Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. (before Jan.20,2007)

Reading newspapers in Baghdad the day

(Voice of Iraq) - 15-01-2007
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January 15, 2007

1. Middle East
The first page
1-Talibani in Damascus to discuss the files of security and trade and deputy Hashemi shall confer in London.
2-defend Saddam : Americans Khiroh the fate of Napoleon or Mussolini. The former president admitted before his execution : lawyer Najib al-Naimi erred in many things.
3-White House : do not seek to change Maliki, Bush charged against former management procedures in the reconstruction of Iraq dossier.
4-WARNS who is to join the party to return and pointed to the cases of senior officials approached to join the organization Baathist regime.
Five-American Army : Iranians detained in Irbil belonging to the Revolutionary Guard.
Six separate attacks - expected 13 people, including five of the security forces. BAGHDAD : the arrest of 82 "terrorists" and seized two rocket.
7-Prince Harry learns Arab willingness to serve in Iraq. Report : expected deployment regiment son Prince Charles in April.

The inner pages
1-Hashimi in London today, in the first official visit of the President of the Islamic Party of Britain, calling for the plan integrated security and respect for the rights of Iraqis.
2-After the publication of three Kurdish brigades in Baghdad to maintain security, the elements of s : they do not want to be an asset to the enemies of the Kurds in Iraq.
3-bloc chest : Committment to suspend our participation to reschedule the American withdrawal.

2. Azzaman
The first page
1-WASHINGTON : Iran, diplomats linked to the Revolutionary Guard and Tehran claimed, Bush acknowledged that mistakes have been made in Iraq.
2-Increasing the salaries of retired lawyers to 180 thousand dinars.
3-Sydney achieved in the death of an Iraqi driver near the Australian embassy.
4 - (7) victims in charge Square aviation.
5-Maliki : (10) billion dollars for investment. 6-Interior : the arrest of 10 pilgrims, we will document convicted and the martyrdom of credentialed reference in Najaf.
7-bloc chest resume its parliamentary and government soon.
8-Talibani visit to Damascus to conclude security agreements and commercial.

The inner pages
Phase 1 - the families forced to live situations tragic death and the aggravation of the phenomenon of displacement, the disintegration of the fabric of Iraqi society.
2-barrier for the American forces struck governor of Nineveh ... Al-Bayati : electronic surveillance equipment in support of the security forces.
3-Barazani : advance the political process which is important to the government of Kurdistan and the National Union seven choose to occupy leadership positions.
4-Hillary Clinton : the violence escalating in Iraq.
5-Blair rejects request to send 2000 troops to deploy in Baghdad and Harry learns Arabia to join the British forces.
6-WARNS who is to join the party to return.
7-Coalition : No intersection with the extension of our security and compatibility supports the American strategy and demanding guarantees.
8-Baghdad complained scarcity of drinking water. Secretariat : maintenance, and lack of electricity and water cut behind.

3. Long
The first page
Sources : 1-Baghdad security plan launched today, Monday, and intelligence are sufficient to move
2-the first visit of Iraqi head to Damascus since the fourth century. Talabani : We seek Syrian support for the security aspects and commercial
3-Maliki Parliament demands to speed up the approval of the budget
4-In a meeting with European ambassadors in Iraq. Zebari : government would bear the obligation to the security, political and economic success of the plan in Baghdad Five-eight thousand involving a policeman. A security plan to visit Ashura
6-sentenced to death a member of the ruling family for the first time in Kuwait
7-Eyewitnesses life : to beat (Haifa Street)
8-Fire Alcheorgh succeed in a new and significant material losses
9 :-internal investigations proved approached senior staff members to join the party to return

The inner pages
1-explosion in the aviation arena. The fall of mortar shells at the area of credit. The killing of 75 terrorists and the arrest of 16 others in Diyala. The discovery of a cache of gunmen and ammunition in Aldaineh
2-Bayati : American threats to cut off support for the government of Maliki is wrong
3-Trade : new agreements with Syria. Providing full of the items of the ration card for the current year
4-a telephone conversation between Zebari and Muttaqi to end the crisis. Washington refers to the Iranians to five b (Jerusalem Force). Iran asserts that the "legitimate activities"
- 5 : Bush to provide alternative opponents. The new strategic outlook : Democrats want to vote, Rice warns Arabs abandon Iraq

