The Iraq thread 4

[denoir 0]

The rationale for the invasion was to protect the US against Saddam's WMD getting into the hands of his AQ buddies who would use it against America.

As it (not very surprising to most of the world) was, Saddam had no WMD and no AQ connections to speak of. So the priority had to be shifted to making Iraq stable and US friendly.

For this to happen, the elementary prerequisite is internal stability, and so far it has not been going very well. We've seen two years of more or less increasing violence and an insurgency that only seems to grow stronger. After two years of fighting, it's unlikely that they'll just call it off tomorrow. We've seen an election that the Sunni part of the population boycotted. We've seen that Iraq is nowhere near capable of surviving on its own. Should the US leave today, we'd get the same thing in Iraq what we saw in Afghanistan after the Soviets left.

And as far as stability goes, things are getting worse, rather than better.

Of course there are positive things, very few things in the world are black and white. The elementary prerequisites for a "happy ending" are however not there and we're moving further away from them each day. So right now there is not much cause for optimism. And there is certainly no cause to assume that it will in the end be a success - and as such used as a foundation for future decisions.

[FerretFangs 0]

Once again, time will tell. You can't call a game 'till it's played out.

Anyway, I think I've explained my ( obviously misunderstood ) position well enough. Like everyone else, it's not going to change, so rather than waste any more time, I'll leave you good people to it for now.

[miles teg 1]

That's true Ferret but time is telling.  In addition what does "played out" mean? How long will it be until its played out? How will we know??? Will it be when we have freedom and democracy in the Middle East or will it be when the Middle East is a smouldering radioactive wasteland with millions dead?

When things are going really bad due to an action you have taken, its not the wisest thing to just continue doing what you're doing if things don't improve.  

Also I wasn't trying to make you out to be a religious zealot.  I was just speaking in general of how many of the extreme right wing conservatives in this country seem to think.

Also Fellujah is not a shining example of success. Yes we broke a rebel stronghold and killed many militants. However, their ranks were rapidly refilled with fresh volunteers and there is still constant fighting in Fellujah and that area of Iraq.

The militants simply crept back in.  

As for attacking terrorists in Syria, first you are assuming that there are big training camps in Syria.  From my understanding the majority of terrorists coming through Syria are not getting training there.  However many are recruited in Syrian mosques.  Do we bomb those mosques and kill many innocent Muslims along with the terrorists?  Sure Syria turns a blind eye but it may have something to do with the fact that a stable and democratic Iraq would put enormous pressure on them to change their government.  However there is no evidence that they are actively supporting Al-Qaeda.  If there is then we'd be in trouble because Syria is supposed to have an unknown amount of chemical and biological weapons.

So do we go to war with Syria now because they turn a blind eye towards terrorists?

When you make these statements about how the military should be used to crush terrorism, its important to look at what the reprecussions of such military violence will likely be.

Yes it is a bit of fortune telling, but its predictions based on factual evidence on what has happened already in the region and there are many possible scenarios.  This is the job of analysts and anyone with a good understanding of the region and its politics can be a good analyst.  

What you are doing is NOT what an analyst does.  You are saying,  "We need to do this, this, and this military action to stop terrorists." without looking at the logical conclusion of what such action will cause when you look at all of the primary factors in the region, especially when you look at things from the point of view of Islamic militants and perhaps the Syrian government.  There are also numerous unknown wild cards.  For example if we attacked Iran it is impossible to predict how they would react.  They could fall over like Saddam, or they could react with massive WMD attacks against our troops, Iraqis, and Israel.

These scenarious should be of MAJOR concern to the Bush administration.  The scenario of what happend in the post invasion aftermath in Iraq WAS PREDICTED by quite a few CIA analysts.  However these predictions were conveniently ignored and filtered out by various heads of the agency and by Donald Rumsfeld's crew.  

It is because these predictions did not tell them what they wanted to believe.

So you can continue to believe that democracy will thrive in Iraq despite reality so far showing a complete contradiction to that belief or you can take a step back and look at what are some realistic ways in which we can try and stabilize the region.    

For example, now that we have established a democracy, why the hell can't we replace our troops with Islamic peacekeeping troops from countries that do not border Iraq?  Saudi Arabia purposed this and most of the countries included in the plan agreed tenatively to the solution as long as they weren't under US command.

This begs the question of why we are truly there if such a common sense solution is immediately dismissed.  

Some of the countries on the list like Malaysia and Indonesia are in fact democracies and made up of mostly moderate Sunni Muslims, so they would be a fantastic influence in Iraq.

So we have a decision.  Do we continue doing what we're doing and expand the war into Syria and Iran?  

Or do we seek alternative ways to extract ourselves from Iraq without leaving the Iraqi government undefended against terrorists?   Can we instead find alternative means of destroying the roots of terrorism?  

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[quicksand 0]

Iraq: Every member of one Marine squad killed or wounded

Quote[/b] ]HABAN, IRAQ — The explosion enveloped the armored vehicle in flames, sending orange balls of fire bubbling above the trees along the Euphrates River near the Syrian border.

Marines in surrounding vehicles threw open their hatches and took off running across the plowed fields, toward the blackening metal of the destroyed vehicle. Shouting, they pulled to safety those they could, as the flames ignited the bullets, mortar rounds, flares and grenades inside, rocketing them into the sky and across pastures.

Gunnery Sgt. Chuck Hurley emerged from the smoke and turmoil around the vehicle, circling toward the spot where helicopters would later land to pick up casualties. As he passed one group of Marines, he uttered just one sentence: "That was the same squad."

Among the four Marines killed and 10 wounded when an explosive device erupted under their Amtrac Wednesday were the last battle-ready members of a squad that four days earlier had battled foreign fighters holed up in a house in the town of Ubaydi. In that fight, two squad members were killed and five were wounded.

In 96 hours of fighting and ambushes in far western Iraq, the squad had just ceased to be.

Every member of the squad — one of three that make up the 1st Platoon of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment — had been killed or wounded, Marines here said. All told, the 1st Platoon — which Hurley commands — had sustained 60 percent casualties, demolishing it as a fighting force.

"They used to call it Lucky Lima," said Maj. Steve Lawson, commander of the company. "That turned around and bit us."

Wednesday was the fourth day of fighting in far western Iraq, as the U.S. military continued an assault that has sent more than 1,000 Marines down the ungoverned north bank of the Euphrates River in search of foreign fighters crossing the border from Syria. Of seven Marines killed so far in the operation, six came come from Lima Company, 1st Platoon.

Lima Company drew Marine Reservists from across Ohio into the conflict in Iraq. Some were too young to be bothered much by shaving.

They rode to war on a Marine Amtrac, an armored vehicle that travels on tank-like treads. Marines in Iraq typically crowd thigh to thigh in the Amtrac, with one or two men perched on cardboard boxes of rations.

On Monday, when the Marine assault on foreign fighters formally began, the young Marines of the squad from 1st Platoon were already exhausted. Their encounter at the house in Ubaydi that morning and the previous night had been the unintended first clash of the operation, pitting them against insurgents who fired armor-piercing bullets up through the floor. It took 12 hours and five assaults by the squad — plus grenades, bombing by an F/A-18 attack plane, tank rounds and rockets at 20 yards — to kill the insurgents and permit recovery of the Marines' bodies.

Afterward, they slept in the moving Amtrac, heads back and mouths open. Squad members spoke only to compare their knowledge on the condition of their wounded. Getting the latest news, they fell silent again. After one such half-hour of silence, a Marine offered a terse commendation for one of the squad members shot at Ubaydi: "Bunker's a good man."

With the operation underway, Marine commanders kept the 1st Platoon largely to the back, letting its men rest.

Commanders had hoped the operation would swiftly capture or kill large numbers of foreign fighters. But the foreigners, and everyone else here, had plenty of warning that the Marines were coming.

By the time the squad from Lima Company crossed north of the Euphrates, villages consisted of little more than abandoned houses with fresh tire tracks leading off into pastures or homes occupied only by prepubescent boys or old men.

This correspondent had just gotten off the Amtrac and the reconstructed squad from 1st Platoon was rolling toward the Euphrates in a row of armored vehicles, headed for more house searches, when the vehicle rolled over the explosive.

Marines initially said they believed the blast was caused by two mines stacked on top of each other. But reports from some that they had seen an artillery round, and two hand-held radios near the blast site, raised suspicions that a remotely activated bomb had been used, Lawson said.

"We passed right over it. We passed right over it," one of many Marines in the convoy ahead of the burning Amtrac said of the explosive, puzzling over why he was still alive. "That's the last of the squad," said another, Cpl. Craig Miller.

Late Wednesday, helicopters flew out Hurley and the remaining members of 1st Platoon for time off. They are to return after the platoon is remade with new members.

Iraqi Insurgents Go on Rampage, Kill 69

Quote[/b] ]BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suicide bombers ripped through a crowded market and a line of security force recruits Wednesday as a wave of explosions and gunfire across Iraq killed at least 69 people — pushing the death toll from insurgent violence to more than 400 in less than two weeks.

The bloody attacks, which also wounded 160 people, came despite a major U.S. offensive targeting followers of Iraq's most-wanted terrorist near the Syrian border, a remote desert region believed to be a staging ground for some of the insurgents' deadliest assaults.

The day's events underscored how intense the fight for Iraq's future has become in the scant three months since Iraqis voted in the country's first democratic elections and more than two years since the United States declared the end of major combat.

Insurgents averaged about 70 attacks a day at the start of May, up from 30-40 in February and March, said Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq.

On Thursday, suspected insurgents killed Brig. Gen. Iyad Imad Mahdi in the Jihad neighborhood of western Baghdad as he drove to work at the Ministry of Defense in Baghdad, police said. The attackers opened fire from two cars.

Quote[/b] ]Medical sources in Falluja have also reported the deaths of three members of Iraqi National Guard and the injuries of several more after their patrol was attacked in the city's centre.

The assassinations and attacks come a day after at least 81 Iraqis were killed and more than 150 wounded in a series of bomb attacks in northern Iraq.

This is part of the reason why I am loosing faith that US military has any chance to prevail without a major,unlikely at best change in policy.

The city they reduced to ruble and turned it into a ghost town and is curently imposed with the most strict security measures,iris scan and anything else you can imagine,still even that city can't be kept safe nor can it stop insurgents from striking at will in the city center and planting mines on the roads.

Not even to mention the other events that occoured the other day with an Iraqi toll toping 80 and Marines facing a focused and deadly enemy in northern Iraq that shows no sign of crumbling inspite of being tremendously overpowered.

[walker 0]

Hi all

As I said almost a year back and as many of the generals TBA sacked said there needs to be not less than 5 times as many US troops in Iraq to stabilize it.

They also need to start spending money on reconstruction which so far has not been spent on anything but the oil business. Either that or defrauded away by the likes of Halliburton and KRB.

Iraqis still lack electricity and clean water and even rubbish collection.

This kind of filth is not just a breeding ground for diseases of the body, it breeds disaffected people and terrorists.

Frankly the coalition needs to spend 100 billion getting the country back on its feet.

And after the fraud and mismanagement that took place under the coalition controlled oil program where 9 million went unaccounted for; I would suggest just handing the cash straight to each Iraqi family as an invest in the country as you see fit account. They can then invest it as they please building them selves better housing sewage water and electricity.

The whole escapade with the captured Al Zaqawi lieutenant seems like it was a trap from the start. Far too much of this battle seems preplanned on the insurgents part.

Sadly walker

[chops 111]

Quote[/b] ] From 'Gook' to 'Raghead'

By Bob Herbert

The New York Times

Monday 02 May 2005

I spent some time recently with Aidan Delgado, a 23-year-old religion major at New College of Florida, a small, highly selective school in Sarasota.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, before hearing anything about the terror attacks that would change the direction of American history, Mr. Delgado enlisted as a private in the Army Reserve. Suddenly, in ways he had never anticipated, the military took over his life. He was trained as a mechanic and assigned to the 320th Military Police Company in St. Petersburg. By the spring of 2003, he was in Iraq. Eventually he would be stationed at the prison compound in Abu Ghraib.

Mr. Delgado's background is unusual. He is an American citizen, but because his father was in the diplomatic corps, he grew up overseas. He spent eight years in Egypt, speaks Arabic and knows a great deal about the various cultures of the Middle East. He wasn't happy when, even before his unit left the states, a top officer made wisecracks about the soldiers heading off to Iraq to kill some ragheads and burn some turbans.

"He laughed," Mr. Delgado said, "and everybody in the unit laughed with him."

The officer's comment was a harbinger of the gratuitous violence that, according to Mr. Delgado, is routinely inflicted by American soldiers on ordinary Iraqis. He said: "Guys in my unit, particularly the younger guys, would drive by in their Humvee and shatter bottles over the heads of Iraqi civilians passing by. They'd keep a bunch of empty Coke bottles in the Humvee to break over people's heads."

He said he had confronted guys who were his friends about this practice. "I said to them: 'What the hell are you doing? Like, what does this accomplish?' And they responded just completely openly. They said: 'Look, I hate being in Iraq. I hate being stuck here. And I hate being surrounded by hajis.' "

"Haji" is the troops' term of choice for an Iraqi. It's used the way "gook" or "Charlie" was used in Vietnam.

Mr. Delgado said he had witnessed incidents in which an Army sergeant lashed a group of children with a steel Humvee antenna, and a Marine corporal planted a vicious kick in the chest of a kid about 6 years old. There were many occasions, he said, when soldiers or marines would yell and curse and point their guns at Iraqis who had done nothing wrong.

He said he believes that the absence of any real understanding of Arab or Muslim culture by most G.I.'s, combined with a lack of proper training and the unrelieved tension of life in a war zone, contributes to levels of fear and rage that lead to frequent instances of unnecessary violence.

Mr. Delgado, an extremely thoughtful and serious young man, balked at the entire scene. "It drove me into a moral quagmire," he said. "I walked up to my commander and gave him my weapon. I said: 'I'm not going to fight. I'm not going to kill anyone. This war is wrong. I'll stay. I'll finish my job as a mechanic. But I'm not going to hurt anyone. And I want to be processed as a conscientious objector.' "

He stayed with his unit and endured a fair amount of ostracism. "People would say I was a traitor or a coward," he said. "The stuff you would expect."

