| |
News Center | Mason News | News Center |
| SEARCH: |  |
| TheSpringGarden Plants & trees, gardening products & equiptment, homedecor | SunglassesEyeglasses All stunning brand names sunglasses at the great prices | DIYHomeSupplies Do it yourself woodworking projects & home remodeling supplies | UnitedPlus Gift Ideas. Diecasts, Figurines, American Heroes, and much more |
| CarPartsAccessoriesEtc Search and shop for auto parts & accessories online. Simple & Convenient | Sewing Machines Top notch sewing machines, vacuums, and appliances. For home or commercial. | Patio & Landscape Ready for family BBQ party this summer? A Large selection of outdoor furnitures | FontsWorld Looking for those cool fonts? Here, variety of all around the world fonts. Free Download. |
| |||||||
| Army What's up with the Army? |
 |
| | LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
12-26-2007, 03:30 PM
| ||||
| ||||
 The Pentagon Early Bird Dec 26 2007 C U R R E N T N E W S E A R L Y B I R DDecember 26, 2007 placeRandomImg() Use of these news articles does not reflect official endorsement. Reproduction for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions. Story numbers indicate order of appearance only. This is the single print version. Use the PRINT command in your browser to print the entire Early Bird as one document. (NOTE: This single file format is a long document and can use 50 or more pages of paper.) IRAQ
Washington Post December 26, 2007 Pg. 1 Shiite Contest Sharpens In Iraq Sadr and U.S. Ally Refocus on South By Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post Foreign Service KARBALA, Iraq -- Posted at the door of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's office recently, a flier denounced the arrests of his followers. Up and down the barricaded street, soldiers and policemen loyal to his Shiite rivals stood sentry, some in tan armored personnel carriers, questioning anyone they suspected of links to the populist cleric. Inside the shuttered office, five guards spoke frankly of their sense of vulnerability and weakness. Once in control of the streets of this southern city of holy sites, the Sadrists said they have been chased underground, their rivals at their heels. The arrests of Sadr's loyalists are part of a broader power struggle between the two most powerful Shiite factions seeking to lead Iraq: the Sadrists, who are pushing for U.S. troops to withdraw, and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the Bush administration's main Shiite ally. Given the nation's majority-Shiite population, this intensifying confrontation could play a major role in deciding Iraq's future. This year's U.S. military offensive and dramatic shifts in tactics by both Sunni and Shiite groups are redrawing the balance of power across Iraq. With less violence between Sunnis and Shiites, festering struggles within each community may come to define the nature of the conflict. In the Shiite-dominated south, Sadr's main Shiite rivals are taking advantage of the surge in U.S. troops, as well as Sadr's imposition of a freeze on operations by his Mahdi Army militia, to make political gains. "They are all gathering against us," said Ayad Abu Ali, a wiry, broad-shouldered militia guard who had sent his family into hiding and now hardly leaves the office. U.S. forces have arrested hundreds of Mahdi Army militia members in Baghdad, creating voids in the leadership. This has emboldened Iraq's mostly Shiite security forces, loyal to the Supreme Council and other political parties, to reach for power in the south. In cities such as Karbala, Diwaniyah and, most recently, Hilla, scores of Sadr's followers are routinely being detained. "If this American pressure did not exist on the Mahdi Army in Baghdad, of course Iraqi security forces would not be able to make these arrests in the southern provinces," said Abdul Hadi al-Mohammadawi, a cleric who heads Sadr's operation in Karbala. "And if the freeze did not exist, this would not be happening." Struggle in the South In the southern holy city of Najaf, pilgrims sat against a wall of the Imam Ali shrine, one of Shiite Islam's most sacred sites. On the ornate facade is a white patch in the shape of the face of Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir Hakim. Assassinated by a car bomb in August 2003, Hakim was the leader of the Supreme Council. His younger brother, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, one of Iraq's most powerful politicians, now heads the party. Six months ago, Supreme Council loyalists sought to create a portrait of the elder Hakim in brickwork on the shrine's facade. But Sadr's followers took to the streets and stopped them from finishing the project. "Each side is determined to be in control of the south," said Mohammed Jassim, a prominent tribal leader in Diwaniyah province. The competition has its origins in the days when the fathers of Hakim and Sadr, both preeminent ayatollahs, fought to lead Iraq's Shiites. Under Saddam Hussein, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim spent years in exile in Iran. Sadr remained in Iraq, bolstering his street credentials. After the U.S. invasion in 2003, Hakim embraced the Americans, while Sadr went to war against them, launching two major uprisings in Najaf in 2004. Today, their struggle is multidimensional, playing out along lines of personality, class and ideology. The contest is a street fight over turf, a tug of war over oil revenues and a battle for control of the shrines. Sadr's militia has targeted Hakim's party offices and fought his movement's armed wing, the Badr Organization. Both militias are widely believed to have operated death squads targeting each other and Sunnis. The fight is also political; both parties control 30 seats in Iraq's parliament. Last year, Sadr backed Nouri al-Maliki for prime minister, largely to prevent Hakim's candidate from gaining office. By the end of 2006, the Bush administration and Hakim had grown closer, to counter Sadr's growing street power. In Najaf, a city governed by Hakim's party, posters of Sadr and his father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq Sadr, who was assassinated by Hussein's men in 1999, have mushroomed defiantly on the streets. Hakim's portrait, usually paired with a portrait of Iraq's paramount Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, hangs in many police and government offices. This year, Sadr and Hakim have sought to position themselves at the center of Iraq's ideological sphere. To bolster his nationalist credentials, Sadr pulled his loyalists from Iraq's factionalized government and tacitly approved the U.S. surge offensive. Hakim removed the word "revolution" from the name of his political party, suggesting that it was no longer an armed opposition group. "It was based on reality, and not a maneuver," said Sadr al-Din al-Qubanchi, a turbaned cleric who heads the Supreme Council in Najaf. "Who were we going to revolt against? We are leading the political process." The change was also widely seen as an attempt by the Supreme Council to distance itself from Iran's theocratic government, which uses similar slogans. A referendum on creating an autonomous Shiite region of nine provinces is scheduled for April, mandated by Iraq's constitution, although political deadlines in Iraq are seldom met. The Supreme Council wants a mini-Shiite state, but opponents such as Sadr, who views himself as an Iraqi nationalist, fear it will lead to a breakup of the country. "It is the war of the wills," said Hazim al-Araji, a senior Sadr official in Najaf. "Everyone is trying to improve their position for the sake of winning the elections. Perhaps these will take place next year, so they want to eliminate the Sadr trend." "That is as clear to me as the sun at midday." Clashes and a Freeze On a recent day, scores of black-cloaked women loyal to Sadr flowed into the city's center. They clutched large white banners protesting the arrests of their husbands and sons -- Sadr's foot soldiers. Some of the women came from Diwaniyah, most from Karbala. They wailed, and they chanted: "Our Shia government! Release our sons! Release our husbands!" Twenty minutes later, police loyal to the Badr Organization arrived and broke up the protest, which had been coordinated by Sadr's movement. The arrests of Sadr's loyalists began after fierce street battles in late August around two holy shrines in Karbala. The fighting pitted Mahdi Army gunmen against guards believed to be loyal to the Badr Organization. More than 50 people were killed, making it one of the deadliest days of Shiite-on-Shiite violence since the U.S-led invasion in 2003. Karbala's police chief blamed