Bush continues to lie about surge's success

So it seems that violence against Iraqi civilians isn't down, that Iraqis continue both to flee the country and also to become internally displaced, that the military is providing questionable figures to "prove success", and that the Iraqi military, aside from its low numbers, continues to have loyalties to sectarian militias.

The surge was supposed to be about quelling the sectarian militias and promoting political stability, not about chasing Al-Qaeda from one city to another and dubbing certain terrorists "good" and others "bad".

The surge has merely produced marginal security improvements in isolated areas that is not even likely to continue after the surge ends. At $12 billion a week, this is not a great value. Add to that, however, that the infrastructure and economy is not improving either and both are continuing disasters. And also consider that the political situation is close to a "failed state" scenario. Anyone besides a Bush cheerleader or in the pay of the Decider can see that the surge is a failure.

story from Mc Clatchy

Report: Surge hasn't cut attacks on Iraqi civilians

By Renee Schoof and Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The surge of additional U.S. troops in Iraq has failed to curtail violence against Iraqi civilians, an independent government agency reported Tuesday.
Citing data from the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies, the Government Accountability Office found that daily attacks against civilians in Iraq have remained "about the same" since February, when the United States began sending nearly 30,000 additional troops to improve security in Iraq.
The GAO also found that the number of Iraqis fleeing violence in their neighborhoods is increasing, with as many as 100,000 Iraqis a month leaving their homes in search of safety.
The GAO's conclusions contradict repeated assertions by the White House and the Pentagon in advance of the coming congressional debate on whether to stay the course in Iraq or to begin some withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Neither a July report from the White House nor a report last month from 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, however, provided any statistics to support their claims that the surge has improved security. The GAO report, in contrast, includes charts showing the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians, Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops. Only attacks against U.S. troops have declined in recent weeks.
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, U.S. comptroller general David S. Walker, who heads the GAO, said he couldn't vouch for charts that Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said Army Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, had shown him during a recent congressional visit to Iraq. Coleman said those charts showed a decrease in violence.
"Let's just say that there are several different sources within the administration on violence, and those sources do not agree. So I don't know what Gen. Petraeus is giving you," Walker said.
When President Bush announced in January that he'd dispatch more troops, he said the goal was to cut sectarian violence so the government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki could work out political compromises on key issues among Iraq's rival religious and ethnic groups.
Supporters and opponents of the surge now agree on at least one thing: Maliki has been unable to bring about those agreements. So does the GAO. Its report found that of the 18 benchmarks Iraq's government set for itself, three have been met, four have been partially met and 11 haven't been met.
"Overall, key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds," the report said.
The GAO said it couldn't determine whether sectarian violence in Iraq is down "because measuring such violence requires understanding the perpetrator's intent, which may not be known."
But the report said it was possible to assess the overall daily number of attacks against civilians. A chart showed that those attacks have remained relatively constant throughout 2007, despite the additional U.S. troops. The GAO referred a request for precise numbers to the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, acknowledged the controversy over the numbers in comments to reporters in Baghdad on Tuesday. But he said that violent incidents in Iraq are at their lowest point in 15 months this week.
"There's been some controversies about civilian casualties," Odierno said. "Ours still see it as below what it was. We think we're making progress."
The GAO said that the Pentagon disagreed with its conclusion that there was no discernable trend in sectarian violence and provided the agency with additional data. But the GAO said it wasn't persuaded and didn't change its conclusion.
The GAO said it did change its assessment of two benchmarks from "not met" in a draft report to "partially met" after it received additional information. Those were whether the Iraqi government had provided three trained and ready brigades to join in Baghdad security operations and whether it had ensured that there were no safe havens for outlaws, regardless of sectarian affiliation.
Walker said that Iraqi forces have made progress in providing some security in Baghdad, but that it's unclear whether they can sustain those gains alone.
"I think there's a serious question whether they on their own will be able to hold these neighborhoods for an extended period of time . . . absent direct U.S. troop involvement," Walker said. "That's probably the $64,000 question."
The report found that many Iraqi military units include fighters with strong sectarian and tribal loyalties, and therefore are unwilling to confront extremist militias.
Walker said it was important to determine not just whether Iraqi forces were ready to fight, but also whether they were "committed to a unified Iraq and committed to fight on that basis."
That kind of loyalty will be hard to achieve until Iraqi politicians reach political reconciliation, Walker said. Currently, he said, the Maliki government is "dysfunctional".
The GAO report also provided evidence to support some analysts' belief that U.S. combat deaths have declined in the past few months because some Iraqi groups have chosen not to face American troops on the battlefield.
U.S. officials had predicted that combat deaths would rise when the surge was at full strength and the U.S. began a series of military offensives. Instead, U.S. combat deaths declined from a high of 120 in May to 55 in August, according to the icasualties.com Web site.
Citing a June 2007 Pentagon document, the GAO report said that many fighters from the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr left Baghdad as the number of U.S. and Iraqi troops there increased. However, it said, "they now engage in ethnic and sectarian violence in northern and central Iraq" and are battling another Shiite militia, the Badr Organization, for control of southern Iraq.
(Leila Fadel in Baghdad contributed.)

McClatchy Newspapers 2007

British troops withdraw to air base

British troops, despite insults and mockery from the Bush Administration, have withdrawn from Basra. By the end of the year they will be completely withdrawn so that they can focus on Bush's other miracle: Afghanistan.

British Troops Leave Basra Base in Iraq

Sep 2, 5:36 PM (ET)
By DAVID STRINGER

LONDON (AP) - British soldiers began withdrawing Sunday from their final remaining base inside the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a move likely to prompt a further reduction in troop numbers, lawmakers and officials said.

Around 550 soldiers stationed in Basra Palace were leaving the downtown site to join 5,000 other personnel at an air base camp on the fringes of the city - ending their permanent presence in Iraq's second largest city.

The Iraqi military sent hundreds of reinforcements to the city to prevent Shiite militias and criminal gangs from expanding their influence now that the British have gone.

The decision to leave the palace compound - targeted with daily mortar and rocker attack in recent months - will hand military commanders an option of pulling around 550 troops out of Iraq in the autumn, lawmakers said.

"We're withdrawing personnel," said a British defense ministry spokesman, on customary condition of anonymity. "It's been our long planned intention to leave the palace."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is due to set out future strategy for British operations in Iraq in a speech to parliament next month, was aware of the operation, a government official said.

Decisions made by ex-leader Tony Blair to reduce Britain's troops numbers in Iraq from 7,000 to 5,500 earlier this year left an option of pulling out around 500 more personnel once the Basra Palace base was handed back to Iraqis.

"It has always been our intention to draw down troops in Basra" as Iraqi army and police become ready to handle security duties, said a spokesman for Brown's Downing Street office, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In Basra, Major Mike Shearer, Britain's military spokesman, told reporters he could not disclose precise details of the withdrawal. "I can confirm that an operation is ongoing, but we will not give any further details," Shearer said.

The base has been used by Britain to house soldiers and diplomatic staff since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

With the British drawdown, U.S. and Iraqi authorities have expressed concern about the land supply line from Kuwait to Baghdad and beyond and security of the oil fields - until now under the eye of British troops.

The withdrawal occurred in the midst of a power struggle between rival Shiite groups throughout southern Iraq, and some analysts fear violence will continue as the British continue to draw down their forces.

Last week, the head of the security committee on the Basra city council, Hakim al-Miyahi, predicted "some disorder" after the British pullout from the city because he feared that Iraqi forces were incapable of maintaining order.

After the election in January 2005 that brought Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to power, the city fell under the influence of Shiite religious parties and militias, some with ties to Iran.

The police force is heavily infiltrated by militias. Political rivals, liquor dealers, DVD shop owners and anyone who violated different groups' interpretations of Islam was subject to assassination by death squads.