In November 2003, after several months in Nasiriya in southern Iraq, the 320th was redeployed to Abu Ghraib. The violence there was sickening, Mr. Delgado said. Some inmates were beaten nearly to death. The G.I.'s at Abu Ghraib lived in cells while most of the detainees were housed in large overcrowded tents set up in outdoor compounds that were vulnerable to mortars fired by insurgents. The Army acknowledges that at least 32 Abu Ghraib detainees were killed by mortar fire.

Mr. Delgado, who eventually got conscientious objector status and was honorably discharged last January, recalled a disturbance that occurred while he was working in the Abu Ghraib motor pool. Detainees who had been demonstrating over a variety of grievances began throwing rocks at the guards. As the disturbance grew, the Army authorized lethal force. Four detainees were shot to death.

Mr. Delgado confronted a sergeant who, he said, had fired on the detainees. "I asked him," said Mr. Delgado, "if he was proud that he had shot unarmed men behind barbed wire for throwing stones. He didn't get mad at all. He was, like, 'Well, I saw them bloody my buddy's nose, so I knelt down. I said a prayer. I stood up, and I shot them down.' "

Link

What is it exactly that the coalition forces are trying to achieve in Iraq? To demonstrate to potential enemies just how incompetant they are?

[Akira 0]

./sarcasm on

But don't you know all the good that is happening there?

./sarcasm off

[Balschoiw 0]

Interesting article on the insurgents motivations and the dilemma the US has put themselves and Iraq into. It´s a no-win situation for all. That becomes clearer every day. In fact the latest US decisions to give military power to certain factions in Iraq will only fuel the fire even more. It´s time they get over their short-sighted poll thinking and try to get the complete picture, damnit.

In Iraq's insurgency, no rules, just death

Quote[/b] ]In the very initial phase of evolution, Iraq's insurgents decided that Iraq would not be governed by the American-appointed government. After the elections of January 30, they also determined that a government elected under the American-written constitution would not govern it. But how are they are going to impose their will? Their decision all along seems to be that one side has to be either eradicated or defeated.

The American side cannot be eradicated, but the insurgents seem to have decided that they will not be defeated, as long as they are willing to die for their cause. One US Marine recently described the battle with insurgents in Ubaidi, 15 miles east of the Syrian border, by observing, "They came here to die. They were willing to stay in place and die with no hope. All they wanted was to take us with them." How do you develop an effective strategy to fight those who follow no rules, except their willingness to die for their cause? No one on the American side seems to have an answer.

The insurgents in Iraq comprise a variety of groups. First and foremost are the Ba'athists and pan-Arabists, including persons of civilian bureaucracy and armed forces under Saddam Hussein. They had careers and retirement plans. They had guaranteed sources of income to support their families. Even in the uncertain political environment of Iraq under a dictator, they did not harbor grave doubts about having a secure means of earning a living, as long as they did not antagonize the wicked regime. Today, almost 90% of them have no job, no income and no future. Thus, they form a majority of the Iraqi insurgency. A large number of army personnel are reportedly well trained in urban warfare. They are eager to destroy the current evolving system, which, from their point of view, is highly illegitimate because it is created by the United States.

Then there are the Sunni Islamists who wish to see their country ruled under the banner of Sunni Islam. There is also the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda, whose goals of having an Islamist Iraq may not be too much different than that of the Sunni Islamists, like Ansar al-Islam, and its offshoot, Ansar al-Sunnah. They are driven by the jihadi frame of mind. The "super-Infidel" is occupying the land of Islam, according to this perspective, and should be driven out, no matter the cost. In this frame of reference, there is no compromise, just death, either for them, or for their enemy, or for both. Consequently, Iraq has gone beyond a point where it could be described as "hell".

To fight the enemy, America cannot have any strategy other than its willingness to fulfill the desire of the insurgents. One has to paraphrase 18th century US statesman Patrick Henry's famous statement: "Give me liberty or give me death." In this instance, the Iraqi insurgents are not interested in living under what the Americans call a system based on liberty. They have chosen death as a price of destroying that system. In the process of dying, they are also willing to take a whole lot of Iraqis and Americans with them. This is not a reality that America wanted to create in Iraq.

Still, the Bush administration is poised to stabilize Iraq through increased reliance on the indigenous security forces, while keeping a high operational tempo that is aimed at catching the insurgents off guard and capturing or killing their top leaders. It is hoped that the capture or eradication of the top leadership of the insurgency will eventually lead to the defeat of that movement. The American thinking is sound; however, the tactics used might produce contrary results.

No one seems to recognize the fact that the intense pace of the Iraqi insurgency is constantly keeping US forces off guard. Since the Shi'ites are not as hostile to the Americans as the Sunnis, someone in the American military chain of command has decided to rely on Shi'ite security forces to bring about law and order. A news dispatch published in the Washington Post on May 8, is a case in point of how destabilizing some of the tactics used by the US and the Iraqi government are. The government side is currently using Shi'ite Iraqi forces for security purposes in the Sunni city of Ramadi, which has remained one of the hotbeds of the Sunni insurgency. From the perspective of forces of stability, since there is no Sunni government in Ramadi, they are forced to use the Shi'ite forces, "including ad hoc militia groups such as the Defenders of Baghdad - as are flowing into Ramadi as part of the latest strategy by Iraq's central government and the US military to stem insurgent violence here".

The above dispatch makes some very important pro and con points. It states, "As a short-term counterinsurgency strategy, such forces have several advantages. First, they and their families are less subject to intimidation than when the forces are in their own area. Also, as Iraqis, they are far more familiar with the territory and less likely to be viewed as occupiers than are US troops." However, it goes on to note "... by pitting Iraqis from different religious sects, ethnic groups and tribes against each other", this tactic "also aggravates the underlying fault lines of Iraqi society, heightening the prospect of civil strife ..."

As sectarian strife between the Shi'ites and Sunnis is increasing, one wonders who in his right mind would devise such a dangerous tactic only to attain short-term security? The insurgents might not be wrong if they were to read this as a desperate move.

The decision of the Bush administration not to engage in constructive dialogue with Iran and Syria is another tactical mistake of utmost significance. According to some reports, Syrian intelligence is actively involved in recruiting and training Iraqi insurgents. Iran is also accused of being involved in similar activities. However, given the fact that such reports are coming from Kurdish sources, one wonders how credible they really are. After all, the Kurds have a lot to lose if the current formula for the evolution of democracy in Iraq were to fail.

Regardless of whether such reports are credible or aimed at promoting the partisan perspectives of the Kurdish groups in Iraq, the US government must engage Iran and Syria if it is serious about stabilizing Iraq. As long as those two countries equate the emergence of a stable and democratic Iraq as a threat to their respective national securities, they would do everything to minimize the chances of the emergence of that reality.

How much worse do things have to get in Iraq before they get better? No one has a clue, except for the insurgents. They seem to have concluded that a Western-dominated Iraq will not be the beginning of a new phase for them. They want to stop the emergence of that reality. That is why they follow no rule other than dying for their cause, and take with them a whole lot of others who oppose them.

Ehsan Ahrari is an independent strategic analyst based in Alexandria, VA, US. His columns appear regularly in Asia Times Online. He is also a regular contributor to the Global Beat Syndicate. His website: www.ehsanahrari.com.

[quicksand 0]

Quote[/b] ]Interesting article on the insurgents motivations and the dilemma the US has put themselves and Iraq into. It´s a no-win situation for all. That becomes clearer every day. In fact the latest US decisions to give military power to certain factions in Iraq will only fuel the fire even more.

I consider the article to be only partly right.Focusing on the islamic militants,I think got it right-die and take as many possible with them.

But when it comes to the Baathists I would call presenting an accurate image at least difficult.I tried once,by compiling alot of different sources and this is what I concluded regarding their goals:

Making Iraq a rallying point for jihaad A complete succes with a serious token of apreciation for US military.Abu Gharib sex scandals,wounded Iraqi shot in the mosque,Iraqis thrown in a river,all made Afghanistan pale a center piece for the fight against infidels and transformed Iraq in the place to be.

This image was also helped by the Baathist willigness to stay in the shadow,after Saddam's capture there was no Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri proclaiming himself interim president or other media stunts and it worked-violence escalated imensly with an entirely new face by the name of Zarqawi(*fighting to reinstore in power a secular dictator wasn't to many jihaadists delight).While they and the islamists both know of each others existance and colaborate it is the latter that gets the media attention and claims the attacks.

Financing the resistance-Saddam with ease took a billion of dollars from the Iraqi bank before the war started coupled with his immense fortune in various accounts,keeps this area a strong point when you think it costs them 100 $ to pay an Iraqi to plan a roadside bomb and as an added bonus they most likely don't even have to pay those willing to empty an automatic rifle towards US forces(chances are they won't be alive to claim the reward)

Forming a political body-Only recently has it been revealed that a strong higly organised underground party has been formed in the Sunni cities dubbed "The New Baath Party".Without some sort of a political entity it would be close to impossible to keep the ranks together and take control of the country after they win the war.

Infiltrating the Iraqi government Another succes story.Raids are known hours before they occour allowing the rebels to flee the area with ease,asassinations are facilated by knowing the meeting high ranking targets are heading for.

Avoid considerable casualties This seems to have also worked.Giving acces to those willing to fight and die to the weapons caches and training them coupled with those payed to plant roadside bombs created an extremly deadly mix.

Plunging Iraq into chaos The most important succes they had.Keeping a constant level of violence enabled them to shatter the vital reconstruction process and for no Iraqi to feel security like the've felt during Saddam(many times ordinary Iraqis were quoted saying at the scenes of suicide bombs:"US and the Iraqi government promised us security, look at what we have now,this never happend during Saddam")

And finally it all stands to surviving and keeping their ranks filled until the US forces leave the country and emerging as the alternative to the carnage in Iraq and promising to get rid of both the uncapable pro-US government and the blood thirsty islamists.

[Nemesis6 0]

wounded Iraqi shot in the mosque,

The person responsible was cleared of any wrongdoing in this case.

[Acecombat 0]

Breaking bottles of coke on civilians head? Killing for throwing rocks? Wtf? If they dont want to be in Iraq then why dont they just resign and leave?

I can only assume that the fabolous 'you watch my back i watch yours' structure of justice in the AA is gonna ignore this too , unless some news channel posts pics of this stuff like Abu gharaib and then those liars in the pentagon finally admit ok this happened , bring those jerks home and put them in jail for 2 months and let them go and everyones happy once more .

[Donnervogel 0]

wounded Iraqi shot in the mosque,

The person responsible was cleared of any wrongdoing in this case.

uhh well do you think the insurgents will say "oh ok the US court said it was ok, then it must be ok, we love all americans!" ?

Even if it wasn't wrong (which I highly doubt) the damamge done is that the whole muslim world could see the pictures over and over on TV and they form their own opinion from it. And it's 100% negative.

[ralphwiggum 6]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/05/12/iraq.livingsurvey/index.html

Quote[/b] ](CNN) -- In the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the country still struggles with high unemployment, inconsistent utility services and widespread poverty, a joint survey from the Iraqi government and United Nations indicates.

Released Thursday, the report from Iraq's Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation and the U.N. Development Program in Iraq surveyed nearly 22,000 households in the country's 18 provinces during 2004.

Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. program's resident representative for Iraq, said Thursday that the "Iraqi people are suffering. They are going through a very difficult time. We knew it, but now it's been proven."

While there has been progress since Saddam Hussein's fall, "these data depict a very tragic picture of the quality of life," Iraqi transitional Planning Minister Barham Salih said.

Salih said the mismanagement of Saddam's government and his regime's internal conflicts and those with its neighbors took a toll that spared no sector of the country's infrastructure.

"Saddam Hussein has left us a wasteland," Salih said. "This country could have been the economic powerhouse of the Middle East."

The survey estimated that the minimum number of war-related deaths ranges from 18,000 to 29,000 and is probably higher.

The report said the survey didn't attempt to count entire families who died and therefore underestimates the total number of people killed.

Children under 18 accounted for 12 percent of the deaths, the report said, while the information on infant mortality and malnutrition shows that "the suffering of children due to war and conflict in Iraq is not limited to those directly wounded or killed by military activities."

The information about deaths was "derived from a question posed to households concerning missing and dead persons during the two years prior to the survey. Although the date was not asked for, it is reasonable to suppose that the vast majority of deaths due to warfare occurred after the beginning of 2003."

Children also are affected by widespread malnutrition. About 43 percent of boys and girls between the ages of 6 months and 5 years suffer from some form of the condition -- chronic, general or acute malnutrition.

High unemployment

While Iraq's unemployment figures were high, the survey found that most eligible workers -- excluding the military -- were able to keep the jobs they had held since before March 2003.

Iraq's unemployment rate was 10.5 percent of a population of 27 million people, the report found. When the figure of workers who had given up looking for a job -- discouraged workers -- was included, the unemployment number increased to 18.4 percent.

Most of the unemployed were people who were looking for their first jobs, the report found.

De Mistura, the U.N. representative, said Iraqis have done well to maintain services, but he said delivery of utilities such as water, sewage, sanitation and electricity hasn't been consistent.

"Although a large percentage of the population in Iraq is connected to water, electricity and sewage networks, the supply is too unstable to make a difference to their lives," he said in a news release.

According to the survey, 98 percent of Iraqi households are connected to the national electricity grid, but only 15 percent find the supply stable.

As for water availability, the figures were 78 percent (had water) and 66 percent (had problems).

Household income falls

More than a fourth of Iraqis surveyed described themselves as being poor and 96 percent said they receive monthly food rations under the public food system set up through the oil-for-food program.

The median income in Iraq was equivalent to about $255 (366,000 dinars) in 2003 and decreased in the first half of 2004 to about $144 (207,000 dinars).

The report indicated it was difficult to come up with concrete numbers from prior years to indicate the movement of wages.

"However, most observers agree that, due to a combination of wars, sanctions and economic mismanagement, the average Iraqi household probably has lower real income today than in 1980," the report said.

The survey said the largest declines were in the central Iraqi provinces, including Baghdad.

In terms of poverty, the survey looked at subjective measures. About one in six respondents to the survey said they were unable to buy one of six items listed (new clothes, heating, etc.)

De Mistura said the survey should help the Iraqi government develop a plan to improve living conditions.

In short words, Iraqis are not better off as described by TBA. they are still the same as before. If the whole structure was destroyed under Saddam's ruling, then making something out of almost nothing should be an easy job. but guess not.

