[Centraal] Irak na de oorlog - deel 33

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VS-soldaat: collega's doodden Iraakse gevangenen

ANP

TIKRIT - Een twintigjarige Amerikaanse soldaat heeft vier van zijn collega's beschuldigd van het doden van drie Iraakse gevangenen. Bradley Mason zei dat zij vervolgens gedreigd hadden hem te doden als hij er iets over zou vertellen.

Mason deed zijn uitspraak tijdens een hoorzitting op een Amerikaanse basis bij de Iraakse stad Tikrit, die bedoeld is om te bepalen of de vier militairen vervolgd moeten worden wegens moord.

De vier zouden op 9 mei tijdens een aanval op een vermeende basis van de terreurorganisatie Al Qa'ida de opdracht hebben gekregen alle mannen te doden die zouden kunnen vechten. Zij hebben gezegd dat zij de gevangenen hadden doodgeschoten toen die op de vlucht waren geslagen.

De Amerikaanse militairen schoten bij de vermeende terreurbasis een man dood en namen drie anderen gevangen, aldus de lezing van Mason. Deze drie mannen schoten zij even later dood. Mason verklaarde dat hij hun bedreiging met de dood aan zijn adres ‘behoorlijk serieus’ had genomen.

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At least 12 people, many of them children, have been killed in bomb attacks while they were playing football in west Baghdad, police say.

Two blasts hit a makeshift pitch on waste ground in a mainly Shia district. About a dozen other people were hurt.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 11:57 schreef Godslasteraar het volgende:
Children killed; will there be an outrage?
Topics: Uncategorized

Iraqis children were bombed by terrorists as they were playing soccer.
[..]

Will there be a similar outrage across the ArabWestern world simlar to the one we saw after Qana? Will there be any demonstrations? Will Al Jazeera CNN and friends broadcast gruesome pictures of dead children over and over again? Will they air one sensational program after another?

The answer is no. Why? Because of this.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 11:57 schreef Godslasteraar het volgende:
Children killed; will there be an outrage?
Topics: Uncategorized

Iraqis children were bombed by terrorists as they were playing soccer.
[..]

Will there be a similar outrage across the Arab world simlar to the one we saw after Qana? Will there be any demonstrations? Will Al Jazeera and friends broadcast gruesome pictures of dead children over and over again? Will they air one sensational program after another?

The answer is no. Why? Because of this.

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Iraq civil war warning for Blair
Civil war is a more likely outcome in Iraq than democracy, Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad has warned Tony Blair in a confidential memo.

William Patey, who left the Iraqi capital last week, also predicted the break-up of Iraq along ethnic lines.

He did also say that "the position is not hopeless" - but said Iraq would remain "messy and difficult" for the next five to 10 years.

The Foreign Office said it did not comment on leaked documents.

However, it added: "Every day the capacity of the Iraqi security forces to manage their own security is growing."

BBC correspondent Paul Wood said although the document does not contradict government denials that civil war is imminent, "it is a devastating official assessment of the prospects for a peaceful Iraq, and stands in stark contrast to the public rhetoric".

'State within a state'

The bleak assessment of the country's future was contained in Mr Patey's final e-cable, or diplomatic telegram, from Baghdad.

You move from optimism and pessimism, it's a thin dividing line. What I don't have is a sense of hopelessness or despair
William Patey
Interviewed on BBC, 27 July
The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy
William Patey
Last official private memo

The distribution list included the UK's prime minister, foreign secretary, defence secretary and House of Commons leader, as well as senior military commanders in both Iraq and the UK.

Mr Patey wrote: "The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy.

"Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq - a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror - must remain in doubt."

Talking about the Shia militias blamed for many killings, Mr Patey added: "If we are to avoid a descent into civil war and anarchy then preventing the Jaish al-Mahdi (the Mahdi Army) from developing into a state within a state, as Hezbollah has done in Lebanon, will be a priority."

If people are determined to kill one another because of a Sunni/Shia divide there is not a lot that can be done
Phil Dee, Wales

The cable says that "the next six months are crucial" - an assessment which is shared by the coalition's military commanders.

Senior military sources told the BBC it was "make or break" time in Iraq. The Americans are sending thousands of extra troops to Baghdad, starting next week.

The Conservative Party's head of policy, Oliver Letwin, called on ministers to be more honest about the situation.

"It's very difficult to offer the constructive support which we want to offer and for the public to understand what's going on if the government doesn't give a very clear and frank account of the assessment," he said.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Michael Moore said there needed to be a clear strategy for Iraq, including the engagement of neighbouring countries such as Iran, Syria and Turkey.

"Unless we seriously and radically rethink our approach, as the ambassador warns, we will run the serious risk of a descent into civil war," he said.

The BBC has also learned, from military sources, that British troops in Basra are planning to dramatically step up operations against Shia gunmen.

Mr Patey urges the government to ensure that Iraqi troops are brought into this effort as the British forces "can't confront the militias alone".