the Mahdi Army for firing rocket-propelled grenades and guns from rooftops toward thousands of pilgrims gathered between the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas shrines. An Iraqi government committee, headed by independent lawmaker Mithal Alousi, also found the militia largely responsible, although the committee has not completed its investigation. Sadr officials have denied the allegations. The clashes prompted Sadr to impose the freeze on his militia's operations. He also signed a peace agreement with Hakim, although tensions remain high. In Karbala alone, Iraqi security forces have detained more than 400 of Sadr's loyalists, including commanders and fighters. In contrast to Najaf, once-pervasive images of Sadr and his father have all but disappeared from many neighborhoods. "Now there is no Sadr trend in Karbala, except us," said Ayad Abu Ali, the guard at the Sadr office. "Everyone has fled." The Supreme Council, he said, "dominates in Karbala," but the soldiers on his street were loyal to the Dawa party, led by Maliki. Under heavy U.S. pressure, Maliki distanced himself this year from his political benefactor, Sadr, and shifted closer to Hakim. The Dawa party is also competing with Sadr and Hakim to guide the nation's Shiites, although it lacks a militia and a strong popular base. Senior Supreme Council leaders and Dawa party officials denied that the arrests of Sadr's followers were politically motivated. "There's no truth to this," the Supreme Council's Qubanchi said. Aqeel al-Khazaly, Karbala's governor and a Dawa member, said that of the 400 arrested, 120 were convicted by a court of participating in a militia-related attack and an additional 120 were released. "We're not targeting a political party by itself," he said. Reaching Out In recent weeks, sunflower-yellow posters have surfaced around Karbala and Najaf advertising a contest for the best Koranic handwriting. "Fourteen thousand people have entered so far," said a smiling Hassan al-Hakim, the general supervisor of the Shahid al-Mihrab Foundation and a nephew of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. Seeking to change the image of the Supreme Council, the foundation has spent millions on building mosques and elementary schools, caring for orphans and providing aid to 65,000 poor or displaced families. It has also funded trips to Iran for Shiite pilgrims and bankrolled one of Iraq's largest mass weddings, with more than 1,000 couples each receiving as much as $800 cash, a bed, new clothing and household goods. "We are trying to present Iraq with a moderate, middle vision," said Hassan al-Hakim, who wore gray and black clerical robes like his uncle. "We respect the elites, but we want to reach everyone." That could prove difficult. The Supreme Council's links to both Iran and the Americans have eroded popular support. Voted into the government as part of the ruling Shiite alliance in 2005, the movement is also blamed for not improving basic services or boosting the economy. Even members of the Shiite business elite, core Hakim supporters, are grumbling. "We elected Abdul Aziz al-Hakim because he was one of us," said Abu Ali, a merchant near the Imam Ali shrine who asked that his nickname be used. "But has his coalition done anything for the people?" Hakim is battling lung cancer, although he has appeared healthier in recent weeks. His successor remains unknown. By reaching out to the urban underclasses, the Supreme Council is wooing Sadr's core constituency. For years, the Sadrists have brought social services to the Shiite masses. Despite the arrests, Sadr's close aides say the cleric will maintain the freeze on his militia's operations. It is in part a pragmatic decision: The U.S. and Iraqi raids have weakened his movement. But Sadr is also trying to exert control over his unruly, decentralized militia, parts of which still commit atrocities. "We are rebuilding the Mahdi Army," said Salah al-Obaidi, Sadr's chief spokesman in Najaf. "We want them to be well disciplined, well educated." If all goes well, Sadr might extend the freeze, scheduled to end in February, Obaidi added. That could bolster the young cleric's popularity, especially during the April referendum, if it takes place. U.S. military commanders are now publicly commending Sadr for the freeze. "He wants to be more like his father, who was a religious leader, and to have influence on the government in a peaceful way," said Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq. Sadr's top aides have vowed to win their bid to lead Iraq's Shiites. The Supreme Council "is claiming they are our biggest rival, but in fact they have no popularity in the south," said Mohammadawi, Sadr's representative in Karbala. "They are trying to seize power in every way, but they can't. They will fail." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569763.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Times December 26, 2007 Pg. 1 White House Hopeful For Iraq Progress Bush counts on Baghdad to pass laws early in 2008 By Jon Ward, The Washington Times The Bush administration is optimistic the Iraqi government will take an important step toward political reconciliation by passing at least one major law before the next progress report in March from the top U.S. general and U.S. ambassador in Iraq. "I think you'll see, particularly over the next 90 days, some of the laws at the national level begin to pass," said Brett McGurk, senior director for Iraq and Afghanistan at the White House. Mr. McGurk said a law allowing former Ba'ath Party officials to return to government jobs will pass, and another law that would shift power away from the central government and toward provincial councils may as well. "The de-Ba'athification reform law is moving its way through the parliamentary process, which is very complicated," he said. "It's had its second reading. It needs one more. I think we'll see that law pass." The provincial powers law, Mr. McGurk said, faces some opposition from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and prominent cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Both men are Shi'ites who control blocs within the Iraqi parliament. A chief roadblock to national reconciliation is tension between Shi'ites and Sunnis. The more-populous Shi'ites constituted the political minority under former dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Arab whose Ba'ath Party dominated government and often mistreated Shi'ites. Shi'ites now hold the controlling portion of the central government and have been loath to make concessions to Sunnis. But a senior administration official predicted Mr. al-Maliki eventually will go along with the majority in the parliament on the provincial powers law, saying, "There is more of a consensus there on this issue than I had expected." And Sheik al-Sadr and his followers, the official said, are "becoming increasingly irrelevant." The president's surge of 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq over the past year has produced clear security improvements. Civilian deaths, which hit a high of more than 3,000 in December 2006, were down to a little more than 500 last month. Because of the dramatic security payoffs, criticism has shifted away from violence and toward the lack of quantifiable progress by Iraq's central government. Skeptics say that despite the security gains, the Iraqis have not capitalized on the "breathing space" created for them. The Bush administration has conceded that the political situation is not ideal. Mary Beth Long, the president's nominee for assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said last week that she would give the al-Maliki government a failing grade for its performance so far. "The national government chaired by Prime Minister Maliki has not performed in an exemplary manner by passing key legislative reform," she told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a confirmation hearing. President Bush gave a more upbeat assessment at his year-end press conference, pointing to informal sharing of oil revenues with provincial governments and progress on the budget. The president also indicated that the de-Ba'athification law might soon pass. "Are we satisfied with the progress in Baghdad? No. But to say nothing is happening is just simply not the case," he said. Now, the president's surge has ended, and U.S. troops are beginning to leave Iraq. By March, the U.S. military plans to be at pre-surge strength, with about 130,000 troops on the ground. At that time, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker will report to Congress on how Iraq is doing in meeting benchmarks. