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

Originally Posted by $onedaysoon$

http://msb.gov/pdf/fin104_ctr.pdf

currency transaction report pdf

I think you might need this form when you exchange

This is the form the banks fill out for all transactions over $10,000.

Originally Posted by $onedaysoon$

January 3, 2007

the Iraqi government has issued a decision to extend the Id-al-Adha holiday until next sunday. The decision to extend the vacation came to gaurd against any acts of violence in the country as the house resumed sittings after the recess. It is scheduled to take place to discuss the political crisis and the new budget and the decisions and actions of other pending.
Translated version of http://www.albaghdadia.com/main.htm

This leads me to believe that the 7-8th will come and go.

Originally Posted by $onedaysoon$

January 3, 2007

the Iraqi government has issued a decision to extend the Id-al-Adha holiday until next sunday. The decision to extend the vacation came to gaurd against any acts of violence in the country as the house resumed sittings after the recess. It is scheduled to take place to discuss the political crisis and the new budget and the decisions and actions of other pending.
Translated version of http://www.albaghdadia.com/main.htm

Oh man...these people are as bad as the MPs in UK! More holidays, more perks, minimum work and an absolute disdain for its citizens.

Originally Posted by $onedaysoon$

January 3, 2007

the Iraqi government has issued a decision to extend the Id-al-Adha holiday until next sunday. The decision to extend the vacation came to gaurd against any acts of violence in the country as the house resumed sittings after the recess. It is scheduled to take place to discuss the political crisis and the new budget and the decisions and actions of other pending.
Translated version of http://www.albaghdadia.com/main.htm

I cannot access the article from work, but does it specifically state 1/14? Some people refer to "next Sunday" meaning "this coming Sunday" . Just a thought...

Why Saddam's Execution Clouds Bush's Iraq Plan
Viewpoint: Whether or not more troops are sent, the circumstances of Saddam's hanging are a stark reminder that the U.S. may lack an Iraqi partner for its strategy
By TONY KARON

Posted Wednesday, Jan. 03, 2007
As America waits for President Bush to announce a new plan for Iraq, the brutal spectacle of Saddam Hussein's execution, recorded on cell phone video and seen around the Middle East, has drawn condemnation from around the world, including Washington. But Saddam's final moments highlight a much more serious and fundamental problem facing the Administration: The U.S. no longer has any control over the Iraqi political process.

Having created a new state in Iraq — and not yet ready to admit that it is a failed state — the U.S. felt obliged to hand Saddam Hussein over to the Iraqis to administer the death penalty, even though Washington made clear it would have preferred that Saddam's sentence be administered at a less fraught moment — and in a less rushed manner. But being the ones to kill Saddam was a political prize for at least a section of the current government — the ultimate gesture of vengeance on behalf of the long-suffering Shi'ite majority, clearly calculated to boost the political standing of those who administered it. And so, as the video makes clear, Saddam faced death to the sound of chants proclaiming Shi'ite victory and extolling the name of the anti-American radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr — not exactly the healing denouement the U.S. had in mind for the Saddam era.

It's no surprise that the Iraqi government wasn't inclined to follow a U.S. script in dispatching Saddam, because it hasn't been inclined to follow a U.S. script on the fundamental questions of national unity — reconciling with the Sunnis, making concessions to the insurgents to draw former Baathists back into the fold, and most importantly, reining in the Shi'ite death squads.

Nor is this problem a unique failing of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki — who, in an interview in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday made clear that he no longer wants the job. The U.S. had no greater joy with his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

And U.S. efforts to either detach Maliki from his key patron — Sadr, whose militia is in the thick of much of the sectarian violence — or else persuade Shi'ite rivals such as Abdulaziz al-Hakim to form a new coalition with the Sunnis and Kurds, excluding Maliki and Sadr, appear to be floundering. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the supreme Shi'ite spiritual leader whose expressed will neither Maliki nor Hakim can cross, has made clear that he will not tolerate any moves that break the unity of the ruling Shi'ite coalition that includes Maliki, Hakim and Sadr.

