Independent.co.uk
Prisoners are being summarily executed in the government's high-security detention centre in Baghdad. Robert Fisk reports
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Like all wars, the dark, untold stories of the Iraqi conflict drain from its shattered landscape like the filthy waters of the Tigris. And still the revelations come.
The Independent has learnt that secret executions are being carried out in the prisons run by Nouri al-Maliki's "democratic" government.
The hangings are carried out regularly – from a wooden gallows in a small, cramped cell – in Saddam Hussein's old intelligence headquarters at Kazimiyah. There is no public record of these killings in what is now called Baghdad's "high-security detention facility" but most of the victims – there have been hundreds since America introduced "democracy" to Iraq – are said to be insurgents, given the same summary justice they mete out to their own captives.
The secrets of Iraq's death chambers lie mostly hidden from foreign eyes but a few brave Western souls have come forward to tell of this prison horror. The accounts provide only a glimpse into the Iraqi story, at times tantalisingly cut short, at others gloomily predictable. Those who tell it are as depressed as they are filled with hopelessness.
"Most of the executions are of supposed insurgents of one kind or another," a Westerner who has seen the execution chamber at Kazimiyah told me. "But hanging isn't easy." As always, the devil is in the detail.
"There's a cell with a bar below the ceiling with a rope over it and a bench on which the victim stands with his hands tied," a former British official, told me last week. "I've been in the cell, though it was always empty. But not long before I visited, they'd taken this guy there to hang him. They made him stand on the bench, put the rope round his neck and pushed him off. But he jumped on to the floor. He could stand up. So they shortened the length of the rope and got him back on the bench and pushed him off again. It didn't work."
There's nothing new in savage executions in the Middle East – in the Lebanese city of Sidon 10 years ago, a policeman had to hang on to the legs of a condemned man to throttle him after he failed to die on the noose – but in Baghdad, cruel death seems a speciality.
"They started digging into the floor beneath the bench so that the guy would drop far enough to snap his neck," the official said. "They dug up the tiles and the cement underneath. But that didn't work. He could still stand up when they pushed him off the bench. So they just took him to a corner of the cell and shot him in the head."
The condemned prisoners in Kazimiyah, a Shia district of Baghdad, are said to include rapists and murderers as well as insurgents. One prisoner, a Chechen, managed to escape from the jail with another man after a gun was smuggled to them. They shot two guards dead. The authorities had to call in the Americans to help them recapture the two. The Americans killed one and shot the Chechen in the leg. He refused medical assistance so his wound went gangrenous. In the end, the Iraqis had to operate and took all the bones out of his leg. By the time he met one Western visitor to the prison, "he was walking around on crutches with his boneless right leg slung over his shoulder".
In many cases, it seems, the Iraqis neither keep nor release any record of the true names of their captives or of the hanged prisoners. For years the Americans – in charge of the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad – did not know the identity of their prisoners. Here, for example, is new testimony given to The Independent by a former Western official to the Anglo-US Iraq Survey Group, which searched for the infamous but mythical weapons of mass destruction: "We would go to the interrogation rooms at Abu Ghraib and ask for a particular prisoner. After about 40 minutes, the Americans brought in this hooded guy, shuffling along, shackled hands and feet.
"They sat him on a chair in front of us and took off his hood. He had a big beard. We asked where he received his education. He repeatedly said 'Mosul'. Then he said he'd left school at 14 – remember, this guy is supposed to be a missile scientist. We said: 'We know you've got a PhD and went to the Sorbonne – we'd like you to help us with information about Saddam's missile project'. But I said to myself : 'This guy doesn't know anything 'bout fucking missiles.' Then it turned out he had a different name from the man we'd asked for, he'd been picked up on the road by the Americans four months earlier, he didn't know why. So we said to the Americans: 'Wrong gentleman!' So they put the shackles on him and took him back to his cell and after 20 or 30 minutes, they'd bring someone else. We'd ask him where he went to school and he told us he had never been to school.
"Wrong person again. It was a complete farce. The incompetence of the US military was astounding, criminal. Eventually, of course, they found the right guy and brought him in and took his hood off. He was breathing heavily, overweight, pudgy, disoriented, a little bit scared."
On this occasion, the Americans had found the right man. The British and American investigators asked the guards to remove the man's shackles, which they did – but then they tied one of the man's legs to the floor. Yes, he had a PhD.
Again, the official's testimony: "We went through his history, what he'd worked on – he was obviously just a minor functionary in one of Saddam's missile programmes. Iraqi scientists didn't have the knowledge how to make nuclear missiles nor did they have the financial support necessary. It just remained in the dreams of Saddam."
The scientist-prisoner in Abu Ghraib miserably told his captors that he'd been arrested by the Americans after they'd knocked on his front door in Baghdad and found two Kalashnikov rifles a woman's hijab, verses from the Koran and, obviously of interest to his captors, "physics and missile textbooks on his bookshelves." But this supposedly valuable prisoner was never charged or previously interviewed even though he admitted he was a rocket scientist.
"I don't know what happened to him," the former official told me. "I tried to tell the UK and the US military that we've arrested this man but that he's got a wife, children, a family. I said that by locking up this one innocent person, you've got 50 men radicalised overnight. No, I don't know what happened to him."
For many of the investigators working for the Anglo-American authorities in Baghdad, the trial for the crime for which the Iraqi dictator was himself subsequently hanged was a fearful experience that ultimately ended in disgust. Through captured documents, they could see the dark, inner workings of Saddam's secret police. The idea of the Saddam trial was less to bring members of the former regime to justice than to show Iraqis how justice and the rule of law should operate.
"It was exhilarating to see Saddam being cross-examined," one of the court investigators said. "The low point was when he was executed. What drove me on was seeing how Saddam dealt with his victims – I was looking at a microcosm of all the deaths that had taken place in Iraq. But when he was executed, it was done in such a savage way."
Saddam Hussein was hanged in the same "secure" unit at Kazimiyah where Mr al-Maliki's people, in an echo of Saddamite Baathist terror, now hang their victims.
Iraq The death penalty
*The death penalty in Iraq was suspended after Saddam Hussein was deposed in 2003. It was reinstated by the interim government in August 2004.
*The United Nations, the European Union and international human rights organisations all spoke out against the reintroduction.
*At the time, the government claimed the death penalty was a necessary measure until the country had stabilised. Amnesty International claims that "the extent of violence in Iraq has increased rather than diminished, clearly indicating that the death penalty has not proved to be an effective deterrent."
*Saddam, left, his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar were hanged at the end of 2006 for their part in the killings of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail in 1982. Illicit videos of all three executions later became public. Saddam's body could be seen on a hospital trolley, his head twisted at 90 degrees. Barzan – Iraq's former intelligence chief –was decapitated by the noose. Officials said it was an accident.
