tagged w/ Nuri al-Maliki
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This past week, Iraq surpassed the previous record for the country that has gone the longest between holding a parliamentary election and forming a government.This past week, Iraq surpassed the previous record for the country that has gone the... more
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If no Iraqi government has been cobbled together by September 8 – and few expect it will –it will have been more than half a year since Iraqis voted.If no Iraqi government has been cobbled together by September 8 – and few expect... more
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Vice President Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to Iraq on the fourth of July to salute the troops and to urge rival Iraqi politicians to end months of delays and select new leaders for their wobbly democracy. Nevertheless, Biden predicted a peaceful transition of power even as suicide bombers struck government centers in two major cities, Mosul and Ramadi. Four people were killed and 25 injured in the two blasts that occurred hundreds of miles apart.Vice President Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to Iraq on the fourth of July to salute... more
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The New York Times reports that some 150 politicians, civil servants, tribal chiefs, police officers, Sunni clerics and members of Awakening Councils have been assassinated throughout Iraq since the election — bloodshed apparently aimed at heightening turmoil in the power vacuum created by more than four months without a national government.The New York Times reports that some 150 politicians, civil servants, tribal chiefs,... more
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Gunmen killed two candidates from the Sunni-backed coalition that won the most seats in Iraq's March parliamentary election, slayings that the alliance says are part of a politically motivated campaign of assassinations.Gunmen killed two candidates from the Sunni-backed coalition that won the most seats... more
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This past week the Center for Constitutional Rights and its co-counsel asked the Supreme Court to take up the case against CACI and L-3 Services (known formerly as Titan). The two corporations’ employees participated in the infamous torture of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib.This past week the Center for Constitutional Rights and its co-counsel asked the... more
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Human Rights Watch says that torture, beating and sodomizing inmates with brooms or pistol barrels were the norm at an illegal prison run by a military unit under the command of the Iraqi prime minister's office.Human Rights Watch says that torture, beating and sodomizing inmates with brooms or... more
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Getting caught up on this story from yesterday in the NY Times: Apparently security forces in Iraq are using bomb detecting "wands" that the Pentagon thinks are useless. All those checkpoints that are supposed to keep Iraq's cities safe from car bombs might not be having much of an effect at all.
The Iraqis, however, believe passionately in them. “Whether it’s magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs,” said Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, head of the Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate for Combating Explosives.
Dale Murray, head of the National Explosive Engineering Sciences Security Center at Sandia Labs, which does testing for the Department of Defense, said the center had “tested several devices in this category, and none have ever performed better than random chance.”
Iraq is in the middle of a delicate transition period. Things have begun to seem more stable, less violent. US troops have pulled back to their bases, out of the cities. And blast walls in the capital have even come down. But with recent bombings in Baghdad - bomb detection is a really critical part of maintaining security. The New York Times described the wands as working on the "same principle as a Ouija board" - by the power of user suggestion.
On Tuesday, a guard and a driver for The New York Times, both licensed to carry firearms, drove through nine police checkpoints that were using the device. None of the checkpoint guards detected the two AK-47 rifles and ammunition inside the vehicle.
During an interview on Tuesday, General Jabiri challenged a Times reporter to test the ADE 651, placing a grenade and a machine pistol in plain view in his office. Despite two attempts, the wand did not detect the weapons when used by the reporter but did so each time it was used by a policeman.
“You need more training,” the general said.
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- Man Makes it Snow in China (Video)Getting caught up on this story from yesterday in the NY Times: Apparently security... more
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President Obama has promised an American troop withdrawal from Iraq by 2011. And Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki has wholeheartedly supported that timeline - building his political credibility on keeping the country secure in the absence of American troops.
And now this: Two car bombs in Baghdad have killed over 160 and wounded over 500.
The bombers apparently passed through multiple security checkpoints before detonating their vehicles within a minute of each other, leaving at least 155 dead and about 500 wounded strewn across crowded downtown streets. Blast walls had been moved back off the road in front of both buildings in recent weeks.
