The USG Open Source Center translates Friday prayer sermons from last week in Iraq. Of particular interest is the sermon of Shiite cleric Sadr al-Din al-Qabanji of Najaf, who preaches at the prestigious mosque attached to the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf. Al-Qabanji [al-Qabanchi] represents the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), the de […]
Maliki Said to Induct 18,000 Militiamen into Security Services
Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that PM al-Maliki has taken the controversial decision to recruit 18,000 members of Shiite militias into the Iraqi government security forces. (In fact, the Iraqi military has de facto been recruiting a lot of Shiite militiamen anyway). You have to wonder if this step is intended to offset the American military’s […]
Pakistan Elections By Jan. 9 Emergency not to be Lifted Jama’at-i Islami Slams Bhutto
Gen. Musharraf says he will keep the State of Emergency in place but will dissolve parliament and hold new elections for it before Jan. 9 under a caretaker government. Provincial elections will be held at the same time. The Northwest Frontier Province, which is ethnically mostly Pushtun and some parts of which have become hotbeds […]
A Sad Veterans Day; 1/4 of Homeless are Vets Bombings in Baghdad, Mosul, Diyala Showdown at Samarra
On Veterans Day, think about the thousands of US dead and wounded in Iraq (for what purpose, exactly?), and think about Iraqi Veterans against the War as Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman suggests. Typically this group and others like it are being denied a voice in public commemorations of the veterans (who apparently should be […]
Iraqi Kurd Op-Ed: Turkey must Recognize Kurds for there to be Dialogue
The USG Open Source Center translates an article by an Iraqi Kurd writer, “Diyar Gharib,” calling on Turkey to recognize the Kurdish people as a first step toward productive political dialogue. ‘Iraq Kurd writer says dialogue impossible without Turkey recognizing KurdsHawlatiSaturday, November 10, 2007 . . . Document Type: OSC Translated Text Iraq Kurd writer […]
Did W. Create Ron Paul?
Gordon Robison argues that his stance on the Iraq War almost single-handedly explains Rep. Ron Paul’s amazing fundraising ability (which recently outstripped that of Sen. John McCain, the last unreconstructed hawk on the Iraq War.) I’m not sure it is just Iraq that drives Ron Paul’s popularity, though of course that is part of it. […]
Pakistan Dictatorship Pledges to End Emergency; Bhutto said released from House Arrest
The military dictatorship in Pakistan says that it has released Benazir Bhutto from house arrest and that it will end the State of Emergency within one month and go to parliamentary elections in mid-February. Pakistanis have seen military governments make such pledges in the past, only to have them repeatedly broken, with elections postponed for […]
Awakening Council in Diyala Bombed; Rumors of US Contacts with Sunni Resistance; Iran: Nukes forbidden in Islamic Law
A suicide bomber blew up a meeting of the Diyala Awakening Council of Sunni tribal shaikhs, killing five tribal chiefs who had been cooperating with the Americans against radical Sunni Salafi extremists. Other violence in Iraq on Friday was concentrated in Baghdad, Diyala Province and Kirkuk, according to Reuters, and included roadside bombs and mortar […]
The Kirkuk Crisis
The USG Open Source Center summarizes controversies over the prospect of the incorporation of Kirkuk into Iraqi Kurdistan in October and so far in November. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) comprises 3 provinces of the old Iraq, and wishes to incorporate 3 more. One of the provinces it wants to swallow whole is Kirkuk, an […]
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