American troops ordered to guard buildings in Iraq, after Baghdad fell, were sent to the Oil Ministry (and the Interior Ministry, which housed Saddam Hussein's dreaded secret police); or that the first "reconstruction" contract was issued to Cheney's former firm, Halliburton, for "emergency repairs" to those patrimonial oil fields. Once in charge in Baghdad, as sociologist Michael Schwartz has made clear, the administration immediately began guiding recalcitrant Iraqis toward denationalizing and opening up their oil industry, as well as bringing in the big boys.

Though rampant insecurity has kept the Western oil giants on the sidelines, the American-shaped "Iraqi" oil law quickly became a "benchmark" of "progress" in Washington and remains a constant source of prodding and advice from American officials in Baghdad. Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan put the oil matter simply and straightforwardly in his memoir in 2007: "I am saddened," he wrote, "that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil." In other words, in a variation on the old Bill Clinton campaign mantra: It's the oil, stupid. Greenspan was, unsurprisingly, roundly assaulted for the obvious naiveté of his statement, from which, when it proved inconvenient, he quickly retreated. But if this administration hadn't had oil on the brain in 2002-2003, given the importance of Iraq's reserves, Congress should have impeached the President and Vice President for that.

5. No, our new embassy in Baghdad is not an "embassy": When, for more than three-quarters of a billion dollars, you construct a complex -- regularly described as "Vatican-sized" -- of at least 20 "blast-resistant" buildings on 104 acres of prime Baghdadi real estate, with "fortified working space" and a staff of at least 1,000 (plus several thousand guards, cooks, and general factotums), when you deeply embunker it, equip it with its own electricity and water systems, its own anti-missile defense system, its own PX, and its own indoor and outdoor basketball courts, volleyball court, and indoor Olympic-size swimming pool, among other things, you haven't built an "embassy" at all. What you've constructed in the heart of the heart of another country is more than a citadel, even if it falls short of a city-state. It is, at a minimum, a monument to Bush administration dreams of domination in Iraq and in what its adherents once liked to call "the Greater Middle East."

Just about ready to open, after the normal construction mishaps in Iraq, it will constitute the living definition of diplomatic overkill. It will, according to a Senate estimate, now cost Americans $1.2 billion a year just to be "represented" in Iraq. The "embassy" is, in fact, the largest headquarters on the planet for the running of an occupation. Functionally, it is also another well-fortified enduring camp with the amenities of home. Tell that to the Shiite militiamen now mortaring the Green Zone as if it were… enemy-occupied territory.

6. No, the Iraqi government is not a government: The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has next to no presence in Iraq beyond the Green Zone; it delivers next to no services; it has next to no ability to spend its own oil money, reconstruct the country, or do much of anything else, and it most certainly does not hold a monopoly on the instruments of violence. It has no control over the provinces of northern Iraq which operate as a near-independent Kurdish state. Non-Kurdish Iraqi troops are not even allowed on its territory. Maliki's government cannot control the largely Sunni provinces of the country, where its officials are regularly termed "the Iranians" (a reference to the heavily Shiite government's closeness to neighboring Iran) and are considered the equivalent of representatives of a foreign occupying power; and it does not control the Shiite south, where power is fragmented among the militias of ISCI (the Badr Organization), Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, and the armed adherents of the Fadila Party, a Sadrist offshoot, among others.

In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai has been derisively nicknamed "the mayor of Kabul" for his government's lack of control over much territory outside the national capital. It would be a step forward for Maliki if he were nicknamed "the mayor of Baghdad." Right now, his troops, heavily backed by American forces, are fighting for some modest control over Shiite cities (or parts of cities) from Basra to Baghdad.

7. No, the surge is not over: Two weeks ago, amid much hoopla, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker spent two days before Congress discussing the President's surge strategy in Iraq and whether it has been a "success." But that surge -- the ground one in which an extra 30,000-plus American troops were siphoned into Baghdad and, to a lesser extent, adjoining provinces -- was by then already so over. In fact, all but about 10,000 of those troops will be home by the end of July, not because the President has had any urge for a drawdown, but, as Fred Kaplan of Slate wrote recently, "because of simple math. The five extra combat brigades, which were deployed to Iraq with the surge, each have 15-month tours of duty; the 15 months will be up in July… and the US Army and Marines have no combat brigades ready to replace them."

On the other hand, in all those days of yak, neither the general with so much more "martial bling" on his chest than any victorious World War II commander, nor the white-haired ambassador uttered a word about the surge that is ongoing -- the air surge that began in mid-2007 and has yet to end. Explain it as you will, but, with rare exceptions, American reporters in Iraq generally don't look up or more of them would have noticed that the extra air units surged into that country and the region in the last year are now being brought to bear over Iraq's cities. Today, as fighting goes on in Sadr City, American helicopters and Hellfire-missile armed Predator drones reportedly circle overhead almost constantly and air strikes of various kinds on city neighborhoods are on the rise. Yet the air surge in Iraq remains unacknowledged here and so is not a subject for discussion, debate, or consideration when it comes to our future in Iraq.

8. No, the Iraqi army will never "stand up": It can't. It's not a national army. It's not that Iraqis can't fight -- or fight bravely. Ask the Sunni insurgents. Ask the Mahdi Army militia of Muqtada al-Sadr. It's not that Iraqis are incapable of functioning in a national army. In the bitter Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88, Iraqi Shiite as well as Sunni conscripts, led by a largely Sunni officer corps, fought Iranian troops fiercely in battle after pitched battle. But from Fallujah in 2004 to today, Iraqi army (and police) units, wheeled into battle (often at the behest of the Americans), have regularly broken and run, or abandoned their posts, or gone over to the other side, or, at the very least, fought poorly. In the recent offensive launched by the Maliki government in Basra, military and police units up against a single resistant militia, the Mahdi Army, deserted in sizeable numbers, while other units, when not backed by the Americans, gave poor showings. At least 1,300 troops and police (including 37 senior police officers) were recently "fired" by Maliki for dereliction of duty, while two top commanders were removed as well.

Though American training began in 2004 and, by 2005, the President was regularly talking about us "standing down" as soon as the Iraqi Army "stood up," as Charles Hanley of the Associated Press points out, "Year by year, the goal of deploying a capable, free-standing Iraqi army has seemed to always slip further into the future." He adds, "In the latest shift, the Pentagon's new quarterly status report quietly drops any prediction of when local units will take over security responsibility for Iraq. Last year's reports had forecast a transition in 2008." According to Hanley, the chief American trainer of Iraqi forces, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, now estimates that the military will not be able to guard the country's borders effectively until 2018.

No wonder. The "Iraqi military" is not in any real sense a national military at all. Its troops generally lack heavy weaponry, and it has neither a real air force nor a real navy. Its command structures are integrated into the command structure of the US military, while the US Air Force and the US Navy are the real Iraqi air force and navy. It is reliant on the US military for much of its logistics and resupply, even after an investment of $22 billion by the American taxpayer. It represents a non-government, is riddled with recruits from Shiite militias (especially the Badr brigades), and is riven about who its enemy is (or enemies are) and why. It cannot be a "national" army because it has, in essence, nothing to stand up for.

You can count on one thing, as long as we are "training" and "advising" the Iraqi military, however many years down the line, you will read comments like this one from an American platoon sergeant, after an Iraqi front-line unit abandoned its positions in the ongoing battle for control of parts of Sadr City: "It bugs the hell out of me. We don't see any progress being made at all. We hear these guys in firefights. We know if we are not up there helping these guys out we are making very little progress."

9. No, the US military does not stand between Iraq and fragmentation: The US invasion and the Bush administration's initial occupation policies decisively smashed Iraq's fragile "national" sense of self. Since then, the Bush administration, a motor for chaos and fragmentation, has destroyed the national (if dictatorial) government, allowed the capital and much of the country (as well as its true patrimony of ancient historical objects and sites) to be looted, disbanded the Iraqi military, and deconstructed the national economy. Ever since, whatever the administration rhetoric, the US has only presided over the further fragmentation of the country. Its military, in fact, employs a specific policy of urban fragmentation in which it regularly builds enormous concrete walls around neighborhoods, supposedly for "security" and "reconstruction," that actually cut them off from their social and economic surroundings. And, of course, Iraq has in these years been fragmented in other staggering ways with an estimated four-plus million Iraqis driven into exile abroad or turned into internal refugees.

According to Pepe Escobar of the Asia Times, there are now at least 28 different militias in the country. The longer the US remains even somewhat in control, the greater the possibility of further fragmentation. Initially, the fragmentation was sectarian -- into Kurdish, Sunni, and Shia regions, but each of those regions has its own potentially hostile parts and so its points of future conflict and further fragmentation. If the US military spent the early years of its occupation fighting a Sunni insurgency in the name of a largely Shiite (and Kurdish) government, it is now fighting a Shiite militia, while paying and arming former Sunni insurgents, relabeled "Sons of Iraq." Iran is also clearly sending arms into a country that is, in any case, awash in weaponry. Without a real national government, Iraq has descended into a welter of militia-controlled neighborhoods, city states, and provincial or regional semi-governments. Despite all the talk of American-supported "reconciliation," Juan Cole described the present situation well at his Informed Comment blog: "Maybe the US in Iraq is not the little boy with his finger in the dike. Maybe we are workers with jackhammers instructed to make the hole in the dike much more huge."

10. No, the US military does not stand between Iraq and civil war: As with fragmentation, the US military's presence has, in fact, been a motor for civil war in that country. The invasion and subsequent chaos, as well as punitive acts against the Sunni minority, allowed Sunni extremists, some of whom took the name "al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia," to establish themselves as a force in the country for the first time. Later, US military operations in both Sunni and Shiite areas regularly repressed local militias -- almost the only forces capable of bringing some semblance of security to urban neighborhoods -- opening the way for the most extreme members of the other community (Sunni suicide or car bombers and Shiite death squads) to attack. It's worth remembering that it was in the surge months of 2007, when all those extra American troops hit Baghdad neighborhoods, that many of the city's mixed or Sunni neighborhoods were most definitively "cleansed" by death squads, producing a 75-80% Shiite capital. Iraq is now embroiled in what Juan Cole has termed "three civil wars," two of which (in the south and the north) are largely beyond the reach of limited American ground forces and all of which could become far worse. The still low-level struggle between Kurds and Arabs (with the Turks hovering nearby) for the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the north may be the true explosion point to come. The US military sits precariously atop this mess, at best putting off to the future aspects of the present civil-war landscape, but more likely intensifying it.

11. No, al-Qaeda will not control Iraq if we leave (and neither will Iran): The latest figures tell the story. Of 658 suicide bombings globally in 2007 (more than double those of any year in the last quarter century), 542, according to the Washington Post's Robin Wright, took place in occupied Iraq or Afghanistan, mainly Iraq. In other words, the American occupation of that land has been a motor for acts of terrorism (as occupations will be). There was no al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia before the invasion and Iraq was no Afghanistan. The occupation under whatever name will continue to create "terrorists," no matter how many times the administration claims that "al-Qaeda" is on the run. With the departure of US troops, it's clear that homegrown Sunni extremists (and the small number of foreign jihadis who work with them), already a minority of a minority, will more than meet their match in facing the Sunni mainstream. The Sunni Awakening Movement came into existence, in part, to deal with such self-destructive extremism (and its fantasies of a Taliban-style society) before the Americans even noticed that it was happening. When the Americans leave, "al-Qaeda" (and whatever other groups the Bush administration subsumes under that catch-all title) will undoubtedly lose much of their raison d'être or simply be crushed.

As for Iran, the moment the Bush administration finally agreed to a popular democratic vote in occupied Iraq, it ensured one thing -- that the Shiite majority would take control, which in practice meant religio-political parties that, throughout the Saddam Hussein years, had generally been close to, or in exile in, Iran. Everything the Bush administration has done since has only ensured the growth of Iranian influence among Shiite groups. This is surely meant by the Iranians as, in part, a threat/trump card, should the Bush administration launch an attack on that country. After all, crucial US resupply lines from Kuwait run through areas near Iran and would assumedly be relatively easy to disrupt.

Without the US military in Iraq, there can be no question that the Iranians would have real influence over the Shiite (and probably Kurdish) parts of the country. But that influence would have its distinct limits. If Iran overplayed its hand even in a rump Shiite Iraq, it would soon enough find itself facing some version of the situation that now confronts the Americans. As Robert Dreyfuss wrote in the Nation recently, "[D]espite Iran's enormous influence in Iraq, most Iraqis -- even most Iraqi Shiites -- are not pro-Iran. On the contrary, underneath the ruling alliance in Baghdad, there is a fierce undercurrent of Arab nationalism in Iraq that opposes both the US occupation and Iran's support for religious parties in Iraq." The al-Qaedan and Iranian "threats" are, at one and the same time, bogeymen used by the Bush administration to scare Americans who might favor withdrawal and, paradoxically, realities that a continued military presence only encourages.

12. Yes, some Americans were right about Iraq from the beginning (and not the pundits either): One of the strangest aspects of the recent fifth anniversary (as of every other anniversary) of the invasion of Iraq was the newspaper print space reserved for those Bush administration officials and other war supporters who were dead wrong in 2002-2003 on an endless host of Iraq-related topics. Many of them were given ample opportunity to offer their views on past failures, the "success" of the surge, future withdrawals or drawdowns, and the responsibilities of a future US president in Iraq.

Noticeably missing were representatives of the group of Americans who happened to have been right from the get-go. In our country, of course, it often doesn't pay to be right. (It's seen as a sign of weakness or plain dumb luck.) I'm speaking, in this case, of the millions of people who poured into the streets to demonstrate against the coming invasion with an efflorescence of placards that said things too simpleminded (as endless pundits assured American news readers at the time) to take seriously -- like "No Blood for Oil," "Don't Trade Lives for Oil," or ""How did USA's oil get under Iraq's sand?" At the time, it seemed clear to most reporters, commentators, and op-ed writers that these sign-carriers represented a crew of well-meaning know-nothings and the fact that their collective fears proved all too prescient still can't save them from that conclusion. So, in their very rightness, they were largely forgotten.

Now, as has been true for some time, a majority of Americans, another obvious bunch of know-nothings, are deluded enough to favor bringing all US troops out of Iraq at a reasonable pace and relatively soon. (More than 60% of them also believe "that the conflict is not integral to the success of US anti-terrorism efforts.") If, on the other hand, a poll were taken of pundits and the inside-the-Beltway intelligentsia (not to speak of the officials of the Bush administration), the number of them who would want a total withdrawal from Iraq (or even see that as a reasonable goal) would undoubtedly descend near the vanishing point. When it comes to American imperial interests, most of them know better, just as so many of them did before the war began. Even advisors to candidates who theoretically want out of Iraq are hinting that a full-scale withdrawal is hardly the proper way to go.

So let me ask you a question (and you answer it): Given all of the above, given the record thus far, who is likely to be right?

Tom Engelhardt, who runs the Nation Institute's Tomdispatch.com, is the co-founder of the American Empire Project. His book, The End of Victory Culture (University of Massachusetts Press), has just been thoroughly updated in a newly issued edition that deals with victory culture's crash-and-burn sequel in Iraq.

La ofensiva sobre Sadr city va en serio

2008-04-21T12:41:00.001+02:00

Our forces control Sadr city's southern part - U.S. admiral
Baghdad, 21 April 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

A U.S. army admiral said on Sunday that his forces control the southern part of Sadr city, which was isolated from its northern part, while Tahseen al-Sheikhli, the civilian spokesperson for Fardh al-Qanoon (Law Imposing) plan, repeated the Iraqi government's insistence on providing services in areas that witness military operations, especially Sadr city.

Admiral Patrick Driscoll explained in a press conference with al-Sheikhli in Baghdad that U.S. forces were able to control Sadr city's southern part by separating it from its northern part, using a temporary concrete wall, and conducing security and military operations against armed groups that randomly open fire on residential neighborhoods and the Green Zone.

He continued that the operations aim at stabilizing security, and bringing reconstruction teams to provide services and job opportunities, in order to raise the city's economic level.

He added "Our security and military operations in Sadr city target the special groups that receive training and arms from Iran, to conduct attacks against civilians, by randomly rocketing residential areas."

Concerning the women and children casualties that were caused by U.S. air strikes on Sadr city, Driscoll said, "U.S. forces have instructions for military engagement and conducting assaults, and they do not target children and women, but armed groups that carry out attacks and hide in mosques and schools."

Regarding the confiscation of personal computers (PCs) during raid operations conducted by U.S. forces in residential areas, Driscoll said "confiscating PCs during raid operations at residential houses and areas directed us to gunmen's safe hides and weapons caches."

From his side, Tahseen al-Sheikhli, the civilian spokesperson of Fardh al-Qanoon (Law Imposing) plan repeated the Iraqi government's insistence on providing services to areas that witness military operations, especially Sadr city.

"Iraqi government is determined to provide services to areas where security clashes are taking place, or were ignored in the past decades, particularly Sadr city, by allocating 150 million U.S. dollars to rebuild the infrastructure and activate the social situation in Sadr city, by starting projects to absorb the unemployment impulse in the city," al-Sheikhli said.

He added that during the last days, Baghdad Mayoralty worked on preparing Sadr city's water project, in the northeastern part of the city, and specified engineering units and efforts in that regard.

Al-Sheikhli referred that Premier Nouri al-Maliki instructed the assistance committee at Baghdad operations command, and the related ministries, to provide services and emergency foodstuff inside cities.

Services are represented by water, electricity, foodstuff, and medicines

El lio Sunni

2008-04-18T10:02:00.000+02:00

Streets for each party' in Baghdad's Sunni areas
By Basil Adas
Baghdad, 18 April 2008 (Gulf News)

In addition to being anti-Baathist Al Qaida members dislike Sunni Islamic Party members, led by vice-president Tariq Al Hashimi, they also condemn the awakening organisations whom they say aim to assassinate their members and do not deal with the Islamic party. This is the situation in most Sunni neighbourhoods in Baghdad, many Iraqi Sunnis said.

"I do not exaggerate when I say that in the Sunni Al Fadhil neighbourhood that I am living in, there are streets for each party, one for Islamists, another for Al Qaida supporters, a third for the awakening forces and a fourth for Baathists," Sadiq Al Izi told Gulf News.

"Even in one family members are divided. I am affiliated to the Islamic party, my cousin joined the awakening forces, my nephew is a Baathist and my brother in law is an Al Qaida member. It is an unbearable situation," he added.

In the relatively large Sunni neighbourhood of Saydia in west Baghdad, there is an area along a main street which is controlled by the Sunni Islamic party; this area is close to the Al Thobat district where Al Qaida fighters are on the street, while Baathists control the Saydia residential buildings,m which is opposite an area that is witnessing growing activities by the awakening forces supported by the US army.

