[Centraal] Irak na de oorlog - deel 37 : Irak staat op instorten

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Op dinsdag 24 april 2007 15:31 schreef GreyHeron het volgende:
Al-Qaida wilt een Islamitische staat in de gebieden waar Soennieten wonen. In de Shia gedeelte maakt het niets uit, omdat die volgens Al-Qaida hun eigen staat al hebben gekregen van de Amerikanen en van Iran de grootste vijanden van Al-Qaida in Irak.

Het Islamitische Leger in Irak en 1920 Revolutie Brigades zijn in Anbar veel leden kwijt geraakt vanwege hun steun aan Al-Anbar Salvation Council.

Al-Qaida heeft in Ramadi 20 leden van de Islamitische Leger vermoord en daar na zijn in Ramadi en Fallujah verschillende incidenten geweest tussen AQI en IAI.
Drie weken geleden (ofzo iets) heeft het leiderschap van de Islamitisch Leger Irak een boodschap naar Osama bin Laden gestuurd om te vragen of hij Al-Qaida in Irak in de hand wilt houden zo dat er nog niet meer Soennietsch bloed verloren gaat worden door een machtstrijd tussen Mujahideen onderling.. sinds dien heeft Al-Qaida geen aanvallen meer gedaan op andere Soennietische Mujahideen, maar Baa'th aanhangers en Soennieten van het Islamitisch leger, wel op Al-Qaida leden.. in Anbar zijn tientallen IAI, 1920 brigades & Ansar Al Sunnah Mujahideen overgestapt naar de Islamitische staat Irak en sluiten zich nu aan bij Al-Qaida.

Zelfs zoveel Mujahideen van de 1920 brigades (enkele honderden) zijn zo woedend geworden dat de leiders contact zoeken met de Amerikanen en Iraakse regering om Al-Qaida aan te pakken, dat ze hun eigen groep hebben opgericht: Hamas in Irak.

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Op dinsdag 24 april 2007 15:57 schreef Vassili_Z het volgende:

Aha, ik vind dit interessant.
Niet voor niets noemt een Amerikaanse generaal de oorlog in Irak 'the mosaic war' gezien ze zoveel verschillende partijen moeten bestrijden.
Dit is een mooi voorbeeld.

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Vrouw en dochter Ali Chemicali vermoord

TIKRIT - De vrouw en dochter van 'Ali Chemicali', de neef van Saddam Hussein, zijn donderdag in hun huis in de Noord-Iraakse stad Tikrit vermoord. De vrouw was neergeschoten en haar dochter was door wurging om het leven gebracht. Dat heeft de Iraakse politie gemeld.

Ali Chemicali, of Hassan al-Majid, zoals hij in werkelijkheid heet, wordt gezien als een van de belangrijkste vertegenwoordigers van Saddams regime die nog berecht moeten worden.

Met vijf anderen wordt hij verdacht van oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid, vanwege de campagne die het leger in de jaren '80 voerde tegen de Koerden in Noord-Irak en waarbij meer dan honderdduizend mensen om het leven kwamen. Zijn bijnaam heeft hij te danken aan de aanvallen met gifgas die deel uitmaakten van die campagne.

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Mahdi-leger wil prins Harry ontvoeren

BASRA - Het Mahdi-leger van de militante sjiitische leider Muqtada al-Sadr wil prins Harry ontvoeren, wanneer die als militair in Irak aan de slag gaat. Dat heeft Abu Mujtaba, een commandant van het Mahdi-leger tegen The Guardian gezegd.

Mujtaba geeft in de Zuid-Iraakse stad Basra leiding aan een eenheid van het Mahdi-leger die uit ongeveer vijftig personen bestaat. "Het is een van onze doelen om Harry gevangen te nemen", stelde Mujtaba in de zaterdageditie van The Guardian. "In de Britse bases hebben wij mensen zitten die het ons laten weten wanneer hij komt."

Mujtaba zei dat ook andere groeperingen die zich verzetten tegen de aanwezigheid van Britse en Amerikaanse militairen in Irak zullen proberen prins Harry gevangen te nemen. Mujtaba noemde de prins een grote vangst en stelde dat als hij is overmeesterd, de Britten op hun knieën zullen gaan om over diens vrijlating te praten.