[theavonlady 2]

In short words, Iraqis are not better off as described by TBA. they are still the same as before.

Chrenkoff begs to differ (Apr. 11 report):

Quote[/b] ]Good news from Iraq, Part 25

Note: Also available from the "Opinion Journal" and Winds of Change. Many thanks to James Taranto and Joe Katzman who continue to support the series, and to all readers and fellow bloggers for encouragement and help in spreading the word.

How much difference two years can make. Commenting on the news that Saddam Hussein's nemesis, leader of the people Saddam liked to gas, has now been elected President of Iraq, Mohammed Saleh, a 42-year old Kurd interviewed by the media on the streets of Kirkuk, had this to say: "Today Jalal Talabani made it to the seat of power, while Saddam Hussein is sitting in jail... Who would have thought."

History is, of course, full of delicious ironies. Not the least that the authorities have permitted Iraq's Prisoner Number 1 to watch from his prison cell the swearing in of the new government. While Iraq's new leaders lack Saddam's 99.8 per cent electoral mandates, they certainly make up for it in unscripted enthusiasm and passion. Saddam, meanwhile, who for years inflicted on his captive television audience his rambling speeches and meaningless proceedings of Iraq's "parliament" is now on the receiving end, getting the taste of the real democracy in action.

But while the momentous political events once again monopolized the headlines for the past two weeks, a lot of other positive developments have been taking place across Iraq, mostly out of the media spotlight. Below a selection of some of these stories:

SOCIETY: After weeks of intense haggling between Iraq's political factions, the country finally has its new leadership.

It started off slowly, with the National Assembly electing its speaker, Industry Minister Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni Arab, and two deputy speakers, Hussain al-Shahristani - a Shiite and former nuclear scientist - and the Kurdish leader Aref Taifour. In a novel concept for Iraqi parliamentary politics, the three have been elected in a secret ballot, "with lawmakers allowed to write the names of no more than three of five possible candidates on pieces of paper that were dropped into a box. The ballots were then read out loud and marked down, one-by-one, on a large, white board. Two were left blank. The three top candidates - Al-Hassani with 215 votes, al-Shahristani with 157, and Taifour with 96 - were elected." As the new speaker said upon his election, "it's time for the patient, Iraqi people to be treated with the dignity that God has given them... If we neglect our duties and fail, then we will hurt ourselves and the people will replace us with others." Here you can read the profile of Al-Hassani. As another brief profile also notes, Al-Hassani who spent significant part of his life in the United States, has been a supporter of the assault on insurgents in Fallujah and in the economic sphere is proponent of privatization of government-owned assets.

A few days after the speakership vote, the National Assembly chose a new president and two vice-presidents. Jalal Talabani, the 71-year old leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan have been elected president and former President Ghazi Yawer, a Sunni Arab, and Finance Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shia, have been elected his deputies. "The three candidates received 227 votes, while 30 ballots were left blank." Here you can read the profile of president Talabani, and here of his vice-presidents.

Just as the timing of the first session of the National Assembly was symbolic, coming close to the second anniversary of the start of the Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as the 17th anniversary of Saddam's chemical weapons attack on the Kurds, the announcement of the deal on Iraqi presidency came just before the second anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to the Coalition forces.

Faced with these political "the realities on the ground", the Sunni leadership, which stayed out of the elections and therefore from the Assembly, is trying not to repeat mistakes of the past:

"Two years after war dramatically changed Iraq's political landscape, the former ruling minority Sunnis are developing plans to participate in a government formed by elections they boycotted.

"In a significant shift, several Sunni groups that hitherto shunned the political process met last weekend to create a unified front and set of demands that they will present to the Shiite and Kurdish leaders now hammering out a new government.

"The meeting was a reversal for Sunni leaders who have supported insurgents and urged US troops to leave Iraq immediately.

"The new effort, observers say, appears to be an admission that their strategy - to stop Iraq's election and denounce the formation of a new government - has failed. Bringing the former ruling class into Iraq's emerging power structure, they add, could help quell the insurgency."

As the report notes, "the significance of the conference was underscored by its attendees. Participants included members of the Muslim Scholars Association, a group of Sunni religious leaders, among them some of the most extreme figures who have influence with the insurgency. Also present were leaders from cities in the 'Sunni Triangle,' including Mosul, Haditha, and Salam Pak, which is bubbling with insurgent activity. Representatives of Waqaf Sunna, the powerful administrating body of Sunni religious affairs, attended as well." It is an important development, if only because it will allow Shias and Kurds to formally negotiate with the Sunni community about the future of Iraq.

There is also more post-election cooperation in Kurdistan: "The two major Kurdish factions in the north have decided to unite their separate administrations. The Kurds have been running two governments, one in Sulaimaniya and the other in Arbil since the factions fell out in 1995. But the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) headed by Jalal Talabani, which swept the January elections in the region, have apparently buried their differences. Barzani has endorsed Talabani's quest to become Iraq's next president and the two leaders have agreed to have one unified government administering the Kurdish region from Arbil."

While the National Assembly is taking its first few steps, USAID continued to provide logistical support to ease the birth of Iraqi democracy (link in PDF):

"The elected members of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA) were inaugurated on March 16, signaling the beginning of the transitional governance period. Through its Program to Support an Iraqi National Government and Iraqi Transitional Government, USAID and its implementing partners and sub grantees have been providing training and logistical support to TNA members and staffers. Key efforts in preparation for the inauguration included:

"- Working with parliamentary staff in charge of supporting inauguration and orientation activities for the 275 Assembly members

- The procurement of audio and translation equipment (Kurdish and Arabic) to be used in the parliamentary chamber

- The production in Kurdish and Arabic of a manual on parliamentary procedure

- Trainings for staff on departmental responsibilities

- Outreach specifically targeting women members of the TNA.

- Advisory assistance to the TNA's legal advisor in the drafting of new bylaws.

"Over 80 staff members have undergone training and participated in the assessment of technical and skill-development needs. The program aims to fully develop the staff capacity of the TNA so that it is institutionalized in preparation for a permanent legislative body."

USAID also is helping Iraqi policy-makers to think about the future shape of political and constitutional arrangements in their country (link in PDF):

"The Minister of State and Provincial Affairs and USAID's [Local Governance Program] held a National Conference on Federalism and Decentralization from March 13-14, 2005 in downtown Baghdad. The conference was intended to generate fruitful discussions on laying the groundwork for Federalism in Iraq as part of the national referendum process and drafting of the Iraqi Constitution. Approximately 580 participants attended.

"LGP sponsored the printing of all conference materials. Staff members from LGP's Policy Reform Team presented on the second day of the conference which was devoted to the formation of Local Government Associations (LGAs). This presentation was well received by conference participants and LGP staff members fielded many questions about institutionalizing LGAs. LGP will submit a comprehensive report on the conference with a more detailed overview of groups in attendance, conclusions, and recommendations."

In other recent USAID activities (link in PDF):

"The newly elected Iraqi Transitional National Authority (TNA) will write a constitution this year and it is essential that women be involved in the process in order to guarantee their rights. USAID's partner implementing the project to support the TNA and the drafting of the Iraqi Constitution hosted a meeting in late February with 26 women leaders to discuss an initiative to ensure that women's rights are included in the constitution. Over the next year, the implementing partner will work with women elected officials and civil society representatives to educate Iraqis on the importance of constituting women's rights, and to train them in the necessary advocacy and education skills they will need to promote their rights with the Iraqi Government and the society at large."

The Islamic Development Bank, meanwhile, is promising more assistance towards rebuilding Iraqi government.

With the new government almost in place, the authorities are keen to confront an endemic problem which is hurting Iraq's economy and damaging public trust in new institutions - launching an anti-corruption drive:

"The head of the country's corruption-busting body, the Commission on Public Integrity, says he is determined to clean up widespread back-handers, bribery and embezzlement that are undermining Iraq's chances of a better future.

" 'Next week, we will distribute a form for the declaration of assets to all senior officials in Iraq. They should declare everything,' [said] Radhi Hamza al-Radhi... 'Governors, ministers and those above them should state their assets, shares and any expected inheritance. If anything is seen to have changed, we will ask where it came from and how. If it was legal then okay but if not we will send him to court to get his punishment'."

USAID continues to support the growth of Iraqi civil society through its Office of Transition Initiatives grants (link in PDF). Among the recent project finances with TI grants: purchase of office equipment and furniture for a cultural center in northern Iraq, conducting English language classes for women, and renovating facilities of teachers' association. Also (link in PDF): workshops for residents of 85 villages about marriage law ("Based on traditional practices, many Iraqis throughout the region enter into illegal marriages which can result in human rights violations and imminent legal confusion."), and equipping numerous human rights and women's rights NGOs.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, Iraq Freedom Conference has been held, gathering non-sectarian and non-ethnic based groups, organisations and individuals committed to building a democratic and free Iraq.

Iraqis finally get a chance to rejoin the rest of the world - linguistically. According to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research "the study of foreign languages by Iraqi students has increased drastically since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime... Iraq was disconnected for decades from the external world. Now after the elimination of the Baath regime, many Iraqis want to study foreign languages so that they can get jobs more easily." According to the Ministry, "the Iraqi universities are aware for this trend and consequently many of them have added or expanded the language departments at their university... Many private languages institutions were opened."

Iraq's most popular TV station is celebrating its first anniversary:

"One year after its founding, Al-Sharqiya satellite channel has become Iraqi households' most favorite television.

"Transmitted over three satellites, the channel has created a remarkable niche in the Arab world, particularly in Iraq. Baghdad University polls have shown the channel's rating soaring and a recent survey saw it grabbing 53% of the highly competitive television market share in the country.

"The channel's success is mainly due to its independence and integrity. Unlike its major rivals, Al-Sharqiya is the country's only independent television that is not associated to any particular group, faction, sect or religion inside or outside Iraq.

"The 24-hour news and entertainment channel is beamed from two locations, one in Dubai and the other in Baghdad. It employs 250 reporters, cameramen, editors and administrators."

And on the sports scene, a team from Iraq will be participating in the second Women's Football Championship in Jordan.

ECONOMY: Good news for stabilizing Iraqi economy and implementing much-needed reform: "The International Monetary Fund and new Iraqi government expect to have an economic adjustment program in place in the fall if security improves."

Good news, too, for Iraqi finances: "Russia will sign an agreement this year finalising a plan to write-off most of the money owed to it by Iraq, a Finance Ministry official said. In November [2004] President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was committed to forgiving 90 percent of Iraq's debts, more than the 80 percent agreed by the Paris Club of sovereign lenders."

Economic confidence is growing:

"Even in the face of continuing violence, there's a palpable sense of optimism in Iraq these days. The country's post-war election, held in January this year, appears to have boosted commerce and sales in the country - one of several signs that Iraqis are hopeful about their future.

"Baghdad's heavily commercial Karrada Street, for example, has its hustle back. Fala Hassan, a shop keeper on Karrada Street, thinks his customers have turned a corner. Before the election, many of them were fearful and sales were slow, he said. But these days his customers are back, he notes, and their cash is flowing again. 'People were so worried before the election... Now they are less worried about the future,' Hassan said.

"Growing consumer confidence is a small, but critical economic step for Iraq - a country that needs to take many to get back on its feet.

"There is a ripple effect: Iraqis are enjoying higher salaries and buying big-ticket consumer products, like washing machines. And the growth in sales is leading to more jobs in commercial districts like Karrada Street. The job growth is small, but in a country with 30 percent unemployment, every job counts. And the employment revival is not only seen on Karrada Street. From Baghdad's airport to Sadr City's sewers, more and more reconstruction jobs are now going to Iraqis rather than foreign contractors."

As economic situation improves, Iraqis are becoming car-crazy:

"Traffic jams in the Iraqi capital are caused by new police checkpoints, old, broken-down cars, lines of customers waiting to fill up at the pumps, and, of course, the more than 426,000 new cars registered in the last two years.

"That doesn't stop Iraqis with newly increased salaries from coming in to ogle cars and buy them, said Ahmed Mohammed 37, manager of the Salman Fak Car Trading lot near Baghdad's National Theater.

"More than 900,000 cars have been registered across the country in the past two years, according to data from the Baghdad traffic department -- 426,000 of them from Baghdad. Before the war, about 347,000 cars were registered across the country, said Nejim Abid Jabir, a spokesman for the traffic department under the Interior Ministry."

It's not just restricted to Baghdad: "Iraq's Kurdish minority lives mostly in three northern provinces of Iraq... On the street, drivers are more likely to favor a Hyundai over a high-end Mercedes, however. Sport-utility vehicles and sports cars are few and far between in the capital. Former president Saddam Hussein heavily taxed cars, making them unaffordable for all but a favored few. In addition, a program in which residents could pay money in for 10 years or so and then receive their car just now is starting to deliver the vehicles."

Speaking of northern Iraq:

"Relative stability and oil wealth are drawing jobs and opportunities to the northern city of Kirkuk, which will soon be the first major city in Iraq to take charge of its own defense...

"While much of Iraq struggles with roadside bombs and suicide attacks, Kurdistan -- the northern region where Kurds enjoyed more than a decade of virtual autonomy within a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone -- is prospering.

"Kurds living abroad have begun to return home to set up new businesses. Construction is booming. And with oil fields containing 40 percent of Iraq's reserves nearby, opportunities are plentiful.

"The multiethnic city of nearly 1 million has begun to attract investment from other parts of Iraq, said Maj. Darren Blagburn, intelligence officer for the U.S. Army's 116th Regiment in Kirkuk. 'We're seeing a lot of businesses move to Kirkuk from Baghdad,' he said.

"Local security forces, manned mostly by former members of the Kurdish militia, the peshmerga, are also more capable than those in other parts of Iraq. As a result, the U.S. Army plans within weeks to make Kirkuk the first city in former Ba'athist-controlled areas to complete the transition from foreign to local protection."

Unlike in many other parts of the region, where statist theories combined with the dominance of the oil industry made for top-heavy economic development, in Iraq increasingly the "small is beautiful":

"A bus pulled up in front of a restaurant last week and 43 Iraqis got out - but they weren't there to negotiate Cabinet positions. This wasn't politics, it was business. And it wasn't Baghdad, it was Beverly Hills.

"The Iraqis were small-business owners who had come to meet with more than 40 Americans from small to medium-size companies. At Lawry's restaurant, the visitors spent five hours schmoozing with their American counterparts about buying, selling, financing and delivering the goods. Contacts were made, future orders foreshadowed.