With additional Iraqi soldiers in the streets, residents say things have quieted in recent weeks.

"This is not an unexpected move, but the families of the service personnel involved will want to know that every possible precaution has been taken to maximize their safety during this period," opposition Conservative party lawmaker Liam Fox said.

Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported Sunday British forces could hand over responsibility for Basra as early as next month.

The defense ministry has previously said it hopes to hand security responsibility for Basra, the last remaining province under its command, to Iraqi forces sometime this autumn.

"This is a thoroughly sensible military decision," said opposition Conservative lawmaker Patrick Mercer. "It will allow more troops to be withdrawn from Iraq in the autumn, just as Britain increases its numbers of troops in Afghanistan."

Iraqi government is corrupt

More news from Iraq: corruption is rampant and out of control within the Iraqi government.

Hey, let's pour more money down this sinkhole! That'll fix it! Or at least we can have those investigating corruption killed. Victory!

Report: Iraq riddled with corruption

Published: Sept 1, 2007 at 9:34 PM

BAGHDAD, Sept 1 (UPI) -- A leaked U.S. State Department report concludes the Iraqi government is unable to fight corruption, National Public Radio reported Saturday.

The report found that corrupt officials apparently have no reason to fear for their jobs, while employees of the Commission on Public Integrity have been killed.

The draft was labeled "sensitive, but unclassified, not for distribution to personnel outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad," NPR said.

The Bush administration has put a lot of emphasis on Gen. David Petraeus’ anticipated report this month on any progress since the increase in U.S. forces began early in 2007. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker is also to report to President George W. Bush and Congress.

NPR said a Ministry of Interior employee described that agency as riddled with corruption. The ministry is a crucial one, since it is responsible for police.

The employee said high-level officials are benefiting from equipment contracts, while police officers have to pay for promotions.

The report said the Commission on Public Integrity has been barred from key ministries, including Interior and Oil.

Number of U.S. soldiers killed is up

GAO: Benchmarks not met

This is the report that the necons have staked everything on, and it isn't looking good.
Let's face it: Republicans expected big things from the surge, and all we've seen is progress on the margins. This is not what $12 billion a week was supposed to buy. This is exactly why Bush and the Republicans didn't object to "all or nothing" standards until now; they thought this would bring "victory" in Iraq.

'Little progress' seen on Iraq goals

The Iraqi government has failed to meet the vast majority of political and military goals laid out by lawmakers to assess President Bush's Iraq War strategy, congressional auditors have determined.

The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, was due to report that at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks to measure the surge of US troops to Iraq are unfulfilled ahead of a September 15 deadline. That's when Bush is to give a detailed accounting of the situation eight months after he announced the policy, according to three officials familiar with the matter.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been made public, also said the administration is preparing a case to play down the findings, arguing that Congress ordered the GAO to use unfair, "all or nothing" standards when compiling the document.

The GAO was to give a classified briefing about its findings to lawmakers on Thursday (local time). It is not yet clear when its unclassified report will be released but it is due today amid a series of assessments called for in January legislation that authorized Bush's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Iraq, where there is now a total of more than 160,000 troops.

Among those Bush will hear from are the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; the commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus; and the US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. The Pentagon said on Wednesday Bush was likely to get a variety of views from different military officials. Bush will then deliver his own report to Congress by September 15.

The GAO report comes at a pivotal time in the Iraq debate. So far, Republicans have mostly stood by Bush on the war and staved off Democratic demands of troop withdrawals. But in exchange for their support, many GOP members said they wanted to see substantial progress in Iraq by September or else they would call for a new strategy, including possibly a withdrawal of troops.

Democrats are expected this fall to push for another round of votes on their legislation ordering most troops out by spring. A likely target for the debate will be a $147 billion bill the military needs to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The money covers the 2007 budget year, which begins October 1.

The GAO, the congressional watchdog, is expected to find that the Iraqis have met only modest security goals for Baghdad and none of the major political aims such as passage of an oil law.

The White House declined to comment on the specific findings of the GAO report, which one official said would put the Iraqi government's success rate at about 20 percent.

"While we've seen progress in some areas, it would not surprise me that the GAO would make this assessment given the difficult congressionally mandated measurement they had to follow," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council.

An internal White House memorandum, prepared to respond to the GAO findings, says the report will claim the Iraqis have failed on at least 13 benchmarks. It also says the criteria lawmakers set for the report allow no room to report progress, only absolute success or failure.

Source: China Daily/Agencie

Iraq benchmarks are "unreasonable"

The benchmarks that Bush once vowed to hold Iraq to are now 'ridiculous' and an "unreasonably high standard". Bush didn't think so before.

Let's look at the Decider's own words, when he proposed the surge back on Jan. 10:

I've made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders that America's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people

— and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time to act. The Prime Minister understands this. Here is what he told his people just last week: "The Baghdad security plan will not provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or political affiliation."

Okay, so it seems like these benchmarks were not unreasonable back in January. In fact, he states that if the Iraqi government doesn't 'follow through' it will lose the support of the American people. Since things haven't gone nearly as well as Bush expected, however, we are expected to continue to be patient and ignore what he said before. Now we have a situation that apparently is "open-ended". But wait, there's more:

"A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations. Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and communities. So America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced."

This is kind of odd, because all that we have seen from the surge is miltary 'solutions' to non-military problems, but he said that we will hold the Iraqis to the benchmarks. This strongly implies that he thought they would be met, doesn't it, Mr. Kristol?

"To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year. And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life, the government will reform de-Baathification laws, and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution."

Those goals certainly didn't sound unreasonable at the time, at least in Bush's mind. In fact, that was the entire promise of the surge. The Iraqi forces would take the lead and our troops would back them up. The "bad guys" would be killed and the government would finally have the "breathing room" to get its house in order. Reforms would be made, peace would be restored, the Iraqi government would have control of the country, and presumably we would be talking about drawing down our troops right now and declaring Bush a genius. Aside from the incredibly weak move of establishing 'committees' to "look into" things, none of the things Bush expected from the surge are accomplished.

Bush also anticipated 18 brigades, while so far only three are ready:

"The Iraqi government will deploy Iraqi Army and National Police brigades across Baghdad's nine districts. When these forces are fully deployed, there will be 18 Iraqi Army and National Police brigades committed to this effort, along with local police."

Instead of pretending that Bush really meant that the benchmarks would be met after he was out of office, why don't the Republicans just admit that, much like the four years that preceded the surge, things aren't going as they expected?

POLITICS-US: Grim GAO Iraq Report Belies Official Optimism
By Daniel Luban

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (IPS) - As the U.S. Congress prepares for a critical September assessment of progress in Iraq, a draft of an upcoming report by Congress's nonpartisan investigative arm states that Iraq has met only three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for progress, in contrast to an earlier White House report which claimed "satisfactory" progress on eight of the benchmarks.

A draft of the report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was leaked to the Washington Post by an official "who feared that its pessimistic conclusions would be watered down" by the Department of Defence and other government agencies prior to the release of the final report, the Post reported on Thursday.

Indeed, Pentagon officials and prominent Iraq hawks were quick to attack the validity of the draft, saying that it held progress in Iraq to an unreasonably high standard.

The release of the GAO's pessimistic assessment comes as a critical time in the Iraq debate, as administration officials including David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the ambassador to Iraq, are due to report to Congress in mid-September on the progress of the war.

Congressional legislation in May 2007 established 18 benchmarks for military and political progress in Iraq, and a White House assessment in July was relatively upbeat, reporting "satisfactory" progress on eight of the benchmarks and "mixed" progress on two more.

The GAO report was more pessimistic, claiming that only three of the benchmarks had been met: creating of committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan, establishing of joint security stations in Baghdad, and ensuring the rights of minority parties in the Iraqi legislature.