Opleiding

Het Britse ministerie van Defensie maakte enkele maanden geleden bekend dat prins Harry binnenkort naar Irak zal gaan. Harry is de jongste zoon van kroonprins Charles en wijlen Lady Di. De nu 22-jarige prins heeft een speciale opleiding gevolgd voor militairen die naar Irak worden uitgezonden.

Inmiddels aarzelt de Britse legerleiding over het plan om Harry naar het Arabische land te sturen. De prins en luitenant wil actie aan het front. Londen vraagt zich af of dit wel zo verstandig is, omdat tal van radicale organisaties in Irak staan te trappelen om prins Harry te gijzelen.

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Failed Suicides Create Plastic Surgery Demand

By Amanj Khalil in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 219, 27-Apr-07)

Many of those who survive attempts at self-immolation are now opting to have cosmetic surgery to get rid of their scars.
Suham Ghafoor obsessively tries to hide her face in public. Once proud of her beauty, she now is ashamed to show the scars left on her face by her attempt to burn herself to death.

Last year, after many bitter arguments with her husband, the young woman decided to end her life by setting herself on fire. It was the only way she could think of to escape a life of abuse at the hands of her husband.

Now she is one of a growing number of women having plastic surgery to remove the burns left by her failed suicide bid.

Before she set herself alight, Ghafoor said she wondered what would happen to her two children without her, but even that didn’t stop her.

"I knew it was the end of my life," she said, "I just wanted to escape from life and the insults of my husband."

Armed with five litres of kerosene and a lighter, she disappeared into the bathroom where no one could see her. Soon afterwards, she rushed out, covered in flames and screaming for help.

Neighbours came and smothered her in wet blankets before taking her to the hospital, where she spent several weeks in recovery before returning home to her old life.

But each morning when looking into the mirror, she knew she would never be the same - so she turned to plastic surgery to restore as much of her old self as possible.

"I regret what I have done to myself," she said, painfully aware of how difficult it will be to make the traces of her deed disappear.

Ghafoor, a woman with wide eyes and brown complexion, was proud of her beauty before attempting suicide. "I had many suitors when I wanted to marry," she said.

And Ghafoor is not alone. In Iraqi-Kurdistan, self-immolation - or setting fire to oneself - is the most common method of suicide for women.

Experts say that women are often driven to this desperate measure to escape domestic violence. A lack of psychological or marital counseling, as well as a strict social code that stops people discussing personal matters outside the family, means they often feel they have nowhere to turn for help.

In 2006, around 1500 women in the region have tried to end their lives in this way, according to statistics from the Sulaimaniyah Emergency Hospital. Almost a third of them died from their injuries.

Many of those who survive are now opting to have plastic surgery to get rid of their scars.

The first emergency treatment for burn victims at public hospitals is normally provided free of charge, especially those from families with low income.

When the victims are brought to hospital, the doctors will perform urgent surgery, such as skin transplantations. The victims must pay for non-essential surgery which is requested for cosmetic reasons.

It doesn’t come cheap – to remove an average-sized burn costs 500 US dollars - more than twice the monthly average income - but in spite of the costs, the demand for corrective surgery continues to rise.

Ari Rahim is a surgeon in one of the 18 clinics in Sulaimaniyah which offer plastic surgery to survivors of attempted self-immolation, as well as to those seeking routine cosmetic procedures.

He says that last year 600 cosmetic surgery procedures were performed in the city, which has a population of approximately 600,000. He has more customers than ever, he says – many of them women need skin transplants after attempting suicide in this way.

Increased prosperity in Sulaimaniyah means more and more women in this situation can afford plastic surgery to treat their burns, he said. He added that the demand for surgery has also increased because improved technology has made surgery more effective.

He says the women he treats for burns have surgery in an attempt to lead ordinary lives after their trauma.

Depression, anxiety and nightmares are commonly suffered by victims, and there is no counseling available to help them come to terms with the experience. Once their burns have been treated, the women usually go straight back into the situation that first drove them into despair.

As well as the psychological scars, the women have to cope with the stigma of their disfigurement. They are often mocked in the street, and referred to insultingly as “the woman who burnt herself" or "the burnt woman".

Such a suicide attempt may do even more damage to an already troubled marriage because the husband is embarrassed by his wife’s action or rejects her because of her appearance.

“The [the women] resort to plastic surgery because they are afraid that people will make negative comments about their looks and their husbands might marry another woman," said sociologist Sameera Hama-Salih.

