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

University dean killed in Mosul

The bullet-riddled body of a dean from the northern University of Mosul was found under a bridge 24 hours after his disappearance.

The dean, whose name has not yet been revealed, headed Mosul University’s College of Computer Sciences. It is not yet clear who was behind the gruesome murder.

The killing has sent a wave of terror throughout the university, the second largest in Iraq.

Some faculty members stayed away from work on hearing of his death which comes as the Iraqi authorities and U.S. troops lose their grip on the city of Mosul.

Predominantly a Sunni region, the Province of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital, is turning into a vital stronghold for al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, whose members have been under intense pressure in central Iraq due to the continuing U.S. military operations there.

The Qaeda is practically in control of most of Nineveh Province and its influence can even be felt in certain areas under Kurdish rebel control which until recently have been relatively quiet.

Mosul University has lost scores of its professors to violence since the 2003-U.S. invasion of Iraq.

But recently, Qaeda has increased it attacks through the deployment of fuel tankers mostly detonated against civilian targets.

One such attack this month resulted in the killing of nearly 400 Yazidis and the wiping out of several villages.

It is not clear whether U.S. troops will move against Mosul de****e the failure of their previous assaults to restore law and order there.

Azzaman in English

Iraq to build 96 power stations

Iraq has singed contracts for the construction of 96 power plants as part of a program to supply the country with continuous electricity, electricity minister said.

Kareem Waheed said 44 of these plants will be diesel driven and the rest will operate on heavy fuel, both of which are abundantly available in the country.

The national grid hardly produces half of the country’s needs and total darkness in many cities may go on for days.

Waheed did not say when the plants will be on stream. However, he made it clear that under “normal conditions” the construction of a power plant takes 36-48 months.”

But the minister said the construction make take much longer unless there is marked improvement in security conditions.

Waheed said the national grid currently produces about 5,000 megawatts but the country was in need of at least 9,000 megawatts to substantially cut the current long periods of outages.

“The ministry does not suffer from lack of funds, equipment or technicians. It suffers from lack of security which adversely affects our efforts to have the power on continuously,” he said.

Azzaman in English

seems like iraqi is going more and more on track.

Thanks for the news..

3 Secular Iraqis in Cabinet to Formally Resign

BAGHDAD, Aug. 24 -- Escalating a political crisis that has paralyzed the Iraqi government, three secular cabinet members will formally resign Saturday, according to a senior member of the group.

The Iraqi National List, an umbrella group of several political parties composed of secular Sunnis and Shiites, had boycotted cabinet meetings since Aug. 7 because of frustrations with what they saw as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's divisive leadership style. The party, headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, will now submit the official resignations, National List member Iyad Jamal al-Deen said.

"We have sent several letters to the prime minister asking for a discussion that would keep us in the government, and he did not respond to any of them," Deen said. "Our participation in the government would have no meaning now, so we will not participate."

Although the announcement was widely expected, the National List's official decision further damages any chance of reconciliation among Iraq's rival political factions in the near future. The disunity within the government and lack of progress on several key laws are expected to be major considerations in a report on conditions in Iraq scheduled to be presented to President Bush on Sept. 11.

The largest Sunni political bloc has already formally withdrawn from the cabinet, while the party loyal to powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr continues to boycott government meetings. All told, nearly half the cabinet members are not attending meetings.

The National List's move comes on the heels of proclamations by two prominent U.S. senators that Maliki should be removed. On Tuesday, Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called for "a less sectarian and more unifying prime minister and government" in Iraq, comments that were echoed by a leading presidential candidate, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), and quickly rejected by Maliki.

In an interview, Deen repeated the senators' criticism of the Maliki administration, saying top government officials are driven by secular loyalties rather than a genuine desire to improve Iraq. Many Sunnis and secularists have long felt marginalized working under Maliki, a Shiite.
"The problem is in having a political agenda that is founded on a sectarian basis," Deen said.

Bassam Ridha, a senior adviser to Maliki, said the National List members are the ones prioritizing their political party over the common good.