In several areas where the White House had reported satisfactory progress, the GAO claimed that benchmarks had been unmet or only partially met. These included allocating and spending 10 billion dollars of revenue for reconstruction projects, providing three effective Iraqi brigades to support U.S. military operations, and reviewing changes to the Iraqi constitution.

The draft concluded that "key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend 10 billion dollars in reconstruction funds."

It also offered an implicit rebuke to earlier administration assessments, claiming that they "would be more useful" if they provided more details to support their claims and more data on violence in Iraq.

The final version of the report will be released on Tuesday, and the draft is still being reviewed by the Pentagon and other relevant agencies. The leakage of the document to the Washington Post is a sign that officials involved in the report's preparation are worried that its negative assessments will be toned down during the review process.

Administration officials downplayed the importance of the GAO report, saying that it failed to account for some data and used an unreasonably high standard to assess progress.

"We have provided the GAO with information which we believe will lead them to conclude that a few of the benchmark grades should be upgraded from 'not met' to 'met,"' Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Thursday.

Critics of the report also claimed out that differences between the GAO and White House assessments were largely the result of different standards of evaluation. While the White House evaluated whether the rate of progress towards the benchmarks was "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory," the GAO measured whether benchmarks had actually been "met" or "unmet".

William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard and a prominent Iraq hawk, wrote an article in the Standard calling the release of the draft "a pathetic preemptive strike" by Congress and the Washington Post. He wrote that evaluating whether benchmarks had already been met was a "ridiculous standard" because "no one ever promised or expected that the Iraqis would have met the benchmarks by now."

The report did not, however, simply classify benchmarks as either met or unmet. It also classified some as "partially met," thereby allowing the GAO to recognize progress that fell short of reaching benchmarks.

The draft found "partially met" benchmarks in only two areas: enacting legislation to form semi-autonomous regions and spending the 10 billion dollars in reconstruction money.

The release of the GAO report is likely to increase congressional criticism of President Bush's surge strategy for Iraq. Many analysts expect a showdown when Petraeus and Crocker report to Congress in mid-September.

Although the administration has claimed that the surge has led to an improvement in the security situation on the ground, this claim has repeatedly been called into question.

The GAO report noted that attacks on U.S. forces have decreased, but also that attacks against on Iraqi civilians have remained unchanged, and that "U.S. agencies differ on whether such [sectarian] violence has been reduced."

And on Sunday, the Associated Press reported that the rate of deaths from sectarian attacks has almost doubled in 2007. The AP found that war-related deaths in Iraq have averaged at least 62 per day in 2007, compared to 33 per day in 2006.

On the political front, signs of reconciliation have been few and far between. On Sunday, several prominent Iraqi leaders announced a deal that would let some members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party back into the government, an issue that has been a key point of contention between Sunni and Shi'ite factions.

But many experts doubted that the deal would lead to any real political progress.

"This agreement was likely produced for the sole purpose of giving Ryan Crocker something to bring back to Congress," wrote Marc Lynch, a Middle East expert at George Washington University. "But it doesn't actually solve anything: [Sunni leader Tareq al] Hashemi has made very clear that he has no intention of rejoining [Prime Minister Nouri al] Maliki's government, the agreements exist only on paper at this point, and nothing has been done about the deeply sectarian nature of what passes for the Iraqi state."

While Democrats say they are determined to enact legislation that would force the administration to begin withdrawing troops as early as the end of this year, most political analysts here feel that they will not succeed in achieving a veto-proof majority.

In fact, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Bush administration plans to request an extra 50 billion dollars of funding for the war from Congress next month; the money would come in addition to a 460-billion-dollar defence budget for 2008 and a 147-billion-dollar defence supplemental bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(END/2007)

Shock and awe against Iran planned

If you had any doubts that Bush was crazy enough to launch a third war, then let them be dispelled by the article below.
After we "annihilate the Iranian military in three days" what comes NEXT? This is how we got into the Iraqi mess. Do we then overthrow the government of Iran and occupy it? Or do we blast the hell out of them just to show we can, while leaving the government in place? Is this likely to make Iran more or less willing to curb its aid to the "insurgents"?

The important thing is that it will make Israel happy, which is the finest example of the tail wagging the dog in modern times.

US Preparing Plans For Flattening Iran's Military

(IsraelNN.com) The Times of London reported Sunday that the USA has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, which would "annihilate the Iranians' military capabilty in three days."

Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, said that US military planners were not preparing for 'pinprick strikes' against Iran's nuclear facilities. "They're about taking out the entire Iranian military," he said.

Debat told The Sunday Times that the US military had concluded: "Whether you go for pinprick strikes or all-out military action, the reaction from the Iranians will be the same." It was, he added, a "very legitimate strategic calculus".

Alexis Debat is, of course, a strong Bush cheerleader who claimed that invading Iraq would defeat Al-Qaeda across the world. He is a consistent source of tenuous rumours regarding Al-Qaeda and "jihadists" who makes his living by providing the Right with scary quotes about imminent threats.

Afghan opium crop hits record levels

More good news from Afghanistan, at least for the Taliban.


U.N.: Afghan Opium Output at Record High

28/08/2007

KABUL, Afghanistan, (AP) - Afghan opium poppy cultivation has exploded to a new record high this year, with the multibillion dollar trade fueled by Taliban militants and corrupt officials in President Hamid Karzai's government, a U.N. report said.

The country produces nearly all the world's opium, and Taliban insurgents are profiting. Militants tax farmers and protect convoys smuggling opium into neighboring countries, said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.

"It is clearly documented now that insurgents actively promote or allow and then take advantage of the cultivation, refining and the trafficking of opium," Costa said.

The UNODC report casts doubt on the effectiveness of efforts by the United States and other Western countries to fight the cultivation.

It also adds pressure on Karzai to consider new ways of curbing an expansion that threatens to turn Afghanistan into a "narco-state," where some warn that groups such as al-Qaida could once again find sanctuary.

Karzai rejected U.S. offers to spray this year's crop after Afghans said herbicide could affect livestock, legal crops and water supplies.

Costa said the U.N. supports the Afghan government's position, but added that crop eradication was a key element of any strategy to combat the trade.

Afghanistan has doubled its opium production over the past two years and now accounts for 93 percent of the world's output, according to the annual UNODC survey. The southern province of Helmand alone has become the world's biggest source of illicit drugs.

The raw material for heroin grows on 477,000 acres of Afghan land, a 17 percent increase from last year's record 408,000 acres, the U.N. report said. The amount of Afghan land used for opium has surpassed the total used for coca cultivation in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia combined.

Costa said Afghanistan was on track to produce 9,000 tons of opium this year, up 34 percent from 2006.

"The situation is dramatic and getting worse by the day," Costa said in an interview in Kabul. said. "No other country in the world has ever had such a large amount of farmland used for illegal activity, beside China 100 years ago," when it was a major opium producer.

The farm value of Afghanistan's annual crop is about $1 billion, and street value of the heroin produced from it is many times higher, the U.N. report said.

While 13 northern provinces are now poppy free - up from six last year - production in the insurgency-wracked south has surged to unprecedented levels.

Helmand, with 253,944 acres under cultivation, now accounts for more than half of the national total.

"The government has lost control of this territory because of the presence of the insurgents," Costa said.

Some 3.3 million of Afghanistan's 25 million people are involved in opium production, according to the report.

Costa said there was a "tremendous amount of collusion" between traffickers and government officials.

"The government's benign tolerance of corruption is undermining the future: no country has ever built prosperity on crime," Costa said in a summary of the report.

Gen. Khodaidad, Afghanistan's acting counternarcotics minister, acknowledged the government's strategy has failed in the south and west. He blamed corrupt local officials, poor policing, failure in eradication and open borders with Iran to the west and Pakistan to the east.

