IRAQ: Combat cats

U.S. troops in Iraq are told never to adopt stray dogs and cats as pets. Too many potential problems.

But an animal that can contribute to the U.S. mission, that's a different story.

So the five or so cats found prowling an abandoned hotel at a former British Royal Air Force base in Habbaniya that the Marines are using as a headquarters have been assigned official duties as mouse removal specialists.

Marines, sentimentalists that they are, have given the cats endearing names. One cat is called Fathead. He sleeps days and is on duty at night.

— Tony Perry in Habbaniya

Photo: Fathead, one of the cats at Habbaniya assigned to keep the mouse population under control. Credit: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times

IRAQ: Ahmadinejad visit stirs passions

Iraqis are nervously awaiting Sunday's visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

According to the National Iraqi News Agency, hundreds of people in the provincial capital of Baqubah protested in the streets and held up placards saying: "Iraq is not for sale."

IRAN: Nuclear bomb as metaphor

There are few signs that Iran is going to back down on U.S. demands ahead of possible U.N. Security Council sanctions this weekend. Washington is in a tizzy over Iran's continued enrichment of uranium, a step in the process for making a nuclear bomb as well as fuel for a power plant.

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati is a high-ranking cleric close to the highest echelons of power in Iran. He delivered a fiery and defiant Friday prayer speech directed at the West:

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that Iran has replied to all questions. The Security Council and the U.S. and its allies should be ashamed of taking our dossier up. But whatever you do, our people will not back down and our borders are a nuclear weapon. Except for nuclear weapons, all other peaceful nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, are open to us. Our people in the rallies of the revolution are our bombs. We do not need nuclear bombs. You make bombs.

Maybe to lighten the mood, Jannati also advised the Iranian people to avoid "committing sins" during the upcoming Persian New Year holidays.

— Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran

Photo: Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a high-ranking cleric who often speaks for the Iranian government, is shown speaking at a Friday prayer service last year. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

IRAQ: Dispatches from Babil province

The Times' trusty correspondent in Hillah, south of Baghdad in Babil province (which is Arabic for Babylon and the namesake of this blog), supplies us regularly with notes about the security and governing challenges in what was once one of Iraq's most troubled regions.

Earlier this week, a suicide bomber blew himself up among a group of Shiite pilgrims. Officials at the Hillah Health Dept. upped the death toll from 43 to 61 in the devastating attack. Almost 100 people were also injured by the bombing near the town of Iskandariya.

But this was unusual. These days, the problems in the area are more humdrum. Local officials in the Imam district informed our stringer (whom we can't name for security reasons) that a long-anticipated new bridge can't be completed because of an architectural defect in its foundation. An official also said that the bridge is being built in the wrong place, "because it is near another adjacent bridge and does not help in the transport of civilians at all.”

The province struggles to make ends meet. Nasser Abdul Jabbar, director of the local center to help displaced people, told our stringer his department will start paying $115 per month to 3,650 families resettling in the province to escape sectarian violence.

A smattering of bloodshed continues daily. On Friday, a roadside bomb targeting a passing security patrol hurt three people. On Wednesday, authorities discovered the body of an unidentified man.

It could be worse. Police this week arrested dozens of suspected Al Qaeda operatives in the area, uncovering 10 plastic containers loaded with ammunition and guns.

— Borzou Daragahi in Baghdad

Photo: Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders attend a conference south of Baghdad in January. Credit: EPA/Alaa Al-Shemaree

LEBANON: U.S.S. Cole heads toward Lebanese coast

Is the U.S. beating the war drums in Lebanon? U.S. officials revealed Thursday the unexpected deployment of American warships off the Lebanese coast "to bolster stability" in the region. But in Lebanon, the move was slammed as a military threat to the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah and its backers, Syria and Iran.

According to media reports, the famous U.S.S. Cole was heading toward Lebanese waters from Malta. The stated reason was said to be growing concerns in Washington over the political deadlock in Lebanon and Syria's meddling in Lebanese internal affairs.

"The presence is important. It isn't meant to send any stronger signals than that but in fact it does signal that we're engaged, we're going to be in the vicinity," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon.

Hezbollah denounced the American decision as a "failing attempt by the U.S. administration to support its [Lebanese] allies with its military apparel." Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told one local newspaper that this "proved the real confrontation [in Lebanon] is with decision makers in Washington."

