Airedale

Hello Guest_Mutergem

You still posting here?

It's been a while but I am looking for another translation. This one is a video. A few others as well as myself are looking for an audio translation from this LiveLeak video

Saddam's Violations Of The New (Badr Organization) After Saddam In Dhi Qar - Post Media Reply

Text From Source : Violations of the Badr Organization militia integrated army and police against citizens, Iraqi police trying to third-partisan and neutral prevent abuse and to no avail before the chief of staff, but one carried out his orders and obey in Dhi Qar eliminate Suq al-Shuyukh

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dcb_1210538525

thanks.

If you wish, anybody can post at that link and leave a comment if you care to. People from around the world post on the site.

passing on an article about one Sunni leader

The man who might save Iraq

By Pepe Escobar

BAGHDAD - He is a former Sunni Arab mujahid from Ramadi who until recently was fighting the US occupation. He has only a secondary education and is married with two wives. Now he is praised even by urban, secular, highly educated Shi'ites as a "conscious man", or "the kind of man we need now in Iraq". Sheikh Abdul Satter Abu Risha is the leader of the Anbar Sovereignty Council, a powerful coalition of Anbar tribes, including at least 200 sheikhs, that is fighting the Salafi jihadis of al-Qaeda in Iraq/the Islamic

Emirate of Iraq in the volatile province.

Abu Risha set up the council after his father and two brothers were killed by al-Qaeda's extreme methods last autumn. In an exclusive telephone interview with Asia Times Online, he stated, unambiguously, that al-Qaeda "has abused our traditions and generosity" and, he alleged, they even "take drugs" - a mortal sin in conservative Islam.

Sheikh Ali Hattan al-Suleiman, also from the council, was even more direct: "I'd like to see an al-Qaeda bomber e-mail me or telephone me and talk about his education. They just came here with money. They gave money to the unemployed. They are not Iraqis - only Arabs. They are bastards. And the people who follow them are also bastards."

Abu Risha totally dismissed rumors that the Anbar council is forcing families in the region to give their sons to the cause, or is engaged in summary execution of captured jihadis. "We only accept volunteers. And we work by ourselves, like a team, by shifts. When we arrest people from al-Qaeda or Iraqis working for al-Qaeda, we take them to the Iraqi Army or the Ministry of Interior."

It's fair to assume, though, that once these jihadis end up in the hands of the ministry's death squads, torture and death are inevitable. Resistance to capture also means jihadis are killed on the spot. And when the going gets really rough, "sometimes we call for American air strikes".

.......

.....

What people do know and have started to notice is the increasingly high profile of Sheikh Abu Risha. He may not be Iraq's savior, but as the larger-than-life tragedy of Iraq stands, a Sunni sheikh leading a tribal coalition fighting alongside a predominantly Shi'ite Iraqi government against Salafi jihadist terror is better news than any "international community" rhetorical flourishes emanating from Sharm al-Sheikh, where the international community was debating Iraq's future.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IE05Ak01.html

much more at the link. I am not sure of the news source or how reliable it is.

other recent headline stories in the west;

Sunnis revolt against al-Qaida

BAGHDAD - U.S. troops battled al-Qaida in west Baghdad on Thursday after Sunni residents challenged the militants and called for American help to end furious gunfire that kept students from final exams and forced people in the neighborhood to huddle indoors.

Backed by helicopter gunships, American forces joined the two-day battle in the Amariyah district, according to a councilman and other residents of the Sunni district.

The fight reflects a trend that U.S. and Iraqi officials have been trumpeting recently to the west in Anbar province, once considered the headquarters of the Sunni insurgency. Many Sunni tribes in the province have banded together to fight al-Qaida, claiming the terrorist group is more dangerous than American forces.

.....

.....

They said the fighters drove through the streets using loudspeakers to claim that Amariyah was under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group.

Armed residents were said to have resisted, set some of the al-Qaida gunmen's cars on fire and called the Americans for help.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Cease-Fire Eyed to Stop Violence in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. military commanders are talking with Iraqi militants about cease- fires and other arrangements to try to stop the violence, the No. 2 American commander said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has authorized commanders to reach out to militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence from a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals.

....

....

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8PFDJJG0&show_...

IRAQ: GOVERNMENT IN TALKS WITH FORMER SADDAM DEPUTY

Erbil, 30 May (AKI) - Contacts are underway between Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Baathist faction of Izzat al-Douri, former vice president during the Saddam era, according to a report on Kurdish language daily Aso. The scope of the contacts is "for reconciliation between the government and this political wing"

.....

.....

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Polit...

A recent article written in Arabic on a possible split with al Queda from a Sot al-Iraq report news source

http://sotaliraq.com/iraq-news.php?id=54929

I am not sure of the source or even how to copy/paste it correctly;;

معارك عنيفة ومستمرة بين الجماعات المسلحة في العامرية

(صوت العراق) - 31-05-2007

ارسل هذا الموضوع لصديق

شهود:

I hope the link works and maybe somebody could loosely translate the actual article into English.

also

How reliable is Sot al-Iraq as a source of Iraqi news?