Hama-Salih, who is researching the cause and effect of self-immolation, said that in some cases, the woman’s suicide attempt is enough for an abusive husband to change his ways.

She said that after a suicide attempt, some women experience problems not with their husband but the family of their husband. High rents in the area mean that extended families tend to live together, which can mean a lack of privacy and family members interfering in each other’s lives.

But, she said, many couples have problems and even separate because the husband remains abusive towards his wife, or rejects her for another woman, “I saw a 25-year-old woman who had survived self-immolation. Instead of getting help from her husband, he married another woman and neglected her."

Hama-Salih said the woman had nowhere to go after her family refused to support her, so she was forced to stay with her abusive husband.

Ghafoor says her husband’s rejection is one of the reasons she has decided to try and get rid of her scars.

“My husband has not even kissed me since what happened to me," she said sadly.

She has undergone two operations so far - at a cost of 250 dollars each - and her scars are less obvious than before, but burns still cover her face, neck, chest and body, and is willing to pay all the money she has for more operations.

"I would do anything for my husband to want me again," she said.

Muneera Abdullah says that the reactions of other people - particularly her husband – is what has prompted her to plan cosmetic surgery.

She set herself on fire last year to escape the misery of an unhappy marriage.

Now she has scars on her hands, chest and neck which, she says, often repulse people and stop her from feeding her baby in front of others, even close relatives.

"My husband is disgusted by me," she said. “He is not intimate with me at night."

While Soz Akram wants surgery to remove her scars in time for her wedding day.

She wasn’t trying to escape an unhappy marriage when she set herself on alight three years ago, but was reacting to her father’s attempts to force her to marry a friend of his against her will.

"I wanted to make my father listen to me and leave me alone," she said.

This has left her with burns on her right hand and upper body, and she hides her right hand in public.

Now she has fallen in love with a man she wants to marry and her father has bowed to her will.

"I don’t want to have any mark of the incident [left] on my wedding day," she said happily. "I want to wear the most beautiful outfit and start a new life."

Amanj Khalil is an IWPR trainee in Sulaimaniyah.

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Op zaterdag 28 april 2007 09:13 schreef IRAKEES-NL het volgende:

[..]

Wat gaan de Britten doen als het Mahdi-leger of een andere groepering Harry te pakken krijgen? Zullen de Britten zover gaan om desnoods met onmiddelijke ingang uit Irak te vertrekken alleen om Harry vrij te krijgen? Ik ben benieuwd.

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Op zondag 29 april 2007 12:21 schreef LXIV het volgende:
Als Harry al gaat, dan zal hij niet of nauwelijks van het kamp afkomen. Het is dan meer voor de show als voor iets anders.

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Irak-top in Egypte begonnen

SHARM EL-SHEIKH (ANP) - In de Egyptische badplaats Sharm el-Sheikh is donderdag een tweedaagse internationale conferentie over de toekomst van Irak begonnen. Om Irak politiek en economisch weer stabiel te maken zal tijdens de bijeenkomst een vijfjarenplan worden gelanceerd.

Ministers en diplomaten uit meer dan vijftig landen nemen deel aan de conferentie. Veel aandacht is er voor een mogelijke ontmoeting tussen de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Condoleezza Rice en haar Iraanse ambtgenoot Manouchehr Mottaki.

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Coming to Grips with the Iraq War's Refugees

By Susan Braden | Thursday, May 03, 2007

One often overlooked consequence of the Iraq war is the refugee crisis that has resulted from millions of Iraqis fleeing the violence and strife prevalent in their homeland. Susan Braden examines the increasingly desperate situation — and argues that the United States and the UN must act before the whole Middle East is plunged into crisis.

Nowhere is the lack of a U.S.-led regional strategy for managing the fallout from the Iraq war more apparent than in the plight of these displaced people, whose numbers are growing by as many as 50,000 a month.

Losing situation for host and refugee

According to relief agencies, the displaced Iraqis are in dire need of housing, medical care and education. Partially due to the large influx of Iraqis seeking shelter in Amman, for example, housing prices have skyrocketed, and inflation is up by 8%. Iraqi families have been forced to move in together and spend all their savings on rent.

Their medical needs in Jordan and Syria are going largely unmet because demand is far outpacing the supply for publicly provided care, while private services are insufficient and costly. On the education front, many of the nearly one million Iraqi children in both countries are not in school, but rather sitting at home with nothing to do.