4. Life
1-governor of Salahuddin rejects Saddam's family to transfer the body outside the country
Two-government bodies do not want to import problems Iraqis «» ... Kuwaiti security prevents symposium in solidarity with Iraq
3-assisted Sunni officer in the Department of Karkh. Shiite and Rusafa. Commander «plan» Baghdad was a prisoner of the Americans
4-international airport in Karbala.
5-King Abdullah receives message from Khamenei and Larijani Nejad transfer ... Baghdad and Damascus confirmed the desire to develop relations and information on a gradual solution to the Mahdi Army «»

5. Conference
The first page
1-(10) billion dollars earmarked for investment in order to eradicate unemployment. Maliki : fiscal budget. Indeed imposed and do not represent the aspirations of the government. The two-chopping to restore 769 jobs.
3 - The killing of the 75-Qaida terrorist South Bldroz.
4-Iraq is seeking to start a new chapter of trade cooperation with Syria.
5-Nejad : The new American strategy mere change in the resonant language of discourse.
6-coalition forces : five Iranians were associated with extremist groups.
7-dedicated to the participation of the Kurdish Baghdad security campaign.
8-economic expert calls for the return of the Central Agency for prices.
9-Australian soldiers killed the driver of a truck.


The inner pages
1-deployment of eight thousand policemen in Karbala in preparation for the visit Alashouraih.
2-caused curfews at night. The emergence of the phenomenon doctor neighborhood in Baghdad.
3-Unannounced visits to hospitals to ascertain the treatment of medical waste.
4-Anbar sons join the police.
Five-dependent education system (Health Digest) during the appointment.
6-radical solutions for delivery to the hot spots. Trade : Contracts (SCA) will not be influenced by political pressures.
7-shop owners : millions of dollars losses Alcheorgh fire.
8-Bayati : Latin erred threat to cut off support for the Iraqi government.
The completion of the nine-month military continued in Ramadi.
6. Baghdad
The first page
1-tragic situations accompany forcing families to leave it.
2-Bush warned Democrats of cutting funding for the war in Iraq.
3-million loss Alcheorgh fire.



The inner pages
1-Iraqi National Accord Movement Baghdad branch distributed aid to displaced families in hung.
2-transfer documents and the ratification documents of the Notary hung in the Salhia.

7. The statement
The first page
1-Prime Minister calls for deputies to expedite approval of the draft budget.
2-Bayati : Latin erred threat to cut off support for the Iraqi government.
3-warn of the Interior to join the so-called b (the return) banned.
4-Fire in Alcheorgh and bomb explosion near the aircraft.

The inner pages
1-Work program start small loans. 2-Minister of Trade : trying to start a new chapter of trade and economic cooperation with Syria.
3 - The Ministry of Education adopt a health publication for the appointment.
4-Higher education : new procedures for the enrollment of students of the missions in major universities throughout the world.



8. People
The first page
1-Talabani in Syria : the fight against terrorism and bilateral agreements.
2-stop oil exports from the port of Basra. Today.
Interior :76-3% of the security flaw political cause. Baghdad : a battalion in each district and 30 thousand point control and the expulsion of a bad 7700.
4-Abbas rejected the draft of a Palestinian state.
5-Tehran : diplomats detained in Irbil.


The inner pages
One rain-crippling movement in Fallujah.
2-signs of the security plan. Begin. The army launched raids and arrested dozens wide.
3-Nasiriyah families suffer from the fuel crisis.
4-Immigrant : transmitting transactions in 4625 to the family of migrant labor.