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in September that U.S. troops might draw down to 100,000 by the end of 2008, but has since retracted that number, saying that Gen. Petraeus will decide what happens beyond March. "We obviously want to sustain the gains that we have already made," Mr. Gates said at a Pentagon press conference last week. The United States runs the risk of seeing violence re-escalate as U.S. troops move out. "When the surge ends and we lose the ability to sit on certain areas with extra forces, we could see a significant rebound in violence," said Wayne White, a former Iraq analyst for the State Department, now at the Middle East Institute. And if no laws are passed by the Iraqi parliament by March, administration officials run the risk of facing a situation similar to last winter and spring, when Congress appeared poised to impose a deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops. One administration official said that public opinion polls are "irrelevant," but another acknowledged that public opinion on Iraq is the "center of gravity." "The public opinion of what we need to do in Iraq matters. Not that we look at the polls on this, but the Congress matters. The Congress has to provide funds," the official said. Despite these risks, the White House is more optimistic about Iraq than at any time in recent memory. "I am not Pollyannish about Iraq. We have had times in the past where it looked like we were on the right track," Mr. McGurk said. "This does feel different, though." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569743.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Los Angeles Times December 26, 2007 Pg. 1 U.S. Presses For Iraqi Self-Sufficiency Call it transitioning or weaning, it means the same thing: nudging officials to turn to the country's own central government. By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer SABA AL BOR, IRAQ — It started with a broken generator at a water pumping station. Local officials did what they usually do when an important piece of machinery needs repairs: They turned to the U.S. forces stationed in town. But this time, the answer was "No." The time had come for officials here to rely on the central government in Baghdad for such things. "It's a rather new concept, empowering local leaders to take charge of their leaders," said Maj. Randall Baucom of the 1st Brigade of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, as he recalled the June generator incident. "But unless these projects are vested at the national level, you can build schools but there are no teachers. You can build clinics but there are no nurses." U.S. officials call the process "transitioning." Others might call it weaning. Whatever the name, it means the same thing: nudging Iraqi officials to stop turning to U.S. forces for services and logistics such as fuel deliveries and clinic construction, and to begin working through the relevant ministries in Baghdad. That's a tall order. Distrust of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government runs deep, not only because of sectarian suspicions but because of its inability to pass major legislation and slowness in providing essential services such as electricity and potable water. Government ministries also are too slow to spend money on capital projects, according to the latest quarterly report of the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. Overall, ministries had spent only 36% of their capital budgets for 2007 as of Nov. 1, says the report, which came out this month. It cited lack of trained budget personnel, stringent and daunting anti-corruption laws and weaknesses in contracting procedures. Some things have improved, but in the fifth year of the war, wariness remains. "Iraqis know we don't really have a government. All we have is chess pieces," said Dr. Abbas Haider, who runs Saba al Bor's clinic. The threadbare concrete structure stayed open through more than a year of mortar and rocket bombardments that all but emptied this town. With the situation calmer now, thousands of people are pouring back into Saba al Bor, and Haider is under pressure to keep his clinic open around the clock. That means persuading the relevant ministries in Baghdad to provide doctors, nurses, equipment, medicines and security for the building. On two recent mornings, the courtyard outside was crowded with women carrying coughing children. One woman got a prescription for asthma medication for her daughter, only to be told the medicine wasn't available at the clinic's pharmacy and should be bought on the black market. "It'll cost twice as much!" she yelled angrily. Haider said that two years ago, U.S. troops routinely provided diesel, gasoline and batteries to his clinic and repaired ambulances. "But they've been withdrawing," he said, adding that he understood the need to use his own government for help but did not relish the idea. "I expected 100%," he said of the Americans. Those are the sorts of expectations U.S. officials need to reverse. With pressure in Washington to draw down U.S. troops and reduce spending on the war, they say change is inevitable. For one thing, money for U.S.-led projects won't last forever. A fund of nearly $20 billion for major reconstruction and relief projects, approved by Congress in 2003, is nearly depleted and won't be replenished. U.S. troops have at their disposal funds from the Commander's Emergency Response Program, which gives field commanders cash to cover small-scale projects such as road repairs, fuel purchases or school rehabilitations. But the program was never intended to be permanent, and the $770 million budgeted for Iraq for the 2008 fiscal year is 20% less than the amount approved in 2007, said Maj. Joseph Price, the program coordinator for Iraq. The situation has thrust U.S. officials into matchmaker roles as they try to accelerate the process of Iraqis taking charge. They orchestrate meetings between local and national leaders, urge them to talk, share a meal and trade phone numbers. One such meeting took place last month in Saba al Bor, when officials from several Baghdad ministries, including health and education, were brought to meet leaders and tour the town. The needs and the impatience of local officials quickly became clear. At the clinic, the head nurse cornered a Health Ministry inspector and bellowed at him to provide more staff and equipment. During a walk through town, residents griped about a lack of drinking water. Within weeks, both issues had been addressed because of the face-to-face encounters, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Nationwide, however, the needs are immense, and U.S. officials acknowledge that things move slowly when the central government is involved. Much of that is the legacy of Saddam Hussein's regime, which discouraged anyone but top-ranking Baath Party officials from making decisions. Provincial and local officials had no power to demand action by the national government and have had to learn to push for what they need. "One has to be pretty sympathetic. They're basically building up these patterns of doing business and building budgets and interacting with the central government from scratch," said a U.S. reconstruction official in northern Iraq, who asked not to be identified by name. Some local officials say sectarian interests in the Shiite-led government also slow progress. The Sunni headmaster at a school in Saba al Bor, Ali Aziz Sultan, said the Ministry of Education did not provide equal money or staff to schools in the Sunni area of town and in the Shiite districts. As of late November, there was only one school with six classrooms serving 500 pupils in Saba al Bor's Sunni area, Sultan said. U.S. troops stationed in the town agreed. Sectarian interests in some ministries "still aren't letting things happen," said Capt. Timothy Dugan of the 7th Cavalry, 1st Brigade Combat Team of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division. Until they set aside such feelings, "they're going to continue to have these problems," said Dugan, who for a year has watched Saba al Bor try to recover from its sectarian strife. The GAO report said sectarianism also was slowing the opening of public health centers in Baghdad. It said "a number" of centers have not opened in part because of "problems within the Ministry of Health, including a sectarian agenda that determined which" clinics would open. Steven Buckler, a U.S. reconstruction expert who works in Salahuddin province in the north, said security gains were helping local and provincial officials overcome obstacles. He said officials were less afraid of being recognized when they traveled to Baghdad or were seen in public, so they were becoming more assertive. "I'd say in about the last three months, we're seeing the Iraqi public officials standing up more and more in that independent way, to take charge of their own events," said Buckler, whose provincial reconstruction team is one of 25 across Iraq. Baucom traces Saba al Bor's transition to the broken generator, which he says was repaired with the national government's help. It took about three weeks to get the parts, longer than had U.S. forces stepped in. "We could have fixed it immediately. We stifled ourselves to get the local government to get the job done," he said. "But government takes time, and new government takes a lot of time." