Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

U.S. considers adding troops in Baghdad - Yahoo! News

U.S. considers adding troops in Baghdad By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 52 minutes ago



BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two weeks before U.S. midterm elections, American officials unveiled a timeline Tuesday for Iraq's Shiite-led government to take specific steps to calm the world's most dangerous capital and said more U.S. troops might be needed to quell the bloodshed.

U.S. officials previously said they were satisfied with troop levels and had expected to make significant reductions by year's end. But a surge in sectarian killings, which welled up this past summer, forced them to reconsider.

At a rare joint news conference with the American ambassador, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, said additional U.S. troops could come from inside or outside Iraq to "improve basic services for the population of Baghdad."

"Now, do we need more troops to do that? Maybe. And, as I've said all along, if we do, I will ask for the troops I need, both coalition and Iraqis," Casey said. There are currently 144,000 U.S. forces in Iraq.

The military has expressed disappointment over its two-month drive to cleanse the capital of Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia fighters and death squads. But the Americans also say that for the situation to improve, the Iraqi government must make political concessions to minority Sunnis.

The timeline grew out of recent Washington meetings at which the Bush administration sought to reshape its Iraq policy amid mounting U.S. deaths and declining domestic support for the 44-month-old war. The plan was made public a day after White House press secretary Tony Snow said the U.S. was adjusting its Iraq strategy but would not issue any ultimatums.

U.S. officials revealed neither specific incentives for the Iraqis to implement the plan nor penalties for their failure to do so. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Iraqi leaders had agreed to the timeline, benchmarks heavily laden with enticements to Sunni insurgents.

The lack of any real political consensus even among Shiites, however, has made it extremely difficult for Iraqi leaders to keep deadlines; for example, they missed targeted dates on naming a government and in moving forward on constitutional amendments. Moreover, Tuesday's declarations lacked specifics on how to accomplish the goals.

At the news conference with Casey, Khalilzad said the timeline would require Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to set dates by the end of the year for completing six key tasks.

Five of the markers are clearly designed to mollify Sunni Arabs, the Muslim sect that makes up the bulk of the insurgency and is responsible for most American deaths in Iraq.

The plan seeks deadlines for passing a law that would guarantee the sharing of Iraq's oil wealth, amending the constitution, turning an anti-Baathist organization into a reconciliation body, disbanding Shiite militias and setting a date for provincial elections — all key issues for Sunnis.

The de-Baathification Commission was established after the toppling of Saddam Hussein to ensure that members of the dictator's political organization did not hold government positions.

The sixth measure called for "increasing the credibility and capability of Iraqi forces."

Casey said Iraqi forces would be "completely capable" of controlling the country within the next 1 1/2 years.

"We are about 75 percent of the way through a three-step process in building those (Iraqi) forces," the general said. "It is going to take another 12 to 18 months or so until I believe the Iraqi security forces are completely capable of taking over responsibility for their own security. That's still coupled with some level of support from us."

Casey's estimate of when the Iraqi army will be ready was noteworthy because it has not changed even as the security situation in the country has deteriorated. Iraqis are now being killed at a pace of more than 40 each day in sectarian fighting and revenge killing.

Complicating the matter has been the recent outbreak of sustained Shiite-on-Shiite violence in the once relatively calm south of the country.

To curb the spreading and increasingly brutal killings, Khalilzad said the United States was "inducing Iraqi political and religious leaders who can control or influence armed groups in Baghdad to agree to stop sectarian violence," an apparent reference to recent secret talks the United States has conducted with Sunni insurgents.

Al-Maliki has repeatedly said he would rein in Shiite militias but so far has taken little public action beyond a decision to move aside two police commando leaders. He issued a statement on Monday saying the military had been ordered to take action against any illegal armed group, but the declaration, like the timeline introduced on Tuesday, lacked detail.

His national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, sought to add weight to the prime minister's directive in an interview with CNN. He was, however, equally fuzzy about what action would be taken.

"The Iraqi security forces are going to take on anyone who challenges" them," al-Rubaie said.

Khalilzad said he had assurances from al-Maliki that radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr would disband his Mahdi Army. But al-Sadr draws much of his power from his control over the heavily armed fighters. And al-Maliki draws much of his support from al-Sadr.

For that reason, disbanding the feared militia group appears to be a promise that is unlikely to be kept in the near term. Such a move would leave the other main Shiite militia, the Badr Brigade of the Supreme Council for the Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, in a dominant position.

Al-Sadr and SCIRI leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim maintain a sharp rivalry for power over Iraq's Shiite majority. Logic dictates that both militias be disbanded simultaneously, which appears highly unlikely.