Looks like these are what salim was talking about more than five months before LA times put more exposure on them.. Acccording to Salim, Almaliki had a lot of faith in them and had supported their wakeening movement that brought Sunni ansd Shia together more than any other intiative did ..

On Aliraqia , Shiekh Sattar gave a speach in which he give special attribute to Almaliki and claimed that the movement is moving accross factions and race and to join a larger Iraqi nationalism one

I remember reading articles about "the awakening" movement. guess a link to the article is still around

Story from the L.A.Times

excerpts from the story;

By Chris Kraul, Times Staff Writer

April 20, 2007

RAMADI, IRAQ — A group of Sunni tribal leaders in beleaguered Al Anbar province said Thursday that it intended to form a national party to oppose insurgents such as Al Qaeda in Iraq and reengage with Iraq's political process.

The announcement came after 200 sheiks said to represent 50 tribes met here and agreed to form a provincial sheiks council and hold the first convention in May of their new party, called Iraq Awakening. Sheiks from three other provinces will attend, organizers said.

The driving force behind the new party, Sheik Abdul-Sattar abu Risha, said in an interview that the tribal leaders would be pushing a slate of candidates in Al Anbar provincial elections later this year, as well as in the next round of national parliamentary balloting, scheduled for 2009.

One purpose of the party, Sattar said, is to promote a better image of American-led forces "to the Iraqis here." He added that the tribes also would participate in a U.S.-backed effort to reestablish a court system in Ramadi, the provincial capital.

After remaining neutral or in favor of the insurgency that followed the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, many Al Anbar sheiks eventually grew disenchanted due to the brutality of foreign-led militants. Sattar said he began organizing sheiks in September after his father and three brothers were killed by insurgents.

"The terrorists destroyed the network of people and how they communicate, and the new sheiks council is here to bring it back and fight the insurgents until they are out of the country," Sattar said.

<snip>

...some sheiks in Ramadi and other parts of Al Anbar have established closer links with U.S. armed forces since last year, when they began speaking out against the insurgency and Al Qaeda in Iraq.

<snip>

Sattar said the sheiks council would offer "full accountability for anyone in his tribe. Also they will know of any strangers — man, woman or child — who try to mix in their neighborhoods."

Analysts who lauded the sheiks' announcement as well as U.S. efforts to work with them cautioned that the political situation remained fluid.

"It's only now that the United States appears convinced of the need to build up local support against Al Qaeda," said Joost Hiltermann, a consultant with the International Crisis Group in Amman, the capital of Jordan. "What these people want is a restoration of Sunni power, or a preservation of certain privileges, or more simply, protection of their community from the Shiite majority and Iran."

Vali Nasr, a Middle East expert at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., said the

"most important result may not be in the battlefield but in producing new Sunni voices that Shiites and Kurds can negotiate with."

Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution in Washington said that improving U.S. relations with Sunni sheiks made "eminent sense" but that officials needed to be thinking about the "next step."

"We need better contacts among Sunnis for the purposes of negotiating an end to the civil war," he said, "and this could create an opportunity to create partners in the larger project while also serving an immediate need."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...ack=1&cset=true

Found this article and wonder if he can't continue his duties, who will take the place as president. And what do people think of the person who would take his place ?

Iraqi President Suffers Stroke

CBS/AP) Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has suffered a stroke and traveled to Jordan for treatment, reportsCBS News reporter Kristin Gillespie in Amman, Jordan.

A spokesman in Talabani's office confirmed to CBS News in Baghdad that the president has had a "small stroke" and is now in Amman.

The confirmation of a stroke came after a brief statement released by his office, which stated only that the 73-year-old Talabani had fallen ill because of "continuing hard work over the past few days," and that there was "no cause for worry."

Talabani, a Kurd, appeared in public Saturday in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah where he met with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Massoud Barzani, leader of the self-rule Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

In Sulaimaniyah, senior Kurdish politician Barham Saleh said Talabani was on his feet when he headed for a meeting Sunday with top aides shortly before he left for Jordan.

But the 73-year-old president was unconscious when an ambulance rushed him to a local hospital, a doctor in the northern Kurdish city told The Associated Press.

"After his condition stabilized, the doctors advised him to go to Jordan for a complete checkup," the doctor said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Saleh, a deputy prime minister, said members of Talabani's immediate family accompanied him to Amman.

Late Sunday, Iraqi Ambassador Saad al-Hayyani told AP that Talabani arrived in Jordon for a medical checkup intended to determine the cause of his feelings of exhuastion.

"The President's plane just landed in Amman and he will soon be whisked away to an Amman hospital for medical checkups," Al-Hayyani told The Associated Press.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/25/...in2511584.shtml

بوش يكشف للمالكي عن خطته للعراق قبل ايام من اعلانها

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16476822/

 

The president is tentatively set to speak on Wednesday about his new plan for Iraq, with Maliki due to unveil his own new security plan a day or two before. Bush spoke for almost two hours with Maliki yesterday by videoconference, half of which was just the two of them and translators.

