Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 16/08/07 - 03/11/07

Originally Posted by YogiBrood

Hehe...I like that presumption on the Germans....but most would like a Benz in their driveway too....

Containing the Mafia may seem impossible...but it is feasible up to now and won't change given the might of the Law regardless of the switching personalities appearing like we have seen in Rudy Giuliani for example and many more Mayors in Milan to Marseilles and down south to Parlemo perhaps...

This world needs fossil Oil for the moment, for sure.. but looking over our shoulders is that surprise element of evil & darkness...we can't afford to lose our guard on that...with the Kurds and the Mob, thats the least of worries we should consider, more so with Al Qaeda and all those Muslim fundamentalists googling about....

No presumption on the Germans - that's in the history books and stories handed down from 'older relatives.'

Have you ever noticed that the only people pushing or suggesting the Kurds should be running the show is members of forums.

I have yet to read any Arab Nation or neighbouring Nations of Iraq push, suggest or even hint at this idea. There's a reason for that.

Jordanian king hopes Iraqis will restore national unity

King Abdullah of Jordan on Sunday re-affirmed Amman's support for conciliation efforts aimed at re-establishing national unity and restoring security in Iraq.

The king, according to a statement released by the Royal Court following talks between him and the visiting Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi, expressed hope that a recent accord, worked out among the Sunnites, Shiites and Kurds, would pave way for restoring national unity.

Jordan is sparing no efforts in putting its resources at the disposal of the Iraqis taking up refuge in the country, the monarch said, assuring the visiting Iraqi official on condition of these refugees.

The Iraqi official expressed gratitude for the substantial aid offered by the Jordanian authorities for the reugees.

His visit coincided with dispatch of eight oil-loaded tankers from Iraq, for the first time after stoppage of supplying Amman with Iraqi crude for four years.

The crude cargo was delivered in line with an agreement reached between the two sides last year. It stipulates supplying Jordan with oil at preferential prices and delivering up to 100,000 barrels per day.

Earlier today, the Iraqi official held talks with Jordanian Prime Minister Dr. Maarouf Al-Bkhait, who affirmed Jordan's keenness on the territorial sanctity and security of Iraq.

"The arrival of the cargo of the Iraqi crude signals a message to the world that Iraq is back on the economic stage," the prime minister was quoted by the official news agency, Petra, as saying.

Jordan will spare no efforts in backing the process for reconstruction of the Iraqi infrastructure, he added.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesP...84&Language=en

US says Iranian-made missiles found in Iraq

The US military in Iraq said Sunday it had seized sophisticated Iranian-made surface-to-air missiles that were being used by insurgents in the war-torn country.

Several Misagh-1s have been found in different locations, the military said, although it stopped short of saying the use of the weapons represented an escalation of Iranian activity in Iraq.

"We've said that we've found these things, we've seen them employed. That's significant in it's own right," US military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox told reporters in Baghdad.

The remarks came amid heightened tension between Tehran and Washington after US forces detained Iranian national Mahmudi Farhadi in northern Iraq last week, prompting Iran to close it border with the Kurdish autonomous region.

The US military charges that Farhadi is an officer in the covert operations arm of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, accused by American commanders of helping Shiite militias involved in Iraq's bloody sectarian conflict.

Fox dismissed statements from both Iran and the Iraqi authorities that Farhadi was an innocent civilian who had been visiting with official consent.

"I find it hard to believe that they would close the border for a businessman," he said.

"Any time you have activity of weapons-smuggling and people who have been trained to attack Iraqi security forces and coalition forces and Iraqi people ... we are compelled by our professional obligation to take action on that."

US commanders accuse Farhadi, detained 10 days ago in the northern province of Sulaimaniyah, of being one of the kingpins in bomb smuggling operations.

The military spokesman played down any political aspect in the arrest.

"We are not looking to try to over-hype this or enflame the situation; we are playing it exactly straight," he said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has charged that the US military ignored the authority of the Kurdish regional government in detaining Farhadi and has demanded the Iranian's immediate release.

US says Iranian-made missiles found in Iraq - Yahoo! News UK

Sadrists, Fadhila deny dialogue to form parliamentary bloc

The Sadrists, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and al-Fadhila (Virtue) Party, denied on Sunday engaging in any dialogue with other groups to form a new parliamentary bloc.