Khodaidad, who like many Afghans goes by only one name, said the government needs to review its strategy at an upcoming national conference Wednesday. He said inefficient and corrupt officials should be threatened with dismissal and those who curbed production and trade should be rewarded.

While urging NATO to stay clear of eradication efforts, Costa said the alliance should support counternarcotics operations by destroying opium labs, targeting traffickers and closing opium markets.

"The opium economy of Afghanistan can be bankrupted by blocking the two-way flow of imported chemicals and exported drugs," Costa said. "In both instances materials are being moved across the southern border and nobody seems to take notice," he said. Refiners need chemicals to turn opium into heroin.

The report did not say how much of the opium gets made into heroin in Afghanistan before being smuggled out.

Costa also urged Afghanistan to submit the names of about a dozen known traffickers - whom he did not identify - to the U.N. Security Council for inclusion alongside al-Qaida and Taliban members on a list of people who are barred from traveling, have their assets seized and face extradition.

"The Afghan opium situation looks grim, but it is not yet hopeless," Costa said. "It will take time, money and determination - worthwhile investments to spare Afghanistan and the rest of the world more tragedies."

Iraqi civilian casualties are up

Iraqi civilian deaths are up. The Bush Administration likes to compare the summer months against the winter months to show a false progress. In the summer, civilan deaths generally go down because it's too hot to go out and slaughter people, so if you compare the summer deaths to the winter deaths you then see a decline.

Any way you slice it, 1800 dead in one month is not stability. It does not inspire confidence in the security situation. And the recent high-profile assasinations are big step backward from last year. Capturing a dozen or so "insurgents" means nothing in the big picture. They will be replaced by others desperate for money or revenge.

I find it ironic that the truce proclaimed by Al-Sadr, the guy that the Bush Administration has portrayed as the most evil villain imaginable, is the current bright spot in the sham parade of good news. Of course, Bush is determined to destroy this bright spot by taking this as an opportunity to arrest those associated with Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, so this will fade into one of those false turning points pretty soon.

More than 1,800 killed in ongoing attacks

Sep 01, 2007 12:07 PM

Associated Press

BAGHDAD – A huge suicide attack in northern Iraq caused civilian deaths to rise slightly in August despite security gains elsewhere, making it the second deadliest month for Iraqis since the U.S. troop buildup began, figures compiled by The Associated Press showed Saturday.

At least 1,809 civilians were killed, compared to 1,760 in July, based on figures compiled from official Iraqi reports.

The August total included 520 people killed in quadruple suicide bombings near the Syrian border on Aug. 14, the deadliest day since the war began in March 2003. The attacks targeted Yazidis, a small Kurdish-speaking sect whose members are considered to be blasphemers by Muslim extremists.

U.S. deaths last month remained well below figures from last winter, when the U.S began dispatching 30,000 additional troops to Iraq.

American officials have maintained that violence is declining in Iraq in the run-up to a series of reports to Congress this month that will decide the course of the U.S. military presence here.

The top U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus, told The Australian newspaper in an interview published Friday that the troop increase has sharply reduced sectarian killings in Baghdad, in particular. Petraeus is expected to make the same point when he reports to Congress in about two weeks.

The U.S. said Saturday that it welcomed an order by the most powerful Shiite militia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, for his Mahdi Army to halt attacks for up to six months so he could reorganize and purge the force of unruly factions that the U.S. maintains are armed and trained by Iran.

"If implemented, Sadr's order holds the prospect of allowing coalition and Iraqi security forces to intensify their focus on al-Qaida-Iraq and on protecting the Iraqi population," the U.S. military said.

Its statement said an end to Mahdi Army violence "would also be an important step in helping Iraqi authorities focus greater attention on achieving the political and economic solutions necessary for progress and less on dealing with criminal activity, sectarian violence, kidnappings, assassinations, and attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces.''

Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi forces carried out raids in Shiite areas, at least some targeting breakaway Mahdi Army factions.

Before daybreak, Iraqi and American forces raided Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army. The U.S. military said American troops and Iraqi police were involved in the raid and searched two houses, detaining three suspects. On the way back to base the group was attacked with a roadside bomb but suffered no injuries, Spc. Emily Greene said in an e-mailed statement.

Leaflets scattered around Sadr City urged people to report on Shiite militants who are cooperating with the Iranians, providing a cell phone number and a yahoo.com e-mail address.

"The criminal Iraqis who work with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are toys under Persian control," read one of the leaflets, which pictured a puppet dancing on strings. "Iranian Revolutionary Guards are interfering in Iraq's affairs while Iraqis are dying.''

Iran denies the U.S. claim that it has been arming Shiite extremists, including breakaway Mahdi Army factions which the U.S. refers to as the "special groups.''

In two other Baghdad operations that targeted special groups, eight other suspects were captured, the U.S. military said.

The targets of the operations were leaders believed responsible for helping bring Iranian weapons and other munitions into Iraq, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver. Troops confiscated three AK-47s, a large sum of Iraqi currency, suspicious documents and photographs during searches of several buildings.

Armed Shiite groups are locked in a struggle for power in Shiite areas of the capital and in the Shiite heartland of the south, which includes major religious shrines and vast oil wealth. Control of the shrines offers not only prestige but access to huge sums of money donated by Shiites from around the world.

As part of that power struggle, gunmen on a motorcycle assassinated Muslim al-Batat, an aide to the country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, police said. The attack occurred in Basra, where numerous militias are competing for power. Al-Sistani has called for unity in the majority Shiite community.

In other violence, five Iraqi soldiers were killed and their vehicle destroyed in an afternoon roadside bombing in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi army Brig. Gen. Noor Eddin Husein

In several American operations Friday and Saturday, the U.S. military said it had killed seven terrorist suspects and captured 15 others.

The raids included one in the Baghdad neighborhood of Rusafa on Saturday in which the military said it had captured a suspect believed to be a member of al-Qaida in Iraq responsible for security in the area, who is responsible for kidnapping and car-bombing operations.

Surge creates detainee crisis

If and when these innocent detainees ever are released, will they be filled with gratitude towards the U.S. and the Iraqi government? Will they brush aside their torture and let bygones be bygones? Will their families forget the hardships they endured while the men were detained? Perhaps in the crazy delusional world Bush lives in, but not in the real world. Again, we are just postponing huge problems to create the illusion of a short-term "success". And war supporters keep waving flags as some kind of talisman against reality, while dangling a carrot of 'victory' in front of the noses of the public. Well, reality always wins and that carrot is not only moving farther away, but it also appears to be made of styrofoam.

IRAQ: Families of Detainees Losing Hope
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Aug 30 (IPS) - Hopes are fading for early release of the large number of Iraqis detained under the so-called surge.

The 'surge' is the new effort by U.S.-led coalition forces to crack down on terror suspects.

The number of detainees held by the U.S. military has increased by more than 50 percent since the U.S. administration announced the surge six months ago, bringing the detainee population to at least 24,500, according to U.S. military officers in Iraq. The officers have said the detainee population was 16,000 in February of this year.

The U.S. military unit in charge of the detention centres in Iraq, Task Force 134, reported Aug. 24 that the average length of detention for all detainees is about a year. It reported also that there are about 800 juveniles held in detention facilities.

Estimates of the total number of Iraqi detainees vary, but most Iraqis believe the number is more than 50,000. According to Iraqi sources, as well as the U.S. military, the vast majority of detainees are Sunni Arabs from the western areas of Iraq. Most of them are detained without any charge or court warrant.

John Sifton, researcher for Human Rights Watch, told reporters Aug. 24 that "the allegations of abuse are far worse for Iraqi facilities than for those detainees in U.S. custody. It is difficult to know the Iraqi detainee population. There are both official and unofficial Iraqi detention systems."