*According to Amnesty, there were at least 33 executions reported in Iraq last year. About 200 people were estimated to have been sentenced to death.
independent.co.uk
jeudi 9 octobre 2008
Ordinary Kurds know that those who can afford expensive residences are in the pay of either Mossad or the CIA or MI6
In case you have missed this article in The Financial Times
A piece of England booms in Iraq
By Anna Fifield in Irbil
Published: September 30 2008 02:42
As the British housing market sputters, one English village is experiencing a phenomenal housing boom, in which prices have almost doubled in the past two years and are still climbing.
This English village – complete with cul-de-sacs lined with identical two-storey houses, garden gnomes on front lawns and Range Rovers in driveways – is not in the leafy home counties that border London or in a suddenly-trendy seaside setting. It is in Irbil, capital of the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan.
Those looking for some respite from western housing markets could do worse than investing their money in Irbil. Prices are soaring and it is completely untouched by the global credit crunch, thanks to its cash-only economy.
“There is an enormous amount of free money here being kept under people’s mattresses,” says Russell Jones, a British property investor who is one of the partners in the development of the English Village, a residential complex on the outskirts of the city.
Some people don’t want to live here, they just want a safe place to put their money,” he says. The semi-autonomous Kurdistan province is one of the safest and most stable areas in the country.
Iraqis from other regions have been flocking here, while a growing number of Kurdish expats are buying houses at home, encouraged by the number of European airlines flying to Irbil’s swish new airport.
Some families have bought several houses – one even bought 13 – as investments. Purchased from site plans two years ago, each five bedroom house cost $125,000. Now the going rate is $200,000, with some prime places fetching $230,000.
Those who actually live in their houses are revelling in the relative luxuries of the complex – such as a steady power supply and reliable sanitation system.
“It’s so new, it’s quiet and it has electricity 24 hours a day,” says Dler Abdullah, an accountant, whose family moved into the English Village two months ago, having paid $142,000 for the house early in the development. “You can’t get that in Irbil city,” he says in his new living room, decorated in pink.
“We moved from the city to a village,” adds his wife Gular, a Turkish-language teacher, laughing that their family appears to be going against the urban tide. Between them, four of their siblings also bought properties in the village.
While the village, populated by foreign business people, aid workers and well-heeled Kurds, offers British-style living, some trends do not translate, says Azzam Kasra, the project manager.
“These are English-style houses with roof tiles and open kitchens,” Mr Kasra says. “But they are not completely English – they have both eastern and western toilets and they don’t have fireplaces. Winter here is like spring in England.”
The $76m village, with 410 houses almost complete and the construction of a school and a five-storey shopping mall under way, is just one of an increasing number of huge construction projects in Irbil.
Nearby there is an Italian village in the making, complete with pastel pink, blue and yellow houses more commonly seen on the Italian Riviera, and further afield there are German and American villages.
Near the English village, the $300m Dream City development is taking shape. It will include about 1,200 houses, a mosque, schools, a shopping mall, tennis courts and a casino.
Unlike the foreign-themed villages, this development is Arab in style. “The idea is that this should be a cross between Beirut and Dubai,” says Amer Ibraheem, sales manager at Dream City, driving through the construction site, which features traditional Iraqi-style houses made of marble and granite, many sporting elaborate facades with columns. One, a villa with six bedrooms and a swimming pool, recently sold for $700,000.
But is there demand for so many new houses?
“I think so,” says Faez Hanoudi, the project manager, not entirely convincingly. “There is so much competition so the market has slowed down a little bit,” he adds.
Ordinary Kurds, who earn an average of about $1,500 a year, are struggling to keep up with the housing boom.
The cost of rented accommodation in Irbil has risen tenfold since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and now a house in even one of the more rundown areas of Irbil commands as much as $75,000.
Many Kurds are suspicious of those who can afford such palatial $700,000 residences.
“Everyone knows that these guys are in the pay of either Mossad or the CIA or MI6,” says one Irbil resident, referring to the Israeli, US and British spy agencies.
The Financial Times Limited 2008
A piece of England booms in Iraq
By Anna Fifield in Irbil
Published: September 30 2008 02:42
As the British housing market sputters, one English village is experiencing a phenomenal housing boom, in which prices have almost doubled in the past two years and are still climbing.
This English village – complete with cul-de-sacs lined with identical two-storey houses, garden gnomes on front lawns and Range Rovers in driveways – is not in the leafy home counties that border London or in a suddenly-trendy seaside setting. It is in Irbil, capital of the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan.
Those looking for some respite from western housing markets could do worse than investing their money in Irbil. Prices are soaring and it is completely untouched by the global credit crunch, thanks to its cash-only economy.
“There is an enormous amount of free money here being kept under people’s mattresses,” says Russell Jones, a British property investor who is one of the partners in the development of the English Village, a residential complex on the outskirts of the city.
Some people don’t want to live here, they just want a safe place to put their money,” he says. The semi-autonomous Kurdistan province is one of the safest and most stable areas in the country.
Iraqis from other regions have been flocking here, while a growing number of Kurdish expats are buying houses at home, encouraged by the number of European airlines flying to Irbil’s swish new airport.
Some families have bought several houses – one even bought 13 – as investments. Purchased from site plans two years ago, each five bedroom house cost $125,000. Now the going rate is $200,000, with some prime places fetching $230,000.
Those who actually live in their houses are revelling in the relative luxuries of the complex – such as a steady power supply and reliable sanitation system.
“It’s so new, it’s quiet and it has electricity 24 hours a day,” says Dler Abdullah, an accountant, whose family moved into the English Village two months ago, having paid $142,000 for the house early in the development. “You can’t get that in Irbil city,” he says in his new living room, decorated in pink.
“We moved from the city to a village,” adds his wife Gular, a Turkish-language teacher, laughing that their family appears to be going against the urban tide. Between them, four of their siblings also bought properties in the village.
While the village, populated by foreign business people, aid workers and well-heeled Kurds, offers British-style living, some trends do not translate, says Azzam Kasra, the project manager.
“These are English-style houses with roof tiles and open kitchens,” Mr Kasra says. “But they are not completely English – they have both eastern and western toilets and they don’t have fireplaces. Winter here is like spring in England.”
The $76m village, with 410 houses almost complete and the construction of a school and a five-storey shopping mall under way, is just one of an increasing number of huge construction projects in Irbil.
Nearby there is an Italian village in the making, complete with pastel pink, blue and yellow houses more commonly seen on the Italian Riviera, and further afield there are German and American villages.
Near the English village, the $300m Dream City development is taking shape. It will include about 1,200 houses, a mosque, schools, a shopping mall, tennis courts and a casino.
Unlike the foreign-themed villages, this development is Arab in style. “The idea is that this should be a cross between Beirut and Dubai,” says Amer Ibraheem, sales manager at Dream City, driving through the construction site, which features traditional Iraqi-style houses made of marble and granite, many sporting elaborate facades with columns. One, a villa with six bedrooms and a swimming pool, recently sold for $700,000.