While Shiite militias and death squad violence represent a major security problem, curbing them would still leave the other half of the equation unsolved — the continued vibrancy of the Sunni insurgency that has been attacking Americans with a vengeance since summer 2003.

The timeline appeared, therefore, largely directed at luring the Sunni establishment away from violence and into the political process.

U.S. says Iraq agrees on timeline to peace
[10:10 , 25 Oct 2006]
BAGHDAD (Reuters)

PNA- Iraqi leaders have assured the United States they will stick to a timetable of measures over the next year to curb violence and allow U.S. troops to go home, Washington's top officials in Iraq said on Tuesday.

Two weeks ahead of U.S. congressional elections that have put President George W. Bush's Republicans on the defensive over their Iraq strategy, the U.S. ambassador and military commander in Baghdad told voters directly via a rare televised joint news conference success was still possible, and on a "realistic timetable."

Insisting sectarian bloodshed had not caused Washington to water down its goal of a stable, democratic Iraq, envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said he expected Iraqi leaders to make "significant progress in the coming 12 months" in meeting "benchmarks."

He did not refer to any deadline nor spell out any U.S. response if the Shi'ite-led coalition failed to rein in violence, some of it by pro-government militias, or to address concerns among minority Sunnis over sharing Iraq's oil wealth.

"Iraqi leaders must step up to achieve key political and security milestones on which they have agreed," Khalilzad said.

"They have committed themselves to a timeline for making some of those decisions," he added. "We will work with them as closely as possible so that they do meet those benchmarks."

Bush insists the United States must stay to stabilize Iraq -- whose fate Khalilzad insisted was vital to American security -- but the war is increasingly unpopular among Americans and many critics now want a deadline for U.S. withdrawal.

Gen. George Casey, who commands 140,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq despite hopes early this year that a pullout might be under way by election time, again forecast Iraqis would be able to handle most tasks in 12 to 18 months, with some U.S. support.

But he also did not rule out calling in U.S. reinforcements in the near term as he adjusted tactics in response to death squad killings and insurgent attacks that have killed 90 Americans so far this month, the bloodiest in almost a year.

In Washington on Tuesday, a group of U.S. House Republicans wrote to Bush urging him to "urgently deploy Iraqi military forces into the heart of battle" by sending at least 20 of the 114 U.S.-trained Iraqi military battalions to Baghdad.

SHIFTING THE BURDEN TO IRAQI FORCES

"It is crucial that both the U.S. and Iraqi governments recognize that as the battle in Iraq has intensified, so has the need to send Iraqi battalions into the heart of battle," said the letter from House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record) of California and 32 other Republicans.

Also on Tuesday, a U.S. defense official said the British military hoped to withdraw troops from Iraq within about 12 months, saying the U.K. government wanted to focus its force on the war in Afghanistan.

British officials have told their U.S. counterparts the U.K. military was "near the breaking point" given long deployments in Iraq and weak retention of personnel, the American official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The deaths of three more Americans were announced on Tuesday and a military translator of Iraqi descent was feared abducted, prompting a massive search operation in Baghdad.

"Despite the difficult challenges we face, success in Iraq is possible ... on a realistic timetable," Khalilzad said.

Iraqi officials, marking holidays for the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, had no comment. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's unity government on Monday said its forces would crack down on illegal armed groups.

Six months after Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki took office, with vital support from Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, such pledges have yet to curb activity by militias, like Sadr's Mehdi Army, which Khalilzad singled out as needing to be "brought under control."

In Washington, Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said the Iraqi government needed to move faster to bring stability to the country.

Casey and Khalilzad said U.S. and Iraqi forces faced a tough task against enemies that included not just Sunni al Qaeda militants but also Shi'ite Iran and the Syrian leadership. They decried "decidedly unhelpful" and "cynical" policies pursued by Iraq's two neighbors.

Casey said he planned unspecified tactical changes to curb sectarian bloodshed claiming hundreds of lives a week, notably in Baghdad, where Shi'ites and Sunnis live side by side.

U.S. and Iraqi troops mounted door-to-door searches, set up roadblocks and flew helicopter sorties over the capital in the hunt for the missing translator, who was not named.

The military said he left a U.S. base in the city center's Green Zone on Monday to visit a relative and was snatched by armed men who handcuffed him and bundled him into a car.

