Middle East

Guerrillas detonated a bomb in a Baghdad pet market on Friday morning at 9 am, killing at least 13 persons and wounding others. Two important gunbattles were fought in Iraq on Thursday, one southwest of Baghdad and one in the volatile Diyala Province east of Baghdad. CNN alleges that Salafi Jihadis of the “Islamic State […]

Pink – Dear Mr. President Dear Mr. PresidentCome take a walk with meLet’s pretend we’re just two people andYou’re not better than meI’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the streetWho do you pray for at night before you […]

AP reports that US generals in Iraq are talking about the move to northern Iraq of the most violent Sunni religious guerrillas (the US calls them al-Qaeda and some of them style themselves that way, though it is misleading). The article says that Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling said from a base outside Tikrit […]

The USG Open Source Center reports on wrangling between two Sunni groups, the more urban and small-town Sunni fundamentalists of the Iraqi Accord Front [al-Tawafuq] and the more rural, tribal Anbar Salvation Counci [ASC]. The two groups, both of whom oppose the very violent extremists among the Salafi Jihadis [whom the US insists on calling […]

Top British Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt says that British troops are overstretched by their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and are suffering from “Iraq fatigue.” He warned that the covenant of trust between the enlisted men and the officers was in danger of being broken. Dannatt insisted that troops need recuperation time between missions but […]

The USG Open Source Center reports on how Arabic television is reporting on political and security developments in Iraq. ‘Al-Sharqiyah, Al-Iraqiyah Report on Political, Security Developments in IraqIraq — OSC SummarySaturday, November 17, 2007 Dubai Al-Sharqiyah Television in Arabic, independent, private news and entertainment channel focusing on Iraq, run by Sa’d al-Bazzaz, publisher of the […]

An FBI investigation has found that the Blackwater Security guards who killed 17 Iraqis in mid-September had broken laws and regulations on the use of deadly force in 14 of the shootings. Fred McKay argues that Blackwater combines the two constituencies of Bush’s wing of the Republican Party, the privatization of Everything and Christian fundamentalism. […]

The US military has begun to reverse last year’s troop escalation, which brought the number of combat brigades in Iraq up to 20. It is now going back down to 19, and will stand at 15 in July of 2008 if things go according to plan. That is, the number of US troops in Iraq […]

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 […]