Iraq Occupation Focus
www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk
Newsletter No.174
June 5th, 2011
Contents
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Military news
US Defense Secretary Gates urges post-2011 occupation of Iraq
WSWS reports (May 26th): Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged in a speech that the US occupation of Iraq be continued beyond a December 31, 2011 deadline for the withdrawal of all American forces. He argued that the US military must remain on Iraqi soil to counter Iranian influence and maintain US power both within the country and the broader region.
US troops in Iraq: US, Maliki weigh possible extension
CSM reports (May 17th): On paper, the future of the US military in Iraq is clear-cut. US and Iraqi officials say there are no plans and no negotiations to extend the troop presence here past the agreed Dec. 31 deadline – a major political priority in both Washington and Baghdad. But faced with that rapidly approaching date in a newly volatile Middle East, the US, at least, seems to be having second thoughts.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has expressed an openness to keeping a US military presence in Iraq past December.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on May 11 that he was open to an extended US stay if there was enough backing from Iraqis. The US plans a large civilian presence in Iraq regardless of whether US forces stay. USAmbassador Jim Jeffrey recently told reporters that the US embassy here, already the biggest in the world, plans to double in size next year to about 16,000 people.
US troops face increasing dangers in southern Iraq
AP report (May 17th): American forces are facing an increasingly dangerous environment in southern Iraq, where Shiite militias trying to claim they are driving out the U.S. occupiers have stepped up attacks against bases and troops.
The uptick in violence serves as a warning about what American forces could face if U.S. and Iraqi officials come to an agreement about keeping more U.S. troops in the country past Dec. 31.
Iraqis Overjoyed at Withdrawal of US Forces from Karbala
FNA reports (May 16th): The Iraqi people in the holy city of Karbala expressed overwhelming joy as they celebrated withdrawal of the United States' occupying forces from their Southern province.
Amaleddin al-Hor, the governor of Karbala described the day as "a national and historic event", and told FNA, "It is a great honor for the people in Karbala province that their province is named as the first clean province in Iraq."
Anti-U.S. rebel group lays down arms in Iraq’s Mosul
Azzaman reports (May 21st): A rebel group attacking U.S. occupation troops in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul has agreed to lay down arms, a cabinet minister said.
The minister Amer al-Khuzai said the group had no record of attacking Iraqi civilians or troops as its rebels had focused their resistance against U.S. troops.
Khuzai who leads government efforts to bring the disparate armed groups to the negotiating table also said none of the group’s members will prosecuted.
“The group had 300 armed members and their operations are focused on resisting U.S. troops in the Province of Nineveh. They are not implicated in attacks against Iraqi civilians or Iraqi forces,” he said.
Iraqi Shiite Militias Again Pose a Threat as U.S. Forces Leave
NY Times reports (May 26th): On a United States outpost in southern Iraq, rocket attacks by Shiite militants have grown so fierce that Americans there had to hunker down in a concrete bunker for several hours one recent night. Soldiers have curtailed missions to train Iraqi security forces, and American officials have even debated whether to close the outpost ahead of schedule.
Abuse
MoD sued over missing Iraqi boy
The Guardian reports (May 23rd): The father of a 13-year-old Iraqi boy who has been missing since 2003 after being treated in a British military hospital has begun legal action against the Ministry of Defence demanding compensation and a public inquiry.
Memmon Salam al-Maliki was found by British troops with his left hand blown off, several fingers of his right hand missing and his left eye seriously injured after he picked up unexploded munitions.
He had been playing outside his family home in al Hartha, a district of Basra. The boy was taken to a nearby British base, and then to the British military field hospital at Shaibah, west of Basra. His father never saw him again.
Protests
Power protests threaten Iraq government
Reuters report (May 18th): Iraq’s punishing summer heat will fuel angry street protests over the nation’s feeble power supply but the rallies are unlikely to topple the government, even if some ministers are sacked as scapegoats.
The electricity grid, hobbled by years of war and under-investment, will probably supply less than half of Iraq’s 15,000-megawatt peak demand this summer as temperatures head to 50 degrees Celsius plus.
