Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. before Febuary 2nd 2006

well if we have a decent peg and a couple of good years...say to 3.22 i dont know of anyone who will still hold nid. at least not in my group. there is a pt in time where there is enough money.

Baghdad won’t accept Ankara or others’ Kirkuk ’meddling’

1/24/2007 AKI
Erbil - Iraq's environment minister has said that the Baghdad government will not tolerate any external interference in its affairs, saying the city of Kirkuk, in Kurdistan, was an internal issue, "over which no foreign country has a right to interfere."

In an interview with Kurdish daily Aso, minister Nermin Othman revealed that "a delegation had been formed to visit neighbouring countries to express concern at this worrisome meddling". Under Iraq's new constitution, a local referendum is to be held this year on whether Kirkuk should join the Kurdistan regional confederacy, something Ankara vehemently opposes.

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently warned Iraqi Kurdish groups against attempting to wrest control of Kirkuk.

In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI) the president of the Kurdish regional parliament Adnan al-Mufti said "the latest Turkish interference was discussed on Monday. The parliament has decided to cancel the winter break to summon an extraordinary session and examine thie grave situation, to take a firm and decisive stance."

Kirkuk, once part of the Ottoman empire, has a large minority of ethnic Turks as well as Christians, Shias and Sunnis, Armenians and Assyrians. Many of the Kurds were drivenb out under Saddam Hussein's regime, in a process of forced "Arabisation" of the oil rich city. Since the US invasion of 2003, many Kurds have returned and Turkmen and Arabs in the city now complain of reverse "ethnic cleansing". Kirkuk lies just south of the autonomous Kurdish region that runs across Iraq's north-east.

Turkey worries that a strong Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq with Kirkuk's oil wealth would galvanise separatist Kurdish guerrillas in Turkey who have been fighting since 1984 for autonomy.

With tension rising in Kirkuk, the referendum is shaping up to be a key moment for the Kurdish region. The Iraq Study Group, chaired by former secretary of state James Baker, urged in its report in December that the referendum be postponed for a year as it could trigger tensions.

AKI

82nd Airborne steps up Baghdad security
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
By Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division



Soldiers from 82nd Airborne Division arrive in Baghdad to help secure the city. Official Department of Defense photo.BAGHDAD — The 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team arrived in Baghdad last week as part of the first wave of a planned escalation of forces in Iraq's capital city.

The paratroopers from the 2nd "Falcon" Brigade, who had been based in Kuwait as a ready reserve since early January, are to be followed over the next several months by four more combat brigades, bolstering U.S. forces in Baghdad by approximately 20,000 Soldiers. The increase in troops is designed to help clamp down on violence in the city and pave the way for the Iraqi government to assume full control of Baghdad's security.

The 2nd BCT will be organized under the Multi-National Division - Baghdad, headed by the 1st Cavalry Division. The brigade will conduct operations in conjunction with the Iraqi security forces. As part of its mission, the Falcons will send paratroopers into some of Baghdad's most volatile areas to pursue a "clear, hold and build" strategy against insurgents.

"Our mission will be to secure our area of operation, hold that area, and then, at a said time, to turn that area over to the ISF," said Sgt. Maj. John Bagby, the brigade's operations sergeant major.

Paratroopers' special training and ability to adapt to changing circumstances makes them uniquely suited to overcome the obstacles of counter-insurgency warfare, Bagby said.

"They can turn on a dime if necessary, change missions, and still go out and execute," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind that paratroopers from the Falcon Brigade are ready to go out into sector and take the fight to the enemy."

The Falcon Brigade is one of the most combat-experienced units in the Army. Paratroopers from the 2nd BCT have deployed six times on short-notice deployments since the war on terrorism began.

For many Soldiers, this deployment marks their third or fourth tour of duty in Iraq.

One of the 2nd BCT's battalions just returned from a deployment in December, spending only weeks at home before being sent to Kuwait. Even so, there was little surprise within the brigade that the mission of spearheading the surge into Baghdad was given to the Falcons.

"Our Soldiers are willing to do whatever we ask them to do," said Capt. Priscilla Smoot, commander of Company A, 407th Brigade Support Battalion. "Paratroopers in the 82nd have always had that attitude."

The Falcons arrived in Baghdad trained, equipped and ready to fight. Now that they've put boots on the ground, it will be up to the young paratroopers and junior noncommissioned officers to make sure the mission gets completed, said Staff Sgt. Jack Butler, a platoon sergeant with Company C, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Butler said he has no doubt they will rise to the challenge.