Faris Al Qaragoli, a former police office during Saddam Hussain's regime, who now works as a taxi driver, told Gulf News: "Fortunately, there is a truce between the Islamists, Al Qaida members and the Baathists, and another truce between the Awakening forces and the Islamists. This truce allows me to visit my brother's house in Saydia which is under Al Qaida control. Despite being affiliated to the Sunni Islamic Party, I do not face any danger when I go there."

However, in some Sunni neighbourhoods, this truce does not seem to operate. Neighbourhoods such as Hay Al Adel witnessed killing between Al Qaida, awakening fighters and Baathists. There were also religious Fatwas prohibiting marriage and trading between Al Qaida and the awakening followers.

Amer Al Jibouri, a shopkeeper told Gulf News: "Baathists often mediate between members of Al Qaida, the Islamic party and the awakening forces in order not to ignite the situation in Sunni neighbourhoods. In the Al Dora district, Baathists succeeded in securing citizens' movements on streets which are divided under Al Qaida, the Awakening forces and Islamic party control. Yet this truce does not last long because the US and Iraqi government forces urge the awakening fighters to confront Al Qaida".

Future provincial or general elections in these neighbourhoods may witness division between voters.

"Sunni voters will be divided between the Awakening organisations and the Islamic and the Baath Party as it is in Sunni neighbourhoods in Baghdad," said Fakhri Al Soudani, an independent political activist.

'Positive negotiations': Return to government

An official from Iraq's main Sunni Muslim political bloc says the group has agreed in principle to return to the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki nine months after quitting the Cabinet.

A return of the Sunnis would be a boost to Al Maliki, who has struggled to keep together the disparate factions of his government and attempt to reconcile between Iraq's feuding Shiite and Sunni politicians.

Salim Abdullah is a lawmaker and spokesman for the Sunni Accordance Front He said yesterday the front has agreed in principle to return to five ministries after "positive negotiations" with Al Maliki's government. Abdullah said he expected the new ministers to be named next week.

- AP

Y mientras los Kurdos,ganan en autogobierno

2008-04-16T09:23:00.001+02:00

Kurds snatch new concessions on oil and militias
By Kareem Zair
16 April 2008 (Azzaman)

Iraqi Kurds have won two major concessions from the central government in Baghdad one on oil and the second on the state of their militias known locally as Peshmerga.

Regarding oil, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has agreed to give the Kurdish regional administration in the north the right to sign oil development deals on its own.

This is one of the biggest concessions the government makes for the Kurds and meets one of their long-standing and most important demands, analysts say.

The deal, they said, comes as Maliki is under immense pressure not only from his former Shiite allies like Moqtada al-Sadr but also from the disgruntled Sunni parties.

According to a new draft of the Oil and Gas Law, which the parliament has yet to pass, Maliki has accepted a Kurdish request to adopt a former version which gave them additional rights.

Under the new agreement, the 15 oil deals signed by Kurds with foreign firms would be legal while previously the Oil Ministry denounced them as null and void.

The agreement may signal to the hitherto reluctant foreign oil firms to start developing fields in Iraqi Kurdistan in earnest.

Maliki has also agreed to integrate Kurdish militias into the country’s security apparatus, a move that will add them to the payrolls of the interior and defense ministries.

But Kurdish militiamen, registered in the Kurdish regional government, number more than 190,000, almost as many as the number of troops under Iraqi government disposal.

The pact on Kurdish militias means that from now on the central government will pay the Peshmerga instead of the Kurdish regional government.

Parte de bajas Iraq

2008-04-16T09:13:00.002+02:00

Two US soldiers killed in Iraq

One soldier died in northeastern Baghdad, while other killed in Iraq’s Salaheddin province.
Baghdad, 16 April 2008 (Middle East Online)

Two US soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in separate incidents in Iraq on Monday, the American military said, as battles against Shiite militiamen in Baghdad continued to take a heavy toll.

One soldier died of wounds sustained when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb while on combat patrol in northeastern Baghdad around 4:45 pm (1345 GMT) Monday, a US military statement said.

The military earlier in the day announced the death of another soldier, also by a roadside bomb, in the central province of Salaheddin

Bloody day across Iraq
40 people killed, 80 others wounded in car bomb attack in Baquba, suicide bomber kills 13 in restaurant in Ramadi.

By Salam Faraj
Baghdad, 16 April 2008 (Middle East Online)
Source: Middle East Online
Bloodshed

A spate of bombings across Iraq and a fresh surge of fighting between Shiite militiamen and US forces in east Baghdad killed at least 62 people on Tuesday, Iraqi officials said.

A car bomb outside a courthouse in the central city of Baquba, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda, killed at least 40 people and wounded 80 in the most devastating attack in the violence-wracked country in a month, police said.
Soon after the car bomb attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a restaurant in the western city of Ramadi killing 13 people, the city's police chief, Major General Tareq al-Youssef said.

He added that another 14 people were wounded in the attack which struck at around 12:30 pm (0930 GMT) in a restaurant near the western outskirts of the city, the capital of Anbar province.

In the main northern city of Mosul, twin car bombs exploded in quick succession as a US military and Iraqi police patrol passed wounding 12 people, police said.

Four policemen were among the wounded in the attack, which followed three separate car bombings in Mosul on Monday, one of which targeted a passing patrol of US and Iraqi troops killing one person and wounding six.

Security officials in Baghdad, meanwhile, reported two workers killed and two policemen wounded on Tuesday by a roadside bomb planted near a police station in Baghdad's central Karrada neighbourhood.

A later car bomb also in Karrada killed one person and wounded six others, including four policemen.

Since Monday, more than 80 people have been killed in a surge of insurgent attacks across Iraq, which come at a time when security forces are fighting street battles with Shiite militiamen in Baghdad's Sadr City.

Renewed fighting on Tuesday between Shiite militiamen, mostly linked to radical Shiite cleric Moqtad al-Sadr, and security forces killed six people, the American military said

"Coalition forces took on small arms fire during an operation in Al-Sudayrah early Tuesday," the military said referring to an area inside Sadr City.

It added that in return fire coalition forces killed three gunmen.

US troops called in air support as the clashes continued, the military said, adding that in the ensuing firefight three more "enemy fighters" were killed.

Shiite militiamen have been engaged in sustained clashes with US and Iraqi forces for more than a week in Sadr City in which around 95 people have been killed.

The firefights began when US and Iraqi forces started operations in the sprawling slum to stop lethal rocket and mortar attacks from the district towards the Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government and the US embassy.

The US military says that between March 23 and April 12 at least 596 rockets and mortars rounds were fired towards the Green Zone, many of them missing their target and killing Iraqi civilians.

The attacks killed four Americans, two of them soldiers.

Sadr City en el ojo del huracan,me parece que los americanos se están cansando de los morteros a la Green Zone

2008-04-15T02:12:00.001+02:00

At least 20 killed as Shia militants clash with US and Iraqi forces in Sadr City
By Bushra Juhi
Baghdad, 14 April 2008 (The Independent)

Shia militants fought US and Iraqi forces around Baghdad's Shia district of Sadr City yesterday, despite a call for calm by the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr following the assassination of one of his top aides. At least 13 Shia militants and seven civilians died in the clashes between US and government troops and Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army militia. One US soldier was killed by a roadside bomb.

Mr Sadr blamed the Americans and their Iraqi allies for the death on Friday of Riyadh al-Nouri, director of his office in the Shia holy city of Najaf. Gunmen ambushed him as he returned home from prayers. A curfew was declared to prevent a violent backlash by Sadrists, but was lifted yesterday.

Government troops supported by the US military have been fighting for nearly two weeks to seal off Sadr City, the principal stronghold of the Mehdi Army in the capital, after militants there fired rockets and mortars at the US-protected Green Zone.

According to officials in Sadr City, Sadrist militiamen received instructions from the movement's headquarters in Najaf on Friday to avoid confrontations with Iraqi and US forces, and not to fire on them unless they attempted to penetrate deep into Sadr City. The Sadr officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the movement was concerned that clashes with security forces were turning into a war of attrition which rival Shia groups were exploiting to weaken the Sadrists.

The conflict in Sadr City is part of a major power struggle within the Shia community ahead of provincial elections due this autumn. Meanwhile, in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, the Iraqi army said it was conducting a sweep of the city's Qibla district, looking for illegal weapons, ammunition and wanted criminals.

Iraq encrucijada de caminos

2008-04-14T13:20:00.000+02:00

US keeps changing rationale for Iraq war
First ousting Saddam, then countering Al-Qaeda militants, now Iran motivates US war in Iraq.
By Laurent Lozano
CRAWFORD, Texas, 14 April 2008 (Middle East Online)

The rationale for war in Iraq has morphed from ousting strongman Saddam Hussein to countering Al-Qaeda militants to its latest incarnation - facing down what officials in the administration of President George W. Bush call the Iranian "threat."

"Iraq is the convergence point for two of the greatest threats to America in this new century: Al-Qaeda and Iran," Bush said last week, renewing accusations that the Islamic republic is backing Iraqi militias hostile to US forces and covertly seeking nuclear weapons.

"If we succeed in Iraq after all that Al-Qaeda and Iran have invested there, it would be a historic blow to the global terrorist movement and a severe setback for Iran," he said.

With Saddam dead and Al-Qaeda weakened, according to Bush, Iranian-financed extremists, which top US commander in Iraq David Petraeus has called "special groups," have emerged as a key reason for maintaining US troop levels in Iraq.

"Unchecked, the 'special groups' pose the greatest long-term threat to the viability of a democratic Iraq," Petraeus said last week as he told US lawmakers of military strategy in Iraq for the coming months.

However, exactly what steps the United States may take to counter this "threat" remain unclear, and depend largely on Bush's decisions in his remaining nine months in the White House.

Iraq parte de operaciones 11 de Abril

2008-04-12T16:01:00.001+02:00

"Shiite neighbourhoods 'most troubled in Baghdad"
By Basil Adas
Baghdad, 11 April 2008 (Gulf News)

After nearly four years of Sunni neighbourhoods facing unsettled security situations, the situation has changed. Now it is the Shiite neighbourhoods that are the most troubled areas in Baghdad. The atmosphere has become tense and the areas are being targeted by Iraqi and American forces, Iraqi citizens and military officers said.

Due to the ongoing operations of disarming the Mahdi Army, Shiite neighbourhoods in Baghdad such as Al Sadr, Shula'a, Sha'ab and Al Kadhumiya have become the most troubled areas and have been placed at the forefront of military plans aimed at strengthening the security situation in the city", Jawad Al Jibouri, an Iraqi Army officer, told Gulf News.

In the past few days, the military operations commander in Baghdad has decided to withdraw some troops from Sunni neighbourhoods in Karkh and transfer them to the Rusafa section of the Iraqi capital, military sources told Gulf News.

"15 dead as US troops clash with militias in Sadr City"
Baghdad, 11 April 2008 (Associated Press) --
A US airstrike targeted a building in Baghdad's Sadr City on Thursday, hours after American soldiers clashed with Shiite militants in fighting that left 5 people dead, police and the US military said.

"Six Killed in US air strikes kill on Sadr City"
Baghdad, 11 April 2008 (Middle East Online) --
Two US air strikes in Baghdad's embattled Sadr City district on Thursday killed six people as fighting flared for a fifth straight day between Shiite militiamen and security forces, officials said.

Violence in other parts of the Iraqi capital and across the country killed another eight people, among them a policeman and a soldier, security and medical officials said.

An air strike mid-morning in the heart of Sadr City on a building crammed with oxygen cylinders -- which can be used to make roadside bombs -- killed two people and wounded four, the officials said.

They added an earlier air raid, around midnight, killed four and wounded six near Al-Albaith mosque in the centre of Sadr City, stronghold of Shiite radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr whose Mahdi Army militiamen are fighting Iraqi and US forces.

Amenaza con terminar con el alto el fuego.

2008-04-09T13:33:00.000+02:00

Al Sadr threatens to end ceasefire with Iraqi government
Baghdad, 09 April 2008 (Associated Press)

Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr raised the stakes in his showdown with the Iraqi government, threatening to end formally a seven-month ceasefire unless authorities stop attacks on his followers in Baghdad.

Formally ending the ceasefire could trigger renewed fighting throughout southern Iraq, nine days after a deal brokered in Iran calmed the region.

But clashes continued in the capital on Tuesday, as American and Iraqi soldiers stepped up the pressure against Shiite militants in their Sadr City stronghold of northeast Baghdad. US troops fired missiles at three mortar positions, killing 12 militants, the American command said. Iraqi police and hospitals said 14 people were killed and 37 wounded in Sadr City.

The Iraqi military ordered vehicles and motorcycles off the streets from 5am on Wednesday until midnight, a move apparently aimed at preventing Shiite gunmen from moving freely about the city.

The vehicle ban was imposed despite a decision by Al Sadr to call off his "million-strong" demonstration set for Wednesday to demand an end to the American military presence. Al Sadr's Mahdi militia has been battling American and Iraqi soldiers in the sprawling Sadr City slum.

Fearing the demonstration might trigger violence throughout Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers began turning back military-aged men travelling to the capital Tuesday from Shiite areas to the south.

Al Sadr then called off the rally, apparently fearing a modest turnout would display weakness at a time when he is locked in a violent power struggle with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, a fellow Shiite. Al Maliki has told Al Sadr to disband his militia or give up politics.

Instead, Al Sadr's aides called a news conference on Tuesday at a hotel on Firdous Square, where US Marines hauled down the statue of Saddam five years ago. The aides released a statement condemning the government for allegedly bowing to "the hated American pressure."

Al Sadr said in a statement, "I call on the Iraqi government, if it exists, to work to protect the Iraqi people, stop the spilling of its blood, and the abuse of its honour."

He also urged the government to "demand the withdrawal of the occupier or a schedule for its withdrawal from our holy land."

Otherwise, Al Sadr said he might formally end the ceasefire he imposed on his Mahdi militia last August, a move that US officials acknowledge played a major role in calming the violence until last month.

Milicias,elecciones ,el nudo Gordiano de Iraq

2008-04-09T13:29:00.001+02:00

Disbanding militias divides parliament
By Nidhal al-Laithi
09 April 2008 (Azzaman)

The call by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for Sadr’s Madhi Army to disband has divided the parliament with deputies urging other militia groups to disarm.

Deputies from the restive city of Mosul in an apparent move backing the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his militiamen have asked for other militia groups to disarm namely Kurdish Peshmerga.

Other deputies doubted the prime minister had the authority to order the disbanding of militia groups whose formation and presence in the country is legalized.

Most militia groups operate under ‘murky’ legal cover and some are even paid by the government like the Kurdish Peshmerga militiamen.

All in all there are 28 militia groups in the country and one of them belongs to the prime minister himself and his political party al-Dawaa.

Preventing Sadr’s movement from taking part in the forthcoming provincial elections will set a precedent in Iraq and political parties with militias, including Dawaa, view the move with a suspicious eye.

Mahmoud Othman, a senor Kurdish legislator and politician has said under electoral rules Maliki “has no power to deny a political party nominating candidates for election.”

Sunni deputies were vociferous in calls for Maliki to add all militias to his order, including Kurdish Peshmerga.

They said Kurdish militia men operate “freely and unruly” in Mosul, its suburbs as well as the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

El primer ministro iraqui integra a milicias de su partido en el ejercito .

2008-04-07T00:10:00.003+02:00

Pro-government militiamen integrated in armed forces; move angers rival groups
By Kareem Abedzair
04 April 2008 (Azzaman)

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has decided to integrate loyal militia groups into the armed forces.

The move comes in the aftermath of fierce clashes with rival Shiite militiamen of cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr and in the wake of the dismissal of thousands of his supporters serving in the country’s security forces.

At least 10,000 militiamen of Maliki’s own al-Dawa Party and the allied Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council have now formally joined the army ranks.

The move is certain to anger al-Sadr who has called for a million-strong march against the U.S.

Maliki has sacked thousands of army and police officers who refused to take part in the latest fight against Sadr militias.

Analysts say Maliki is keen to replace army and police personnel disloyal to his government by militiamen from his own party.

Maliki has also been very reluctant to integrate members of al-Sahwa, a U.S. raised, trained and armed Sunni militia into the armed forces.

The Sunni militiamen have been fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq alongside the U.S. troops. But Maliki is apparently skeptical of U.S. moves to mobilize the Sunnis who have been ruling the Iraq since it declared independence more than 70 years ago.

It is the first time in Iraq’s modern history that Shiite parties have the largest say in the running of the country’s affairs.

Reflexiones después de Basora

2008-04-04T00:28:00.000+02:00

Basra battle shows Iraqi Army not ready yet - US general
By Bryan Pearson
Baghdad, 03 April 2008 (AFP)

Iraqi forces need to be strengthened and some troops are "not up to the task", a US general said Wednesday, after police and army units failed to crush Shiite militiamen despite a weeklong crackdown in Basra. "There is still much more work to do in developing and strengthening the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces," US military spokesman General Kevin Bergner told a news conference in Baghdad.

"Overall, the majority of the Iraqi security forces performed their mission. Some were not up to the task and the government of Iraq is taking the necessary action in those cases," Bergner added.

His comments came as a top Iraqi military commander General Abdul Karim Khalaf asserted that Iraqi forces were in full control of Basra after intense battles since March 25 that killed hundreds of people.

"We are continuing to disarm [militiamen], our forces are deployed in all Basra's streets and regions," Khalaf said. "Basra is under the control of our forces."

The offensive against the militias in Basra, mostly from the Mehdi Army of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, quickly set off a wave of clashes in other Shiite areas of Iraq in which at least 461 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded.

The clashes began subsiding on Sunday after Sadr pulled his fighters off the streets following a deal with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who had personally directed the crackdown.

The deal left the militiamen with their weapons intact, and with some analysts saying the assaults had strengthened Sadr's hand and left Maliki politically battered.

Maliki on Tuesday hailed the Basra crackdown as a success which "achieved the aim of imposing law in the city and restoring normalcy."

Sheikh Ali al-Saedi, an official in the Sadr office in Basra, complained that assaults on Mehdi Army fighters were continuing despite assurances by Maliki that these would be halted.

Residents of the southern oil hub, however, said that in general the streets were calm but that they urgently needed basic services restored in the city of 1.6 million.

Bergner said the Iraqi authorities were now engaged in a "comprehensive effort" to meet humanitarian needs and to restore services.

"It will take some time for the dust to settle and many challenges remain," he said.

These include improving the security forces' logistical and transport capabilities, their planning, and their coordination with civil authorities.