On Wednesday, President Jalal Talabani said Iraqi police and troops would be taking the security lead throughout the whole country by the end of the year.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/5240808.stm

Published: 2006/08/03 08:37:38 GMT

© BBC MMVI

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 12:14 schreef Mutant01 het volgende:

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Die onzin blog van je ook. En dan zeggen dat het geen propblog is.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 16:12 schreef franske19 het volgende:
Haha dat wordt dan meteen als onzin bestempeld, de users hier zijn al net zo hypocriet als de moslim leiders in het Midden Oosten.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 16:17 schreef Slayage het volgende:

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wat in die blogs wordt gezet zijn gewoon meningen van mensen, het heeft een hoge entertainment value, maar heeft niet al te veel met objectieve journalistiek te maken

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 16:25 schreef Incomplete het volgende:

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Het bewust doden van kinderen is weinig verheffend.
Het punt wat in die blogs gemaakt wordt, gezien de ophef over Qana, vind ik wel terecht.

Het een is per ongeluk, het ander bewust. Het een wordt wereldwijd uitgemolken, het
ander komt in een 5 regelig achterafberichtje terecht.

Hmm, zet je toch wel even aan het denken.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 16:26 schreef Slayage het volgende:

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het ene is nu 3 jaar gaande het ander 3 weken, dat is het verschil

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 16:25 schreef Incomplete het volgende:

[..]

Het bewust doden van kinderen is weinig verheffend.
Het punt wat in die blogs gemaakt wordt, gezien de ophef over Qana, vind ik wel terecht.

Het een is per ongeluk, het ander bewust. Het een wordt wereldwijd uitgemolken, het
ander komt in een 5 regelig achterafberichtje terecht.

Hmm, zet je toch wel even aan het denken.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 17:34 schreef Mutant01 het volgende:

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Nee, ze maken geen punt namelijk. De arabische wereld geeft er evenveel aandacht aan als de rest van de wereld op dit moment, nada dus. Net als dat wij hier niets van Congo meekrijgen e.d. De media hier in het WESTEN hadden het ook alleen maar over Qana, en tussendoor heel kort over Irak. Dat deze persoon een soort van haat jegens arabieren koestert, moet ie zelf weten, maar daardoor is het en blijft het een propblog met extreem eenzijdige berichtgeving.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 17:55 schreef Incomplete het volgende:

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Zijn de kinderen van Qana meer waard dan die in Irak? Voor de Arabische media wel.
Het lijkt me ook niet interessant als je Israel of de USA niet de schuld
kunt geven maar die schuld bij "broeders" onderling moet gaan zoeken, logisch.
Als het een Amerikaanse bom was geweest dan waren de oproepen tot
wraak niet van de lucht geweest met de daarbij horende hypocriete verontwaardiging.
En in de westerse media heb ik er wel over gelezen maar ook daar miste ik
de grote krantenkoppen.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 16:31 schreef Incomplete het volgende:

[..]

Ah, ok.

Ik wist niet dat dat voor die kindertjes wat uitmaakte.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 18:00 schreef Mutant01 het volgende:

[..]

Wat een onzin zeg. De aanval op Qana was overal ter wereld belangrijker dan de aanslagen (waarvan er meer dan 25 per dag plaatsvinden) in Irak. Iets wat overigens OOK de verantwoordelijkheid is van de VS. Ondanks dat hoor ik de Westerse Media ook niet daarover. Terwijl zij toch echt de bezettingsmacht zijn Selectieve verontwaardiging, maar ach, er zijn geen westerse troepen bij betrokken, dus vinden we het niet "erg". Zelfde lompe redenatie Incomplete.

Oftewel, dit is net zo goed selectieve verontwaardiging van de blog zelf, en het is gewoon een leugen. Want binnen de Arabische wereld vinden ze dat ook gewoon erg.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 18:00 schreef Mutant01 het volgende:

[..]
Wat een onzin zeg

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De aanval op Qana was overal ter wereld belangrijker dan de aanslagen (waarvan er meer dan 25 per dag plaatsvinden) in Irak. Iets wat overigens OOK de verantwoordelijkheid is van de VS. Ondanks dat hoor ik de Westerse Media ook niet daarover.

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Terwijl zij toch echt de bezettingsmacht zijn

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Selectieve verontwaardiging, maar ach, er zijn geen westerse troepen bij betrokken, dus vinden we het niet "erg".

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het is gewoon een leugen

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 18:03 schreef Slayage het volgende:

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loop nou niet te zeiken dude, je weet heus wel waar ik op doel

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 18:30 schreef Incomplete het volgende:

[..]

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 17:34 schreef Mutant01 het volgende:

[..]

