tagged w/ 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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According to Iraqi officials, hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a secret Baghdad prison under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's military office, where many were routinely tortured.According to Iraqi officials, hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a... more
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Recent elections in Iraq saw strong returns for ex-prime minister Ayad Allawi whose Iraqi National Accord party gained 91 seats, two seats better than current prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
Though who ultimately won Iraq’s elections still remains in dispute, Allawi’s return to prominence has dredged up controversial questions about his past, including his history with the US Central Intelligence Agency and stories suggesting Allawi personally executed people at whim.Recent elections in Iraq saw strong returns for ex-prime minister Ayad Allawi whose... more
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At least four Sunni Muslim candidates who appear to have won parliamentary seats on the winning ticket of secular leader Ayad Allawi have become targets of investigation by security forces reporting to the narrowly defeated Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.At least four Sunni Muslim candidates who appear to have won parliamentary seats on... 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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Iraqi police are saying U.S. troops opened fire on a car in western Baghdad, killing an Iraqi journalist and her husband.Iraqi police are saying U.S. troops opened fire on a car in western Baghdad, killing... more
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A high-level Iraqi report details election violations across the country and includes evidence of Iraq’s army and police interfering directly with voting on March 7th. Based on testimony compiled by three non-governmental agencies, the report says that in some Iraqi provinces “security forces were urging people to vote for a specific list.”A high-level Iraqi report details election violations across the country and includes... more
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The US military in Iraq freed an Iraqi freelance journalist working for Reuters news agency last week after he had been held without charges for 17 months.The US military in Iraq freed an Iraqi freelance journalist working for Reuters news... more
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last week called in the Iraqi Army to cordon off the provincial council building in Tikrit. It was the latest in a series of actions by Iraq’s prime minister that have infuriated his political opponents while raising doubts about the strength of the country’s laws and democratic institutions.Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last week called in the Iraqi Army to cordon off... more
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Appeals by prominent Sunni politicians against a move to ban them from next month’s election have failed, which could lead to sectarian conflict that might tarnish the vote.Appeals by prominent Sunni politicians against a move to ban them from next... more
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Iraq’s government wants to impose new restrictions on the media that critics say could bring back the type of censorship last seen under Saddam Hussein.Iraq’s government wants to impose new restrictions on the media that critics say... more
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