While the displaced Iraqis feel disenfranchised and discriminated against, the host countries’ populations feel taken for granted and resentful of the burden they have been made to carry as a result of the Iraqi presence on their soil.

Overtaxing overburdened systems

Part of the reason for this sentiment is that the displaced Iraqis are settling in the poorer communities of the host countries that are already suffering from inadequate infrastructure, education, health and social services.

The Iraqis are, in short, overtaxing already overburdened systems. Even before the large influx of Iraqis into Jordan, for example, its public school system was ao overburdened that many schools operated in two shifts.

Making the situation win-win

To quell the sense of frustration and anger that is developing in the region and could foster increased terrorist activity, the Bush Administration should take the lead in working with the United Nations to develop a coordinated strategy with Syria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel on what to do with the displaced Iraqis until they can return home.

Donor countries can relieve some of the pressure by looking for ways to help the Iraqis that also help the impoverished local communities into which they have moved. Working with local governments to build new schools can, for example, promote win-win situations for both the Iraqis and their hosts.

In addition, the United States must set an example for other Western countries by taking in more Iraqis and providing the lion’s share of the funding for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) response to the crisis.

No one wants the refugees

Jordan has already closed its border to any more Iraqis — and it is unclear how many more Syria can accommodate. Lebanon and Egypt, who together are hosting approximately 150,000 Iraqis, have already made it clear they do not want more.

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the United States has only taken in 466 Iraqis, and UNHCR has only resettled 1,500. This is in part because UNHCR is woefully under-funded — and in part because Western countries have not demonstrated any interest in resettling Iraqis.

Vietnam example

I remember at the end of the Vietnam War, when 135,000 Vietnamese refugees fled to the United States. My parents took in a family of five, under a State Department-run program, whereby U.S. families would sponsor a refugee family for a year or so until the parents had found work and a place to live.

The United States should consider developing a similar program for Iraqis whose lives are now in danger for having worked for the U.S. government in Iraq. There is even a role for Israel to play in this regard, for there are some 20,000 Palestinians still in Iraq who might find a home in the West Bank if Israel would allow it. The Jordanians and Syrians don’t want them — and they cannot stay in Iraq.

The Iraqi police and Shia militias have singled them out for retribution and deportation because they are predominantly Sunni and perceived as having enjoyed favored status during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

International solution

The international conference on Iraqi refugees that U.S. Senator Kennedy called for in January and UNHCR sponsored in Geneva in mid-April is a step in the right direction.

Representatives from 60 countries around the region and the international donor community attended the conference for the purpose of galvanizing attention on the needs of displaced people in Iraq and neighboring countries.

Crisis in the Middle East

The next step is to come up with a coordinated action plan, along the lines of that developed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), for keeping borders open and sharing the burden of caring for the displaced people fleeing Iraq.

At the conference, the United States pledged $100 million to assist Iraqis living outside the country, and the Iraqi government pledged another $25 million — but this is not nearly enough.

If not properly managed, the huge influx of Iraqis into Jordan and Syria could destabilize those countries and foster increased terrorism throughout the region.

Brain-drain fear

To date, the Bush Administration has been slow to take the lead in addressing the humanitarian needs of the displaced Iraqis because it assumes the problem will go away if Iraq is stabilized. In addition, the administration does not want to do anything that would encourage well-educated Iraqis to leave because they are too important to the rebuilding of Iraq.

This is a dangerous strategy. While hoping for the best and working to stabilize Iraq, the United States must take the lead in preparing for the worst — by doing everything it can to ensure that Jordan, Syria and the rest of the region remain stable.

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the Bush Administration should take the lead in working with the United Nations

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Military: New Iraqi school had bombs built in
POSTED: 11:29 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- American soldiers discovered a girls school being built north of Baghdad had become an explosives-rigged "death trap," the U.S. military said Thursday.

The plot at the Huda Girls' school in Tarmiya was a "sophisticated and premeditated attempt to inflict massive casualties on our most innocent victims," military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.

The military suspects the plot was the work of al Qaeda, because of its nature and sophistication, Caldwell said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

The plot was uncovered Saturday, when troopers in the Salaheddin province found detonating wire across the street from the school. They picked up the wire and followed its trail, which led to the school. Once inside, they found an explosive-filled propane tank buried beneath the floor. There were artillery shells built into the ceiling and floor, and another propane tank was found, the military said.