But is there demand for so many new houses?
“I think so,” says Faez Hanoudi, the project manager, not entirely convincingly. “There is so much competition so the market has slowed down a little bit,” he adds.
Ordinary Kurds, who earn an average of about $1,500 a year, are struggling to keep up with the housing boom.
The cost of rented accommodation in Irbil has risen tenfold since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and now a house in even one of the more rundown areas of Irbil commands as much as $75,000.
Many Kurds are suspicious of those who can afford such palatial $700,000 residences.
“Everyone knows that these guys are in the pay of either Mossad or the CIA or MI6,” says one Irbil resident, referring to the Israeli, US and British spy agencies.
The Financial Times Limited 2008
Turkish Parliament approves to extend mandate for cross border operation
Hurriyet 2008-
The Turkish Parliament debated on the proposal to extend by another year the military’s authority to carry out operations in northern Iraq. The proposal was approved by a record majority of 511 to 18 votes. (UPDATED)
The parliament voted on a replacement to the current mandate that expires Oct. 17.
The proposal submmited by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said “the borders, the scope, the extent and timing (of a possible cross-border operation) would be determined by the government.”
The extension allows the Turkish army to carry out cross-border operations to pound the terror organization, PKK, both from the ground and air.
The voting came at a critical time in fight against terror as the PKK carried out the deadliest attack in a year, killing 17 soldiers and injuring 20 others.
The authority would be used only against pin-pointed targets, NTV quoted Wednesday Turkish President Abdullah Gul as saying.
On Thursday, the the Anti-Terror Higher Board would hold a critical meeting to discuss the various measures to be taken against the PKK, including an incursion into northern Iraq, where the organization has its bases, as well as a proposal for the formation of buffer zones between the two neighboring countries.
Erdogan urged all deputies of his Justice and Development Party to attend and vote in favor of the extension proposal.
The proposal is expected to be approved with a record vote.
OPPOSITION SLAMS GOV'T
The leftist opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) reiterated its support to the proposal. CHP deputy Sukru Elekdag, however, slammed the government and the local administration in northern Iraq.
The Turkish government "has weakness in fight against terror," he told ahead of voting, adding the ruling party is acting within the limits drawn by the United States.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Deniz Bolukbasi also criticized the government, saying it should take more concrete steps, such as implementing sanctions, on the local administration in northern Iraq under Massood Barzani.
The Turkish Parliament debated on the proposal to extend by another year the military’s authority to carry out operations in northern Iraq. The proposal was approved by a record majority of 511 to 18 votes. (UPDATED)
The parliament voted on a replacement to the current mandate that expires Oct. 17.
The proposal submmited by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said “the borders, the scope, the extent and timing (of a possible cross-border operation) would be determined by the government.”
The extension allows the Turkish army to carry out cross-border operations to pound the terror organization, PKK, both from the ground and air.
The voting came at a critical time in fight against terror as the PKK carried out the deadliest attack in a year, killing 17 soldiers and injuring 20 others.
The authority would be used only against pin-pointed targets, NTV quoted Wednesday Turkish President Abdullah Gul as saying.
On Thursday, the the Anti-Terror Higher Board would hold a critical meeting to discuss the various measures to be taken against the PKK, including an incursion into northern Iraq, where the organization has its bases, as well as a proposal for the formation of buffer zones between the two neighboring countries.
Erdogan urged all deputies of his Justice and Development Party to attend and vote in favor of the extension proposal.
The proposal is expected to be approved with a record vote.
OPPOSITION SLAMS GOV'T
The leftist opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) reiterated its support to the proposal. CHP deputy Sukru Elekdag, however, slammed the government and the local administration in northern Iraq.
The Turkish government "has weakness in fight against terror," he told ahead of voting, adding the ruling party is acting within the limits drawn by the United States.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Deniz Bolukbasi also criticized the government, saying it should take more concrete steps, such as implementing sanctions, on the local administration in northern Iraq under Massood Barzani.
mardi 7 octobre 2008
Turkey intensifies fight against terror, Iraq incursion possible
Turkey considers launching an incursion into northern Iraq to target the terror organization, and considers the proposed buffer zones between two neighboring countries as it intensifies to crush PKK. (UPDATED)http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10060424.asp?gid=244&sz=73396
"The sole target of a possible cross-border operation will be the terrorist organization," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told at his Justice and Development Party's (AKP) parliamentary group meeting.
Such an operation will be carried out "if need be, at the right time and under the right conditions with a view of obtaining the right result," Erdogan added.
Turkey has pledged to intensify a campaign to crush the outlawed PKK after Friday's attack, the deadliest against the military in a year.
Turkish war jets have been carrying out continuous operations inside Turkey as well as in northern Iraq after the attack left 17 soldiers killed and 20 others injured.
In the latest of these operations on Tuesday morning the military said its fighter jets attacked 21 PKK positions in Iraq's Avasin Baysan region and Turkish mountains bordering Iraq.
"IN SELF-DEFENSE POSITION"
Erdogan said a possible incursion would not target either Iraqi civilians or Iraq's unity and integrity, but underlined that his government was determined to protect itself.
"Turkey is in a position of self-defense when it comes to terrorism. Everyone should understand this," he added a day before parliament is set to vote on extending by one-year the government's mandate to order cross-border strikes.
The Turkish parliament is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to extend by another year the military’s authority to carry out operations in northern Iraq. The current mandate expires Oct. 17.
The Turkish army had launched an eight-day long cross-border operation in February and neutralized hundreds of PKK terrorists.
The leader of nationalist opposition party MHP proposed to create a buffer zone between Turkey and Iraq in order to prevent the infiltration of terrorists from the neighboring country.
WARNING IRAQI KURDS
The Turkish leaders also warned Iraqi Kurds to side with Turkey in combating PKK terrorists who use the autonomous north of Iraq as a springboard for attacks in Turkish territory.
"The best choice for the regional administration of northern Iraq is to cooperate with us against terrorist elements because the terrorist organization is a cause of regional unrest and tension," Erdogan said of the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.
"It is inevitable for those who cannot put a barrier between themselves and terrorism to be adversely affected by the struggle against terrorism," he added.
Turkey has long accused the Iraqi Kurds of tolerating the PKK on their territory where, it says, the militants enjoy support of the local administration and easily obtain weapons and explosives.
Iraqi authorities have repeatedly pledged to curb the PKK, but say the group takes refuge in mountainous regions to which access is difficult.
"The sole target of a possible cross-border operation will be the terrorist organization," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told at his Justice and Development Party's (AKP) parliamentary group meeting.
Such an operation will be carried out "if need be, at the right time and under the right conditions with a view of obtaining the right result," Erdogan added.
Turkey has pledged to intensify a campaign to crush the outlawed PKK after Friday's attack, the deadliest against the military in a year.