Bergner said the very fact the security services carried out the operation in Basra at all - with only limited involvement of US and British forces, including air strikes - was in itself a positive development.

"This is an instance where the government of Iraq asserted itself, made a decision on the deployment of forces and took a very difficult position," he said. "The fact that it took such a decision and remained committed to it is significant and is a reflection of the seriousness with which they take their responsibilities of security."

One of the achievements of the operation, the US general said, was the takeover by the Iraqi military of security at Basra's port, Umm Qsar, which was under the control of members of the Shiite party Fadhila and widely used by smugglers.

"In the last couple of days the Iraqi security forces have gone to the port facility in Basra to re-establish legitimate control and authority," Bergner said.

The general said the spike in violence in Baghdad which occurred as the Basra clashes began raging "was a case where criminals attempted to undermine the legitimate authority of the government by raising fear, division and distrust."

Meanwhile, Iraqi security officials said that at least 15 people were killed in insurgent violence, mostly linked to Al-Qaeda, on Wednesday.

Three of them were killed and 13 other people wounded, including a cameraman with Iraq's independent Ad-Diyar satellite television, in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, the sources said. Maytham Ibrahim survived but lost a leg, the station's news editor, Imed al-Abadi, told

Más sobre la Operación de Basora

2008-04-01T23:43:00.001+02:00

Operation Knight's Assault in Basra crucial in imposing law – cabinet
Baghdad, 01 April 2008 (Voices of Iraq)

The official spokesman for the Iraqi government said on Tuesday that the Iraqi cabinet considered the Operation Saulat al-Forsan (Knights' Assault) being implemented in Basra as "crucial stage" in settling the law and facing "outlaws."

"The cabinet discussed in the 15th regular session held today the operation Knights Assault in Basra, led be Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is also the general commander of the armed forces," Ali al-Dabagh said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

"The cabinet also considered this operation crucial in imposing the law and facing armed groups and other outlaws in the city," he noted,
The capital Baghdad and other southern Iraqi cities, including Basra, 590 km south of Baghdad, were gripped by fierce clashes a week ago between government forces and cleric Sadr's Mahdi Army militias, hours after Maliki declared Operation Knights' Assault, which he said aimed at eliminating armed groups in the city.

Sadr had announced in a statement on Sunday that he would "disown anyone carrying arms and targeting government and service facilities or parties' offices," ordering his followers to cease all armed activities in Basra and other provinces.

Sadr had asked the government in his statement to "stop random illegal detention raids and release all non-convicted detainees, particularly those belonging to the Sadrist bloc," also urging "cooperation with the government security agencies."

"The cabinet considered the operation as a brave step towards protecting citizens," the spokesman said.

"The operation has broken the citizens' fear barrier and encouraged them to go to the streets and declare their readiness to fight beside security forces," he added.

Se negaron a combatir

2008-04-01T23:41:00.000+02:00

Thousands of police officers who refused to fight Sadr are given the sack
01 April 2008 (Azzaman)

Interior Minister Jawad Boulani has ordered the dismissal of thousands of police members and officers who allegedly refused orders to take part in the fight against the militiamen of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The decision covers most of the police force in the predominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and also several cities in the southern Iraq including Basra where most of the recent fighting took place.

The government’s crackdown on Mahdi Army, the military arm of the Sadr movement in the country, which started a few days ago, came to a halt yesterday.

Several cities in southern Iraq among them Baghdad and Basra were placed under tight curfews as battles between the militiamen and government troops raged.

U.S. occupation troops backed the government in its bid to disarm the militias.

But the Mahdi Army has once again emerged intact as the ceasefire announced yesterday does not call for the militiamen to surrender their weapons.

Thousands of police officers were reported to have refused fighting the militiamen and at least two army regiments joined them with their weapons in Baghdad.

Fitna the movie e Iraq

2008-03-31T01:26:00.004+02:00

He colgado en el blog la pelicula de ese politico Holandes de nombre impronunciable,sin más espiritu que el de la libertad de información,el verlo y lo que piensen es cosa de ustedes.

Sigamos con Iraq.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Sunday that he was pulling his fighters off the streets nationwide and called on the government to stop raids against his followers and free them from prison.

The Iraqi government quickly welcomed al-Sadr's apparent move to resolve a widening conflict with his movement, sparked Tuesday by operations against his backers in the oil-rich southern city of Basra

Iraqi copter shot down by gunmen in Basra
Basra, 30 March 2008 -- An Iraqi copter was shot down by Gunmen’s fire late on Friday in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, eyewitnesses said.

Sadrist lawmaker blames Karbala governor for security escalation
Karbala, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- A Sadrist lawmaker held on Saturday Karbala governor Aqeel al-Khazaali responsible for military operations flaring up in the province since Friday evening ...

Iraqi PM party office in Missan mortared
Missan, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Four mortar shells on Saturday hit Daawa party office of Premier Nouri al-Maliki in Missan province, southern Iraq, a security source said.

MOH: No shortage of medicines in Basra
Baghdad, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Iraqi Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Saturday that there is no shortage in medicines and medical materials in Basra.
Egyptian leader of armed group surrenders in Karbala
Karbala, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- A leader of an armed group who carries an Egyptian passport turned himself in to security authorities and handed over his weapons in one of the neighborhoods ...

Egyptian leader of armed group surrenders in Karbala
Karbala, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- A leader of an armed group who carries an Egyptian passport turned himself in to security authorities and handed over his weapons in one of the neighborhoods ...

15 Iraqi soldiers surrender to Sadr offices- military spokesman
Baghdad, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- 15 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to a number of Sadr offices, escaping their duties, said the official spokesperson of Baghdad Operations Command (Fardh Al-Qanoon) ...

2 policemen killed, 4 wounded in Karbala
Karbala, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Two policemen were killed and four others wounded on Saturday in clashes with gunmen in Karbala, while a huge amount of weapons and explosives was seized, ...

Gunmen's activities in Basra worse than al-Qaeda's – PM
Basra, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said gunmen's activities in Basra were "worse than al-Qaeda's," noting "both of them seek rendering the country's political ...

Baghdad clashes leave 1017 casualties – medic
Baghdad, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- A total 125 people were killed and 892 others wounded in acts of violence in Baghdad during the past five days, an official medical source said on Saturday.

MNF warplane fire leaves 15 casualties in Basra
Basra, 29 March 2008 (Voices of Iraq) -- Eight people were killed and seven others wounded when a Multi-National Force (MNF) warplane opened fire in western Basra province on Saturday, according to ...

The Idependent, sobre lo de Basora

2008-03-27T12:41:00.001+01:00

Iraq implodes as Shia fights Shia
Another tragedy as the Shia majority turn on each other
By Patrick Cockburn
27 March 2008 (The Independent)

A new civil war is threatening to explode in Iraq as American-backed Iraqi government forces fight Shia militiamen for control of Basra and parts of Baghdad.

Heavy fighting engulfed Iraq's two largest cities and spread to other towns yesterday as the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, gave fighters of the Mehdi Army, led by the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, 72 hours to surrender their weapons.

The gun battles between soldiers and militiamen, who are all Shia Muslims, show that Iraq's majority Shia community – which replaced Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime – is splitting apart for the first time.

Mr Sadr's followers believe the government is trying to eliminate them before elections in southern Iraq later this year, which they are expected to win.

Mortars and rockets launched from Mehdi Army-controlled districts of Baghdad struck the Green Zone, the seat of American power in Iraq, for the third day yesterday, seriously wounding three Americans. Two rockets hit the parking lot of the Iraqi cabinet. The mixed area of al-Mansur in west Baghdad, where shops had begun to reopen in recent months, was deserted yesterday as Mehdi Army fighters were rumoured among local people to be moving in from the nearby Shia stronghold of Washash. "We expect an attack by the Shia in spite of the Americans being spread over Sunni districts to defend them," said a Sunni resident.

Forty people have been killed and at least 200 injured in Basra in the last two days of violence. In the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad, 11 people were killed and 18 injured yesterday by a US air strike called in support of Iraqi forces following street battles with Shia militia members in the city's Thawra neighbourhood. In Baghdad, 14 have been killed and 140 wounded.

The supporters of Mr Sadr, who form the largest political movement in Iraq, blame the Americans for giving the go-ahead for Mr Maliki's offensive against them and supporting it with helicopters and bomber aircraft. US troops have sealed off Sadr City, the close-packed slum in the capital with a population that is the main bastion of the Sadrists, while the Mehdi Army has taken over its streets, establishing checkpoints, each manned by about 20 heavily armed men. It is unlikely that the militiamen in Basra will surrender as demanded by the government. Sadiq al-Rikabi, an adviser to Mr Maliki, said those who kept their weapons would be arrested. "Any gunman who does not do that within three days will be an outlaw."

Streets were empty in Basra and Baghdad as people stayed at home to avoid the fighting. The Mehdi Army is enforcing a strike in Baghdad with mosques calling for the closure of shops, businesses and schools.

In the Shia city of Kut, on the Tigris south of Baghdad, local residents say that black-clad Mehdi Army militiamen have taken over five districts and expelled the police.

At the same time, Mr Sadr is clearly eager to continue the truce which he declared on 29 August last year after bloody clashes in Kerbala with Iraqi police controlled by the rival Shia political movement, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, and their well-organised militia, the Badr organisation.

He renewed this ceasefire in February, saying he wanted to purge its ranks of criminals. "The freeze that Sadr has ordered is still ongoing," said one of his chief lieutenants, Luwaa Smaism.

Mr Sadr has sought to avoid an all-out military confrontation with American troops or Badr backed by American forces since he fought two ferocious battles for Najaf against US marines in 2004.

Mr Sadr has sent emissaries to Mr Maliki asking him to remove his troops, numbering some 15,000 men from Basra, and to resolve problems peacefully. But his aides say there will be no talks until the Iraqi army reinforcements are withdrawn. The offer of talks is in keeping with Mr Sadr's past behaviour, which is to appear conciliatory but in practice to make few real concessions. The US is claiming that the Sadrists are not being singled out, only Iran-supported militia factions, but this will find few believers in Iraq.

"This is not a battle against the [Mehdi Army] nor is it a proxy war between the United States and Iran," said a US military spokesman, Major General Kevin Bergner. "It is [the] government of Iraq taking the necessary action to deal with criminals on the streets."

The Sunni population is pleased to see the government and the Americans attacking the Mehdi Army, which they see as a Shia death squad. "Before, the Shia were arresting and killing us and forcing us to leave Iraq for Jordan and Syria where we lived in misery," said Osama Sabr, a Sunni in west Baghdad.

The fighting is threatening to disrupt Iraq's oil production, most of which comes from the Basra area, because workers in the oilfields dare not leave their homes.

The militia

The Mehdi Army

Armed wing of the Sadr movement. Muqtada al-Sadr's militia is divided, with one wing supporting the radical cleric's ceasefire while another has rejected it and continued attacks on Iraqi government forces and the British base at Basra aiport.

The Badr Brigade

Armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. The Badr Brigade has been involved in numerous clashes with the Mehdi Army and appears not to be the target of the current offensive by the Iraqi government forces. The group has organised "spontaneous" demonstrations against General Mohan and General Jalil.

The Fadhila

A political party and armed group with a localised powerbase. The governor of Basra is a member of the party, and it controls a significant proportion of the region's oil supply.

Secret Cells

Said to be armed and trained by Iran and allegedly carrying out attacks ordered by Tehran.

Enfrentamientos en Basora

2008-03-25T10:04:00.001+01:00

Heavy fighting breaks out in southern Iraqi city
Basra, 25 March 2008 (Gulf News)

Heavy fighting broke out on Tuesday in Iraq's southern city of Basra, where Iraqi authorities have clashed with members of the Mehdi Army militia.

An Iraqi military official said Iraqi forces had launched operations to "cleanse" Basra of armed groups.

"Sounds of explosions were heard in different areas of Basra and columns of smoke have been rising from northern districts of the city," a witness said.

Basra hospital has begun to admit casualities, but it is unclear yet if there are any fatalities.

McCain en Iraq,coincidiendo con el quinto aniversario.

2008-03-18T19:39:00.000+01:00

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, arrived in Baghdad for a visit with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials.

The trip by McCain, who has linked his political future to U.S. military success in the nearly five-year-old war, coincided with the 20th anniversary of a horrific chemical weapons attack in northern Iraq.

McCain met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh on Sunday and planned to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, according to the U.S. Embassy. Further details of McCain's visit, which had been anticipated, were not being released for security reasons, the embassy said.

Before leaving the United States, McCain, one of the foremost proponents of the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion, said the trip to the Middle East and Europe was for fact-finding purposes, not a campaign photo opportunity.

But he expressed public worries that militants in Iraq might try to influence the November general election.

"Yes, I worry about it," he said, responding to a question during a campaign appearance in Pennsylvania. "And I know they pay attention, because of the intercepts we have of their communications."

McCain, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was accompanied by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Republican Lindsey Graham, two top supporters of his presidential ambitions.

The week-long trip will take McCain to Israel, Britain and France, and include his first meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He also is expected to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli officials.

His focus in Iraq was thought to be the drop in sectarian violence and U.S. and civilian casualties since last summer. Exactly what was discussed, however, remained unclear since numerous telephone calls to aides traveling with McCain went unanswered.

Elsewhere, Kurds in northern Iraq commemorated the anniversary of the chemical weapons attack in Halabja, near the Iranian border, with solemn observances. The streets were empty and heavily patrolled by Iraqi security forces.

Saddam Hussein ordered the 1988 attack as part of a scorched-earth campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the north, which was seen as aiding Iran near the end of its war with Iraq. Saddam was executed for other crimes against humanity before he could face trial for the attacks.

McCain's trip to Iraq is his eighth. Last November, he met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

On a visit last April, the Arizona senator criticized news reports he said focused unfairly on violence, and said Americans were not getting a "full picture" of progress in the security crackdown in the capital.

McCain was combative toward reporters' questions in the heavily guarded Green Zone, and responded testily to a question about his comment that it was safe to walk some Baghdad streets. He later acknowledged traveling with armed U.S. military escorts.

Violence has dropped throughout the capital since, with an influx of some 30,000 additional U.S. soldiers sent to Iraq last year. The U.S. military has said attacks have fallen by about 60% since last February.

Faluyah,el futuro

2008-03-13T23:39:00.000+01:00

War-torn Fallujah rises from ashes
by Sgt. Nathaniel Leblanc
RCT-1 PAO

FALLUJAH, Iraq (March 10, 2008) — Just mentioning the city of Fallujah conjures up images of a devastated city ripped apart by the horrors of war.

It was November 2004, there were an estimated 2,000 insurgents infesting the city prepared to fight to the death and it was the Marine Corps’ job to rid them. After bitter house-to-house fighting the Marines took the city. In the battle’s wake laid a city in ruin. Numerous buildings turned to rubble, the streets littered with debris, any form of city infrastructure such as water and power eliminated. It was total devastation.

The Fallujah of today still holds the scars of war. Bullet holes pockmark numerous buildings throughout the city, yet, out of the ashes of fiery combat a city of hope has begun to arise.

Fallujah is far from perfect if you look at it in terms of American standards, but considering where it was a few years ago, the city is thriving.

“The city has heart and soul; it’s headed in the right direction,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Dowling, battalion commander, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1.

One of the largest contributors to the turn around is the will of the people. According to Dowling, the people of Fallujah are key in setting the conditions for change. “They need to be willing participants, and the people of Fallujah are willing participants," he said.

Another indicator to the success of a city is its economic development. Now, years later on the same streets that saw the most violent combat, vendors sell their goods. Fishmongers haggle over the price of the day’s catch, a child sells ice-cream, old men sit around and drink tea, and trucks loaded with produce pass under the same bridge where the mutilated bodies of American contractors once hanged. In the very streets that Marines and insurgents once clashed, caravans of cars, trucks and even horse and tractor drawn wagons move the residents of the city about during their daily business.

According to Dowling, it has been a slow and methodical process and the success in the city today is due not only to the current Marines and Iraqi security forces who protect the city but also the numerous Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Iraqi forces that have served in the city before to pave the way for the cities revival.

The fight for the city and the events leading up to today have been costly, expressed Dowling. “The streets of Fallujah are filled with the blood of sailors, solders, and Marines.” And according to Dowling the success of the city today is a “tribute to those young men.”

Fallujah is a city at the brink; the potential for it to erupt into chaos is still present. Yet thanks to the valiant efforts of the soldiers, sailors, Marines and Iraqi forces who have served here with distinction that potential becomes less and less every day. Moreover, the willingness of the people of this once war-torn city to rise up from the fiery ashes of combat and make this city work shows that this city’s future remains bright

Reconstruyendo Iraq

2008-03-13T23:32:00.000+01:00

‘Village of Hope’ aims to boost economy
Task Force Marne Public Affairs

Tech. Sgt. Wayne Dingle teaches a class about electrical panels during the first week of classroom instruction March 4, at the Village of Hope, located on the grounds of Patrol Base Stone. (Courtesy photo)
Tech. Sgt. Wayne Dingle teaches a class about electrical panels during the first week of classroom instruction March 4 at the Village of Hope, located on the grounds of Patrol Base Stone. (Courtesy photo)

FOB KALSU, Iraq (March 10, 2008) — After months of oppression from al-Qaeda in Iraq, the southern Baghdad community of Hawr Rajab is coming back to life.

Coalition and Iraqi efforts are now focused on rebuilding the economy. One initiative garnered 50 students for classes at the “Village of Hope,” a vocational school designed to teach Hawr Rajab residents the basics of construction.

Soldiers from 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division provide security at construction sites where classes are taught by U.S. Air Force Airmen with related occupational specialties.

The Airmen-turned-teachers are with the 557th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron, headquartered at Balad Air Base. The Village of Hope team has about 30 members who conduct classes from Patrol Base Stone, a Coalition outpost in the heart of the community.

Tech. Sgt. Jacob Wilcock, a structural class instructor, said he had to adjust his mindset from pounding nails to teaching.

“As builders, we are more attuned to seeing a completed structure or physical progress at the end of a work day,” said Wilcock, from Phoenix. “Teaching is very rewarding, but the reward is seeing the students understand the lesson and do well on a practical exercise.”

In addition to learning the basics of building over the three-month course, students will rebuild homes damaged or destroyed by extremists. Rebuilding homes is part of the lesson plan and as an added incentive, students are paid for attending class.

“The students are very receptive, ecstatic and happy about the school,” said Capt. Josh Aldred, Village of Hope project manager. “They are very grateful and fully understand we’re here to help.”

Local businesses will also benefit from the Village of Hope project. When classroom instruction ends and hands-on training begins, building materials available locally will be purchased from Hawr Rajab vendors.

