Report Finds Iraq Water Treatment Project to Be Late, Faulty and Over Budget

A huge American-financed wastewater treatment plant in the desert city of Falluja, which United States troops assaulted twice to root out insurgents in 2004, was supposed to be the centerpiece of an effort to rebuild Iraq, a country smashed by war and neglect, and bring Western standards of sanitation.  >>>>>

Muqtada al-Sadr urges rejection of US-Iraqi pact

Waving Iraqi flags and green Shiite banners, protesters chanted slogans condemning the pact. The demonstration in the mostly Shiite eastern part of Baghdad was staged under tight security, with soldiers and police manning checkpoints along the route.

“I am with every Sunni, Shiite or Christian who is opposed to the agreement … and I reject, condemn and renounce the presence of occupying forces and bases on our beloved land,” al-Sadr said in a message read to the crowd by a senior aide.  >>>>>

This demonstration is in Baghdad; where the US has purportedly given them freedom.  There are many in the West who don’t believe that Christians are opposed to anything related to the U.S. occupation.  Very few asked the Christians in Iraq or anti-War activists of the West.

The new face of Islamophobia

The dehuminisation of Islam will not change the above realities.

Overcoming ignorance is the only way to change the situation. Look at the realities of the world we are living in…. look at who is holding the guns, dropping the bombs…. with your money….Only you can put an end to this. >>>>>

10 Killed in Turkey – Kurd Clashes

The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The violence has killed at least 37,000 people.  The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. >>>>>

Damascus says Lebanon, Syria face same militant threat

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told Lebanon’s as-Safir newspaper that the uncovering of “terrorist cells” in both countries had shown that “the source of danger to both countries is one.”  >>>>>

Iraqis are being attacked and killed for returning to their homes

“We’re hearing about some pretty direct threats — people getting phone calls or finding notes on their doors telling them they’ll be harmed if they don’t leave again. . . . But we’re just getting individual anecdotes. It’s still hard to say how widespread it is.”

Brookings hasn’t noticed that either sect — Sunni or Shiite — is being targeted more than the other, Ferris said. “I think it just depends on the neighborhood and who’s in control.” >>>>>

In other words, their not even sure if the threats are coming from instigating outside sources.

Exodus of Christians as killers step up religious cleansing in Iraq

Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, has ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the problem. Yesterday the UN expressed concern at the recent violence against Mosul’s Christian community.

Some Christians blame al-Qaeda for the attacks while others speculate that Kurdish elements might be involved as part of a political ploy to coerce minority sects into supporting Kurdish parties before forthcoming provincial elections. This allegation is strongly denied by the Kurdish authorities. >>>>>

There is still nothing conclusive as to which side or who did it.  This doesn’t stop the West from capitalizing on this to make it appear as if Christians are not free under Islamic rule.  There is no Islamic rule in Iraq; and secondly, both Christians and Muslims in the region are both Iraqis and Arabs, excluding the Kurdish and other ethnic differentials.  This is a phony instigation effort to work towards continuing to divide the society into smaller groups, one especially that the West is nurturing to eventually help its agenda upon their resettlement in the region.

Young U.S. Muslims Shift to Democrats This Election

The Pew study shows that older Muslim Americans support the military fight against terrorism, especially in Afghanistan, more often than younger Muslim Americans. Duke professor Jen’nan Ghazel Read says this divide is normal. Her research shows that the majority of Muslim Americans, who were born in the Middle East or Southeast Asia, still have a strong connection to their native homelands, despite years of being in this country.  >>>>>

I guess that still makes me young….yippeee!!!

Iraq says time for British troops to go: report

LONDON (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was quoted on Monday as saying it was time for British combat forces to leave the south of the country because they were no longer needed to maintain security and control.

Maliki told The Times newspaper in an interview there might still be a need for their experience in training Iraqi forces and on some technological issues, but the emphasis was now on business links.  >>>>>

Iran ‘bribing Iraqi politicians’

“We get reports of people coming in to pay off people to vote against it. Whether it’s true or not I have no specific proof, but there are many intelligence reports that say that activity is going on.”  >>>>>

Which means that this is rumor.  We have more than rumor saying that AIPAC has done far worse, and yet make no substantive move against them in the U.S.

‘Collateral damage’ or targeted killing, the effect is much the same

But now I ask a question. When US troops massacre Iraqi civilians in Haditha because their buddy has been murdered, what is the difference between their revenge and that of Saddam? When a Taliban attack on Nato forces in Afghanistan provokes a US air strike on a village and leaves women and children torn to pieces in the ruins – this now seems the inevitable result – what is the difference between those innocent deaths and the destruction of the families of Abdullah’s grandchildren in Dujail?  >>>>>

Christians flee Iraqi city after killings, threats, officials say

The Rev. Bolis Jacob, of Mosul’s Mar Afram Church, told AP he couldn’t understand the attacks. “We respect the Islamic religion and the Muslim clerics,” he said. “We don’t know under what religion’s pretexts these terrorists work.” >>>>>

The good reverend cannot understand because the Christians lived under peace with the Muslims before the was invaded and occupied.  This appears to be more of a false-flag operation in order to pit one group (Christians) against another (Muslims) without this having been the case prior.  There is no proof of this that is public yet; but it is part of the occupiers’ modis operandi.  There is also no proof that the leaflets threatening the Christians were actually committed by Muslims.