Sifton said Human Rights Watch and other human rights organisations "have concerns about a 50 percent increase in detainees because it is 50 percent more people at risk of having been arbitrarily detained or, worse, of being handed over to Iraqi officers who might subject them to torture."

Sifton added that there are no reliable numbers provided by the Iraqi government on the number of detainees, and that the U.S. military will not provide the numbers either.

"My three sons were selling vegetables in Baghdad at the wholesale market when Americans took them away over a year ago," 55-year-old Saadiya from the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad told IPS. "We learned three months later that they were taken to Bucca prison near Basra. They were only farmers, and now they are listed as terrorists just because they are Sunni."

Stories like this are recounted all over the western areas of Iraq, where Sunni Arabs are the dominant population.

"A roadside bomb exploded near our house and killed three Americans," Sumaya, a woman from the Dora area of southwest Baghdad told IPS. "Then American tanks came with hundreds of soldiers and arrested over 30 men from the neighbourhood, including my husband. We were asleep when the blast occurred at 5 am, and it was curfew hours, but they still wanted us to tell them who did it. Now I have to work and feed my four children."

"A force from the Ministry of Interior took 45 men from our village nine months ago and we still do not know their whereabouts," Farhan Abbas told IPS. Abbas is from Youssufiya, 25 km south of Baghdad, and was visiting Baghdad in hope of finding information about the people detained from his neighbourhood.

"We lost hope for them because when we went to the ministry to ask about them, they denied their arrest and told us it must be the militias dressed in uniform," said Abbas. "We argued that the force came in the ministry's vehicles, but they told us to get lost or else they would arrest us too."

Two vice-presidents of Iraq, Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shia with the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, and Tariq al-Hashimi of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front, recently visited Camp Cropper, a U.S. military detention centre near Baghdad International airport.

Al-Sharqiya television reported that while Mehdi did not talk to detainees, Hashimi talked with several of them at length and promised that their cases would be looked into shortly.

"You are better off here than outside," Hashimi said to the detainees. "It is much safer here than outside, believe me."

"What a wonderful deputy president we have," Ahmad Ali from Ramadi who was visiting Baghdad told IPS. "He thinks people are better off in jail than at home."

The Iraqi Accord Front withdrew from Maliki's government Aug. 1 because several of their demands had not been met. The first was release of at least 80 percent of the detainees who are believed to be innocent.

(*Ali, our correspondent in Baghdad, works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who travels extensively in the region) (END/2007)

Bush threatens Iran again

Since Iraq is not turning out to be the legacy-defining moment Bush had hoped it would be, he is now turning to Iran, where we will doubtlessly be "treated as liberators". I guess it's okay for a country on the other side of the planet to invade and occupy Iraq in a disastrous effort that destabilises the region, but if a country next door tries to shape the course of their neighbour then that's just "meddling".

Bush has set U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East back fifty years. We have pushed our allies, both in the Middle East and elsewhere, away from us with Bush's arrogance. By the time this is "over" Bush will have put our nation into a crushing debt with little or nothing to show for it. It wasn't bad enough to get the Sunnis against us, now we have we stir another hornet's nest that will get the Shia of the world against us. Surely our rivals on the world stage will turn these disasters against us; we would certainly do the same to other nations in the same situation.

With our new strategy of arming the "good" terrorists, we are doing what Bush has accused Iran of doing: providing training and weapons for extremists in Iraq. If we are going to hide behind the "we're the good guys" argument, then we have to behave like the good guys. Instead we have brought Iraq into a humanitarian crisis on top of a civil war and all that we care about is Al-Qaeda.

Bush warns Iran over insurgents

US President George W Bush has warned Iran to stop supporting the militants fighting against the US in Iraq.
In a speech to US war veterans in Reno, Nevada, Mr Bush renewed his accusations that Tehran has provided training and weapons for extremists in Iraq.
Earlier, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that US authority in the region was rapidly collapsing, and Iran would help fill the void.
"Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

"Of course, we are prepared to fill the gap, with the help of neighbours and regional friends like Saudi Arabia, and with the help of the Iraqi nation."
'Murderous activities'
In his speech to the American Legion, Mr Bush hit back, accusing Iran's Revolutionary Guards of funding and arming insurgents in Iraq.

Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere President Bush

And he said Iran's leaders could not avoid some responsibility for attacks on coalition troops and Iraqi civilians.

"I have authorised our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities," he said.

The BBC's Justin Webb, in Washington, says this looks like a conscious effort by the White House to elevate the tension between Washington and Tehran to a new level.

Such an effort might be designed to avoid the need for armed conflict or might equally be an effort to bring that conflict about, our correspondent says.

The Iranian authorities have consistently denied accusations that they are helping militants in Iraq.

Shortly after Mr Bush made his address, Iranian officials reported that seven Iranians working for the country's electricity ministry had been arrested in Baghdad by US forces.

'Nuclear threat'

In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Bush also tackled the issue of Iran's nuclear ambition - which Tehran insists is solely to provide power, but the US believes may be used to develop weapons.

"Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust," he said.

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere.

"We will confront this danger before it is too late."

It was Mr Bush's second major speech on foreign policy in a week.

Correspondents say he is seeking to rally support for the so-called surge strategy of sending more troops to Iraq.

Another British casualty in Afghan war

The story says it all.

RAF gunner and translator killed in Afghanistan

By Stephen Adams

Last Updated: 1:56am BST 01/09/2007

An RAF gunner and a local interpreter were killed yesterday in an explosion during a routine patrol around a major air base in southern Afghanistan.

The gunner, from 51 Squadron, RAF Regiment, was killed in the blast outside Kandahar airfield, the main hub for Nato forces in the region

The Ministry of Defence did not immediately identify the serviceman, but said his loved ones had been informed.

He is the 74th member of the British forces to die in Afghanistan since 2002 and the sixth this month. Twelve have died since the start of July in what has been a grim summer for British forces.

Last week, three soldiers from the 1st Bn, The Royal Anglian Regiment, were killed in a so-called "friendly fire" incident in Helmand, the adjoining province to Kandahar. The 1st Bn has now lost nine soldiers in Afghanistan in five months.

Members of the RAF regiment, effectively a ground force operating as infantry troops, were patrolling in a convoy at around midnight local time when the blast hit one of their vehicles. The casualties were taken by helicopter to a Nato hospital inside the base where the gunner was pronounced dead on arrival. The interpreter died of his injuries later.

The fatality was described as a tragic loss for RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, where 51 Squadron is based.

The base's Officer Commanding Group Captain Mark Roberts said: "It is not yet known what caused the explosion, but an inquiry has already been set up to examine the facts of the incident.

"Our prayers and thoughts go to the families of those involved."

Another bombing in Kabul

Another attack in Kabul, the capital and the only area the Afghan government 'controls'. And more civilians die as misdirected mortars fall on them.

Afghans killed in attack on US base

At least 10 Afghan civilians, including women and children, were killed today during a mortar attack aimed at a US base in the eastern province of Kunar, a provincial official said.

The attack hit a residential area close to the base in Chawki district of the province which lies close to the border with Pakistan, district chief Mohammad Zahir said.

Earlier today, a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives near an entrance to the Afghan capital's airport. One person was killed, and several were injured when the bomber crashed his car into a Nato vehicle, and the explosives detonated a while later, said an Afghan soldier.

It was not clear who was behind the blast.

Taliban insurgents have carried out numerous attacks against Afghan and Western troops in the past 19 months, however, the bloodiest period since the Taliban were driven from power in 2001.

The last suicide attack in Kabul occurred a fortnight ago and was aimed at a Nato convoy. Three alliance soldiers were wounded.

