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By Peter Stothard
$17.79
$18
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Elvert Barnes (CC-BY)
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The Guardian and BBC Arabic are reporting that the U.S. helped fund and organize a network of torture centers that fueled Iraq’s sectarian violence.
Posted on Mar 6, 2013
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AP Photo
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By Juan Cole — The Syrian government’s resort to Alawite death squads in recent weeks has pushed former supporters into the opposition.
Posted on Jun 17, 2012
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U.S. Army / Spc. Brandon Bolick
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Baghdad was shaken by at least 15 explosions Tuesday, with an estimated death toll ranging from 76 to more than 100. The bombers appeared to favor Shiite targets and were unhindered by Iraqi security.
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U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen
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Iyad Allawi, whose Iraqiya Party won the most seats in Iraq’s recent election, says sectarian violence could overtake Iraq, the region and even “the world at large” if the opposition continues to try to undermine his victory and establish a Shiite-dominated parliament.
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A spate of bombings around Baghdad on Sunday killed 34 people, including at least four Iraqi policemen, three soldiers and several civilians shopping in local markets and preparing to break their fasts to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
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AP photo / Hadi Mizban
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Multiple suicide bombings in Baghdad and Kirkuk in the north killed more than 50 Iraqis on Monday. The bombers in the capital targeted Shiite pilgrims. More than 200 were wounded in the two cities. News of the attacks came on the heels of a spate of bombings around the world.
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The BBC explores the refugee crisis in Iraq, where camps for displaced civilians are filling up and, in some cases, closing due to horrendous conditions.
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Recent morgue figures show a rise in sectarian violence in Iraq, challenging the effectiveness of the U.S. troop surge and a three-month old security crackdown. The Bush administration had cited a drop in violence as evidence of success, but many attributed the relative lull in killings, now but a memory, to an order from Moqtada al-Sadr for his militia to temporarily stand down.
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Last week U.S. forces began building a controversial wall around a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad, ostensibly to protect its residents from sectarian violence. On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he opposed the construction and had ordered it stopped.
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Moqtada al-Sadr pulled his forces off the streets of Baghdad in response to the U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown, but a devastating bombing at a university Sunday and other Sunni attacks have caused the cleric to rethink his position: “Here we are, watching car bombs continue to explode to harvest thousands of innocent lives from our beloved people in the middle of a security plan controlled by an occupier.”
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Grim reports from Iraq continue despite the PR campaign to understate the deadliness of the mix of American military presence, civil war and improvised explosives ravaging the country. Today at least 42 people died in a car bombing in a town 50 miles west of Baghdad. Earlier today, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki issued a statement touting a recent crackdown, citing a reduction in violence in Baghdad, but on Saturday in the capital alone at least seven people were killed and more than 30 injured, according to the BBC.
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aljazeera.net
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After a Sunni mother of 11 told al-Jazeera she had been raped by Iraqi soldiers, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused her of fabricating the story to stir sectarian tensions. But four men, including an officer who allegedly recorded the crime on his mobile phone, were arrested and confessed to the crime. Update: An alleged victim in a similar rape case has come forward.
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Lt. Gen. Aboud Qanbar, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s point man for military operations in Baghdad, announced sweeping new military powers on Tuesday as part of a large-scale crackdown on sectarian violence. Qanbar said he is in absolute control of the effort and answers only to Maliki, signaling an expansion of the prime minister’s authority.
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msnbc.com
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An anonymous U.S. official said on Tuesday that prominent Shiite cleric and Iraqi political figure Moqtada al-Sadr had fled to Iran in order to escape either an American crackdown or fringe elements of his own militia. But several Iraqi officials on Wednesday, also speaking anonymously, said al-Sadr was still in Iraq.
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According to the BBC, sites like the Iraq League site and Internet tools like Google Earth have become important means of survival in Iraq—helping Iraqis avoid death squads, plan escape routes and guard against attacks.
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news.yahoo.com
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blamed Saddam loyalists for a market bombing that killed at least 130 people and injured 305. The market is in a predominantly Shiite district. Meanwhile, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani made an appeal for unity.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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The U.S. military says a series of 52 operations over 45 days led to the capture of some 600 militants and 16 leaders of Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. With some estimates placing the size of the Shiite militia at 60,000, that leaves only 59,384 to go.
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latimes.com
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s choice of Lt. Gen. Abud Qanbar, a relatively unknown figure, to head the military in Baghdad has upset Iraqi military commanders and politicians. American commanders have also expressed dissatisfaction with Qanbar, due to the key role he will play in Bush’s planned escalation of the war and fears that his promotion might be motivated by a sectarian agenda.
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AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite
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Senior aides said Sunday that the president will finally apply benchmarks to Iraq—only not for the withdrawal of troops. Bush will offer the guidelines to Iraq’s political leadership in an attempt to ease sectarian tension. Meanwhile, the military’s new Iraq commander is preparing for an influx of troops, expected to accompany the White House’s policy revision.
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