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

US Iraq troop withdrawal 'by Easter'
IRAQI forces are making good progress which could allow US troops to begin a partial withdrawal from Iraq earlier than planned, Iraqi National Security Adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said today.

"Our Iraqi forces are gaining capabilities very fast. By the end of the year, these forces will be in place and we'll probably go back to 15 foreign troop brigades by Easter," Mr Rubaie said.

"We believe, with the capability growth of our security forces and if the security situation continues to get better, then my prediction is that we will go to the pre-surge level of foreign troops (by) Easter."

The Christian holiday usually falls in late March or early April.

US President George W Bush said last month that he hoped to begin a gradual drawdown of US forces in Iraq, cutting the number of brigades from 20 to 15, about 21,500 men, by July 2008.

"Our assessment is slightly different from the coalition force because we believe Iraqi security forces capabilities are much higher than assessed by the coalition," said Mr Rubaie.

"What we are lacking is logistic support, intelligence, transport, firepower, airpower ... But we have a detailed plan. By end of next year, hopefully this will all be in place."

The limited pullout would bring the US troop level in Iraq back to 130,000, the amount before President Bush ordered in January a "surge" of US forces in a bid to quell violence in Baghdad and Al-Anbar province.

General Ray Odierno, the deputy US commander in Iraq, told reporters on Tuesday that "over time" the United States would shift to "transition teams" tasked with training and supporting Iraqi forces.

"Now we have to determine: how many transition teams do we need? ... I hope in the next several weeks we'll be able to figure that out," he said.

US Iraq troop withdrawal 'by Easter' | The Daily Telegraph

Basrah Cluster Pump Stations Renovation Bringing Reliable Power

In one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers largest electricity projects in southern Iraq, cluster pump electrical substations are being renovated in a $76 million effort to help increase oil field production in the North Rumaylah Oil Field.

"The Basrah Cluster Pump Stations are 10 electrical substations in total. They are a part of the overall oil infrastructure and one of the biggest and most costly challenges," said Shawn Russell, deputy regional manager with the Gulf Region Division electricity sector.

The aim is to bring reliable power to the water injection facilities located within the North Rumaylah Oil Field and help increase Iraqi oil production, Russell said. "The projects are rehabilitated the existing substations which had been severely looted and damaged during the 1991 and 2003 wars."

Russell said that while these substations are important elements of the Rumaylah oil field infrastructure, they will also provide employment opportunities and further the economic development not only of the Basrah area but the entire country. "An important component of each project is the training of operations and maintenance personnel," he said. The training will develop individual's skills and increase the Iraqis' ability to sustain the facilities.

Army Maj. Rick Smith, operations officer with Basrah Oil Area Office, Gulf Region South district said the rehabilitation of the 10 cluster pump stations electrical systems is the biggest USACE electrical project in the Southern region of Iraq.

"USACE is working on various projects to ramp up oil production for Iraq and help improve its economy," he explained. "Right now Iraq has the world's second largest proven oil reserves. According to oil industry experts, new explorations could probably raise Iraq's reserves to 200+ billion barrels of high-grade crude, extraordinary cheap to produce."
Tom Eidson, chief of Engineering and Construction for the Gulf Region South district said,

"Improvements at these projects help in the recovery of oil infrastructure and contribute [ to the nationwide production capacity of ] 3 million barrels of crude per day.''

Work consisted of general maintenance, replacement of damaged transformers and switch gear, and building new control rooms, high voltage switch gear rooms and guard houses, he said.

Eidson explained that the main objectives of the rehabilitation projects are to create a strong and reliable source of income for Iraq, improve Iraqi living conditions and create new opportunities for employment. The project also hired local villagers which helped them make money for their families.

Smith said that "Iraq's economy is dominated by crude oil production and GRS has been working to improve the country's ability to enhance oil production through the renovations of key components of the oil infrastructure.

"Basrah is the second largest city in Iraq and Iraqi officials and oil experts believe that completing the reconstruction of oil infrastructure will put the province into competitive alignment with similar Middle East cities," he continued.