Maliki pledged to Bush that he will announce the deployment of three additional Iraqi army brigades to help secure Baghdad, U.S. officials said. The Iraq commitment would be in the neighborhood of some 4,500 troops, according to their brigade strengths.

وقد تحدث الرئيس يوم الاربعاء حول خطته الجديده للعراق مع المالكي التي يتهيأ لكشفها خلال الايام التاليه. تحدث بوش لمده حوالي ساعتين البارحه من خلال الدائره التلفزيونيه المياشره وقد اختليا لوحدهما وبصحبه متر جمين لاكثر من نصف تلك المده

 

الملكي تعهد لبوش بانه سيعلن عن جهوزيه ثلاثه كتائب عسكريه عراقيه اضافيه للمساعده على تأمين بغداد, وذلك طبقا لمصدر امريكي . الالتزام العراقي ياتي بجدود اربعه الاف وخمسمائه عسكري وطبقا لجهوزيه كل قطعه

audio lecture on this force surge plan; 20,000 combat troops into Baghdad and stay in the neighborhoods of trouble ;

http://static2.capitalreach.com/aei/media/5172.mp3

Link to the date of the actual lecture;

Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq Print Mail

Start: Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:00 AM

End: Thursday, December 14, 2006 10:30 AM

http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1442,fil...vent_detail.asp

Can anybody understand the words spoken on this video clip of Saddams hanging? In the west they are saying they are taunting Saddam,telling him to "go to badWord". It is very hard to hear coherently.

Can anybody actually translate some of the conversation?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7...docidfeed&hl=en

I can make out the word "Mohammed" (pbuh) many times but it's all chatter to me

thanks

pic of Saddam on the gallows;

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/200612...ult-512x371.jpg

I Saw Fear, He Was Afraid’

In a NEWSWEEK exclusive, the man hired to videotape Saddam Hussein’s execution recalls the brutal dictator’s humble final moments.

Web Exclusive

By Michael Hastings

Newsweek

Updated: 2:14 a.m. ET Dec 30, 2006

Dec. 30, 2006 - Ali Al Massedy was 3 feet away from Saddam Hussein when he died. The 38 year old, normally Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's official videographer, was the man responsible for filming the late dictator's execution at dawn on Saturday. "I saw fear, he was afraid," Ali told NEWSWEEK minutes after returning from the execution. Wearing a rumpled green suit and holding a Sony HDTV video camera in his right hand, Ali recalled the dictator's last moments. "He was saying things about injustice, about resistance, about how these guys are terrorists," he says. On the way to the gallows, according to Ali, "Saddam said, ‘Iraq without me is nothing.’"

Ali says he followed Saddam up the gallows steps, escorted by two guards. He stood over the hole and filmed from close quarters as Saddam dropped through—from "me to you," he said, crouching down to show how he shot the scene. The distance, he said, was "about one meter," he said. "He died absolutely, he died instantly." Ali said Saddam's body twitched, "shaking, very shaking," but "no blood," he said, and "no spit." (Ali said he was not authorized to disclose the location, and did not give other details of the room.)

Ali said the videotape lasts about 15 minutes. When NEWSWEEK asked to see a copy, Ali said he had already handed the tape over to Maliki's chief of staff. "It is top secret,"

....

....

The Iraqi bodyguards, mostly Shiites they said, had passed the time smoking and praying—some prayed on cardboard mats on the street.

It was a cold morning in Baghdad, a few degrees above freezing, and in the post dawn light the guards' breaths could be seen in the air. When the thudding of helicopters began, the body guards rushed towards the entrance to the landing zone. They swarmed around Ali, snapping digital pictures on camera phones and cheering. "Saddam finished, Saddam finished,"

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....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16401644/site/newsweek

Now how many who were loyal to Saddam out of fear of his returning to power will take this news?

more pics;

Grainy close up of dead Saddam's face

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/200612...ult-512x299.jpg

Saddam in body bag;

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/2006123...sein_lon116.jpg

Saddam to hang in less than 30 days

Court: Execute Saddam Within 30 Days

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/26/D8M8LMV00.html

Someone who is "Speaking on the condition of anonymity" is a phrase that can't be trusted. The source may not be trusted and parts of the article can be misleading.

an article excerpt;

Shiite cleric won't support coalition

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric withheld support Saturday for a U.S.-backed plan to build a coalition across sectarian lines, Shiite lawmakers said, jeopardizing hopes that such a show of political unity could help stem the country's deadly violence.

Members of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite coalition that dominates parliament, met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf after traveling to the holy city over the past few days. Al-Sistani holds no political post and rarely emerges from his home and adjacent office, but he has strong influence over Shiite politics.

.........

"There are obstacles in the face of forming this coalition, because al-Sistani does not support it. So we will work to strengthen the (Shiite) alliance," said Hassan al-Sunnaid, of the Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Ali al-Adib, also a Dawa Party member, said al-Sistani "does not support such blocs because they will break Shiite unity."

An official close to al-Sistani, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the cleric "will not bless nor support any new bloc or front. He only supports the unity of the Shiites."