"But something more important than deals was in the air: a sense of the future of a country - and an economy that can be built anew only if thousands of ordinary family-owned companies can get on with the construction.

"Big contracts to rebuild oil and electric power industries are essential, of course. But progress will come to Iraq only if private businesses replace the old state monopolies of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.

" 'The successful way to change economies is not to reform state companies but to get a lot of small companies started,' says Robert Looney, an economist with long service in the Middle East who now teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

"The U.S. government now seems to understand this. The U.S. is playing a more useful role, experts say, after the first postwar year when the Coalition Provisional Authority issued a lot of rules that further gummed up Iraq's crippled economy.

"The gathering was co-sponsored by the U.S. Commercial Service, an arm of the Department of Commerce that helps small and mid-size firms with contacts and exports around the world. The goal was to provide a boost for Iraqi and U.S. companies.

"The other sponsor was the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a phenomenal example of the new Iraq. Founded in Los Angeles only two years ago after the fall of Hussein's regime, it already has 5,700 members, including 300 in the U.S."

The US government is also providing some concrete assistance:

"This year, the US government will help more than 100,000 American small businesses obtain access to capital through SBA loans. Now it wants to help grow small and medium-size businesses in Iraq.

"The Overseas Private Investment Corp., a federal agency that backs investments in developing countries, teamed with Citigroup to establish a $131 million loan program in Iraq. Iraqi financial institutions will tap these funds to make loans to small and medium-sized businesses.

" 'This facility is critical as a first step toward rejuvenating the private sector of Iraq as it strives to tap the capital markets,' says Ross Connelly, OPIC's acting president and CEO.

"OPIC provides political risk insurance, loans and loan guarantees to American businesses that invest in new and emerging markets. Fees cover the costs of its programs."

Under USAID's Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) program, business training seminars are being organized across Iraq, most recently in Sulemyaniyah, directed mostly at female business owners and operators (link in PDF).

The Iraqi Industry and Mineral Resources Minister, Hajim Alhuseini, has called for a wide-ranging tax reform "to support Iraqi private sector... after the failure of the public sector." More on changing tax policies in Iraq here. And here's some of the recent USAID initiatives in this area (link in PDF). In related financial matters, the talks are underway between the Iraqi and the United Arab Emirates authorities to bring some of the UAE banks into Iraq.

In oil news, Iraqi authorities are planning for the future growth of the industry: "The Iraqi government wants to build two new refineries to better handle oil revenues... The new refineries would practically double Iraq's production capacity for gasoline and other oil products to about 1 million barrels per day from approximately 500,000 barrels per day from three aging refineries."

Meanwhile, Iraq and Kuwait are cooperating to finally resolve a long-standing dispute hampering the full exploitation of rich oil field:

"A joint Kuwaiti-Iraqi commission is studying ways to regulate production from a large oilfield that extends into the two neighbouring Arab nations... The oilfield is known as Rumaila in Iraq and Ritqa in Kuwait. Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein accused the emirate of stealing oil from the Iraqi field and used that as a pretext to invade and occupy Kuwait in August 1990."

"We have two options. The first is to have joint production operations like in the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, and the second is to hire a foreign company for production," says the Kuwaiti oil minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd Al Sabah.

Canadian company OGI has announced it had won a contract to develop the Himrin oil field in northern Iraq. "Iraq's oil ministry awarded the engineering and supply tender for the 100,000 barrel a day field to OGI Group, a privately held exploration, development and oil field services company... The interim cabinet also approved OGI's bid... The deal is expected to become binding once the new government is formed, Iraqi officials said."

Kirkuk, one of Iraq's great oil producing areas, is getting an upgrade in security: "The Iraqi interim government, in conjunction with U.S. forces, is setting up three dedicated oil security battalions to safeguard oil infrastructure in and around the northern city of Kirkuk. In addition, the nascent Iraqi air force, based at a U.S. airfield near Kirkuk, has begun patrolling the area's three major pipelines using Jordanian-built light aircraft equipped with a variety of sensors."

And one mooted infrastructure project offers benefits that go well beyond the economy:

"When a new Iraqi government finally takes office, it will have in its 'in-box' an economic proposal that touches on some of the country's most sensitive questions: How to reduce violence in the Sunni Triangle, how to manage the country's increasingly tense relationship with neighboring Jordan, and how to expand its oil production and exports.

"This hornet's nest of problems could be eased, proponents argue, by building an oil pipeline through western Iraq to the Jordanian port of Aqaba on the Red Sea. This pipeline would carry 1.2 million barrels of crude a day from the existing pipeline junction at Haditha, northwest of Baghdad, to new loading facilities at Aqaba. Building a pipeline through Iraq's nastiest war zone may sound crazy, but read on.

"A leading advocate of the pipeline project is an Iraqi Sunni leader named Talal Gaaod. He heads an engineering company based in Jordan called the Tabouk Group, and he's also a prominent member of the Dulaimi tribe that holds sway in Anbar province, which stretches from Baghdad to the Jordanian border. His tribal credentials are important, because it's through tribal-backed security forces that Gaaod thinks he can safely build and maintain a pipeline in what has been the heartland of the insurgency."

It's early stages yet, but the Jordanian government is interested, as are the Japanese investors.

In communications, the cell phone network is growing across Iraq: "15 months to happen but Kuwaiti-based MTC has finally launched its official GSM network in Baghdad, to coincide with the recent Telecom Arabia show. How has MTC - which partners with Vodafone - managed this feat in war-torn Iraq? The company claims its 1,800 kilometres of network have been rolled out with the help of a 100 per cent Iraqi workforce... Part of the deal surrounding the granting of its licence was to roll out the GSM network in the south of Iraq before being allowed to cover the capital. As such, MTC Atheer now has over 360, 000 subscribers in Iraq."

And in transport news, new buses and special traffic lanes set aside for public transport will be used in fight against traffic congestion in Baghdad. Meanwhile, the government-owned General Railway Company is preparing to launch several projects, some of them planned for the past 25 years. "These projects are: Baghdad-Al-Kut, Al-Imara-Basra, [and] Al-Naseriyya-Al-Basra [lines]... The Company [also] aims at connecting Iraq with Syria through Al-Qaim-Dir al-Zur, and also connecting Baghdad with Iran through al-Shuayba-al-Mahmara. In addition, the company will accomplish other projects in the north of Iraq, including Baghdad-Baquba, Irbil-Mosul-Zakho and Kirkuk-Suleimanieh."

RECONSTRUCTION: Iraq's biggest reconstruction expo has proved to be a great success:

"A huge exposition opened on Monday in Amman, bringing together almost a thousand exhibitors and thousands more participants interested in getting their foot in the door for the large number of reconstruction projects anticipated in Iraq over the coming years.

"The expo, dubbed Rebuild Iraq 2005, has 985 exhibitors from four countries. The range of products on show is huge, from machines that make plastic bags and paper products, to small hand tools such as screwdrivers and drill bits, all the way to at least one group here that is in the business of selling bridges.

"Fadi Kaddoura, the project manager for Rebuild Iraq 2005 said that millions of dollars in sales and contracts will likely trade hands over the next few days. While many smaller businesses and sub-contractors come to make purchases and establish contacts, the big money comes from the Iraqi ministries."

The participants, while mindful of many challenges, seem very optimistic. More here.

Another foreign donors conference will be held in Jordan in May to hurry up foreign governments on their past commitments to Iraq's reconstruction, of which only $1 billion has so far been given to the Iraqi government. In the meantime, the World Bank has made a grant of $480 million to various Iraqi ministries to finance their operations and programs.

According to Mehdi Al Hafedh, Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation, Iraq Rebuilding Strategy Authority is currently supervising 121 major reconstruction projects throughout the country, worth $1.8 billion: "20 electricity projects,24 public work projects, 11 education projects, 9 development projects in Baghdad, 8 development cooperation projects, 8 environmental projects, 6 health projects, 6 agriculture projects, 5 water projects, 4 housing projects, 3 higher education projects, 3 labor and social projects,3 industrial projects, 10 transport projects and others."

In another good news for increased Iraqi participation in the reconstruction process: "According to employment figures compiled by the Project and Contracting Office (PCO), the United States Aid for International Development (USAID), Commanders Emergency Response Program (CERP), Military Construction (MILCON) and Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I), reconstruction employment has risen to 167,000 in March."

In recent reconstruction initiatives:

As part of its "Toward cleaner and more shining Iraq", the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works is spending 136 million dinars ($93,000) on various projects in Almoseib governorate, including paving roads, constructing additional bridges and building public parks.

Following the recent successful reconstruction programs in Baghdad's Sadr City to provide water and electricity to its previously much-neglected residents, as well as clean up the suburb, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is now conducting further consultation with members of the area's local government to work out plans for the second round of reconstruction projects.

Throughout Bahgdad and other cities, the Ministry of Electricity is starting a program to improve street lighting.

In Najaf municipality, 107 billions dinars ($73 million) will be spent in the current year on reconstruction and service provision. $70 million is being spent on local roads, important for religious tourism in this town.

In the Misan province, a major road building and surfacing program has already finished work on 450 kilometers of roads, with plans for improvements on further 600 kilometers.

In electricity news, the Ministry of Electricity has issued a directive that power stations which employ permanent maintenance staff have to from now on operate 24 hours a day.

In growing energy cooperation with Iraq's neighbors, Iran will be increasing electricity exports to Iraq from 90-100 MWs currently to 145 MW by next June. In that time-frame, "the technical procedures needed for connecting the electricity networks of Iran and Iraq [will be completed]. When this goal will be met, the third stage begins, in which Iraq will be able to import larger amount of electricity from Iran, according to its needs." In recent talks with Turkey, it was also agreed to

"accomplish the second stage of the electrical connection project with Turkey. This stage includes increasing of the electrical energy transformed from Turkey to Iraq to 220-250 Megawatts from the end of next June, up from 150-160 Megawatts, which were provided during the first stage. The two sides discussed also the third stage, in which Iraq will import 700-1000 Megawatt, while this will demand to arrange lines of more than 400 Kilo Volt. The Turkish side also promised to study the possibility of connecting the electricity networks of the two countries, in case of fulfilling the third stage."

More here.

Among the recent USAID's contributions to rebuilding Iraq's power infrastructure (link in PDF): "Work is continuing on the refurbishment of two units at a large thermal power station in Baghdad. The station's four steam boilers and turbines were each designed to produce 160 MW; however, due to lack of maintenance, the plant is now operating in the 160-170 MW range, far below its fullload rating of 640 MW. The project employs 310 Iraqi workers and covers the rehabilitation of both turbines, the replacement of boiler and turbine controls with a modern, sustainable system, and the refurbishment of the 132kV switchyard. The project also includes rehabilitation of water intake screens, auxiliary mechanical equipment and electrical equipment, electrical cabling, electrical raceways, cable trays and control systems. Upon completion, an additional 320 MW is projected to be available for Baghdad's electrical grid. This project is now 85 percent finished and scheduled for completion this summer."

In Basra, meantime, (link in PDF), "installation of water treatment units at

four major power plants... is nearing completion. For years, these plants have been operating without functioning water treatment units. When untreated brackish water

is circulated through boiler tubes, it corrodes the tubes and eventually causes them to rupture. Long term use of poor quality water results in permanent damage to the boiler and heat exchange system, additional power outages, and costly repairs." The project is intended to be finalized by mid-May.

Water infrastructure is also undergoing reconstruction throughout Iraq. In recent news: an Iraqi firm, owned by the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, is reporting completion of numerous projects around the country, including the irrigation project at Mahroush in Dyali province and the land reclamation in Alyousefiya.

Major projects have been completed in Mosul:

"The Water Department in the restive city of Mosul implemented 31 projects last year, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Municipality and Public Works.

"Mohammed Ahmad, the department's head, said more than 19 kilometers of new pipes were extended in Mosul, the northern city which sees almost daily attacks against U.S. and Iraq forces. Mosul is the capital of Nineveh Province which also includes other sizeable towns and districts.

"Ahmad said old pipes were replaced in several towns, new water projects executed and numerous buildings constructed to house officials ensuring 'an uninterrupted flow of water supplies' to the province's nearly 3 million people.

"He said drinking water was available to the whole city and a large portion of villages in the province. Small-scale water purification projects were constructed in several areas inside Mosul and outlying districts, he said.

"The town of Telaafar, where U.S. troops battle insurgents regularly will soon have a new water project along with Zammar. Ahmad said more than 15,000 kilometers of pipes were extended in provincial towns and villages last year."

In Karbala (link in PDF), USAID is continuing to work on refurbishment of a water treatment plant, which was in the state of dire disrepair. The project is expected to be completed in September. Elsewhere throughout Iraq, (link in PDF) the work is ongoing on water and sanitation facilities serving rural areas of Diyala governorate, and the trunk sewer systems serving Zafaraniyah, a district in South Eastern Baghdad.

Meanwhile, in Karbala, the Directorate General for the Maintenance of Projects is planning this years, as one of its projects, to line Al Roshdiya creek-bed. "A source in the Ministry of Water Resources said that the work aims at getting rid of the saltiness of the soil and the treatment of irrigation water for agricultural orchard for delivering water to these lands. He added that the works in the project included lifting 5000 m3 of muddy soil, burying 8000 m3 with dust on all layers, and lining 1200 m2 with regular concrete and executing side outlets in the right side in the number of 12 outlets and 13 penetrated on the left side, in addition to the treatment of the agricultural irrigation water."

In health, "the Iraqi health ministry affirmed completion of 30 percent of the project to rehabilitate and equip emergency departments at hospitals in Baghdad and other provinces... An official spokesman at the ministry said that it has already working for more than five months on the project to rehabilitate and equip emergency departments in 12 hospitals. He disclosed that the cost for such project reached US$25 million, which was partly funded by the World Bank."

There is more assistance coming for Iraq's handicapped: "Work has got underway for establishing handicapped institutes. Notably, ministry of health decided to complete them within three months. The ministry sets a strategic plan for rehabilitating handicapped in Iraq. That plan secures establishing five hospitals and more than 38 specialized centers for medical rehabilitation, besides modernizing 10 factories and workshops for limbs and sticks. The ministry's spokesman said that the plan sets until 2007 aims at developing medical rehabilitation services in Iraq and secure enough buildings."

