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POPSUK relaxes regulation of mercenaries What is this - US and UK populations won`t tolerate a rising military death toll in Afghanistan, so they are privatising the war. By what right do we send private armies to wreak havoc in Afghanistan ?
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POPSKurdistan Intensifies Split from Iraq
<<<"This lays the foundation for a separate state — it is not a constitution for a region," said Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni Arab member of the national Parliament. "It is a declaration of hostile intent and confrontation. Of course it will lead to escalation." Kurdish officials defended their efforts to adopt a new constitution that defines the Kurdistan region as comprising their three provinces and also tries to add all of hotly contested and oil-rich Kirkuk Province, as well as other disputed areas in Nineveh and Diyala Provinces. Iraq's federal Constitution allows the Kurds the right to their own constitution, referring any conflicts to Iraq's highest court. Susan Shihab, a member of Kurdistan's parliament, said she no longer had faith that the rights of Kurds under the federal constitution from 2005 would be respected. "What is missing the most in the new Iraq is confidence," she said. At the same time, though, some Kurds acknowledge that they have grown frustrated with
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POPSCould we be Getting a Yes in Negotiation and Resolution of Conflict? A classic American playbook: the win-win conflict management strategies developed at the Harvard Negotiation Project and popularized by the book “Getting to yes”. This book has been a best seller for decades, and the strategies acknowledged as essential for business, law, and diplomacy professionals worldwide. Now a groundbreaking initiative is taking these strategies to the strife-ridden corners of Baghdad, Basrah and Kirkuk.
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POPSBig Oil Ready to Reap Gains from War On Iraq Just over 20 of Iraq's roughly 80 known oil fields have been fully or partially developed, and most of its production comes from just three giants, North and South Rumaila and Kirkuk. Because lots of the black gold is considered relatively easy to extract, oil experts estimate that exploration and development in Iraq costs $1.50 to $2.25 a barrel, compared with about $5 in Malaysia or $20 in Canada. Lawmakers and some oil officials, meanwhile, say the auction will give too much access to Iraq's oil resources to foreigners. Mr. Shahristani also has been called to appear before parliament for questioning about alleged corruption and mismanagement at the ministry.
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POPSThe True Death Toll of the Iraq War Unfortunately, the masses of ‘Merikan sheeple will never understand this or even be aware of it…but thanks for posting and I’ll pass it on…some of us actually DO CARE!
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POPSWomen’s Right Activist Beheaded in Iraqi Kurdistan Democracy seems to have a high price for the most vunerable.We must vigorously demand the arrest and punishment of these murderers by the government of Iraqi Kurdistan. This reactionary government by creating a de facto Islamic state and co-operating with the Islamic forces and exercising tribal and Islamic laws has created a safe heaven for the Islamists and forces of reaction. Women have become the main targets of these forces. These are the conditions that have led to Nahla Hussain’s brutal murder and the US has do more on civil law front, since they destroyed Saddams rule of law.
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POPS Witness To Genocide: Account Told By 12 Year-Old Kurdish Survivor
Two boys, between the ages of seven and ten, were blindfolded before they were shot. On average, each adult was shot nine times, each child four times. (Courtesy US Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District ) In May 1988, a prison guard checked Taymour Abdullah Ahmad's name off a list and directed him to a bus idling in the Popular Army camp in Topzawa, southwest of Kirkuk. The camp was one of Iraq's grimmest prisons. During his month-long internment there, the 12-year-old Kurdish boy watched guards beating male prisoners senseless with lengths of coaxial cable. He had seen four children weaken and then die of starvation. He stood helplessly as a guard stripped his father to his undershorts and led him off to his death. So Taymour was not sorry to see the last of Topzawa. He did not know that the paper in the guard's hand was an execution list. The buses idling in the prison courtyard looked like ambulances. But this, Taymour soon discovered, was a cruel illusion;
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POPSIraq on the brink of another Civil War
Whenever and wherever a despot has died and left a country in political limbo, that country has had problems. When Spain and Portugal went through their Nemesis in the 70's and 80's, they had stable European neighbours to call on. Of all the deaths that threatened stability, it was perhaps only Franco who had made provisions for his demise and reinstalled a King to give the population a focal point. Tito made no provisions at all and the result was the worst form of Civil War imaginable, with, one has to remember, the defining of Ethnic Cleansing. Those countries were safe for law abiding people. Armed policemen patrolled most streets and their form of rule and law prevailed. The soft minded liberals infested the emergent countries with wholly unattainable ideals. Ideals that do not even work in a stable democracy like Britain. Why does Liberalism not work? Because there are those out there who wish us harm and the Liberal Elite cannot conceive such a truth.