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569684.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Wall Street Journal December 26, 2007 Pg. 3 U.S. Officials Differ Over Iran Diplomats Credit Tehran For Improvement in Iraq, But Pentagon Is Reserved By Yochi J. Dreazen and Jay Solomon WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon and State Department, long divided over the conduct of the Iraq war and reconstruction there, have a new point of contention: Iran, and how much credit it deserves for recent security improvements in Iraq. The split reflects the lingering U.S. uncertainty about how to interpret a sharp decline in the number of attacks inside Iraq featuring a powerful armor-piercing bomb that American officials have long linked to Iran. Attacks have fallen by more than 50% in recent months, with a subsequent drop in U.S. military casualties. Within the State Department, an array of senior officials say they now believe that the Iranian government is taking steps to curb the flow of such advanced weaponry into Iraq and to pressure the country's largest Shiite militia, Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, to honor a shaky cease-fire with the U.S. Some of these officials say Washington should begin broader diplomatic talks with Tehran in response. At the Pentagon, however, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and several of his top aides say it is too soon to conclude that Tehran has made a strategic decision to change its behavior in Iraq. Many in the military believe that the flow of Iranian weaponry is continuing, even if in reduced amounts, and that Shiite militants are stockpiling armaments for future use. "We can see some clear signs that JAM is standing down," a senior military official in Baghdad said, using the Arabic acronym for Mr. Sadr's militia. "But once you get past the atmospherics, it's hard to see clear signs that they're standing down because Iran stopped giving them new toys to use against us." The dispute carries significant implications for future U.S. policy toward Iran. A number of State Department officials are pushing for a diplomatic outreach to Iran, arguing that Iranian security assistance in Iraq could be the basis for a broader improvement in the chilly relationship between Washington and Tehran. Pentagon officials, by contrast, are urging a go-slow approach, arguing that the U.S. should wait for clearer evidence that Iran has made a lasting decision to help stabilize Iraq before beginning broader talks with Tehran. Vali Nasr, an Iran expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan New York-based think tank, says that the U.S. and Iran now have enough shared interests in Iraq to make direct talks worthwhile. Mr. Nasr says that postwar Iraq has long posed a dilemma for Tehran. With more than 150,000 American troops stationed in Iraq, Iranian leaders may once have thought they needed to funnel weapons to Shiite militants inside Iraq to keep the U.S. preoccupied and stave off a possible U.S. strike on Iran, Mr. Nasr says. But as a Shiite-dominated country, Iran also has close ties to the Shiites who have held power in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion. That has convinced Iran's rulers that they need to take steps to pull Iraq back from the brink of outright collapse, shore up the embattled Iraqi central government and keep the country's competing Shiite militias from fighting each other for money and power, Mr. Nasr says. The differences between the Pentagon and the State Department over Iran have come into clear view in recent days. On Friday, Mr. Gates told reporters that he had "not yet" seen any persuasive evidence that Iran was trying to reduce the flow of weaponry into Iraq. A new Pentagon report about Iraq similarly concluded that there "was no identified decrease in Iranian training and funding of illegal Shia militias in Iraq." State Department officials have taken a very different tack. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told reporters in Baghdad on Sunday that there were "some indicators that the Iranians are using some influence to bring down violence from extremist Shia militias." That echoed similar comments by David Satterfield, the top State Department official on Iraq. The State Department's praising of Iran's recent activities in Iraq comes as the Bush administration attempts to recalibrate its policy toward Tehran following the release this month of a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate downgrading the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program. A number of U.S. officials acknowledged privately that the new intelligence estimate has undermined efforts to impose economic sanctions on Iran. But there is also a belief by some in the Bush administration that the intelligence estimate might provide an opening for the U.S. to engage more constructively with Iran over both its nuclear program and its activities in Iraq. "It may create an opening for them" to talk with us, a Bush administration official said of the intelligence estimate. He said the two governments could each use the report as a face-saving tool to explain any new diplomatic talks. Indeed, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noticeably toned down her rhetoric toward Iran following the release of the intelligence report. In a news conference last week, Ms. Rice said that the U.S. "doesn't have permanent enemies" and that she was "prepared to meet my [Iranian] counterpart anyplace and anywhere," provided Tehran suspends its uranium-enrichment activities. A growing number of outside analysts believe that because of the intelligence estimate, Washington should no longer make Iran's suspension of its nuclear program a precondition for broader talks. Several former U.S officials said they wouldn't be surprised if the State Department ultimately agreed to talks even without such a suspension, given similar policy reversals by the White House toward North Korea and Syria. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569736.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Boston Globe December 26, 2007 Sunnis Fighting Al Qaeda Must Be Rewarded, General Says Suicide attacks in Iraq kill 35, injure scores By Patrick Quinn, Associated Press YOUSSIFIYAH, Iraq - A top US commander warned yesterday that Sunnis who fight Al Qaeda in Iraq must be rewarded and recognized as legitimate members of Iraqi society - or else the hard-fought security gains of the past six months could be lost. But the Shi'ite-dominated government is deeply concerned about the Sunni tribal groups, made up of men who in the past also fought against them - not just the Americans. The warning from Major General Rick Lynch, the commander of US forces south of Baghdad, came as two separate suicide attacks killed at least 35 people around Iraq and injured scores of others. One of the bombings targeted a funeral procession for two members of a Sunni tribal group who local police said were accidentally killed by US forces in a dawn raid. Lynch has credited these groups for much of the improvement in security in the region he commands, an area about the size of West Virginia and stretching to the Iranian and Saudi Arabian borders. "The people say security is good now, but we need jobs. It's all about jobs and we have to create them," he said as he flew into patrol base Salie, just south of Baghdad. "We are in a tenuous situation. We need to give jobs to the citizens [groups] or they will go back to fighting." Lynch, who leads the Third Infantry Division, said that he had 26,000 members of the groups in the area he controls and that they have given US and Iraqi forces a key advantage in seeking to clear extremist-held pockets. They number about 70,000 countrywide, and are expected to grow by another 45,000 in coming months. The groups, along with a surge of US troops into Iraq and a decision by firebrand Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to