Nee, ze maken geen punt namelijk. De arabische wereld geeft er evenveel aandacht aan als de rest van de wereld op dit moment, nada dus. Net als dat wij hier niets van Congo meekrijgen e.d. De media hier in het WESTEN hadden het ook alleen maar over Qana, en tussendoor heel kort over Irak. Dat deze persoon een soort van haat jegens arabieren koestert, moet ie zelf weten, maar daardoor is het en blijft het een propblog met extreem eenzijdige berichtgeving.

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Blasts hit Baghdad football game

At least 12 people, many of them children, have been killed in bomb attacks while they were playing football in west Baghdad, police say.
Two blasts hit a makeshift pitch on waste ground in a mainly Shia district. About a dozen other people were hurt.

Police say the bombs had been buried in the middle of the football pitch.

The attack came hours after Iraq's president said Iraqi forces would take over the security of the entire country from US-led forces by the end of 2006.

President Jalal Talabani told a news conference the transfer would happen gradually but would be completed before the new year.

Iraq has been hit by repeated bomb attacks despite attempts by the government to improve security.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 13:18 schreef Slayage het volgende:

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gezwets, maar dat je zelf ook natuurlijk

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Op vrijdag 4 augustus 2006 20:05 schreef Godslasteraar het volgende:

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Nee, het is nu juist dé reden dat niemand moslims serieus neemt. (behalve moslims zelf dan hé).
Aan de opmerkingen van Big Pharaoh valt niets toe te voegen wat mij betreft. En dat sommigen zijn blog, en die van Sandmonkey, uit nood dan maar propaganda noemen (voor wie?) was te verwachten.

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Op donderdag 3 augustus 2006 11:57 schreef Godslasteraar het volgende:
Children killed; will there be an outrage?
Topics: Uncategorized

Iraqis children were bombed by terrorists as they were playing soccer.
[..]

Will there be a similar outrage across the Arab world simlar to the one we saw after Qana? Will there be any demonstrations? Will Al Jazeera and friends broadcast gruesome pictures of dead children over and over again? Will they air one sensational program after another?

The answer is no. Why? Because of this.

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Op vrijdag 4 augustus 2006 21:31 schreef Yildiz het volgende:
..............

Mijn (westerse) krant had er 2 grote pagina's vol van. Lijkt me meer dan genoeg.
Wat denk ik ook een beetje meetelt, het is net zoals Israel vs. Palestina een paar jaar geleden. Toen waren er ook geen nieuwe ontwikkelingen, en dan hoorde je tijdens journaal de aantallen slachtoffers tussen het verkeer en het weer, bij wijze van spreken. Een afstompingfactor... hoe erg ook, de nieuwswaarde wordt minder.

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Op vrijdag 4 augustus 2006 23:12 schreef Godslasteraar het volgende:

[..]

het gaat ook niet om Westerse media, maar in dit geval vooral om de publieke opinie in Egypte die zich wel opwindt over misdaden van Israeliërs (al dan niet terecht) maar een complete volkerenmoord (op moslims notabene) in een buurland aan de Zuidgrens volledig negeert.
Op zich is het natuurlijk niet echt verbazingwekkend, we zien dat sektarische groepsdenken waarbij de buitenstaander niemand minder is dan Satans hulpje, brandstof voor de hel, overal in het Midden Oosten.

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Scholen vaker doelwit van taliban

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Irak

commentaar door Jan van Benthem

Een grimmig kijkende president Talabani maakte deze week bekend dat voor het eind van dit jaar het Iraakse leger en de politie de controle over de veiligheid zelf in handen hebben. In de betrekkelijk veilige 'Groene Zone' in Bagdad kun je dat zeggen. Maar buiten op de straten van Bagdad worden zulke woorden overstemd door het toenemende rumoer van een burgeroorlog. De Britten realiseren zich dat, de Amerikanen ook. Beide maken zich op om in de belangrijkste steden van Irak de situatie weer onder controle proberen te krijgen. Bagdad, Basra en Mosul kennen inmiddels een uitgaansverbod, bruggen en wegen zijn afgesloten. Maar de aanslagen verplaatsen zich daarmee nog meer naar de burgers. Bommen worden ingegraven in voetbalveldjes, waar ze de kinderen aan stukken scheuren.

Anders gezegd, ze scheuren de toekomst van Irak aan stukken. Het geweld is anders geworden. Het is niet vooral gericht op het verdrijven van de buitenlandse troepen, het is minstens zo genadeloos gericht tegen Iraakse burgers. Die hebben in achtereenvolgende verkiezingen duidelijk hun wens kenbaar gemaakt voor een gebalanceerde machtsverdeling. Maar in de wreedheid van de dictatuur van Saddam hebben teveel mensen niet anders leren denken dan in termen van macht en repressie. Allereerst waren het de baathisten die hun oude macht niet wilden loslaten. Zij begonnen met het geweld tegen de Amerikaanse militairen en de Iraakse regering. Maar achter de schermen organiseerden zich andere, sektarische groeperingen als het Mahdi-leger van de jonge radicale sjiïtische al-Sadr. Te laat heeft Amerika ingezien dat dit sektarische geweld onmiddellijk de kop moest worden ingedrukt. En hoewel al-Sadr het in Najaf en Karbala uiteindelijk moest opgeven tegen de coalitietroepen, kon hij ongehinderd uitwijken naar de sjiïtische wijken van Bagdad en daar verder bouwen aan zijn meedogenloze machtsbasis.

