Iraq analysis

[Al-khiyal]

KARBALA, Iraq -- The governing council of Karbala province said Monday it was suspending contact with U.S. forces over the behavior of soldiers during a visit to the governor's office two days ago.

The decision followed similar moves by leaders of Maysan and Basra provinces, which have frozen ties with British forces in southern Iraq....

[/b]Iraqi province cuts off U.S. forces[/b]

[Al-khiyal]

AN UNARMED Iraqi shot dead in one of the most controversial incidents of the Iraq war is suspected to have been the victim of an execution by British soldiers angry at the death of their sergeant....

British troops executed unarmed Iraqi

British sergeant 'killed in bomb ambush by rogue Iraqi police'

WASHINGTON - Ibrahim al-Jaafari's nomination to continue for four more years as Iraq's prime minister is already in trouble, according to Iraqi sources.

"I doubt he will be confirmed," said a member of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shia political coalition that last week nominated al-Jaafari.

The nomination by the UIA, the largest political group in the new Iraqi Council of Representatives, or parliament, was supposed to make confirmation a formality.

But al-Jaafari is unpopular with the Kurds, the second largest bloc in the council. And his most powerful backer, anti-American Shia militant Muqtada al-Sadr, is anathema to another bloc, led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, which the Kurds insist must be part of the new government.

At the same time, al-Jaafari is having trouble holding together his own coalition, which nominated him by a majority of just one vote. One party in the Shia bloc - the Virtue Party, which voted against him - is publicly threatening to pull out. At the same time, sources in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which fielded the losing candidate, Adel Abdul Mahdi, said they have not given up hope that Abdul Mahdi will get the job.


Jaafari is unlikely to retain post of Iraqi PM

Influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada As-Sadr rejects constitution

Shi’ite party leader rejects As-Sadr’s rejection of the constitution

Moqtada As-Sadr meets with King Abdullah II of Jordan

RADIATION detectors in Britain recorded a fourfold increase in uranium levels in the atmosphere after the “shock and awe” bombing campaign against Iraq, according to a report.
Environmental scientists who uncovered the figures through freedom of information laws say it is evidence that depleted uranium from the shells was carried by wind currents to Britain.

Government officials, however, say the sharp rise in uranium detected by radiation monitors in Berkshire was a coincidence and probably came from local sources....

UK radiation jump blamed on Iraq shells

U.S. gives up on dialogue with Al-Moqawama in Al Anbar province: Pays $20 million to tribal leaders to set up 'tribal militias' - money is embezzled

[Al-khiyal]

Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani calls for rapid formation of Iraqi government


BAGHDAD, Iraq - The American ambassador to Iraq on Monday warned that the United States won't support a new Iraqi government that serves sectarian interests and told Iran that Washington won't tolerate Persian meddling, either.

In his bluntest remarks yet about the need for a national unity government in Iraq, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said that the United States is investing billions of dollars to rebuild the country, but added that "we are not going to invest the resources of the American people to build forces run by people who are sectarian."

He singled out the Iraqi interior and defense ministries, saying that both must have leaders "who are nonsectarian, broadly accepted and who are not tied to militias..."

U.S. ambassador warns Iraq about sectarianism, Iran's influence - sets course for collision between U.S. goals and those of Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani

[Al-khiyal]

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was mistaken when he said last week that the U.S. military had stopped the controversial practice of paying to plant stories in the Iraqi news media, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.

Bryan Whitman, a senior spokesman, said Rumsfeld had been incorrect in saying during an TV interview Friday that the practice had been halted in the wake of negative publicity in the United States. Rumsfeld made a similar assertion during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations that same day.

Whitman noted that Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has said he saw no reason to stop the practice....

U.S. still planting stories in Iraq media


Mistaken / incorrect / lied

Take your pick.

[Al-khiyal]

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was mistaken when he said last week that the U.S. military had stopped the controversial practice of paying to plant stories in the Iraqi news media, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.

Bryan Whitman, a senior spokesman, said Rumsfeld had been incorrect in saying during an TV interview Friday that the practice had been halted in the wake of negative publicity in the United States. Rumsfeld made a similar assertion during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations that same day.

Whitman noted that Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has said he saw no reason to stop the practice....

U.S. still planting stories in Iraq media

[Al-khiyal]

The US is "aware" of torture taking place in Iraqi prisons, according to the outgoing Maltese UN human rights chief in Iraq.

"Yes, torture is happening now, mainly in illegal detention places. Such centres are mostly being run by militia that have been absorbed by the police force," says John Pace, who retired last week as human rights chief for the UN assistance mission in Iraq.

In a frank interview with The Times, Dr Pace says photos and forensic records have proved that torture was rife inside detention centres. Though the process of release has been speeded up, there are an estimated 23,000 people in detention, of whom 80 to 90 per cent are innocent....

US 'aware' of Iraq torture

[Al-khiyal]

Iraqi police tied to death squads