9. Fraternity

The first page
1-deputies in the coalition Alcordstani : Mr. Jalal Talabani's visit to Damascus and important strategy in the way of the development of relations between the two countries.
2 - Dr. Fouad Massoum : s will not participate in any operations outside the territory and forces Kordeh units of the Iraqi army that will participate in the security plan.
3-president of the government of Iraq : report Cordstan Baker-Hamilton inapplicable Kordeh Kirkuk ... We want a federal democratic Iraq.
4-Bush warns the democratic opposition and carries on those who criticize his plan on Iraq.
5-Rice : American operations against Iranian interests in Iraq was ordered by President Bush.
6-Iraqi forces arrested seven armed men in the 40th Fallujah, killing three people in Iraq, including in front of the mosque.
7-American official : American forces have targeted extremist leaders and the Iraqi government has given us the green light to attack the militias.
8-Hillary Clinton arrive in Baghdad and will meet with senior officials.
9 - The American Secretary of Defense is expected to reduce forces this year in the case of Iraq, the success of the plan.

The inner pages
1-Cordstan president of the government of Iraq. The report of the Baker-Hamilton inapplicable. Mr. Najirfan Barzani : Kirkuk Kordeh. We want a federal democratic Iraq.
Two-a joint working meeting between the American delegation and a high number of ministers and government territory Cordstan aims to develop the performance of the territorial government and the various fields of production.
Three-representative government of the territory in Latin Cordstan criticizing American policy in Cordstan ages.
4-Iraqi government lifted government subsidy on imported oil derivatives. 5-Assem Jihad : stop oil exports from the port of Basra on Monday.
6-more than three hundred volunteers receive training from the police academy in Jordan.
7-joint forces arrested eight suspects in Yusufiyah and Mahmoudia.
8-after a hiatus of four years. The resumption of the production of drugs to treat cancer for the first time in the laboratory medicine Nineveh.
10. European

The first page
One Co-Talabani and al-Assad held a lengthy meeting to the development of bilateral relations.
2-about statements the Prime Minister of the Turkish government : the Presidency of the Kurdistan : Iraq's problems dealt with the Iraqis.
Three-Britain advancing international companies to hold oil agreements with Iraq. 4 - Dr. Fouad Massoum : s will not participate in any operations outside the territory of Kurdistan.
5-urged the House of Representatives to speed up the discussion of the federal budget and to ratify it. Dr. Barham Ahmed Salih : the oil would have a positive effect on the political process and democracy. 6-installed generators in all parts of Baghdad within months.
Services : 7-enrollment senior officials of the State Party is prohibited.
8-arrest of two terrorists in Koysanjaq possession of a quantity of (TNT).

The inner pages
1-killed three workers from the morning newspaper in Baghdad and Anbar. The killing of 75 terrorists and finding room for the leadership and the other for the killing in Diyala, a car bomb explosion in front of a fuel station in the neighborhood group.
2-trade and economic cooperation between Iraq and Syria.
3-PEOPLE : The government inventory disarmament own bread only.
4-Immigrant begins with the distribution of residential land to the returnees.
5-economists : the mechanism for the disbursement of the American grant for the Eradication of unemployment is not clear.
6-Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education in the province and Britain.
7-Paris : federal matter for the Iraqis alone.
Eight-American army : detainees linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Tehran calling for the release of five "diplomats" in Iraq.

11. New Sabah

The first page
1-million loss Alcheorgh fire.
2-Talabani to visit Damascus to evaluate the bilateral relations.
3-Zebari discuss with Muttaqi developments storming the Iranian Consulate in Arbil.
4-trillion dinar budget of the Ministry of Education for 2007.
5-arrest of Al-Jazeera newspaper in Egypt.
Six-Iraqi company produces drugs for the treatment of cancer.

The inner pages
1-Iran denies calling for the release of its diplomats in Iraq ... Washington : Airanio Irbil officials from the Revolutionary Guard.
Two-fall mortar shells at the area of credit and the center of the city of Basra.
3-attack against those accused of crimes and kidnapping sticks in Nasiriyah.
4-150 companies in the international exhibition in Arbil.