“Many come up to say that this is the best thing that has ever happened here,” Aldred said.

To ensure a steady supply of building materials, a brick and concrete block maker from Hawr Rajab was awarded a Baghdad-7 embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (ePRT) micro-grant to help improve his business.

Airmen also gave the business owner and his employees some tips on how to make products more efficiently.

“He’s been making blocks for a long time and does good work,” said Air Force Master Sgt. Richard Kapp, the liaison between the Army and Air Force on the project. “We just showed him how to improve the products he puts out.”

Bruce Bailey, Baghdad-7 ePRT international development adviser, said Hawr Rajab is heading in the right direction to get back on its feet. “They’re near Baghdad, they have a main road going through the community and [it’s] one of the last stops before you get to the farms. Hawr Rajab has great economic potential."

Airmen also see the rewards coming from their new line of work.

“I’ve deployed five times but I’ve never had the chance to help someone change their life,” said Tech. Sgt. Christopher Collins, plumbing class instructor, from Fort Walton Beach, Fla. “This training will help them for the rest of their lives.”

Hoy me llamo.

2008-03-07T14:54:00.001+01:00

ISAIAS CARRASCO

Descansa en Paz.

Noticias de Iraq ,4 de Marzo

2008-03-05T00:15:00.001+01:00

Hawaii-based Infantrymen Keep Streets Clean Wit...
(03.04.2008) To keep coalition forces and Iraqi locals safe from insurgents, Marines seek out and take away any weapons that would be used against them.
Marines with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, conducted a routine cache sweep, Feb. 28.

Chairman Thanks Troops During Kirkuk Visit

(03.04.2008) The highest ranking U.S. military officer made a brief visit to meet with several deployed units March 2.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended meetings with the U.S. State Department provincial reconstruction team, presided over a short promotion ceremony for two Army officers, and had dinner with several Airmen and Soldiers during his visit.

Before dinner, Mullen provided a few words to an audience that included representatives from each service branch and other government organizations. One of the admiral's primary focuses was the impact families have on the mission in Iraq, despite being thousands of miles away.

"I'm not only grateful for all the people serving here in Iraq, but for their families as well," Mullen said. "Without the sacrifice of our families, none of us could be successful in our careers. We must maintain a delicate balance between the mission and our families."

Making Improvements for Future Soldiers
(03.04.2008)
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – When deployed to a location for 15-months, there is ample time and reason to improve camp conditions. The Combat Aviation Brigade’s sergeant’s major detail at Camp Striker makes enhancements, such as building walkways and maintaining Internet access, which can boost morale in current and future troops.

“We do this because we want to leave this place looking better than it looked when we got here – that’s what we did during our last deployment in Camp Taji for the unit that replaced us,” said Sgt. Sean Aube, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, and sergeant’s major detail noncommissioned officer in charge.

Citizens of Salman Pak, Al Lej Celebrate Reopen...
(03.04.2008)FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Residents of Salman Pak and al Lej breathed a collective sigh of relief Feb. 29 as more than 150 Sons of Iraq, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces leaders met to celebrate the reopening of the al Lej road, the main thoroughfare connecting Salman Pak and al Lej.

The road had been closed to civilians after a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated at a traffic checkpoint, killing seven Iraqi national policemen in May.

Since construction began more than two weeks ago on Combat Outpost Carver, home to Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, Soldiers had been assessing needs of local. Their number one concern: reopen the road to Salman Pak.

Vanguard Distribution Company Changes Hands
(03.04.2008) A change of command ceremony for the 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, was held, Feb. 22, at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq.
Capt. Misti Frodyma, from Archer City, Texas, turned over command of Company A, 703rd BSB to Capt. Seth Olmstead, from Murfreesboro, Tenn. Frodyma led Company A since June, 2006, and will take Olmstead’s place on the battalion’s operations staff. Olmstead served in Company A during Operation Iraqi Freedom III.

“A distribution company is a very complex organization with many different missions and directions,” said Lt. Col. John Chadbourne, 703rd BSB commander.

The distribution company is responsible for the receipt, storage, handling, and delivery of every class of supply but medical. This includes food, water, fuel, barrier material, ammunition, vehicles, equipment and repair parts; virtually everything a soldier needs.

The unit is responsible for making sure every soldier has the right amount of supplies at the right time, said Chadbourne.

Company A has played a significant role in the Vanguard area of operations since deploying in October, specifically in establishing several new patrol bases in support of Operations Marne Round-up and Midway.

Obedi Region Safer Thanks to CF, IA
(03.04.2008) Iraqi army soldiers and coalition forces found a weapons cache and detained numerous insurgents during Operation Varsity, Feb. 28, in the Obedi region of Iraq.
Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division and soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, currently attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducted the operation to clear the area of al-Qaida resources.

While conducting a daytime foot patrol, soldiers uncovered the cache containing munitions and supplies for making improvised explosive devices.

The soldiers also discovered a building rigged with multiple explosives. An Air Force F-18 jet was called in to destroy the structure with two Excalibur GPS guided artillery rounds and two 500 pound bombs.

“The thing is getting ammunition out of the hands of enemies and clearing the
al-Qaida stronghold,” said Capt. James Browning, commander of Company A.

Initially planned by Iraqi security forces, coalition forces and IA worked together to finalize mission plans. Browning, from Fayetteville, N.C., said with all the forces combining their efforts, security is improving.

“Now where (the IA) are at, they’re able to plan, execute and basically resource an operation of this size and magnitude,” Browning said. “This has been an opportunity for both the Iraqi army and coalition forces to work together and clear out an area”

Iskandariyah Vocational School Benefits Residents
(03.04.2008) More than a dozen representatives from the Mahmudiyah Qada toured the Iskandariyah vocational school, March 2, to see how local residents may benefit from it.
The Mahmudiyah Qada council chairman and education director general, an area representative, the Yusufiyah nahia chairman and nine senior sheiks from throughout the qada attended. The group toured the vocational school, adjacent the Iskandariyah Industrial Complex.

Approximately 22 programs are offered through the school, said Dr. Nassir Abbas, the school director. Classes include welding, sewing, computer skills and maintenance, generator and air-conditioning repair and electrical engineering.

The vocational school opened in 1972. Almost 500 students are currently enrolled.

“We are hoping in April to have 850 and in May more than 1,000,” Abbas said.

The end goal of the school is generating employment, said Lt. Col. Robert Bobinski, deputy team leader for the embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team attached to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

“That means sustainable employment, not part-time jobs; full-time jobs that pay money,” Bobinski said.

The short-term goal is to bring students from the Mahmudiyah Qada to the school to teach them skills. Mid-term is to provide opportunities for the students to hone skills, perhaps by on-the-job-training.

“Long-term, as demand for employees grows, we will work with the government of Iraq to make more (vocational schools),” Bobinski said. That way, there will be a pipeline of trained employees with sustainable, marketable skills, he said.

The leaders toured halls jam-packed with students walking to class and entered classrooms filled to capacity with Iraqis learning to sew, weld and repair generators and computers among other technical skills. They took copious notes, spoke to instructors and asked the director numerous questions about how the school could benefit the Mahmudiyah Qada.

“Whatever you learn here, you can bring back to your community and make other jobs,” Bobinski said. “There is universal honor in taking care of your family.”

Representatives from the Mahmudiyah region agreed to submit applications for 150 Sons of Iraq to begin training in April.

“We will definitely send our people here,” said Sheik Hattim Muhsin ‘Alwan al-Mehowi, from Yusufiyah. Asked which programs would be best suited for the citizens in his area, he said, “All of them.”

Watchers in the Night
(03.04.2008) As a convoy security unit, the Soldiers of Battery A, 1st Battalion, 143rd Field Artillery, 1st Sustainment Brigade, are charged with safely escorting convoys from one point to another.
During convoys, they are their “brother’s keeper.” The Soldiers have to remain alert and ever vigilant as they travel down potentially unsafe roads.

“The number one thing that’s important to me when working with any transportation company is that they have confidence in us,” said Sgt. 1st Class Donald Fisher, a gun truck commander and the platoon leader for first platoon, Battery A, 1st Bn., 143rd FA, 1st SB.

The unit is attached to the 1103rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. Although there have been IED blasts and small arms fire incidents, the unit has had no serious injuries, said Fisher. Confidence is exactly what their transportation units have in them.

“Our gun trucks have been good at finding stuff and not getting us into bad situations,” said Sgt. Derek Frey, an assistant mission commander for the 494th Transportation Company, 1103rd Combat Support Sustainment Battalion, 1st SB.

“We don’t encounter a lot of engagements. Other people travel the same routes as us and a lot of them seem to have problems. We attribute that to the way our vehicles are performing,” Fisher said.

During the convoy, the vehicles have constant communication with each other. If at a halt, all eyes in the vehicles are watching for anything suspicious as the gunner in the hatch keeps his weapon at the ready and scans the sectors around him.

“If you look like you know what you are doing, nobody really wants to mess with you. Don’t make yourself a target,” Fisher added.

Although the possibility of an enemy attack is real, the Soldiers enjoy traveling. They get to see many different parts of the country and interact with some of the locals.

“Some of the missions we run, we do get to interact with the local population and they’re really receptive,” said Fisher. “If you treat them with respect and show them that Americans aren’t bad, maybe their attitude will change and they will start working with us.”

When passing through a town, the Soldiers are friendly and wave at the people they see. They believe in respecting all people, but their biggest concern is the safety of the convoy.

“Our battery commander calls (my Soldiers) the ‘Wayward Home for Lost Boys’ because they have different (military occupational specialties) and attitudes as well as a wide age range; but they are some of the smartest, most courteous and faithful Soldiers you will ever run into,” Fisher said.

The transporters have to trust the gun truck company to choose the routes they will travel and what actions to take if an incident occurs. The gun truck commander has to constantly think ahead and trust his Soldiers to do their jobs.

“I can’t see what a 20-year-old gunner is doing at the back of a convoy so I have to trust him enough to make the right decision at the right time,” Fisher concluded.

494th TC Soldiers Motivated to Get the Job Done
(03.04.2008) Almost twenty years ago, Germans celebrated the fall of a famous concrete wall that, for so many years, segregated and isolated many of its countrymen from one another.
Today in Iraq, concrete walls have a different purpose. Barriers have been erected around a number of structures on forward operating bases and combat outposts throughout Iraq in an effort to protect the service members who reside on them from enemy attacks.

Soldiers of the 494th Transportation Company, 1103rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 1st Sustainment Brigade, have traveled through the night on different missions to deliver barriers to other brigades and battalions throughout Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

Although the Fort Campbell, Ky., unit is not the only company in the battalion that delivers barriers, it has been a critical piece to the missions since its arrival to theater last February.

“We’ve done other missions, but since October we have done, pretty much, nothing but barrier missions,” said Sgt. Derek Frey, a motor transportation sergeant with the 494th TC, who was the assistant mission commander for some of the missions.

Due to the efforts of the 494th TC and other companies in the 1103rd CSSB, the battalion has delivered more than 10, 000 barriers throughout MND-B.

“(The barriers) have proven to be very effective. There have been multiple engagements and attacks against our forces, and the wall would be in the way,” said Maj. Van Baxley, the support operations officer for the 1103rd CSSB, 1st SB.

“Although a section of the wall is destroyed, the munition, or whatever is used, expended all its energy against the wall and it never reaches its intended target. So it affords a great degree of protection against the enemy,” Baxley said.

Despite the fact that a mission can last anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, the Soldiers of the 494th TC understand the importance of the barrier missions so they have no qualms about constantly being on the road. At times, they even look forward to it.

“Sometimes it’s exciting,” Frey stated. “We go to different places, different (joint service stations) and different COPs. We never take barriers to the same place twice.”

With a barrier mission, the Soldiers are responsible for loading the barriers onto the vehicles, hauling them to the location they will be erected, downloading them and, at times, emplacing them.

“Emplacing the barriers was a new experience. There were a lot of new things we had to learn,” Frey said. “We learned how to handle barriers and how to work with the local national crane operators.”

“Sometimes we would tell the operators to go up and they would go down or we would tell them to go down and they would go left,” said Sgt. Fredrick Dyess, a motor transportation specialist with the 494th TC, with a laugh.

The Soldiers of the 494th TC are proud of the work they have done, but they are even more proud of the fact that, so far, there have been no successful attacks against them on the road and that there have been no serious injuries while handling the 10,000-to 12,000-pound walls.

They accredit these accomplishments to the Soldiers of Battery A, 1st Battalion, 143rd Field Artillery, who provide convoy security for them as they travel on the roads and to the safety standards that the company and battalion have in place.

The 494th TC is scheduled to return home to Fort Campbell this spring, but until their 15-month tour of duty comes to an end, the Soldiers will remain focused on the mission at hand.

“I would say as long as the Soldiers have a designated mission to be on, like the barrier mission, they have a sense of purpose. They have a sense that they’re helping,” Frey said.

“Overall, I think that their actions have proven that they’re motivated to do the job and that they’re ready to do it judging by the fact that we haven’t had anybody hurt. They’ve always gotten (the job) done. I can’t say enough about the Soldiers,” Frey said.

Route Michigan Opens in Ramadi
(03.04.2008) Three years ago, Route Michigan was closed for Iraqis from all the violence in the city of Ramadi but all that changed when coalition forces and city officials reopened the main road during a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Gone are the concertina wires and cement barriers, which have been replaced with newly-constructed tiled medians and street lights on the main road of the city.

“The opening up of Route Michigan is an important day for Ramadi,” said Ramadi Mayor Latif Obaid Ayadah. “It will allow traffic to move easier through the city from here to other places in Iraq,”

Route Michigan is the major highway out of Baghdad that runs west through Fallujah and Ramadi, and all the way through Anbar province to the Syrian border. It’s the main supply route for commercial goods, and traveling through much of western Iraq.

“The safety of Route Michigan will be run by the Iraqi police, who will be controlling the two checkpoints on the street,” Ayadah said. “It was closed for years because of all the violence from terrorists.”

The improved security enables the usage of the entire route for civilian traffic, which was thought to be unheard given the road’s violent past. Iraqi police from all districts of the city turned out to witness the grand opening.

“The city has been through a lot,” said Iraqi police Major Adel Ahmad, from the Kurama Iraqi police station. “This road has been closed from combat operations in the city for too long. We all worked hard to get to this point, and it’s great to see life returning to normal.”

Present for the ribbon cutting was the 1st Brigade Combat Team Commander Col. John Charlton, whose unit helped bring stability to the city in the beginning of last year.

“Ramadi is a safe city again from the efforts of Iraqi police, Soldiers and coalition forces here today,” he said. “The city looks great; there’s lots of construction going on, and I’m humbled to be here and see travel through the city open for everyone.”

Ramadi was plagued by insurgents, which all but disrupted life in the capital of Iraq’s western province. Now the area along Route Michigan is a far-cry from the war torn streets of yesterday.

“When I first drove on Michigan a year ago, the streets were lined with building rubble and there was trash everywhere,” said Spc. Jamie Blasingame, Company B, 3rd Brigade Support Battalion personal security detachment.

He said the people on the road didn’t have a sense of being safe considering how bad security was in the city.

“That’s the feeling you got when you moved down the route,” Blasingame said. “There were hardly any people near the buildings that lined the route.”

The Soldiers moving through the city have seen a big change in the short time they have driven on Route Michigan. The roads have been cleaned and military convoys move with the traffic instead of stopping it completely.

“The traffic doesn’t stop for us and now Iraqis have the freedom on the road like you’d see anywhere else,” said Spc. Alaisea Yandall, also from Co. B, 3rd BSB. “I never thought I’d see such a big change in the city.”

Soldiers driving through the main street of the city can attest that if Route Michigan’s opening is any indication, Ramadi is going to see more good times ahead.

Iraq siguen los descubrimientos de arsenales ocultos

2008-03-04T16:36:00.001+01:00

IA, Rakkasans find caches in Owesat, Yusufiyah
by Allison Flannigan
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division

Soldiers from Company A, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and Sons of Iraq lay out munitions from a huge cache, Feb. 25, west of Owesat.
Coalition Soldiers and Sons of Iraq lay out munitions from a large cache Feb. 25 west of Owesat, Iraq. (U.S. Army photo)

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq (Feb. 27, 2008) — Rakkasan Soldiers discovered a significant weapons cache, Feb. 25, a day after Iraqi army soldiers turned in three caches in Yusufiyah.

Soldiers of Company A, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), uncovered one of the largest caches found since the brigade’s arrival last October.

While establishing a checkpoint, Soldiers from 1st Platoon, Company A, conducted a security sweep. Staff Sgt. Jon Hood, from Kansas City, Mo., noticed a plastic bag on the ground. When he kicked the bag and heard a clink, he looked down and discovered several rounds uncovered by the rainy weather. Seeing the exposed rounds, Hood and his fellow Soldiers started digging up the cache to see what else was in there.

“There was a lot more to that little cache that we thought,” Hood said. In all, more than 300 live mortar rounds, between 56 mm and 155 mm, were intermixed with more than 8,000 mortar shells. With the help of local Sons of Iraq, the unit spent more than 26 hours digging up the cache.

This is the largest cache I’ve seen since I was a platoon leader with 3rd Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom I,” said Capt. Terry Hilderbrand, of Atlanta, Ga., commander of Company A. “This is definitely the largest cache we’ve pulled up since we’ve been here.”

The discovery of the massive munitions stash came one day after Soldiers from Company C, 3-187th Inf. Regt. received three big caches from their IA counterparts.

Iraqi troops from 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division recovered three large caches from Qarghuli Village and Shubayshen and turned the munitions over to Iron Rakkasans at Patrol Base Yusufiyah.

In total, the three caches yielded one complete improvised explosive device, 190 pounds of unknown bulk explosive, 40 pounds of dynamite, 74 82 mm mortar rounds, 18 122 mm artillery rounds, 38 60 mm mortar rounds, 400 additional projectiles between 23 mm and 155 mm, hundreds of assorted munitions pieces, several radios and documents.

Iraq 3 de Marzo 2008,últimas noticias

2008-03-03T03:50:00.002+01:00

Y .....
BAGDAD, 2 Mar.

El presidente iraní, Mahmud Ahmadineyad, consideró hoy que su visita a Irak --la primera realizada por un jefe de Estado iraní desde la Revolución islámica de 1979-- "abre un nuevo capítulo en las relaciones entre ambos países, según declaró en rueda de prensa junto al presidente iraquí Jalal Talabani.

"Esta visita abre un nuevo capítulo en las relaciones bilaterales entre los dos países, y contribuirá a crear una atmósfera de cooperación en la región", explicó el presidente iraní en la convocatoria celebrada a las puertas del domicilio de Talabani en el barrio de Karrada, en Bagdad.