It was the deadliest coordinated attack in Iraq since the summer of 2007 and happened just blocks from where car bombers killed at least 122 people at the Foreign and Finance Ministries in August, in the continuation of a focused attempt by insurgents to strike at the government’s most critical functions.
Mr. Maliki is running for re-election in January and security is issue number one for the Iraqi people. If these attacks are followed by more violence he'll have a hard time making the case that he's the right leader for an American-troop-less Iraq. But if Maliki loses - would whoever takes his place be able to improve security or would the cycle of violence continue? And for President Obama - will an Iraq returning to the violence of 2006 and 2007 really allow for him to complete a troop withdrawal in the next two years?
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- North American Union conspiracy hits the big timePresident Obama has promised an American troop withdrawal from Iraq by 2011. And Iraqi... more
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Dozens were wounded and 12 were killed in a series of attacks in Iraq's capital. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is facing a tough contest today for his party to retain power and security is obviously one of the biggest issues in the poll.
From the New York Times:
"Iraqi official and United States commanders have braced for violence, imposing strict controls on vehicles and cordoning off entire streets around polling sites. Thursday’s attacks made it clear there are still gaps in security, but on the streets of Baghdad, where lines of soldiers and police officers formed as soon as voting began at 7 a.m., there was also a sense of defiance."
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/world/middleeast/05iraq.htmlDozens were wounded and 12 were killed in a series of attacks in Iraq's capital.... more
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Getting caught up on this story from yesterday in the NY Times: Apparently security forces in Iraq are using bomb detecting "wands" that the Pentagon thinks are useless. All those checkpoints that are supposed to keep Iraq's cities safe from car bombs might not be having much of an effect at all.
From the NY Times:
"The Iraqis, however, believe passionately in them. “Whether it’s magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs,” said Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, head of the Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate for Combating Explosives. Dale Murray, head of the National Explosive Engineering Sciences Security Center at Sandia Labs, which does testing for the Department of Defense, said the center had “tested several devices in this category, and none have ever performed better than random chance.”
Iraq is in the middle of a delicate transition period. Things have begun to seem more stable, less violent. US troops have pulled back to their bases, out of the cities. And blast walls in the capital have even come down. But with recent bombings in Baghdad - bomb detection is a really critical part of maintaining security. The New York Times described the wands as working on the "same principle as a Ouija board" - by the power of user suggestion.
From the NY Times:
"On Tuesday, a guard and a driver for The New York Times, both licensed to carry firearms, drove through nine police checkpoints that were using the device. None of the checkpoint guards detected the two AK-47 rifles and ammunition inside the vehicle. During an interview on Tuesday, General Jabiri challenged a Times reporter to test the ADE 651, placing a grenade and a machine pistol in plain view in his office. Despite two attempts, the wand did not detect the weapons when used by the reporter but did so each time it was used by a policeman. “You need more training,” the general said."
On the Current News Blog: http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/11/05/iraqs-bomb-detectors-are-useless/
The story in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/world/middleeast/04sensors.html
Image: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/11/04/world/04sensors_CA1.htmlGetting caught up on this story from yesterday in the NY Times: Apparently security... more
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Obama pledges commitment to Iraq withdrawal planUS president meets with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and vows to remove all US troops by the end of
President Barack Obama said today that despite continuing violence in Iraq, the US is on schedule to remove all troops by the end of 2011.
Standing in the Rose Garden alongside Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, Obama said the nations were in the midst of a "full transition" that would be based on mutual interest and respect. It was Obama's first meeting with al-Maliki at the White House. He met with him in Iraq in April.
Obama said that the US withdrawal would "send an unmistakable signal that we will keep our commitments with the Iraqi people".
The two leaders met three weeks after US troops withdrew from Iraqi cities in advance of the full withdrawal.
Obama said the United States does not seek any military bases in Iraq and makes no claim on Iraqi oil resources or territory.
For his part, al-Maliki said the two presidents talked about "every possible area" where the US could play a role in working with the Iraqi government. "We are about to activate such a strategic framework agreement," he said.