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POPSNo Press Freedom for Iraqi Journalists From the widely -- and sadly -- overlooked Baghdad Observer blog of McClatchy Baghdad bureau chief Leila Fadel. While the McCain campaign tells us that Iraq is all group hugs, tea parties, and rainbows, the Iraqi govt. makes sure we don't hear anything different. Yay for the "liberation" of Iraq... See also Thousands march in Baghdad against U.S. pact .
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POPSDon't Look Now--but the Surge is About to Backfire as Iraq poised to Explode
The first is the brewing crisis over Kirkuk, where the pushy Kurds are demanding control and Iraq’s Arabs are resisting. The second is in the west, and Anbar, where the US-backed Sons of Iraq sahwa (”Awakening”) movement is moving to take power against the Iraqi Islamic Party, a fundamentalist Sunni bloc. And third is the restive Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr, which is chafing at gains made by its Iranian-backed rival, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) The final crisis-to-be is the Sadr vs. Badr one. The Times today suggests that Sadr is weakening: The militia that was once the biggest defender of poor Shiites in Iraq, the Mahdi Army, has been profoundly weakened in a number of neighborhoods across Baghdad, in an important, if tentative, milestone for stability in Iraq. Don’t believe it. Sadr’s rivals, ISCI, don’t have anything like the popular base that Sadr has. And underneath Sadr is a volatile mix of neighborhood, local and regional militias, mosques, and econom
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POPSIraq Opens 8 Oil, Gas Fields To International Bidding He said even the longer-term contracts would include cash compensation and not a share of oil production. "We don't see a need to allow anyone to share our oil," al-Shahristani said. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Monday that there is no American influence on the Iraqi government's oil decisions. "Politics does not come into this," al-Dabbagh said. "There is no preferential treatment for anyone, no matter who." State Department spokesman Tom Casey confirmed a small number of U.S. advisers were providing "technical support" to the Iraqi Oil Ministry. But he said "they are not there to try and give the Iraqis any kind of specific requests or to make decisions or to even push in an individual direction." Casey said the decision by the Iraqis not to announce contracts for several Western firms Monday was their own and not influenced by Washington.
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POPS Ops Yield 13 Enemy Killed, 14 Captured American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON — Coalition and Iraqi troops killed 13 enemy fighters and captured 14 others during recent operations, military officials said. -- Members of a “Sons of Iraq” citizen security group killed nine enemy fighters during a firefight at a checkpoint near Owja, south of Tikrit. Members of the group were attacked when a fuel truck approached the checkpoint and engaged the guards with small-arms fire. The driver then got out and detonated a suicide vest. The remaining enemy fighters continued to target the security group, and Iraqi Army Soldiers and police responded to the firefight, eliminating the threat, officials said.
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POPS E-Mail Your Congress Person To Support Iraq Afghanistan Vets PublishingImagesParametersMeta InfoLink to Menu Sergeant Brian Horn from LaPlata, Maryland, was an Army Infantry Soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in the Kirkuk area of Iraq when he started the idea of AnySoldier to help care for his soldiers. He agreed to distribute packages that came to him with "Attn: Any Soldier" in the address to the soldiers who were not getting mail. Sgt. Horn is no longer in Iraq but AnySoldier.com continues. Due to overwhelming requests, on 1 January 2004 their effort was expanded to include any member, of any of the Armed Services in harms way. Any Soldier� now has thousands of Contacts helping the majority of the deployed troops. Troops' Charities | Print | Email Send Letters, Gifts, and Packages to Troops Overseas Help Troops With Traumatic Brain Injury Help Troops Get the Supplies They Need Help Troops Stay in Touch with Their Families and Friends Support Military Families in Need Send Letters, Gifts, and Packages to Troops
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POPSClose to home... ...Merry Christmas Bush. Hope you have a real nice time. I really mean enjoy it. Because the good lord is preparing a special place in hell for you.