The wire was concealed with mortar and concrete, and the propane tanks had been covered with brick and hidden underneath the floor, according to a military statement. Soldiers were able to clear the building.

"It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here," Caldwell said.

Iraqi contractors were responsible for building the school, which was intended to bring in hundreds of girls.

"Given the care and work put into emplacing this IED, it is likely it had been planned for a long time" and it is thought that "the IED was not intended to be set off until the building was occupied," the military said.

Authorities intend to question the Iraqis involved in the school's construction.

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Veertig procent Amerikaanse soldaten staat achter foltering

04/05/2007 21:48

WASHINGTON 04/05 (BELGA) = Ongeveer 40 procent van de Amerikaanse militairen in Irak vindt dat foltering moet worden gelegaliseerd om mensenlevens te redden of belangrijke informatie te achterhalen. Dat blijkt uit een rapport dat het Pentagon vrijdag publiceerde. De anonieme peiling werd in de zomer van vorig jaar uitgevoerd, maar de resultaten worden nu pas bekendgemaakt na enkele perslekken. Er namen 1.300 soldaten en 450 mariniers deel aan de enquête. Liefst 41 procent van de soldaten en 44 procent van de mariniers in Irak vindt dat foltering moet kunnen om het leven van een Amerikaanse militair te redden. 36 procent van de soldaten en 39 procent van de mariniers vindt dat foltering ook moet worden toegelaten om belangrijke informatie over de vijand te achterhalen. Een andere stuitende conclusie is dat slechts 47 procent van de soldaten en 38 procent van de mariniers vindt dat de Iraakse bevolking met respect moet worden behandeld. 10 procent geeft zelfs toe burgers te hebben mishandeld wanneer dat niet nodig was. Minder dan de helft van de ondervraagden zou een kameraad aangeven bij zijn overste als die zich onethisch gedraagt. (SVR) ./.

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Britse generaal noemt oorlog in Irak hopeloos en verzet "rechtmatig

De Verenigde Staten en hun bondgenoten moeten de nederlaag in Irak toegeven en het land verlaten voordat meer soldaten worden gedood. Dat heeft de gepensioneerde Britse generaal Michael Rose donderdag gezegd.

De Irakezen staan in hun recht bij hun pogingen om de buitenlandse troepen uit het land te verjagen, aldus Rose.

Nederlaag
De soldaten in Irak hebben hem verteld dat de oorlog hopeloos is en nooit gewonnen kan worden, verklaarde Rose tegenover de BBC. Op de vraag of het Westen de nederlaag moet toegeven antwoordde de voormalige generaal: "Natuurlijk."

Rose, een voormalig commandant in Bosnië, heeft een boek geschreven, getiteld Washington's War: From Independence to Iraq. Hij wil dat premier Tony Blair wordt afgezet vanwege zijn rol in de oorlog.

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Baghdad: Clashes erupt between Shi'ite groups

Clashes erupted between rival Shi'ite militia groups in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood on Friday, when one militia launched an attack on the other's headquarters, police said.

The violence between the Mahdi Army loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Brigades of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq began earlier Friday when Iraqi police loyal to the Badr Brigades prevented a Sadr aide from entering the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf.

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Op vrijdag 4 mei 2007 20:12 schreef franske19 het volgende:
Nieuw dieptepunt van het zogenaamde Iraakse verzet dat velen hier een warm hart toedragen:

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Op zaterdag 5 mei 2007 14:57 schreef GreyHeron het volgende:
Britse generaal noemt oorlog in Irak hopeloos en verzet rechtmatig

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Op zondag 6 mei 2007 12:25 schreef IRAKEES-NL het volgende:

[..]

Dit begrijp ik dus echt niet. En dan huilen wanneer de Britten worden afgeslacht in Zuid-Irak

Ik kan me niet herinneren dat een Nederlandse generaal ook maar 1 keer heeft verklaard dat verzet tegen de Nederlanders in Irak rechtmatig was..

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Op zondag 6 mei 2007 13:16 schreef fokje het volgende:

[..]

Ik begrijp uberhaupt niet dat hij dit "verzet" noemt. Dit terwijl er -volgens mijn informatie- enorm veel Irakezen samenwerken met de britten en amerikanen om de orde te verkrijgen en te handhaven.