Twee mannen die de situatie van dichtbij hebben meegemaakt en betrokken waren bij de pogingen vrede en democratie in Irak te brengen, hebben nu hun vrees uitgesproken dat een burgeroorlog in Irak de meest waarschijnlijke uitkomst is van de bevrijding die de Amerikanen en Britten wilden brengen. Het zal de toch al zo ontvlambare regio voor langere tijd bedreigen als een uitslaande brand. En het is, zoals de Amerikaanse bevelhebber Abizaid constateerde, een verlammend conflict. Het beeld van democratie en mensenrechten dat het Westen zo graag uitdraagt is zware schade toegebracht. Het vacuüm aan moreel gezag dat daardoor is ontstaan lokt anderen uit tot meer geweld, zoals Hezbollah-leider Nasrallah dagelijks duidelijk maakt. Of we het willen of niet, het Westen is terecht gekomen in een zwaar en lang conflict waar we ons alleen nog aan kunnen onttrekken ten koste van de burgers van het Midden-Oosten die wel vrede en veiligheid willen, inclusief het volk van Israël.

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04/08 Grote pro-Hezbollah demonstratie in Bagdad

Honderdduizend Iraakse sjiieten hebben vrijdag hun steun betuigd aan de strijd van de Hezbollah tegen Israël. Schreeuwend 'Dood aan Israël' en 'Dood aan Amerika' liepen ze door de wijk Sadr City in Bagdad.
De grootste demonstratie sinds het begin van de gevechten in Libanon ruim drie weken geleden verliep vreedzaam. De invloedrijke geestelijke Muqtada al-Sadr had het protest georganiseerd.
De Iraakse televisie berichtte dat het ministerie van defensie zijn goedkeuring had verleend aan het protest, waaruit de grote invloed van Al-Sadr blijkt en de felheid van de woede onder de Irakezen over het Israëlische offensief, waarbij honderden Libanezen burgers zijn omgekomen.
"Ik beschouw mijn deelname aan dit protest als mijn religieuze plicht. Ik ben er trots op deel uit te maken van deze menigte en ben bereid te sterven voor Libanon," zei de 40-jarige ambtenaar Khazim al-Ibadi.
Veel van de demonstranten zijn lid van Al-Sadrs militie en gevreesd wordt dan ook dat het machtsvertoon van Al-Sadr de spanningen in de Iraakse hoofdstad verder zal opdrijven. Het sektarische geweld tussen sjiieten en soennieten escaleerde na een bomaanslag eind februari op een sjiitisch heiligdom in Samarra en houdt nog steeds aan.

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Gays flee Iraq as Shia death squads find a new target

Evidence shows increase in number of executions as homosexuals plead for asylum in Britain

Jennifer Copestake
Sunday August 6, 2006
The Observer

Hardline Islamic insurgent groups in Iraq are targeting a new type of victim with the full protection of Iraqi law, The Observer can reveal. The country is seeing a sudden escalation of brutal attacks on what are being called the 'immorals' - homosexual men and children as young as 11 who have been forced into same-sex prostitution.

There is growing evidence that Shia militias have been killing men suspected of being gay and children who have been sold to criminal gangs to be sexually abused. The threat has led to a rapid increase in the numbers of Iraqi homosexuals now seeking asylum in the UK because it has become impossible for them to live safely in their own country.

Ali Hili runs the Iraqi LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) group out of London. He used to have 40 volunteers in Iraq but says after recent raids by militia in Najaf, Karbala and Basra he has lost contact with half of them. They move to different safe houses to protect their identities, but their work is incredibly dangerous.

Eleven-year-old Ameer Hasoon al-Hasani was kidnapped by policemen from the front of his house last month. He was known in his district to have been forced into prostitution. His father Hassan told me he searched for his son for three days after his abduction, then found him, shot in the head. A copy of the death certificate confirms the cause of death.

Homosexuality is seen as so immoral that it qualifies as an 'honour killing' to murder someone who is gay - and the perpetrator can escape punishment. Section 111 of Iraq's penal code lays out protections for murder when people are acting against Islam.

'The government will do nothing to tackle this issue. It's really desperate when people get to the stage they're trading their children for money. They have no alternatives because there are no jobs,' Hili says.

Graphic photos obtained from Baghdad sources too frightened to identify themselves as having known a gay man, and seen by the Observer, show other gay Iraqis who have been executed. One shows two men, suspected of having a relationship, blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs - guns at the ready behind their heads - awaiting execution. Another picture captured on a mobile phone shows a gay man being beaten to death. Yet another shows a corpse being dragged through the streets after his execution.