Such a development could frustrate U.S.-backed efforts to persuade Iraq's political leaders to set aside sectarian interests and work together for the sake of national unity. Without progress in Iraqi politics, some observers say, the security situation in the country is likely to remain tenuous.

Al-Maliki, the Shiite prime minister, had relied heavily on the support of al-Sadr, whose 30 loyalists in the 275-seat parliament and six ministers in the 38-member Cabinet boycotted politics after al-Maliki met Bush in Jordan recently.

Al-Sadr's walkout revealed the depth of division within the 130-seat Shiite bloc in parliament, where some lawmakers who are viewed as moderate have grown weary of the radical cleric's confrontational tactics. Al-Sistani is also believed to be uncomfortable with the younger al-Sadr, a firebrand whose fighters waged battles against American troops that left parts of Najaf in ruins.

After meeting al-Sistani, the Shiite lawmakers visited al-Sadr. The cleric has agreed to allow his supporters to rejoin the government, officials close to him have said. Their walkout had prevented the government from passing laws, creating a political deadlock alongside a deteriorating security environment.

.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

article excerpt;

Shia leadership agrees deal over sectarian killers

 

Two of the senior Shia political leaders in Iraq agreed in principle to crack down on death squads within their own ranks yesterday. The rival Shia factions struck the deal in an attempt to salvage the country from collapse, said Haidar al-Abadi, a Shia MP in the Dawa party, who is close to Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister.

The Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri) agreed that the national unity Government had been rendered impotent by the failure of the Shia coalition to take on militants who have been killing Sunnis and fuelling sectarian strife.

 

The Sunni parliament bloc has backed extremist groups that are killing Shias. The violence backed by the two camps has led to many experts calling the conflict in Iraq a civil war.

 

Last night a delegation was on its way to the shrine city of Najaf intent on convincing the anti-Western cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia is blamed for much of the widespread killing of Sunnis, to join the crackdown. Officials close to Hojatoleslam al-Sadr said he had agreed to rejoin the Iraqi Government.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-...-RSS&attr=World

This agreement will put more pressure on the Sunnis to respond in kind. The Shi'ite militias, after all, arose as a response to the original Ba'athist remnants attempting to extend their reign of terror after the fall of Saddam, and the Sunni political parties have done little since then to stop it. Perhaps the Sunnis now understand that the continuance of the insurgencies puts them at risk of annihilation by the Shi'ites if Iraq descends into civil war. If they haven't up to now, they should, and they should take this opportunity to calm the waters.

If this agreement holds, it could represent the first break in the political logjam that has fueled the insurgencies and the destruction in Iraq. A temporary alliance between Maliki and Hakim that marginalizes Sadr can only be good news for everyone. It's just too bad that it took this long for the Dawas and Sciri to divorce Maliki from Sadr.

Former Iraqi officers reject PM's call to join army

A statement issued by former officers distributed in several Iraqi cities last night and this morning rejected the call made by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urging them to join the new army.

A statement issued by the "Society of demobilized officers" expressed rejection of Al-Maliki's call for the officers to join the army, saying that "it is an army of collaborators with the occupation," as "armies around the world are founded to fight invaders and not to cooperate with them to perpetuate the occupation."

This statement was distributed in several areas in Baghdad. It was also hung on walls in Al-Fallujah, Al-Ramadi, Samarra, and Mosul in northern Iraq. It is known that most officers of the former army hailed from these areas.

According to the statement, the officers set conditions for joining the army. Among these conditions were setting a timetable for the departure of the occupation troops from Iraq provided that this timetable does not exceed six months, dismantling the current army and restructuring it based on former structures and hierarchies, and sending the current army's senior officers charged with crimes against civilians to neutral international or Iraqi courts.

It is worth noting that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, called, during the inauguration of the national reconciliation conference yesterday, Saturday, on officers of the former army to join the ranks of the current army, as part of the efforts being made by the government to put an end to violence in Iraq.

http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/12720

I'm not sure ALL officers are wanted back but this sounds like amnesty will be granted to senior generals in the Republican guard on down to those officers who physically carried out Saddams orders, even if his orders were deemed to be lawfull or not;

Maliki calls on Saddam officers to return to army

(Reuters) 16 December 2006 BAGHDAD - Iraq's Shia prime minister called on Saturday for the return of all officers of Saddam Hussein's disbanded army in a political overture to disaffected Sunni Arabs aimed at reducing sectarian violence. Nuri Al Maliki made the call at a national reconciliation conference of Shias, Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians meant to halt communal bloodshed that has raised the spectre of civil war and was a major reason for US President George W. Bush's decision to review his Iraq strategy. A senior politician from the powerful Shia Alliance said representatives of some Sunni Arab insurgent groups...

BAGHDAD - Iraq’s Shia prime minister called on Saturday for the return of all officers of Saddam Hussein’s disbanded army in a political overture to disaffected Sunni Arabs aimed at reducing sectarian violence.

Nuri Al Maliki made the call at a national reconciliation conference of Shias, Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians meant to halt communal bloodshed that has raised the spectre of civil war and was a major reason for US President George W. Bush’s decision to review his Iraq strategy.

