IRAQ: Monthly death toll highest in over a year

Violence in Iraq produced the highest death toll in 13 months as August was marred by a series of suicide bombings in northern Iraq and a high-profile attack on two government ministries in Baghdad that stoked concerns that security was deteriorating with the removal of most U.S. forces from Iraqi cities and the approach of national elections in January.

A total of 456 people were killed in attacks in August, including 393 civilians, a number far lower than the figures at the height of Iraq’s civil war in 2006 and 2007 when Iraq’s monthly death toll sometimes soared past 2,000. 

But the attacks in August, as well as a similar spate of bombings that resulted in 290 civilians killed in April and 373 killed in June, have fed impressions in Iraq that security could unravel as the country’s political factions contend for power. It was the deadliest month since July 2008, when 465 Iraqis died violently.

 After the Aug. 19th suicide truck bombings on the Iraqi foreign and finance ministries, which left around 100 dead, government officials said Iraq’s security forces had been infiltrated. 

IRAQ: Baghdad-Damascus feud heats up again after bombings

Iraq and Syria continued to spar verbally after the Aug. 19 bombings at Baghdad’s finance and foreign ministries that killed about 100 people and prompted accusations from the Iraqi government that Damascus was harboring the masterminds of the attacks. 

Iraq has charged Syria with sheltering leaders from late dictator Saddam Hussein’s Baath party and with allowing other militants to operate inside its borders. The government broadcast footage a week ago of a suspected militant captured after the attacks who described receiving orders from Iraqi Baathists in Syria. 

Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, shuttled between Baghdad and Damascus on Monday in an effort to contain the dispute between the two countries, who only renewed diplomatic relations three years ago.  

IRAQ: Faithful lay to rest Shiite political leader Abdelaziz Hakim

Thousands of Iraqis gathered Saturday for the funeral of Shiite leader Abdelaziz Hakim in the shrine city of Najaf in what amounted to a passing of the torch to his son and successor, Ammar Hakim.

The mourners carried pictures of Hakim and his son with banners that read: “Allegiance to Sayyed Ammar just like he announced his allegiance to Sayed [Grand Ayatollah Ali] Sistani.”

Abdelaziz Hakim, who died Wednesday of lung cancer in Iran,  leaves his party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, in a weakened state. The party was trounced in provincial elections in January, and has watched as Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and his party have eclipsed SIIC in popularity, with successes on the security front. Maliki was chosen for his post in 2006 largely because he was seen as someone who posed no threat to rival parties. 

IRAQ: Secret talks between Iraqi insurgents and American officials, Part 2

The 1920 Revolution Brigades issued a statement on Thursday in response to a Babylon and Beyond blog item last month about two meetings in Istanbul, Turkey, last spring between U.S. officials and a coalition of Sunni insurgent groups in Istanbul.  In the group's statement Thursday, the 1920 Revolution Brigades said that it had not participated in the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance's talks with the Americans and described the previous blog post as "mistaken." Babylon and Beyond said that the 1920 Revolution Brigades belongs to the umbrella group of Sunni insurgents, the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance, that held the meetings with the Americans this spring.  

 

In its statement Thursday, the 1920 Revolution Brigades said that now was not the time for negotiations with the U.S. government or military. It referred to a previous statement it had issued on its stance regarding the Istanbul talks with the Americans: "This stage for the conflict between us and the enemy does not require to negotiate with him but requires to increase the momentum of the strikes to force him to comply to our terms and withdraw from our land."

 --  Ned Parker in Los Angeles

IRAQ: Secret talks between Iraqi insurgents and American officials

News of meetings in Turkey this spring between U.S. officials and representatives of  Iraqi Sunni insurgent groups has provoked a backlash among Shiite politicians in Iraq. The two meetings were exposed to the public when an insurgent representative appeared on the Al Jazeera satellite television news channel in Qatar and discussed the talks, and also announced the existence of a protocol agreement (above) signed with the American and Turkish governments.

Iraqi officials have denied any knowledge of the meetings and have lashed out at the United States about conducting such talks. The reality is that U.S. officials most probably informed the Iraqi government about the talks beforehand, as they have done in the past when they explored discussions with groups that might be willing to negotiate with Iraqi officials.

The umbrella group, known as the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance, includes factions from the Islamic Army in Iraq, Mohammed’s Army, the 1920s Revolution Brigade and Ansar al Sunna. The first meeting between the sides, on March 6 in Istanbul, ended with a signed protocol agreement that set out the guidelines for further discussions.  

News of meetings in Turkey this spring between U.S. officials and representatives of  Iraqi Sunni insurgent groups has provoked a backlash among Shiite politicians in Iraq. The two meetings were exposed to the public when an insurgent representative appeared on the Al Jazeera satellite television news channel in Qatar and discussed the talks, and also announced the existence of a protocol agreement (above) signed with the American and Turkish governments.

Iraqi officials have denied any knowledge of the meetings and have lashed out at the United States about conducting such talks. The reality is that U.S. officials most probably informed the Iraqi government about the talks beforehand, as they have done in the past when they explored discussions with groups that might be willing to negotiate with Iraqi officials.

The umbrella group, known as the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance, includes factions from the Islamic Army in Iraq, Mohammed’s Army, the 1920s Revolution Brigade and Ansar al Sunna. The first meeting between the sides, on March 6 in Istanbul, ended with a signed protocol agreement that set out the guidelines for further discussions.  

IRAQ: Interview with the U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad, Christopher Hill

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, sat down with the Los Angeles Times three weeks ago. Below are excerpts from the interview, in which Hill discussed America’s changing role in Iraq and ability to influence the country now that U.S. forces are no longer in charge of Iraq’s security and scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2011. Hill also talked about plans to scale down the U.S. Embassy there, the largest in the world. His remarks provided some insight into how the American presence in Iraq will evolve over time and some context to what issues are likely to be discussed during Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's current visit to the United States.