USAID, in conjunction with other bodies, continues to assist the Iraqi health system (link in PDF):

"Essential health care equipment arrived in emergency rooms and supply houses throughout Iraq to help Iraqis strengthen their health services. This project is being implemented by UNICEF with the support of a $36 million USAID grant. Recent emergency health equipment deliveries include 300 Emergency Health Kits, intravenous fluids and 29,332 tubes of Flamazine cream, a medicine essential in managing burns.

"To contribute to combating malnutrition, UNICEF supplied 405 clinical scales for infants and newborns. Since the project commenced, a total of 2,300 scales have been delivered to maternity wards, pediatric wards, and delivery rooms where they are used to register and manage low birth weight infants. To reduce the prevalence of micronutrient deficiency disorders, 76 feeders have been also delivered to wheat flour mills throughout the country. These feeders will allow mills to enrich wheat flour with iron and folic acid, nutrients deficient in diets throughout Iraq."

"Two Iraqi universities are implementing a research project with USAID support to find preventative procedures for B-Thalassemia, a blood disease prevalent throughout Iraq" (link in PDF). Also, "a Baghdad clinic and medical school training center received new furniture and equipment through the support of their local Community Action Group (CAG) and USAID's Community Action Program (CAP). The center serves about 400 patients daily, approximately 250 Bachelor's Degree students and 20 doctors pursuing higher studies." (link in PDF)

Baghdad Health Department is increasing this year the number of specialist courses in the fields of "internal, surgery, gynecological and psychological illnesses and nine courses in statistics filed and other eight in nursing field including internal and surgery nursing, children, operations, prevention and other specialties." The aim is to boost the specialist numbers in the fields where there are currently shortages.

There is also more support for this very valuable institution (link in PDF): "An institute for disabled children in Baghdad renovated its facilities with the assistance of USAID's Community Action Program (CAP). The institute is the only of its kind in Iraq providing care and education for children under the age of 12 who are mentally disabled or have cerebral palsy or neurological impairments. The institute is made up of 10 classrooms, administrative offices, a sports hall, and a physical therapy unit where children receive treatment. The $96,947 project investment from CAP renovated the school improving the ability of the school's principal and social workers to provide quality services to moderately and severely disabled students with different levels of physical and learning ability. This facility will enable children with special needs to realize their fullest potential and to provide them with every opportunity to learn in a decent environment."

The education system is also trying to catch up to the twenty-first century - with plenty of help from abroad. The authorities have set up the Iraqi Center for Creation and Development - "a platform for Iraqis to learn about the latest development in world technologies and internet... Any individual can come and learn at the center... The center can be beneficial in promoting skills of Iraqi students and helping them to succeed in the domestic job market."

The Jordanian National Committee for Education, Culture and Sciences, in cooperation with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Sciences, has held a training course for the members of its Iraqi counterpart. "The course aims at developing the skills and abilities of the Iraqi trainees and supplying them with the necessary expertise to develop the work of their national committees and improve their performance levels."

"The Ministry of Education has renovated new center for internet and communications in order to upgrade and promote experiences and expertise for employees in the educational sector, besides arranging the modern information to get use from them in he ministry's departments."

The public library in Karbala has been reopened after extensive renovations costing 1.4 billion dinars. Also in Karbala, 14 schools are being currently renovated, with plans for the refurbishment of another 60.

In USAID's recent contribution to education (link in PDF): "Iraqi secondary school students welcomed the delivery of 137,112 Education Kits containing basic school supplies. Each kit contains 10 Arabic exercise books, one English exercise book, one drawing book, one lab notebook, one drawing set, 12 pencils, four pencil sharpeners, four erasers, and one ruler. They are now being distributed among 2,014 secondary schools throughout Iraq. The provision of basic school supplies is a component of USAID's Education II program. During the past month, the Education II project also trained more than 3,000 educators in 32 workshops throughout Iraq that covered topics ranging from capacity building within the Ministry of Education to improved teaching techniques for primary school teachers."

USAID is also providing assistance to Iraq's higher education system (link in PDF). Thanks to USAID's Higher Education and Development (HEAD) program partner the University of Oklahoma, a technical university in Baghdad now has a brand new computer center. Under the same program, a university library in Al Hillah province, which had previously been looted, has now received new books and equipment. The Mississippi Consortium for International Development (MCID) led by Jackson State University (JSU) has also been modernizing labolatories and providing equipment and textbooks Medicine and Engineering departments at Iraqi universities.

In other recent initiatives (link in PDF), "a Baghdad university law library has been restored with assistance from the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University. This is the first of three law library renovations that the institute has undertaken as part of the $3.8 million legal education reform component of the Higher Education and Development (HEAD) program. Two more libraries will soon be reopened after renovations."

Baghdad University is also expanding the range of its postgraduate programs.

Thanks to open borders and generosity of foreign benefactors, some of Iraq's most gifted can now continue their studies overseas:

"Nine Iraqi students have arrived at Education City to take up scholarships granted by Qatar Foundation. The group, which has studied together for the past six years at Baghdad's School for the Gifted, will begin their university career with a one-year course at the Academic Bridge Programme. Alongside other high-potential students, they will have intensive coaching in the core skills required for admission to Education City's top-flight universities, including maths, computer skills and English language. Eight of the scholarship students hope to study medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College-Qatar, while the ninth is seeking entry to the prestigious petroleum engineering programme at Texas A & M University-Qatar. The students' tuition and living expenses will be entirely met by Qatar Foundation for the duration of their academic programmes."

In agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organisation will be cooperating with the Iraqi authorities on reclaiming land in Baghdad and other provinces that have suffered from desertification. "This projects is expected to employ many Iraqis who will work in preparing nurseries for different types of plants."

The Ministry of Agriculture has recently announced "a work plan to implement a national program to prepare maps for assessing environmental and agricultural needs in all provinces... The main objective of the program is to locate production areas for strategic crops, and determine the area for agricultural investments, provide needed support for local projects such as equipment, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides." More here.

"Ten officials from Water Resource Departments in five Iraqi governorates attended a training course in Amman, Jordan with support from ARDI. The course, prepared and delivered by staff from the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) and Jordanian universities, covered principles of water resource management. The course lasted eight days, with four days devoted to lectures and training and four days for field trips to local farms and the JVA headquarters to observe the control center, operation room, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA)." (link in PDF)

The Ministry has also signed a contract for the import of 11 multi-purpose agricultural airplanes, to be used for aerial spraying against pests. German harvesters will also be imported to help in the coming harvest.

HUMANITARIAN AID: USAID is helping some of those most in need throughout Iraq (link in PDF): "USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is distributing Livelihood Packages to displaced families in south and west Kirkuk. Local Community Development Groups helped OFDA assess the community and prioritize the families in greatest needed. Over 2,300 family packages have been distributed among the displaced population. These packages include blankets, clothes, heaters, cookers, and plastic sheeting - non-food items, which would help people stay warm and dry during the winter. In addition more than 50 jobs were created during procurement, with additional jobs being generated during the distributions."

In America, grass-roots actions to help Iraqis continue. From Pennsylvannia:

"In a hot and dusty village near Bayji, Iraq, surrounded by miles and miles of desert, at least 50 Iraqi kids are wearing new sandals that were bought right here in Bucks. The springtime chill doesn't lend itself to thinking about open-toe weather just yet, but a month-old goodwill project that's collected 250 pairs of sandals has got Northampton residents doing just that.

"The project, Brad's Sandalmania, was the brainchild of Council Rock graduate Brad Raudenbush, 22, who was sent overseas in June for service in Iraq. The Temple University criminal justice major wrote in a recent e-mail that he thought of distributing sandals to promote goodwill among Iraqis after checking out some Army photos of the region he was heading to."

From Oklahoma:

"Beanie babies can save a soldier's life. In fact, they can save a number of them, said Denise Rozell and her 10-year-old daughter, Destiny Fulsom. A few weeks ago, Rozell and Fulsom, a fifth grader at Westwood Elementary, were watching the evening news when they saw an interview with a soldier in Iraq. The soldier told how their convoy spotted an Iraqi girl on the side of the road and they recognized the girl because one of the soldiers had given her a Beanie Baby a few days earlier. The Iraqi girl proceeded to point out to the soldiers where all the land mines were located, Rozell said.

"The news sparked an idea in both Rozell and Fulsom's minds. 'We started thinking about all the beanies in the house and thought "Why don't we send them to soldiers",' Rozell said. Rozell got in touch with Barbara Luttmer, who works at the Morrison American Legion Auxiliary. Luttmer knew how to send the beanies to the soldiers because the auxiliary had sent supplies to troops in the past. Starting March 21, Rozell and Fulsom began to collect the Beanie Babies by putting a drop-off point at Westwood Elementary. A mother of three children, Rozell has also received help from co-workers who have volunteered to help with the process."

Students from DeLong Middle School in Wisconsin are collecting and sending school supplies to Iraq.

Meanwhile, a new program is launched by the Iraqi authorities to help those most disadvantaged:

"A new programme to assist the poorest and most disadvantaged members of Iraqi society was launched recently by the Minister of Public Works and Social Affairs, Leila Abdul Lattif.

"The project employs a team of six psychologists who travel the streets of the capital under police guard, searching for the destitute, orphans, the elderly and disabled homeless. Most have no means of support other than begging. They are offered refuge at a centre called 'The Mercy House'.

Here, a variety of support services are offered by professional and volunteer workers, including doctors and psychologists. Each person who accepts assistance is given an individual psychological assessment and their difficulties are analysed. An individual programme is then worked out to help them cope with whatever issues have resulted in them being on the streets."

"I believe that it's the best programme that the Iraqi government has ever developed. In this centre you really can explore the minds of your patient and in the meantime feel happy that you are giving the possibility for each one to have a better future," says Dr Ibraheem Kassem, a Mercy House volunteer.

This Iraqi action aims to do good and bring people together at the same time:

"Shiites and Sunnis sat side byside as blood filled bags through plastic tubes, hoping their donation will help whoever needs it.

"Dozens of Iraqis, from all walks of life with different sectarian and ethnic backgrounds, lined up Sunday outside a blood donation station set at the headquarters of the Iraqi Islamic Party which initiated the blood donation campaign.

" 'The goal of such a blood drive is to achieve the unity of the Iraqi people, under humanitarian actions,' [said] doctor Alaa Maki, also a member of the party... 'The donated blood will be distributed to all Iraqis no matter who they are and we also call for other Iraqi parties and humanitarian institutions to do the same to save the lives of Iraqi patients and wounded people while living together in peace,' said Maki while busy helping the donors.

"The Iraqi National Center for Blood Donation is facing an acute shortage of blood since the tide of violence in the already war-ravaged country sees no sign of easing away. The Iraqi hospitals are also in need of medicine and medical appliances. The blood donation campaign, designated to help address the problem, is expected to last for several days. 'Nothing can better fraternize the divided Iraqis than blood,' [said] doctor Abdul Wadod Khaled."

THE COALITION TROOPS: The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, the body responsible for managing environmental engineering and construction projects for the US Air Force, has awarded over $71 million-worth of reconstruction contracts in Iraq in March. "Since the year began, AFCEE awarded more than $173 million worth of work to contractors in Iraq. Air Force and civilian employees worked on repairing underground pipelines; built schools, government buildings and military facilities; and rebuilt existing facilities this month. Last year, AFCEE awarded $1.2 billion worth of work in Iraq in order to help rebuild the country's security and justice infrastructure."

The troops continue to be involved in numerous reconstruction projects around Iraq. In Baghdad, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has nearly completed a $6.5 million project of cleaning the Zeblin line of sewage pipes:

"According to Mike Mitchell, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project engineer, sewage backups into the streets and homes of the residents of Baghdad create a hazardous environment.

" 'Particularly hazardous considering the Baghdad sewer systems harbor hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, unexploded ordnance and fecal born-diseases, among numerous other hazards.'

"The intent of sewer line cleaning is to remove foreign materials from the lines and restore the sewer to a minimum of 95 percent of the original carrying capacity or as required for proper seating of internal pipe joint sealing packers."

Bryon Johnson from Camp Speicher near Tikrit reports: "These folks, they're incredible... They're doing some really cool stuff here. Just in this area alone, I counted 93 schools that they're working on. They have 22 electrical plants or power stations. Seventeen railroads. Nine health clinics. Eight fire stations. Four court houses. That's just what I know about."

In Bayji, the troops are working on the local power plant:

"As March draws to a close, temperatures in Iraq are on the rise. Getting more electricity on the national grid is of foremost concern as the summer months draw near. An international team of engineers and technical professionals at the Bayji power plant has spent the past nine months working to get an additional 270 megawatts of power on the grid, which is enough energy to power more than 200,000 Iraqi homes and businesses.

"In April 2004, a $64 million contract was awarded to Odebrecht-Austin, Joint Venture to rehabilitate two gas turbine units, each capable of generating 135 megawatts of power. After months of hard work, the units had 'first fires' Feb. 25 and March 11 and started applying power to the national grid March 3 and 16. Final reliability tests are being performed, and the project will be transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity this month, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said."

Around Ramadi, the troops are rebuilding the important dam system:

"Iraq's Ramadi Barrage, on the Euphrates River, is to be repaired at a cost of $3 million. 'The repair work is scheduled to begin mid-April or May, pending SPCO approval and contractor selection, with a completion date of mid-April 2006,' said Brian Anderson, US Army Corps of Engineers project engineer. 'Repairing the barrage will provide jobs for the Iraqi people and ensure that it will operate properly for its designed purposes, which are irrigation and flood control,' Anderson said.

"Barrages in Iraq are of critical national importance and key infrastructure significance for its people. The Ramadi Barrage is part of a sensitive system designed for flood control and irrigation storage that consists of the Warrar Inlet Canal structure, Al Duban Regulator and the Habbaniyah Reservoir. During the 1991 Gulf War, seven of the barrage's gates were damaged by air-to-ground missiles. The damaged gates were left in the down position resulting in a loss of performance, particularly during floodwater periods."

Taskforce Baghdad is meanwhile working together with local contractors on a number of projects. Local roads are being widened not only to improve traffic, but also make it more difficult for the insurgents to successfully plant roadside bombs; in other areas water station is being renovated and water pipes laid in order to provide water to several neighborhoods.

The troops are also assisting with the development of the education infrastructure:

"Millions of dollars in Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Funds are being spent to repair and reconstruct schools throughout Iraq. The majority of the reconstruction work is being done by local Iraqi companies.