Turkish war jets have been carrying out continuous operations inside Turkey as well as in northern Iraq after the attack left 17 soldiers killed and 20 others injured.
In the latest of these operations on Tuesday morning the military said its fighter jets attacked 21 PKK positions in Iraq's Avasin Baysan region and Turkish mountains bordering Iraq.
"IN SELF-DEFENSE POSITION"
Erdogan said a possible incursion would not target either Iraqi civilians or Iraq's unity and integrity, but underlined that his government was determined to protect itself.
"Turkey is in a position of self-defense when it comes to terrorism. Everyone should understand this," he added a day before parliament is set to vote on extending by one-year the government's mandate to order cross-border strikes.
The Turkish parliament is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to extend by another year the military’s authority to carry out operations in northern Iraq. The current mandate expires Oct. 17.
The Turkish army had launched an eight-day long cross-border operation in February and neutralized hundreds of PKK terrorists.
The leader of nationalist opposition party MHP proposed to create a buffer zone between Turkey and Iraq in order to prevent the infiltration of terrorists from the neighboring country.
WARNING IRAQI KURDS
The Turkish leaders also warned Iraqi Kurds to side with Turkey in combating PKK terrorists who use the autonomous north of Iraq as a springboard for attacks in Turkish territory.
"The best choice for the regional administration of northern Iraq is to cooperate with us against terrorist elements because the terrorist organization is a cause of regional unrest and tension," Erdogan said of the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.
"It is inevitable for those who cannot put a barrier between themselves and terrorism to be adversely affected by the struggle against terrorism," he added.
Turkey has long accused the Iraqi Kurds of tolerating the PKK on their territory where, it says, the militants enjoy support of the local administration and easily obtain weapons and explosives.
Iraqi authorities have repeatedly pledged to curb the PKK, but say the group takes refuge in mountainous regions to which access is difficult.
EDWARD LEIGH, BRITISH MP VISITS CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ
Edward Leigh, a British Catholic MP, recently visited Christians in northern Iraq in mid-September, as part of a fact-finding mission jointly organised by the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) and the Jubilee Campaign.
Edward Leigh, a British Catholic MP, recently visited Christians in northern Iraq in mid-September, as part of a fact-finding mission jointly organised by the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) and the Jubilee Campaign.
The delegation also consisted of Emmanuel Yacoub, a representative of the ADM’s UK branch and Wilfred Wong, Researcher and Parliamentary Officer for the Jubilee Campaign. The visit’s objective was to examine firsthand the situation of Iraq’s Christians.
The delegation found a decimated Christian community under pressure and attack from many different sides. Over 700 Christians have been killed in Iraq since the 2003 US-led military intervention. They said that Iraq’s Christians have lost about half of their community since then. Thousands have fled anti-Christian violence, ending up as impoverished refugees in neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan.
Today there are only about 600,000 Christians left in Iraq. Over 95 per cent of Iraq’s Christians are AssyrianChaldeans, the descendants of the Assyrians of Old Testament times. They are Iraq’s indigenous people, with a continuous presence in that land for over 6,000 years.
The delegation found that Iraqi Christians face a wide range of threats. They have to deal with attacks from Islamic extremists, who want to drive them out of Iraq, kill them or force them to convert to Islam, attacks by insurgents who mistakenly view the Christians as close allies of the “Christian” West, abduction by kidnappers who think that the generally well educated Christians are more wealthy than other Iraqis and having large areas of their land and many of their houses misappropriated by neighbouring Kurds in northern Iraq in what appears to be a systematic attempt by the Kurds to take over Christian-owned land and drive them out of the Kurdish region of Iraq. At least 58 Christian villages have been partially or wholly misappropriated by the Kurds.
Edward Leigh MP, Emmanuel Yacoub and Wilfred Wong visited numerous Christian villages during their stay in northern Iraq and were told by many of the Christians how their land and houses and sometimes even their sources of water had been misappropriated by the Kurds. In every single case the Kurdish authorities failed to ensure that the misappropriated property was returned to the Christians. In some cases it has even been the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the ruling political party in the region, who have misappropriated Christian land.
For example the KDP office at the Christian village of Kany Masy was built on Christian-owned land without the owner’s permission.
The delegation found that in the area of northern Iraq under Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) control an environment of impunity prevails, where Christian-owned property is often viewed by many of the Kurds as simply there to be taken.
The delegation was informed that the KDP is even encouraging Kurds from abroad to come and settle in the region as part of their systematic attempt to Kurdify the entire area and push out the AssyrianChaldean Christians.
Edward Leigh MP said: “Iraq’s leading Christian political party, the ADM, have long called for a self-governing province to be established for the AssyrianChaldeans, linked to the central government in Baghdad, situated in and around the Nineveh Plains, including the Talkepeh, Hamdaniya and Bashika Districts, and governed by the AssyrianChaldeans and other ethnic groups living in that area, as these lands form part of the ancestral homeland of the AssyrianChaldeans and are still heavily populated by them.
The ADM have consistently received the highest number of votes from Iraqi Christians at elections, indicating that their call for a province is strongly supported by the majority of Iraq’s Christians. This province would provide better security for the Christians and encourage many of the thousands of Iraqi Christian refugees in neighbouring countries to return and live there.
The delegation added that if the AssyrianChaldeans do not get their province then the KDP will probably eventually annex the Nineveh Plains to Kurdistan and much of the property of the AssyrianChaldeans living there will be misappropriated by many of the Kurds as currently happens elsewhere in northern Iraq.
“The Kurds are already trying to establish a foothold in that region. I saw numerous Kurdish military checkpoints set up in the Nineveh Plains by the KDP although they have no authority to do this and less than one percent of the population there is Kurdish,” said Mr Leigh.
lundi 6 octobre 2008
Letter to British MP Mr. Edward Leigh re: Iraq's minorities
To: Mr. Edward Leigh, MP for Gainsborough
Dear Sir,
Subject: Your article “Politicians must act to save the language of Jesus”
I read your article in the Catholic Herald about your recent visit to the north of Iraq and I would like to make some comments:
The war of aggression launched on Iraq by the US and the UK in March 2003 and the illegal occupation of this country by the US-UK forces have brought complete chaos in Iraq and great sufferings to Iraq’s entire population, causing the death of over 1,270.000 Iraqis.
This illegal war followed 12 years of criminal sanctions - imposed on the Iraqi people by the UN at the instigation of the US and the UK- which caused the death of more than one million innocent Iraqi civilians.
This war has caused the destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure and the displacement of over 4.5 million Iraqis inside and outside the country.
The US-UK occupiers in order to impose their occupation policy on the Iraqis have dismantled Iraq’s existing institutions, disbanded its army and police leaving the country without defence forces, its borders without surveillance and its population without any protection. Over 400 Iraqi academics and scientists have been assassinated in Iraq since the occupation by gangs manipulated by the US, UK and Israeli, secret services.