12. Morning
The first page
1-Iraqi government is ripe for the management of the largest security plan in preparation for the receipt of the file fully. Skinner : counter-statements motivated by narrow.
2-TWO except 769 member task. Soon exception thousand others. Chalabi draw examining all the files to exclude the largest possible number of the Baathists and returned to the post.
3-Sadri trend is due soon for political action soon.
4-Bush strategy defies opponents and his reading has contributed to the instability of Iraq.
5-intensive security preparations in Karbala, the holy prior to the visit of the 10th of Muharram.
Six-goal of the government last withdrawal of America from Iraq.
7-financial Japanese loan received at the end of this month.
8-to mobility broad political for the implementation of the Bush plan - Maliki. Political consensus on the need for Iraq to return to its regional and reduction of external interference.
9-growing in the number of volunteers to the police in Ramadi.
10-oil source. The ministry concerned to lift the subsidy on fuel.

13. Orient
The first page
1-Minister of the Interior warned senior officials to join the party to return.
Two-judge sightings of the Pharaoh penalty. Saddam sat tremble. We had been frightened from the experience.
3-Hashemi : the majority of those killed in Iraq last year are Sunni Arabs.
4-Secretary-General of the Shiite scholars gathering in Kuwait for attacking al-Qaradawi denounced the execution of Saddam.
5-fire in a market Alcheorgh.
6-Qatar take on Washington lack of coordination with the Gulf states on their plans for the new Iraq.



The inner pages
1-views of the Iraqi street on the new strategy. Reactions to Iraqi leaders. Citizens do not care about any interest in the plans.
2-Egyptian Presidential Spokesman : national reconciliation in Iraq can be achieved only through the unity of its people.
2 - The Pentagon is expected that the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq to 10 thousand at the end of 2008.
4-prevention symposium (Iraqi Sunnis) Rdaoua of sectarian strife.
Five-German Social Democratic Party wants to hold an international conference on Iraq.
Six-component brigades Kurdish beat Tsaeulat on the feasibility of participating in the Plan of Baghdad.
7-Iraqi anthem was played in Damascus for the first time in a quarter-century. Talabani up to Syria to sign security agreements and economic.
8-Hillary Clinton : the war in Iraq (very painful).
9-Barzani warned Erdogan. Add Ankara today to meet with representatives of the Iraqi sects in Kirkuk.

14. Justice
The first page
One-Maliki : Baghdad security plan will be led by the Iraqi leader. Bush, the Iraqis alone can put an end to the violence in their country.
2-Passport clarify some validity passports.
3-Minister of Trade : a new page of trade cooperation with Syria.




The inner pages
1-deployment of eight thousand police in Karbala ready to Ashour.
Two-hundreds in the province of Anbar join the police and denounce the Baath and Saddam.
3-Barham Salih : the current budget the largest budget in the history of Iraq.
4-Sinan Shabibi : Central Bank's role is to deal with the occupation resulting from the development process. 5-infallible : Albbishmaraka will not participate in any operations outside the territory of Kurdistan.
6-Turkish-Iraqi talks.
7-Iran demanding the American forces to release detainees its diplomats in Iraq.
8-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia. The security situation in Iraq affect the security and stability of the region.

15. Evidence
The first page
1-military official confirms the participation of Kurdish forces in the Baghdad security plan.
2-Bush : wrong on my contributed to instability in Iraq.
3-Ittijah Al-Jabouri in Libya to support Vdhaith.
4-Maliki Iiin Gen. Abboud Kambar leader of operations in Baghdad.
5-Barazan executions and Awwad Albandar.
6-Abbas Al-Bayati : Latin erred threat to cut off support for the Iraqi government.

The inner pages
One-Maliki : The American strategy is a common vision between Baghdad and Washington.
Two-Rice : Washington needed Maliki promises.

3-Is achieve Talabani Syria positive attitude of his visit to Damascus.
Assistant Talabani said that the President discussed the security file in Syria is expected to ask Damascus to control the borders and preventing the armed men from entering Iraq and this first visit by the Taliban since the countries resumed diplomatic relations last month after more than two decades of estrangement.

Othman said Hewa and Media Advisor to Jalal Talabani, which confirms that the news of the visit Talabani said on Wednesday that the visit would be soon.