"We are making a big difference here in Iraq," Smith said "This country was war torn for more than 25 years and the people are tired of it. They want their freedom; they want to be self sufficient. We are putting the country back together to self govern."

Basrah Cluster Pump Stations Renovation Bringing Reliable Power

Iraqi Judge Says Maliki’s Government Shields Officials Accused of Corruption

Widespread corruption in Iraq stretches into the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, an Iraqi investigating judge told United States lawmakers on Thursday, and an American official said that efforts by the United States to combat the problem were inadequate.

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, who was named by the United States in 2004 to lead the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, said his agency estimated that corruption had cost the Iraqi government up to $18 billion.

Mr. Maliki has shielded relatives from investigation and allowed government ministers to protect implicated employees, said the judge, who left Iraq in August after threats against him. Speaking at a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Judge Radhi said that 31 employees of his agency had been killed.

He said that he did not have evidence against Mr. Maliki personally, but that the prime minister had “protected some of his relatives that were involved in corruption.”

One of these was a former minister of transportation, Judge Radhi said. The American official who testified, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said he also saw a “rising tide of corruption in Iraq.” He said American efforts to combat it were “disappointing,” lacking funding and focus.

Representative Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who heads the panel, questioned whether the Maliki government was “too corrupt to succeed,” and contended that American efforts to address the problem were in “complete disarray.”

He criticized what he said was State Department resistance to the panel’s investigation. Larry Butler, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, declined to answer questions publicly about whether Mr. Maliki had obstructed corruption investigations, saying he could respond only in a closed session.

Mr. Waxman called that condition “absurd,” but the State Department defended Mr. Butler’s position. Sean McCormack, the department’s spokesman, said that in corruption investigations it was best to handle matters privately at first to protect the rights of those under suspicion.

Judge Radhi said he did not return to Iraq because of threats to his security, but he also suggested that Mr. Maliki was behind efforts to prosecute him if he went back.

In his statement, he said that 31 of his co-workers and 12 of their relatives had been killed because of their work. “This includes my staff member, Mohammed Abd Salif, who was gunned down with his seven-month-pregnant wife,” he said.

The body of the father of another worker was found on a meat hook, he said.

Judge Radhi also said it had been impossible for the commission to investigate oil corruption adequately, contending that it was because Sunni and Shiite militias had control of the distribution of Iraqi oil.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/wo...ontractor.html

Originally Posted by Seaview

Iraqi Judge Says Maliki’s Government Shields Officials Accused of Corruption

Widespread corruption in Iraq stretches into the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, an Iraqi investigating judge told United States lawmakers on Thursday, and an American official said that efforts by the United States to combat the problem were inadequate.

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, who was named by the United States in 2004 to lead the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, said his agency estimated that corruption had cost the Iraqi government up to $18 billion.

Mr. Maliki has shielded relatives from investigation and allowed government ministers to protect implicated employees, said the judge, who left Iraq in August after threats against him. Speaking at a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Judge Radhi said that 31 employees of his agency had been killed.

He said that he did not have evidence against Mr. Maliki personally, but that the prime minister had “protected some of his relatives that were involved in corruption.”

One of these was a former minister of transportation, Judge Radhi said. The American official who testified, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said he also saw a “rising tide of corruption in Iraq.” He said American efforts to combat it were “disappointing,” lacking funding and focus.

Representative Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who heads the panel, questioned whether the Maliki government was “too corrupt to succeed,” and contended that American efforts to address the problem were in “complete disarray.”

He criticized what he said was State Department resistance to the panel’s investigation. Larry Butler, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, declined to answer questions publicly about whether Mr. Maliki had obstructed corruption investigations, saying he could respond only in a closed session.

Mr. Waxman called that condition “absurd,” but the State Department defended Mr. Butler’s position. Sean McCormack, the department’s spokesman, said that in corruption investigations it was best to handle matters privately at first to protect the rights of those under suspicion.

