Iraq, still a war zone...

Once considered a bastion of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Baghdad district of al-Doura is now called "victory neighbourhood", where attacks are rare. But as the US military prepares to withdraw from Iraqi cities, al-Doura remains a maze of cement walls built to enforce security and keep Shia militias out.

As Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports, former residents say they are hesitant to return until al-Doura becomes the multi-religious district it once was.

One is loyal to the Kurdish autonomous government while the other is allegiant to Baghdad.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reports on how the split has raised fears of sectarian violence in a strategic city.

Mosul, a northern Iraqi city, has been one area where the country's security forces are preparing to take full control, but there are two local armies patrolling the city.

Mike Pence Country

There's a nice, little story about Anderson, Indiana in The New York Times which is the district represented by Mike Pence. The article talks about the struggles that Anderson has had, and what affects the stimulus is having there.

Very conservative Anderson received some big time attention from candidate Obama in 2008.

This region still has a strong conservative streak. It is represented in Congress by Representative Mike Pence, a Republican and outspoken advocate of smaller government and lower taxes, positions that put him at the opposite end of the spectrum from Mr. Obama. Several Republicans here said the furious pace of spending would complicate Mr. Obama’s re-election efforts.

Here's a refresher on Mr. Pence in case you missed it or had forgotten. I have never seen an Indiana market that resembles Baghdad. No offense to Baghdad though.

Jon Stewart and correspondent Rob Riggle debunk the claims of hawks like Lieberman, Lindsey Graham and Indiana's Rep. Mike Pence, that Baghdad is just as peaceful as an "Indiana market in the summertime."

Xe (zee) Change: A military contractor by any another name would smell as sweet

I keep thinking of when Prince changed his name to a symbol that nobody could pronounce, and thereafter became known as 'the artist formerly known as Prince' until he changed it again to something else.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Blackwater Worldwide is abandoning its tarnished brand name. Blackwater officials said Friday its family of two dozen business will now operate under the name Xe (zee), pronounced like the letter "z." source: AP

Why the need to change the name? Lots of stuff, but lately this:

Bloomberg: Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards were charged with manslaughter and weapons violations in the deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians in a hail of gunfire and explosives at a busy Baghdad intersection. The government said they displayed a disregard for human life.

The defendants chose to surrender to authorities in Utah today and were to appear in federal court in Salt Lake City. Government officials said at a news conference it intends to try them in Washington, where support for the war in Iraq isn’t likely to be as strong as in the western state.

A sixth Blackwater guard pleaded guilty last week to voluntary manslaughter and related charges, prosecutors said. The firearms charge against the five defendants carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 30 years and the penalty for manslaughter is 10 years. source: Crooks & Liars

'Green Zone' security in Baghdad belongs to a sovreign nation, and it's no longer the U.S.

Heading in the right direction? We can hope. Time will tell. My fingers are triple knotted.

Iraq takes control of Green Zone

Iraqi forces will now monitor the zone's security

Iraq has taken control of security in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone after a UN mandate for troops expired.

The end of the UN mandate - put into place soon after the invasion in March 2003 - means Iraq will now take greater control of its own security.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki welcomed the move as Iraq's "day of sovereignty" at the handover ceremony.

US and British forces will remain in Iraq - but with Iraqi permission, under two separate bilateral deals.

Powerful symbol

"I'd like to congratulate you and the Iraqi people on this day for which we have waited for more than 17 years," Mr Maliki said at the handover ceremony at the Presidential Palace, the former home of ousted leader Saddam Hussein.

"We have the right to consider this day as the day of sovereignty and it is the beginning that Iraq will regain every particle of its soil as well as all of its will and sovereignty."

Iraqi forces will take over responsibility for the security of the zone, the fortified area which houses the Iraqi government, coalition headquarters and most embassies.

The fortified zone is a powerful symbol of the US-led occupation of Iraq. source: BBC News

John McCain was a 'Cheerleader' leading up to the War in Iraq

I am catching up on some olds news and blogs that I hadn't checked out yet, when I came upon this one. It lays out in detail how big of a cheerleader was in the lead up to Iraq. It also shows how clearly John McCain is eager to take on other nations. He sounded like he was in a bit of a hurry to get into these conflicts to me. I pray a lot these days. PD

On Morning Of 9/11 Attacks, McCain Immediately Began Making The Case For Iraq War

By Faiz on Sep 11th, 2008 at 9:51 am

On the morning of the 9/11, just moments after the World Trade Center collapsed from the terrorist strikes, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) went on television and immediately began focusing the nation’s attention on Iraq. In an interview with CBS’ Dan Rather on 9/11, McCain said:

To be honest with you, Dan, I never thought that an operation of this sophistication and size would take place. I just never did. But I don’t think there’s any doubt that there are countries — Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea and others — who we know engage in proliferation of — of capabilities and, from time to time, involve themselves in state-sponsored terrorism. But never did we imagine on a scale such as this.