Ahmadineyad expresó su alegría por el encuentro, ya que "una visita a Irak sin el dictador es realmente una visita gozosa", en referencia al fallecido Sadam Husein, archienemigo del régimen iraní. Asimismo, el presidente consideró que "un Irak desarrollado, poderoso y unido supone una ventaja para todos".

Ahmadineyad fue recibido a su llegada al aeropuerto internacional de Bagdad por el ministro de Exteriores iraquí, Hosiyar Zebari, con el que se fundió en un cálido abrazo. Posteriormente, fue trasladado en coche al domicilio de su homólogo iraquí, a pesar de que las visitas de alto nivel suelen desplazarse en helicóptero, para evitar las peligrosas carreteras de la capital.

Mientras....

IP find more than 500 munitions in cache
4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

FOB KALSU, Iraq (Feb. 26, 2008) — Iraqi police manning a checkpoint near Jurf as Sakhr, Iraq, discovered a large weapons cache with more than 500 munitions, Feb. 22.

The cache contained 240 60mm mortars, 189 100mm mortars, 107 fuses, three 82mm rockets and two 88mm mortars.

The IPs spotted three masked individuals digging approximately 250 meters from the checkpoint. The policemen yelled at men and moved toward the location. By the time they arrived at the site, the individuals had fled. Further investigation yielded discovery of three cache sites.

Soldiers from 3rd Platoon, Company A, and an explosive ordnance disposal team worked with the IPs to prepare the site for disposal. After the initial blast, about 60 more rounds of miscellaneous ordnance were unearthed.

En dique seco

2008-02-27T12:00:00.002+01:00

Después de varias semanas en dique seco por problemas ajenos a mi voluntad,seguiremos con los partes desde Iraq.

Feb. 22 Multi-National Force - Iraq statement commending cease-fire extension

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Feb. 22, 2008) — The Multi-National Force has received initial reporting that al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr's has pledged to extend the cease fire.

This extension of his August 2007 pledge of honor to halt attacks is an important commitment that can broadly contribute to further improvements in security for all Iraqi citizens. It will also foster a better opportunity for national reconciliation and allow the coalition and Iraqi Security Forces to focus more intensively on Al-Qaeda terrorists. Those who continue to honor al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr's pledge will be treated with respect and restraint. Those who dishonor the Sadr pledge are regrettably tarnishing both the name and the honor of the movement.

Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces will continue to work closely with the Iraqi people to protect them from these criminals who violate the law and dishonor the commitment made by al-Sayyid Muqtada. We also welcome an opportunity to participate in dialogue with the Sadr Trend and all groups who seek to bring about reconciliation in building the new Iraq.

News From Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Iraqis rebuild power line towers in Sayafiyah
Iraqi National Police graduate Carabinieri training
Joint operation helps displaced families return home
Adwaniyah residents see brighter future
Al Qaida leader's diary reveals organization's decline
Large cache discovered in southern Arab Jabour
Airmen deliver school supplies, soccer balls to school
Iraqi leaders, Coalition troops resettle families
Coalition disrupts al-Qaeda in central Iraq; eight terrorists killed, 12 detained
Recruits graduate from Camp Fiji IP Academy
Salman Pak leaders work to revitalize hospital
More jobs available at brick factory
ISF, MND-B Soldiers deliver school supplies
Troops connect children with medical program
Iraqi Soldiers graduate leaders’ course
Tip leads MND-North Soldiers to bomb factory
Kirkuk academy graduates 1,325 police
Soldiers distribute wheelchairs
Medical engagement a success in Abu Farris
Corps of Engineers completes al Mahaweel clinic
Iranian boats approach U.S. Navy ships
Iraqis turn explosives cache over to Kazakh soldiers
Sadr City hospital renovations near completion
Coalition Forces disrupt al-Qaeda networks in Diyala; 12 killed, 37 detained
Sunnis, Shi’as sign reconciliation agreement
Coalition forces capture Special Groups leader, disrupt criminal element network
Governance center opens in Sab Al Bor
Soldiers find atrocity site, torture complex
New air traffic control tower to expand TQ’s capabilities
Iraqi Forces, U.S. Special Forces Detain suspected Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader
Coalition forces capture Special Groups leader, 12 detained
Guard Film Tells Soldiers' Stories
Marines upgrade control tower
Leaders reflect on successes, hope for Baghdad's future
Garma reopens marketplace
Military Police give aid to local Iraqi boy

Parte de operaciones,Iraq

2008-02-01T09:40:00.000+01:00

Friday, 01 February 2008 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command Soldiers attacked by indirect fire (Tikrit)
Thursday, 31 January 2008 MND-B Soldier killed by IED attack (Baghdad)
Thursday, 31 January 2008 DoD Identifies Army Casualty (Baghdad)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (Mosul)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 Soldiers arrest eight alleged Sunni extremists (Baghdad)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 Coalition Forces capture high-value individual (Baghdad)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 DoD Identifies Army Casualty (Baghdad)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 Coalition disrupts al-Qaeda networks; four terrorists killed, 18 detained
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 TF-Rogue troops capture AQI cell member as part of Phantom Phoenix
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 Coalition forces detain four suspected criminals (Baghdad)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 Coalition Forces detain one extremist following a rocket attack (Baghdad)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 VBIED discovered, two detained (Arab Jabour)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 CLCs contribute to finding enemy weapons (Arab Jabour)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 Operation Iron Boston targets al-Qaeda hideout (Sa'id Abdullah)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 CLC turns in weapons cache (Baghdad)
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 Iraqi, U.S. Security Forces detain extremist leader, terrorist financier in separate operations (Saf
Tuesday, 29 January 2008 Scouts recover weapons cache in Narwhan
Tuesday, 29 January 2008 RCT-1 takes command in Al Anbar
Tuesday, 29 January 2008 Coalition forces target al-Qaeda in Iraq networks, 18 suspects detained
Monday, 28 January 2008 Soldiers find two caches in Doura
Monday, 28 January 2008 Busy roadway reopens in Baqubah
Monday, 28 January 2008 Coalition Soldiers killed in IED attack (Ninewah)
Monday, 28 January 2008 Coalition forces target al-Qaeda in central Iraq; 18 suspects detained
Monday, 28 January 2008 Anti-Coalition forces operative captured; criminal networks disrupted (Baghdad)
Sunday, 27 January 2008 Sixteen IEDs, cache turned in by CLCs
Sunday, 27 January 2008 CLCs contribute to finding enemy weapons
Sunday, 27 January 2008 CLC leader killed by car bomb
Sunday, 27 January 2008 MND Soldiers, Iraqi Police conduct combined operation with CLCs in support of Operation Phantom Phoe
Sunday, 27 January 2008 Iraqi civilians lead troops to explosives cache (Ramadi)
Sunday, 27 January 2008 MND-B Soldier killed by IED (Baghdad)
Sunday, 27 January 2008 MND-B Soldier attacked by IED (Kadamiyah)
Saturday, 26 January 2008 Abu Ajeel’s Iraqi Police come back strong (Tikrit)
Saturday, 26 January 2008 MND-North Soldiers uncover large caches west of Bayji
Saturday, 26 January 2008 Three terrorists killed, two detained during operations targeting al-Qaeda (Tigris River Valley)
Saturday, 26 January 2008 CLC provides tip to cache, roadside bomb (Baghdad)
Saturday, 26 January 2008 Iraqi citizens’ tips lead Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces to 2 weapons caches (al Kut)

Iraq,últimas noticias

2008-01-25T14:05:00.000+01:00

Press Release A080125a
January 25, 2008

Al-Qaeda in Iraq networks disrupted; one killed, 19 detained

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces killed one terrorist and detained 19 suspects Thursday and today during operations targeting al-Qaeda networks in central and northern Iraq.

RELEASE No. 20080124-09
January 24, 2008

Haditha SWAT detains four suspects
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO

BALAD, Iraq – The Haditha Special Weapons and Tactics team, trained by U.S. Special Operations Forces, conducted its first solo operation in Barwanah Jan. 21,detaining four suspects.

“The Haditha SWAT team became operational only one month ago,” said the detachment unit commander in charge of their training. “Despite that, team members used their training and worked as if they had been together for years.”

The SWAT team had been on four other operations with U.S. Special Operations Forces acting as advisers, but had not completed an operation as a single unit.

The Jan. 21 operation was the first where the team collected intelligence and performed the raid independently. During the raid, SWAT members detained four individuals and confiscated material used to make improvised explosive devices.

RELEASE No. 20080124-07
January 24, 2008

Iraqi Army, MND-North Soldiers open key route between Baghdad and Baqubah

4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division PAO

Multi-National Division – North PAO

BAQUBAH, Iraq – Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – North forces cleared a key route between Baghdad and Baqubah of improvised explosive devices this month in Iraq.

This was done as part of the countrywide offensive Operation Phantom Phoenix, during the division’s Operation Blackhawk Harvest. Iraqi Soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 5th IA Division, supported by 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment cleared 30 IEDs on and around the road that Iraqis call Sabh Nissan.

The area of the road between Khan Bani Sa’ad and Baqubah had been so heavily covered in IEDs that vehicles had to take other routes to get back and forth from Baghdad and Baqubah.
RELEASE No. 20080124-04
January 24, 2008

Update: Large house bomb explodes in Mosul

Multi-National Division – North PAO

TIKRIT, Iraq – Coalition Forces have updated the casualty figures for the large house bomb which struck Mosul Jan. 23.

The total number of Iraqis killed by the attack is 34, and the total wounded 135.
RELEASE No. 20080124-03
January 24, 2008

Marines launch rescue effort to save Hadithah girl

Multi-National Force – West PAO

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Marines operating in Al Anbar Province airlifted a young Hadithah girl in desperate need of a life-saving surgery, and her mother to the Jordanian border Jan. 22.

They were met there by a team of medical professionals who will escort them to Nashville, Tenn., for open-heart surgery.

Amina Al’a Thabit, a three-year-old who suffers from a congenital heart defect, was discovered by Marines assigned to 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, which is now part of Regimental Combat Team 5, patrolling the area as part of their daily interaction with the populace.

The battalion surgeon diagnosed her condition, and recognizing the gravity of the situation, coordinated arrangements with doctors in the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University who agreed to perform the surgery at no cost to the family.

The Marines, in concert with numerous government agencies, initiated a coordinated effort to transport Amina and her mother from their home in the Hadithah region to Nashville for the procedure.

Travel costs and incidentals were financed by private donors.
RELEASE No. 20080124-02
January 24, 2008

Explosion in Mosul kills 12, wounds 132

Multi-National Division – North PAO

TIKRIT, Iraq – A massive explosion occurred in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Jan. 23, resulting in the deaths of 12 Iraqi citizens and three Iraqi Army Soldiers and wounding at least 132 civilians.

Local Iraqi civil and military authorities are leading search and recovery efforts.

“This is a stark example of al-Qaeda’s disregard for the citizens of Iraq,” said Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commanding general of Multi-National Division – North. “It also highlights their willingness to risk the lives of innocent civilians by storing weapons in civilian homes, causing limitless pain and suffering on innocent people to further their agenda.”

The explosion occurred as Iraqi Army units were conducting a raid of a weapons cache in western Mosul.

“Coalition Forces will assist Iraqi civilian and security agencies in any way possible to assist in search and recovery efforts,” said Hertling. “We offer our condolences to our Iraqi brothers; we will stand by our comrades as they respond to this tragedy and make every effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Paz en Kerbala

2008-01-19T21:29:00.001+01:00

BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims clambered aboard buses or began trekking homeward on foot Saturday at the end of Ashoura, a 10-day ritual to cleanse the spirit and scourge the body in honor of their founding saint.

Despite two days of fighting that killed at least 72 people farther south and a series of attacks north of Baghdad, the high holy days in Karbala passed absent the slaughter of pilgrims witnessed in the years since the U.S.-led invasion nearly half a decade ago.

Fearing a spectacular attack on the masses of self-flagellating faithful who marched on the shrines in Karbala, Iraqi authorities flooded the city with 30,000 police and soldiers. Old Soviet-made tanks guarded approach roads.

A relatively uneventful passage of Ashoura had been seen by U.S. and Iraqi officials as a rigorous test of the downward trend in violence in the country since Washington sent in 30,000 additional troops last year and many Sunni insurgents suddenly joined American forces in the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Diyala,de las balas a los corazones y mentes

2008-01-16T16:09:00.000+01:00

Iraqi children eat candy canes and play together during a humanitarian aid drop in Mansuriyah, Jan. 13, conducted by the Iraqi Army and Soldiers of Troop G, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash. Photo by Spc. John Crosby, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

MANSURIYAH — Operation Raider Harvest, a large scale operation in the Northern Diyala River Valley involving more than 4,000 troops from 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., is shifting focus from a clearing operation to a rebuilding operation.

The changes are showing in the streets. Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Mansuriyah, Jan. 13, some to observe their new Iraqi Army and Coalition Force neighbors, others to collect bags full of rice and flour during a humanitarian aid (HA) drop conducted by Soldiers of Troop G, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR).

“We are working to establish projects to improve life support and improve the infrastructure,” said Capt. Robert Green, Grim Troop Commander, 2-3 ACR.

Green’s troop and Iraqi Army Soldiers handed out scoops full of flour and rice to the people of Mansuriyah. Twenty-five 50-kilogram bags of flour and 25 50-kilogram bags of rice were distributed to dozens of men, women and children lined up behind Grim Troop’s entry control point.

“We’re trying to show a gesture of good will,” said Grim Troop 1st Sgt. James Adcock. “We’ve transitioned from blocking positions and defending against the IED (improvised explosive device) threat and just keeping an eye on the area. We’re still watching the routes and monitoring traffic, but we are trying to get things back to normal here.”

This is exactly why missions such as this HA drop needed to be conducted, according to Adcock.

“We are passing out this rice and flour in hopes of gaining some trust,” Adcock said. “We are showing these people we’re here to help.”

Gaining trust with the Iraqi people was a common goal between Grim Troop and the Iraqi Army.

“I’m very happy helping these people and children, it is a wonderful day,” said Iraq Army Warrant Officer Latif Cubah through an interpreter. “I am proud to help the people of this village with Coalition forces, because for a long time they haven’t had any government support. We hope to gain these peoples’ trust, and pray to Allah for a brighter future.”

More missions aimed at helping the Iraqis are in the works for the people of the northern Diyala River province. More HA drops as well as a medical exercise will help bridge the gap between the Iraqis and their occupiers.

“As a part of the brigade operation to remove AQI (al Qaida in Iraq) and support local governance, Grim Troop is distributing humanitarian assistance, and will conduct a cooperative medical engagement in the area in the next few days. We will treat acute problems like cuts and burns, colds and sinus problems,” said Grim Troop Medic Cpl. Bill Allen. “After the clearing operation we are just trying to reach out to these people here and let them know we’re here for them.”

But as Operation Raider Harvest moves on one day at a time, so does bringing the normal way of life back for the Iraqis of Mansuriyah.

“We will pass out this food today and see where it takes us tomorrow,” Adcock said. “I wish we could do more.”

(Story by Spc. John Crosby, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

Asegurando el valle del rio Dilaya

2008-01-14T14:03:00.000+01:00

Coalition Forces Find Prison Facility, Weapon Caches in Diyala; 15 Detained

Sunday, 13 January 2008

Multi-National Force – Iraq Press Desk

A Coalition forces member lays out items found at a terrorist safe house during an operation targeting al-Qaida in Iraq in the Diyala province, Jan. 8. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Sean M. Worrell.

BAGHDAD — Coalition forces detained 15 suspected terrorists during a multi-day operation Jan. 7 - 10 to disrupt al-Qaida in Iraq networks in the Diyala River Valley. Coalition forces conducted operations in the Sherween Village area targeting al-Qaida in Iraq networks associated with media and foreign terrorist facilitation networks.

Reports indicate the region has become a safe haven for terrorists due to continued pressure from Coalition and Iraqi forces pushing al-Qaida networks out of central portions of the country and into the Diyala River Valley.

Recent operations in the Diyala River Valley have uncovered a significant amount of weapon caches, as well as execution sites, and torture and detention facilities.

With the help of numerous Iraqi local citizens, Coalition forces discovered four weapon caches, a former al-Qaida in Iraq prison and torture facility, and an improvised explosive device-making facility during the four-day operation.

Local Iraqis confirmed the use of the prison facility by al-Qaida in Iraq, but said it had not been used recently due to the presence of Coalition forces in the region. In addition, Coalition forces also destroyed four buildings that were found rigged with explosives and a river-crossing point that was being used to facilitate the movement of terrorists.

Espartanos a las afueras de Bagdad

2008-01-10T16:57:00.000+01:00

RAWANDIYAH — Baghdad is like any big city. Throughout the day the streets are busy, vendors sell their products to passing Iraqis and traffic can be a nightmare. It seems homes are one on top of the other, with what seems to be little privacy to the neighboring person.

Things are different on the outskirts of Baghdad in Radwaniyah—a very rural area. There is no overhead light—with exception to the gazing moon—traffic doesn’t seem to be a problem, and the nearest neighbor could be quite some distance away across many fields and canals.

In areas of Radwaniyah, Iraqi citizens live in mud hut-like homes, with minimal electricity. Out back some women prepare meals for their families in a darkened kettle over an open flame. Clothing hangs from a line behind their homes, where cows and chickens can also be seen. Surrounding these Iraqi homes sit fields of produce—their harvest.

Though relatively safe, the Iraqis are still plagued with a few problems. The biggest problems they face are no electricity, poor quality drinking water, and the lack of medical care, said Middleville, Mich. native, 1st. Lt. Benjamin Sevald, Spartans platoon leader.

Through home assessments and constant patrols, the troops of 3rd ‘Spartans’ Platoon, Battery B, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, are able to establish positive relationships with the local Iraqis and focus on improving their quality of life.

“My first goal is to keep my (Soldiers) as safe as possible, and to keep the Iraqis in the area as safe as possible, and then to do whatever we can to improve their quality of life, which I think we are making big steps in that regard right now,” Sevald said.

Perris, Calif. native, Sgt. Ziggy Buenrrostro, chief truck commander with the ‘Spartans’ platoon, said they are providing good welfare to the local nationals by keeping them informed, tracking their well-being, ensuring they have the necessary water and providing school supplies when needed.

“We are doing a great job,” he said.

Currently, the ‘Spartans’ platoon is working to put a water pump and filtration system into the area, said Sevald. Some Iraqis take their water from the canals, which can be very hazardous to their health.