An emergency plan to place temporary generators around the country is a year away and faces major problems, officials say.
Anger Lingers in Iraqi Kurdistan After a Crackdown
NY Times reports (May 18th): The protesters are gone from the central square, pushed out by the brutal tactics of the security forces. The jails have been emptied of the young students and journalists who were rounded up for speaking their mind in public. The wounded are home, quietly nursing their injuries.
The crackdown in the region known as Iraqi Kurdistan, in which at least 10 people were killed, has exposed troubling questions about the kind of government the American war has left in Iraq’s most stable region, as well as accusations that the Americans condoned the violent response.
Protests In Iraq’s Tahrir Square Continue
Musings On Iraq blogs (May 15th): Protests in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square every Friday have ebbed and flowed. May 13, 2011 saw around 500 demonstrators show up voicing a number of concerns. Some called for better services, others for jobs. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s 100-day deadline for Iraq’s ministries to improve was also mentioned. A protester was photographed with a poster mocking the on-going dispute between Maliki and Iyad Allawi, which has held up the completion of the government fourteen months after national elections.
Families came with pictures of relatives who had gone missing or were held by the government, calling for their release. Maliki’s carrot and stick approach of using the security forces, while making broad promises has deterred or cajoled may protesters lately. More could be on the way however as June 7 is when Maliki’s deadline for improved services will expire, and few believe anything will change.
Sadr supporters rally over US troops in Iraq
Al Jazeera reports (May 26th): Thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have rallied in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in a show of force against any extension of US military presence in the country past a year-end deadline.
According to our correspondent, the cleric's loyalists staged a peaceful protest, marching without carrying weapons, but this was no cause for relief. "They have a message aimed at Americans: if you stay beyond the deadline set by the SOFA agreement, the security agreement signed between the US and Iraq - if they stay beyond that date which is 31 of December, the end of this year, the Mahdi army will resume its military activities and they will battle US forces," Al Saleh said.
Four Demonstration Activists Arrested Today
Aswat al-Iraq reports (May 27th): Four young activists were arrested in Tahreer Square, when they were demonstrating with other 250 protesters, in a new demonstration called "Friday of Decision", as reported by an activist group.
Daily life
HRW: Kurdish Government Not Better Than Saddam Hussein’s
Rudaw reports (May 25th): Human Rights Watch (HRW) severely criticized the human rights situation in Kurdistan, and claimed that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG ) is not much better than the former government of Saddam Hussein.
Iraq, Afghanistan wars spawn new disease
UPI report (May 18th): Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are at risk of a new disease researchers say they have named Iraq-Afghanistan War lung injury.
Dr. Anthony Szema of Stony Brook University Medical Center and Dr. Cecile S. Rose of National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado in Denver are leading a session at the American Thoracic Society in Denver that describes the ailment among soldiers deployed to these countries in the Middle East and Asia.
Corporate takeover
As U.S. military exits Iraq, contractors set to enter
NPR reports (May 17th): A U.S. Army helicopter brigade is set to pull out of Baghdad in December, as part of an agreement with the Iraqi government to remove U.S. forces. So the armed helicopters flying over the Iraqi capital next year will have pilots and machine gunners from DynCorp International, a company based in Virginia.
On the ground, it's the same story. American soldiers and Marines will leave. Those replacing them, right down to carrying assault weapons, will come from places with names like Aegis Defence Services and Global Strategies Group — eight companies in all.
Wildcat strikes spread in Iraq as BP lifts first oil cargo
Daily Telegraph reports (May 17th): Iraqi state oil workers tried to stop foreign workers entering the site at Rumaila, the country's biggest oil field amid a country-wide dispute about pay. The state workers have been protesting for some time about receiving lower pay than their colleagues at fields run by the international oil companies.
According to the Iraq Oil Report, an internal union memo said workers would also try to stop entry of foreign workers at Zubair, developed by ENI, and Majnoon, developed by Royal Dutch Shell, as part of a "boycott day". The workers are risking arrest, since unions and striking are illegal in the country.