The Times asked Hill how the United States, with the footprint of its forces being drastically reduced, would continue to promote progress on the key issues of reconciliation, developing the economy, fighting corruption, mediating between Kurds and Arabs. 

Hill: You’ve identified a number of key tasks especially in the area of reconciliation that are not necessarily a military task. I would argue most of those are increasingly, if not in some cases exclusively, civilian. I think what you are seeing in this crucial year, this the sixth year of our presence here in Iraq, is the hand-over [from the U.S. military] not only to Iraqi security forces but the hand-over to [American] civilian authorities who will be responsible for managing the U.S.-Iraqi relationship not just for the coming years, but potentially for the coming decades. You are sitting in one of the world’s largest embassies, quite frankly. We too from the point of view of the embassy, from the point of view of the various U.S. agencies that are represented here, I think we are ready to manage this relationship [with Iraq]. . . . One of the things that needs to happen is a stepping up of reconciliation efforts. To be sure, there will be people on the edges of the spectrum of opinion, who are unreconcilable, not interested in joining the mainstream, [and] not interested in joining the political process But I think there are still others where with effort can be brought into the political process. This is by and large an Iraqi issue of Iraqis talking to Iraqis, rather than Americans talking to Iraqis. It is nonetheless something we very much support and will try to be helpful whenever we can.

IRAQ: A Baghdad religious holiday without a major bombing

A major Shiite pilgrimage went smoothly Saturday in Baghdad, marking a success for Iraqi security forces after the departure of most US troops from the cities.

 

The four-day religious festival, which concludes Sunday, has been marred by violence in the past, but this year, the hundreds of thousands descending upon western Baghdad's Imam Mussa Kadhim shrine were spared catastrophic violence. Less than six people were killed in isolated attacks, according to security officials.

 

Pilgrims applauded the safety. “I trust the Iraqi police and army,” said Mohammed Fadel Hassan, 18, a pilgrim from Hilla who had walked to the shrine in Baghdad’s Kadhimiya neighborhood.

IRAQ: Iraqis pay tribute to a strongman

Memories of Abdul Kareem Qasim (right), Iraq’s first leader after the monarchy, were alive today as Iraq celebrated the anniversary of the establishment of the modern Iraqi republic in 1958.

His supporters view him as a defender of the poor who fought for the state’s rights against the interests of the West. His detractors view him as the first in a series of disastrous would-be strongmen who led Iraq on to the path to instability that culminated in dictator Saddam Hussein.

Qasim was killed by the Baath party in a coup in 1963, bookending his own power grab five years earlier, which ended with his supporters killing King Faisal II. By 1963, Qasim had been undone by his poor relationship with the West, rivalry with Egypt, a Kurdish rebellion in the north and his own crackdowns against opponents.

But today, state television broadcast a documentary, entitled “Supporter of the Poor,” remembering him in a favorable light. The movie showed grainy footage of the tall, lanky army general in uniform, invoking nostalgia for the era before Iraq was plagued by successive wars and upheaval. The timing was interesting given the ongoing debate in Iraqi politics about whether the country needs a strong head of state or whether power should be decentralized and have a series of checks and balances to avoid the emergence of another autocratic ruler like Hussein.

IRAQ: International soccer returns to Baghdad

Iraq’s future might be fraught with peril. Bombs explode daily around the country and its myriad political problems remain unsolved. But on Tuesday night, Iraqis’ desire for  ordinary lives was on display as international soccer returned to Baghdad.

For the first time since 2002, a team from abroad dared venture to Baghdad to engage in the national pastime. The opponents were the Palestinian team, a people themselves no stranger to war and still without statehood. Baghdad, where on any given day bloodshed can occur, from mortar fires, to rockets to suicide bombs, took all security precautions.

IRAQ: Baghdad celebrations over U.S. withdrawal from cities

Photos by Times photographer Saad Khalaf show scenes of revelry around Baghdad for June 30, the date  for U.S. forces to leave Iraqi population centers. Policemen decorated their cars with ribbons Tuesday, and had a public party Monday, where the police danced and musicians played.

 

IRAQ: Cement blast walls go up in another Baghdad neighborhood

(Cement walls erected by Baghdad neighborhood. Picture by Usama Redha)

Less than a month before U.S. forces leave their bases in Baghdad, the Iraqi security forces are sealing off much of the northwestern Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya with the towering cement blast walls that the Americans first erected in neighborhoods in 2007 as a way to stop the city’s sectarian fighting.

The move comes after the Iraqi government has said it wants to start removing such walls from around neighborhoods as it seeks to promote the idea that life is improving in war-scarred Baghdad. At the end of June, the government actually hopes to open a road to the public that cuts through the Green Zone as proof that better times are here. 

IRAQ: Twittering in Baghdad

"Saw the real Baghdad today by driving out in the Red Zone. Lots of work to do, but people are on the street talking and things are moving."

"A bit hotter today in Baghdad. So much concrete. It's everywhere."

So read some of the tweets from Baghdad from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, who is visiting Iraq as part of a delegation of new-media technology executives invited by the State Department to explore ways technology can help rebuild the country.

It's going to be a challenge, they acknowledged in a meeting with reporters today at the heavily fortified U.S. embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone, where they have been staying since Sunday.

The Iraqi government still struggles to provide round-the-clock electricity, and millions of Iraqis lack access to clean drinking water, let alone the Internet.

Altogether, Internet penetration is estimated at around 5% of the population of 28 million people. That means most of the technologies represented by the delegation, including executives from Google, Howcast and YouTube, are beyond the reach of ordinary Iraqis.