During a recent patrol, Sevald sat down with a local man who was new to the area.

Arabic writing covered the walls. The man sat on his knees, with an ashtray to his forefront. Rugs and pillows were scattered across the floor, suggested this was where his family lays their heads at night.

The man was very open to discussion. Troops in the room sipped on Chai Tea while listening to the gentlemen’s concerns.

They talked to him about his crop situation, given the fact he was new to the area, said Sevald. He wasn’t really sure about some of the irrigation aspects. He expressed his concerns about the electricity and the basic necessities he lacks in his area.

After exchanging their goodbyes, the Iraqi man said, “My house is your house.”

Further on in the patrol, they came upon two children with warts on their faces. The medic, Pfc. Benjamin Ulery a native of Jay, Maine, treated the two children and continued on with their mission.

“…you feel the difference when you are wanted,” said Buenrrostro, who feels when they first started patrolling they got what he called a “stink eye”, but the people warmed up to them, and showed they respected them and their presence.

In most areas he believes the Iraqis, especially the children, are waiting to greet them. “People treat us with respect.”

Earning these Iraqis respect is pertinent, especially to the security aspect, said Sevald. These men and women are the ones who live here, spending their entire days upon this land. They know who does and does not belong within, and can point out strangers to the platoon.

“It’s a pretty rural area, so there aren’t a whole lot of people coming in and out,” said Sevald. It’s mostly the people who live there and their relatives coming through to visit them. They’re a huge help to us just in that respect.”

“We have good communications with the people there,” said Buenrrostro. “We try our best to help them out.”

With that and constant presence from the troops, the security in the area is very good, said Sevald.

“They always talk about how a few years ago it was dangerous in the area,” he added. “They couldn’t go to the market because it was too dangerous there. People didn’t feel safe in their homes— there were bombs going off.”

Now they feel safe, and “we are trying to keep it that way,” he said.

(Story by Sgt. James P. Hunter, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs)

Regalo de reyes

2008-01-08T18:21:00.000+01:00

SADR CITY — Extensive renovations will soon be complete at one of Sadr City’s major hospitals in east Baghdad. Al Baladi Maternity and Children’s Hospital initially opened in 1982 and during the following two decades little was spent on routine maintenance, said Iraqi Project Engineer Mohammad Attar, who oversees the hospital’s upgrade for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“During Saddam’s time, patients there had to tolerate 100-degree-plus interior temperatures because the air conditioning system was broke,” he explained.

The $12 million, three-year renovation included the installation of four new chillers, four cooling towers and four new boilers. “Those improvements helped the elderly and infants, who have little tolerance for heat and cold. The hospital is now able to maintain a comfortable interior temperature in both summer and winter,” Attar noted.

Other improvements include an oxygen plant, central vacuum system, nurse call system, intercom paging system, data communications network, new toilets and showers, new exhaust system to remove unhealthy air, new generator for emergency power, medical waste incinerator, and new water purification system.

The medical staff of eight doctors and 30 nurses is treating five times the number of sick people they saw prior to the renovation. They’re seeing 150 to 200 patients daily, 80 percent of which are children.

Their obstetric department is delivering 30 to 40 newborns every day. “One of their main goals is reducing the infant mortality rate and the new equipment is making a difference,” Attar said.

The two-story hospital has a bed capacity for 200 patients. More than 100 Iraqis have been part of the construction crew. They installed a new roof, put in new plumbing and electrical, rebuilt the physicians’ family-size apartments, added a new cafeteria area and kitchen, new lighting, new plastering, redid all the floors and ceilings, new surgical theater suite and x-ray equipment.

“It’s truly rewarding to know we’ve helped some of the poorest people in Baghdad,” Attar said. “They were tolerating absolutely horrible conditions. The toilets were overflowing, the air was stagnant, the medical equipment was outdated and much of it didn’t work. Despite ongoing insurgency threats, the contractor kept making steady progress. Today, Sadr City families have a modern facility and access to equipment that was simply not available three years ago. We’re all proud to have been a part of the effort.”

(Story by Norris Jones, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

La luz al final del tunel

2008-01-06T17:54:00.000+01:00

Un interesante articulo en el Sunday Telegram,sobre Iraq y el liderazgo americano.

P.d. Feliz Epifania y feliz Pascua Militar.

Golpe a Al Qaeda en Diyala

2008-01-02T16:23:00.000+01:00

Tropas iraquíes capturaron ayer al supuesto máximo dirigente de la organización terrorista Al Qaeda de la convulsa provincia de Diyala, al noreste de Bagdad, informó la agencia de noticias independiente iraquí Asuat Al Iraq.

La agencia, que cita al general de ejército Ghanem al Qoreichi, dijo que Mayid al Husein al Obeidi fue apresado ya de noche, en una redada en la aldea de Al Tahuila, próxima a la localidad de Al Jales, al este de Baquba, la capital provincial.

Según el alto mando castrense, Obeidi supervisaba los ataques y atentados perpetrados por Al Qaeda contra las fuerzas de seguridad y los civiles de Diyala, por lo que era buscado intensamente por la policía y las tropas iraquíes.

Asimismo, Qoreich aseguró que el cabecilla terrorista estaba implicado en el desplazamiento forzoso de habitantes de la provincia, que desde el año pasado se ha convertido en el principal feudo de la organización radical Estado Islámico de Iraq, liderada por Al Qaeda.

Esa agrupación fue anunciada en octubre del 2006 con la finalidad de imponer un estricto régimen islámico en las provincias de mayoría árabe suní.

Gracías mi Rey

2008-01-02T14:43:00.000+01:00

Por visitar a nuestros muchachos en Afganistán y hacerme un poquito más monárquico,que últimamente salvo por la frase del año,me estaba yo haciendo de la tricolor.

P.s."Al Rey, la hacienda y la vida se ha de dar;pero el honor es patrimonio del alma y el alma sólo es de Dios."
El alcalde de Zalamea.

Peatreus en el NYtimes

2008-01-01T21:40:00.001+01:00

Iraq Attacks Fall 60 Percent, Petraeus Says

By STEPHEN FARRELL and SOLOMON MOORE

Published: December 30, 2007

BAGHDAD — The top American military commander in Iraq said Saturday that violent attacks in the country had fallen by 60 percent since June, but cautioned that security gains were “tenuous” and “fragile,” requiring political and economic progress to cement them

The commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, said the “principal threat” to security remained Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown insurgent group that American intelligence officials say is foreign led.

Speaking to reporters in an end-of-year briefing at the American Embassy in Baghdad, General Petraeus said that coalition-force casualties were down “substantially,” and that civilian casualties had fallen “dramatically.”

“The level of attacks for about the last 11 weeks or so has been one not seen consistently since the late spring and summer of 2005,” he said. “The number of high-profile attacks, that is car bombs, suicide car bombs and suicide vest attacks, is also down, also roughly 60 percent” since their height in March.

During his 100-minute briefing, General Petraeus used a series of charts showing trends in overall weekly and monthly attacks, car and suicide bombs, weapons-cache finds and Iraqi civilian deaths.

Although the data showed a sharp fall in civilian deaths from their peak between mid-2006 and mid-2007, the rate of decline appeared to level off in the past two months.

The figures were based on American military statistics, but included some joint Iraqi-coalition data.

Año nuevo, esperanzas nuevas para Iraq

2007-12-30T03:27:00.000+01:00

First Signs of Hope Appear in Iraq

By ROBERT H. REID –

BAGHDAD (AP) — Former Sunni insurgents are signing up to fight al-Qaida, Shiite militias have toned down attacks, commerce is reviving and monthly casualty counts are falling. But the failure of Iraq's leaders to strike power-sharing deals raises questions whether the progress can survive after America begins sending its troops home next year.

Nearly a year after the U.S. gambled by pouring troops into Iraq's capital, there is finally cause for hope that the worst of the Iraq war may have passed, even if the endgame takes longer than Americans and Iraqis want.

The political rivalries between Sunnis and Shiites that fueled the conflict remain unresolved. And time may be running out for America to midwife a solution.

By July, the United States expects to withdraw all five combat brigades that were rushed to Iraq this year by President Bush to quell a tide of Sunni-Shiite slaughter that threatened to tear apart the country.

Also by mid-2008, U.S. and Iraqi officials hope to finish negotiations on a new deal that will shift more power to the Iraqis and probably reduce Washington's ability to influence decisions by Iraq's sectarian-minded leaders.

The security turnaround over the past three months has been startling.

In November 2006, at least 2,250 Iraqis were killed in political violence. Last month, the death toll was 718.

American deaths are down too, plunging from 126 in May to fewer than 40 for both October and November — even though 2007 is the deadliest year of the war for U.S. forces.

Thousands of Iraqis who fled the country are now returning. Areas of Baghdad that were ghost towns only a few months ago are reviving. Shoppers stroll the streets with their children.

"I think next year will be better because the situation is improving every day," said Firas Adel, a Shiite clothing merchant. "More people are returning to their homes and businesses. There is sense of safety and stability, and this will boost the economy."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in an early December stop in Iraq, was even able to project a sense of optimism that would have seemed ludicrous at the beginning of the year. "I believe that a secure, stable Iraq is within reach," Gates said. But he added: "We need to be patient."

The relative calm in Baghdad, Anbar and other battlefronts is fragile; fighting still rages in key areas not far from the capital. Bombs explode nearly every day in Baghdad, but draw little attention unless they cause multiple casualties.

Furthermore, Shiite and Sunni extremists groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq, have been battered but not destroyed. Al-Qaida fighters forced out of Baghdad are trying to regroup in northern Iraq and in the Euphrates Valley near Haditha to the west.

Other armed groups are believed laying low, waiting for the U.S. drawdown to return to the streets.

"There are good stories to tell here in terms of returning Iraqis. There are economic developments that are occurring that need to be reported. But I would do it at a measured pace," U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory Smith counseled journalists recently.

Much of the success is due to President Bush's decision to send nearly 30,000 American reinforcements to Iraq and to changes in tactics by top U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus.

With the added firepower, U.S. forces drove Sunni militants, including al-Qaida in Iraq, away from their strongholds in Sunni-dominated areas in and around Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi forces are pressuring extremists in northern and western Iraq to prevent them from regrouping.

The buildup encouraged Sunni tribal leaders to accelerate their revolt against al-Qaida, which began even before the troop surge. Now thousands of Sunnis are signing up to join U.S.-backed defense groups to make sure the extremists cannot return.

On the Shiite side, growing public discontent over criminality and abuses within the ranks of the biggest Shiite militia prompted its leader, anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, to suspend attacks and purge his Mahdi Army.

U.S. officials also say there are signs Iran has slowed or even stopped delivering weapons to Shiite militants, including those who ignored al-Sadr's orders.

"I think the new year will bring better life for Iraqis," said Ali Muhsin, 26, an Education Ministry employee. "If the pressure on al-Qaida and the other terrorist groups will continue, then I expect better days for Iraqis in the near future."

U.S. officials have long insisted that there can be no purely military solution to the Iraq conflict without lasting political agreements among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

With little sign of political progress, Washington is increasingly frustrated, fearing that gains achieved at the price of U.S.. and Iraqi lives will be squandered by politicians unable to set aside sectarian bitterness and hatred.

"The security surge has delivered significant results," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said recently. "Now progress on political reconciliation, including key national legislation as well as economic advances, is needed to consolidate the gains made thus far."

Otherwise, he warned "we risk falling back to the more violent patterns of the past."

Prospects for agreements on a range of issues — including sharing the oil wealth and relaxing the ban on supporters of ex-President Saddam Hussein in government jobs — are clouded.

Outside Baghdad, the central government barely functions. Millions of Iraqis are still clamoring for reliable electricity, clean water and other services they hoped for when Saddam's regime collapsed nearly five years ago.

Profound divisions remain over the vision for the new Iraq — either a strong central government or self-rule by ethnic and sectarian regions.

"The principal problem is this is a country with no agreement on what the country is," said Mideast analyst Jon Alterman. "You have lawlessness, thuggery and organized crime."

Sectarian wounds inflicted by Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime against Shiites and Kurds — and ripped open in the recent wave of sectarian slaughter — are far from healed.

"The distrust, the fear, the resentment on the part of the people who are in (Iraq's) government is profound," Phebe Marr, a leading Iraq scholar, told Foreignpolicy.com. "You only have to sit in a room and listen to these people talk to understand how deep the distrust is."

American soldiers encounter signs of this every day.

Sunni ex-insurgents are often more willing to deal with Americans than the Shiite-dominated security forces. Shiite police and army officers openly complain the Americans are dealing with Sunnis who have Shiite blood on their hands.

With such broad differences, many U.S. diplomats, military commanders and private analysts doubt the Iraqis will reconcile through grand, sweeping agreements or landmark legislation at the national level.

Instead, they believe the best shot is a patchwork of local peace deals between Sunni and Shiite tribes which, over time, will produce reconciliation from the bottom up. That process could take years.

"You will see some levels of reconciliation in some places, but it's going to be hard to strike a grand agreement that means all sectarian problems are put behind us," Alterman said.

Navidades en Iraq

2007-12-26T15:50:00.000+01:00

Iraqi Security Volunteers Keep the Peace in Saydiyah

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces recently began manning checkpoints in Saydiyah, a neighborhood in southwest Baghdad in the province of Rashid, in an effort to bring security and stability to a troubled area.

“The residents of Saydiyah have said security was best when the ISV (Iraqi security volunteer) checkpoints were manned. Evidence of this was the robust market activity during that period. We hope to return to that type of activity soon, but it’s going to take some time for this effort to bear some fruit,” said Lt. Col. Johnnie Johnson, commander of 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

Prensa.

U.S. Defence Secretary hopeful of troop reductions in Iraq (Belfast Telegraph)
Iraqi villagers battle to hold off Al-Qaeda (The Times)
Iraq Qaeda group confirms top figure killed (Reuters)
Bush Praises GIs, Military Families (AP)
Huckabee: Bush Should Be Commended for Iraq Surge (CBS)
Turkey launches fresh Iraq strikes (ABC)
Torture Chamber Found in Iraq (AP)

Feliz Navidad

2007-12-24T21:11:00.000+01:00

En especial a nuestros hombres y mujeres que esta Nochebuena sirven a España,dentro y fuera de nuestras fronteras.

Que dios les bendiga

Llega la navidad a Iraq

2007-12-16T11:36:00.000+01:00

BASRA — Prime Minister Gordon Brown, making a surprise visit to troops in Iraq last week, announced that Basra will be handed back to Iraqi control within two weeks.

Addressing troops at the Contingency Operating Base at Basra, where most of the United Kingdom’s troops are now based, Mr. Brown revealed that he had just spoken to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki who approved the handover. Mr. Maliki is recommending that British troops move to provincial Iraqi control within two weeks.

The remaining British troops will focus more on training local Iraqi forces, before UK numbers reduce down to 2,500 from the spring. There are now 30,000 Iraqi police and armed forces in the region.

Polish Civil-Military Coordination Group Delivers Humanitarian Aid in Diwaniyah DIWANIYAH — The Polish Civil-Military Coordination group, in cooperation with Iraqi Soldiers from the 8th Division and Polish Soldiers from Task Force Lynx, delivered four trucks full of humanitarian aid supplies to 110 families in Diwaniyah, Iraq, Dec. 11.
Iraqi Children Get New Wheels

CAMP STRIKER — Fifteen Iraqi children can now get around a little easier thanks to the new wheels they received at the Radwaniyah Palace Complex Civil-Military Operations Center Dec. 13.

Rakkasan medics from 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), assembled the chairs that were donated by an organization called Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids.

Iraq,mraps y otras cosas de comer

2007-12-14T10:16:00.000+01:00

Army Looks at Long-Term Need for Mine Resistant Vehicles WASHINGTON — The Army has not made a formal proposal to cut the number of mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles the service will buy, but officials are looking at the service’s long-term need, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said yesterday.

Los Angeles Times

Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the war in Afghanistan was an "economy of force" operation, a military label for a mission of secondary importance.

"Our main focus, militarily, in the region and in the world right now is rightly and firmly in Iraq," Mullen said before the House Armed Services Committee. "It is simply a matter of resources, of capacity. In Afghanistan, we do what we can. In Iraq, we do what we must."

Mullen appeared with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates before the House panel as U.S. officials sought to increase pressure on North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to boost the number of troops and equipment the alliance is providing for the Afghan mission.

Iraq,menos MRAPS,para el army

2007-12-11T09:48:00.000+01:00

BAGHDAD — The Army, which rushed to get new armored vehicles to Iraq after being criticized for moving too slowly to protect U.S. troops from roadside bombs, will probably not need all of the 10,000 armored vehicles it had requested, a top commander here says.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, said in an interview that because of improving security, the Army will use a mix of the new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and the military's workhorse truck, the Humvee, rather than eliminating Humvees.

Odierno's comment that the Army's requirement for MRAPs "will probably drop" follows the Marines' Nov. 30 announcement that they are cutting their plans to order 3,700 of the vehicles by 1,400.

Security in Iraq has improved with the addition of 30,000 troops here and an emphasis on a counterinsurgency strategy that stresses protecting the civilian population, Odierno said. Tips from civilians about bombs and caches of weapons have soared, while U.S. casualties have declined for six consecutive months.

Iraq,últimas noticias

2007-12-06T10:09:00.000+01:00

La reapertura del aeropuerto de Mosul,después de 14 años refleja los avances que se están realizando.