Citigroup Readies Expansion in Iraq, Hires Former U.S. Diplomat
Bloomberg.com reports (May 16th): Citigroup Inc. (C), the U.S. bank which earns about a $1 billion in revenue from the Middle East, hired a former U.S. diplomat to oversee its team in Iraq as the holder of the world’s fourth-biggest oil reserves rebuilds its economy.
“We are very optimistic about Iraq over the next three to five years,” Dennis Flannery, who will run the division, said. The country will have “considerable wealth” from its oil exports and is poised to invest in the oil and gas industry, power generation and housing to boost growth, he said.
Unreported Afghanistan
Logar resident dies in detention with foreign troops
PAN reports (May 20th): Foreign troops handed over to family the body of a 25-year-old man with his hand cut off six days after he was arrested on the charge of "links" with Taliban militants in central Logar province, officials said.
Amir Mohammad, the victim, had been arrested by foreign troops during an operation six days ago in Sheikhi village of Charkh district for his alleged ties with the Taliban.
Anti-NATO protest resumes in Takhar; 5 injured
PAN reports (May 19th): Five people were injured on a second day of a protest demonstration against foreign troops for killing four civilians in an airstrike in northern Takhar province, officials said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, more than a dozen people were killed and 85 others wounded when police opened fire at hundreds of protestors in Taloqan, the provincial capital, after a NATO airsrike killed four civilians, including two women in Gawmali area, three kilometers from Taloqan, on Tuesday night.
White Phosphorus Suspected In Afghan War Theatre
Politik and International reports (April 18th): “’Dude 11’ gave air support and fired 24 rounds of 120 mm white phosphorus and 17 rounds of 120 mm ammunition” against the rebels. ”No casualty assessment was reported”.
This incident is merely one example of the use of white phosphorus in the war against the Taliban. It has been extracted from 14,841 secret intelligence reports from Afghanistan which have been obtained by Information, and many similar examples that would seem to document conclusively, that ISAF is indeed using white phosphorus as an assault weapon, can be found in this material.
NATO’s use of white phosphorus – a napalm-like substance – in the war against the Taliban is highly controversial, since white phosphorus is categorized as a so-called inhumane weapon, which many countries, including Denmark, have committed themselves not to use in populated areas.
US troops kill several Afghan civilians
Press TV reports (May 15th): American troops have killed several women and children in the troubled eastern Afghanistan amid growing civilian casualties in the war-torn country.
Villagers in Kunar Province say the US troops fired rockets at local residents from their military outposts. The children were all girls aged 8 to 15. Also, a 12-year-old child was reportedly killed and four others were injured in a NATO attack in Kunar.
Nato airstrike 'kills 14' in Afghanistan
AP reports (May 29th): An Afghan official says a Nato airstrike has killed 14 people — all women and children — and wounded six in the volatile southwest Helmand province.
112 killed in Nuristan airstrike: governor
PAN reports (May 28th): As many as 112 people were killed in an airstrike by NATO-led troops in the remote eastern province of Nuristan, a senior official said. Twenty-two policemen, 20, civilians and 70 Taliban fighters were among the dead, Governor Jamaluddin Badr told Pajhwok Afghan News, quoting a probe into the incidents.
Anti-war news
Group protests Fort Hood deployments
My San Antonio reports (May 27th): Veterans opposed to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars stood Thursday atop a two-story guard tower off Fort Hood in a symbolic watch that protested continued combat deployments here.
Leaders of Iraq Veterans Against the War said the Army had sent large numbers of GIs into combat with serious mental injuries and that it was up to Fort Hood's new commander, Lt. Gen. Don Campbell Jr., to help them.
Upcoming events
June 11th Day Conference: Afghanistan and the war on terror ten years on
Conway Hall London. Registration 9.30 am • Tickets £5
Speakers include: Tony Benn • Mehdi Hassan • Tariq Ali • Lindsey German • US peace campaigner David Swanson • Pankaj Mishra • Joan Humphries • David Gentleman • George Galloway