"They made a commitment to this government and took an oath, and now they are not fulfilling their commitment," Ridha said. "We're trying our best to harmonize, but they want to take over the government."

Ridha said Maliki would give the secularist cabinet members an opportunity to reconsider their decision but will replace them if they decide not to rejoin the government. He added that the prime minister already plans to seek parliament's approval for new cabinet members to replace the Sunnis who withdrew.

"We have 35 r�sum�s ready to go -- independent, qualified people without a political agenda," he said.

Also Friday, the U.S. military announced that an American soldier was killed and four were wounded by an explosion in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad.

washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines

Pentagon Setting Up War Information Room

WASHINGTON - Shaping the Bush administration's message on the Iraq war has taken on new fervor, just as anticipation is building for the September progress report from top military advisers.

For the Pentagon, getting out Iraq information will now include a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week Iraq Communications Desk that will pump out data from Baghdad - serving as what could be considered a campaign war room.

According to a memo circulated Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press, Dorrance Smith, assistant defense secretary for public affairs, is looking for personnel for what he called the high-priority effort to distribute Defense Department information on Iraq.

The move - requested by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England - comes as administration officials are gearing up for a rash of reports on progress in Iraq and recommendations from the military on troop levels going into next year. The key report will come from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Other reports are expected from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace, retired Gen. James Jones - who will examine the progress of the Iraqi security forces - and the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, which will review whether the Iraqi government has hit security and political benchmarks outlined by Congress.

The Pentagon dismissed suggestions that the communications desk will be a message machine or propaganda tool, and instead said it is being set up to gather and distribute information from eight time zones away in a more efficient and timely manner.

``I would not characterize it as a war room,'' Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Friday. ``It's far less sinister than that. It's more like a library.''

Morrell called it a ``smarter way of doing business'' and said the intent is to ``create a central clearinghouse of information so we can pull in all that is coming out of Baghdad and Iraq and have it come into one point, so we can better be able to share it with people who are interested.''

Some of the information collected, he said, would include data from briefings in Iraq, which take place when people on the U.S. East Coast are sleeping.

``It's for our benefit and for your benefit,'' said Morrell.

Defense officials familiar with the plan said it will provide information to other federal agencies, including the White House and State Department, so that officials can speak more consistently and accurately about the war.

The plan would put a team of people in the Joint Chiefs of Staff top-secret operations center.

Less than a year ago, Smith developed plans for teams of people to ``develop messages'' for the 24-hour news cycle and ``correct the record'' when news agencies put out what the Pentagon considered inaccurate information.

At the time, he outlined an operation that resembled a political campaign - such as that made famous by Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign war room - calling for a ``Rapid Response'' section that quickly answers opponents' assertions.

It was set up to focus more resources on the Internet and blogs and book civilian and military guests on television and radio shows.

While portions of the plan were put in place, much of it was shelved when Donald H. Rumsfeld stepped down as defense secretary and Robert Gates took over. At the time, Rumsfeld was complaining bitterly that the news media were focusing too much on bad news coming out of Iraq and not enough on progress there.

Defense officials denied that the program was a propaganda tool or that it was set up to respond to the eroding public support for the war.

Pentagon Setting Up War Information Room

US divided on Iraq pullout

Dubai: The US political establishment and the military were on Friday locked in an escalating conflict over whether to cut down US troop levels in Iraq even as an assessment by 16 US intelligence agencies said Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government will become more fragile in the next six to 12 months.

With weeks before a September 15 key progress report on the unpopular war, US President George W. Bush faced mounting pressure from Congress to announce that he would bring home at least some of the roughly 160,000 troops in Iraq.

But the 10-page National Intelligence Estimate stated bluntly that Iraqi political leaders "remain unable to govern effectively" and warned that a drawdown of US forces could increase sectarian violence.

A Los Angeles Times report said General Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was nevertheless poised to urge Bush in private to cut US force levels by nearly half next year to ease the strain the war has placed on the military.
Separately, Republican Senator John Warner, fresh from meetings with US military officials and Iraqi leaders, urged Bush to announce on September 15 "the first step in the withdrawal of US forces" and go ahead with a small reduction before Christmas.