, Said Talabani, who spent several years in exile in Damascus during his opposition to Saddam that he would urge the Syrians to prevent infiltration.
4-depth discussions on the laws and legislation in force in Iraq.

16. The new evidence
The first page
One-media leaks : American pressure on Maliki. And Allawi and Abdul Mahdi candidates as alternatives.
Two-terrorism demolished in Anbar at the hands of its sons. And Altkverion Elfezon last breath.
3-Bouar security plan. The arrest of scores of terrorists and the seizure of hundreds of missiles cars prepared for the booby.
4-similar to Saddam being beaten in Paris.

The inner pages
1-Rice denies intention her exposure to Iranian interests in Iraq and the Gates Foundation recommends Bush to increase the number of its troops.
Two-Saudi Arabia sought clarification of the new American strategy in Iraq.
4-Hosni Mubarak the situation in Iraq affects the stability of the region.

In the following the most important Honduras editorials and opinion articles for today :
1-Iraq independent country, Kirkuk is part of Iraq. Slave of Hadi Mahdi (Russian)
The writer says at the beginning of the article ... Iraq also known historically and geographically that independent sovereign country and a member of the General Assembly of the United Nations and the founding of the Arab League with weight and weight of the political, economic and social regionally and globally.

Translated version of http://www.newsabah.com/paper.php?name=News&file=categories&op=newindex&ca tid=20

good one but long


Economic : إقتصاديون: آلية صرف المنحة الاميركية للقضاء على البطالة غير واضحة: : Economists mechanism for the disbursement of the grant for the eradication of the American unemployment is not clear


بغداد ـ أصوات العراق:Voices of Iraq : Baghdad
إتفق مستشار اقتصادي مع عضو في لجنة الاستثمار والاعمار في مجلس النواب على أن أموال المنحة الاميركية لاتزال غير واضحة.The economic advisor with a member of the Committee on Investment and Construction in the House of Representatives that the American grant funds are still not clear.
وقال ثائر الفيلي رئيس لجنة الاستثمار الاسكاني في وزارة الاعمار والاسكان لوكالة أنباء ( أصوات العراق) المستقلة إن " آلية صرف المبالغ لم توضح للان، إذ ستبدأ المنحة بمليار دولار خلال هذه السنة لخلق فرص عمل كما جاء في كلمة بوش.He said Thaer Alvili Chairman of the Committee on housing investment in the Ministry of Construction and Housing News Agency (Voices of Iraq) Independent that the "mechanism for the disbursement of funds had not explained because, as it will grant $ 1 billion this year for job creation as stated in Bush's speech.

a friend of mine told me something had been posted in one of the
Iraq newspapers about a reval,I was hoping that someone might have caught
on to which paper that was and posted it....DANG!!

فيلق المهندسين الامريكي يعمل على نصب مولدات كهربائية في بغدادCorps engineers working on the American memorial generators in Baghdad
المصدر: الزوراءSource : Zawra
15 / 01 / 07
Said Michael Welch, General Commander of the Gulf of Engineers Corps in Baghdad said that the American Legion will be installed on the electrical generators throughout Baghdad within the next couple of months, Welch said in a press statement that "the Corps is working on the faster the reconstruction of Iraq and that there are huge amounts estimated at $ 1 billion earmarked for reconstruction await the arrival us in the coming days."
Welch emphasized that "a person has been appointed by President George Bush named Dimitri Karni to oversee the reconstruction process and the coordination between the Iraqi government and the American government in the area of reconstruction."

Translated version of http://www.alzawraa.net/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4880&Ite mid=73

To everyone who worked hard on getting Rolclub up and running again, thank you. This forum benefits a lot of people. Charmed Piper great post.

Are we getting close finally to rv has anybody heard anything?

A friend of mine has a son serving in Iraq with Special Forces. In the neighborhoods he patrols in Baghdad, when he first arrived there, they only had electricity for a couple of hours a day, now those same neighborhoods are without power for only a couple of hours a day. Things are improving slowly he said. However, you will never here that in the media.

The media only shows the bad and hardly any of the good that is happening.