The Taliban largely rely on suicide attacks and roadside bombs as part of their campaign against the Afghan government and foreign troops.

Famous "turning points" in Iraq

Below is part of a chronology of Iraq "turning points" that turned out to be illusions. It appeared in Foreign Policy, and I encourage you to check out the entire article.

The purpose of these "turning points" was primarily to buy Bush time, in the hope that somehow something would go right. At each of these "turning points", the "liberal" media cheered, politicians sagely nodded, and war supporters darkly predicted doom for the 'defeatists' at home.

As always, unwarranted optimism is patriotic and sober scepticism is treasonous.

As the Bush administration readies a “pivotal” progress report on Iraq, it’s worth asking if this time will be any different than the past. We’ve seen countless politicians and pundits on both sides herald the arrival of a “turning point” in Iraq, only to watch the war roll on. Herewith, a quick rundown of the “turning points” that turned out to be anything but.

Lt. Gen. Jay Garner arrives in Baghdad

Date: April 21, 2003

U.S. military fatalities to date: 131

Unwarranted optimism: “We will be here as long as it takes. We will leave fairly rapidly.” —Lt. Gen. Jay Garner

President Bush appears beneath “Mission Accomplished” banner

Date: May 1, 2003

U.S. military fatalities to date: 140

Unwarranted optimism: “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” —U.S. President George W. Bush

L. Paul Bremer III takes over from Jay Garner

Date: May 11, 2003

U.S. military fatalities to date: 148

Unwarranted optimism: “The coalition provisional authority, led by Ambassador Bremer, has a comprehensive strategy to move Iraq toward a future that is secure and prosperous.” —George W. Bush

Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) announces Iraqi Governing Council

Date: July 13, 2003

U.S. military fatalities to date: 225

Unwarranted optimism: “The establishment of the Iraqi Governing Council is an important step forward in the ongoing transition from ruthless dictatorship to a free and democratic Iraq with Iraqis determining their own future. We look forward to working with the Council as it moves toward a democratic and prosperous Iraq, at peace with its neighbors.” —George W. Bush

U.S. forces kill Uday and Qusay Hussein

Date: July 22, 2003

U.S. military fatalities to date: 238

Unwarranted optimism: “While there is still much work to do in Iraq, the Iraqi people can see progress each day toward a better and more prosperous future for their country.” —White House statement

U.S. forces capture Saddam Hussein

Date: December 13, 2003

U.S. military fatalities to date: 463

Unwarranted optimism: “Iraq’s future, your future, has never been more full of hope. The tyrant is a prisoner. The economy is moving forward. You have before you the prospect of a sovereign government in a few months.” —L. Paul Bremer III, head of the CPA

Iraqi Governing Council completes Transitional Administrative Law

Date: March 8, 2004

U.S. military fatalities to date: 557

Unwarranted optimism: “The adoption of this law marks a historic milestone in the Iraqi people’s long journey from tyranny and violence to liberty and peace. While difficult work remains to establish democracy in Iraq, today’s signing is a critical step in that direction.” —George W. Bush

U.S. transfers sovereignty to Iraqi interim government

Date: June 28, 2004

U.S. military fatalities to date: 858

Unwarranted optimism: “Let freedom reign!” —George W. Bush, writing on a napkin

Iraq holds elections for Transitional National Assembly

Date: January 30, 2005

U.S. military fatalities to date: 1,438

Unwarranted optimism: “Across Iraq today, men and women have taken rightful control of their country’s destiny, and they have chosen a future of freedom and peace.” —George W. Bush

Ibrahim al-Jaafari forms new Iraqi government

Date: April 28, 2005

U.S. military fatalities to date: 1,580

Unwarranted optimism: “The United States is confident that the new government will meet these challenges in the months ahead, and America will stand by Iraq, its leaders, and the Iraqi people as they continue their work to establish a stable, peaceful, and democratic Iraq.” —George W. Bush

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney declares insurgency in “last throes”

Date: May 30, 2005

U.S. military fatalities to date: 1,665

Unwarranted optimism: “The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.” —Dick Cheney

White House releases “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq”

Date: November 30, 2005

U.S. military fatalities to date: 2,113

Unwarranted optimism: “As we make progress toward victory, Iraqis will take more responsibility for their security, and fewer U.S. forces will be needed to complete the mission.” —George W. Bush

British general: U.S. Iraq policy "intellectually bankrupt"

Here we see a military opinion from our strongest ally, Britain, that parallels the one domestic critics of the Iraq occupation have been making for years. Bush and Rumsfeld completely bungled post-war Iraq, directly leading to a prolonged and extremely expensive occupation with thousands of military casualties. They then bungled that occupation for years while continually claiming progress that was nothing more than imaginary. Then, after creating an unfathomable mess, the U.S. tried the surge in an effort to correct four years of ineptitude in nine months time. Other than buying Bush nine months to postpone judgment on his failed occupation, the surge has produced only modest progress, and then only in isolated areas. Sectarian killings are up, when compared to last year's levels, Al-Qaeda is merely "off-balance", the Iraqi Police are incompetent, corrupt and disloyal to the Iraqi government, and the Iraqi miltary is in perpetual "training" while also being more loyal to the sectarian militias than the government. The Iraqi government itself has been impotent and incompetent since its inception, and now is on the verge of collapse.

This is what we have waited so long for: a marginally-improved disaster at a cost of $12 billion a week.

Britain tried a surge of their own one year ago, and it brought only short-term results. The MOD was wise enough to see the handwriting on the wall and handed over control to the Iraqis. Now they are besieged on their bases and control has shifted to the Iraqis, for better or worse. Bush's response has been to apply the not-so-dreaded "surrenderist" label to their ally.

The surge cannot last much longer than April, since the tours of duty will be over by then for most of the surge troops. Recruiting is down, re-enlistments are down, the junior officers are deserting the military in droves, and the senior officers have staked their careers on pleasing an Administration that their peers in Britain describe as "incompetent". After the surge, then what? Are we then back to the pre-surge non-plan of crossing our fingers and hoping for a miracle? No, the plan at that point is to create another false hope (e.g. Allawi-led government, militia truce, another Iraqi brigade, etc.) that will buy Bush more "wait and see" time until his term expires. And the war supporters will eagerly lap up the next "solution" as the key to "victory", just as they did the surge.

UK general attacks US Iraq policy

The head of the British army during the Iraq invasion has said US post-war policy was "intellectually bankrupt".

In a Daily Telegraph interview, former chief of the general staff, Gen Sir Mike Jackson, added that US strategy had been "short-sighted".

He said former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld was "one of the most responsible for the current situation".

The Ministry of Defence said Sir Mike was a private citizen who was entitled to express his views.

The US Department of Defense said: "Divergent viewpoints are a hallmark of open, democratic societies."

Sir Mike told the Daily Telegraph that Mr Rumsfeld's claim that US forces "don't do nation-building" was "nonsensical".

He criticised the decision to hand control of planning the administration of Iraq after the war to the Pentagon.

He also described the disbanding of the Iraqi army and security forces after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein as "very short-sighted".

"We should have kept the Iraqi security services in being and put them under the command of the coalition," he said.

Mehdi army

The Telegraph reports that in Sir Mike's autobiography Soldier, which is being serialised in the paper, he said the US approach to fighting global terrorism was "inadequate" as it focused on military power rather than diplomacy and nation-building.

In the book, Sir Mike also said Mr Rumsfeld had refused to deploy enough troops to uphold law and order in Iraq and had rejected plans for administering Iraq drawn up by the US State Department, the paper says.

The criticism comes as the US military said an order from radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to his Mehdi army militia to freeze operations for six months would allow coalition forces to concentrate their attentions on al-Qaeda.

A US statement said the instruction would mean fewer kidnappings, killings and attacks.