(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny, Ibon Villelabeitia, Paul Holmes and Claudia Parsons in Baghdad, Kristin Roberts in Washington and the London and Moscow bureaus)

New law aims to open Iraqi economy to foreign investors

Iraq Legal : New law aims to open Iraqi economy to foreign investors

Tuesday, October 24th 2006
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On Oct. 10 the Parliament of Iraq passed a new investment law which opens the Iraqi economy to investors globally.
The new law provides foreign investors with adequate legal protection and with the ability to repatriate capital and profit. It offers opportunities to apply for significant exemptions from taxes and duties for 10 years and possibly longer, and it highlights the need to facilitate the process of obtaining necessary licenses and permits.

"It is great to have the new law, which gives us a clear frame and solid ground for promoting investment in Iraq," a senior official at the Iraq Investment Promotion Agency (IIPA) said.

"We are expecting positive reactions by foreign investors, who have been interested and enthusiastic about doing business in Iraq. It is very beneficial for our agency and for the country."

The agency was established early this year with the support of the USAID-funded IZDIHAR project, which has also provided substantial technical assistance and counseling in the preparation of this law.

In a significant institutional development, the law establishes the National Commission for Investment (NCI), attached to the Office of the Prime Minister and headed by a Chairman with the rank of minister. NCI will be responsible for overseeing and executing Iraq's investment policy.

Please note that the views expressed in this article may not reflect the views of PortAl Iraq and its staff.

Reproduction or redistribution of the above text, in in any form, requires the prior consent of the original source.

Source: USAID's IZDIHAR

Originally Posted by clintstella

SGS, Again this morning by the look of it, another two articles..

American planes bomb Sadr City
From just the latest
Baghdad - (Voices of Iraq)
Eyewitnesses said that American warplanes bombed dawn today, Wednesday, a number of houses in Sadr City in the east of Baghdad. The clashes broke out after the shelling between gunmen and the American-Iraqi joint.
The witnesses added to the News Agency (Voices of Iraq) Independent that the planes bombed the 74 and 75 in the outskirts of the city, which led to damaging a number of houses. pointing out that the American planes flying in the skies of the city since dawn today, five and even seven.
They pointed out that the armed clashes broke out after the shelling between gunmen and a joint force of Iraqi American did not know the damage they have caused.
Was not immediately contact an independent source to verify the news, Nor was issued by the American army comment on the attack.
U p

_____________

The killing five civilians and wounding 15 in the American shelling of Sadr City
(In addition to statements Chanchal)
From just the latest
Baghdad - (Voices of Iraq)
Falah said Chanchal bloc chest Chairman of the House of Representatives that the Iraqi four Iraqi civilians were killed and 15 injured in American bombardment of Sadr City in the east of Baghdad at dawn today, Wednesday,.
Chanchal added in a telephone conversation with the News Agency (Voices of Iraq) Independent that the bombing resulted in the destruction of six homes in the 74 and 75 in the chest.
He explained that the joint American and Iraqi arrested ten people from the densely populated Sadr City were on their way to work this morning.
He explained that the joint force exploded the main gate of the mosque Ben Ammar Yasser fact sector 37 city and then burst Story contents.
Witnesses said earlier that clashes broke out after the shelling between gunmen and a joint American-Iraqi losses are not known.
The witnesses added l (Voices of Iraq) that the American planes flying in the skies of the city since dawn today, five and even seven.
U p

OI!! OI!! OI!!

In a significant institutional development, the law establishes the National Commission for Investment (NCI), attached to the Office of the Prime Minister and headed by a Chairman with the rank of minister. NCI will be responsible for overseeing and executing Iraq's investment policy.