Thursday, 06 December 2007	Reconciliation takes center stage across Multi-National Division - Center
Thursday, 06 December 2007	Al-Qaeda networks disrupted; three terrorists killed, 19 detained
Thursday, 06 December 2007	Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces kill 2 insurgents, detain 12
Wednesday, 05 December 2007	Iraq Purchases Small Arms Through Foreign Military Sales (Taji)
Wednesday, 05 December 2007	MND-North Soldier attacked
Wednesday, 05 December 2007	Coalition forces capture weapons and foreign terrorist facilitators, 10 detained
Wednesday, 05 December 2007	Concerned Local Citizens’ tip leads to cache find (Madyriah)
Wednesday, 05 December 2007	Coalition Forces Soldiers attacked (Tikrit)
Wednesday, 05 December 2007	MND-C Soldiers discover cache in haystack (Al Ja’ara)
Tuesday, 04 December 2007	Baghdad welcomes hundreds of new Iraqi Police
Tuesday, 04 December 2007	Soldier attacked in vehicle explosion (Al Anbar)
Tuesday, 04 December 2007	Coalition forces detain two suspected criminal element members
Tuesday, 04 December 2007	Coalition forces target foreign terrorist facilitators, media cells; two killed, 25 detained
Tuesday, 04 December 2007	UPDATE: Coalition forces positively identify terrorist killed in recent raid
Tuesday, 04 December 2007	Mosul Airport reopens for commercial flights after 14 years; religious pilgrims board Iraqi airplane
Monday, 03 December 2007	Coalition forces target an al-Qaeda facilitator; one detained (Baghdad)
Monday, 03 December 2007	Announcement of Hajj Flights from Mosul Airport
Monday, 03 December 2007	Troops capture suspected terrorists (Baghdad)
Monday, 03 December 2007	Coalition forces disrupt terrorist operations; seven detained (Tarmiyah)
Sunday, 02 December 2007	Iron Reaper continues pursuit of al-Qaeda
Sunday, 02 December 2007	Troops arrest 3 alleged terrorists, find roadside bombs (Rashid district)
Saturday, 01 December 2007	Roadside bomb targets MND-B patrol (Baghdad)
Saturday, 01 December 2007	4 suspects detained in Rashid
Saturday, 01 December 2007	Coalition forces target car-bombers, assassins, kidnappers; one killed, 16 detained
Saturday, 01 December 2007	Concerned Local Citizens, Coalition Forces secure 3 weapons caches
Saturday, 01 December 2007	Coalition forces capture two targeted suspects; disrupt criminal network
Saturday, 01 December 2007	Tikrit Law School affiliates with Baltimore Law School
Saturday, 01 December 2007	Insurgent safe house, house-borne IED blown up (Arab Jabour)
Saturday, 01 December 2007	An Nasiriyah SWAT captures high-level IED facilitator, four others

Una de Marines.

2007-12-05T19:11:00.000+01:00

dicen que así se hacen las leyendas.

"Come on, you sons of bitches-do you want to live forever?" (Attributed to Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly, USMC, Belleau Wood, June 1918.
"Goddam it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!" (Captain Henry P. "Jim" Crowe, USMC, Guadalcanal, 13 January 1943.)
"Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning." (Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, Tarawa, 21 November 1943.)

In memoriam

2007-12-01T17:00:00.000+01:00

El honor es su principal divisa,el sacrificio por España su pasión y sino,hoy la patria engrandecieron por nuestra libertad y nuestra paz murieron,que Dios los bendiga.Viva la Guardia Civil,Viva España

A vueltas con Afganistán

2007-11-27T12:54:00.001+01:00

"El Alijar" hacía estos días atrás, un pormenorizado análisis sobre las necesidades de inversión en Afganistán,comparandolo con las que se hicieron en Bosnia y se hacen en Iraq,no puedo estar más de acuerdo con él,pero por mucho dinero que invirtamos en Afganistán sino redoblamos nuestros esfuerzos militares para garantizar la seguridad en el país de poco nos va a servir el dinero.A mi humilde entender el tema afgano debe resolverse en varios planos que son conexos entre si.

1ºPlano militar,es necesario redoblar esfuerzos para garantizar la victoria militar en el frente Talibán y la seguridad en el terreno
2ºPlano agrícola hay que darles a los agricultores cultivos que puedan sustituir a la adormidera y garantizarle los ingresos
3ºPlano político hay que tutelar a las instituciones afganas eliminado a los elementos corruptos y garantizando el buen funcionamiento de las mismas
4ºPlano social hay que conseguir que la mujer en afganistán deje de ser un objeto del hombre y garantizar un sistema educativo que pueda conseguir el cambio de mentalidad a largo plazo de la sociedad afgana
5ºInversión económica hay que establecer un plan marshall para afganistán que junto a los anteriores planos de acción garantice un Afganistán prospero en el futuro.

Todo esto no se consigue desde luego con la implicación actual de la OTAN,estamos hablando de triplicar esfuerzos militares cómo mínimo,de multiplicar¿ por 100?,inversiones económicas y de establecer una tutela política del régimen de Karzai.

Resumiendo,"largo me lo fiáis" .

De nuevo Afganistán

2007-11-23T11:04:00.000+01:00

Malalai Joya: “La actual ola de violencia en Afganistán desembocará en una guerra civil en el país y en un nuevo 11S”

El Tirador Solitario, nos hace llegar en su blog un articulo donde se nos dice que los Talibanes controlan el 50% de Afganistán.Yo lo comentaba hace unos días en este blog que debiamos redefinir nuestra misión.

Me imagino que serán necesarios cómo dice la diputada Malalai,más 11-S,más 11-M,más Metros de Londres para que Eurabia cómo bien la bautizara Oriana Fallacci despierte de su letargo.

En fin esto es Europa,la misma Europa que US vino a salvar del Kaiser,de los nazis y de los soviets.

Venciendo en Iraq

2007-11-21T14:55:00.000+01:00

Muchos eran escépticos de que el plan del General Peatreus funcionara,pero la realidad es que lo está haciendo,la seguridad en Iraq y en su mejor exponente la capital Bagdad esta mejorando ostensiblemente,hasta los demócratas Nytimes y Washington Post remisos a darle alas a la administración Bush han acabado reconociendo este milagro,porque viendo cómo estaban las cosas hace un año,parece un milagro,ahora es tiempo en este año que queda de gobierno de Bush de rematar la faena porque me temo que con el nuevo presidente sea quien sea ,si la situación iraqui no ha mejorado suficientemente los americanos saldrán de Iraq con el rabo entre las piernas.

Estas claro

2007-11-18T13:17:00.000+01:00

que o el gobierno redefine el despliegue de nuestras tropas en Afganistan o iremos de mal en peor.

El Tirador solitario,nos habla en su blog de la necesidad de UAV,radares contra batería,pero en realidad lo que hay que hacer es redefinir el despliegue aumentando el número de efectivos,contando con helicópteros de recon,ataque,uavs,radares y aviación de apoyo dando prioridad a la seguridad de la zona y manteniendo la misión de reconstrucción en un segundo nivel,cuando garanticemos la seguridad entonces podríamos entrar de lleno en la reconstrucción y quizás al igual que los canadienses deberíamos encargarnos de pagar, equipar y asesorar directamente nosotros a la policía afgana cómo parte de la reconstrucción de la zona.Sin seguridad todo lo que hagamos en el plano humanitario se ira al garete.

Afganistan una vez más

2007-11-18T13:15:00.000+01:00

MISIÓN EN AFGANISTÁN | EL AVANCE DEL INTEGRISMO

Las tropas españolas pierden el control del 70% de la provincia que ocupan en Afganistán

Sólo hay una unidad del ejército afgano desde julio, con apenas un centenar de hombres
Los talibán dominan dos de los siete distritos de la provincia
España dispone en Badghis de 225 militares destacados

Dos soldados españoles, integrantes del contingente desplazado a Afganistán, durante una patrulla en la provincia de Badghis. (Foto: Mónica Bernabé)

Actualizado domingo 18/11/2007 07:06 (CET)

MÓNICA BERNABÉ

QALA–E–NOW (AFGANISTÁN).- Las tropas españolas han perdido el control de buena parte de Badghis, la provincia de Afganistán que tienen a su cargo en el oeste del país, donde se encuentran desplegadas desde mayo de 2005 para contribuir a la seguridad, reconstrucción y gobernabilidad de la zona.

Actualmente, los talibán dominan dos de los siete distritos de la provincia –Bala Murghab y Ghormach, en el norte–, y en un tercero, Jawand, en el este, se han multiplicado los actos criminales en los últimos meses.

Los tres distritos suman casi el 70% de la superficie de Badghis, de dimensiones similares a la provincia de Zaragoza y con cerca de medio millón de habitantes. La clara falta de efectivos y la galopante corrupción de la administración local explican esta situación.

España dispone en Badghis de 225 militares destacados, que forman parte del denominado Equipo de Reconstrucción Provincial (PRT, en sus siglas en inglés).

Ofensivas talibán

Este dispositivo puesto en marcha por la OTAN en Afganistán, está integrado por un componente civil y otro militar. De los 225 efectivos, sólo 117 forman parte de la compañía de protección y seguridad –los otros se encargan de la complicada labor de mantener operativa una fuerza de acción en un lugar tan inhóspito como Afganistán–, de los que apenas 50 salen realmente a patrullar por la provincia, según el coronel responsable del PRT hasta el pasado viernes, Pedro Rolán.

El 9 de junio, los talibán iniciaron una ofensiva en Ghormach y sobre todo en Bala Murghab, que ha ido 'in crescendo'. "Hemos intentado patrullar por Bala Murghab todo lo posible, pero ha venido a ser sólo una vez al mes", admite el coronel.

Bala Murghab se encuentra a unos 170 kilómetros de Qala-e-Now, la capital provincial donde están destacadas las fuerzas españolas, y Ghormach, a unos 220.

Los talibán se esfuman como por arte de magia. Nunca se han enfrentado directamente con los españoles, aunque sí han colocado artefactos explosivos en su camino. "Está claro que la presencia permanente en Bala Murghab multiplicaría por mil la seguridad y variaría totalmente la situación", cree Rolán, pero rehúye concretar cuántos efectivos serían realmente necesarios. "Nosotros hacemos el trabajo con los medios que nos dan, y no entramos a valorar si tendría que haber más o menos".

Efectivos locales

A falta de tropas internacionales, bueno serían efectivos locales. De hecho, el verdadero cometido de las fuerzas españolas en Badghis debe ser apoyar a las afganas. En la provincia, sin embargo, sólo hay una unidad del ejército afgano, formada por un centenar de hombres que llegaron en julio ante la insistencia española.

Y los efectivos policiales también destacan por su escasez e incompetencia. El general Ayoob Nayazyar, responsable de la policía en Badghis, declara que dispone de 217 efectivos en Bala Murghab y 190 en Ghormach, pero que también recurre a más de un centenar de hombres no uniformados de la comunidad.

El comandante Hassan Khan explica que la situación sobre el terreno es difícil: "Los policías trabajan dos y tres meses consecutivos, sin regresar ni un solo día a casa, porque moverse por carretera es muy peligroso".

Él mismo resultó herido en junio y tardó tres días en llegar a un hospital por esa razón. Estuvo de baja casi un mes, no cobró ninguna indemnización y ahora vuelve a combatir contra los talibán por un salario de 70 dólares mensuales, que asegura que no le da para mantener a su familia.

El Alijar

2007-11-17T00:51:00.000+01:00

Recomiendo a todo el mundo que pase por el blog "El Alijar" y lean lo que paso un 10 de Agosto del año del señor 2007.Sin comentarios

Eliminados a las primeras de cambio

2007-11-14T15:49:00.000+01:00

Cada día pesamos menos.Di Paola nuevo Presidente del Comité militar.

En fin otra vez sera.

¿Ganando en Iraq?

2007-11-13T16:01:00.000+01:00

WASHINGTON — The first big test of security gains linked to the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is at hand. The military has started to reverse the 30,000-strong troop increase and commanders are hoping the drop in insurgent and sectarian violence in recent months — achieved at the cost of hundreds of lives — won't prove fleeting.

The current total of 20 combat brigades is shrinking to 19 as the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, operating in volatile Diyala province, leaves. The U.S. command in Baghdad announced on Saturday that the brigade had begun heading home to Fort Hood, Texas, and that its battle space will be taken by another brigade already operating in Iraq.

Between January and July — on a schedule not yet made public — the force is to shrink further to 15 brigades. The total number of U.S. troops will likely go from 167,000 now to 140,000-145,000 by July, six months before President Bush leaves office and a new commander in chief enters the White House.

As the U.S. troop reductions proceed, it should become clear whether the so-called "surge" strategy that increased the U.S. troop presence in and around Baghdad resulted in any lasting gains against sectarianism. Critics note that the divided government in Baghdad has made few, if any, strides toward political reconciliation that the Americans have said is crucial to stabilizing the country.

The acceleration of the U.S. mission away from direct combat to more of a support role will put greater pressure on Iraqi security forces to bear more of the load. And it will test the durability of new U.S. alliances with neighborhood watch groups springing up with surprising speed.

Declines in Iraqi civilian and U.S. military casualties in the past few months and talk among U.S. commanders of an emerging air of optimism and civic revival in some Baghdad neighborhoods point to positive security trends.

Although more U.S. troops have died in Iraq this year — at least 856 — than in any year since the war began in 2003, the monthly count has declined substantially since summer. Iraqi civilian deaths also have declined. At least 3,861 Americans have died in the Iraq war since it started.

A key question is whether security will slip once U.S. lines thin and whether Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and orchestrator of the counterinsurgency strategy, has made enough inroads against insurgents — and instilled enough hope in ordinary Iraqis — to make the gains stick.

U.S. commanders assert that it is not just the larger number of U.S. troops that has made a difference but also the way those troops operate — closer to the Iraqi population now rather than from big, isolated U.S. bases. Living among the Iraqis, they say, allows for a building of greater trust.

That trust, in turn, prompted more local Iraqis — mostly Sunni Arabs but also Shiites — to join U.S. forces in anti-insurgent alliances, the commanders say. It also has meant

IEDS en Iraq

2007-11-13T15:50:00.000+01:00

By Blake Morrison and Peter Eisler, USA TODAY

The number of roadside bombs found in Iraq declined dramatically in August and September from earlier this year, and U.S. officials say the discoveries of thousands of ammunition caches might explain the drop.

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are responsible for at least 60% of U.S. casualties in Iraq. The Pentagon has repeatedly refused to release figures on the number of IED attacks in Iraq or the number of casualties that have resulted.

USA TODAY obtained the month-by-month tally, which represents the total numbers of IEDs — exploded or unexploded — found in Iraq, including those targeting U.S. and coalition troops, Iraqi security forces and civilians.

Since the start of the year through September, coalition forces found 25,208 IEDs, according to the figures, which were confirmed by the Pentagon. In those nine months, IEDs killed 510 coalition troops.

The numbers of IEDs found and the deaths they caused have declined steadily since June. In September, coalition forces found 2,022 IEDs. That's down 38% from March, this year's peak.

En realidad que significa esto

2007-11-13T13:26:00.000+01:00

"""El proyecto, un hangar con capacidad para 60 toneladas, permitirá enviar material para completar hasta seis aviones con ayuda para, por ejemplo, purificar 180.000 litros diarios de agua y abastecer a una población de 12.000 personas al día, o disponer de material médico básico para atender a 60.000 pacientes durante tres meses.""

¿Habra personal del EA,ingenieros,etc allí?¿Aviones para distribuir esa ayuda? ¿algún helicoptero SAR?o simplemente llenaremos el hangar y lo cerraremos bajo llave....

El Rey

2007-11-12T01:20:00.000+01:00

Estuvo sembrao,simplemente genial.

Por cierto eso de la base en Panamá,habrá que explicarlo con tranquilidad y eso siginficara ¿un aumento de las capacidades de transporte aéreo del EA?Porque con lo que hay,cubrir los despliegues ya de por si mal cubiertos que tenemos y lo de Panamá pues no se yo.

En recuerdo de un vasco y español universal

2007-11-09T11:08:00.000+01:00

¡Pues sí, soy español, español de nacimiento, de educación, de cuerpo, de espíritu, de lengua y hasta de profesión y oficio; español sobre todo y ante todo, y el españolismo es mi religión, y el cielo en que quiero creer es una España celestial y eterna, y mi Dios un Dios, el de Nuestro Señor Don Quijote, un dios que piensa en español y en español dijo: ¡sea la luz!, y su verbo fue verbo español…!

Don Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo,Niebla

Ser Facha,(canción)

2007-11-08T18:29:00.000+01:00

(Se le debe cantar con alegría y buen humor a aquel lechuguino pálido que le llame facha maliciosamente).

"Ser Facha es para mí
una manera de vivir
un camino
descubrir una afición

millones de amigos
me enseñaron a disentir
y a ser siempre
el mejor

ser facha
es mi objetivo
ser facha
es mi ilusión
y cuando me llaman
¡facha!
me río un montón"

Una vez más VIVA LA COPE

2007-11-08T10:56:00.001+01:00

Cuando leo en el diario Público a todo un señor presidente del gobierno de España censurar a una emisora privada en la mejor linea franquista,este país va muy mal y algo bueno debe hacer esa emisora.

Sr Zp y adlateres en una democracia si usted se siente ofendido,injuriado o calumniado por alguien para eso están los tribunales de justicia,deje los llamamientos a la censura a Franco,la insquisición y personajes así.

Nuestros politiquillos

2007-11-07T15:12:00.000+01:00

Deberían por una vez en la vida y la historia de este país tener el valor de decirle a Marruecos un par de verdades,que cuando Marruecos era un conglomerado de tribus dominadas por el Bey de Argel,Ceuta y Melilla ya eran españolas,que lo han sido siglos antes que alguien pensara que Marruecos fuera a existir cómo nación y cómo entonces,ahora y siempre serán españolas,por los siglos de los siglos amén.A ver si se dejan las cosas claras de una vez.

¡Viva la COPE!

2007-11-07T10:04:00.000+01:00

La verdad que solo escucho la radio en el coche y solo emisoras de música,pero si el del partido del 3%,el de los suicidas del 11-m y otros más quieren cerrar en democracia,cómo si estuviéramos en tiempos de Franco, una emisora que les toca los genitales,algo bueno debe hacer esa emisora,por eso desde aquí.VIVA LA COPE y los políticamente incorrectos.

Perdemos en Afgnistan

2007-11-06T15:48:00.000+01:00

"Taliban capture third western Afghan district

Mon Nov 5, 2007 6:52am ET"

Volvemos al mal imperante de "Eurabia" y su stablishment.Afganistan es la primera linea del frente islamofacista si perdemos allá,volveremos a la situación del 11-S,le daremos una base desde la que Al-Quaeda podrá,preparar ataques terroristas en el corazón de occidente quizás estemos buscando más "onces" y con cuatro o cinco más aprendamos que estamos luchando la cuarta guerra mundial y no la vamos ganando.

Nunca es tarde si la dicha es buena

2007-11-04T20:10:00.000+01:00

Ya era hora que los Reyes visitaran Ceuta y Melilla que son tan españolas cómo Triana,el toro de Osborne y la madre que me parió.Me alegra muchisimo por esas dos ciudades españolas especialmente por mi compadre,mi ahijado que viven en Melilla y su mujer que es además melillense de nacimiento,más alegría me da que le toque tanto las narices al sátrapa morito, así que para celebrarlo voy a abrir una botella de Valbuena y a brindar por los ceutíes y melillenses que disfruten con salud la visita.!Viva Ceuta,Melilla,los reyes y el ataque de cuernos del rey de Marruecos¡

Teniente Muñoz Castellanos

2007-10-30T14:00:00.000+01:00

El teniente Muñoz Castellanos,caballero legionario,muerto el 12 de abril de 1993 en Mostar, formaba parte de la Agrupación Táctica “Canarias encuadrada en la VIII Bandera expedicionaria.Primer oficial español muerto en misión en el exterior.