A senior politician from the powerful Shia Alliance said representatives of some Sunni Arab insurgent groups were in attendance, but delegates said participants’ names would remain undisclosed.

“The new Iraqi army is opening the door to former Iraqi army officers. Those who do not come back will be given pensions,” Maliki said, in remarks in which he also told leaders to embrace reconciliation as a “safety net from death and destruction”.

Shortly after the US invasion to topple Saddam, US administrator Paul Bremer dissolved the Iraqi army, a move experts said drove many Sunni Arab soldiers and officers into the mostly Sunni insurgency fighting the Shia-led government.

Iraqi officials said Maliki’s call was also part of a four-step plan to speed up the transfer of security from multi-national forces to Iraqis. The plan includes expanding Iraq’s forces, get them better training, equipment and weapons.

The Defence Ministry has recruited former Saddam officers but limited the invitation to junior officers. Maliki’s plea, addressing a long-time demand by Sunnis, was the first extended to all ranks.

The US military has been training the new, 300,000-strong Iraqi army as part of a plan eventually to withdraw its 135,000 troops. Bush and Maliki last month agreed to speed up training.

The conference, which officials said was attended by figures from Saddam’s former Baath party who have been living abroad since his ouster, takes place against a backdrop of violence that U.N. officials estimate kills more than 100 people a day.

Armed groups

Maliki’s Shia-led coalition government, which took office seven months ago, has said it would not talk to armed groups with “Iraqi blood on their hands”, a comment aimed mainly at Sunni Islamist Al Qaeda. But it has extended an olive branch to armed groups that stop fighting and join the political process.

“I know that there are armed groups here today but I don’t know who they are,” Rida Jawad Takki from the Shia Alliance told Reuters.

Iraq has held conferences before that were designed to bring about reconciliation but they failed to stop sectarian killing or bring into the fold some disaffected Sunni groups.

“If things remain the way they are this reconciliation conference will resemble its predecessors,” said Saleem Al Jibouri, from the Accordance Front, the largest Sunni bloc.

Many participants, some talking off the record, cast doubt that the conference would bring immediate solutions.

“This conference does not have a magic wand to change things overnight,” Takki said.

“The only positive thing about this conference is that people are talking to each other,” said another official.

Hours before the conference opened in the Green Zone, Iraqi special forces backed by US troops killed one militant and arrested six people during raids against a death squad leader in the Baghdad Shia stronghold of Sadr City.

Sadr City, a crowded Shia slum of 2 million, is a stronghold of the Mehdi Army militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. US commanders and Sunni Arabs accuse Mehdi militiamen of being behind many of the sectarian attacks and kidnappings that plague Iraq. Sadr denies the charges.

Delegates said they planned to discuss militias as part of a series of four workshops. Sunni Arab leaders accuse Shia militias of infiltrating the police to carry out killings.

Maliki has resisted US pressure to move against militias, which are tied to political parties in this coalition. He has said militias need a political rather than a military solution.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle...ion=focusoniraq

Maybe Sunni officers could bring discipline and stop Sunni death squads in exchange for a Shia agreement to end violence on those who only happened to be born Sunni ?

Seems that is the overall plan but can the two Arab Islamic sects practice "forgive and forget"?

This article excerpt is from a Lebanese news source;

Iraq invites Baathists to peace talks in attempt to halt slide toward civil war

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Iraqi leaders have offered an olive branch to former members of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's ruling party in a bid to kick-start a program of national reconciliation, lawmakers said Friday. A small number of former Baath Party members are expected to attend the start of peace talks in Baghdad on Saturday, they said, as Iraq's embattled coalition government seeks to drag the country out of a vicious sectarian war.

The move will raise hackles among hard-line Shiite militants, but is seen by many observers as a key first step in calming the violent insurgency.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been cautious about revealing details of the peace talks, especially as some Shiite politicians have threatened a boycott if senior Baathists "with blood on their hands" attend.

But there is a growing consensus that more junior party members not proven to have supported Saddam-era atrocities or the post-invasion rebellion should be allowed into the political process as a gesture of reconciliation.

Nasser al-Ani, a Sunni lawmaker and the official spokesman of the conference, said that Baathists living abroad were among those invited. "Probably some Baathists will attend," Ani said. "At the very least they will send representatives.

"The names of attendees will be announced during the conference. We invited personalities from abroad and some might come, but most gave excuses, citing security concerns."

....

........

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?ed...rticle_id=77692

More at the link.

Many Iraqi's left the country in the past several years.

Are some of them willing to stop sending money that fuels the insurgency ?

Iraqis Arrest Shiite Militia Leader

Hopefully it is a good sign that the Iraqis are finally taking on Shiite militia leaders. While not identified as such in the press release, the fact that the group is called "Martyr Sadr" and is identified as an "Illegal armed group" rather than "insurgents" means that this was a group of Shiites. Since he was detained for "smuggling arms", there is really only one country that he could have been smuggling from: Iran.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RELEASE No. 20061212-12

Dec. 12, 2006

ISF Captures Illegal Armed Group Cell Leader - UPDATE

Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO

BAGHDAD – 8th Iraqi Army division forces, with the assistance of coalition advisers,

detained the head of the Al Kut Office of the Martyr Sadr on Dec. 9, for alleged

involvement in illegal arms smuggling activities and directing attacks against Iraqi

Security Forces in the area.