Sir Mike, who is now retired, also defended the record of British troops in Iraq after claims by US officials that UK forces had failed.

He said: "What has happened in the south, as throughout the rest of Iraq, was that primary responsibility for security would be handed to the Iraqis once the Iraqi authorities and the coalition were satisfied that their state of training and development was appropriate.

"In the south we had responsibility for four provinces. Three of these have been handed over in accordance with that strategy. It remains just in Basra for that to happen."

His comments follow a series of critical remarks from US officials about the British attitude towards Iraq.

'Strain on operation'

US military adviser Gen Jack Keane said last week that American commanders had expressed "frustration" over the prospect of UK withdrawal.

BBC defence correspondent Paul Wood said Sir Mike's comments may put further strain on the British-US operation in Iraq.

Sir Mike's criticisms were backed by Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Conservative foreign secretary and defence secretary.

Sir Malcolm told the BBC: "I think one of the most fundamental criticisms is not just that Rumsfeld was incompetent - which he was - but it was actually his boss, George Bush, who actually made the extraordinary decision to put the Pentagon and Rumsfeld in control of political nation-building after the actual war ended."

A spokeswoman for the US State Department said she would not comment on Sir Mike's views.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said Sir Mike's remarks reinforced his view that British troops should leave Iraq as soon as is practically possible.

He told BBC News 24 that Sir Mike was "a man well known for speaking his mind and not afraid to ruffle American feathers".

Last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote to Mr Campbell, rejecting the Lib Dem leader's call for a timetable for withdrawing UK troops.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/6973618.stm

Published: 2007/09/01 14:58:43 GMT

Who funds the insurgents? You do.

Where do the insurgents get the money to keep so many militiamen on the payroll, much less arm, house, feed, clothe, transport, and train them? From U.S. taxpayers, of course, in the form of extortion of contractors.

As we rebuild Iraq, we are heavily financing the very "insurgents" (an ill-defined term) that are making "victory" impossible. Half or more of the costs of a project actually goes to a militia for "protection money", which in turn pays suicide bombers, buys explosives for roadside bombs, and allows support payments for sympathisers. It also funds the bribes paid to the Iraqi Police for information on troop movements and vulnerabilities, as well as to look the other way when the militias strike.

Republicans who screech about "waste and fraud" are silent about this immense siphoning of our tax dollars to people destabilising Iraq and killing our troops. This is what we get for $12 billion a week: a full employment programme for foreign insurgents.

The money is also going to Al-Qaeda as well, financing the increasing attacks on that putative "success". We are essentially paying people cash to ensure that more money is spent on Bush's ego war and to kill our own soldiers. How can this plan possibly fail?

story from McClatchy

Iraqi insurgents taking cut of U.S. rebuilding money
By Hannah Allam | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Monday, August 27, 2007

Hannah Allam/MCT

Sheikh Ali Hatem Ali Suleiman, the deputy leader of the Dulaim, the largest and most powerful tribe in Anbar province in Iraq, says U.S. federal rebuilding funds indirectly fund Iraqi insurgent groups such as al Qaida in Iraq.

BAGHDAD — Iraq's deadly insurgent groups have financed their war against U.S. troops in part with hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. rebuilding funds that they've extorted from Iraqi contractors in Anbar province.

The payments, in return for the insurgents' allowing supplies to move and construction work to begin, have taken place since the earliest projects in 2003, Iraqi contractors, politicians and interpreters involved with reconstruction efforts said.

A fresh round of rebuilding spurred by the U.S. military's recent alliance with some Anbar tribes — 200 new projects are scheduled — provides another opportunity for militant groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq to siphon off more U.S. money, contractors and politicians warn.

"Now we're back to the same old story in Anbar. The Americans are handing out contracts and jobs to terrorists, bandits and gangsters," said Sheik Ali Hatem Ali Suleiman, the deputy leader of the Dulaim, the largest and most powerful tribe in Anbar. He was involved in several U.S. rebuilding contracts in the early days of the war, but is now a harsh critic of the U.S. presence.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declined to provide anyone to discuss the allegations. An embassy spokesman, Noah Miller, said in an e-mailed statement that, "in terms of contracting practices, we have checks and balances in our contract awarding system to prevent any irregularities from occurring. Each contracted company is responsible for providing security for the project."

Providing that security is the source of the extortion, Iraqi contractors say. A U.S. company with a reconstruction contract hires an Iraqi sub-contractor to haul supplies along insurgent-ridden roads. The Iraqi contractor sets his price at up to four times the going rate because he'll be forced to give 50 percent or more to gun-toting insurgents who demand cash payments in exchange for the supply convoys' safe passage.

One Iraqi official said the arrangement makes sense for insurgents. By granting safe passage to a truck loaded with $10,000 in goods, they receive a "protection fee" that can buy more weapons and vehicles. Sometimes the insurgents take the goods, too.

"The violence in Iraq has developed a political economy of its own that sustains it and keeps some of these terrorist groups afloat," said Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, who recently asked the U.S.-led coalition to match the Iraqi government's pledge of $230 million for Anbar projects.

Despite several devastating U.S. military offensives to rout insurgents, the militants - or, in some cases, tribes with insurgent connections - still control the supply routes of the province, making reconstruction all but impossible without their protection.

One senior Iraqi politician with personal knowledge of the contracting system said the insurgents also use their cuts to pay border police in Syria "to look the other way" as they smuggle weapons and foot soldiers into Iraq.

"Every contractor in Anbar who works for the U.S. military and survives for more than a month is paying the insurgency," the politician said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. "The contracts are inflated, all of them. The insurgents get half."

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he was aware of the "insurgent tax" that U.S.-allied contractors are forced to pay in Anbar, though he said it wasn't clear how much money was going to militant groups and how much to opportunistic tribesmen operating on their own.

"It's part of a taxation they put on trucks through all these territories, but it's very difficult to establish if it's going directly to insurgents," Zebari said.

As of July, the U.S. government had completed 3,300 projects in Anbar with a total value of $363 million, the U.S. embassy said. Another 250 projects with a total price tag of $353 million are under way.

Saleh, the deputy prime minister, said dealing with such huge amounts of money in such a volatile place means corruption is inevitable and that some projects cost far more than they should. But despite qualms, he believes the effort is worth it.

"I'm a realist," he said. "When I look at my options, will I have a 100 percent clean process? No. But will this force me to hold back? Absolutely not."

Suleiman, the Dulaimi sheikh and onetime U.S. ally, speaks more bitterly. Sitting in his Baghdad office, he displayed a stack of photos and status updates for projects that included two schools, a clinic and a water purification center. The photos showed crumbling, half-finished structures surrounded by overgrown weeds and patchworks of electrical wires. He blamed such failures on "the terrorists" who work under the noses of U.S. and Iraqi officials.

"Those responsible for these projects had to give money to al Qaida. Frankly, gunmen control contracting in Anbar," he said. "Even now, the thefts are unbelievable, and I have no idea where those millions are going."

None of the Iraqi contractors agreed to speak on the record - they risk losing future U.S. contracts and face retaliation from insurgent groups. Some of the Iraqis interviewed remain in Fallujah or Ramadi on the U.S. payroll; others had fled to Arab countries and Europe after they deemed the business too risky.

"I put it right in my contracts as a line item for 'logistics and security,'" said one Iraqi contractor who is still working for a major American company with several long-term projects in Anbar. "The Americans think you're hiring a security company, but how you execute it is something else entirely. This is how it's been working since Day 1."

One Iraqi contractor who is working on an American-funded rebuilding project in the provincial capital of Ramadi said he faced two choices when he wanted to bring in a crane, heavy machinery and workers from Baghdad: either hire a private security company to escort the supplies for up to $6,000 a truck, or pay off locals with insurgent connections.