Reacting to the call, Army Major General Rick Lynch, who commands a division in volatile central Iraq, said any reduction of US troops in his area of Iraq this year would be "a giant step backwards," allowing insurgents to regain areas wrested from them in hard fighting.

Gulfnews: US divided on Iraq pullout

Making peace angels of war-weary Iraqi youths

Mumbai: An Indian spiritual guru is teaching yoga and meditation to a group of war-weary Iraqis, whom he hopes will extend their new-found inner peace to their nation.

The 55 men and women - chosen by the Iraqi government - live on an expansive spiritual retreat in southern India and will follow an intensive meditation and rhythmic breathing regime for a month to learn about an alternative lifestyle.

Waking up at five every morning, they participate in yoga classes, meditate, help in the kitchen and take part in spiritual discussions, public speaking classes and spiritual singing as part of their physical, mental, emotional and social development.

Under the tutelage of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, one of the world's most popular spiritual leaders, the youngsters also learn about leadership qualities so that when they go back they can lead their local communities.

"They are here to learn the art of combating violence in non-violent ways," said M. Rajaque Rahman, spokesman of the Art of Living Foundation that the 51-year-old guru founded.

Sri Sri's foundation is already involved in humanitarian activities in Iraq, and in May he was invited by the Iraqi authorities to preach his prison rehabilitation programmes.

The participants say Sri Sri's breathing exercise training has been a life-altering experience.
"It was like breathing out all the stress of war and breathing in a new life," said Ahmad Hinoon, a 32-year-old government worker.

"With so many problems of endless killings, bombs and war, life in Iraq is very stressful ... we have no hope. After coming here, we see a new ray of hope."

Gulfnews: Making peace angels of war-weary Iraqi youths

Curfew imposed in Iraqi capital
The Iraqi government has imposed a partial travel ban in Baghdad and the outskirts of the capital ahead of a major Shia festival next week.

Two-wheelers and hand carts, but not cars, will be banned in Baghdad and its outskirts from 1800 (1400 GMT) on Saturday, an army official said.

The curfew aims to curb insurgent attacks against up to two million Shia pilgrims expected to head to Karbala.

Earlier, a car bomb in northern Baghdad killed at least seven in a Shia area.

There is already a daily curfew in place in Baghdad between 2200 and 0500 (1800 GMT to 0100 GMT).

"An indefinite curfew has been imposed on two-wheelers and hand carts, but not on other vehicles such as cars," Brig Gen Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Iraqi military in Baghdad, told the AFP news agency.
Pilgrims have been the subject of attacks in the past.

'Al-Qaeda-free zone'

Central areas of what has been one of Iraq's most volatile provinces have been completely cleared of fighters belonging to the group known as al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to senior American and Iraqi officers.

The operation in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad, has had help from former insurgents, they say.

The claim that Diyala is rapidly becoming a more peaceful province after a long period of violence is clearly one to be judged by whether any improvement is sustained, says BBC world affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge in Baghdad.

But Col David Sutherland, US commander in the province, suggested a key influence would be a network widely known as the 1920s Brigades, after the resistance to the British at that time.
They are mostly Sunni, many of them former insurgents.

"These are people, patriots that have come forward and joined the security process," he told the BBC.

"They are working with my soldiers and they are working with the Iraqi security forces to assist us with information... being the eyes and ears forward, as basically advance scouts."
Col Sutherland say they have captured both Iraqi and foreign al-Qaeda members during the operation in Diyala.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Curfew imposed in Iraqi capital

US 'sole survivor' to leave Iraq
A US soldier is to return home from Iraq under a military proviso known as the "sole survivor" rule after losing both of his brothers in the war.

Jason Hubbard, 33, will be re-united with his family in Clovis, California after his brother Nathan, 21, died in a helicopter crash in Iraq on Wednesday.