"What is going on now is endeavors to try to bring views closer, but the Sadrists are not planning to enter into any blocs at present," Nassar al-Rubaie, the spokesman for the Sadrists, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Ezz al-Din al-Dawla, a member of parliament from the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), had said on Saturday that the IAF, Fadhila, the Sadrists, the former premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National List (INL), Saleh al-Motlak's Sunni National Dialogue Front (NDF), and other members representing the ethnic Turkoman and religious Yazidi minorities in parliament have held consultations to form a parliamentary bloc.

Rubaie said that the Sadrists agree to the "national contract" initiative launched by the (Sunni) Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) for a unified Iraq that would renounce violence.

"We, however, object in accordance with the constitution to the presence of any armed militias," said Rubaie in reference to the U.S. side's armament of the tribes.

He said the initiative had some positive aspects but at the same time overlooked some important issues, including the occupation forces' exit from Iraq.

"Any initiative that would not deal with the occupation forces in Iraq would be stillborn. The problem in Iraq is one of occupation," he said.

The IIP had said its initiative aimed at putting an end to the continuous deterioration in the country and eliminating the exchanged lack of trust among the groups of the Iraqi people.

Meanwhile, the Fadhila spokesman, Bassem Sherif, denied the formation of any bloc inside the Iraqi parliament with the Fadhila as part in it.

"I've never heard about these dialogues except in the mass media," Sherif told VOI, noting "there are discussions about the political conditions and means of forging a national project to save Iraq."

He pointed out that there were recent meetings with other blocs to adopt a unified stance regarding the U.S. Congress' resolution to divide Iraq.

Aswat Aliraq

Iraqi sacred site to be rebuilt

Baghdad: The revered Al Askari shrine in the Iraqi city of Samarra will be reconstructed starting next month, Unesco has said.

The project is expected to cost $16 million. The Shiite shrine was partly destroyed by two attacks over two years by suspected Sunni militants.

An attack on the shrine in February 2006 destroyed the shrine’s golden dome and sparked sectarian violence in Iraq. A second attack in June 2007 destroyed its ancient minarets.

The rebuilding work will be carried out by a Turkish company, and is being funded mostly by the European Union and Unesco.

Gulfnews: Iraqi sacred site to be rebuilt

Iraq raises issue of Iran closing borders

Iraq's foreign minister said late on Saturday that Iran is punishing the Kurdish region for the arrest of an Iranian official by the US military on September 20.

Hoshyar Zebari said he raised the issue of Iran's closure of five border crossing points into the northern Kurdish region with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.

Zebari said he told Mottaki "this is not a wise move, this can only undermine the atmosphere of confidence, and you're punishing the whole region for an act that they were not responsible for."

The US military said the Iranian, Mahmudi Farhadi, was a member of the Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that smuggles weapons to Shiite extremists.

The arrest has raised friction between US and Iraqi authorities at a time when tempers were already running high over the September 16 killing of 11 Iraqi civilians allegedly by security guards from Blackwater USA, which protects American diplomats in Iraq. Blackwater insists its guards acted legally and were returning fire from armed insurgents.

Zebari said he told the Iranians the border closure "can only undermine the atmosphere of confidence" between the two countries.

He said the Iraqi government has asked the US Embassy in Baghdad for all the facts about the incident, and reiterated Iraqi calls for the US to release the Iranian official. But Zebari said the Iranian remains in US custody, and the border remains shut.

"I think that was a direct response to the detention of an Iranian official by the US military in Sulaimaniyah, and this was a collective punishment for the region, for something that the Kurdish regional authorities were not responsible," Zebari said.

"And I personally feel it's unfair and unjust, and it has affected the economic life of the region. Prices have gone up," he said. "The region is dependent in some way on fuel supplies from Iran, but the Iranians want to make a point here."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied in an AP interview on Monday that Iran closed its border with Iraq over the arrest of the Iranian.