Based on credible intelligence, he was detained by Iraqi forces because he

allegedly orders his followers to conduct indirect fire attacks and place improvised

explosive devices in Al Kut and An Numaniyah targeting Iraqi and Coalition Forces. He

is also suspected of approving an ambush carried out against an Iraqi Army patrol on

Sept. 11, 2006.

Iraqi Army forces cordoned and entered the OMS and several adjacent buildings to

detain the suspect and other cell members. The suspect was found in the OMS building

along with IED making components consisting of an artillery projectile, 2 rocket

propelled grenades, hand grenades, blasting caps and propellant charges for mortar

rounds.

Also found were 2 assault rifles, 17 rifle magazines, night vision goggles, a video

camera, tactical vests, cell phones and a hand-held two-way radio

Five doors were damaged by Iraqi forces when entering the buildings. No other

damage was caused by Iraqi or Coalition Forces to the OMS or surrounding area. Iraqi

forces exchanged small arms fire with hostile elements, slightly wounding one enemy

fighter. The fighter was treated by medical personnel on-site and detained along with

three additional armed suspects. There were no Iraqi forces or Coalition Forces

casualties. There were no reports of civilian casualties.

Iraqi Forces are making progress bringing stability and security to Iraq. The results

of this operation reduce the ability of illegal armed elements to operate, and increases

the safety of all Iraqi civilians and Iraqi Security Forces.

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=c...=8029&Itemid=21

ISF Captures Illegal Armed Group Cell Leader - UPDATE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RELEASE No. 20061212-12

Dec. 12, 2006

ISF Captures Illegal Armed Group Cell Leader - UPDATE

Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO

BAGHDAD – 8th Iraqi Army division forces, with the assistance of coalition advisers,

detained the head of the Al Kut Office of the Martyr Sadr on Dec. 9, for alleged

involvement in illegal arms smuggling activities and directing attacks against Iraqi

Security Forces in the area.

Based on credible intelligence, he was detained by Iraqi forces because he

allegedly orders his followers to conduct indirect fire attacks and place improvised

explosive devices in Al Kut and An Numaniyah targeting Iraqi and Coalition Forces. He

is also suspected of approving an ambush carried out against an Iraqi Army patrol on

Sept. 11, 2006.

Iraqi Army forces cordoned and entered the OMS and several adjacent buildings to

detain the suspect and other cell members. The suspect was found in the OMS building

along with IED making components consisting of an artillery projectile, 2 rocket

propelled grenades, hand grenades, blasting caps and propellant charges for mortar

rounds.

Also found were 2 assault rifles, 17 rifle magazines, night vision goggles, a video

camera, tactical vests, cell phones and a hand-held two-way radio

Five doors were damaged by Iraqi forces when entering the buildings. No other

damage was caused by Iraqi or Coalition Forces to the OMS or surrounding area. Iraqi

forces exchanged small arms fire with hostile elements, slightly wounding one enemy

fighter. The fighter was treated by medical personnel on-site and detained along with

three additional armed suspects. There were no Iraqi forces or Coalition Forces

casualties. There were no reports of civilian casualties.

Iraqi Forces are making progress bringing stability and security to Iraq. The results

of this operation reduce the ability of illegal armed elements to operate, and increases

the safety of all Iraqi civilians and Iraqi Security Forces.

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=c...=8029&Itemid=21

I think this is a tricky question.Leave when? Now ? Latter?. You need also to add a third option: to stay until Iraq ellected Parliament call them to leave.. This is how the current UN mandate is saying

 

People want to stay for now but not for ever..

a fourth option :

Yes. The way the allies left Germany after WW II.

The US still has bases in Germany after the official end of WW II .......sixty years ago only because the threat following the defeat of the rulers of Germany left a power vacuum that needed filled with an acceptable new government that wouldn't be a threat again to its neighbors.

US forces need to pull out of Iraqi cities and let the anti coalition insurgency decide if this is the right way to end violence. The insurgency must be divided between anti coalition and anti democracy.

Some elements of the insurgency will continue to fight Iraqis after the coalition forces leave Iraqi cities. They must be identified and defeated by the Iraqi people

with coalition help if called upon. The coalition forces can't do ALL the fighting for Iraq. That would be a pointless mission.

Get rid of Saddam and you get rid of those most loyal to a Saddam return to power. Only then can progress through amnesty truely begin.

Burn the bridges of loyality to Saddam.

It may not be that simple but it is a concrete start, a no turning back point.

Forgot to ad this as a response to the original question;

Do You Think That Coalition Peace Keeping Forces Should Leave Iraq?

If the peacekeeping forces remain as they are in place now.......then there will never be true "peace" in Iraq.