Is it possible to ignore these crimes and simply turn the page?
As an honourable British MP who voted against the invasion of Iraq I deplore the fact that in your article you omit to mention the responsibility of your government in causing so much harm to the Iraqi people and that you do not demand that the UK political leaders who started this illegal war be held accountable for the crimes they committed in Iraq and insist that the Iraqi people receive a just compensation from the US-UK aggressors for the destruction of their country.
Defending one of Iraq’s minorities is highly commendable but is it fair not to give the same attention to the other minorities who are suffering under the same Kurdish domination in the north of Iraq today?
You recommend that: “the West, particularly the US and Britain, must step in to protect the last remnant of a Christian minority in Iraq, lest they go the way of the Jews, who were all evicted”. We need to give them their own province in the Nineveh Plains. We need to warn the Kurds that continued encroachments of their land will not be tolerated”
- Iraqis were well known for their religious tolerance, Christian and other non-Muslim Iraqis have always been respected by their Muslim compatriots. I would like to remind you that before the US-UK illegal invasion in 2003 Iraq’s Christians were not threatened and did not come under attacks from what you call “Muslim or Islamic extremists”.
- As for the Jews, it is false to say that they were ‘evicted’. Jews have never been forced to leave Iraq, they left by their own free will, following the Zionist plan which encouraged them to settle in Palestine.
I would like to remind you that it is the Americans and the British who have wrongly classified and described the Iraqi people as being composed of: “Shias, Sunnis and Kurds”, mixing religious sects with ethnicity and completely ignoring the Turkmens, the Chaldeo-Assyrians, the Yezidis and the Sabeans. It is interesting to note that although the majority of Iraqis are Arabs the name ‘Arabs’ was left out of their classification of the Iraqi people.
Of course, the division of Iraq along ethnic and religious lines ‘Divide and Rule’, by the neo-con gang which controlled the Bush administration, was meant to weaken Iraq, facilitate its occupation in order to plunder it’s natural resources and also to have a pretext to occupy the country indefinitely.
All Iraqis, irrespective of their ethnic origin or religion, have suffered from this brutal aggression and from the consequences of the occupation of their country. Evidently, Iraq’s minorities which did not have armed militias became more vulnerable in the chaos which has been created by the foreign aggression and occupation of Iraq in 2003.
Today in the north of Iraq all minorities are suffering from Kurdish hegemony and from their land grabbing that is why there should be no hierarchization of Iraq’s minorities and none of the victims should be ignored.
Among Iraq’s minorities the Turkmens who represent the third main ethnic community in Iraq have suffered the most.
Over the last three decades they have suffered from discrimination, marginalization, expropriation, forced displacement, arbitrary imprisonment and assassinations due to the Arabisation policy of the former regime. Their situation has continued to deteriorate even further since the occupation of the north of Iraq in April 2003 when the Kurdish Peshmerga invaded and occupied Kerkuk and other Turkmen towns and cities with the blessing of the US Army.
Today, the Turkmens are victims of the Kurdification of their ancestral lands and cities as the two Kurdish warlords are imposing their hegemony over the entire north of Iraq and are seeking to annex Kerkuk - the Turkmens’ capital city and main cultural centre in Iraq - to their autonomous region.
Yet, I have not heard a single UK politician take up the defence of Iraq’s Turkmens. Why?
The US and the UK politicians must stop creating divisions among the Iraqi people, they must stop supporting one group to the detriment of the others and they must stop favouring one religious group while demonizing another, such kind of interferences will not bring peace, stability and harmony to the Iraqi people.
Yours truly,
Merry Fitzgerald
Iraq too dangerous for many professionals
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-displaced5-2008oct05,0,822267.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Iraq too dangerous for many professionals
The brain drain continues as doctors, professors, engineers and other well-educated, affluent or secular Iraqis flee or stay away, nervous about kidnappings and random violence.
By Tina Susman
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 5, 2008
BAGHDAD — Naqi Shakir sits on a sagging mattress pushed against a wall. His wife and two daughters perch on tattered sofas and chairs crowded into the one room of the house with signs of family life: personal photographs tacked to the wall, a TV, books, and knickknacks on dusty shelves. Except for a folding table and chairs in the kitchen, nearly everything has been sold so the family can bolt as soon as someone rents the two-story home in a relatively safe Baghdad neighborhood.
At a time when the Iraqi government is encouraging its citizens to return and the U.S. military is highlighting security gains across Iraq, the Shakirs want out. They see no future here for Iraqis such as themselves: well educated, affluent, secular or non-Muslim. Their imminent departure is a major problem facing Iraq, which has suffered a brain drain in the last five years and is struggling to lure back or hang on to educated professionals.
In June, the government raised civil servant salaries 50% to 75% to attract state employees such as teachers and doctors, many of whom were fired after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Iraq's Ministry of Displacement and Migration says tens of thousands of people have returned since last fall. But more than 2.5 million Iraqis have fled, and the exodus continues. Political and business leaders believe it will be many years before the loss of professionals can be reversed.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it monitored numbers at the main border crossing linking Iraq to Syria from January to July this year and found that 7,200 more Iraqis left than entered.
And some say a new U.S. policy opening the door to more Iraqi refugees each year is exacerbating the situation."It's counterproductive," said Raad Ommar, president of the Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Baghdad. "They're trying to achieve their goal on one hand of taking Iraqis to the United States, and on the other hand they're trying to get Iraq stabilized and improve the economy and everything else. The flight of qualified Iraqis is not going to help that."
After the fall of Hussein, the chamber would get 200 to 300 applications when it placed a newspaper ad seeking a staff attorney, public relations executive, engineer or administrative worker. Now, Ommar is lucky to get 20, usually from people sorely lacking in experience and with checkered resumes resulting from wartime upheavals.
Ommar used to say it would take Iraq a couple of years to recover economically. "Now, if I say five years, I'm not confident," he said. "I think, in general, people don't really have much confidence in the future."
More than 7,000 physicians have left, including virtually all who had 20 years' or more experience, said Mustafa Hiti, a member of parliament who sits on its health committee. About 600 have returned, he said, but none are the sort of top-flight specialists needed here.
Most specialists were Sunni Arabs who, to achieve their professional status, were members of Hussein's Baath Party. Even if they did not adhere to its ideology, they were ostracized and forced from their jobs after Hussein was ousted. Now, they do not feel comfortable in a country run by Shiite Muslims, said Hiti, who expressed doubts about the government's commitment to moving away from the so-called de-Baathification policies. "Are the parties in the government now willing to give jobs to the right people, or do they see these jobs as political spoils?" Hiti said.
At the Ministry of Higher Education, spokeswoman Siham Shujairi said 6,700 professors had left Iraq and only about 150 had returned. About 300 have been killed.