A drawn-out political crisis has pitted the U.S.-backed Lebanese government against the Hezbollah-led opposition supported by Iran and Syria. As a result, the country has been without a president for the past three months. Tensions between the two feuding factions are rising on the streets.

Local pro-Hezbollah newspapers attacked the U.S. show of force. One virulent headline talked about "a direct military threat" and one editorial slammed the Bush administration for repeating its "humiliating" deployment of warships along the Lebanese coast in 1982. The U.S. pulled out its troops then from Lebanon after deadly attacks against its embassy and its Marine barracks in Beirut.

"It is wishful thinking if the US thinks that the Lebanese people will adore this exhibition of military force," wrote a French-Lebanese blogger at Les Politiques.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora tried to diffuse the impact of the U.S. move. He told reporters that "there are no foreign warships in Lebanese waters," adding that the government did not request any military support.

— Raed Rafei in Beirut

Photo: U.S.S. Cole sails the sea. Credit: Ship website

IRAQ: Time is the biggest thing

The biggest question in Iraq may be: When can the Americans go home?

The short answer from military officials involves getting the Iraqi army and police capable of standing on their own.

Marine Gunner Stuart White, now in his third tour in Iraq, runs the training program for Iraqi soldiers at Habbaniya. "I think we have a clear vision of what we want," he said. "It's like teaching a man to fish. It cannot be done overnight."

So how long?

"I just can't say it'll be done in a year. Time is the biggest thing. They have a desire to do this. The difference from last year is night and day. I don't think there's a lack of heart to fight on their part. Now it's a matter of education for their leadership and their officers."

As a gunner, White is an expert in weaponry. He also knows what fighting is like. He was part of 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, one of the lead units in the bloody battle in Fallouja in late 2004.

Ask him, as I did, about Fallouja and his eyes mist over with thoughts of young Marines who died to retake the city from the insurgents.

— Tony Perry in Habbaniya

Photo: Iraqi officers learning about the AK-47 from Marine instructors at Habbaniya. Credit: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times

ISRAEL: Olmert new kid on the blog block

"With Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's departure on a diplomatic visit to Japan, we have decided — for the first time — to post a blog on the Prime Minister's Office website," says a statement from the prime minister's office. The blog, it says, is aimed at allowing surfers to learn about the visit and get regular updates, as well as serving as another means of increasing transparency of the PM's activities. Comments will be welcome.

With this, Olmert joins President Shimon Peres, who has been blogging for the Israeli daily Haaretz for several months.  Peres, now turning his famous one-liners into onliners, posted this in October: "In order to maintain our identity, we pray, throughout the world, in Hebrew, and in order to maintain our modernity, we use English."

— Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem

IRAQ: God, kittens and the insurgency

Operational security — OPSEC — is important: it keeps the enemy from knowing details about upcoming missions, troop movements, etc., that could help them mount an attack.

But keeping troops focused on its importance is difficult at a time when attacks are way down.

So an official poster at Marine bases throughout Anbar province warns: "Every Time You Don't Use OPSEC, God Kills a Kitten."

Pictured is a kitten frolicking in a field followed by two menacing-looking Gumby figures.

— Tony Perry in Camp Fallouja

IRAQ: War as a family affair, Part 3

The U.S.-Iraqi army training camp at Habbaniya is about 60 miles from Baghdad, and so few U.S. officials or politicians make the trek.

One who did was Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who visited in December to be with son, Jimmy, an enlisted Marine in his first tour in Iraq. No press was allowed, in keeping with McCain's policy of never appearing to use his son's service as a prop for his presidential bid.

The younger McCain is back in the U.S. now, after finishing his seven-month deployment.

— Tony Perry in Habbaniya

IRAQ: The sheik's request

The relationship between the Marines and the Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province is delicate. Each side wants something from the other.

The Marines want the sheiks to continue their fight against insurgents and to follow the rule of law rather than tribal vengeance. When a sheik hosts the Marines for lunch or dinner, he usually has a list of wants: a gun permit, a government job for a relative, a passport, help getting a construction contract, etc.

One sheik had something more personal in mind. After a sumptuous feast, he asked the Marines if they could help him get Viagra.

Sorry, sheik. U.S. foreign aid is not quite that generous.

— Tony Perry in Anbar