Translating Bahlol's

 

Though I don't like execution for any criminal, but I feel happy for this Sadam sentence..He deserved what he got..

I think that as long as Saddam remains alive, people will always fear he will return to power.

Long live the new Iraq

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,300...3550448,00.html

Saddam Hussein sentenced to death

Saddam Hussein remained defiant throughout his sentencing

Saddam Hussein has been convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging.

The former Iraqi leader was convicted over the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on him in 1982.

His half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar were also sentenced to death.

Former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan got life in jail and three others received 15 year prison terms.

Another co-defendant, Baath party official Mohammed Azawi Ali, was acquitted.

Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants will be given the right to appeal, but that is expected to take only a few weeks and to end in failure for the defendants

...

....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6117910.stm

Saddam will have to plea bargain over the next few weeks if he wants to live.

Otherwise, he will wish he was never taken captive from that hole in the ground he was hiding in.

If Nasralah didn't receive funding from Iran,

he would have been out of the refugee camp welfare buisness.

Who supplies financial and material assistance to Nasralah ?

Israeli bankruptcy!

....

........

Nasralah is not Arafat. While Arafat had his wife and mistresses enjoying the spenditure of Palestinians money, Nasralah refused to put the crops of his elder son on preference when exchanging the fallen fighters by crops of some fallen Israeli soldiers. Nasralah built his reputation through personal scarifies and commitment while Palestinian PLO had a long history of corruption and secret police authotorian means of control...

 

In the Eighties, Lebanon was under the direct Syrian military and intelligence control, today Lebanon is almost free country with no foreign power that can claim full control. While some might think that Syria has the big say on Hezbollah, I would say that this say was weakened too much by forcing Syria out. A move that Hezbollah was encouraging indirectly by not opposing it.!

 

On other side, the possible strategic plan of wiping out Hezbollah by a third party, had no volunteer to offer enforcing it. Israelis are too afraid to repeat the previous experience of humiliation, the Lebanese government is too weak and was wakened more by the current destruction, Syrians will never repeat the intervene to please the west … I assume no third party is able to do the job, risking lives of it’s soldiers in a suicide mission that Israelis are not able or willing to do.

 

One might argue that the continuing bombing would create a popular pressure on Hezbollah. I personally think such dreams to be completely short sighted. On the contrary, it’s continuation might give Hezbollah more legitimacy and stronger stand in proposing itself as the only protector to Lebanese,. While Lebanese might be upset today by Hezbollah acts, they will gradually be forced to believe that it is only Hezbollah that represent their counter force against the Israeli aggression and no care of Lebanese lives, no difference being Muslims or Chrastians

I think Israel was successfully dragged by Hezbollah to this trap , a trap that makes both rivals of Hezbollah, Lebanese and Israeli governments, paying the higher price.. Today the more shellings by Hezbollah, the more casualties on Israelis. The more bombing by Israelis, the weaker the Lebanon government would be and the stronger Nasralah . All this is happening at a time where no one knows for sure where Hezbollah is hiding and from where it lunches its rockets….

From what I have read, Hezbollah is divided into threee regions. The northern region refuses to send its manpower to the southern,Israeli border region at the request of Nasralah.

Are the northern and central regions less militarily motivated and more Lebanese politically motivated ? Or do they refuse to work together as a united front against Israel in fear of depleting their own resources ?

The most important man in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has warned that the United States will face dire consequences in the region if it does not move swiftly to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon. Reluctant as I am to say it, Juan Cole has the most interesting analysis of the implications that I have been able to locate:

 

 

....

.....

Muqtada al-Sadr. & Sadr's Mahdi Army are as destructive to a free Iraq as was Saddamn, as are Sunni Militia's and insurgency. Iraq needs to get over this Sunni/Shiit crap and get on with living together peaceful. Iraqi's and Muslims in general need to get over their hatred of Jews if they are ever to survive in peace.

 

I'm pissed off in Texas, Your religion is supressing & killing more Muslims than anything else in the world today.... moderate it before we all are killing one another.

 

Tex

from the original Reuters article;

""The Islamic world and peace loving people will not excuse sides which hinder a ceasefire.

what was Sistani's position on the taking of Israeli soldiers?

They are fair game on an unlevel playing field?

""It will have harmful consequences in the whole region," he said in a statement issued late on Sunday, in a clear reference to the United States.""

As for Juan Coles article, I wouldn't put much faith in his opinion. Wasn't he saying that the US invasion of Iran was supposed to start in June, 2005 ?

As long as Iraqi's are killing Iraqi's, the insurrection against the current government sitting in Baghdad will continue and Sistani knows the rift betwen Sunni/ Shia runs hundreds of years deep.

BTW,

The Pope in Rome has been calling for a cease fire longer than Sistani has.

People do not heed his requests,or the EU's requests or the UN's

"WHo did it in Samarra"

According to this latest article from Iraq the Model, it was Haitham al-Badri.

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/

as reported in an article from Al-Sabah

which has the report:

 

 

 

Samarra puts a reward on the head of the golden dome attack's mastermind.