Shakir, 65, used to make good money as a customs clearing agent, but he closed shop after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion because of security worries. The family smuggled his son out of the country in 2005 after two kidnapping attempts. The Shakirs' car has been riddled with bullets in a random shooting on a Baghdad street, and a car bomb in the neighborhood damaged their home. "There is nobody upholding justice here," Shakir said as a soap opera flickered on the TV and the family's Pekingese dog ran excited circles across the floor. "You live your life according to chance. Anyone can do anything."
His daughters Rafah and Raghad, both in their 30s, feel pressure to wear veils outside even though the family is Christian. Rafah Shakir tucks her small cross pendant into her shirt when she goes out."I used to have an import-export business. I used to be able to go to my office and work on my own," said Rafah, who is studying to be a human rights lawyer in Sulaymaniya, in the semiautonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. "I can't do it anymore. I can't even wear short sleeves anymore."
Even though security has improved, professionals continue to be targets of assassinations by extremists who see them as being pro-Western or religious infidels. In addition, the power in Iraq lies with conservative Shiites, and there is no sign that will change any time soon. Even if provincial elections, considered key to balancing power among Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and others, take place by early next year, the parties now in power probably will come out on top again.
That's because of name recognition and their appeal to religious voters.
A new election law that awaits final approval seeks to address the issue, banning the use of religious symbols and images on ballots.
This scenario, combined with anger over Iraq's failing infrastructure and distrust of its stability, does not encourage moderate Muslims such as Ali, 26, who has a medical degree and hopes to immigrate to the United States. "Nothing is guaranteed. That's the problem," said Ali, who asked that his surname not be used to avoid problems with his employer. "Here, everything is possible -- but in a negative sense." Ali ticked off the frustrations of everyday life: power outages, lack of clean tap water, hours-long waits to buy fuel for cars and generators, and the lack of social life because of most of his friends' departures and the closure of late-night restaurants, nightclubs, and cinemas. "Even if it's safe, if the services are not available it makes life hard," said Ayad Abdul Ameer, an electrical engineer. "
The gas lines -- people just sit there for hours and hours, like they're dead," Ali said, growing visibly infuriated as he spoke. "It's like a Stage 4 cancer," he said of Iraq's growing problems.
Ameer returned to Iraq in April after a year abroad but doesn't plan on staying. He came back because his work visa application was rejected in Oman, and because he needed to repair his house, which had been hit by mortar rounds a couple of months earlier.
Ahmed Farhan, who works as a chef in Scotland, returned to Iraq for the first time in 14 years this month and couldn't wait to leave again. Even though he and his family are Shiites, Farhan said he found the atmosphere stifling and the sight of armed police and soldiers on street corners unnerving."It's a losing battle," he said, arguing against the idea that educated Iraqis such as himself are the best hope for reversing the brain drain.
Hiti, the parliament member, has some hope. He is lobbying the health minister to establish a specially protected zone for doctors and their families to live in, in central Baghdad. That could encourage their return, he said. On Monday, the government said doctors would be allowed to carry guns for self-protection.
At least 176 physicians have been killed since 2003.
Spokeswoman Shujairi said the Ministry of Higher Education has received hundreds of e-mailed requests from professors outside Iraq who want to know how they can return to their jobs.
Hiti, though, hesitated when asked whether he would encourage Iraqi doctors to come home under the current circumstances."I would not give it an absolute 'yes,' " he said, adding that he would prefer his protected zone be finished before doctors return en masse."
Accidents happen everywhere, but the probability in Iraq is very high."
tina.susman@latimes.com
Times staff writers Saif Rasheed, Saif Hameed, Mohammed Rasheed and Caesar Ahmed contributed to this report.
From the Los Angeles Times
Iraq too dangerous for many professionals
The brain drain continues as doctors, professors, engineers and other well-educated, affluent or secular Iraqis flee or stay away, nervous about kidnappings and random violence.
By Tina Susman
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 5, 2008
BAGHDAD — Naqi Shakir sits on a sagging mattress pushed against a wall. His wife and two daughters perch on tattered sofas and chairs crowded into the one room of the house with signs of family life: personal photographs tacked to the wall, a TV, books, and knickknacks on dusty shelves. Except for a folding table and chairs in the kitchen, nearly everything has been sold so the family can bolt as soon as someone rents the two-story home in a relatively safe Baghdad neighborhood.
At a time when the Iraqi government is encouraging its citizens to return and the U.S. military is highlighting security gains across Iraq, the Shakirs want out. They see no future here for Iraqis such as themselves: well educated, affluent, secular or non-Muslim. Their imminent departure is a major problem facing Iraq, which has suffered a brain drain in the last five years and is struggling to lure back or hang on to educated professionals.
In June, the government raised civil servant salaries 50% to 75% to attract state employees such as teachers and doctors, many of whom were fired after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Iraq's Ministry of Displacement and Migration says tens of thousands of people have returned since last fall. But more than 2.5 million Iraqis have fled, and the exodus continues. Political and business leaders believe it will be many years before the loss of professionals can be reversed.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it monitored numbers at the main border crossing linking Iraq to Syria from January to July this year and found that 7,200 more Iraqis left than entered.
And some say a new U.S. policy opening the door to more Iraqi refugees each year is exacerbating the situation."It's counterproductive," said Raad Ommar, president of the Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Baghdad. "They're trying to achieve their goal on one hand of taking Iraqis to the United States, and on the other hand they're trying to get Iraq stabilized and improve the economy and everything else. The flight of qualified Iraqis is not going to help that."
After the fall of Hussein, the chamber would get 200 to 300 applications when it placed a newspaper ad seeking a staff attorney, public relations executive, engineer or administrative worker. Now, Ommar is lucky to get 20, usually from people sorely lacking in experience and with checkered resumes resulting from wartime upheavals.
Ommar used to say it would take Iraq a couple of years to recover economically. "Now, if I say five years, I'm not confident," he said. "I think, in general, people don't really have much confidence in the future."
More than 7,000 physicians have left, including virtually all who had 20 years' or more experience, said Mustafa Hiti, a member of parliament who sits on its health committee. About 600 have returned, he said, but none are the sort of top-flight specialists needed here.
Most specialists were Sunni Arabs who, to achieve their professional status, were members of Hussein's Baath Party. Even if they did not adhere to its ideology, they were ostracized and forced from their jobs after Hussein was ousted. Now, they do not feel comfortable in a country run by Shiite Muslims, said Hiti, who expressed doubts about the government's commitment to moving away from the so-called de-Baathification policies. "Are the parties in the government now willing to give jobs to the right people, or do they see these jobs as political spoils?" Hiti said.
At the Ministry of Higher Education, spokeswoman Siham Shujairi said 6,700 professors had left Iraq and only about 150 had returned. About 300 have been killed.