" 'The future of any country lies with its children,' said Linda Carter, construction representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Kirkuk area office. 'Schools are instrumental in the proper development of our children. It's difficult to learn in buildings that are overcrowded and in disrepair.'

"Currently, over $2 million is being spent on 38 school renovations in the province of Kirkuk. There is an additional $1.4 million available that is expected to be used on eight more schools. That contract is currently out for bid. So far, three schools have been completed, and an additional eight are scheduled for completion this month.

"The schools being reconstructed were selected from a priority list provided by the province's Director General of Education. The DG provided a list of 80 schools in need of renovation and repair. The plan is to do as many schools as possible with the available $3.4 million."

In addition to reconstruction, soldiers are also using connections back home to assist Iraqi schools: "Soldiers in the 155th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq are soliciting help from folks back home to wage a different kind of battle, one for young hearts and minds. Members of the team have established an adopt-a-school program that aims to link Iraqi children with students in Mississippi schools, Lt. Col. Tommy Fuller, the 155th's chaplain, told The Associated Press by satellite phone from a base in the Northern Babil province."

Support for Iraqi health service also continues:

"The four Humvees rumbled down the street and turned into an empty lot. The soldiers dismounted, scrutinized the dirt and rocks for hidden bombs, and scanned windows and rooftops for hidden gunmen.

"Then, one Humvee pulled up to a driveway and backed up to a building where some men and boys were waiting. The building was a clinic, and inside the Humvee were boxes of medical supplies.

" 'They go through 100 syringes a day,' said Dr. (Capt.) Mike Tarpey of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment.

"Supporting health care is a priority for the 42nd Infantry Division, which began its one-year deployment to Iraq in February. While U.S. troops provide most of the muscle and means, they also try to bring local Iraqis into the mix. The men at the clinic were local officials and clinic workers, who it is hoped will get some credit for the delivery."

Here's a similar action: "As the convoy pulled into the Janain neighborhood, people started to come out of their houses. The speakers on top of the psychological operation's Humvee announced the Soldiers' arrival. The message was simple - the Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, were there to provide medical assistance to the residents. The medics set up a makeshift aid station to treat the residents as an area was cordoned off with concertina wire March 9." Such actions not only provide much needed medical assistance to Iraqi who might otherwise have problems accessing it, but also present to local another side of the Coalition troops.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region South, meanwhile, is managing the renovation and rebuilding of hospitals in the south of the country. As one of its recent projects, under a $10 million contract a 260-bed maternity and pediatrics hospital in Tallil will be thoroughly renovated. "Every portion of the 260-bed hospital will be touched... The contract also includes new operating suites, tons of new medical equipment, and many donated medical supplies. We are re-equipping the entire facility," says Bob Hanacek, GRS resident engineer.

The security infrastructure is not forgotten throughout Iraq:

"Once the Basrah firm, Mott McDonald, completed its assessments of 13 police stations throughout Maysan Province, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region South, or GRS, awarded contracts to local Iraqi construction firms to implement the planned renovation reconstruction. These 13 stations represent only the beginning of the program as additional stations undergo assessments in the future...

"Based upon the size of each station and the renovations required, individual station reconstruction costs will range from $65,000 to $180,000.

"Renovations to the initial 13 stations will directly improve the security and working conditions for approximately 1500 police in Maysan Province. However, the construction upgrades will serve to have a ripple effect, thereby delivering benefits that extend far beyond the police station walls.

" 'Approximately 800-1200 Iraqis will be put to work in conjunction with the renovation program,' said [construction manager Ken] Derickson, 'thereby stimulating the local economies throughout Maysan Province'."

You can also read this interesting profile of Kevin Gerdes, a lieutenant colonel in the Minnesota National Guard and "mayor" of Taji, the former home of the Hammurabi Division of the Republican Guard and of a Saddam memorabilia museum, now shared by the US and Iraqi troops, as he overseas the renovation of the base before its handover to local soldiers.

The troops are also playing important role in helping to build Iraqi democracy on the grass-roots level:

"When villagers saw the cloud of dust from an approaching U.S. convoy, they hoped Iraq's new powerbrokers had come to solve problems: a broken well, a dilapidated school. But the U.S. soldiers, mindful that their eventual departure hinges on robust local governments, directed villagers to local officials and elected representatives - a mind-bending concept for Iraqis formerly accustomed to all power flowing from Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.

"In modern Iraqi history, local governments have hardly been the place to solve problems. Other groups - the former dictator's Baath Party, the Iraqi army, tribal leaders, clerics - have been far more relevant to daily life. 'In Saddam's Iraq, everyone was encouraged to look to the center - and to a lesser degree the party - for action,' said Phebe Marr, author of 'The Modern History of Iraq.'

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"The United States is now using millions of reconstruction dollars to repair the capabilities and image of local governments, a central component to an Iraq free of strongmen or bureaucrats who cater to segments of a diverse and fractured society. 'Everything we do, we try to put the Iraqi army, Iraqi police, and local government at the forefront and give them the credit,' said Capt. Chris Chang, a native of Los Angeles and a civilian affairs officer in the 278th Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division.

"City councils have emerged as a new power, channeling U.S. funds for reconstruction projects that pay local residents to build schools, hospitals and other public facilities."

There is also time for private humanitarian initiatives. There is, for example, this fine effort to help the limbless victims of past violence:

"One day last year, while driving a Humvee along the dusty roads of Baghdad's Green Zone, Capt. Steve Lindsley spotted two young Iraqi men, both amputees and tottering on makeshift crutches.

"And so, Lindsley found the first two patients for Operation Restoration, his makeshift prosthetics clinic for Iraqi civilians funded in part by Plymouth, Minn.-based Otto Bock HealthCare.

"Ali, 14, had lost his right leg above the knee in a hit-and-run traffic accident seven years earlier. And Taleb, 20, was a child when his leg was amputated below the knee, because of complications from a cancerous tumor. Neither had ever received proper prosthetic care.

"Lindsley, of Monroe, La., was deployed to Iraq as a logistics officer with the Mississippi Army National Guard's 112th Military Police Battalion. But his civilian job as clinical manager at the prosthetics and orthotics clinic at Mississippi Methodist Rehabilitation Center was never far from his mind.

" 'While in the Green Zone, I started seeing Iraqis walking around; some of them didn't have limbs. That was where I decided that I needed to try to help,' he said.

"So Lindsley and his friend, Sgt. Chris Cummings, set up a free clinic in the huge basement kitchen of one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. 'The palace has been bombed and wasn't in very good condition, the lighting was poor, the electrical substandard,' Lindsley recalled. 'We made do'."

And helping doesn't stop when the troops go home:

"When Joseph Yorski was serving a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq, he noticed Iraqi police had little protection compared to his peers in the New Britain Police Department. Upon his return, the officer decided to help fellow law enforcement officials by spearheading a movement to outfit Iraqi police with old, surplus equipment instead of following regular procedure, which calls to destroy it.

"Yorski, a member of the 143rd Military Police Company and an 11-year veteran of the Police Department, oversees property. He said he took matters into his own hands when asked by acting Chief William Gagliardi to destroy surplus police equipment, which ranges from riot gear to reflective vests.

"Teaming up with America Supporting Americans -- a nonprofit organization that encourages law enforcement agencies and individuals to donate used police equipment -- Yorski collected an extensive amount of gear that will be shipped to Baghdad."

The allies are also doing their bit. Here's the contribution from the 400-strong Slovak contingent: "According to a Defence Ministry spokesperson during the 19 months it has been operating in Iraq, Slovakia's sapper unit has deactivated, by hand, mines over an area of 140,000 square metres, this equates to about 28 football fields. Plus, a much larger area has been demined using the help of specially-designed equipment. They have found and deactivated some tens of thousands of munitions and grenades."

A company of soldiers from Azerbeijan, together with US Marines, is providing constant protection for Haditha Dam, one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in Iraq, which provides electricity for a third of the country. And here's the story of the El Salvadorean contingent, representing the only Latin American country with troops in Iraq.

SECURITY: There is good news for the Coalition troops as casualties decrease:

"The rate of U.S. deaths in the Iraq war has fallen sharply since the historic January elections as American military leaders tout progress against the insurgency but warn of a long road ahead.

"March is on pace for the lowest monthly U.S. military death toll in 13 months, and the rate of American fatalities has fallen by about 50 percent since the parliamentary elections in which millions of Iraqis defied insurgents to cast ballots...

"Since the election, the rate of U.S. military fatalities in Iraq has been about 1.7 per day, compared to about 3.4 per day from November to election day -- a 50 percent drop. It is also about one-fifth lower than the rate experienced from the start of the war until the election."

And: "There are between 40 and 60 incidents each day in the country, they said, sharply down from the terrorist effort in the week of the Iraqi elections in January. Even this doesn't tell the whole story. Of those incidents, roughly half have no effect. This means terrorists launch an attack, but no lives are lost, nor is any property damaged."

On a micro level the story is very similar: "Aid stations around the 2nd Brigade Combat Team's sector in eastern Baghdad are reporting a drop in the number of trauma cases compared with the 3rd Infantry Division's predecessor. Army officials said the sharp decline is due, at least in part, to the changed operational picture. When the 1st Cavalry Division was here, it took heavy casualties while combating a sustained uprising in nearby Sadr City. In the first month of the 1st Cav's deployment - April 2004 - officials reported 125 casualties. In March 2005, the full first month on station for the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd BCT, officials reported 10 casualties."

In related news, Pentagon has received offers and ideas from 1,100 companies on methods to defuse roadside bombs and car bombs. "The Pentagon sought new technologies and approaches in a broad area announcement March 2. The deadline for responses was April 4... A Joint IED Task Force created to focus on the solutions to the problem will narrow down the best ideas and ask for more details within 30 days. Contractors will have another month to get back to them, and then full-blown proposals will be solicited for the most promising ideas. The task force will spend $11 million on the immediate purchase of technologies and $20 million on procurement that results from other final proposals. It also has $25 million in reserve for promising capabilities."

Insurgency, of course, is not over, with the Iraqi security personnel and civilians now bearing the brunt of violence. The levels of violence can still rise again, like they have done in the past. Still, the trend is encouraging. The cautious mood is reflected in this recent assessment:

"The Iraqi resistance has peaked and is 'turning in on itself', according to recent intelligence reports from Baghdad received by Middle Eastern intelligence agencies.

"The reports are the most optimistic for several months and reflect analysts' sense that recent elections in Iraq marked a 'quantum shift'. They will boost the government in the run-up to the expected general election in May.

"Though the reports predict that violence against coalition troops and local forces is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, at least two Middle Eastern intelligence agencies believe that recent 'backchannel' initiatives aimed at persuading Sunni Muslim tribes in western Iraq to cease their resistance are meeting with some success.

"The talks are aimed at driving a wedge between so-called Iraqi nationalist elements of the resistance and radical Islamic militants."

Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan says that while the terrorist attacks organized by the Al Zarqawi network continue, the number of attacks by native insurgents has dropped substantially. In a perhaps related development, the Ministry of Interior has announced that the crime rate in Baghdad had fallen by 40 per cent in March in comparison with the previous month. The officials credit increased cooperation from the citizens in reporting criminal and suspicious activity.

Better intelligence is also helping the Coalition and Iraqi security forces to acquire a more comprehensive picture of the insurgency:

"A Pentagon official said there are questions about how many insurgents are hard-core fighters as opposed to 'fence sitters' who might participate in an attack but then lie dormant for weeks at a time. 'There are many part-timers who will quit fighting under the right conditions,' the official said.

"Officials now think that criminals make up more of the insurgents than first thought, meaning many are driven by money, not ideology. And commanders are seeing more foreign fighters because fewer Iraqis are willing to commit themselves to attacks.

"The suspicion that there is a large number of semicommitted insurgents was bolstered by the enemy's failure to disrupt the Jan. 30 elections, when 8 million Iraqis went to the polls."

The recent joint Iraqi-American raid on the insurgent base at Lake Tharthar is seen as having important implications, in addition to the body count: "Among documents found were instructions for the home-made bombs that have plagued coalition forces. Others contained names of Iraqi officials, including two interim ministers who have been informed. Identity documents indicated that among the insurgents were citizens of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen and the Philippines." And here you can read more about Iraqi interrogations of suspects.

The propaganda war against insurgents and terrorists continues to enthrall the Iraqis:

"Looking cowed and frightened, a bruised young man looks into the television camera and stammers replies to questions from an unseen interrogator. Yes, he says, he was paid to kidnap foreigners in Baghdad. No, he was not a mujahid (holy warrior); just a common criminal cashing in on Iraq's climate of fear.

"The man, described as a captured insurgent, is making a public confession on a TV program on Iraq's government-run al-Iraqiya television station called 'Terror in the Hands of Justice.' Twice daily, Iraqis watch fascinated as a procession of alleged Islamist guerrillas reveal the details of terrorist operations on what can be described as an Iraqi variation on 'America's Most Wanted.' One man said he had stalked 10 college girls who were translators for the U.S. Army, then raped them and killed all of them. Another described how he had beheaded several hostages after first practicing on animals.

"The program has a double aim of showing Iraqis their tax dollars at work: in other words, Iraq's security services making headway in combating the mainly Sunni Muslim insurgency. The second aim is to undermine the mystique of a sinister force that had spread terror among ordinary Iraqis, and to embolden people to come forward with information.

"In the early shows the prisoners were non-Iraqi mujaheddin from other Arab countries who claimed to have crossed into Iraq from Syria to fight in the insurgency. But more recently 'Terror in the Hands of Justice' has focussed on Iraqis, showing mostly petty criminals who claimed to have been lured into the insurgency with promises of payment for taking part in kidnappings and guerrilla operations.

"A report in Thursday's Financial Times said the television program has discredited the mujaheddin and their professions of religious fervor by showing captured insurgents who said they were homosexuals -- still not a socially acceptable group in much of the Middle East. As a result, the word mujahid 'once worn as a badge of pride by anti-American insurgents has become street slang for homosexuals,' the paper reported. Some of the captured guerrillas confessed to holding gay orgies. Recently, Abu Tabarek, a preacher, confessed that insurgents had held morally deviant parties in his mosques.

"Few Iraqis seem to doubt the program's authenticity. Iraqis have actually recognized individual prisoners as their attackers, or even as former friends and acquaintances."