stand down his Mahdi Army militia for six months, have contributed to a 60 percent drop in violence around Iraq since June. The US military now funds the groups, known as Awakening Councils, Concerned Citizens and other names. But they expect to be rewarded for their efforts with jobs, either in the Iraqi security forces or elsewhere. "They want to be recognized as legitimate members of society and that has to happen," Lynch said as he flew over an area south of Baghdad once known as the "triangle of death." According to Lynch, the groups helped reduce violence in his area, a former Sunni insurgent hotbed, by 75 percent in the past six months. "The government of Iraq has to take advantage of this opportunity," by focusing on economic development and governance, he said. In his area, Lynch is trying to bring them all under the control of the Iraqi Army. "We do want the good citizens members, we do want to them to join us," said Iraqi Army Captain Hamdan Nasir. But he added that some in the area still consider his troops "dangerous." US officials have said there are plans to absorb about 20,000 of the men into the security forces, and America plans to spend $155 million to help create new jobs and provide vocational training. The Iraqi government has pledged to match that amount. "I see great progress because citizens are taking things into their own hands. Now we have to connect the dots," Lynch said. "It's tenuous. This could still go backward." He added that a decision to build patrol bases in population centers south of Baghdad also helped because it has convinced people living there that the United States will back up local forces. At patrol base Copper, just south of the capital, one of Lynch's captains said it was the main motivation behind many of the groups. "Families were forced out by Al Qaeda in Iraq. . . . They want to come back and form concerned local citizens groups and push Al Qaeda out," said Captain George Morris of Boston. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569746.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Los Angeles Times December 26, 2007 24 Iraqis Killed In Two Suicide Attacks Bombings in Baiji and Baqubah target security forces and volunteers. Turkey launches more airstrikes in the north. By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer BAGHDAD — Two suicide bombings killed at least 24 people and injured up to 100 others north of Baghdad on Tuesday, the latest attacks to take aim at Iraqi security forces and local volunteers credited with helping to bring about a major drop in violence in former insurgent strongholds. The attacks in Baiji and Baqubah shattered a period of relative calm as Muslims marked the four-day Eid al-Adha festival, which began last Wednesday for Sunnis and Friday for Shiites. For the first time, the government extended the holiday until Tuesday, when the country's tiny Christian minority celebrated Christmas. Insurgents have increasingly turned their guns on volunteers, many of whom once fought alongside them. Northern Iraq has suffered many such attacks, as insurgents pushed out of Baghdad and Anbar province seek to establish footholds in the region. Residents in Baqubah said leaflets had been circulated urging them to kill volunteers. In Tuesday's worst attack, a suicide bomber blew up a truck at a checkpoint in Baiji, site of a major oil refinery, 125 miles north of the capital. Police and hospital officials said at least 25 people were killed and 75 injured. The U.S. military put the toll at 20 dead and 80 injured. The blast, on a road leading to an oil industry housing complex, ignited cooking gas being sold nearby, police said. A series of secondary explosions collapsed walls, shattered windows and scattered burning canister pieces for hundreds of yards. Iraqi security force members and local volunteers who were manning the checkpoint were among the dead. But most of the victims were civilians, including women and children who had gathered to buy the fuel, hospital officials said. "What kind of Islam is this?" asked Ali Arkan, who was asleep in his bed when a large piece of glass smashed into his shoulder. "Surely this is not the Islam that we know. These days we are living are very holy days for Muslims and Christians. . . . Those people have no respect and no relationship with either Christianity or Islam." He spoke by phone from a hospital bed in Tikrit, where he was taken after the blast. Khalaf Muhsin had just finished breakfast with his family when the explosion sent pieces of brick, shards of glass and chunks of concrete through his house. He lashed out at the assailants who targeted the security forces and local volunteers. "Those are our sons who volunteered to protect us," he said. "From where have these hands come to kill us?" The Interior Ministry in Baghdad fired the Baiji police chief and declared an immediate curfew in the city. In Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his waist during a funeral procession for a member of the volunteer force and his adult son. At least four people were killed and 21 injured, they said. Police and two members of the volunteer force, known locally as the Awakening, said U.S. troops had mistaken the father and son for Sunni Muslim militants and shot them the previous night. "It was nighttime," said an Awakening street commander, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Khalid. "One of them was carrying a weapon, but he was not wearing a sash to distinguish him as with the Awakening." The U.S. military said that it had killed two "unknown enemy," one of whom turned out to be a member of the Awakening group, which American forces also call "concerned local citizens." Four other people were detained during the raid, the military said in a statement. Such killings by U.S. troops threaten to undermine cooperation between American forces and local tribesmen, a linchpin of the U.S. strategy to defeat Sunni and Shiite extremists in Iraq. Last week, Sunni tribesmen in Anbar held a brief demonstration in the provincial capital, Ramadi, to protest the stabbing death of an Iraqi policeman during a fight with a U.S. Marine. The Shiite-led central government, which has been slower to embrace the strategy of making use of the volunteers, worries that insurgents have infiltrated the ad hoc force, which has grown to more than 70,000 in a matter of months. Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim Mifarji warned at a recent news briefing that the government would not tolerate a "third force." U.S. officials have said there are plans to absorb about 20% of the volunteers into the Iraqi police and army. They plan to spend $155 million to help create jobs and provide vocational training for the rest, and they say the Iraqi government has pledged to match that amount. In other developments, Turkey unleashed airstrikes against Turkish Kurd separatist guerrillas in northern Iraq for the third consecutive day. The Turkish warplanes flew less than two miles into Iraqi airspace and bombed an area with no civilian population, according to Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish regional government. Iraqi officials had no information on possible casualties among militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has fought the Turkish government since 1984 for autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish minority. A similar military raid Dec. 16 killed at least one civilian, injured several others and caused hundreds to flee their homes. Elsewhere, U.S.-led forces killed 13 suspected insurgents and detained 27 in Baghdad and north of the capital in the preceding 48 hours, the military said in a statement. Times staff writer Raheem Salman in Baghdad and special correspondents in Baghdad, Irbil, Samarra and Tikrit contributed to this report. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569722.