VERY NICE. Thanks SGS

Maliki denied there was any coordination with the American forces for the shelling of Sadr City
من سانتا ميخائيلFrom Santa Mikhail
بغداد-(أصوات العراق)Baghdad - (Voices of Iraq)
نفي نوري المالكي رئيس الوزراء العراقي وجود تنسيق بين القوات العراقية والامريكية بشأن قصف الطائرات الامريكية لمدينة الصدر فجر اليوم الأربعاء ، محذرا من تدخل دول الجوار في الشأن العراقي.Nuri al-Maliki denied Iraqi Prime Minister and there is coordination between the Iraqi forces and American planes bombing on American Sadr City dawn today, Wednesday,, warning of intervention neighboring countries in Iraqi affairs.
وقال المالكي في مؤتمر صحفي عقده اليوم بالمنطقة الخضراء ببغداد "لا يوجد تنسيق بين القوات الامريكية والقوات العراقية بالنسبة لقصف مدينة الصدر (شرق بغداد) وانه سيطالب القوات الامريكية بتوضيح أسباب القصف".Al-Maliki said in a press conference held today in Baghdad green zone "is a lack of coordination between the American forces and Iraqi forces for the shelling of Sadr City (east Baghdad), said he would ask the American forces to clarify the reasons for the bombing."
وقصفت الطائرات الامريكية فجر اليوم مدينة الصدر مما ادى الى مقتل اربعة مدنيين عراقيين وجرح 15 اخرين.The American planes bombed dawn today, Sadr City, killing four Iraqi civilians and wounding 15 others.
وقال فلاح شنشل رئيس الكتلة الصدرية بمجلس النواب العراقي في اتصال هاتفي مع وكالة أنباء (أصوات العراق) المستقلة ان القصف ادى ايضا الى تدمير ستة منازل في قطاعي 74 و 75 بمدينة الصدر، كما اعتقلت قوة مشتركة امريكية وعراقية عشرة أشخاص من مدينة الصدر المكتظة بالسكان كانوا في طريقهم الى اعمالهم.He said Falah Chanchal chairman of the House of Representatives bloc chest Iraqi in a telephone conversation with the News Agency (Voices of Iraq) Independent that the bombing also led to the destruction of six houses in the 74 and 75-Sadr City, also arrested the joint American and Iraqi ten people from the densely populated Sadr City were on their way to work.
وحذر المالكي في مؤتمره الصحفي دول الجوار من التدخل في الشأن العراقي، وقال ان الحكومة العراقية ستتخذ اجراءات بحق تلك الدول (لم يسمها) اذا لك تكف عن التدخل في شؤون العراق الداخلية.He warned al-Maliki, in his press conference the neighboring countries of interfering in Iraqi affairs, He said that the Iraqi government will take action against those countries (which he did not identify), if you refrain from interference in the internal affairs of Iraq.
ش عU p

Iraq Trade : Iraq moves forward in negotiations for WTO accession

Tuesday, October 24th 2006

Iraq recently progressed in its ongoing bid for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by submitting written responses to a host of questions raised by key members of the organization.
The questions focused on Iraq's agricultural regime, customs and tariff policies, privatization, intellectual property protection and enforcement, technical barriers to trade, as well as efforts to ensure good governance and fight corruption. The questions addressed the current state of affairs as well as future intentions of the Iraqi government in terms of regulatory and capacity-building reforms.

Since filing its application letter to join the world trade body in September 2004, the pace of Iraq's progress to date has matched and in some cases exceeded that of previously acceded countries.

The USAID-funded IZDIHAR project has contributed to this progress by providing training and technical assistance to Iraqi government officials focused on WTO accession. IZDIHAR worked with the ministries concerned and assisted in compiling and organizing the information needed for the responses

this is regurgitated izdihar that we saw there last week.
Iraq moves forward in negotiations for WTO accession

