Middle East

In my absence, my readers are making what seem to me especially substantial, informed and incisive comments, and several of those posted today seemed to me worthy of being put on the “front page”. (Not everyone reads comments). So here they are: “1. On the Dam At 11:21 PM, Alex said… On the dam. There […]

The US is giving Turkey intelligence on the Kurdish Workers Party, according to Reuters. It seems to me that there is a contradiction between US calls for Turkish restraint and this attempt to supply Ankara with “actionable” intelligence. Is it that the US wants Turkey to hit some parts of the PKK in some parts […]

The Iraqi cabinet has reported out draft legislation that will remove immunity from prosecution for private security guards such as those of Blackwater. The immunity was put into law by US viceroy Paul Bremer in 2003-2004 when the US was running Iraq as a colony. Such ‘extra-territoriality’ is common in a colonial situation, since it […]

Iraq’s Katrina? The Army Corps of Engineers is worried that a dam north of Mosul will collapse. CBS warns, ‘ A catastrophic failure, engineers believe, could unleash a 60-foot-high wall of water that would be inundate Mosul – and flood Baghdad to a depth of 15 feet. The casualty count would be in the hundreds […]

Indian NDTV is reporting Tuesday morning that Turkish Cobra helicopter gunships have fired into Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) positions inside northern Iraq. The action comes after following on an engagement in the border region on the Turkish side that began on Monday and went late into the night. AP does not mention the strikes inside […]

LA Times says that 11 members of The Salam (Peace) tribal council of Baquba, were kidnapped at gunpoint as they were driving back from the Green Zone toward Baquba, where they are based. They had been conducting talks with the office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Although the kidnapping occurred in a largely Shiite district […]

The USG Open Source Center summarizes and translates a recent statement of Shiite clerical leader Muqtada al-Sadr, issued two weeks ago, insisting that the suspension of military operations by his Mahdi Army is still in effect. ‘Muqtada al-Sadr Says Freeze on Al-Mahdi Army’s Military Action Still in EffectIraq — OSC SummarySunday, October 28, 2007 The […]

Tens of thousands of Americans rallied against the war in major cities on Saturday. The US military is turning over security duties in Karbala to the Iraqi security forces (dominated in that city by the Badr Corps, the paramilitary trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps). This turn-over has now been carried out in 8 […]

The USG Open Source Center reports on Iraqi sermons on Friday. Round-up of Iraqi Friday Sermons 26 OctIraq — OSC SummarySaturday, October 27, 2007 Al-Iraqiyah . . . “Shaykh Jalal-al-Din al-Saghir, [Shiite] imam and preacher of the Buratha Mosque, said that the recent statements by terrorist Usama Bin Ladin to the remnants of his followers […]