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Post December 26, 2007 Pg. 14 Two Bombings Kill At Least 26 In N. Iraq Officials Call for Increase in Security Forces By Joshua Partlow, Washington Post Foreign Service BAGHDAD, Dec. 25 -- Two bombs ripped through a pair of cities north of Baghdad on Tuesday, causing some of the worst carnage in the country in recent weeks and revealing that, despite the relative calm that has taken hold, insurgent groups remain capable of carrying out devastating attacks. The morning bombs were detonated in Baiji, an oil refinery town, and Baqubah, a provincial capital where the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq has lost some of its earlier dominance. The attacks, which killed at least 26 people and wounded as many as 100, prompted calls by officials for an increase in Iraqi soldiers and police in the northern provinces to quell the violence. In Baqubah, tensions were particularly high because of allegations by Iraqis that, hours before the bombing there, U.S. forces had executed two members of an American-backed volunteer force. The U.S. military denied the accusations. The bombing in Baiji, near a checkpoint outside a two-story housing complex for oil industry employees, was the more devastating of the two attacks Tuesday. The complex was guarded by members of the Facilities Protection Service, part of the Interior Ministry, and members of the local Sunni volunteer security force, one of the many groups increasingly targeted by insurgents after joining forces with the U.S. military. Police and officials in Salahuddin province said a small car loaded with explosives detonated about 9:30 a.m. outside the checkpoint. "This is one of our worst attacks," said Hussein Ahmed Mahjoub, the mayor of Baiji. The bombing killed at least 22 people, and Mahjoub said most of the victims "were civilians, including women and children." The second blast occurred about 11 a.m. in western Baqubah, in Diyala province. A suicide bomber blew up a vehicle amid a crowd of protesters following a funeral, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. That bombing killed at least four people and wounded 19 others, said Maj. Shawn Garcia, a U.S. military spokesman in Diyala. The police chief in the province said more than 20 people were wounded. According to Iraqi officials and residents of Baqubah, the funeral was for two members of the city's Sunni volunteer force, former members of an insurgent group who had turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and allied themselves with the U.S. military. Despite that alliance, however, relatives and residents blamed the U.S. military for the two men's deaths. The men were identified as Uday Hassan Hameed, 27, and Hadi Jasim Rasheed, 60, according to Haji Basim al-Bayiati, a member of the volunteer force. A Washington Post special correspondent who arrived at the scene after 5 a.m. took photos of the two corpses. The hands of both men were bound with plastic handcuffs, and the younger man was wearing an orange reflective vest on which the word "security" was written in English. Several men at the scene said they believed the two had been captured, handcuffed and then shot. Maj. Garcia said that American soldiers did kill two individuals during a 3 a.m. operation in Baqubah but that the soldiers fired only after taking fire themselves and later found the two dead individuals to be armed. In a statement, the U.S. military later confirmed that one of the dead was a member of the volunteer force, known as Concerned Local Citizens. But the statement did not identify the dead men by name. Nazar Muhammad Hassan, 32, the brother of Uday Hameed, said his brother was on duty when he was killed by U.S. soldiers, wearing the vest given to him by the American military to identify himself as a security volunteer. When Nazar Hassan arrived at the morgue, he opened the body bag of his brother. "He was still wearing the vest around his chest, even though it was stained with blood. The vest did not protect him from the American's bullets," he said. Angered by the killings, a crowd of more than 60 armed men, many wearing their identification as security volunteers, began a procession to bury the bodies, he said. At one point, members of the procession were chanting: "No God but Allah. America is the enemy of Allah," he recalled. "We are condemning the American criminal act of killing Hadi Jasim Rasheed and Uday Hassan Hameed. . . . They are innocent," one banner read. "We are demanding the occupier to leave immediately." As the men were carrying the coffins, the suicide car bomber attacked, several people said. The incident could have damaging repercussions for the U.S. military if large numbers of security volunteers develop animosity toward the Americans. Both American and Iraqi officials cite the ascendance of the volunteers as a key factor in prying al-Qaeda in Iraq's grip off of Baqubah and in reducing violence across the province in recent months. Nazar Hassan said he, for one, was done helping the Americans. "We have walked all this way with the Americans to kill al-Qaeda and to kick them out of here, and this is how they repay us?" he said. "And now, from this moment, I will stop fighting al-Qaeda. I will join al-Qaeda or any other side that will attack the American forces." In Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, local officials demanded after the explosions that the central government provide more forces to combat insurgents. Mahjoub, the mayor of Baiji, said his city had about 700 to 800 police officers to protect a population of 160,000. "The police force here is too small, and they are poorly supplied," he said. In Diyala, officials said they wanted another Iraqi army division to augment the 5th Division, which is currently in the province. "Several times we have demanded that the force we have in Baqubah is not sufficient to control all these areas," said Ibrahim Majilan, the provincial council leader in Diyala. Despite the recent attacks -- and a brazen abduction near Baqubah on Monday -- officials in both provinces said overall security has improved in the past year. "Six months ago it was total confusion and it has started to improve," said Aouf Rahoumi Majid, the deputy governor of Diyala province. "We think that now the al-Qaeda organization is only using car bombs and explosives, rather than direct confrontations, because most of them have now fled." But he cautioned: "This type of battle could last for months if not years, because such a battle cannot be decisively won." Special correspondents Saad al-Izzi, Naseer Nouri and K.I. Ibrahim in Baghdad and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569843.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Daily News December 26, 2007 Video Shows Car Carrying 6 Al Qaeda Leaders Blown Up By U.S. Helicopter By Tamer el-Ghobashy, Daily News Staff Writer A grainy videotape released Tuesday shows a carload of important Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq being blown up by missiles from a U.S. Army chopper, military officials said. At least one of the dead operatives was a "high-value" target linked to suicide bomb attacks, including the car bombing of the Australian Embassy in Baghdad, an Army spokesman told FoxNews.com. Of the six men killed in the Sunday attack, one was "believed to be an Al Qaeda cell leader known to facilitate attacks and orchestrate suicide bomb attacks," Maj. Alayne Conway of the 3rd Infantry Division told Fox. Conway did not release the insurgent's name but said he was arrested Nov. 11 and later released. It is believed he had conducted two attacks on coalition forces, including one on Thanksgiving, Conway said. The black-and-white 31-second video was shot from the sky and shows a small black sedan idling before it was hit by Hellfire missiles shot from an Apache helicopter. Military officials told Fox that a tip from local Iraqis put the operation in motion. "Locals gave [us] tips reporting his location and movement," Conway said. "Both the 2nd and 3rd brigades of the 3rd Infantry Division quickly worked together to confirm the precise location of the terrorists." Maj. Dave Fivecoat, operations officer for the 3rd Infantry Division, told Fox the "engagement is an example of two surge brigades sharing information faster than the insurgents can react." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569698.