One photograph is of the mutilated, burnt body of 38-year-old Karar Oda from Sadr City. He was kidnapped by the Badr Brigade in mid-June. They work with the Ministry of Interior and are the informal armed wing of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, who make up the largest Shia bloc in the Iraq parliament. Oda's family were given an arrest warrant signed by the Ministry of Interior which said their son deserved to be arrested and killed for immorality as a homosexual. His body was found ten days later.

Dr Haider Jaber is currently seeking asylum in the UK after fleeing Iraq in 2004. He says the abuse started to escalate in his neighbourhood after the invasion. One night, walking home from work, he was surrounded by five men, who told him he had to become a heterosexual Muslim. He says they abused him for wearing jeans and a T-shirt with English writing, and told him he should adopt traditional robes. As a crowd gathered to watch, he was then beaten and kicked to the ground.

The threats continued. Armed militiamen broke into his family home and then his workplace looking for him. Jaber finally left the country in April. His partner, Ali. was not so lucky. Jaber learned of his Ali's murder a few days after leaving Iraq. 'They didn't send the body to the family to have a grave or a flower garden. They said he didn't deserve it because he was an animal,' he said.

Ibaa Alawi has also fled Iraq. A former employee at the British embassy in Baghdad, Alawi met Tony Blair on one of his surprise visits to Iraq. He said Blair was concerned about the safety of the Iraqis working there and praised their bravery. 'Tony Blair said the British government was thankful for our efforts and knew we were putting our lives at risk working for the British embassy in Baghdad.'

Alawi is upset the same government is not willing to help him out. He believes the Home Office will refuse him asylum because it would have to face up to the level of chaos in Iraq, and how much influence is being waged by radical Islamists - and face the fact that, for some, there is still no freedom in Iraq.

· Jennifer Copestake's film on homosexual executions in Iraq will be shown on More4 News on August 7 at 8pm

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Why is it difficult to demonize a demon?
I was reading the news stories this morning about the demonstration that was organized by Sadr in support of Hezbollah when one quote from a senior coalition official caught my attention. The story doesn't make it clear whether that official was general Abizaid himself or someone else but I hope it wasn't Abizaid or any official senior enough to influence the strategy of the coalition in Iraq especially at this critical stage:

In my opinion the part about being careful about "demonizing Sadr militias" because Sadr is "enormously popular" is meaningless after we saw (and see everyday) what Sadr is doing and what his intentions are, and in fact this being "careful" can be so harmful to the efforts of the coalition and PM Maliki in dealing with the issue of militias and of course to the hopes of millions of us in Iraq who want to see an end to the violence.

Popularity should be taken into consideration of course, yet it must not be viewed as a deterrent and must not be allowed to be used as one by the militias, and popularity polls even when they show that some leader or group enjoy wide support, they do not mean that we should allow these numbers to intimidate us and stop us from making the decisions or taking the measures that are crucial for the success of Iraq.
Let's look at it from this angle; Saddam enjoyed the same, if not more, popularity than Sadr does today (yes, Saddam was popular among more or less a million Iraqis not to mention popularity among other Arabs) and the same applies to Nesrallah, Ahmedinejad and Bin Laden who have millions of supporters among Arabs and Muslims, however we didn't find it difficult to "demonize" them, right?
I mean should we allow the bad guys to grow more powerful just because they are popular?! This is totally absurd…

According to this "senior official" we are supposed to think twice and be careful before tackling people like Sadr but my question is; if not now then when? Are we supposed to give them more time to grow more powerful and more popular?
We have seen some examples in recent history when crazy tyrants were not dealt with fast enough or powerfully enough whether by an external force or by their own people; putting an end to Saddam would've been easier if the decision was made in 1991 and dealing with Ahmedinejad immediately will be easier than to deal with him when he acquires nukes and disarming the Sadr militias would've been much more easier if the right decision was made two years ago.

After all, popularity polls do not necessarily reflect the truth and today's demonstration indicates that as well; see, instead of the million figure that Sadr was aspiring to see in Baghdad and out of supposedly 2 million Shia residents of Sadr city only 100 000 showed up and that's only after Sadr summoned demonstrators from the southern provinces and sent busses to fetch them and let's not forget that the demonstration took place in Sadr's own stronghold where it's supposed to take no effort from supporters to show up and march; technically they were asked to march in their own front yard.

Let's suppose that the 30 seats that Sadr's followers have in the parliament reflect his popularity, which is not true because they wouldn't have a chance to win 30 seats without joining the UIA and without Sistani backing them, but even then we have most of the remaining powers demanding immediate disbanding of militias. And these are the ones we should consider, not controversial polls of false popularity.

Some Iraqis including their elected prime minister and elected president said 'thank you America' while others said death to America and Iran is strongly supporting those who wish death to America, so what are you in America going to do while we still have the chance, still have the determined leadership and while there's still hope?

Will you stand with those who believe you came to help them, or will you let Iran remain free to push Iraq to doom?