Shakir, 65, used to make good money as a customs clearing agent, but he closed shop after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion because of security worries. The family smuggled his son out of the country in 2005 after two kidnapping attempts. The Shakirs' car has been riddled with bullets in a random shooting on a Baghdad street, and a car bomb in the neighborhood damaged their home. "There is nobody upholding justice here," Shakir said as a soap opera flickered on the TV and the family's Pekingese dog ran excited circles across the floor. "You live your life according to chance. Anyone can do anything."
His daughters Rafah and Raghad, both in their 30s, feel pressure to wear veils outside even though the family is Christian. Rafah Shakir tucks her small cross pendant into her shirt when she goes out."I used to have an import-export business. I used to be able to go to my office and work on my own," said Rafah, who is studying to be a human rights lawyer in Sulaymaniya, in the semiautonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. "I can't do it anymore. I can't even wear short sleeves anymore."
Even though security has improved, professionals continue to be targets of assassinations by extremists who see them as being pro-Western or religious infidels. In addition, the power in Iraq lies with conservative Shiites, and there is no sign that will change any time soon. Even if provincial elections, considered key to balancing power among Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and others, take place by early next year, the parties now in power probably will come out on top again.
That's because of name recognition and their appeal to religious voters.
A new election law that awaits final approval seeks to address the issue, banning the use of religious symbols and images on ballots.
This scenario, combined with anger over Iraq's failing infrastructure and distrust of its stability, does not encourage moderate Muslims such as Ali, 26, who has a medical degree and hopes to immigrate to the United States. "Nothing is guaranteed. That's the problem," said Ali, who asked that his surname not be used to avoid problems with his employer. "Here, everything is possible -- but in a negative sense." Ali ticked off the frustrations of everyday life: power outages, lack of clean tap water, hours-long waits to buy fuel for cars and generators, and the lack of social life because of most of his friends' departures and the closure of late-night restaurants, nightclubs, and cinemas. "Even if it's safe, if the services are not available it makes life hard," said Ayad Abdul Ameer, an electrical engineer. "
The gas lines -- people just sit there for hours and hours, like they're dead," Ali said, growing visibly infuriated as he spoke. "It's like a Stage 4 cancer," he said of Iraq's growing problems.
Ameer returned to Iraq in April after a year abroad but doesn't plan on staying. He came back because his work visa application was rejected in Oman, and because he needed to repair his house, which had been hit by mortar rounds a couple of months earlier.
Ahmed Farhan, who works as a chef in Scotland, returned to Iraq for the first time in 14 years this month and couldn't wait to leave again. Even though he and his family are Shiites, Farhan said he found the atmosphere stifling and the sight of armed police and soldiers on street corners unnerving."It's a losing battle," he said, arguing against the idea that educated Iraqis such as himself are the best hope for reversing the brain drain.
Hiti, the parliament member, has some hope. He is lobbying the health minister to establish a specially protected zone for doctors and their families to live in, in central Baghdad. That could encourage their return, he said. On Monday, the government said doctors would be allowed to carry guns for self-protection.
At least 176 physicians have been killed since 2003.
Spokeswoman Shujairi said the Ministry of Higher Education has received hundreds of e-mailed requests from professors outside Iraq who want to know how they can return to their jobs.
Hiti, though, hesitated when asked whether he would encourage Iraqi doctors to come home under the current circumstances."I would not give it an absolute 'yes,' " he said, adding that he would prefer his protected zone be finished before doctors return en masse."
Accidents happen everywhere, but the probability in Iraq is very high."
tina.susman@latimes.com
Times staff writers Saif Rasheed, Saif Hameed, Mohammed Rasheed and Caesar Ahmed contributed to this report.
samedi 4 octobre 2008
Biden's 700 Years and the Dangerous Road to a "Settlement" in Iraq
OPINION
By Reidar Visser (www.historiae.org)
3 October 2008
During yesterday’s vice-presidential debate, Joe Biden repeated the basic thrust of Barack Obama’s comments on Iraq one week ago. According to Biden, “John McCain was saying the Sunnis and Shiites got along with each other without reading the history of the last 700 years.”
In other words, Barack Obama’s apparent assumption of an endless conflict between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq was more than a slip of the tongue. Instead this seems to constitute a key ingredient in the Democratic narrative on Iraq: the country can be held together only by a strong ruler, otherwise Shiites and Sunnis would be at each other’s throats. Biden’s incarnation of the argument also served to clarify that Democrats quite literally are thinking of hundreds of years when they advance this contention; by his counting, the problems began in the early fourteenth century. That is certainly a slightly odd place to start, since Baghdad at the time was governed by Mongol rulers who themselves were rather difficult to label, sometimes they were pro-Shiite, sometimes pro-Sunni.
At any rate, even if the exact number of centuries in this case may be attributable to a Biden idiosyncrasy, the main point is clear. Democrats do not think Shiites and Sunnis have any tradition of coexistence in Iraq.
This assumption overlooks the fact that there were in fact no more than three major episodes of large-scale sectarian violence in Iraq prior to the rise of the Baathists: in 1508, 1623 and 1801; in all cases violence was instigated by foreign invaders from Iran or the Arabian Peninsula. Still, many will dismiss this entire discussion. Why should we care about such historical details when there are bigger issues at stake such as the US economy?
The reason these matters are important is that they relate to a more fundamental aspect of Democratic strategy in Iraq which has become clearly evident over the past weeks, despite apparent attempts by Joe Biden to avoid going into too much detail about his notorious “Iraq plans”. Democrats want a “settlement” in Iraq, otherwise they think that US forces will have to be sent back there again. (Biden told reporters a few weeks ago, “Without a political settlement, Tom, we’re going to be back there in another year or two or three or five.”)
A shift to the political sphere instead of the almost exclusive emphasis on the military found among many Republican strategists, now that seems perfectly plausible. But the danger with regard to Democratic strategy has to do with exactly how they want to perform this shift and what sort of knowledge about Iraq is going to inform it.
So far, three tendencies stand out: the Democrats want swiftness, involvement by the neighbours, and a “deal” to end what is seen as “centuries-long” conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis. Also – and this may come as a surprise to those who think of Democrats as less interventionist in the affairs of other nations than neo-Conservatives – Joe Biden’s confidence in America’s superior ability to handle these issues is not inconsiderable. Here are a few more notable quotes from his performance yesterday:
“We took Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, being told by everyone, I was told by everyone that this would mean that they had been killing each other for a thousand years, it would never work [i.e. but we gave them the Dayton accords].”
“When we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, ‘Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know -- if you don't, Hezbollah will control it [presumably this is an interesting way of referring to the process toward UN Security Council Resolution 1701]. "
With regard to Iraq, this kind of arrogant drive towards a “settlement” would threaten to derail potentially positive developments currently going on inside the country, and would play into the hands of the neighbouring countries, especially Iran. It has to be stressed that those positive developments – a cross-sectarian alliance of parties generally seeking to diminish the exaggerated privileges accorded to ethno-sectarian forces in the 2005 constitution – take place despite current US policy, which continues to favour those who put sectarian identity and not Iraqiness first.