 

The people of Samarra offer a 100 million dinar reward to anyone who provides information that lead to the death or arrest of Haitham al-Badri. Sheikh Khalid al-Baz, one of the prominent sheikhs of Samarra told al-Sabah that al-Badri was notorious for his violent behavior and had committed several armed robberies and carjackings.

 

Al-Baz added that al-Badri joined al-Qaeda after US troops killed his brother to later become an "Emir" of this terrorist organization in the Salahiddin province and started murdering anyone who opposed his Takfiri ideology; that's why he and his gang murdered sheikh Hikmat al-Baz of the influential al-Bo Baz tribe. The men of the tribe then decided to fight this Takfiri group and with the help of the 1920 revolution brigades they killed more than 50 terrorists and forced others to flee.

 

"Now that the people of Samarra know that it was al-Badri who blew up the Dome of their ancestors they are trying to hunt him down and they distributed photos of al-Badri's in the markets" said al-Baz and added that 1000 of the sons of Samarra are chasing down al-Badri and whoever helped him carryout his coward doings.

 

 

......

 

http://www.alsabaah.com/paper.php?source=a...rpage&sid=25803

more at the link

Iran Asked Iraqi officials to help in the negotiation with the new proposals..

 

This is a big bluw up to the Sadamists and thier Arab radical propagandists.. It proves the growing power of the new popular ellected Governemnt! Larigani is asking Adil Abdul Mehdi , the Iraqi vice president...

This article will upest the Sunni Arab world if it is allowed to be published to panic the sunni wahabi clerics.

imo, it means the Sunni side is slipping in its influence.

The ruling class may further isolate the extreamists on their home turf if relations with the US improve ( on the diplomatic level by the ruling class) and reported in the tightly controlled Arab media.

Sunni Arab world fears the Persian influence.

Here is a short press release about how the Iranians view the death of Zarqawi

Iran Says It's Happy al-Zarqawi Is Dead

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran, whose relations with Iraq have warmed since the ouster of Saddam Hussein, said Sunday it was pleased about the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"It is natural that we, like the Iraqi people, are happy from this occurrence," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

.....

.......

U.S. officials have said al-Zarqawi crossed Iran when he fled Afghanistan to Iraq in late 2001 or early 2002. Biographies of al-Zarqawi written by sympathizers and posted on Islamic Web sites have had similar accounts.

Iran said in 2004 that some al-Qaida operatives may have illegally passed through Iran from Afghanistan months before the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, but it has not given any names.

Iran insists it has made a significant contribution to the war on terror by arresting al-Qaida agents, but the United States accuses Tehran of harboring -- not cracking down on -- al-Qaida fugitives.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wo...world-headlines

Seems in the Arab muslim world, a few media sources see Zarqawi's death as a martyr reward for fighting the crusader,zionists and Shia infidels.

Irans state controlled media has made this statement that confirms there is a war on terror.

Zarqawi was a public enemy in Iraq.

Zarqawi was a favorite of the wahabi's in Saudi Arabia.

From Iraq the Model on the area Zarqawi spent his last day on earth;

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 08, 2006

ZARQAWI KILLED!!

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has just announced the death of terror leader Abu Musa'ab al-Zarqawi in a joint press conference with Ambassador Khalil Zad.

Al-Maliki explained that Zarqawi (and 7 of his aides) was killed in an air raid in the little town of Hibhib 8 km north of Baquba after receiving tips from residents in the area.

General Casey says more details on the operation will be available in a briefing at 3 pm local time. General Casey mentioned that Zarqawi's identity was confirmed through his fingerprints.

CONGRATULATIONS TO IRAQ, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WHOLE WORLD ON THIS VICTORY.

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What is Hibhib?

Hibhib is a small town several kilometers to the northwest of Baquba and most of its people are from the Azzawi tribes.

This small town was traditionally nicknamed Um al-Arak as it was famous for producing some of the finest Arak in Iraq, an industry that flourished in the area for the abundance of date palms. It's even said that Hibhib's Arak can make the fox get drunk!

Of course that was before the Salafi Zarqawi tide reached this once peaceful town.

It was quite visible lately that Hibhib became a place for intense terror activity, especially after the phenomenon of severed heads appeared. Severed heads of civilian Iraqis were found twice in fruit boxes in and around Hibhib; a terrible crime that shocked Iraqis.

Also a few days ago 19 passengers, mostly students were murdered in cold blood just north of Hibhib which indicated that a seriously bloody terror cell was in this area.

There had been several reports about Zarqawi fleeing Anbar to Diyala after the tribes in Ramadi turned against al-Qaeda but obviously, Diyala and its suburbs and Iraqi tribes were not willing to endorse the head chopping criminal.

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In the first official confirmation, PM al-Maliki said that Jordan has provided intelligence that was used in the raid on Zaraqwi's hiding place but he also stressed that tips from locals were the primary lead to Zarqawi's exact location and these were the information according to which the missiles were guided.

Al-Maliki said that among the 7 killed with Zarqawi were two women who were responsible for collecting intelligence for the al-Qaeda HQ cell.