Judge Radhi said he did not return to Iraq because of threats to his security, but he also suggested that Mr. Maliki was behind efforts to prosecute him if he went back.

In his statement, he said that 31 of his co-workers and 12 of their relatives had been killed because of their work. “This includes my staff member, Mohammed Abd Salif, who was gunned down with his seven-month-pregnant wife,” he said.

The body of the father of another worker was found on a meat hook, he said.

Judge Radhi also said it had been impossible for the commission to investigate oil corruption adequately, contending that it was because Sunni and Shiite militias had control of the distribution of Iraqi oil.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/wo...ontractor.html

there you go...I been saying this all along...these corrupt SOB's are not about their country...its about what they can make under the table..it always has been...thats whats holding up the revel...they r so scared to sign laws that will help their people because they are concerned that they will be found out...or that they will lose their millions of dollars they r getting under the table now from being corrupt....Maliki probably included...IMHO.....Pat

Originally Posted by Icemann 30

3.Title: Iraq: Letter of Intent, Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, and Technical Memorandum of Understanding, July 17, 2007
Date: July 17, 2007 Type: PDF Size: 219KB

This link takes you to IMF websight. Supposedly it runs for 90 days which brings it to Oct. 15, 2007 I believe.

Ice

Ice you are right OCT15,I am surprized no one has thought of this.
Thanks for bringing it up. Ronnie

Some of Parliament Members Have Connections with the Armed Groups

The Iraqi Accordance Front leader Dr. Adnan al-Dulaimi doesn’t deny that some of his bloc members have connections with the armed forces, and said “this matter could be happened for every Iraqi citizen, and any person could mistake.”

In a statement to al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, al-Dulaimi denied the American army accusation to the MP from his bloc Naief Jasim Mohammed, who has been arrested by American Forces in a consolation ceremony near Kirkuk city under the pretense that he has connections with al-Qaeda organization.

Al-Dulaimi said “it seems that the dead man might have connections with al-Qaeda. This deputy has no relations with the terrorists, he is a sick man and rarely come to the Parliament sessions.”

PUKmedia :: English - Some of Parliament Members Have Connections with the Armed Groups

Rice Issues New Rules for Blackwater

The State Department has issued new guidelines to rein in and monitor Blackwater USA, the private contractor that provides heavily armed security for U.S. diplomats serving in Baghdad.

Under orders issued by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, video cameras will be mounted in Blackwater vehicles and federal agents will ride with the security contractors who escort diplomatic convoys.

The reforms announced Friday are aimed at "putting in place more robust assets to make sure that the management, reporting and accountability function works as best as it possibly can," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

The State Department will also deploy dozens of additional in-house Diplomatic Security agents to accompany Blackwater guards.

The measures, which also include recording radio traffic between the embassy and diplomatic convoys and improving communications between those vehicles and U.S. military units in the vicinity, were implemented amid intense criticism of the department's security practices in Iraq and Blackwater's role. Security forces employed by the company are accused of killing 13 Iraqi civilians in a violent incident in central Baghdad last month.

The changes also come as Iraqis and U.S. lawmakers are clamoring for clarification of the now nebulous jurisdiction and authority under which the State Department's private security guards work.

On Thursday, the House passed legislation that would place all private government contractors in IraqU.S. criminal statutes. The Bush administration has expressed concerns about the proposed amendments but has pledged to work with Congress on improvements before the Senate takes up the bill in coming weeks.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. David Price, D-N.C., said Friday that Rice's move was welcome but overdue.

"It goes without saying that contract personnel who are armed and authorized to use deadly force ought to be closely monitored," he said in a statement. "The secretary still needs to address the essential question of accountability: How will rogue individuals who commit criminal acts be brought to justice?"

In ordering changes, Rice accepted preliminary recommendations from an internal review board she created after the Sept. 16 incident in which Blackwater guards are accused of opening fire on Iraqi civilians in a main square in Baghdad.

Blackwater contends its employees came under fire first, but the Iraqi government and witnesses have disputed that, saying the guards opened fire without provocation.