The next day, on 9/12, McCain reiterated the point in an interview with Chris Matthews. “It isn’t just Afghanistan,” he said, “we’re talking about Syria, Iraq, Iran, perhaps North Korea, Libya and others.”

Just a few weeks later — on Oct. 9, 2001 — McCain narrowed his focus, arguing that Iraq was “obviously” next:

PAULA ZAHN: And as you know, Senator, the U.S. and Great Britain notified the U.N. Security Council yesterday that they reserve the right to strike against other countries in this campaign. What countries are we looking at?

MCCAIN: Well, I think very obviously Iraq is the first country, but there are others — Syria, Iran, the Sudan, who have continued to harbor terrorist organizations and actually assist them.

On Oct. 18, 2001, McCain told David Letterman, “the second phase is Iraq” while linking Iraq to the anthrax attacks. Watch it:

n Jan. 2002, McCain visited a crowd of soldiers aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and yelled: “Next up, Baghdad!”

The New York Times’ David Kirkpatrick recently noted that McCain “began making his case for invading Iraq to the public more than six months before the White House began to do the same.” The Times reported:

While pushing to take on Saddam Hussein, Mr. McCain also made arguments and statements that he may no longer wish to recall. He lauded the war planners he would later criticize, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney. (Mr. McCain even volunteered that he would have given the same job to Mr. Cheney.) He urged support for the later-discredited Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi’s opposition group, the Iraqi National Congress, and echoed some of its suspect accusations in the national media. And he advanced misleading assertions not only about Mr. Hussein’s supposed weapons programs but also about his possible ties to international terrorists, Al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 attacks.

for source - click here

Ethnic Cleansing: Drop in Violence In Baghdad Occured Before Surge

This report supports further that there were other factors at work, prior to the U.S. troop surge. We know that the 'Anbar Awakening' occured prior to the surge which in large part contributed gains our troops have made, as has been Barack Obama's statement with respect to the success of the surge.

Barack Obama has used rational and reasoned statements regarding the troops surge and not played upon our patriotism and pride to score political points. This is the type of honest dialogue that our current President should have displayed all throughout his Presidency in my humble opinion.

Perhaps there are many Americans who cannot handle the truth, but I think there are many more who can than cannot.

These statements in no way minimize or undermine what our fellow citizens in the United States Military have accomplished and sacrified in their missions, unless someone decides to use it to score political points.

I am proud of our troops, and I will be even more proud when they treat them with the dignity, respect and services they need as they return home. I cannot begin to imagine what this people and their families go through, why they choose to make such sacrifices, and how they manage to survive it all to stand firm and protect my freedoms and yours.


To digg this report - click here PD

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellite images taken at night show heavily Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baghdad began emptying before a U.S. troop surge in 2007, graphic evidence of ethnic cleansing that preceded a drop in violence, according to a report published on Friday.

The images support the view of international refugee organizations and Iraq experts that a major population shift was a key factor in the decline in sectarian violence, particularly in the Iraqi capital, the epicenter of the bloodletting in which hundreds of thousands were killed.

Minority Sunni Arabs were driven out of many neighborhoods by Shi'ite militants enraged by the bombing of the Samarra mosque in February 2006. The bombing, blamed on the Sunni militant group al Qaeda, sparked a wave of sectarian violence.

"By the launch of the surge, many of the targets of conflict had either been killed or fled the country, and they turned off the lights when they left," geography professor John Agnew of the University of California Los Angeles, who led the study, said in a statement.

"Essentially, our interpretation is that violence has declined in Baghdad because of intercommunal violence that reached a climax as the surge was beginning," said Agnew, who studies ethnic conflict.

Some 2 million Iraqis are displaced within Iraq, while 2 million more have sought refuge in neighboring Syria and Jordan. Previously religiously mixed neighborhoods of Baghdad became homogenized Sunni or Shi'ite Muslim enclaves.

The study, published in the journal Environment and Planning A, provides more evidence of ethnic conflict in Iraq, which peaked just before U.S. President George W. Bush ordered the deployment of about 30,000 extra U.S. troops.

The extent to which the troop build-up helped halt Iraq's slide into sectarian civil war has been debated, particularly in the United States, with supporters of the surge saying it was the main contributing factor, and others arguing it was simply one of a number of factors. read more here

Peon Update. Barack in Iraq - Hey! That rhymes!

BAGHDAD — Senator Barack Obama arrived in Baghdad on Monday, meeting with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other senior Iraqi politicians, as an Iraqi spokesman said that the government was hopeful that foreign combat troops would withdraw in 2010. more