Iraq Occupation Focus
www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk
Newsletter No.179
August 13th, 2011
Contents
This IOF Newsletter is produced as a free service for all those opposed to the occupation. In order to strengthen our campaign, please make sure you sign up to receive the free newsletter automatically – go to: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/iraqfocus. Please also ask all those who share our opposition to the brutal US occupation to do likewise.
Military news
U.S. Report Finds Security Deteriorating in Iraq
NY Times reports (July 30th): Over the past year, security in Iraq has deteriorated and electricity shortages and corruption have continued unabated, according to a report by a special inspector appointed by Congress to oversee Iraq’s reconstruction.
The report, released five months before the United States is scheduled to withdraw 47,000 troops from Iraq, paints a bleaker picture of the country’s stability than assessments by diplomatic officials.
Iraq agrees to discuss US security role
Al-Jazeera reports (August 5th): Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president, has agreed with the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and political rivals to authorise negotiations with the US to "boost" the capacity of Iraqi security forces.
Iraq, U.S. and SOFA: Legal Immunity or Illegal Impunity?
Dallas Darling writes for World News (August 8th): "The American pact is nothing but humiliation to the Iraqis. This is against the interest and the sovereignty of the Iraq people and no one should put himself in a position to sign it...such a pact with the Americans who destroyed Iraq since 1991 and killed millions of its children by two wars and 12 years of barbaric sanction followed by occupation, such a pact is nothing but an aggression not against Iraq alone but against Islam and other Muslims." -Hammorabi, an Iraqi blogger protesting against SOFA and U.S. military occupation, 2008.(1)
Despite a clear majority of Iraqis (and Americans) who for years have wanted United States occupation forces to leave their country, commanders and officials in the Pentagon and United States are desperately trying to hammer out an agreement for a continued military presence past the December 31 departure date of this year. By using bribes, pay-offs for "collateral damage", threats and extortion, and by manipulating the media, it appears the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex just might get its way in permanently stationing up to 10,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, forever and with "legal immunity." But for both Iraqis and Americans, should it not really be considered "illegal impunity?"
Tribal sheikh among three killed in US-Iraq raid
AFP report (July 30th): A US-Iraqi raid north of Baghdad killed a tribal sheikh and two of his family members, police said, as local leaders condemned what they branded a "massacre" of civilians.
US forces said the operation aimed to nab a wanted insurgent but officials in the village of Rufayat, 70 kilometres (45 miles) from the capital, said the raid targeted a family with no ties to insurgent groups.
Iraqi Civilians Die in Raid, Complicating Pullout Talks
NY Times reports (August 6th): For the second time in a week, a joint Iraqi-American raid aiming at insurgents resulted in the killing of civilians.
Witnesses in the village of Ishaqi, just south of Tikrit, said Iraqi and American forces opened fire on civilians and threw grenades as they conducted the raid. The villagers said the forces were responding to gunfire from people in the village and then fired back, killing a 13-year-old boy and an off-duty police officer.
Protests
Protesters fight for what U.S. media say they already have
FAIR reports (August 2011): The U.S.-based women’s rights group MADRE (6/10/11) reported that members of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq—its partner organization in Baghdad—and other protesters were brutally beaten and sexually assaulted in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on June 10 by government-sponsored mobs. What were they demonstrating for that so threatened Iraq’s government? Democracy.
“For months, young women have been demonstrating for democracy in Tahrir Square, joining thousands of others who believe in a vision of an Iraq that is democratic and rooted in human rights,” OWFI director Yanar Mohammed told MADRE. “But instead of being heard, they have been viciously attacked in an attempt to silence them.”
Daily life
Alarming statement and constant harassment offer no respite for journalists
Reporters Without Borders reports (August 4th): Reporters Without Borders is concerned about repeated harassment of media personnel, especial TV crews, by the Iraqi security forces. Physical attacks on journalists, confiscation of their material and orders preventing them working are all common despite Reporters Without Borders’ appeals to the Iraqi government.
The press freedom organization is also very alarmed to learn that a senior interior ministry official, Adnan Al-Asadi, said on 31 July that freedom of information could now pose “a threat to internal security” in Iraq. Journalists must no longer publish information about murders or arrests without the ministry’s consent because of the fragile security situation in Iraq, he said.
Power plants become part Iraq’s sectarian and factional strife
Azzaman reports (July 25th): Hundreds of villagers from the restive Province of Diyala are protesting a decision by the Ministry of Electricity to relocate a power plant that feeds their villages with electricity.
The protesters and provincial authorities in the district where these villages are situated say the move is unjustified and unfair since the presence of the power plant in their areas is necessary.
Seven villages in Diyala rely for their electricity on the plant. Its relocation will plunge them into darkness, the villagers say.
U.S. plans to provide Iraq with wiretapping system
Washington Post reports (July 30th): The United States is planning to provide the Iraqi government with a wiretapping system to eavesdrop on cellular calls and messages “to assist in combating criminal organizations and insurgencies,” according to a U.S. Air Force contract solicitation.
The proposed system would allow Iraqi officials to monitor and store voice calls, data transmissions and text messages and would be installed with the acquiescence of the three current cellular communications providers in Iraq, according to documents accompanying the solicitation.