Many Iraqi Refugees in US Face Hardship

Many Iraqi refugees who come to the United States find their troubles are not over as they struggle to to make ends meet and adapt to a new culture. Groups assisting the Iraqis say the available resources do not begin to cover the real costs of resettlement. VOA’s Bill Rodgers has more in this second of two reports on Iraqi refugees. >>>>>

‘US has outstayed its welcome in Iraq’

Kazemi Qomi said the American’s decision to impose a security pact on Iraq in a bid to provide footing for the US military presence in the country would make Iraqis ‘angrier’ as the deal did not take their interests into account.

He warned that the deal had to be in the interests of the Iraqi people who would “disagree with anything that breaks their independence or sovereignty.” The Iraqi people were ‘upset’ that Americans term their offers democratic and in line with the path of freedom. >>>>>

Iraq: US dropped nuclear bomb near Basra in 1991, claims veteran

An American veteran of the first Gulf War in Iraq claims that the United States dropped a five-kilotonne nuclear bomb in 1991 in a deserted area outside the southern city of Basra on the Iranian border.

The claim by US war veteran Jim Brown was made during an interview included in a 30-minute current affairs report to be broadcast by Italian state news channel RaiNews24 on Thursday.  Brown told the Italian news channel that the bombing took place on the last day of the war in Iraq on 27 February 1991. >>>>>

How ironic and despicable if true.  We attack a whole country and kill more civilians than a non-culpable military many times over in order to ’seek out weapons of mass destruction;’ only to find that there were no WMDs; and upon defeating the people we wrongfully attacked, we make our point by actually unnecessarily and criminally dropping a nuclear bomb.  When people around the world here this, it brings about a greater sense of urgency for justice and disdain for the cheerleaders for terms like “human rights,” “democracy,” “freedom,” “we only seek to offer humanitarian aid…”

Iraq War Illegal Propaganda-Gate Links Fest

Federal regulators have launched an inquiry into whether broadcast networks and military analysts violated federal sponsorship identification rules as a result of an effort by the Pentagon to increase favorable news coverage of the Iraq war.  >>>>>

Iraq to Give 82% of Proven Oil Reserves to International Oil Companies

A new decision by the Iraqi parliament leaves Iraqi minorities with no representation in the country’s provincial councils as well as the legislature, Nidhal al-Laithi reports for Azzaman. By an overwhelming majority, the parliament early this week revoked paragraph 50 from the constitution under which Iraqi minorities were assigned a set of seats in legislative and municipal councils. The revocation has sparked mass demonstrations in areas where these minorities live, particularly in the northern Province of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital.  >>>>>

15 Soldiers Killed by Kurd Rebels

Ankara, Turkey – Fighting between Kurdish rebels and Turkey’s army and air force in southern Turkey and northern Iraq has killed 15 soldiers and at least 23 insurgents, the military said Saturday, in the deadliest battle between the long-time enemies this year. >>>>>

Muslim on Muslim fighting, neither particularly for any Islamic purpose; but both use Islamic rights as reasons to fight, not recognizing that both were setup by the very same countries and people(s) that claimed to be there allies/friends to begin with. This scenario is playing out in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Caucus Region, and is spreading to a neighborhood near you.

Notice how the Iraqi resistance against Saddam Hussein were once labeled resistance? Today they are insurgents. Their usefulness as an ally is diminishing for the West. With gained

‘independence’ come gained notoriety. The same is happening to the Kurds at the moment. This is not an attack on Turkey. It’s just that the Kurds are the insurgents in this article. My point is that all is relative to who is reporting.

This relativity is what is ignored by the Western populous and is actually working against their favor by the very perpetrators of those who control the infrastructure of the media and the economy. It’s time to become more aware of how we’re being played by these and other forces.

Iraq: Saddam’s assets stolen by US, claims security official

“The United States was able to locate personal property and real estate belonging to the former dictator, his family, and his collaborators, with a total value of more than five billion dollars, and take possession of this treasure,” said Ali al-Baghdadi in an interview with official Iranian news agency Fars. “They ended up in Washington’s coffers,” al-Baghdadi claimed. >>>>>

More than 10,000 Iraqi Christians protest in Iraq’s Dahuk

Baghdad – More than 10,000 Iraqi Christians demonstrated Thursday in the northern Dahuk province, demanding self-rule in their area and restoration of a clause in the new elections law that would guarantee their representation in provincial councils. >>>>>

The game of divide and conquer continues in Iraq.  Iraq was a secular nation during the time of Saddam Hussein.  It appears that until the U.S. invaded, Iraqis were under one national, and even non-religious banner.  Now, there are several minority groups seeking independence, based on religion.  I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing, seeing as the U.S. is a natural broker in the region.  Even if the Christians ever did get their way to be self-ruled, the secular powers that are guiding it right now would never let them be as sovereign as they hope for.