His other sibling Jared Hubbard was killed by a roadside bomb in 2004.
The "sole survivor" policy, which has allowed Jason to leave Iraq, formed the premise of movie Saving Private Ryan.
Nathan and Jason Hubbard had joined the army in 2005, shortly after their brother, Jared, died aged 22.

Jared died in Ramadi along with his best friend from school, Jeremiah Baro, and the two friends were buried next to each other in Clovis.

After his first son's death, his father Jeff Hubbard said: "I hope and pray it comes to a good solution because there's been a tremendous sacrifice.
"And it would just be awful if it didn't accomplish something great."

Nathan died this week when a helicopter crashed during a night mission in the Tamim province that surrounds Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 180 miles (290 kilometres) north of Baghdad.
A military official said facts gathered indicated the crash was almost certainly due to a mechanical problem and not hostile fire, although the final cause remained under investigation.

'Distraught' family

Following Nathan's death, military officials ordered the return home of Jason, the eldest Hubbard sibling.

Jeff and Peggy Hubbard will bury their second son next week

It was reportedly the death of Jared that prompted his two other brothers to sign up for military service.

Nathan's funeral is scheduled for next week.
The family pastor, Tim McLain Rolen, said the Hubbards were distraught.

"The fact that you've gone through this before doesn't prepare you to suffer it all over again," he said.

Under the US military "sole survivor" policy, the last remaining sibling in a war zone can ask to return home when his brothers or sisters have been killed. The regulations are designed to spare parents losing all their children to war.

The US War Department introduced the policy after five siblings, the Sullivan brothers, died when their light cruiser the USS Juneau was sunk in World War II.
This rule formed the basis of Steven Spielberg's 1998 film Saving Private Ryan, in which a team of soldiers are sent to Europe to look for a last remaining sibling amid heavy fighting in World War II.


Nathan and Jason Hubbard signed up after the death of there brother.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US 'sole survivor' to leave Iraq

PARLIAMENTARIAN : Iraqis were disappointed about the American policy

Jalal Talabani described the president Friday, the last American intelligence report, which criticized the Iraqi government, that is far from reality, saying that the coming days will reveal the positions of government supports and reinforces Maliki.

The statement Talabani is the first official response to a recent CIA report, which criticized the Iraqi government in paragraphs disclosed, last Thursday, and questioned the leadership of the Iraqi prime minister of the country.

Talabani said at a press conference, Friday evening, following a meeting of the bloc American quartet these expectations are far from the truth and reality, will see shortly that the Ministry Maliki strengthened and consolidated and developed.

He added Maliki government witness in the coming days the positions advanced and stable, and will be consolidated and strengthened government Maliki De****e all the statements and comments away from reality. He continued that the reason for his confidence Talabani Maliki government is being based on the popular forces and the forces of parliamentary enormous, and also enjoys the support of four parties signatory to the Convention Quartet. Talabani denied that the four-party alliance had touched at the meeting, the CIA's report, which is titled (prospects for stability in Iraq : some progress in the security and the ambiguity of national reconciliation), or previous statements of the American President George Bush and its contents of criticism of the government Al-Maliki, and between Talabani : We have not discussed at the American report.

Increased not support President Bush with respect to the negative performance of the Iraqi government, and we appreciate another word for Mr. Bush in which he said that al-Maliki, a good man suffers from many difficulties, but enjoys the support of the Iraqi people, this is what distinguishes.

And in relation to said Mahmoud Othman, MP from the Kurdistan Alliance, yesterday, Saturday, that America is not the only one that is currently experiencing the disappointment, as well as Iraqis living b disappointment over Washington's policy,

The report described the CIA, which was issued last Thursday, as an introduction to the report Crocker-بتريوس expected to be submitted early next September.

He said Kurdish political independent in a telephone conversation with the Independent News Agency (Voices of Iraq) if it thought the American administration has disappointed in politicians Iraqis
The Iraqis have disappointment toward American policy of the past four years.
Al Al 3.

جريدة المؤتمر : واشنطن تريد ان تجعل العراق شماعة ل�شل سياستهاوالطالباني:التقرير الأمريكي...