Is to the agonist. I think this is the one you want there? Have the Turks simply gotten some new leeway to attack the rebels in that area, or are they attacking against Iraqi kurds now?

Jordanian First Arab Ambassador in Iraq

Friday August 18, 2006 1:31 PM
By RAWYA RAGEH
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Jordanian envoy Ahmed al-Lozi has presented his credentials to the Iraqi government, becoming the first fully accredited Arab ambassador in the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein, an official said Friday.

President Jalal Talabani received al-Lozi's accreditation papers on Thursday, the president's office said.

Al-Lozi came to Baghdad with Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit on Tuesday and stayed behind to take up his duties, Talabani's aide, Hiwa Othman, told The Associated Press.

Asked if al-Lozi is the first fully accredited Arab ambassador here, Othman said: ``He is indeed.''

Arab countries have dragged their feet on sending ambassadors to Iraq because of the violence raging in the country. The Arab world's efforts to enhance its diplomatic presence in Iraq received a serious setback when Egypt's Ambassador Ihab al-Sherif was kidnapped and killed in July 2005 before he could present his credentials.

Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and murder, and warned Arab and Muslim countries against establishing relations. Some envoys from Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco and Sudan have been attacked in Baghdad.

Al-Sherif's abduction had strained relations between Egypt and Iraq's then-government, which suggested the diplomat was partly to blame for his abduction. It also indirectly accused him of maintaining secret contacts with groups in the Sunni-dominated insurgency.

The government had said al-Sherif went to an insecure area without bodyguards the night of his abduction.

Al-Lozi's arrival with the Jordanian prime minister was not publicized and his credential presentation ceremony was held in private.

more

ay, August 18, 2006

Bush tampers with war prisoner rights

By HELEN THOMAS
HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- Why does the Bush administration insist on tinkering with the long-established laws on military conduct and treaties of this land?

Bush administration officials are drafting amendments to the 1996 War Crimes Act to immunize political appointees, CIA officials and former military personnel from criminal prosecution for humiliating or degrading treatment of prisoners of war.

The War Crimes Act makes it a felony to violate the Geneva Conventions. Those treaties govern military conduct in wartime and were ratified in 1949 in the aftermath of World War II.

The administration's proposed amendments would reduce the number of acts against detainees subject to criminal prosecution.

The administration seems most concerned about Common Article 3 of the Conventions that bars "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment."

Officials are concerned that revelations about U.S. use of leashed dogs lunging at detainees during interrogation, forcing male prisoners to wear feminine underwear, and nakedness might fall into the category of "outrages upon personal dignity" and give rise to prosecution in the aftermath of the scandals at Abu Ghraib prisons.

Perhaps they fear future accountability.

Since his administration has been tainted by accusations of torture and reports of CIA-run secret prisons abroad, Bush should be thinking of ways to resurrect America's damaged worldwide reputation for compassion and humanity rather than designing end runs around our legal commitments.

The accords are a two-way street because they also determine how other nations treat American prisoners. This explains why top U.S. military officials get anxious whenever Bush administration civilian officials start tinkering with the rights of prisoners of war.

The administration ignored the Geneva Conventions after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales concluded they were "obsolete" and "quaint" when he was the chief lawyer in the White House. President Bush went along with those descriptions.

more

Baghdad alert for Shia pilgrimage

Special security measures have been introduced in Baghdad ahead of a Shia pilgrimage that last year saw nearly 1,000 killed in a stampede.

Checkpoints, body searches and a two-day ban on vehicles will be put in place ahead of the annual tribute to revered Shia leader Imam Musa Kadhim.

Last year pilgrims were trampled or drowned in the Tigris after rumours of a suicide bombing sparked panic.

Tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims remain high in Iraq's capital.

Mortars

Maj Gen Adnan Thabit said the vehicle ban would begin at 2100 local time (1700GMT) on Friday and last for two days.

Thousands of Shia pilgrims are converging on the city to mark the martyrdom of the 8th Century imam.

On 31 August last year, mortars were fired at the mosque housing his tomb and rumours spread of possible suicide bombers.

Many of the dead were women and children.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5263754.stm

Innocent children jailed, U.S. official says
By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 19, 2006

Children who have never been charged with a crime are being held in juvenile prisons in Iraq, a State Department official stated in a report he posted on the Internet this week.

Some of the children are in the detention centers simply because there is no one to pick them up and take them home, said Marshall Adame, an official with the National Coordination Team based out of Camp Victory in Iraq.

"These are not hardened criminals or terrorists," said Mr. Adame in a personal detailed report he published on an Internet log.

more at WA Times

Wonder how much longer he will be there....

August 20, 2006
Iranian Shells Land in Kurdish Villages in Northern Iraq, Killing 2

By EDWARD WONG and YEREVAN ADHAM

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq, Aug. 19 — Artillery shells fired from Iran have landed in remote northern villages of Iraqi Kurdistan in the past four days and have killed at least two civilians and wounded four others, a senior Kurdish official said Saturday. Dozens of families have fled the region.

The shells have been aimed at an area around Qandil Mountain, known as a base for militant Kurdish opposition groups seeking independence from Turkey and Iran, said the official, Mustafa Sayed Qadir, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which governs the eastern half of Iraqi Kurdistan.

“A lot of homes have been damaged and livestock killed,” he said. A shepherd was wounded Saturday, and two women were among the three people wounded on previous days, he added.

The government of Iraq is aware of the shelling, which has taken place occasionally in recent months, but has not taken an official position, he said.