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times December 26, 2007 Turkey Says Its Raids In Iraq Killed 150 Rebels By Sebnem Arsu and Stephen Farrell ISTANBUL — Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq have killed more than 150 rebels and hit more than 200 targets in recent days, the Turkish military said Tuesday, countering Kurdish claims that only a handful of people were killed in the attacks. The air raids, on Dec. 16 and 22, were the first large-scale assaults on Iraqi territory since the Turkish Parliament approved cross-border operations in mid-October against hide-outs of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, known by its Kurdish initials P.K.K. According to a statement by the Turkish Army, Turkish fighter planes hit 22 targets in the Metina, Zap, Avashin and Hakurk regions in Iraq on Dec. 16, after intelligence confirmed a rebel presence at the sites. Eleven locations around the Qandil Mountains, where the P.K.K.’s central command is based, were also heavily damaged, including several training bases, antiaircraft platforms, warehouses and weapons stored in hide-outs, the army said. The area was struck again on Dec. 22, the army said. The military also issued black-and-white aerial video and still photographs that it said showed targets before and after the bombings. Turkey’s assertions came as Kurdish and American officials said that Turkish jets crossed into Iraqi airspace again on Tuesday, in what American officials said was the fourth such flight over the border in two weeks. Turkish officials did not comment on claims that it flew into Iraq on Tuesday, but confirmed that it had carried out an air and ground operation early Tuesday on its side of the border in southeastern Turkey. An army statement said five rebels were killed, including two women, part of a rebel group preparing an attack. The Turkish government accuses the P.K.K. of launching cross-border attacks on Turkish soil from remote bases in the semiautonomous region of northern Iraq, which is administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government. The conflict has placed the United States in a delicate situation. American officials have supported Turkey’s right to self-defense against the P.K.K., which both Turkey and the United States consider a terrorist organization. It has also provided intelligence to Turkey, a crucial American ally in the American war effort in Iraq. But the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq are also important partners for the United States. The Kurdish region is Iraq’s most stable, and both the Kurdish and Iraqi governments have objected to the Turkish attacks, while refusing to take action themselves against the militants. American officials have urged Turkey not to respond in a way that would destabilize Iraq. The Kurds have consistently denied suffering heavy P.K.K. casualties, saying the airstrikes caused little damage in deserted mountainous areas. Kurdish news Web sites have quoted a P.K.K. official saying that only five of the group’s fighters had been killed in all of the recent Turkish attacks, and five or six wounded, but provided no evidence to support the claim. Kurdish politicians accuse the Turks of violating their sovereignty and inflicting civilian casualties. Nawzad Hadi, the governor of Hawler, a town just a few miles inside the Iraqi border, said the Dec. 16 attack displaced 381 families and killed four civilians. The Turkish military rejects such claims as P.K.K. propaganda. “It is clear that such baseless claims encouraging terror, the common enemy of humanity, can only harm those who fabricate them,” the Turkish Army statement said. It insisted that 150 to 175 rebels were killed in unsheltered locations and in hide-outs, and that a large number of wounded were taken to nearby hospitals in Erbil, Raniya, Kaladiza and Choman. The Kurds also accuse the Turks of exaggerating. Dr. Sherko Abdullah, the director general of hospitals in Sulaimaniya, said, “Until now, no wounded P.K.K. have been brought to us, only civilians from the bombarded villages who went to Hawler because it is much closer than Sulaimaniya for them.” However the Kurdish authorities have sealed off the mountainous border region in recent weeks, making it impossible to independently verify the claims and counterclaims. The P.K.K is also known to have its own hospitals, warehouses and graveyards in the Qandil Mountains where it can treat, sustain and bury its fighters away from the public eye. According to Turkey’s semiofficial Anatolian News Agency, Turkish surveillance planes were spotted early Tuesday over Cukurca in the Hakkari Province of Turkey’s far southeast, along the border with Iraq, and above the Kanimasi region in northern Iraq. Shelling was also heard, the agency reported. Brig. Hussein Tamar, an Iraqi border guard official in Dahuk Province, said that the planes struck an area that had been evacuated earlier this month, and that no one was hurt. In Baghdad, the American military confirmed that Turkish aircraft entered Iraqi airspace on Tuesday — after it rejected Kurdish claims of a Turkish attack on Sunday — but said it could not confirm whether bombs were dropped. Rear Adm. Greg Smith, director of communications for the American-led forces in Iraq, said Turkey had notified American officials in advance of the latest raid, as is customary, telling them it was a reconnaissance flight, not a strike mission. “They tell us where they are going and what their mission is,” he said. “The first three missions were all identified as strike missions. They said their intentions were to go and drop ordnance and they told us that at the time.” “On this occasion they told us it was a reconnaissance mission,” he continued. However, he confirmed that while the Americans monitor all such Turkish flights, they would not necessarily know if, having crossed the border, the Turkish pilots changed their mission from reconnaissance to bombing. Sebnem Arsu reported from Istanbul, and Stephen Farrell from Baghdad. Reporting was contributed by Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Sulaimaniya, Baquba, Kirkuk and Mosul, and by Khalid al-Ansary, Balen Y. Younis and Mudhafer al-Husaini from Baghdad. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569844.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Las Vegas Review-Journal December 25, 2007 Berkley Upbeat About Progress In Iraq Las Vegas Democrat acknowledges troop 'surge' has paid off By Steve Tetreault, Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Visiting Iraq for the first time, Rep. Shelley Berkley said Monday the U.S. military and Iraqi police have made more progress than she expected in quelling violence that had beset portions of the country. Berkley delivered a generally upbeat report on Iraq in the midst of a weeklong trip to the Middle East with a half-dozen other members of Congress. The Las Vegas Democrat has been a war critic and had disapproved of the troop "surge" when President Bush announced it early this year on the recommendation of Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. But on Monday she acknowledged the infusion of 28,500 U.S. soldiers had a positive impact. The visiting delegation was given a tour of Ramadi, a city about 70 miles west of Baghdad that largely has been cleansed of insurgents. "This is a difference from what I anticipated," Berkley said. "I did not anticipate the progress and the extraordinary morale of our troops. "They believe they are turning the corner," Berkley said. "Nobody is doing a victory lap at this point, but the reality is the military has done an extraordinary job." Berkley's praise extended to the Iraqi police who are assisting U.S. troops in patrolling neighborhoods. "For years we had heard they weren't ready to take over, but at this point there is such a significant difference," Berkley said. "The Iraqis are truly stepping up to the plate and that accounts for the lowering of violence. "Wherever you go, Iraqis and our American servicemen are telling us that the difference is dramatic," Berkley said. "The violence is down 60 percent from last year." Despite apparent progress, Iraq remains a "terrible" place still in the midst of war, Berkley emphasized. "I was wearing 40 pounds worth of armor," she said. "It is not a walk in the park on a Sunday afternoon." At a dinner Sunday night, Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker told the House members it may take another year or longer to determine if Iraq has truly stabilized. "The general and Ambassador Crocker believe the next 19 months would give us a good idea of the situation," Berkley said. "Whether they have really turned the corner, or whether this is just the insurgency biding its time," waiting for the United States to leave before resuming its activities. The House lawmakers, led by Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., Armed Services Committee chairman, are spending Christmas in Iraq. Berkley said she planned to have lunch with two sets of Nevada soldiers. The lawmakers then plan to fly to Turkey to meet with President Abdullah Gul before returning to the United States this weekend. Berkley said she could not say how this week's trip would affect her position on the war. She said Congress is unlikely to take any votes before Petraeus delivers a progress report in March. Berkley said Monday that military progress will be only part of what Congress considers in debating the U.S. commitment to Iraq. Congressional votes also will consider whether Iraqi leaders have made progress in building a consensus for how post-war Iraq will be governed among the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurdish groups. And, Berkley said, "nobody is putting any hard money on that." In the year coming to an end, Berkley voted against the surge and generally in favor of speeding redeployment of U.S. troops. Berkley voted in November for a bill that would have tied $50 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to a troop redeployment beginning within 30 days and continuing to completion by Dec. 15, 2008. The anti-war effort failed in the Senate. In October, Berkley voted to require Bush to report to Congress every 90 days on his planning for withdrawing U.S. forces, a strategy bill sponsors said was aimed at pressuring the president. In May, the Nevadan voted for a bill that released a portion of Bush's funding request for Iraq and withheld the remainder until generals delivered a progress report on the surge. But on what was considered the most stringent anti-war measure of the year, Berkley voted in May against a bill that called for U.S. withdrawals to begin within 90 days, and to be completed in 180 days. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569749.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Los Angeles Times December 26, 2007 Muslims Join Christians For Mass A Chaldean Catholic church in Baghdad is packed for the Christmas service. By Usama Redha and Kimi Yoshino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers BAGHDAD — Outside Mar Eliya church, not much had changed since last Christmas: Concrete blocks still surround the building and guards check the IDs of those entering. But inside, hundreds of Iraqi worshipers -- Christians and Muslims -- were crammed into the overflowing Chaldean Catholic church Tuesday, celebrating the holiday and the fact that they felt safe enough to venture out of their homes to attend Christmas Mass. "Last year was the year of misery, desperation and sadness," said Samar Jorge Gorges, 33. "But this year is better. So many people attend the Mass and you can see that their praying was joyful." Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, the patriarch of Iraq's ancient Chaldean Church who last month was elevated by Pope Benedict XVI to become Iraq's first Roman Catholic cardinal, said Mass, appealing for peace and unity across the war-scarred country. "Iraq is like a garden and its beauty is the variety of its flowers and scent," Delly said during the service. Among those attending were several Shiite Muslim sheiks, including Raad Tamimi, who said they had come "in solidarity with our Christian brothers . . . to plant the seed of love again in the new Iraq." Tamimi, a tribal leader, was excited to shake the cardinal's hand and asked that a photo be taken with his cellphone. Delly has encouraged Iraq's displaced Christians to return home to help rebuild the country. Although some have done so, he acknowledged that many are still afraid. "Some people have started to come back, but they are still asking for stability and security," he said. "When this has been spread, when peace and forgiveness will be established, then everyone will return." He said he was encouraged by a recent visit to the Dora neighborhood, where he attended the reopening of St. John the Baptist Church, which had been abandoned and looted. "It was our brothers the Muslims that encouraged us to open the church . . . and helped us raise the Christ over the church again," Delly said. The south Baghdad neighborhood was once a vibrant mix of Sunni Muslims, Shiites and Christians. But most Shiites were driven out last year by violence. This year, Sunni militants gave the Christian population the choice of converting, paying a tax or leaving. Most chose to leave. But Delly said a few have started to return, encouraged by a downturn in violence. Jameel Hamouda, 55, who attended the Christmas services, said four of his family members had left Iraq, but that he was hopeful they would return. "This is the first time the Muslim figures like sheiks and Shiite clerics attended the Mass," Hamouda said. "I feel happy and my soul filled with peace. God willing, there will be a union." On American military bases around Baghdad, troops celebrated Christmas with a cautious view. "There's a tremendous amount of progress on the ground," said Army Brig. Gen. James Huggins, deputy commander of the 3rd Infantry Division in charge of operations in southern Iraq. "There's a lot of momentum. It's just that we've got to take a few pockets and take it to the insurgents a bit more. . . . We've got a pretty tough mission ahead of us. We're going to need 100%." Touring five camps Tuesday -- ranging from large bases with several hundred soldiers to abandoned homes converted into small outposts -- Huggins played the role of Santa Claus. Instead of a sleigh, he hopped into and out of a Black Hawk helicopter. And instead of red knapsacks, his assistants toted camouflage backpacks filled with token gifts, such as small laser lights and international calling cards. At each stop, he reminded soldiers to call home, gave them a pep talk -- "It really is an investment in our future" -- and thanked them "for everything you're doing." Soldiers said they enjoyed better food than usual, including lobster tails, ham, turkey, prime rib and all the fixings. At Camp Hammer south of Baghdad, some planned to play football. Others were more interested in watching the Lakers basketball game. But what they really wanted was to go home. This Christmas with family missed put them one day closer to leaving, they said. "This is the last push of our deployment," said 1st Lt. Ruben Ramos, 27. "We're looking forward to getting home and seeing our families." Times staff writer Alexandra Zavis in Baghdad contributed to this report. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071226569817.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_3642662_AEb PjkQAAPwqR3KGjQUzYGgavOY&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071226aaindex_concat.html&cred=6PYOxMGecBN_BfvL EwTBBJH7ZO1WbN9wfxeFQOW8.8SSGd7jzV6xuYfh8.4MvqGJ#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Miami Herald December 25, 2007 Pg. 1 Troops, Iraqis Make The Best Of Christmas In Iraq, the ghosts of Christmas past haunted Iraqis and U.S. soldiers alike, but celebrations were as good as could be. By Jamie Gumbrecht and Laith Hammoudi, McClatchy News Service BAGHDAD -- In a war zone, Christmas sometimes is as much about compromise as it is about celebration. Yousif Akhsho Youmara, who owns an auto-body repair shop in Baghdad, remembers the glorious Christmases of his youth, when family members would stay the night and Muslim and Christian guests would drop by for days. ''Life used to be more cheerful. Not like now,'' he recalled. Still, Christmas this year will be better than it was last year, when Youmara was too frightened to decorate or attend church services. This year, he plans to take his wife and three children to a small neighborhood church and have some family and friends over. They have new clothes, freshly baked klaich -- a rosewater-and-date pastry -- and a decorated tree. It's modest, but an improvement. ''We started not to pay the same attention to Christmas,'' Youmara said. ``We started to feel shame for celebrating while neighbors and relatives were sad for losing their young men.'' At Patrol Base Warrior Keep in southwest Baghdad, all wish they were home. But at least there won't be any patrols outside the base for the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division, 1st Battalion, 187th regiment, which arrived in Iraq in October: Lt. Col. RJ Lillibridge, of Clarksville, Tenn., didn't want to risk having to deliver bad news to families on the holiday. So instead of patrolling, the soldiers are staying on base, playing Halo video game tournaments, waiting in lines for phones and computers to contact home, and sleeping in past breakfast or even lunch. Around 11 a.m. on Christmas Eve, a four-piece brass band showed up for a holiday concert. When the music roused the sleeping soldiers, the band moved upstairs to entertain the six-member roof guard and let the others rest. Iraqi Christians and U.S. soldiers will celebrate Christmas in similar ways: with specially prepared meals, small church services and thoughts of family and friends far away. In this war-torn country, neither the Iraqis nor the U.S. soldiers are celebrating the way they really want to. Violence is way down from last Christmas. But there's hardly a sense of joy. Too many people are missing. Iraq once was home to about 800,000 Christians -- about 3 percent of the population -- but many now have fled to other countries. The Christian archbishop of Basra urged his followers in the southern city to pray on Christmas bu |