Nevertheless, backers of the new political current have managed to move from a situation in which they were in the minority in parliament back in October 2006 (when the law for implementing federalism was adopted) to a position of strength in the summer of 2008 (when they created a parliamentary majority to demand exceptional interim arrangements for Kirkuk instead of a mere postponement of elections there and earned the name “the forces of 22 July”).
These forces have consistently been ignored by the Bush administration. It is now clear that the Democrats, too, are unable or unwilling to detect their existence. But the particularly dangerous aspect of Democratic strategy concerns the eagerness for the “settlement” to be quick and easy.
Today, perhaps for the first time since 2003, it seems realistic to think that Iraq gradually may be able to fix itself, despite US policies that often work to the advantage of those who want to fish in sectarian waters. If the more nationalist forces continue to make advances in the provincial elections they could get to a position where they could contest the 2009 parliamentary elections as a wide coalition through mobilising on shared issues of constitutional reform with enormous resonance among the general population (among the recurrent slogans are “no cession of Kirkuk to Kurdistan”, “no sectarian federalism”, “no decentralisation of the oil sector” and “no ethno-sectarian quotas in government”).
In that perspective, perhaps the best thing the United States could do would be to ensure two rounds of fair and free elections in 2009 and then leave – with a unified Iraq with out without Kurdistan as the most likely result. On the other hand, if we are to have a quick “settlement” based on Biden’s ideas about “700 years of conflict” and other similar guesswork about Iraqi history, then the region could very soon turn into a quagmire far worse than anything seen since 2003.
It is in this perspective it is hard for an outsider to share the viewpoints of American intellectuals who talk of a big difference between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin when it comes to credibility on Iraq.
http://www.historiae.org/biden-palin.asp
By Reidar Visser (www.historiae.org)
3 October 2008
During yesterday’s vice-presidential debate, Joe Biden repeated the basic thrust of Barack Obama’s comments on Iraq one week ago. According to Biden, “John McCain was saying the Sunnis and Shiites got along with each other without reading the history of the last 700 years.”
In other words, Barack Obama’s apparent assumption of an endless conflict between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq was more than a slip of the tongue. Instead this seems to constitute a key ingredient in the Democratic narrative on Iraq: the country can be held together only by a strong ruler, otherwise Shiites and Sunnis would be at each other’s throats. Biden’s incarnation of the argument also served to clarify that Democrats quite literally are thinking of hundreds of years when they advance this contention; by his counting, the problems began in the early fourteenth century. That is certainly a slightly odd place to start, since Baghdad at the time was governed by Mongol rulers who themselves were rather difficult to label, sometimes they were pro-Shiite, sometimes pro-Sunni.
At any rate, even if the exact number of centuries in this case may be attributable to a Biden idiosyncrasy, the main point is clear. Democrats do not think Shiites and Sunnis have any tradition of coexistence in Iraq.
This assumption overlooks the fact that there were in fact no more than three major episodes of large-scale sectarian violence in Iraq prior to the rise of the Baathists: in 1508, 1623 and 1801; in all cases violence was instigated by foreign invaders from Iran or the Arabian Peninsula. Still, many will dismiss this entire discussion. Why should we care about such historical details when there are bigger issues at stake such as the US economy?
The reason these matters are important is that they relate to a more fundamental aspect of Democratic strategy in Iraq which has become clearly evident over the past weeks, despite apparent attempts by Joe Biden to avoid going into too much detail about his notorious “Iraq plans”. Democrats want a “settlement” in Iraq, otherwise they think that US forces will have to be sent back there again. (Biden told reporters a few weeks ago, “Without a political settlement, Tom, we’re going to be back there in another year or two or three or five.”)
A shift to the political sphere instead of the almost exclusive emphasis on the military found among many Republican strategists, now that seems perfectly plausible. But the danger with regard to Democratic strategy has to do with exactly how they want to perform this shift and what sort of knowledge about Iraq is going to inform it.
So far, three tendencies stand out: the Democrats want swiftness, involvement by the neighbours, and a “deal” to end what is seen as “centuries-long” conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis. Also – and this may come as a surprise to those who think of Democrats as less interventionist in the affairs of other nations than neo-Conservatives – Joe Biden’s confidence in America’s superior ability to handle these issues is not inconsiderable. Here are a few more notable quotes from his performance yesterday:
“We took Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, being told by everyone, I was told by everyone that this would mean that they had been killing each other for a thousand years, it would never work [i.e. but we gave them the Dayton accords].”
“When we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, ‘Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know -- if you don't, Hezbollah will control it [presumably this is an interesting way of referring to the process toward UN Security Council Resolution 1701]. "
With regard to Iraq, this kind of arrogant drive towards a “settlement” would threaten to derail potentially positive developments currently going on inside the country, and would play into the hands of the neighbouring countries, especially Iran. It has to be stressed that those positive developments – a cross-sectarian alliance of parties generally seeking to diminish the exaggerated privileges accorded to ethno-sectarian forces in the 2005 constitution – take place despite current US policy, which continues to favour those who put sectarian identity and not Iraqiness first.
Nevertheless, backers of the new political current have managed to move from a situation in which they were in the minority in parliament back in October 2006 (when the law for implementing federalism was adopted) to a position of strength in the summer of 2008 (when they created a parliamentary majority to demand exceptional interim arrangements for Kirkuk instead of a mere postponement of elections there and earned the name “the forces of 22 July”).
These forces have consistently been ignored by the Bush administration. It is now clear that the Democrats, too, are unable or unwilling to detect their existence. But the particularly dangerous aspect of Democratic strategy concerns the eagerness for the “settlement” to be quick and easy.
Today, perhaps for the first time since 2003, it seems realistic to think that Iraq gradually may be able to fix itself, despite US policies that often work to the advantage of those who want to fish in sectarian waters. If the more nationalist forces continue to make advances in the provincial elections they could get to a position where they could contest the 2009 parliamentary elections as a wide coalition through mobilising on shared issues of constitutional reform with enormous resonance among the general population (among the recurrent slogans are “no cession of Kirkuk to Kurdistan”, “no sectarian federalism”, “no decentralisation of the oil sector” and “no ethno-sectarian quotas in government”).
In that perspective, perhaps the best thing the United States could do would be to ensure two rounds of fair and free elections in 2009 and then leave – with a unified Iraq with out without Kurdistan as the most likely result. On the other hand, if we are to have a quick “settlement” based on Biden’s ideas about “700 years of conflict” and other similar guesswork about Iraqi history, then the region could very soon turn into a quagmire far worse than anything seen since 2003.
It is in this perspective it is hard for an outsider to share the viewpoints of American intellectuals who talk of a big difference between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin when it comes to credibility on Iraq.
http://www.historiae.org/biden-palin.asp
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