A little over a month ago, an internal Bush Administration memo written by National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley wondered somewhat naively whether Maliki might be a "witting participant" in "an aggressive push to consolidate Shia power and influence" in Baghdad. Shi'ite power, after all, is the raison d'etre of the ruling Shi'ite alliance; Sistani ensured that all the major Shi'ite parties contested the election as a bloc in order to guarantee the Shi'ites a share of political power congruent with their demographic majority. Shi'ite-power, far from a hidden agenda, was the winning ticket in both of Iraq's democratic elections.

So if, as the U.S. recognizes, the major security challenge in Iraq is sectarianism tending toward civil war, then the Iraqi government is hardly above the fray. (The two main Shi'ite militias responsible for most attacks on Sunnis, for example, are affiliated with the ruling coalition, which has tended to restrain U.S. military action against them.) While the Shi'ite leadership is willing to cooperate with the U.S. to the extent that this helps it pursue its own goals, the Shi'ite base is increasingly mistrustful of Washington's efforts to promote reconciliation with the Baathists and take down militias that many Shi'ites see as vital to their defense against Sunni insurgents.

At the very moment the U.S. needs greater cooperation from the government, Prime Minister Maliki needs to show his independence from Washington, where doubts about his usefulness are no secret. No wonder he no longer wants the job.

Whether or not the Bush Administration decides to send more troops to help secure Baghdad, it's widely agreed that the essence of the problem is political rather than military — unless Iraq's factions, including the government, are willing to reach a new accord, no amount of U.S. troops will be able to put Iraq back together. And the macabre political theater of Saddam's hanging was a reminder that no matter how many divisions it has in Baghdad, what the U.S. appears to lack is an Iraqi partner.

Why Saddam's Execution Clouds Bush's Iraq Plan

US-led forces may launch limited offensive against Mehdi Army
Reuters


Published: 03/01/2007 12:00 AM (UAE)

US-led forces may launch limited offensive against Mehdi Army
Reuters



Baghdad: US-led forces are likely to launch a limited New Year offensive against Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, blamed for sectarian death squad killings, senior Iraqi officials say.

The Pentagon, in a report last month, described Mehdi Army militias as the biggest threat to Iraq's security and diplomats say Washington is impatient to confront them.

Several officials in the Shiite political parties that dominate Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's unity government also say they are losing patience with Al Sadr's supporters and predict more raids like last week's joint US-Iraqi operation in which a senior Al Sadr aide was killed.

"There will be limited and targeted operations against members of the Mehdi Army," a senior Shiite official said.

"The ground is full of surprises but we think around January 5 there will be some operations. I can say no more."

British forces in Basra have also been conducting major raids against groups they describe as "rogue Mehdi Army", some entrenched in Iraqi police units.

Last week, British troops blew up the headquarters of Basra's Major Crimes Unit and said they freed tortured prisoners.

"The Americans want a war with the Mehdi Army," said a Western diplomat in Baghdad, who was not American or British.



Gulfnews: US-led forces may launch limited offensive against Mehdi Army

Originally Posted by TEXASGIRL

I cannot access the article from work, but does it specifically state 1/14? Some people refer to "next Sunday" meaning "this coming Sunday" . Just a thought...

That was the entire article.....no dates....

Originally Posted by TEXASGIRL

I cannot access the article from work, but does it specifically state 1/14? Some people refer to "next Sunday" meaning "this coming Sunday" . Just a thought...

You are right, they do use the term "next Sunday" the way we would say "This coming Sunday"

Originally Posted by Alphamystic

This leads me to believe that the 7-8th will come and go.

I don't expect Parliament will have a session, and hopefully a quorum, until Jan. 8. I think they need 2 days between the 1st and 2nd reading and then 2 days again between the 2nd and 3rd reading. At the 3rd reading I beleive they have the vote. I am not expecting anything until mid January. But you never know what they may do in secret.

Capek

Originally Posted by CapeK

If I am not mistaken, I believe a new Prime Minister would be chosen from the same alliance, the Dawa Party. However, if Maliki were replaced via coup or NSG that wouldn't be the case. My bet would be Mahdi or Allawi if the latter were to occur.

What!? Nobody's up for another round of Jaffari Madness?