He chose the latter, and got $120,000 for a U.S. contract he estimates to be worth no more than $20,000. The contractor asked that specific details of the project not be disclosed for fear he'll be identified and lose the job.

"The insurgents always remind us they're there," the contractor said. "Sometimes they hijack a truck or kidnap a driver and then we pay and, if we're lucky, we get our goods returned. It's just to make sure we know how it works.

"Insurgents control the roads," he added. "Americans don't control the roads - and everything from Syria and Jordan goes through there."

Another Iraqi contractor with several U.S. rebuilding contracts said he's been trying to avoid paying off insurgents by strengthening his relationship with reputable tribal leaders in Anbar.

In one contract for a major U.S. company, the contractor said, he gave cash payments to tribal leaders and trusted them to buy the goods in Anbar instead of having to pay insurgents to bring the goods in from Baghdad. He said the tribesmen took photos as proof that they used the money properly and had to hide the supplies in their homes for fear insurgents would find out they'd been left out of the deal.

The contractor said such scenarios are extremely rare and very dangerous. More typical, he said, was a recent order he took to haul gravel to U.S. bases in Anbar.

"If I do it in the Green Zone, it's just putting gravel in Hesco bags and it would be about $16,000," the contractor said. "But they needed it for Ramadi and Fallujah. I submitted an invoice for $120,000 and I'd say about $100,000 of that went to the mujahideen," as Iraqis sometimes call Sunni insurgents.

An Iraqi who used to work as an interpreter for Titan Corp., the U.S. company that supplies local interpreters to U.S. forces in Iraq, said he witnessed countless incidents of insurgents shaking down contractors during the two years he spent as a translator in the "Engineering Operations Room" on a U.S. military base in Anbar. The man, a Fallujah native who has since fled to the United Arab Emirates, spoke on condition of anonymity because he hasn't ruled out returning to Iraq now that Anbar construction is on the upswing.

He said he was stunned when, from early 2004 to his departure in summer 2006, a parade of sheikhs with known insurgent connections were awarded contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The interpreter said that on several occasions contractors pleaded with American officials for protection and told them that gunmen were shaking them down for large sums of cash.

In a project to rebuild Dam Street in Fallujah, the interpreter said, insurgents forced the local contractor to pay for protection on three or four separate occasions. Work would stop for a few days until the contractor paid up. In the end, the interpreter said, the contractor grew so terrified that he walked off the unfinished project and fled Iraq.

On another project for a water treatment plant in the insurgent stronghold of Zoba, the interpreter said, the local contractor was summoned to meet with militant leaders who threatened his life if he didn't give them at least half the contract's value.

Fawzi Hariri, a member of the Iraqi cabinet and head of the government's Anbar Reconstruction Committee, said some U.S. rebuilding funds "absolutely" have gone into insurgents' pockets. The exception is where construction sites were guarded around-the-clock by U.S. or Iraqi troops.

"If you're on your own, you certainly would have to pay somebody," Hariri said.

Hariri said the Iraqi government's Anbar committee checks contractors' permits and references, withholds payment until the work is reviewed and only hires workers who are familiar enough with Anbar's deep-rooted tribes to arrange for security. On the parallel U.S. reconstruction effort, however, American contracting officials rarely consult their Iraqi counterparts about how much they spent or who was paid on specific projects.

"The Americans are accountable only to themselves," Hariri said. "It's their money."

(Leila Fadel and McClatchy Newspapers special correspondent Mohammed al Dulaimy contributed.)
2007 McClatchy Newspapers

"You've Got Cholera"

Due to the collapse of the Iraqi water delivery infrastructure, which after four years of effort is still a cruel joke, northern Iraq is now seeing a cholera outbreak. Once a modern, successful country, Iraq has now been "liberated" into a sorry state that makes many Third World countries look attractive. Lack of electricity means no power to pump the water or run the purification or sewage plants. Iraqis are drinking what could be classified as sewage, and not surprisingly, are getting sick.
The refugees, fleeing from the "success" in Baghdad, are the ones most susceptible to the cholera outbreak, due to the deplorable conditions they are forced to live in. While neocons and senior military commanders speak in bright tones about how the Iraqi provincial and federal government is "improving the lives of ordinary Iraqis", the truth is that millions are internally displaced and are left to fend for themselves. These are the ones who can't afford to join the 50,000 other Iraqis a month who flee the country's "progress".
Of course, warnings of the current crisis went unheeded by Iraqi officials, who are devoted to the sectarian political struggle, and also by the U.S. military, which is obsessed with Al-Qaeda to the exclusion of everything else.

Notice the anecdote in the article of the poor Iraqi woman who fled Baghdad after her child was kidnapped. Or the man who fled because sectarian militias threatened his life. These are the faces of "progress" in Baghdad, where the surge promised the most. Neocons, who profess such concern over the Iraqis should we withdraw, merely brush aside these stories of shattered lives and grim futures.


story from L.A. Times

Deadly cholera outbreak in north Iraq

SULAYMANIYA, IRAQ -- A cholera outbreak in northern Iraq, where thousands of people have sought refuge from sectarian violence, is overwhelming hospitals and has killed as many as 10 people, health officials said Friday.

The outbreak in Sulaymaniya and Kirkuk is seen as the latest example of the displacement and deterioration of living conditions caused by the Iraqi conflict.

The water-borne disease has struck more than 80 people in the two cities, which are about 100 miles apart, said Claire Hajaj of the U.N. Children's Fund, or Unicef. She said cholera had been confirmed as the cause of five deaths and was suspected in five others.

Local officials said more than 2,000 people had been affected.

Aid agencies had warned of the possibility of a cholera outbreak as blazing summer heat settled in Iraq, where the infrastructure is shattered by war and neglect. The disease tends to appear in the summer because, as the temperature rises, Iraq's chronic electricity shortages make it difficult to operate pumps at sewage and drinking-water treatment plants, which leaves many people without clean water.

That was evident Wednesday at a squalid encampment outside Sulaymaniya, where several hundred people live in makeshift tents that are little more than worn blankets draped over wooden frames. Girls and women lined up to fill containers from a tanker distributing water.

"We drink from this water, whether it's drinkable or not," Zahra Jabbar Kadhim said.

"In this tent, we bathe, cook and sleep," she said, pointing to the canvas she shares with her husband, Abdullah Ahmed, and four children.

Ahmed, a Sunni Arab, said they fled Baghdad after a Shiite militia threatened to kill him.

Lamia Karim Shaalan ended up at the camp after she sold everything she had, including her shop, to pay a $60,000 ransom to kidnappers who took her 10-year-old daughter in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood.

"We live in this handmade tent on the sand and in the middle of heat and snakes," she said.

A Shiite man whose wife gave birth in their tent a week ago said they fled to Sulaymaniya from the Sadiya neighborhood in southwest Baghdad seven months ago after Shiite militiamen discovered his wife was Sunni and ordered him to divorce her.

A nurse with the Kurdistan Health Organization, Abdul Karim, said the camp, which has neither garbage disposal nor a sewage system, is a breeding ground for disease.

The International Organization for Migration, in its latest assessment of Iraq's internal displacement problem, says that more than 70,000 Iraqis have fled to the northern region this year, most of them to escape violence. Such people increasingly are living in camps or camp-like settings because of the scarcity of affordable housing, it says.

In Kirkuk, Dr. Sabah Amin, director of the provincial health department, announced measures to curb the disease, including the closure of public swimming pools, a ban on street vendors selling food and drinks, and testing at ice and soft drink factories.

The number of patients arriving at health facilities with cholera symptoms, which include severe diarrhea, has increased to the point that hospitals have stopped testing everyone.

"They simply can't test them all," said Hajaj, of Unicef. "They're just assuming that if it looks like cholera, they have cholera."