McCormack did not say that previous practices lacked proper safeguards to ensure accountability, but said the practices could be enhanced for all the department's private security contractors, including Blackwater. The company, with about 1,000 employees in Iraq, is the largest of three private firms that guard U.S. diplomats in the country.

The new rules initially will apply only to Blackwater details because the initial recommendations cover just Baghdad, where the company operates. This could be expanded to include the other two firms, Dyncorp and Triple Canopy, which work in the north and south of Iraq, McCormack said.

The United States has not made conclusive findings about the incident, though there are multiple investigations under way to determine what happened. The FBI on Thursday took control of what had been a State Department probe, in part to prepare for the possibility the incident may be referred to the Justice Department for prosecutions.

The orders issued Friday were recommended by a separate commission Rice created to look into the Baghdad embassy's overall security practices. McCormack maintained they are not intended to imply that the other investigations have determined Blackwater employees may have violated procedures.

The panel is being led by Patrick Kennedy, one of the most senior management experts in the U.S. Foreign Service. Rice also brought in outside experts, including retired Gen. George Joulwan, a former NATO commander in Europe; Stapleton Roy, a retired veteran diplomat; and Eric Boswell, a former State Department and intelligence official.

Kennedy has been in Baghdad for nearly a week. Rice had asked for a preliminary review by Friday.

McCormack noted that not all members of Kennedy's team were in Baghdad yet and stressed that Rice's decision to implement changes did not preclude further revisions to security policies.

Before Rice's orders, Diplomatic Security agents only accompanied U.S. convoys on an "ad hoc" basis, according to McCormack. Now, at least one agent will be in every convoy, he said.

It was not immediately clear how many more agents that would require, but McCormack said it would number in the "dozens." Department officials have refused to say how many Diplomatic Security agents are in Iraq, citing security concerns.

In addition, video cameras had not previously been mounted in convoy vehicles as a matter of policy and radio traffic had been monitored but not recorded by the embassy, McCormack said. Rice's orders also mandate that convoys have direct contact with tactical U.S. military teams in their vicinity, he said.

"In case there is an incident, we will have an improved capability to ensure that we have all the possible information we can collect to determine exactly what happened," McCormack said. "And, we want to make sure that we have full connectivity, up and down the chain, with the military operating in the area."

The State Department has counted 56 shooting incidents involving Blackwater guards in Iraq this year. All were being reviewed as part of the comprehensive inquiry Rice ordered.

PUKmedia :: English - Rice Issues New Rules for Blackwater

Iraq is Already Partitioned: Here's how to Make it Work

In an otherwise divisive, partisan debate on the Iraq war, the 75-23 bipartisan Senate vote to divide Iraq into autonomous regions was astounding. People who disagree on everything else about Iraq, such as conservative Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and liberal Democrat Barbara Boxer of California, voted in favor of the non-binding measure.

The Bush administration and the international community, made up of many states that have their own restive minority populations, have been reluctant to reconcile themselves to the pragmatic Senate admission that Iraq is unlikely to have a unified democratic government.

The difference is that the Bush administration and the international community don't have to face angry U.S. voters next year and many senators do. The Senate is grasping for anything that could stabilize Iraq before the 2008 election and realizes that unified, democratic government is unnecessary - and even counterproductive - toward that end. The ugly fact is that an incomplete and unratified partition of Iraq already exists on the ground and cannot be undone. Ethnic cleansing has separated populations, and local militias are providing security and services.
Twentieth-century partitions, some violence-riddled, some more successful, offer guidance on how best to proceed.

One of the lessons learned from the violent partition of South Asia into India and Pakistan in 1947 and the partitioning of Ireland in 1921 is that incomplete partitions are a recipe for violence and that substantial minorities, which threaten the majority population, should not be left on the wrong side of the partition line.