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Op dinsdag 8 augustus 2006 11:24 schreef klez het volgende:
Een roep om Amerikaans ingrijpen om een eind te maken aan de gewapende militia's:

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Baghdad blasts kill at least 19
At least 19 people have been killed and at least 60 injured in a series of blasts in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Three bombs hit the city centre early in the morning, killing nine. Hours later, two bombs exploded in a market, killing 10 and injuring dozens.

The attacks come despite a new security drive in the city.

Also on Tuesday, the Iraqi army assumed primary responsibility for security in an area of northern Iraq that includes the cities of Tikrit and Kirkuk.

String of bombs

The violence in Baghdad began at about 0645 local time with an explosion which hit a minibus and a taxi in the centre of the city, killing at least nine people.

Two other blasts targeted police, wounding three.



Four hours later, two bombs claimed at least 10 lives and injured at least 50 in a busy market in the al-Shurja district.

Tuesday also saw an armed raid on a bank in the capital. Robbers killed three security guards and two bank officials and escaped with a large quantity of money.

At least 11 other people were killed or found dead in Baghdad or other parts of Iraq. A US soldier died of wounds sustained in fighting, the US military said.

Handover

In Tikrit, the US commander in Iraq, Gen George Casey, and US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzhad attended a ceremony to transfer responsibility for security from the US 101st Airborne Division to the Fourth Iraqi Army Division.

In a statement, the two men said five of the Iraqi Army's 10 division headquarters were now responsible for security in their area, which they called an "important milestone".

They said coalition forces would continue to provide support to the Iraqi army.

The handover came a day after at least 4,000 US troops were deployed on the streets of the capital in an attempt to reduce sectarian killings and kidnappings.

Correspondents say the deployment is being seen as an admission that a two-month-old security operation involving 50,000 mostly Iraqi troops around Baghdad has failed to curb the violence.

Maliki criticism

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki sharply criticised a joint US-Iraqi operation in Sadr City, an area of Baghdad that is a stronghold of the Mehdi Army, a Shia militia.

US military officials said the raid, early on Monday, was aimed at "individuals involved in punishment and torture cell activities". Three people were captured in the raid, the US military said.

Iraqi police said three people, including a woman and child, were killed in the operation during which US aircraft carried out an air strike on a built-up area.

Mr Maliki said he was "very angered and pained" by the operation, warning that it could undermine his efforts toward national reconciliation.

"Reconciliation cannot go hand in hand with operations that violate the rights of citizens this way," Mr Maliki said in a statement on government television.

He apologised to the Iraqi people for the operation and said such incidents would not happen again.

In other violence, two Iraqi journalists have been found shot dead in Baghdad.

Mohammed Abbas Mohammed, who worked for a Shia newspaper, was shot dead in western Baghdad on Monday.

On the same day, police found the body of freelance journalist Ismael Amin, who was kidnapped two weeks ago.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5254976.stm

Published: 2006/08/08 21:46:19 GMT

© BBC MMVI

quote:

Baghdad morgue count rises again
Officials at Baghdad mortuary say they received 1,855 bodies in July, as the capital remains gripped in a wave of violence which has beset it for months.

The figure - the highest yet - is a rise of more than 350 on June. Officials say about 90% of the deaths were as a result of violence.

The mortuary director told the BBC his staff could barely cope with the sheer numbers of corpses they received.

The death toll continued to rise on Wednesday with at least 23 more bodies.

Incidents included:

* Five died in a drive-by shooting in western Baghdad, police said

* Nine bodies were found dumped in streets around the capital

* An explosion in Baquba, north of Baghdad, killed at least four people, police said

* In Iraq's second city of Basra in the south, gunmen killed an Iraqi army colonel, Qasim Abdul Qadir, on his way to work

* A bystander was killed in Baghdad in a roadside bomb apparently targeting a US patrol, police said

* Three US soldiers assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Armoured Division were killed in the restive western Anbar province, the US military said

* Divers are searching for two US troopers missing after their Blackhawk helicopter crashed into water in Anbar on Tuesday.

Unidentified bodies

The number of bodies delivered each month to the Baghdad mortuary has risen by almost 700 from January, when the figure was 1,068.

Observers put part of the blame on a wave of sectarian violence which followed the bombing of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra in late February. They caution the real death toll in Baghdad could be even higher.


MORTUARY'S MONTHLY TOLL
January: 1,068
February: 1,110
March: 1,294
April: 1,155
May: 1,398
June: 1,500
July: 1,855
NB: Not all deaths were violent

The mortuary director, Dr Kase Hassan, told the BBC his staff could barely cope, and that many bodies were buried unidentified.

"The rate of bodies [we receive is] between 50 to 70 cadavers per day - about 90% of these are dead by militant injuries or by external injuries," he said.

"About 80% of the cadavers are unknown - this is a bigger problem."