Prime Minister : ... The fiscal budget does not represent the aspirations of the government







بغداد/العدالة قال رئيس الوزراء نوري المالكي: ان الميزانية المالية لهذا العام لا تمثل جميع تطلعات الحكومة ولكنها ميزانية الامر الواقع من دون اهمال متطلبات المواطنين.Baghdad / justice Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki : that the fiscal budget for this year does not represent the aspirations of all government, but the budget status quo without neglecting the needs of citizens.

واوضح في رسالة ارسلها الى مجلس النواب لمناسبة مناقشة ميزانية العام الحالي وقرأها رئيس مجلس النواب محمود المشهداني:"ان الميزانية فرضتها اعتبارات معينة اذ ان العراق مقبل على بناء قواته من اجل تسلم الملف الامني بالكامل من القوات المتعددة الجنسيات باعتبار ان الامن هو هاجس العراقيين الاول. واضاف:"ان الدولة التزمت في العام الماضي بالانفاق على مفردات البطاقة التموينية وشبكة الحماية الاجتماعية كونه التزاما اجتماعيا . واننا سنلتزم به في هذا العام بالرغم من ثقله الواضح على الميزانية. وتابع المالكي:"تم تخصيص عشرة مليارات دولار للاستثمار وهو من المبالغ الكبيرة في الميزانية ايمانا منا باهمية الاستثمار من اجل القضاء على البطالة. وطالب مجلس النواب :"بالاسراع في مناقشة الميزانية من اجل عدم تعطيل المشاريع".He explained in a letter sent to the House of Representatives on the occasion of the discussion of the budget for the current year and villages chairman of the parliament Mahmoud Almshahadani : "The budget imposed certain considerations that Iraq is on the verge of building its forces in order to fully recognize the security file from the multinational forces, as security is the first concern of Iraqis. He added : "The state has in the past year spending on items that the ration card and the network of social protection a social obligation. And we'll play in this year despite the obvious weight on the budget. He continued : Maliki "has been allocated ten billion dollars to invest a significant amount of the budget in the belief of the importance of investment for the elimination of unemployment. They asked the Chamber of Deputies : "expediting the discussion of the budget in order not to disrupt the project."


Translated version of http://www.iraqigovernment.org/

In Iraq, the West must show it is the strong horse
The Iraqi economy is picking up but the governement needs time to establish itself. The Coalition must keep its nerve in 2007 to avert disaster.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15 January 2007 (The Spectator)
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Let's start 2007 with some good news from Iraq. It's boom time, in the nicest sense of the word, in Baghdad and Basra, not to mention Kurdistan and Najaf. Newsweek has just described Iraq's economic surge as 'the mother of all surprises'. The 2003 invasion unleashed not only a vast market in the free media, which persists, but also a massive amount of economic activity which the sectarian bloodshed has not crushed. Accordmg to Iraqthemodel.com, one of the best unofficial blogsites, there were just 8.000 officially registered companies in Iraq under Saddam. Now there are over 34,000 and another 286 were created in November alone.

Despite the ceaseless terrorist attacks on the country's infrastructure and particularly its crucial oil industry, the value of the Iraqi dinar has continued to rise - in November, from D1.410 to the dollar to D 1.480. That is obviously good for the vast majority of people whose pay comes in dinars. And civil servants' pay has just been raised.

Unemployment is still appalling - 30-50 per cent in some places - and the unemployed can be seduced into joining militias. But the much mocked government is beginning to liberalise the centralised economy of Saddam. In the last two years the number of mobile-phone subscribers has increased from 1.4 million to 7.1 million and Iraqna. the leading phone company, is expected to have revenues of some $520 million this year, more than a third higher than last year. The prices of houses and other real estate are soaring, in both poor areas and rich. Construction is doing well. So are retail and trade. All of which suggests, as Newsweek says, 'that Iraqis arc more optimistic about the future than most Americans are'.