When the British divided South Asia into India and Pakistan, the well-armed Sikhs dreaded Muslim rule and wanted their own independent state or at least to be incorporated into India; but 2 million of them would have been stranded in Pakistan. Also, the region of Kashmir, which was two-thirds Muslim, was not partitioned at all. As a result, a war between India and Pakistan in 1947 and 1948 allowed India to take most of the province and left a substantial concentration of Muslims in the Indian part of Kashmir, leading to a Muslim insurgency that continues to the present.

The long-term violence in protestant-dominated Northern Ireland resulted from a substantial Catholic community being left in the north (34 percent of Northern Ireland's population) after the island was partitioned. Had these predominantly Catholic areas been allowed to go with the southern Republic of Ireland, most of this tragic violence could have been avoided.

Thus, an incomplete and unratified partition on the ground in Iraq is a dangerous situation, exacerbated by U.S arming and training of all factions, now including the Sunnis, which could make the ongoing civil war even worse.

Another lesson to be learned from the partition of South Asia is that population movements need to be encouraged, rather than discouraged, carefully orchestrated and protected with security forces. Financial incentives could be given to spur their movement.

The lessons of the partition of Palestine in 1948 are that all parties must agree to the partition (the Arabs didn't), the partition should not be imposed by an outside power (the United Nations), and that defensible borders must be created for the resulting governments. In Iraq, a nationwide conclave must be held to work out the details of the division and draw the lines. The threat of a rapid U.S. troop withdrawal could be used as a catalyst to get the Shia and the Kurds, who dominate the Iraqi government, propped up by U.S. forces, to give the Sunnis oil fields, thus speeding their current evolution toward supporting a decentralization of Iraq.

By far the most can be learned from the largely successful de facto partition of Bosnia after the bloody Yugoslav civil war. The resulting decentralized confederation between the Serb-dominated Republic of Srpska and a Muslim/Croat federation has brought some stability to that war-torn nation. The central government is weak and consensual, leaving most government powers in the hands of the regions.

In Iraq, where the history is of one group using a strong central government to oppress the other factions, the central government would have to be even weaker than in Bosnia, for example, solely governing economic integration and providing diplomatic representation abroad. As now in many parts of Iraq, security and most other government services, including the justice system and courts, would have to be provided locally for them to be trusted.

The Senate vote to divide Iraq is a breathtaking step in the right direction. But U.S. recognition of the reality on the ground is not the same as the Iraqis agreeing to complete and ratified decentralization. Only the Bush administration has the carrot (financial incentives for the movement of people) and stick (the threatened rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops) needed to encourage Iraqis to accept peaceful partition.

Without such developments, the danger of an escalating civil war will remain acute.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq is Already Partitioned: Here's how to Make it Work

The EU (Democratization) Path: A Solution to the Kurdish Issue

By all means, Hilmi Özkök has led an unforgettable term as chief of the general staff in Turkey's recent history. Though a “pro-military coup” didn't like him for his being attentive enough to keep the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) outside politics, Özkök contributed to the institution he led and was well-regarded among respectable people.

As a long interview with Özkök continues in the daily Milliyet, Ret. Gen. Özkök draws the following frame about “How he sees the PKK and Kurdish issues” and “Would Turkey be divided if an independent Kurdish state is established in northern Iraq and if southeastern Turkey is inclined toward this Kurdish state in Iraq?”

1. There is the Kurdish reality in Turkey. A segment of our people defines themselves as having Kurdish origin. This is a fact.

2. There is a pro-Kurdish ideology and/or politics. That is also real.

3. And there is an armed movement: The PKK.

We should look into these three separate entities and the relationships among them.”

Özkök does not see these three elements as the “same,” but “separate.” However, he is aware of the “relationships” between them. His methodology and approach to this most sensitive issue in Turkey is right.
“Now, the important thing is: How could the hope of establishing a Kurdish state be ended? … A situation could emerge where people with a Kurdish background in the region and even those in northern Iraq might say, ‘There is no reason to establish a Kurdish state anymore.' Imagine if Turkey joins the European Union (EU) and the per capita income increases to $15,000.”

