Iraq analysis

[Al-khiyal]

WASHINGTON, May 23 — A Defense Department investigation of Pentagon-financed propaganda efforts in Iraq warns that paying Iraqi journalists to produce positive stories could damage American credibility and calls for an end to military payments to a group of Iraqi journalists in Baghdad, according to a summary of the investigation.

The review, by Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, was ordered after the disclosure last November that the military had paid the Lincoln Group, a Washington-based Pentagon contractor, to plant articles written by American soldiers in Iraqi publications, without disclosing the source of the articles. The contractor's work also included paying Iraqi journalists for favorable treatment.

Though the document does not mention the Lincoln Group, Admiral Van Buskirk concluded that the military should scrutinize contractors involved in the propaganda effort more closely "to ensure proper oversight is in place." He also faulted the military for failing to examine whether paying for placement for articles would "undermine the concept of a free press," in Iraq, according to the summary.

It was not clear on Tuesday whether the report would have any immediate effect on the military's actions in Iraq. In interviews this week, several Pentagon officials said the Lincoln Group and other contractors were still involved in placing propaganda messages in Iraqi publications and on television. Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a senior military spokesman in Iraq, said Tuesday that he could not comment on the report. William Dixon, a spokesman for the Lincoln Group, also declined to comment on Tuesday.....

Continue reading..... U.S. urged to stop paying Iraqi reporters

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Iraq’s newly appointed oil minister said on Tuesday that the central government should handle all contracts related to petroleum exploration and production, putting him on a potential collision course with the autonomous Kurdish region which has recently begun to develop its own oil resources.

Hussein al-Shahristani also said at a Baghdad news conference that the country hoped to pass an investment law soon to bring in foreign investment to upgrade the country’s battered oil infrastructure.

“Any oil production, exports or exploration should be handled by the [Baghdad] ministry of oil,” said Mr Shahristani, a member of the Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance, in one of his first statements since a national unity government was announced at the weekend.

He had earlier said that Iraq’s new government needed to get “national agreement” from regional oil officials on ambiguous articles in the constitution governing investment.

Under their own interpretation of the constitutional articles governing oil resources, the northern Kurdistan regional government signed an agreement in November with a Norwegian company to begin the first new drilling in post-invasion Iraq. Since then, a Canadian and a Turkish company have also began drilling in the north.

Mr Shahristani also emphasised the importance of foreign investment, in statements apparently aimed at international companies concerned that a new government with a heavy component of Shia Islamists and Sunni Arab nationalists might draft legislation that limits the kind of contracts they might sign.

“There is [a] need to pass an oil and gas law to guarantee the right conditions for international companies to help develop the Iraqi oil sector,” he said.

Iraqi officials have estimated that the country may need as much as $25bn (€20bn, £13bn) to restore and modernise an oil industry ravaged by pre-war sanctions, post-war looting and sabotage, administrative lethargy and corruption.

Until now, Iraq’s succession of transitional and interim governments has prevented the creation of a national oil policy, while production has remained stagnant at about 2.14m barrels a day in April, less than the pre-war peak of 2.5m.

Iraq faces clash with Kurds over oil deals

[Al-khiyal]

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2006 (AFP) - A US commander ordered a criminal investigation into allegations marines killed an Iraqi man in April in an area west of Baghdad, the US military said Wednesday.

Major General Richard Zilmer, the commander of the US forces in western Iraq, asked the Navy Criminal Investigative Service to investigate after Iraqis raised the incident with marine leaders on May 1, the military said.

"A preliminary investigation conducted by MNF-W (Multi-National Force-West) found sufficient information existed to recommend a criminal investigation into the incident," the military said in a statement.

It said several marines from the 5th Marine Regiment's 3rd Battalion were suspected of involvement in the incident and have been sent back to the United States pending the outcome of the investigation.

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The statement provided no details on the incident except to say that it occurred April 26 in the area of Hamanidiya, west of Baghdad.

A spokesman for the command said he could provide no other details because the matter was under investigation.

"I can say that the Marine Corps takes allegations of wrongdoing by marines seriously and is committed to thoroughly investigating such allegations," Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Salas said by email.

"Additionally, the Marine Corps prides itself on holding its members to the highest standards of accountability," he said.

"If the allegations are substantiated, the Marine Corps will pursue appropriate legal and administrative actions against those responsible," he said.

It is the latest in a flurry of probes into killings of civilians by US troops.

The most serious incident to date are allegations that marines shot and killed at least 15 civilians in the western town of Haditha in November and then claimed they were killed in a roadside explosion.

Representative John Murtha, a Democrat, charged recently that about 24 civilians -- not 15 -- were killed in "cold blood" at Haditha.

Duncan Hunter, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said last week that two investigations into the Haditha incident were expected to be completed next month.

They included the criminal probe and a separate investigation on how it was reported up the military chain of command.

The military also investigating a March 15 incident in the village of Al Bu Seifa, north of Baghdad near the town of Balad in which at least four civilians -- two women, a child and a man -- and as many as 11 civilians were killed.

The military said US troops looking for an Al-Qaeda suspect came under fire as they raided a house.

[Al-khiyal]

General Ahmed Dawod, deputy chief of Baghdad municipality's protection units, among at least 39 killed in Iraq

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....Sectarian displacements received much attention in the mainstream world media in April 2006, yet equally large-scale population displacements caused by multiple military operations across the country have been largely unreported....

Iraq: sectarian violence, military operations spark new displacement, as humanitarian access deteriorates

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Gunmen assassinate member of Mosul Governorate Council

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Hadi al-Amiri denies Badr Organization involved in death squads