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Fury in Iraq as Bob Woodwood claims US spied on Nouri al-Maliki
Iraq is demanding an explanation from the United States after allegations that US intelligence agencies have been spying on Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister and other government officials.
If the claims, made in a new book by veteran investigative reporter Bob Woodward, prove to be true they will “cast a shadow” over relations between Baghdad and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other US intelligence services, an Iraqi government spokesman said yesterday.
“If it is true, if it is a fact, it reflects that there is no trust and it reflects also that the institutions in the United States are used to spy on their friends and their enemies in the same way,” Dr Ali al-Dabbagh told The Times.
“If it is true it casts a shadow on the future relations with such institutions,” he said. “We will raise this with the American side and we will ask for an explanation.”
The comments came in response to excerpts from Mr Woodward's latest book, which claimed that US intelligence agencies “know everything” Mr al-Maliki says.
It also alleges that they have been spying on his staff and others within the Iraqi Government at a time when both sides were working together to defeat the bloody insurgency that consumed Iraq in 2006 and early 2007.
A US embassy spokeswoman in Baghdad declined to comment on the revelations in The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008.
The book, due to be published on Monday, also claims that a “surge” last year of almost 30,000 additional US troops into Baghdad and the surrounding area was not the primary reason behind a drop in the violence in recent months.
Instead, it alludes to “groundbreaking” new covert techniques that enabled US military and intelligence officials to pinpoint and kill key insurgent leaders, including senior members of al-Qaeda in Iraq. It declines to give more details, however, to avoid revealing state secrets.
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from the Wikipedia: Woodward, working with fellow reporter Carl Bernstein, helped uncover the Watergate scandal that led to U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation. Woodward has written 12 best-selling non-fiction books and has twice contributed reporting to efforts that collectively earned the Post and its National Reporting staff a Pulitzer Prize. Iraq is demanding an explanation from the United States after allegations that US intelligence agencies have been spying on Nouri al-M... more -
Replacing private contractors in Iraq
In the recent years since the invasion of Iraq, insufficient US military force has lead to the use of an estimated 20,000 contractors to date. The boon in the demand for this began when it became apparent the US Military didn't have the man power to defend the Iraqi/Coalition reconstruction effort. As civilian construction/industrial sites and convoys were attacked private security firms/contractors/providers (mostly with previous or current dealings with the US government) were called in for defense contracts. At first this was slow, but as operations, reconstruction, and industrial development got under-way the more contracts were taken out, and eventualy we are now left with the present situation.
In the column linked by David Isenberg (ex. US Navy and military affairs analyst) we are presented with a paper named " Phasing Out Private Security Contractors in Iraq, " written by Col. Bobby Towery while studying at the US Army War College. It reflects on the possabilities of completely removing private security from convoys construction sites military bases and any site not directly supporting or directly involved with combat operations for the coalition. It states all these things should be the responsability of the Iraqi government to better affirm their authority on the country. Col. Towery also provides an estimated statistic using the current Blackwater training program acknowledging said private security groups could traing their replacements. He proposes if three training firms are signed, it will take just over 133 eight week training sessions between them to replace the 20,000 contractors with special security police officers, trained for various private security missions, knocking out 150 per session.
Let's hope they start soon, as once the coalition pulls out there will be a large base for possible private insurgency, as the companies still barely answer to any Iraqi authority, let alone one that has authority over them. In the recent years since the invasion of Iraq, insufficient US military force has lead to the use of an estimated 20,000 contractors ... more -
Iraqi councilman kills U.S. soldiers
A member of an Iraqi city council shot at U.S. forces Monday outside Baghdad, killing at least three soldiers, two Iraqi Interior Ministry officials said.
Iraqi soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint Monday in Amara, where an offensive is under way against militants.
But the U.S. military said one coalition soldier and an "enemy" were killed and five others were wounded. The military said it is investigating.
The Iraqi official fired an AK-47 at U.S. troops after they entered the City Council building in al-Madaen, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, according to one Interior Ministry official. The councilman killed at least three people and wounded four, a ministry official said. A member of an Iraqi city council shot at U.S. forces Monday outside Baghdad, killing at least three soldiers, two Iraqi Interior Mini... more -
Iraq wants right to veto US operations
Iraq is insisting on the right to veto any US military operations throughout its territory under a "status of forces" agreement currently being negotiated between Baghdad and Washington, according to a senior member of the Iraqi government.
The agreement will last for a maximum of two years and can be terminated by either side with six months' notice, Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq's oil minister, said.
His remarks come amid intensive closed-door negotiations between the Iraqi and US governments which have led to complaints in the US Congress as well as Iraq that the Bush administration is tying the next US president's hands by seeking to maintain long-term bases in Iraq for possible attacks on Iran and other neighbouring states.
But Shahristani insisted: "Neither the constitution nor our people will allow any violation of our sovereignty. Obviously foreign troops on Iraqi soil carrying out operations without the prior consent and approval of the elected government is a violation.
"Any arrests, any operations internally or externally against our neighbours without prior agreement of the Iraqi government will be considered a violation ... Land and sea movements and air space is all part of Iraq's sovereignty."
The status of forces agreement, known as Sofa, will flesh out a more general "strategic framework" pact on all aspects of the US-Iraqi relationship that is also being worked out secretly. The two agreements are seen as "legacy issues" allowing Bush to claim success and a legitimation of the US occupation when the UN mandate runs out at the end of this year. Iraq is insisting on the right to veto any US military operations throughout its territory under a "status of forces" agreem... more -
Iraqis condemn American demands to maintain 60 military bases indefinitely
High-level negotiations over the future role of the U.S. military in Iraq have turned into an increasingly acrimonious public debate, with Iraqi politicians denouncing what they say are U.S. demands to maintain nearly 60 bases in their country indefinitely.
Top Iraqi officials are calling for a radical reduction of the U.S. military's role here after the U.N. mandate authorizing its presence expires at the end of this year. Encouraged by recent Iraqi military successes, government officials have said that the United States should agree to confine American troops to military bases unless the Iraqis ask for their assistance, with some saying Iraq might be better off without them.
"The Americans are making demands that would lead to the colonization of Iraq," said Sami al-Askari, a senior Shiite politician on parliament's foreign relations committee who is close to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "If we can't reach a fair agreement, many people think we should say, 'Goodbye, U.S. troops. We don't need you here anymore.' "
Failing to reach agreements this year authorizing the future presence of American forces in Iraq would be a strategic setback for the Bush administration, which says that such a presence is essential to promoting stability. Absent the agreements or the extension of the U.N. mandate, U.S. troops would have no legal basis to remain in Iraq. High-level negotiations over the future role of the U.S. military in Iraq have turned into an increasingly acrimonious public debate, ... more -
And the Clusterf%*# continues
A grim assessment of the Iraqi government's progress (surprise) points to deep-seeded flaws in the Bush Administration's policies regarding the handling of the war (surprise). The assessment (the National Intelligence Estimate) also points out critical flaws in many Democrats' plans for withdrawal. So it goes. A grim assessment of the Iraqi government's progress (surprise) points to deep-seeded flaws in the Bush Administration's pol... more
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Iraqi Government
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Iraqi Government