"Whatever they put out in front of us," he said, "we're going to be able to tackle."

Originally Posted by boomcreek

I whole heartedly agree! Besides, if my memory serves me correctly, the Kurds were to be on holiday presently. Then, I saw a post from yesterday that mentions they had some kind of special meeting. To me, that indicates, their desire to get this thing done and not drag their feet. If they are working instead of going to their "ski lodge" in the Kurdistan mountains, they're serious about getting this done, which, to me, points to something happening very soon. Just my opinion.

Yes the Kurds have postponed their break to finish their agenda...and I don't doubt if they were steering this we'd be on the beach right now....lol

By Bassem Ali



Azzaman, January 24, 2007



Anti-crime police in the southern city of Amara have seized valuable antiquities smugglers wanted to take out of the country.



A police source said the smugglers had probably collected the finds from illegal diggers who have been pilfering ancient Mesopotamian sites in the absence of security.



The Iraqi Province of Missan of which Amara is the capital is dotted with ancient mounds mostly belonging to the mysterious Sumerian civilization which flourished in the southern Iraq about 2500 BC.



The Sumerians were the ones who invented writing and as well as the world’s first system of civil government which they applied in their city-states.



The police source did not say whether the pieces were of Sumerian origin, but said 29 small finds were sculptures representing different animals.



Among the finds, there were five bowls and three pottery pieces.



But most outstanding, according to the source, were three silver pieces bearing cuneiform writing of the kind prevalent during the Sumerian era.



There was also a metal statue.



The police were not able to catch the smugglers. The source said the thieves fled the area, leaving the finds behind.

Japan has hopes for new U.S. Iraq policy, continues support for
Jan. 24 TOKYO, Japan
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks toreporters at his office on Jan. 24. He said he hopes Washington's plan to increase U.S. troops in Iraq will produce ''effective achievements'' and promised continued Japanese assistance for the reconstruction process there. (Kyodo)

Brain Drain





23 January 2007
When US troops invaded Iraq in 2003, many Arabs and Muslim silently supported the invasion believing that a fledgling free nation, no matter how difficult the transition, would be better than one led by a murderous tyrant.

Those Arab supporters now feel betrayed as it has become obvious that grave mistakes and little postwar planning doomed to failure the experiment in democracy and freedom for Iraqis.


Failure, yes, but failure on a colossal scale that defies the expectations of even the most ardent anti-American Arab. The unintended consequences of the post-Saddam Hussein era is the exodus from Baghdad of tens of thousands of people, the largest long-term movement of people in the Middle East since the creation of Israel in 1948.


Many, including non-Kurds, have taken refuge in the northern mountains that have been a haven from attacks plaguing other areas since the US invasion.


Many of the refugees are Christians and Sunnis, once neighbors and friends of the Shiites, fleeing since the bombing of the Shiite shrine in Samarra nearly one year ago. The United Nations reports that of the 1.5 million Assyrian Christians living in Iraq before 2003, about half have fled to the north of Iraq.


The prestigious Chaldean Christian college and seminary in Baghdad has relocated to Arbil this month.


Hundreds of families, including doctors, professors and businessmen, also have fled to the north.


US troops and the Iraq government are ill-equipped to stem the flow of refugees from central Iraq. While the number of refugees continues to mount, the job of restoring security, infrastructure and just the basic needs of everyday life for Iraqis becomes more difficult by the day.


Of particular concern is the continuing loss of physicians and professionals. Once security is returned to Iraq, can the Iraq government expect doctors and administrators to return to hospitals to resume medical services to the local population? Will middle-level managers be available to run government offices, the utilities and schools?


Monday's twin bombings that left nearly 100 people dead in Baghdad reminds us that we are a long way from stability in Iraq. But once the dust settles, the bodies are buried and the Americans leave, what will become of Iraq with its best and brightest gone?


© The Saudi Gazette 2007

Originally Posted by Lunar

Yes the Kurds have postponed their break to finish their agenda...and I don't doubt if they were steering this we'd be on the beach right now....lol

Concur....if it was up to the Kurds it would already have been done.
Not only plan on being on the beach, just might own one!

Originally Posted by panhead

Concur....if it was up to the Kurds it would already have been done.
Not only plan on being on the beach, just might own one!

Might look something like this. Overlooking the Tigeris Sea.

Is it my imagination or have things really died down in the last day or two?