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Op zondag 6 mei 2007 13:16 schreef fokje het volgende:

[..]

Ik begrijp uberhaupt niet dat hij dit "verzet" noemt. Dit terwijl er -volgens mijn informatie- enorm veel Irakezen samenwerken met de britten en amerikanen om de orde te verkrijgen en te handhaven.

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Op zondag 6 mei 2007 13:32 schreef IRAKEES-NL het volgende:

Klopt. Sterker nog: de Amerikanen en Britten zitten officieel in Irak op verzoek van de democratisch gekozen regering van Irak. Voor mij bestaat er geen verzet. Als ze zoveel om Irak geven waar waren ze dan toen Saddam er nog zat?

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Anbar a bright spot in turbulent Iraq
By Leila Fadel
McClatchy Newspapers



Ali Hatam Ali al Suleiman, a tribal sheikh leader of the Dulaimy tribe, is a leader in the Anbar Salvation Council to drive al Qaida from their former sanctuary.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Ali Hatam Ali al Suleiman sat in a high-backed leather chair in his Baghdad office, proud of what the Anbar Salvation Council has done. The council, a group of leaders from the Dulaim tribe, Iraq's largest, is driving the al-Qaida in Iraq group from what had been sanctuary in Anbar province.

For four years, the province has been a battleground between the extremist group and U.S. forces. Innocent people from the tribes have been killed, mostly by al-Qaida but also by American troops, he said.

"The service we are providing is fighting al-Qaida and militias with no mercy," he said. "They corrupted our religion; they misinterpreted our values. We are Iraqis - not Sunnis and Shiites. We don't threaten to bomb and to kill; all we wanted was our dignity and to live."

Two hours with Suleiman, a Sunni Muslim, provided an insight into why - after so many years without progress - Anbar is now a bright spot in the frustration that is Iraq. They also gave a warning that the problems of American policy won't end when the last al-Qaida fighter is gone. Suleiman said the American bid to remake Iraq had failed, and warned that the United States must rebuild Anbar or suffer the consequences.

He said it was about four months ago that tribal leaders had had enough. A leading tribal sheik had been killed and al-Qaida members had dragged another leader's daughter through the streets by her hair. Dishonoring a woman this way was unacceptable, and the battle began.

"The Americans were not truly working in Anbar," he said. "We asked them to clean their hands of al-Qaida and we will drive them out."

The effort has been largely successful, said Suleiman, an elegant young sheik of 34. Life in Ramadi, the provincial capital, is reviving. Residents have cell phone service. Schools and hospitals are opening.

"We did in three months what they couldn't do in four years," he said, referring to U.S. troops. "We are not fighting al-Qaida for the sake of the Americans. We are fighting them to rid ourselves of this shame."

But the area has been destroyed, he said. Merchants have returned to their shops, but only a few can open in the ruins. The city is an expanse of wrecked buildings punctuated by the vehicle carcasses of car bombs.

Suleiman said he'd seen none of the billions of dollars in aid that have come to Iraq.

"We were the burning room for the dirty projects of the politicians," he said.

He's quietly angry at what he deems the U.S. occupation and a pro-Shiite-Muslim government. But the solution isn't as simple as kicking out U.S. troops, he said.

"If we Dulaim want to fight the Americans, they will not stay more than 10 days," he said. But fighting Americans right now "is not in our best interest, because the American tank, which was part of the problem, is now part of the solution."

The Iraqi government would collapse without the U.S. presence, and the tribes would have to fight what he called "turbaned men," the Sunni and Shiite clerics whom he said would vie for power.

During the interview Thursday, Suleiman wore a long white dishdasha and a traditional checkered headdress. He also sported the trappings of modernity. A brown sport coat covered the dishdasha and a gold watch was wrapped around his wrist, despite a Muslim prohibition against men wearing gold. Reminders of his noble ancestry graced the room: black and white photos of his uncle, grandfather and father standing between kings and princes of Arab countries.

Dignity, he said, is why his tribe moved decisively against al-Qaida.

"Our religion doesn't allow us to harm a human or even a plant," he said. "We won't let anyone step on us."

For now, he said, the only common goal he has with what he calls the legitimate resistance groups that battle U.S. troops is the fight against al-Qaida. But he's frustrated with what he characterized as Iranian influence over the Iraqi government, the flourishing Shiite militias and the possible division of Iraq. He blames the United States for that.