Mostar, una de las ciudades más importantes de Bosnia-Herzegovina, se encontraba desde hacía meses prácticamente paralizada por la guerra. Escaseaban los productos de primera necesidad, y los continuos combates entre la “Armija” musulmana y los soldados del HVO, la organización militar croata, colapsaban los hospitales y puestos de socorro con una constante riada de heridos y lesionados. Era necesario suministrarles medicamentos y, sobre todo, plasma sanguíneo. Muñoz Castellanos se ofreció voluntario para la difícil misión. El trayecto hasta el centro médico se encuentra batido por los proyectiles de ambos contendientes y salir ileso de aquella ratonera es poco menos que imposible; sin embargo, la columna española logra llegar sin contratiempos y entregar el envío sanitario. Mientras proceden a la descarga, el fuego se multiplica. Los disparos de los francotiradores y las explosiones de los obuses impregnan el ambiente del acre olor de la pólvora y el humo de los incendios entorpece la visión. Los soldados españoles, después de socorrer a varios civiles que habían resultado heridos, abordaron sus vehículos dispuestos a abandonar lo más rápido posible aquel infierno. Fue entonces cuando Muñoz Castellanos observó a un lugareño que se arrastraba entre los escombros. Sin dudarlo un momento, abandonó la protección de la columna y corrió en su ayuda. Al observar el fogonazo de la explosión, los suyos adivinaron de inmediato que había sido alcanzado. En efecto, la granada de mortero había esparcido su letal carga de metralla hiriendo gravemente al Teniente Muñoz que, postrado en tierra y en estado de semiinconsciencia, sangraba abundantemente por el hombro y el cuello. No hay tiempo que perder. Tras una cura de urgencia por personal del hospital bosnio, sus compañeros le trasladan al Puesto Quirúrgico Avanzado que el ejército español tiene desplegado en la localidad de Dracevo, y desde allí, una vez estabilizado, será conducido a bordo de un bimotor del Ejército del Aire para proceder a su repatriación. La familia, informada por las autoridades militares del suceso, aguarda nerviosa en la sala de espera del hospital madrileño “Gómez Ulla” el arribo del joven Teniente. Aunque las noticias recibidas desde Dracevo hacían albergar ciertas esperanzas, lo cierto es que la extrema gravedad de las lesiones causaron un súbito empeoramiento del estado del herido y los intentos del equipo médico por salvarle resultaron infructuosos.

Tiempos de Don Juan Tenorio

2007-10-30T09:39:00.001+01:00

En esta semana era costumbre, en esta nuestra querida tierra,las representaciones de "Don Juan Tenorio" por desgracia en este país olvidadizo y advenedizo pasamos del Tenorio y nos echamos en brazos del halloween de los demonios..

"Por donde quiera que fui,
la razón atropellé,
la virtud escarnecí,
a la justicia burlé,
y a las mujeres vendí.
Yo a las cabañas bajé,
yo a los palacios subí,
yo los claustros escalé,
y en todas partes dejé
memoria amarga de mí.
Ni reconocí sagrado,
ni hubo ocasión ni lugar
por mi audacia respetado;
ni en distinguir me he parado
al clérigo del seglar.
A quien quise provoqué,
con quien quiso me batí,
y nunca consideré
que pudo matarme a mí
aquel a quien yo maté.
A esto don Juan se arrojó,
y escrito en este papel
está cuanto consiguió:
y lo que él aquí escribió,
mantenido está por él."

Los caminos de la lIbertad

2007-10-29T21:43:00.001+01:00

Cuando los países desarrollados y llamados a si mismos democráticos no hacen profesión de FE de esa libertad y pujanza económica,dan pábulo al fascismo,la ignorancia y el subdesarrollo.Es la deuda con la historia, la que llama al primer mundo a llevar la llama de la libertad,el desarrollo económico y social a estos países al igual que hace dos siglos les llevamos la explotación colonial.No podemos seguir permitiendo Darfurs en pleno s.XXI,al igual que no podemos permitir que decenas de miles de inocentes sigan muriendo intentando alcanzar el primer mundo,la solución no pasa por controlar la emigración, sino con acabar con las causas que la provoca y hay que adoptar las medidas,diplomáticas económicas y si es preciso militares para conseguirlo.

Afganistan

2007-10-28T16:26:00.000+01:00

El nudo gordiano que una OTAN, que no es desde luego Alejandro Magno, es incapaz de romper,cómo siempre esa OTAN formada mayoritariamente por paises europeos acobardados para cumplir con su deber y con la historia,esos países que fueron salvados de la Alemania nazi por el "amigo americano", después de la dictadura soviética y probablemente es nuestra única esperanza ante el nuevo fascismo que nos acecha.¡Eurabía avanza!

"El Secretario de Defensa USA, Robert Gates, ha dicho: "no estoy satisfecho con una Alianza cuyos miembros, que cuentan con unos 2 millones de soldados en su conjunto, no son capaces de encontrar la forma de aportar los pocos recursos adicionales que se necesitan en Afganistán"

Vacaciones

2007-10-26T10:00:00.000+02:00

De vuelta de unas mini vacaciones,por tierras extremeñas,disfrutando de algunos hermosos rincones de esta nuestra querida España,de la buena gente de extremadura,de su maravillosa cocina y de su historia.

Credo

2007-10-20T15:40:00.000+02:00

El Espíritu del Legionario: es único y sin igual, es de ciega y feroz acometividad, de buscar siempre acortar la distancia con el enemigo y llegar a la bayoneta.El Espíritu de Compañerismo: con el sagrado juramento de no abandonar jamás a un hombre en el campo hasta perecer todos.El Espíritu de Amistad: de juramento entre cada dos hombres.El Espíritu de Unión y Socorro: a la voz de "A mí la Legión", sea donde sea, acudirán todos y con razón, o sin ella, defenderán al legionario que pide auxilio.El Espíritu de Marcha: jamás un legionario dirá que está cansado hasta caer reventado. Será el cuerpo más veloz y resistente.El Espíritu de Sufrimiento y Dureza: no se quejará de fatiga, ni de dolor, ni de hambre, ni de sed ni de sueño. Hará todos los trabajos: cavará, arrastrará cañones, carros, estará destacado, hará convoyes, trabajará en lo que le manden.El Espíritu de Acudir al Fuego: la Legión, desde el hombre solo hasta la Legión entera, acudirá siempre donde oiga fuego, de día, de noche, siempre, siempre, aunque no tenga orden para ello.El Espíritu de Disciplina: cumplirá su deber, obedecerá hasta morir.El Espíritu de Combate: la Legión pedirá siempre siempre combatir, sin turno, sin contar los días, ni los meses, ni los años.El Espíritu de la Muerte: morir en el combate es el mayor honor. No se muere más que una vez. La muerte llega sin dolor y morir no es tan horrible como parece. Lo más horrible es vivir siendo un cobarde.La Bandera de la Legión: será la más gloriosa, porque la teñirá la sangre de sus legionarios.Todos los hombres legionarios: son bravos. Cada nación tiene fama de bravura. Aquí es preciso demostrar qué pueblo es el más valiente.

LA VICTORIA DE PAVÍA

2007-10-19T17:05:00.000+02:00

(Extracto)

Los arcabuces de España
no hay fila que no destrocen,
no hay caballo que no ahuyenten,
no hay guerrero que no postren.

Y las picas españolas
no hay escuadra que no arrollen,
embate que no resistan
ni denuedo que no asombren.

Huyen de su ardiente brío,
de sus balas y sus botes,
los franceses, hombres de armas,
y los ligeros peones."

LA VICTORIA DE PAVÍAPor Ángel de Saavedra, Duque de Rivas
Edición electrónica de capitancontreras@hotmail.com

España

2007-10-18T21:00:00.000+02:00

"España.Maldito el día que decidí meterme en semejante berenjenal.......Cada vez que miro uno de esos grabados del tal Goya me vienen a la memoria esos desgraciados con sus ojos de desesperación,engañados por reyes,generales y ministros durante siglos de hambre y miseria,analfabetos e ingobernables, con su orgullo y su furia homicida cómo único patrimonio..........Cometí el error de darles a esos fulanos lo único que les devuelve su dignidad y orgullo:un enemigo contra el que unirse...........un objeto para desahogar su indignación y su rabia............España es un país con muy mala leche."

D.Arturo Pérez-Reverte,La sombra del Águila

Dos de los nuestros

2007-10-18T10:05:00.000+02:00

Han caído en Kosovo en un maldito accidente de trafico.Descansen en paz y mis más cariñoso abrazo a sus familias.Espero la pronta recuperación de los heridos.

Iraq,¿deberiamos volver?

2007-10-17T20:26:00.000+02:00

Parece una pregunta absurda cuando todos las mentes sagaces quieren escapar de Iraq,pero la pregunta correcta es.¿Deberiamos volver?,ahora que el plán del General Peatreus funciona que amplias zonas del pais ven su situación estabilizada,deberia la comunidad internacional volver a darles esperanza a los iraquies,o seguiremos dandole la espalda al pueblo iraqui y traicionando a nuestros aliados.Yo pienso que deberiamos volver.

"Violent Incidents Down; Al Qaeda ‘Off Balance’ in Iraq, Spokesman Says

By Melinda L. Larson
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Attacks and violent incidents in Iraq are down, but Iraqi and coalition forces still have a lot of work ahead, a top coalition spokesman in Iraq said today.

“In a whole sense there is no question about the fact that, in our minds, the trend is going in the right direction,” said Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, communications division chief for Multinational Force Iraq. “Our efforts to continue the reduction in violence will allow Iraqi society to begin to mend. There is a lot of hard work to do.”

Hard work means stopping extremists before they strike, Fox said in a news briefing. To that end, he said, Iraqis are reporting insurgent activity in their neighborhoods.

A boost to local neighborhoods this week is the addition of some 744 new Iraqi policemen who graduated Sept. 20 from the Baghdad Police Academy. Thousands more new Iraqi security force members are expected in the coming months.

“Another class of 800 will graduate Tuesday,” Fox added. “Over the next six months, some 12,000 new Iraqi security force members will be trained -- a clear indication of local Iraqis taking ownership of their own security.”

Maintaining security in Iraq means keeping al Qaeda off balance and eliminating safe havens terrorists once enjoyed, Fox said. “Al Qaeda is off balance; they’re on their back foot. They’re responding and we own the initiative,” Fox said.

The surge force initiative that’s been in place since mid-June has meant coalition forces have been able to conduct simultaneous operations more than ever before. The surge has made a difference, Fox said. “We’ve seen demonstrable results in terms of the reduction in violence and the reduction of violent incidents in Iraq,” he said.

The admiral said he is confident the trend toward reducing violence in Iraq will continue as coalition forces continue to pressure extremists.

“While Iraq remains a violent place beset by many problems and challenges, we continue to keep pressure on the extremist networks and to build on the tactical momentum that our soldiers, the Iraqi people and their security forces have fought so hard to achieve.” "

La cara de un asesino

2007-10-17T20:19:00.000+02:00

Cómo siempre en este país,protegemos más a los asesinos convictos que a las victimas.

http://www.libertaddigital.es/noticias/noticia_1276315575.html

Iraq y Afganistan

2007-10-17T15:28:00.000+02:00

Dos sitios en donde no debemos,no podemos perder.Allí esta la primera linea de frente contra el islamofacismo y si nuestros gobiernos y nuestros políticos no son capaces de comprender y hacer entender a sus pueblos el peligro,mal vamos en esta guerra que ya es, la IV Guerra Mundial,aunque en la comodidad de nuestras casas no nos demos cuenta de ello, cómo tampoco nos dimos cuenta cuando la Tercera se libraba en los campos y ciudades del tercer mundo.

La Matilde

2007-10-16T10:02:00.001+02:00

Se resiste a corregir.ummm

Iraq

2007-10-15T15:53:00.001+02:00

Release Date

Title

10/15/2007

THREE TERRORISTS KILLED, 20 DETAINED DURING OPERATIONS TARGETING AL QAEDA

10/15/2007

BRIGADE COMMANDER NOTES PROGESS IN NORTHWESTERN BAGHDAD

10/14/2007

ISAF COMMANDER CONDEMNS SPIN BOLDAK SUICIDE BOMBING

10/13/2007

AIRBORNE PARATROOPERS CAPTURE #2 HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL

10/13/2007

TRIAL DATE SET FOR OFFICER CHARGED WITH AIDING ENEMY

10/11/2007

UPDATE: KILLED TERRORISTS RESPONSIBLE FOR IMAM’S ASSASSINATION ARE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED

10/11/2007

VIDEO AVAILABLE: OPERATION NETS 10, DESTROYS TWO BOOBY-TRAPPED HOUSES

10/11/2007

COALITION FORCES TARGET AL-QAEDA IN IRAQ SENIOR LEADERS

10/10/2007

IRAQI FORCES, U.S. SPECIAL FORCES DETAINED 11 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS, KILL ONE

10/10/2007

DORKO TAKES COMMAND OF GULF REGION DIVISION

10/8/2007

ISF, USSF DELIVER HUMANITARIAN AIS TO VILLAGES NEAR JALULA MULTIINATIONAL CORPS

10/6/2007

STATEMENT FROM MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE – IRAQ: COALITION FORCES ENGAGED TERRORISTS NEAR BAQUBAH

10/5/2007

CIVILIANS FOUND DEAD, INJURED AFTER BATTLE BETWEEN MILITANTS, AFGHAN, COALITION FORCES

10/5/2007

SEVERAL MILITANTS KILLED IN PAKTIKA PROVINCE

10/4/2007

IRAQI ARMY SCOUTS, U.S. SPECIAL FORCES DETAIN FIVE, KILL TWO

10/4/2007

COALITION FORCES KILL ONE TERRORIST, DETAIN EIGHT SUSPECTS

10/3/2007

COALITION FORCES DETAIN 12 SUSPECTS DURING OPERATIONS TO DISRUPT AL-QAEDA

10/2/2007

COALITION FORCES DETAIN TERRORIST LEADERS RESPONSIBLE FOR IED/EFP ATTACKS IN DIYALA

10/1/2007

COALITION FORCES DISRUPT AL-QAEDA LEADERSHIP: SEVEN KILLED, 11 DETAINED

10/1/2007

SIGNAL MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON BG FLYNN

BANDERAS EXPEDICIONARIAS

2007-10-15T12:18:00.000+02:00

¿Seria conveniente crear banderas expedicionarias de la Guardia Civil?,podrían ir equipadas con armamento ligero,vehículos MRAP ligeros, medios y material antidisturbios,tienen la formación policial necesaria en muchas misiones de paz y también con la formación militar,con un adiestramiento más especifico seria un buen complemento al despliegue de nuestras tropas en el exterior.

Sin comentarios

2007-10-14T21:36:00.000+02:00

http://www.elconfidencial.com/cache/2007/10/12/52_resulta_segunda_republica_existio.html

Sabado post doce de Octubre

2007-10-13T16:53:00.000+02:00

Paso la fiesta nacional,la roja y gualda que ondeo con orgullo durante el día de ayer en la terraza de mi casa,fue retirada al anochecer con el toque de oración.
El lunes veremos si consigo salir con bien, de esos cortos telefónicos que en mala hora abrí,con lo bien que me iba con mis largos en BBVA,pero esto es bolsa si siempre acertaramos estariamos en Hawai y no aquí.
He visto en el tirador solitario esos UAV raper de los yanquis ,unos de esos nos vendrían bien para darle protección a nuestros chavales,junto claro esta esos MRAP´s prometidos,esperemos que lleguen muy pronto.
No quisiera olvidarme de acordarme de todos esos "imbéciles" que ayer en el momento más sagrado del homenaje a nuestros caídos, abroncaron a nuestro presidente del gobierno,ni era el momento ni el lugar,en otro momento y en otro lugar podría estar yo entre los abucheadores,pero ayer sentí vergüenza de ser compatriota de tales individuos.

!VIVA ESPAÑA!

2007-10-12T08:25:00.000+02:00

Lo demandó el honor y obedecieron,

los requirió el deber y lo acataron ,

con su sangre, la empresa rubricaron,

con su esfuerzo, la Patria redimieron.

Fueron grandes y fuertes porque fueron

fieles al juramento que empeñaron.

Por eso, como valientes lucharon.

Por eso, como mártires murieron.

Inmolarse por Dios fue su destino,

salvar a España, su pasión entera,

servir en el Ejército, su vocación y sino.

No pudieron querer a otra Bandera,

no quisieron andar otro camino,

no supieron morir de otra manera.

Mercados

2007-10-11T19:33:00.000+02:00

Hemos tenido un cierre con recortes desde máximos en TEf y BBVA con SAN muy planos,mañana por ser día festivo tendremos menos volumen y es probable que TEF recorte parte de la espectacular subida ,¿bbva hará de soporte del índice? ya veremos,en fin mañana doce de Octubre día de la Hispanidad,de la Virgen del Pilar patrona de España,la benemérita y Fiesta Nacional,ni más ni menos.

La Matilde

2007-10-11T15:45:00.000+02:00

Sigue fuerte tomo una segunda posición en 20,51€,espero que mañana con ser festivo,recorte una parte de esta subida tan fuerte.

La Matilde

2007-10-11T13:01:00.000+02:00

Sube un 5% a 20,31€ en intradia,voy a tomar una posición corta objetivo un 1% a la baja máximo.

Del blog del Tirador Solitario

2007-10-11T12:34:00.000+02:00

NOTICIA DE EL PAÍS : ¿ MRAP PARA ESPAÑA ?

El País publica una noticia donde se menciona que el Ministerio de Defensa dará prioridad a la compra de MRAP. Si es así, la noticia es magnífica.
Pero, ojo, no echemos las campanas al vuelo. Cuando lo veamos aprobado y con las fechas concretas, hablemos del tema. Mientras, no hay nada oficial.

Por cierto, en la misma noticia leemos:

"Desde el año 2003, el Ministerio de Defensa español está desarrollando el proyecto de Vehículo Blindado Polivalente de Tamaño Medio, con el objetivo de sustituir a los BMR. Los primeros estudios apuntan a un vehículo 8x8 ruedas (los BMR son 6x6) dotado de módulos intercambiables, de forma que la misma plataforma pueda transformarse en transporte de tropas, ambulancia o centro de mando en sólo una hora, según las necesidades"

¿ Módulos intercambiables ?. Je, pues si es verdad ( salvo sorpresa ) ya sabemos que el sustituto del BMR vendrá con olor a cerveza, salchichas y chucrut.

http://eltiradorsolitario.blogspot.com/