Says Abdul Kareem Abdulla, 42, a Baghdad shop owner: "I watch the show every night, and I wait for it patiently, because it is very revealing. For the first time, we saw those who claim to be jihadists as simple $50 murderers who would do everything in the name of Islam. Our religion is too lofty, noble and humane to have such thugs and killers. I wish they would hang them now, and in the same place where they did their crimes. They should never be given any mercy." You can read another report about the show here.

In another sign that the insurgents are losing the battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis, "hundreds of power workers shouting 'No, no, to terror!' marched through Baghdad... to protest attacks that have killed dozens of their colleagues... Lined up behind a black banner with the names of slain power workers, protesters demanded an end to attacks on electricity stations and oil pipelines - targets in an insurgent effort to weaken the economy and undermine the U.S.-led coalition and interim government."

From the files of civilian-military cooperation: "An Iraqi citizen's tip March 23 led to the arrest of a suspect in an improvised explosive device attack in Dawr... A coordinated car-bomb attack involving three vehicles heading for the Mussayib police station in Ramadi was derailed March 21 when citizens noticed the drivers were not from their local area and helped Iraqi police stop the cars."

In and around Mosul, the Iraqi and the Coalition forces increasingly rely on tips from the locals to fight the insurgents:

"Although the Iraqi army and elements of the Washington state-based 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, have managed to prevent major attacks locally since the Jan. 30 elections, their success depends on residents' cooperation, said Capt. Mike Yea, 29, from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment...

" 'We rely heavily on town leaders to find out about terrorist activities,' Capt. Yea said, adding that his unit has had particular success acting upon local tips in As Shura, a town that recently had a reputation as an insurgent haven.

"Now, U.S. forces at As Shura get as many as six tips per night, said 1st Sgt. Darren Kinder, 40, from the Delta Company, 52nd Infantry. Sgt. Kinder's unit, attached to the 2nd Battalion, maintains round-the-clock presence at an outpost downtown. 'Some tips pay off, some don't,' Sgt. Kinder said. 'We've asked the local populace to step up, and they've been responding fairly well'."

But as both the Iraqi and the American military authorities are arguing, they need more cooperation before better security situation can start translating itself into a better quality of life for the locals. Also in Mosul, a change in public mood: prior to the election, there was only one hotline for the locals to report terrorist activity, and as the authorities admit, "it wasn't used all that much." Now, there are five hotlines operating, and because of demand the authorities need more.

Speaking of hotlines:

"Fatma peeked out the window of her Mosul home and saw masked men lobbing mortars at a nearby Iraqi army base for the third time. She decided it would be the last.

"As she telephoned to report the men, Fatma became one of an increasing number of Iraqis tipping off the authorities. Officials say it's a sign the country's fledgling security forces are winning the trust of citizens, turning them against the insurgency.

"U.S. and Iraqi officials say they have seen an increase in calls in recent weeks, especially after Iraq's Jan. 30 elections, although there were no overall figures available on how many people have offered information. In a sign the phenomenon is gathering momentum, some Iraqis told The Associated Press that when they called in information, they were told others already had reported the same incident.

"The growing willingness of Iraqis to cooperate with officials is perhaps also a testimony to the insurgency's own mistakes, which have cost it the sympathy of some. Many say they simply are tired of violence that has overshadowed their lives or claimed people they love."

Iraqi security forces are playing an increasingly important role in providing security throughout the country: "Today, there are some 4,000 Iraqis patrolling 10 Baghdad neighborhoods in place of U.S. forces. If the turnover is judged successful, a second wave of Iraqi soldiers is due to deploy into other neighborhoods in August." More here.

Training of Iraqi security forces also continues. At Hawk Base, near Camp Taji, Iraq, Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 1st Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division are training Iraqi Army units. " 'The Iraqis complete two weeks of training here,' said Capt. Daniel K. Getchel of Vale, Oregon, a 4-1 FA officer supervising the training at Hawk Base. 'We train them to get proficient, and then turn the company back over to their unit.' Getchel said the Iraqis start with individual skills. 'They work on skills like patrolling, reacting to contact, casualty evacuation, and basic soldiering skills,' he said. Then, the Iraqi troops move on to squad-level tasks, and finally work on training at the company level. 'They're working well together," said Sgt. Cozae C. Banks, an Atchison, Kansas native and member of the 4/1 FA training cadre."

Military Police are in turn training the Iraqi police. Says Capt. Jeffery Withers, commander, 41th MP Company, Fort Hood, Texas: "With the help of MPs, the academy is adequately training about 3,000 police per quarter... Iraqi police instructors work with Coalition instructors to train the police cadets in small classes to get better results... We're providing a quality police officer to go out on the streets and ensuring that they can self-sufficiently and securely police their own country."

Another American unit being partnered with the Iraqi police for the purposes of training is the 42nd Military Police Brigade, Fort Lewis, Washington:

" 'We work hand-in-hand with Iraqi police instructors. They're learning how to instruct their own people,' said Staff Sgt. Gary R. Rigsby, instructor, 411th MP Company, Fort Hood, Texas.

"The Course is eight weeks long and the cadets go through many areas of training. 'Some of the classes the Iraqi cadets go through is a law week; a human rights class on how to treat personnel; a use-of-force class; a weapons training class where they learn how to use a Glock-19 as well as a an AK-47; and an (anti-terrorism) class,' Rigsby said.

"The academy, with the help of MPs, is graduating about 3,000 cadets per quarter. The attrition rate is at around 10 percent, said Capt. Jeffery Withers, commander, 411th MP Co."

Here's more about new police recruits. Read also about the German contribution to training Iraqi army engineering unit.

In other recent security successes:

numerous weapons caches uncovered and insurgents killed in failed attacks on the Coalition forces on March 24;

on March 25, "Iraqi soldiers backed by US helicopters killed several suspected insurgents and seized 121 more in a dawn raid yesterday, capturing tonnes of explosives earmarked for attacks on the holy city of Karbala", or to be more precise, "3 tons of TNT, 624 rifles, 250,000 light ammunition rounds, 22,000 medium ammunition rounds, 193 RPG launchers, 300 RPG rockets, 27 82mm mortar tubes and 155 82mm mortar rounds";

the arrest of by the soldiers of the Iraqi 1st Army Brigade, 6th Division, of an Iraqi police master sergeant "accused of being the leader of a terror cell. The suspect is also believed to be responsible for the bombing of the Al-Baratha Mosque";

destruction by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and an Iraqi Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team of a large arms cache in Al Kut;

between March 17 and 24, the 2nd Marine Division have detained a total of 147 suspected insurgents throughout the Anbar province and has recovered numerous weapons caches;

on March 28, "U.S. soldiers discovered eight weapons caches near a U.S. military supply route south of Baghdad March 27. The soldiers used metal detectors to find the hidden weapons, which included 58 assorted artillery and mortar rounds, 11 rocket-propelled grenade heat rounds and three RPG launchers. The Americans also uncovered six RPG anti-personnel rounds, 1,000 6.3 mm primers, a machine gun, an AK-47 rifle, and more than 400 rounds of ammunition. Other munitions found include 100 time fuses, 39 booster charges of various sizes, 10 blasting caps, five mortar fuses, two armored vests, detonation cord and a wide assortment of electronic equipment."

the capture in late 2004 (and only recently revealed) of a senior aide to Al Zarqawi. The man has a dual American and Jordanian citizenship and is suspected of helping to coordinate and finance terrorist activities throughout several cities in Iraq;

detaining 26 suspects in operations around Mosul and Tal Afar on March 30 and 31. "Meanwhile, U.S. Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion and 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group, responded to 15 separate weapons cache sites approximately 12 kilometers southeast of Camp Fallujah March 29" (more here);

detaining of six insurgents after an unsuccessful attack on an US Army patrol near Ad Duluiyah;

"Task Force Liberty Soldiers detained seven people suspected of a rocket attack near a Coalition Forces base near Hawija about 3:30 p.m., March 29. The TF Liberty combat patrol was investigating the suspected point of origin of the attack when it detained five people in a vehicle. They were in possession of a video camera containing footage of terrorists firing mortars, a pamphlet on firing mortars, and mortar and rocket firing data. Two others were detained near the Coalition Forces base and are suspected of observing the impact of the rocket attack";

killing by the Iraqi Army of 17 insurgents in eastern Diyala province on April 4, while sustaining only 1 dead;

detaining 24 suspected insurgents, mostly by the Iraqi forces, around Mosul on 2 and 3 April.

As the Iraqi Minister for Human Rights Bakhtiar Amin said about the proceedings of the National Assembly: "There will be a place in jail for Saddam and the 11 to watch the TV to understand their time is finished, there is a new Iraq and that they are no longer ruling the country; so they can understand that in the new Iraq, people are elected and they are not coming to power by a coup d'etat."

The reaction? "Saddam Hussein watched the televised election of Iraq's new president from his jail cell yesterday and was 'clearly upset', a senior official said."

Well, it was all worth it for that alone.

Original hyperlinks in the original article.

What? The LA Times didn't report any of this? I'm astounded (NOT).

Some more. A specific update from the Iraq The Model blog brothers (you know, the ones from the CIA):

Quote[/b] ]Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Breaking news and untold news.

Every morning I wake up with an idea for something I want to blog about but an hour or two later "Breaking News" signs start flashing on the TV screen bringing news about a car bomb in Baghdad, a suicide attacker in Tikrit, an IED in Hilla and an assassination in Baquba and I frankly get little bit discouraged and a lot more saddened by these news and I begin to feel that it would be inappropriate to write about some regular stuff when there are people dying and suffering but these situations are happening over and over again and will probably continue to happen in the same frequency for days, weeks or maybe months and I realize that being paralyzed by these terror attacks and the pain they bring is exactly what they terrorists want to see.

So I have decided to keep blogging in the same manner regardless of the "Breaking News" which have proven to successfully be heart-breaking but I don't intend to allow them to be life-breaking.

Now back to the subject I originally wanted to talk about.

People inside and outside Iraq keep wondering why little progress is being made construction wise; why Iraqi cities still get poor power supplies? Why there is a deficiency in clean water in many places? Why sewer systems are incomplete? And a thousand questions like these are heard everyday.

I myself had similar questions but following the progress in one particular project gave me a better understanding of the situation and made me see some facts that I wasn't aware of.

The story began nearly two years ago in the summer of 2003 when an engineer friend of mine visited me at home; after a short random chat and a cup of tea he pulled out some papers from his briefcase and handed them over to me "could you please help me with some translation Omar?" he asked.

"Of course, what's this about?" I replied.

"The company I'm working for is trying to get a contract for preparing the location for a new power plant and I need to read and understand the tender" he explained to me.

Anyway, I translated the parts he wasn't able to understand; he thanked me briefly and rushed out to meet his boss.

A few months later, I was transferred to work in Basra, so passing by the construction site became something I do on regular basis as it lies just adjacent to the old "south Baghdad power plant" near the southern entrance of Baghdad.

The old six-unit south Baghdad power plant. The two new units are now situated to the right of the two shorter chimneys.

For over a year, I closely followed the progress of the work and I never allowed myself to sleep in that part of the 8 hour biweekly trip as some kind of strong passion appeared between me and that power station (sounds weird I know).

Later I got transferred back to Baghdad and began to pass through that street more often and every time I would drive really slowly to get more time near the construction site just to see if anything new had been added.

Recently, things began to take their final shapes; through out the past twenty months or so all I could see were vague metal and concrete structures that had no distinctive identity and it was rather difficult to know which was what.

A couple of months ago the two chimneys were all set. Shortly after that, fuel tanks were fully constructed in situ and just two weeks ago, the two giant turbines were set in place.

Last week, I met my engineer friend again and he told me that the two turbines will be experimentally operated on May 24 and if the experiment runs smoothly, the two new units would be connected to the grid adding 300 megawatts to the national power supply.

When I asked my friend how he feels about it he sighed and said:

"I feel really proud of being part of this; this time I wasn't working for material benefit only, I felt overwhelming happiness for doing something good in such a hard time. You have no idea my friend what we’ve been through to make this project work out. The work was suspended many times because of attacks; mortars hit the site three times, RPGs two or three times, small guns fire attacks happen every other while. We have lost 11 men in these attacks, 7 Iraqis and 4 foreigners and many others received death threats. It wasn't an easy job at all my friend. We also had to establish a 6 meter tall concrete wall to provide more protection for the workers and the station".

I was so touched by his story and we wondered together if people outside realize how the new Iraq is getting built. People here are working and at the same avoiding bombs and bullets. People head to their work stations every morning and they don't know what the roads are hiding for them. We went to the election centers not minding the risks of getting killed and Iraqi young men keep going to the recruitment centers although they realize that doing so might get them killed.

Many "experts" outside Iraq watch from a distance and enjoy counting our dead and they ignore what we're building here but I don't care because I believe that victory is near.

One of the two new units.

This gives a glimpse at what construction efforts face in Iraq, not to mention other factors like bureaucracy and corruption.

But let's take a broader look at the results; after two years of hard work, sacrifices and suspensions, the work is almost 100% done and next moth Baghdad will get more power and engineers like my friend will stand proud of what they accomplished but can anyone tell me what did they terrorists gain from attempting to stop the work!?

This short story represents one of a thousand unreported struggles where victory sided with our people and in the same way victory will be on our side in the greater war against the forces of darkness and terror.

- posted by Omar @ 23:15

All is lost. Everything is wrong with Iraq, don't you see?!

[Balschoiw 0]

Hehe kneel down and praise the lord.

I just checked the origin of those "reports" Funny enough that it is obvioulsy a collection of "everything is fine and dandy in Iraq". Hehe, nice try Avon.

Looks more like a TBA propaganda pamphlet than anything else I have read lately. Go to main page and read all the "everything is so wonderful in Iraq" messages.

Sorry, I´m still laughing.

Highly euro-commie news :

U.S. officer blames superior over Abu Ghraib abuse

Quote[/b] ] WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former commander of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq blamed a ranking officer for introducing the use of human pyramids and dog leashes in the abuse of detainees and said in an interview on Thursday that abuse may be continuing there.

Col. Janis Karpinski, a former one-star Army Reserve general who was punished in the scandal, blamed Gen. Geoffrey Miller for the methods that were used to humiliate detainees.

Miller headed the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and was sent to Iraq to recommend improvements in intelligence gathering and detention operations there.