What Özkök emphasized is a summary of what I have been trying to defend for years. This same rationale has made me a target of numerous filthy plots and subject to a vilification, such as the “Andıç scandal” when major newspapers printed stories linking certain figures to terrorist groups, apparently on orders from the General Staff on Feb. 28.

A panel in Diyarbakır

Last weekend in Diyarbakır I attended a panel titled “Kurds in Turkey: Basic Requirements for the Peace Process”. I repeated my point of view penned 13 years ago in 1994. After an “update,” I said that it is valid today. Briefly:

“The Kurdish issue is Turkey's most critical national issue. Since Kurds are also living in various countries, this is a problem that goes beyond Turkish borders. Due to the importance and position of the Middle East in the world politics, this is an international issue.

“There are many, or even an excessive number of, Arab countries established as nation-states in the Middle East. Plus, Persians as well as Turks have a nation-state. Jews also established a nation-state in the wake of World War II. Only Kurds, one of the regions's crowded and settled communities, have no state. “Therefore, the Kurdish issue, or this “pain,” will continue until Kurds form a state and/or adopt a regional state as their own to the effect that they could say, ‘We don't need a nation-state;' we find ourselves here and this state is ours.

“Turkey's EU candidacy and accession talks signify the transformation of Kurds in Turkey adopting the Republic of Turkey as their own. In this case, it is more likely that Kurds in Turkey will lean towards EU member Turkey in which they claim their identity rights and live as a free and prosperous community, rather than aspiring to join northern Iraq, even if an independent Kurdish state is established.”

These are the points on which I agree with Özkök in principle.

If you approach the issue as explained here, you cannot, do not and should not see the “formation” in northern Iraq as a “security threat” against Turkey. Because if you do, or rather if you perceive the “Kurdish formation of nationalization” in northern Iraq, it means you do not have confidence in Kurdish people living in Turkey and you see them as a “human form” constantly trying to divide Turkey and become unified with the “formation” in northern Iraq.

That also means you don't have self-confidence. Because the Kurdish citizens of a Turkey transforming and modernizing on its way to the EU will inevitably multiply the population of Turkey via their kin in Iraq.
To the contrary, Turkey's democratization and its route to the EU serve as a “security threat” against authoritarian/totalitarian centralist tendencies in Iraq.

Q&A

All right, but isn't the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) a “security threat” for Turkey? Isn't the PKK recognized both in the United States and the EU as a “terrorist organization”? Isn't it necessary to take a position against this terror organization and put distance between them and us?

These are all correct and the answer to each is “yes.”

However, how will this be done? How will these “yeses” be implemented? We don't run a poll. If we are striving to stop the blood feud in the country and to maintain national integrity, we could do this by means of “politics.” If brute force would only be enough, we would have ended this problem in the last 23 years, since the beginning of the armed attacks by the PKK in 1984.

This issue can be resolved neither by a “military operation in northern Iraq,” which is devised as “The target is PKK, not Massoud Barzani,” supported by the Nationalist Movement Party and adopted by the General Staff nor by the Erdoğan government, which is pressuring the Democratic Society Party (DTP) to say, “Recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization, or you are not my addressee.” Nor, most certainly, by imagining doing the same to the DTP in 2007 as was done to the Democracy Party (EDP) in 2004.

PUKmedia :: English - The EU (Democratization) Path: A Solution to the Kurdish Issue

Al-Maliki Praises the Role of Iraqi Tribes

Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki received yesterday in his office in Baghdad the head of the American forces Joint Staff Organization Admiral Moline, and said “the circumstances that we are living in requires an accurate work to deal with the militias to avoid making new mistakes.”

He praised the role of the Iraqi tribes in cooperation with the government in achieving security, and the new volunteers who are working with the armed forces, and said “the security development can not be reached with weapons only, it must be accompanied by political work and development in the economic field.”

On his side, Admiral Moline expressed his pleasure for the security success, and pointed to the citizens’ will to work with the government, when he found these actions through his visit to a number of an Iraqi Provinces.

PUKmedia :: English - Al-Maliki Praises the Role of Iraqi Tribes