Denunciations for arresting press photographer
Aswat al-Iraq reports (july 23rd): The Press Freedoms Observatory and the Iraqi Association for the Defense of Freedom of Journalists denounced the arrest of a press photographer while he was covering the demonstrations in Tahrir Square in Baghdad.
In a statement by the Press Freedoms Observatory, the denunciation was expressed for arresting the photographer Saad Allah Al-Khalidi.
Iraqi deputies lash out at Electricity Ministry
Azzaman reports (August 5th): Iraqi deputies strongly have criticized the Ministry of Electricity for its drastic failure in increasing power output in the country.
The session devoted to the debate of electricity was attended by more than 180 deputies and they were unanimous in their harsh critique of the ministry.
“Despite massive allocations, Iraqis still have less than four hours of electricity supply a day,” said Hama Khaleel, a Kurdish member of parliament.
Iraq electricity minister fired over $1.7B deals
AP report (August 7th): Iraq's deputy prime minister says the country's electricity minister has been fired after signing two deals worth $1.7 billion without following the proper government guidelines.
Maliki’s Push to Gut Election Watchdog Fails
Antiwar.com reports (August 4th): Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s long-running assault on democracy took an amusing new twist last week when a coordinated attempt to oust the members of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) backfired on him.
Parliament was expected to pass a no-confidence motion against the IHEC, which is an independent body supervised by parliament and the United Nations to oversee elections. Only 94 lawmakers voted to sack the IHEC members even though many had earlier promised Maliki to support the measure.
Corporate takeover
BP 'has gained stranglehold over Iraq' after oilfield deal is rewritten
The Observer reports (July 31st): BP has been accused of taking a "stranglehold" on the Iraqi economy after the Baghdad government agreed to pay the British firm even whenoil is not being produced by the Rumaila field, confidential documents reveal.
The original deal for operating Iraq's largest field – half as big as the entire North Sea – has been rewritten so that BP will be immediately compensated for civil disruption or government decisions to cut production.
U.S. Contractor in Iraq Charges Pentagon $900 for $7 Control Switch, Report Finds
Fox News reports (July 30th): A U.S. government contractor in Iraq charged the Pentagon a whopping amount of money for inexpensive items, including $900 for a $7 control switch, according to a new report from a U.S. watchdog.
U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr. said review found that Anham, LLC, which is based in suburban Washington, allowed its subcontractors in Iraq to also charge $3,000 for a $100 circuit breaker, and $80 for a piece of plumbing equipment worth $1.41.
Unreported Afghanistan
US-led troops kill more Afghan civilians
Press TV reports (July 27th): At least three Afghan civilians have been killed in an attack by US-led foreign forces in troubled northeastern Afghanistan, local authorities say. The incident happened as US-led French troops opened fire on a vehicle in the Nijrab district of Afghanistan's Kapisa Province, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Civilians killed by NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan
Ria Novosti report (July 26th): At least three civilians including two schoolchildren died and six were injured following a NATO airstrike in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan, regional governor Said Fazlulla Wakhidi said.
US-led operation kills Afghan civilians
Press TV reports (July 30th): Latest reports say a US-led military operation has killed a large number of civilians and wounded several others in the troubled eastern Afghanistan. The causalities come after foreign forces pounded a residential area in Paktia Province.
Afghan civilians pay lethal price for new policy on air strikes
The Independent reports (July 31th): Civilians are bearing the brunt of the international forces' onslaught against the Taliban as the coalition rushes to pacify Afghanistan before pulling out its troops, it was claimed.
Human rights groups warned that civilians are paying an increasingly high price for "reckless" coalition attacks, particularly aerial ones. The Ministry of Defence confirmed last week that five Afghan children were injured in an air strike carried out by a British Apache attack helicopter.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) has found that the rate of civilian casualties has reached a record high, with 1,462 killed in January to June this year.
NATO airstrike kills eight civilians, Afghan police say
Trend reports (August 6th): Eight Afghan civilians including women and children were killed by a NATO airstrike in southern Afghanistan, a police official said Saturday, DPA reported.
The victims died after a coalition patrol came under attack in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province, district police chief Shadi Khan said.
A NATO plane bombed a house in response, killing eight members of one family, Khan said.
Afghan Police Kill Anti-NATO Protesters in Zabul Province
Anti-war.com reports (August 5th): At least four Afghans, including three civilians, were killed and five others were wounded when Afghan police opened fire on demonstrators at an anti-NATO march in the Zabul Province. The march, according to the provincial police chief, was protesting a NATO night raid in the Qalad District, which killed at least three civilians.
Foreign soldiers kill Hesarak imam
PAN reports (August 3rd): A prayer leader was killed by foreign troops during an overnight operation in the Hesarak district of eastern Nangarhar province, residents and officials said. Identified as Qari Younus, the victim was taken away by the troops during the operation in the Garo area, the district development council chief, Dr. Naeem Walar, told Pajhwok Afghan News. With tell-tale signs of torture on it, the body of Younus was found in the Laji Gad Kandaw area, he said.
Upcoming Events
Norwich Stop the War Event: Public meeting with Greg Muttitt, author of Fuel on the Fire; Oil and Politics in Occupied Iraq.
Date: Wednesday 28th September Time: 7pm start Venue: The Forum (in the Cube), Millennium Plain.