American forces sweeping the important stronghold of insurgency south of Baghdad

(Voice of Iraq) - 10-25-2006 | This issue was sent to a friend Gunmen used thermal station in Yusufiyah springboard for attacks capital Camp AI (Iraq) : Gush White * Minutes before sunrise the day before yesterday, two companies headed by American soldiers in the vehicles Alhmvi about Kounkriti large compound near the base, which is situated south of Baghdad. The guns ready, and looking focused on the goal of the secret for a long time along the banks of the Euphrates river. The thermal power station in Yusufiyah, located in the Sunni stronghold removed by the river and roads planted bombs and channel long, one of the examples of sites that is of serious concern to the leaders of American military. It is a refuge for the rebels after a few miles outside Baghdad. on the part of the rebels to launch attacks and terrorist bombings in the surrounding area. A surveillance photographs lights coming from the upper floors of the station, officials believe it was an important for the movement of weapons, explosives and men. The U.S. military units earlier had attacked the site, However, small numbers of soldiers capable of fighting, and finally removed via counter-attacks persist. While the carriages move Alhmvi morning the day before yesterday, the soldiers began to break into the main building was Major Kenny Mintz watching a live video of the raid. Mintz said, officer Major combat operations in the second of the ten task, who is the process of the occupation, especially the region known as the triangle Shakrih, «that there is not access to the most difficult part, but staying there is even more difficult. Rebels go to the place that does not have to be found. The energy project is important because it will give us a place we can work him in the problems. It did not affect the need to be there ». After more than three years of war in Iraq. The no safe havens for the rebels. While seeking American forces in support of the Iraqi government and the transfer of large areas of territory to Iraqi forces and to address the escalating sectarian conflict. it is still facing areas outside the law of such a zone. The three points Triangle, Yusufiyah is issued Euphrates to the north-west. and Jarf al-Sakhr bridge on the Euphrates to the south. Youssifiyah to the east. The region is the dividing line between the Arab population of Iraq of Sunnis and Shiites, the scene of escalating sectarian violence. While the American forces continue their campaign in control of the triangle, they discovered, in recent days, more than 100 cache of arms hidden in boxes of plastic 55-gallon capacity of the one in the long papyrus along channel al-Janabi, officials believe it was used in the attacks and deadly bombings in Baghdad and its surroundings. The articles, , which included a number of bombs from aircraft weighed 500-pound, estimated to be enough to make more than one thousand of the bombs planted on the road side and the processing of fighters battalion comprising about 400 people. Also found in the warehouses rifles American helicopter was canceled. And enjoy the protection of the power station symbolic importance, especially for the American army, because the bodies of two soldiers were arrested and killed at a checkpoint near disposed of them at the bridge leading to the compound. The area of this triangle of 600 square miles, a mixture of agricultural land in a residential area to the north and west. and residential areas to the south and east. While the expansion of the Shiite militia influence in the region. they continue to strive to move to cities like Mahmoudia and Latifiyah, in the context of the escalation of sectarian violence. And to achieve Iraqi army brigade based in the region various successes. There are powerful and Kvoetan battalions operating in the Middle with American forces, while the other two battalions Iraqi women facing difficulties in their work. In a sense, the whole region is Iraq, as promising areas located near the other one, where progress is not known to a large extent. He said Colonel Michael Kirchao, the American commander of the battalion that «a complicated situation. We have located and different, We have to rely on what we have achieved in Mahmoudia, and move to the West, while we, in a sense, in our starting. It will take time ». * Service and the Washington Post «» «special to the Middle East»

Sotaliraq.com

Iraqi army forces were carrying out a raid to arrest leader

(صوت العراق) - 25-10-2006 |(Voice of Iraq) - 10-25-2006 | ارسل هذا الموضوع لصديقThis issue was sent to a friend

قوات الجيش العراقي تنفذ عملية دهم لاعتقال قائد مشتبه به لاحد فرق الموتIraqi army forces were carrying out a raid to arrest suspected leader of a death squad
Wednesday, 25 October 2006Wednesday, 25 October 2006
بغداد – نفذت قوات الجيش العراقي الخاصة بدعم من مستشاري قوات التحالف عملية دهم بتخويل من حكومة العراق في 25 تشرين الاول الجاري في مدينة الصدر، بغداد لاعتقال قائد كبير لاحدى الجماعات المسلحة والذي يقود نشاطات فرق الموت التي تنتشر بشكل كبير شرقي بغداد.BAGHDAD - Iraqi army forces carried out a special advisor to the support of the coalition forces raided the authorization of the government of Iraq on October 25 this month in Sadr City, Baghdad to the arrest of a senior commander of one of the armed groups, who leads the activities of death squads which are largely east of Baghdad.

وخلال عملية الدهم تعرضت قوات الجيش العراقي الى اطلاق نار وكان عليهم الدفاع عن انفسهم.During the raid the Iraqi army troops came to shooting, they had to defend themselves. اذ طلبو الدعم من طائرة قوات التحالف والتي اطلقت النار بدقة فقط لتقليل تهديد العدو.As Talbo support from the coalition forces and aircraft, which shot carefully only to reduce the threat of the enemy.

سنزودكم بتفاصيل اخرى حال توفر معلومات اضافية.Other details will be provided if additional information is available.



Ahhh! That's alright then! lol

Originally Posted by dinartank

Here is something to ponder...out of the last 2 years reading over the forums the main areas that i hear about banks dealing in dinar are mostly out of the mid-west area mostly in texas...alot in texas...where is gwb out of.... used to be governor..... hmmm..... has lot of ties still there. could some one who knows some one has herd from gwb that this is the investment of a life time or some how word of mouth has filtered down the chain in that region...makes me wonder.... ive also heard alot of banks in NY deal with it also but there the financial capital of the US so there not dummies. down here in south fl the banks know nothing about it atleast wahcovia....they look at you like your stupid

Yes Wachovia does have this problem of looking at you this way, But, I will have the last laugh as they will except my profits in do time. What I have found out about Wachovia is they are just a middle man. They actually use Thomas Cook Currency Exchanger out of Dallas Texas. Now Thomas Cook's Office is the Office that told My Buddy 6 months ago that they dont deal in IQD and want. Well 6 months later and they do now.