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POPSUN has concern about Baghdad Cholera The outbreak has spread to half of Iraq's 18 provinces It is spread, by drinking contaminated water, It is estimated 1 in 3 children has access to clean drinking water. Increased rain and flooding allows it to spread, through contaminated water. One of the main symptoms, that often results in death is dehydration. Attempts are being made to increase distribution of clean water, and water purification tablets.
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POPS 6,000 Sunnis Join Pact With US In Iraq Kurds often consider Kurkik part of their ancestral homeland and often refer to the city as the "Kurdish Jerusalem." Saddam, however, relocated tens of thousands of pro-regime Arabs to the city in the and 1990s under his "Arabization" policy. The Iraqi government has begun resettling some of those Arabs to their home regions, making room for thousands of Kurds who have gradually returned to Kirkuk since Saddam's ouster. Tension has been rising over the city's status—whether it will join the semi-autonomous Kurdish region or continue being governed by Baghdad. "Hawija is the gateway through which all our communities—Kurdish, Turkomen and Arab alike—can become unsafe," said Abu Saif al- Jabouri, mayor of al-Multaqa village north of Kirkuk. "Do I love my neighbor in Hawija? That question no longer matters. I must work to help him, because his safety helps me."
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POPS The Restoration of King Dollar Every time an international terrorist event occurs, like the al-Qaeda assassination attempt on former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the dollar falls. When the Turks threaten military action in Kurdistan, Iraq, with speculation that they might march toward the Kirkuk oilfields, the dollar falls. When comrade Vladimir Putin shows up in Iran, with mischief-making statements that support trade and nuclear partnerships with that terrorist government, the dollar falls. It seems as though any nasty international event leads to a dollar decline. This is not good. The dollar needs some propping up. Oil prices are rising. Gold prices are rising. And currency traders around the world have set up huge short-selling positions in the greenback. But a few strong words from Mr. Paulson, coupled with a few well-timed rounds of dollar-buying, could turn the U.S. currency story around
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POPSConflict on a Second Kurdish Front Like the P.K.K., the Iranian Kurds control much of the craggy, boulder-strewn frontier and routinely ambush patrols on the other side. But while the Americans call the P.K.K. terrorists, guerrilla commanders say P.J.A.K. has had “direct or indirect discussions” with American officials. They would not divulge any details of the discussions or the level of the officials involved, but they noted that the group’s leader, Rahman Haj-Ahmadi, visited Washington last summer. Biryar Gabar, one of 11 members of the group’s leadership, said there had been “normal dialogue” with American officials, declining specifics. One of his bodyguards said officials of the group met with Americans in Kirkuk last year.
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POPSTurkish incursion threatens only part of Iraq still at peace
From the article: The impact on the region of a Turkish attack, if it takes place, will depend on the extent of the intervention. If it is confined to the mountains on the frontier, where there are only a few villages, then the KRG would be unlikely to respond. Turkish incursions by 35,000 to 50,000 troops in 1995 and 1997 failed to achieve anything. But if Turkish forces advance into important towns and cities then Kurdish troops would be bound to respond. The KRG will also want to prevent a precedent being established whereby the Turkish army can cross the Turkish-Iraq frontier at will. Turkey has been alarmed to see the development of an effectively independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq and an Iraqi government in Baghdad in which the Kurds play a leading role. It is particularly anxious about the referendum which might lead to the oil province of Kirkuk joining the KRG under a poll which was promised under the constitution for the end of 2007 but may now be delayed."
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