Al-Maliki is in the US in an effort to encourage foreign investors to return to doing business in his country. He said Iraqi forces have become "highly capable" after working alongside American troops.Obama pledges commitment to Iraq withdrawal planUS president meets with Iraqi prime... more
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Muntazer Al Zaidi, the reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush and called him a “dog,” has allegedly written Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki an apology for embarrassing him. “Zaidi said in his letter that his big ugly act cannot be excused,” said Maliki’s media adviser. Zaidi apparently added, “But I remember in the summer of 2005, I interviewed your Excellency and you told me, ‘Come in, this is your house.’ And so I appeal to your fatherly feelings to forgive me.” Zaidi’s brother doubted that he actually apologized. “This information is absolutely not true. This is a lie. Muntazer is my brother and I know him very well. He does not apologize," he said. It’s unclear, exactly, how Zaidi’s contrition will affect his newfound celebrity in the Middle East. Since the incident, more than 1,000 lawyers have supposedly volunteered to defend him, an Egyptian man offered him his 20-year-old daughter as a bride, and shoemakers across the Middle East have claimed that they were the makers of the famous shoes.Muntazer Al Zaidi, the reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush and called him a... more
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(If the video doesn't load, click on the link above)
Leila Fadel: Jan 31 provincial elections will not be a religious fight - but amongst the Shia elite. Part 4
According to Leila Fadel, Baghdad bureau cheif for McClatchy Newspapers, sectarian leaders elected in Iraq's 2005 general election did not significantly improve the lives of average Iraqis. In the upcoming January 2009 provincial elections, many hope for secular leaders focused on Iraq's national interests, but the real battle will be between the elites of the Shia for control of the oil rich south.
Leila Fadel is the chief of the Baghdad bureau of McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered the war in Iraq for Knight Ridder and now McClatchy on and off since June 2005, as well as the 34-day war in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel in the summer of 2006. Prior to joining the McClatchy team she worked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a crime and higher education reporter.
Fadel graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in 2004 and has lived in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. She speaks conversational Arabic. She was named print journalist of the year by the Houston Press Club for her work in 2005 and won a Katie Award from the Dallas Press Club in 2006 for her portfolio of work.
Her Iraq reporting won her Print Journalist of the Year honors from the Houston Press Club citing her work from "Bedford (Texas) to Baghdad."
See Part 1 at:
http://current.com/items/89611221/iraqis_suspicious_of_pullout_deal.htm
See Part 2 at:
http://current.com/items/89613482/the_iraqi_view_of_the_surge.htm
See Part 3 at:
http://current.com/items/89623582/iraqi_elites_fight_for_position.htm(If the video doesn't load, click on the link above)
Leila Fadel: Jan 31... more
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BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is demanding changes to a draft deal on the status of U.S. forces beyond this year, a key Shiite ally in the governing coalition said on Sunday.
"There are points in the agreement that are still pending, and they can't be approved without changes in order to preserve the complete sovereignty of Iraq," the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council quoted Maliki as telling fellow Shiite politicians at a meeting on Saturday.
Iraq's chief negotiator, Mohammed al-Haj Hammoud, had told AFP on Friday that the two negotiating teams had finalized a 27-point deal to put before the two governments and it was now up to the leaders to take a decision.
Hammoud said that the agreement had already been endorsed by U.S. President George W. Bush, although a White House spokesman later said that the discussions were still ongoing.
The statement from the office of SIIC leader Sheikh Abdel Aziz al-Hakim said Maliki's comments came at a meeting of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite bloc that leads the government and in which the SIIC and Maliki's Dawa party are the two main factions.
"The leaders of the UIA focussed on the security agreement between the United States and Iraq in order to ensure that the deal safeguards Iraqi sovereignty and national interests," it said.
Hammoud said Friday that the deal provides for all U.S. combat troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by next June ahead of a complete withdrawal from Iraq by 2011.
But White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said any dates in the agreement under discussion were "aspirational timelines" rather than formal deadlines.
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is demanding changes to a draft deal on... more
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 monthsBERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he... more
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