"Iraq became a house with no fence, and anyone who wants to can come in," he said.

He can imagine conditions under which his tribe might turn on the Americans - if they stay and their policies don't change or if they try to leave without fixing the mistakes they made.

"I will send Bush a message," he said. "He failed; let him confess that frankly. He put the American Army and the people in a game that is a loser's game."

But before American troops go, the U.S. must rebuild Anbar.

"If they leave in such an embarrassing time, we will fight them everywhere and sue them for every mistake," he said.

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Truck bomb kills 30 in north Iraq

At least 30 people have been killed and another 50 wounded by a suicide truck bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Makhmur, Iraqi police say.
The bomb exploded near the office of a leading Kurdish party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, in the relatively calm province of Irbil.

The local police chief said many bodies were buried under rubble and that he expected the death toll to rise.

Last week, 14 people were killed by a truck bomb in the nearby city of Irbil.

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Op zaterdag 12 mei 2007 17:30 schreef Disorder het volgende:
5 Amerikaanse soldaten gedood en 3 vermist (inclusief 1 vertalende Irakees) door een aanval op hun voet-patrouille. Waarschijnlijk gevangen genomen door opstandelingen.

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Op zondag 13 mei 2007 12:49 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Elke dag sterven er daar tientallen, zo niet honderden mensen door de burgeroorlog. Tsja... dertig meer of minder...

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U.S. forces are using "every means" in their search for the missing troops, who are listed as duty status whereabouts unknown, Caldwell said. (Watch the dangers that troops face in the "Triangle of Death" Video)

"We have a soldier's creed that says, 'I will never leave a fallen comrade,' " Caldwell said. "We believe in this deeply and still make every effort available to find our three missing soldiers."

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Mr. Maliki’s public declaration seemed at first to catch American commanders off guard. But by nightfall, American troops had abandoned all the positions in eastern and central Baghdad that they had set up last week with Iraqi forces as part of a search for a missing American soldier. The checkpoints had snarled traffic and disrupted daily life and commerce throughout the eastern part of the city.

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Op zondag 13 mei 2007 15:34 schreef GreyHeron het volgende:

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Gevangen genomen door Islamitische staat Irak.. door Al-Qaidah in Irak dus..

Islamitische staat Irak heeft donderdag nog een video op internet geplaatst waar ze 11 Iraakse militiaren geblindoekt en met handboeien op hun rug zijn vastgebonden, 1 voor 1 een kogel in het achterhoofd schieten. En dat was al de twee deze maand ofzo.. lijkt me dus dat die Amerikanen daarzo snel en goed moeten zoeken, als ze die drie levend willen terugvinden.

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Op zondag 13 mei 2007 15:39 schreef Monidique het volgende:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/world/middleeast/01iraq.html?ex=1320037200&en=2652daad0e22b371&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

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Op zondag 13 mei 2007 17:50 schreef JohannesPaulus het volgende:

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nieuwsbericht van 1 november 2006
waarom?

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Op maandag 14 mei 2007 10:06 schreef Yildiz het volgende:
Die gevangenissen waar men het niet zo nauw neemt met mensenrechten keren zich allang tegen de goedwillenden tussen de soldaten. En dat doet mij eigenlijk -naast het leed van de slachtoffers aan alle kanten- nog het meest verdriet.

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Abu Ghraib



"[I] made my way to the TV for a closer look, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. All that hard work that we did in Iraq, immediately down the tubes. Some of the other soldiers reacted in the same way, shaking their heads in disgust (and of course there were a couple of degenerates that chuckled at the images).

"[I] went straight to my room to tell Horrocks about it. I remembered how he flipped out when I told him that San Francisco was now allowing gay marriages, and I couldn't wait to see his reaction to this. Horrocks was still sleeping, and I woke him up, and I told him all about it, and he agreed with me this would totally fuck us up, because our job was basically "win the hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people. Now we had to start all over again.

"One of our Iraqi interpreters came by, and I asked him if he had heard about it yet, and he said that he had, and that it was all over Al Jazeera. Great. All three of us came to the same conclusion, and it was that those so-called soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison were a bunch of idiots, and if it was up to us, as fair punishment, we would let those Iraqis that they tortured torture them. Or, as they say in the Christian Bible, an eye for an eye."