The mortuary does not have the space to store so many unidentified bodies - and every week truckloads are taken away for mass burial.

Almost 12,000 extra troops have been drafted in to the capital to try to stem the violence.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4777419.stm

Published: 2006/08/09 22:52:03 GMT

© BBC MMVI

quote:

Iraqi Death Toll Rose Above 3,400 in July

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 15 — July appears to have been the deadliest month of the war for Iraqi civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue, reinforcing criticism that the Baghdad security plan started in June by the new Iraqi government has failed.

An average of more than 110 Iraqis were killed each day in July, according to the figures. The total number of civilian deaths that month, 3,438, is a 9 percent increase over the tally in June and nearly double the toll in January.

The rising numbers indicate that sectarian violence is spiraling out of control and seem to bolster an assertion that many senior Iraqi officials and American military analysts have been making in recent months: that the country is already embroiled in a civil war, not just slipping toward one, and that the American-led forces are caught between Sunni Arab guerrillas and Shiite militias.

The numbers also provide the most definitive evidence yet that the Baghdad security plan started by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki on June 14 has not quelled the violence. The plan, much touted by top Iraqi and American officials at the time, relied on setting up more Iraqi-run checkpoints to stymie movement by insurgents. Those officials have since acknowledged the plan has fallen far short of its aims, forcing the American military to add thousands of soldiers to the capital this month and to back away from proposals for a withdrawal of some troops by year’s end.

The Baghdad morgue reported receiving 1,855 bodies in July, more than half of the total deaths recorded in the country. The morgue tally for July was an 18 percent increase over June.

The American ambassador said in an interview last week that Iraq’s political leaders had failed to fully use their influence to rein in the soaring violence, and that people associated with the government are stoking the flames of sectarian hatred.

“I think the time has come for these leaders to take responsibility with regards to sectarian violence, to the security of Baghdad at the present time,” the ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, said.

The American military in recent weeks has been especially eager to prove that Baghdad can be tamed if American troops are added to the streets and take a more active role — in effect, a repudiation of earlier efforts to turn over security more quickly to Iraqis.

The American command has added nearly 4,000 American soldiers to Baghdad by extending the tour of a combat brigade. Under a new security plan aimed at overhauling Mr. Maliki’s efforts, some of the city’s most violent southern and western areas are now virtually occupied block-to-block by American and Iraqi forces, with entire neighborhoods transformed into miniature police states after being sealed off by blast walls and concertina wire.

When the tally for civilian deaths in July is added to the Iraqi government numbers for earlier months obtained by the United Nations, the total indicates that at least 17,776 Iraqi civilians died violently in the first seven months of this year, or an average of 2,539 a month.

The Health Ministry did not provide figures for people wounded by attacks in Baghdad but said that at least 3,597 Iraqis were injured outside the city in July, a 25 percent increase over June.

United Nations officials and military analysts say the morgue and ministry numbers almost certainly reflect severe undercounts, caused by the haphazard nature of information in a war zone.

Many casualties in areas outside Baghdad probably never appear in the official count, said Anthony H. Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research group in Washington. That helps explain why fatalities in Baghdad appear to account for such a large percentage of the total number, he said in a recent report.

The United Nations has been tracking civilian casualty figures by collating numbers from the Health Ministry and Baghdad morgue. Last month, it announced that the Iraqi government’s numbers indicated that 3,149 violent deaths had occurred in June, or an average of more than 100 a day. The statistics were significantly higher than previous civilian death tolls, and indicated that the news media had drastically underreported the level of violence in Iraq. The United States government and military have declined to release any overall figures on Iraqi civilian casualties, or even said whether they are keeping count.

But Iraqi and American officials agree that civilian deaths had been much lower before wide-scale sectarian violence erupted in the wake of the Feb. 22 bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine in the town of Samarra, and has only gotten worse since..

In recent weeks, Ambassador Khalilzad and the top generals have warned that Iraq could slide toward full-blown civil war, especially if the capital continues fragmenting into ethnic or sectarian enclaves controlled by militias, as has been happening for months.

Much of the responsibility rests on Iraqi politicians, many of whom have ties to militias, Mr. Khalilzad said. “I believe that there have been forces associated with people in the government from both the Shia and Sunni sides that have participated in this,” he said of the violence.

Iraqi politicians are furiously lashing out at each other. On Monday, the speaker of Parliament, a conservative Sunni Arab, said he was considering stepping down because of animosity from the Kurdish and Shiite political blocs.

The move to oust the speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, appears to have thrown the main Sunni Arab bloc he belongs to, the Iraqi Consensus Front, into disarray. On Tuesday, a senior member of the bloc, Khalaf al-Elayan, said it rejected any call for Mr. Mashhadani’s resignation. Another Sunni leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said in an interview that Mr. Mashhadani should step down. Mr. Dulaimi is considered a possible replacement.