But of course the horrors in Iraq are very real. The killing campaigns, both Sunni and Shia. are designed above all to reduce Western optimism further. They have been so successful that the main question being asked of Iraq at the beginning of 2007 is: will we stay or will we go? Will domestic political pressures, here and in the United States, force such a cutback in our commitments to Iraq that the place dissolves into such awful civil war as to make today's sectarian killings seem like a honeymoon'.'
In Washington the long-awaited Baker-Hamilton Study Group on Iraq produced one of the most useless pieces of 'bipartisan consensus' ever. Filled with tired orthodoxies and wishful platitudes, it was a disgrace. But it did Bush and Blair a back-hand service. Baker's pieties - 'Syria should, Iran should, Israel must' - proved that Washington's 'wise men' were no smarter than Bush.

There is now talk that far from cutting forces along the Baker lines. Bush may instead 'surge' combat troops into Baghdad to try once more to impose security there. And at the same time he may well announce far greater emphasis on US training of Iraqi officers and men. This is absurdly late already. There should be thousands more US soldiers embedded with the Iraqi army. The same goes, on a smaller scale, for the British. We run 'the Sandhurst of the Desert', the Al-Rustamiyah school for Iraqi officers in Baghdad. It's a marvellous facility but we have not given it enough resources - and it's shocking that we have only trained a handful of Iraqi officers in Britain. There should be hundreds training here all the time. The fact that they are not here suggests, alas, that parts of the Ministry of Defence are not committed to success in Iraq, but are thinking instead of what officials now call 'accelerated transition'.

The worst service that the Baker clique performed was not in Washington but in Iraq itself. There Baker was reported as the perceived wisdom of the American political class and a signal that America was definitely on the way out — by early 2008. according to Baker's petulantly repeated demand. It was seen as proof of Osama bin Laden's description of America as 'a weak horse' on which no one should depend.

Amir Taheri, one of the most seasoned commentators on the entire Middle East, agrees. He has just returned from Basra, the centre of British control. This Shiitc slum on the Gulf, deliberately impoverished for decades by Saddam, is beginning to prosper at last, he says. As in Baghdad, the shops are full of televisions and other consumer goods, many of them imported from China. Gucci shoes apparently move fast.

Taheri insists that what is happening in Iraq is not sectarian warfare but 'war of the sectarians', intended to drive the Coalition out. 'They kill people to have an effect on public opinion 10.000 miles away,' he says, so that each can pursue their separate ambitions to re-impose dictatorship on Iraq.

The best hope for Iraq now is that despite all the bloody militia efforts, the political parties which remain in the centre can still devise a workable devolution. For that, the politicians still need more time, particularly to agree on oil revenue-sharing legislation, and they need the insurance that the Coalition still offers. American officials in Baghdad find that different factions often use them as a broker. In Basra, says Amir Taheri, the same applies to the British, who are often called Abu N'aji' or 'Father of Safety'. He says that people see them as arbiters who guarantee the balance of power between the three principal Shiite factions which have divided Basra between themselves.

The only alternative — partition — would almost certainly lead to invasions by greedy or nervous neighbours. Iran's power in Iraq is already too great and the Saudis are now making noises about arming the Iraqi Sunni as a counterweight to Iranian-backed Shia. Each will increase its brutal assaults on the other if the Coalition leaves too soon.

If we have to set a timetable for running down our troop presence, it should be linked to the end of the next round of national elections, due to be held in January 2009. The 2005 elections and referendum were the freest ever held in the Arab world and were a triumph for the Iraqi people (as well as for the organisers). I suppose that these first elections could be dismissed as an imposed aberration — a third election four years on would establish a pattern which will be a huge boost not only for Iraq but also for the region, which still needs helping out of despotism. Tony Blair was absolutely right to say on his recent trip to the Middle East, 'We have to wake up. These forces of extremism based on a warped and wrong-headed interpretation of Islam aren't fighting a conventional war, but they are fighting one against us.'

Blair has been phenomenally brave over Iraq. He is about to go. It is not clear what the attitude of Gordon Brown will be. But if the Conservative party is wise it will see that continued commitment to Iraq means a commitment to the region. It is a conservative policy in the best sense of the word. It could show that, despite everything, we are 'the strong horse" that can be relied upon. The alternative, to cut and run or walk, will be unbelievably destructive.