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'Irak staat op instorten'
Nu.nl

LONDEN - Irak staat op de rand van de afgrond. Instorting en interne verscheurdheid dreigen voor het land, waarschuwde de Britse denktank Chatham House donderdag.
ANP2

In een rapport stelt het onderzoeksinstituut dat de Iraakse regering vrijwel machteloos en verwaarloosbaar is geworden.

Irak telt inmiddels niet een oorlog, maar vele lokale burgeroorlogen. Alleen een radicaal andere strategie van de Amerikanen en Britten in het land kan nog verandering brengen.

Daartoe zouden ze meer moeten overleggen met de buurlanden van Irak, meldde de BBC op basis van het rapport.

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[b]Op maandag 14 mei 2007 10:06
Als je nu eens gewoon géén Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Baghram, Far Filastin en tientallen andere hele vage smerige gevangenissen hebt, dan scheelt dat behoorlijk veel.
Dan kun je fijn voetballen uitdelen, maar zolang van hogerhand dat soort kampen niet gesloten worden, dan kun je 1000 filmpjes maken, dat heeft echt geen nut.

Die gevangenissen waar men het niet zo nauw neemt met mensenrechten keren zich allang tegen de goedwillenden tussen de soldaten. En dat doet mij eigenlijk -naast het leed van de slachtoffers aan alle kanten- nog het meest verdriet.

Ja, er zitten barbaren in elk land, maar dat is geen reden om je ook maar zo te gedragen.

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 10:52 schreef fokje het volgende:

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Ik begrijp de verontwaardiging niet eens. Wees blij dat de amerikanen wel zulke gevangenissen hebben en niet zo decadent zijn als europa waar men meteen om mensenrechten gaat roepen. Hoe je de moraal boven het reeele gevaar van rondvliegende ledematen kunt stellen is mij een raadsel.

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 10:56 schreef Yildiz het volgende:

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Europa heeft ook deze gevangenissen (gehad), o.a. in Polen. Je verdedigt gevangenissen, en zegt dat ik er blij mee moet zijn. Dan rest mij een vraag;

Wat is het nut van zo'n gevangenis? Een bekentenis verkrijgen onder marteling (wow hey, wat goed van ons), informatie verkrijgen net zoals op teevee, wat in het echt niet werkt? Waarom zou ik voor zo'n infantiele, primitieve gevangenis zijn die alleen goed is voor mensen die hun op niets gebaseerde, gefrustreerde wraak graag willen (laten) botvieren op andere lichamen?

Wat voor gevaar voorkomen we met deze gevangenissen? Helemaal niets, sterker nog, het wordt er gevaarlijker op. Ik zou kunnen zeggen dat jij wraak boven veiligheid stelt, zoals jij beweert dat ik zogenaamd moreel boven een mogelijk gevaar stel, maar zo laag ben ik niet.

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 11:08 schreef fokje het volgende:


en wb het gevaarlijker worden; alsof deze gestoorde fucks een reden nodig hebben.

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 11:10 schreef gronk het volgende:

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Je doet alsof ze irrationeel zijn. Beetje domme onderschatting.

Kijk naar iemand als Mohammed B.: hartstikke nuchter, en kan binnen zijn normen en waarden-systeem prima aangeven waarom alle ongelovigen dood moeten.

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 11:08 schreef fokje het volgende:

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wraak? Het gaat erom dat deze mensen weg zijn uit de samenleving voordat ze iets kunnen aanrichten. Verder is het bedoeld om inzicht te krijgen in de terreurgroepen, zodat ook deze gasten kunnen worden uitgeschakeld/opgepakt/whatever.
en wb het gevaarlijker worden; alsof deze gestoorde fucks een reden nodig hebben.

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 11:17 schreef fokje het volgende:

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Ik zou ook best kunnen verklaren waarom de hele mensheid dood moet.

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 11:28 schreef gronk het volgende:

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Doe eens. Eens kijken of je kunt invoelen wat iemand als Mohammed B. beweegt.

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 11:52 schreef fokje het volgende:

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wat wil je hiermee zeggen?

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Op donderdag 17 mei 2007 11:51 schreef fokje het volgende:
tuurlijk Yildiz, het zijn onschuldige lieferds die daar zitten. en alsof het openbaar wordt gemaakt wat daar exact gebeurt en jij slimmer bent dan hen om te weten wat de uitkomst daarvan is. Geloof je het zelf?