"Recently, as a result of some clashes and the explosion of some bombs, a number of Iranian civilian casualties arose. So the government has asked Iranian citizens to avoid traveling for pilgrimage purposes until security is restored. The commercial goods and freight transactions continue, and the travel across the border for those purposes continue," Ahmadinejad said.

Gulfnews: Iraq raises issue of Iran closing borders

US military deaths in Iraq lowest in 14 months

US military losses in Iraq for September stood at 71 Sunday, but the toll remained the lowest monthly figure since July last year, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on Pentagon figures.

The US military Sunday announced the death of another soldier, saying he died when his unit was hit by a bomb and came under small-arms fire in eastern Baghdad Saturday. A second soldier was injured.

The figure marks the fourth consecutive drop in the monthly death toll following a high of 121 in May. June saw 93 deaths, July 82, and August 79, while the monthly toll in July 2006 was 53.

The latest death pushed the overall toll of American losses since the March 2003 invasion to 3,802.

A surge in US troop numbers saw an extra 28,500 personnel deployed from mid-February, mainly in Baghdad and the neighboring province of Anbar, although commanders said most were not in combat positions until May.

US commanders say the strategy is starting to work, and that levels of violence are dropping, allowing for a possible drawdown of the 160,000-or-so troops now deployed.

"The trend is certainly in the right direction," US military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox told a press conference in Baghdad.

"The surge, unquestionably, is what has been the catalyst that has created the opportunity to have more forces operating in more places at the same time, and to deny Al Qaeda and the extremists safe haven, and to take away sanctuaries."

The highest monthly toll was 137 in November 2004, when a US-led force stormed the insurgent bastion of Fallujah in fierce house-to-house fighting. Of the dead, 126 were killed in action.

In April 2004, the second-deadliest month since the invasion for US military personnel, 135 troops died.

That month marked a turning point in the war, with uprisings in Fallujah in the predominantly-Sunni west, and in Shiite cities south of Baghdad.

US military deaths in Iraq lowest in 14 months - Region - Middle East Times

Seems that since the purge by Admin, the dinar section has died. Looks like only Seaview and Lunar post anymore.
Thanks to you both for keeping this section of the site alive. Of course this is JMHO, but if it were not for you two, there would not be a dinar section anymore.

Gloribee

Ramadan violence falls sharply in Iraq: U.S.

Violence in Iraq during Ramadan has fallen by almost 40 percent from last year, the U.S. military said on Sunday, de****e a warning from al Qaeda that it would increase attacks during the Muslim holy month.

U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox said a "surge" of 30,000 extra troops into Iraq this year and the new tactic of moving soldiers into small combat outposts instead of "commuting to the war" from large bases had helped bring down violence.

"We are substantially below last year's level. As a matter of fact, in comparison to this time last year, about 38 percent lower in terms of Ramadan violence levels," he told a news conference, adding that that overall levels were still too high.

Al Qaeda said at the start of Ramadan, more than two weeks ago, that it would escalate attacks and would target tribal leaders who were cooperating with security forces.

Marine Brigadier-General Mark Gurganus, commander of U.S. ground troops in Anbar province in western Iraq, said there had been 76 attacks in the first week of Ramadan in his area of command, and 91 in the second week.

"One year ago, during the same week, we had 415 incidents. The 38 percent reduction across Iraq -- we enjoyed quite a bit sharper," Gurganus said.

Anbar was once the most dangerous province in Iraq for Iraqis and U.S. troops but is now being hailed as one of Iraq's few success stories after U.S. forces helped local Sunni Arab sheikhs organize their young men into tribal police units.

U.S. President George W. Bush cited the progress in Anbar as a validation of his strategy of pouring extra troops into Iraq this year, to buy time for political leaders to make progress on reconciling Iraq's warring Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs.

Ramadan violence falls sharply in Iraq: U.S. | Top News | Reuters

Originally Posted by Gloribee

Seems that since the purge by Admin, the dinar section has died. Looks like only Seaview and Lunar post anymore.
Thanks to you both for keeping this section of the site alive. Of course this is JMHO, but if it were not for you two, there would not be a dinar section anymore.

Gloribee

Probably true - but lucky for me I like my own company - lol.

Forces me to keep up to date on news without relying on others.

Not sure 'purge' is what happened - more 'set up' by others.