On Tuesday, Shiite gunmen and Iraqi military forces exchanged gunfire in Karbala for several hours near one of Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrines. Witnesses said the fighting forced the Iraqi Army to block entrances to the city and impose a curfew, prohibiting all cars and warning residents not to carry guns.

In Mosul, a suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives, killing at least five civilians and wounding nearly 50 near the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of President Jalal Talabani.

One of the deadliest attacks in recent weeks took place in southern Baghdad on Sunday night, when bombs, mortars and rockets killed at least 57 people in a Shiite neighborhood, according to Iraqi officials. The American military said Tuesday that the death toll had grown to at least 63 Iraqis and that the cause had been identified: two car bombs that ignited a gas line.

A day earlier, the American military said the deaths were caused solely by a gas main explosion and not by any attack, but now says that conclusion was based on “incomplete information.”

The well-organized attack on Sunday came despite the fact that American and Iraqi troops have flooded areas of southern Baghdad. The combined operation has focused most visibly on regulating traffic at checkpoints and searching for weapons at every home and building in troubled areas.

The American military said Tuesday that Dawra, the first area searched, was being sealed off with concrete barriers and blast walls. It added that the number of roadside bombs found in the area each week since the operation started Aug. 7 has decreased to 4 from 25.

quote:

Aantal bomaanslagen in Irak bijna verdubbeld

AP

BAGDAD - Het aantal bomaanslagen gericht tegen Iraakse en Amerikaanse troepen is de afgelopen maanden sterk gestegen. Dat hebben Amerikaanse functionarissen, die anoniem wensen te blijven, donderdag gezegd.

De functionarissen bevestigden een bericht in de New York Times dat het aantal bomaanslagen op Iraakse en Amerikaanse soldaten sinds januari bijna is verdubbeld. Het lijkt erop dat de opstand in Irak heviger is dan ooit, ondanks de recente dood van de leider van Al-Qaida in Irak, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In juli zijn volgens de functionarissen in Irak in totaal 2.625 bommen geëxplodeerd of ontdekt voor ze tot ontploffing werden gebracht. In januari waren dat er 'slechts' 1.454. Van de in juli daadwerkelijk ontplofte bommen - 1.666 - was zo'n 70 procent gericht tegen Amerikaanse troepen, 20 procent tegen Iraakse troepen en 10 procent tegen burgers.

Zo'n 3.500 Irakezen kwamen in juli om bij gewelddadigheden; het hoogste aantal in één maand sinds maart 2003, zei de Iraakse onderminister van volksgezondheid Adel Muhsin woensdag. In de regio Bagdad alleen al vielen in juli 1.500 doden. De Verenigde Staten hebben bijna twaalfduizend Amerikaanse en Iraakse soldaten extra naar de hoofdstad gestuurd. Ondanks het toenemende geweld zei de Iraakse premier Nouri al-Maliki dat regeringstroepen in staat zijn om in het grootste deel van het land de orde te handhaven.

Een geparkeerde auto in de shi'itische wijk Sadr City in Bagdad explodeerde donderdag rond het middaguur. Er vielen zeven doden en vijftien gewonden, meldde de politie. De auto stond in de buurt van een markt, maar omdat veel Irakezen vroeg boodschappen hadden gedaan om de voorspelde middaghitte te ontlopen, vielen er volgens de politie relatief weinig slachtoffers. De vermoedelijke daders zijn soennitische opstandelingen.

Een tweede autobom miste een politiepatrouille in Bagdad en doodde drie voorgangers en verwondde er een. Iraakse soldaten vielen twee dorpen ten westen van Kirkuk binnen en pakten vijftig veronderstelde opstandelingen op. Tientallen wapens en explosieven werden in beslag genomen.

quote:

Op donderdag 17 augustus 2006 23:37 schreef Slayage het volgende:

[..]

quote:

Op vrijdag 18 augustus 2006 00:36 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Last throes.

quote:

Amerikanen: verschil oorlog tegen Irak en terrrorisme

ANP

NEW YORK - Voor het eerst sinds de Amerikaans-Britse aanval op Irak in maart 2003 maakt volgens opiniepeilers het Amerikaanse publiek onderscheid tussen de oorlog tegen Irak en de ‘oorlog tegen het terrorisme’.

De Amerikaanse regering stelt dat de twee onlosmakelijk verbonden zijn, maar een meerderheid van de ondervraagden gelooft dat voor het eerst niet meer, schreef The New York Times woensdag.

De krant peilde deze maand opinies met de zender CBS en concludeerde dat 51 procent geen verband ziet tussen de strijd tegen het terrorisme en de in 2003 begonnen oorlog in Irak. Van de ondervraagden meende 53 procent dat die aanvalsoorlog een vergissing is geweest. 62 procent vond dat het slecht gaat met de pogingen orde en stabiliteit in Irak te vestigen.

quote:

Op woensdag 23 augustus 2006 13:25 schreef Slayage het volgende:

[..]

worden die amerikanen 3 jaar na dato eindelijk een beetje wakker zeg...