"I believe that Gen. Miller gave them the ideas, gave them the instruction on what techniques to use," she said in an interview on the ABC News "Nightline" program.

Asked if she was referring to the positioning of prisoners in human pyramids and putting dog leashes on detainees, Karpinski said, "I can tell you with certainty that the MPs (military police) certainly did not design those techniques, they certainly did not come to Abu Ghraib or to Iraq with dog collars and dog leashes."

Karpinski, who has made similar allegations in the past, was the first high-level military officer to be punished in the abuse scandal. She was demoted from brigadier general to colonel on May 5.

Army Col. Thomas Pappas, the former U.S. military intelligence chief at Abu Ghraib prison, was reprimanded and removed from his command as part of a punishment over the physical abuse and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners, the Army said on Wednesday.

The publication a year ago of photographs depicting U.S. forces abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib triggered international criticism of the United States. Numerous additional cases of detainee abuse have since surfaced.

In the ABC interview, Karpinski suggested that abuse might still be occurring at the prison. "For several months after I first became aware of the pictures, I said, 'well at least the photographs will stop this.' I'm not convinced," she said.

The Army said Karpinski was demoted due to dereliction of duty and concealing a past shoplifting arrest. But she said she was being punished for what happened at Abu Ghraib after the prison was no longer under her command.

She said her lawyers believed there were grounds for legal action over the way she had been treated.

"I think there's definitely grounds for discrimination," she said. "Why was I the only general officer that was singled out to be suspended from command when all the of the information clearly shows that other people had knowledge and were involved?."

Iraqis soldier on without power, water, jobs, sewers

Quote[/b] ]THE invasion of Iraq and its aftermath caused the deaths of 24,000 Iraqis, including many children, according to the most detailed survey yet of postwar life in the country.

The UN report paints a picture of modern Iraq brought close to collapse despite its oil wealth. Successive wars, a decade of sanctions and the current violence have destroyed services, undermined health and education and made the lives of ordinary Iraqis dangerous and miserable.

The survey for the UN Development Programme, entitled Iraq Living Conditions Survey 2004, questioned more than 21,600 households this time last year. Its findings, released by the Ministry of Planning yesterday, could finally resolve the debate over how many Iraqis were killed in the war that overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

The 370-page report said that it was 95 per cent confident that the toll during the war and the first year of occupation was 24,000, but could have been between 18,000 and 29,000. About 12 per cent of those were under 18.

The figure is far lower than the 98,000 deaths estimated in The Lancet last October, which said that it had interviewed nearly 1,000 households. But it is far higher than other figures.

Some of the findings will come as no surprise to Iraqis, who have grown used to poverty, unemployment, power cuts, open sewers and an overwhelmed healthcare system.

The report said that unemployment was now more than 18 per cent, compared with just over 3 per cent in the 1980s. Basic services have also collapsed. Some 85 per cent of households complained of electricity cuts and 29 per cent relied on generators. Only 54 per cent of Iraqi families had clean water. Only 37 per cent were connected to a sewage network, compared with 75 per cent in the 1980s.

“If you compare this to the situation in the 1980s, you will see a major deterioration,†said Barham Salih, the Iraqi Planning Minister, who described life for Iraqis as tragic.

The report highlighted falling standards of education and healthcare, which had been among the highest in the Arab world but were now among the lowest. The number of Iraqi mothers who die in labour reached 93 in every 100,000 births, compared with 14 in Jordan and 32 in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Salih said that the condition of his country was particularly tragic given its huge oil wealth and access to water. He insisted that the blame lay with Saddam’s regime, which had embarked on two wars against its neighbours, persecuted its population and provoked sanctions. “Undeniably, from the perspective of many, the former regime’s aggressive policies, its wars, its repression and mismanagement of the economy are an important part of why we are here today,†he said.

But he vowed that the new Government would address the formidable problems highlighted by the report. “I hope we will be able to bring a model into Iraq that will turn Iraq from the land of mass graves, lack of development, child mortality and illiteracy into a land of peace, stability and prosperity,†he said.

That sounds a bit different than the "oh praise the TBA" bullshit Avon tries to sell here.

Funny enough that you can´t read a single critical word on US actions and failures in Iraq on the whole page.

Hehe, sorry, but what a waste of time.

[theavonlady 2]

Glad I put a smile on your face.

[walker 0]

Hi Avon

Err can we have your opinion on whether things are going well in Iraq Avon?

Kind Regards Walker

[theavonlady 2]

Err can we have your opinion on whether things are going well in Iraq Avon?

There are lots of bad things. Those are always reported.

There are lots of good things. Those are almost never reported.

I saw an exception at a neighbor's house on Tuesday night. We were watching CNN (I believe - either that of BBC). There was a report from Basra. The town is booming but not in the bad sense of the word. Tons of business, happy people, with quotes like "things have never been so good", etc.

There's a democratically elected government, something unheard of in Iraq's history.

There are more cars, phones, air conditioners, etc., than have ever been there before.

There's constant infrastructure building that will boost the quality and capacity of water, fuel and electricty.

There's also terrible terrorism. There's a war on and there are a lot of mistakes being made in fighting it.

So things aren't going well, necessarily, but they're moving in the right direction.

[SPQR 0]

./sarcasm on

The current situation in Iraq is all French froggies fault. Their ignorance and boastfulness made them to threat to veto the greatest democratic and freedomship adventure ever made in the world history, and refused to send liberation troops carrying sweets for children.

I'm sure they infiltrate commando troops in Iraq, in order to support the evil terrorists

They are the axis od evil weasels. Let's bomb those scums !

./sarcasm off

Oups, flaming... How naughty and deceitful am I

On the otherside, and I know many of them, Americans are not war-waging holy crusaders.

For the latters, when the cold and frightening Darkness falls... switch on the light and the heater

P.S. : we do possess WMD...

Both side is right. The glass may be as half-empty as it is half-filled.

Whatever done to make good around you, it will be viewed as tries to buy peace and asleep you. Iraqui people may hate those foreign terrorists suicide-bombing without caring for civilians, but being blown up by a democratic 1000 lbs LGB would be never considered as a blessing event than being blown up by a crafted terrorist human bomb.

Death and suffering only fuel war and hatred. Rarely freedom and Democracy...

Oh, a french bashing lessons, a scum from a country which collaborate with the Nazi regime, sending thousands of Jews to death !

I also thought they were the ones the best able to understand this lesson of history as they were victims themselves of this unspeakable horror. Some did, some didn't.

[theavonlady 2]

I failed both in understanding your rant and what might have triggered it.

[denoir 0]

Avon, you really need to realize that blogs are opinion pieces. I havn't read the second one, but the first one is a selection of very specific and mostly minor things. The interpretation, or implied interpretation is questionable in many of the examples.

Let's take the cars for instance. In the blog an article is quoted, saying:

Quote[/b] ]

"More than 900,000 cars have been registered across the country in the past two years, according to data from the Baghdad traffic department -- 426,000 of them from Baghdad. Before the war, about 347,000 cars were registered across the country, said Nejim Abid Jabir, a spokesman for the traffic department under the Interior Ministry."

This implies that the Iraqis are buying more cars. This is very much incompatible with the fact that the purchasing power per capita has decreased since before the invasion, unemployment is higher and there are serious gas shortages.

So what's the explanation? Quite simple. We're talking about registered cars. The government administration is far more centralized now, and thanks to the numerous car bombings, owning and not registering a car is a far more serious crime than it used to be. So the reality is not that there are more cars sold, but that there's more paperwork being done.

Another such incorrect implied improvement is under the "security" paragraph. It tells how coalition casualties have dropped and hence implying that security is improving. What they fail to say is that a lot of the security tasks have been delegated to the Iraqis and that the number of killed Iraqi police and military is increasing exponentially by the month. Furthermore they're trying to make some sort of statistics on too little data. Sure, March 2005 saw fewer casualties than November 2004 - but November was the worst month! They didn't say for instance that March 2005 had a higher number of casualties than March 2004. Or that April 2005 had higher than March 2005 or that May 2005 had higher than April 2005!

So it is a very dishonest presentation, insinuating things that arent true. And this is of course because the blogger in question picked things he liked from the news articles and discarded the rest.

Or if we take a look at reconstruction, a number of projects are listed as positive examples. What is not mentioned that actually less than 1% of the planned projects (that already have financing) have even begun. A few hundred out of several tens of thousands.. etc etc

The only way to get a fair picture is to look at the really basic criteria for quality of life: basic safety, enough food, access to medicine, economic strength, availability of goods, education, social security etc

With a few exceptions all those indicators are negative - i.e things have become worse. And mind you, given the harshness of the sanctions, it's quite a feat not to do better.

[Akira 0]

Umm...gonna have to agree with Avon on this one....

EDIT: About the rant I should clarify...

[theavonlady 2]

Avon, you really need to realize that blogs are opinion pieces. I havn't read the second one, but the first one is a selection of very specific and mostly minor things. The interpretation, or implied interpretation is questionable in many of the examples.

Just as posts are here.

But many a blog site their sources, unlike, say, Newsweek, that just passed along hearsay about a Quran being torn up as the gospel truth.

You keep on trusting the big media.

Quote[/b] ]Let's take the cars for instance. In the blog an article is quoted, saying:

Quote[/b] ]

"More than 900,000 cars have been registered across the country in the past two years, according to data from the Baghdad traffic department -- 426,000 of them from Baghdad. Before the war, about 347,000 cars were registered across the country, said Nejim Abid Jabir, a spokesman for the traffic department under the Interior Ministry."

This implies that the Iraqis are buying more cars. This is very much incompatible with the fact that the purchasing power per capita has decreased since before the invasion, unemployment is higher and there are serious gas shortages.

And your source for these statistics is?

Quote[/b] ]So what's the explanation? Quite simple. We're talking about registered cars. The government administration is far more centralized now, and thanks to the numerous car bombings, owning and not registering a car is a far more serious crime than it used to be. So the reality is not that there are more cars sold, but that there's more paperwork being done.

Can you provide us with verified statistics as to how rampant unregistered cars were in Saddam's time? I would think driving around unregistered in Saddam's time with his security services would be instant suicide.

Quote[/b] ]Another such incorrect implied improvement is under the "security" paragraph. It tells how coalition casualties have dropped and hence implying that security is improving. What they fail to say is that a lot of the security tasks have been delegated to the Iraqis and that the number of killed Iraqi police and military is increasing exponentially by the month. Furthermore they're trying to make some sort of statistics on too little data. Sure, March 2005 saw fewer casualties than November 2004 - but November was the worst month! They didn't say for instance that March 2005 had a higher number of casualties than March 2004. Or that April 2005 had higher than March 2005 or that May 2005 had higher than April 2005!

Too little time for me to respond on this but as you can see by my previous reply, I'm not one to think that the security situation is doing well.

Quote[/b] ]

So it is a very dishonest presentation, insinuating things that arent true. And this is of course because the blogger in question picked things he liked from the news articles and discarded the rest.

No. His goal is to pick the items that have been completely ignored by the media. He is not running a newspaper, with the intent of repeating what you and I can watch and read everywhere.

Quote[/b] ]Or if we take a look at reconstruction, a number of projects are listed as positive examples. What is not mentioned that actually less than 1% of the planned projects (that already have financing) have even begun. A few hundred out of several tens of thousands.. etc etc

The only way to get a fair picture is to look at the really basic criteria for quality of life: basic safety, enough food, access to medicine, economic strength, availability of goods, education, social security etc

With a few exceptions all those indicators are negative - i.e things have become worse. And mind you, given the harshness of the sanctions, it's quite a feat not to do better.

Refer to the Brookings Report on Iraq. Things have become better since the invasion, while still below pre-invasion levels.

So you must decide if that's one step backward and 2 forward or vice versa. I opt for the former.

[denoir 0]

Just as posts are here.

Exactly, and you wouldn't use any posts here as a reliable unbiased source, would you?

Quote[/b] ]But many a blog site their sources, unlike, say, Newsweek, that just passed along hearsay about a Quran being torn up as the gospel truth.

Yeah, blog sites cite their sources, which happens to be Newsweek and other real media sources. Blogs are just a layer of biased opinion added. In some cases there can be personal experience involved (very flawed as well as it leads to unproven generalizations)

Quote[/b] ]You keep on trusting the big media.

You mean the professional journalists that have unbiased and objective reporting as one of their core principles? Do I trust them over some opinionated arm-chair general? You bet.

All media is biased to a certain degree, but at least some form of objectivity and balanced coverage is at the core. Bloggers are just people writing their own opinions, no different from what we're doing here. And the goal there is to promote your point of view, rather than to present an unbiased picture.

Quote[/b] ]And your source for these statistics is?

Oh, I don't know, try http://news.google.com/news?hl....economy or http://news.google.com/news?hl....ortages or your dear Brookings Report.

Quote[/b] ]Can you provide us with verified statistics as to how rampant unregistered cars were in Saddam's time? I would think driving around unregistered in Saddam's time with his security services would be instant suicide.

Saddam's government was quite decentralized. A good example of that was the gun ownership policy etc What my point was is that "registered cars" does not necesserily equal "sold cars". The insinuation is dishonest. Had it been about sold cars, then they would have simply said that car imports have increased - something that should be farily easy to get hard numbers on.

Quote[/b] ]Refer to the Brookings Report on Iraq. Things have become better since the invasion, while still below pre-invasion levels.

So you must decide if that's one step backward and 2 forward or vice versa. I opt for the former.

Are you sure about that? I'm just picking at random here, havn't read the full report, but.

Electricity (p 25), Pre-war, 4,400 MW, Top 4,700 MW, Current 3,390 MW. One year ago, 3,823 MW

Stated goal to have been reached by July 1 2004: 6,000 MW

Inflation (p 26):

July 2004: 0.6%

Today: 11.4%

Telephone and internet access seems to have improved rapidly.

Fuel (p 23):

Pre-War: 2.8-3.0 MB/d, Top 2.4, Current: 2.15, One year ago 2.38

etc

I think however we're on the very wrong track when we're comparing today to the way Iraq was under Saddam and under extreme sanctions. It is amazing that it is at all possible to do worse. Ok, I could understand that a few months following the invasion as there was damage to to the civilian infrastructure, you had to restructure some parts of the government etc.. but it's been two years now. There is no reasonable justification for it now being worse than during the sanctions and under Saddam. Don't you agree?