The president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, is the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He has at times had a close relationship with Iran, especially when he sought Iranian support in the 1990’s against rival Kurdish leaders and Saddam Hussein. But Mr. Talabani is also aware of the Iranian government’s poor treatment of its Kurdish minority. Iranian officials could not be reached for comment Saturday evening.

Iran and Turkey have sizeable Kurdish populations that live in mountainous areas bordering Iraqi Kurdistan. In recent weeks, the two countries have stepped up warnings to Kurdish militant groups, perhaps fearing that they might have enough of a haven in Iraqi Kurdistan to inject new vigor into independence movements in Iran and Turkey. Iraqi Kurdistan is autonomous from the rest of Iraq and is home to most of this country’s five million Kurds.

more

Aug 19, 12:20 PM EDT

AP Probe Looks at Recruiting Misconduct

By MARTHA MENDOZA
AP National Writer

More than 100 young women who expressed interest in joining the military in the past year were preyed upon sexually by their recruiters. Women were raped on recruiting office couches, assaulted in government cars and groped en route to entrance exams.

A six-month Associated Press investigation found that more than 80 military recruiters were disciplined last year for sexual misconduct with potential enlistees. The cases occurred across all branches of the military and in all regions of the country.

"This should never be allowed to happen," said one 18-year-old victim. "The recruiter had all the power. He had the uniform. He had my future. I trusted him."

At least 35 Army recruiters, 18 Marine Corps recruiters, 18 Navy recruiters and 12 Air Force recruiters were disciplined for sexual misconduct or other inappropriate behavior with potential enlistees in 2005, according to records obtained by the AP under dozens of Freedom of Information Act requests. That's significantly more than the handful of cases disclosed in the past decade.

The AP also found:

-The Army, which accounts for almost half of the military, has had 722 recruiters accused of rape and sexual misconduct since 1996.

-Across all services, one out of 200 frontline recruiters - the ones who deal directly with young people - was disciplined for sexual misconduct last year.

-Some cases of improper behavior involved romantic relationships, and sometimes those relationships were initiated by the women.

Buy AP Photo Reprints

-Most recruiters found guilty of sexual misconduct are disciplined administratively, facing a reduction in rank or forfeiture of pay; military and civilian prosecutions are rare.

-The increase in sexual misconduct incidents is consistent with overall recruiter wrongdoing, which has increased from just over 400 cases in 2004 to 630 cases in 2005, according to a General Accounting Office report released this week.

The Pentagon has committed more than $1.5 billion to recruiting efforts this year. Defense Department spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke insisted that each of the services takes the issue of sexual misconduct by recruiters "very seriously and has processes in place to identify and deal with those members who act inappropriately."

In the Army, 53 recruiters were charged with misconduct last year. Recruiting spokesman S. Douglas Smith said the Army has put much energy into training its staff to avoid these problems.

"To have 53 allegations in a year, while it is 53 more than we would want, is not indicative of the entire command of 8,000 recruiters," he said. "We take this very seriously and we take appropriate action as necessary to discipline these people."

more

Final Death toll is 322 killed, injured in armed attacks in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Aug 20 (KUNA) -- Iraqi Health Ministry said on Sunday that the final death toll in armed attacks which targeted thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims in the Iraqi capital has risen to 322 killed and injured.

A source from the Iraqi Health Ministry said the final victims' death toll is 20 people were killed and 302 injured, with varying degrees of injuries.

Meanwhile, Iraqi police said today that four police officers among them two brothers were killed by unknown gunmen in the Diyali province north east of Baghdad.

A police statement from the Diyali office said unknown gunmen killed two brothers from the same police security force and injured their father in the Tahrir area in Baqouba city.

Police also said two civilians were killed and an arrest of two armed men was made today in different parts of Diyali province.

A statement issued by police public relations and media office said two civilians were killed by unknown gunmen in two separate attacks in Dour Al-Jahiza and Al-Tahrir in Baqouba town in Diyali province.

The statement added, police captured two armed men in the Sowamer area in Baqouba town, along with confiscation of weapon's caches, explosive materials. (pickup previous) ahh.

mb
KUNA 201744 Aug 06NNNN

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/print.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=897995

on edit---Oops. Sorry, I thought that was 322 dead.

exposed and deservedly ridiculed.

Bush Now Says What He Wouldn’t Say Before War: Iraq Had ‘Nothing’ To Do With 9/11

President Bush was in the midst of explaining how the attacks of 9/11 inspired his “freedom agenda” and the attacks on Iraq until a reporter, Ken Herman of Cox News, interrupted to ask what Iraq had to do with 9/11. “Nothing,” Bush defiantly answered. Watch it.

and

Bush on Iraq: ‘We’re Not Leaving So Long As I’m The President’ »

.

Senator Chuck Hagel admitted that US influence is slipping in Iraq. I fear it is worse than that. The level of popular vitriol against the US is frightening. 90% of Iraqis would not want an American even to live next to them!. I think of that statistic every time I hear Bush come out and talk about the new Iraq. 76 percent think he invaded them to control their petroleum.

link

According to your president, we want to kill you because you're free. Not true. We want to kill you because you're stupid enough to believe his crap.

76 percent think he invaded them to control their petroleum.

Which shows the 76% of Iraquis are smarter than all but one percent of Americans.

Bush's plan for dictatorship in Iraq

According to your president, we want to kill you because you're free. Not true. We want to kill you because you're stupid enough to believe his crap.