Roads to Iraq

Security developments in Iraq, Aug 22
Following are security and other developments in Iraq reported on Tuesday, as of 1630 GMT.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed a family of five, including two children, after entering their home in the al-Zanjeeli district of Mosul 390 km north of Baghdad, a hospital source said.

MADAEN - The bodies of eight fruit traders were found with their throats slit by a road in Madaen, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, said Ahmed Diabil, a spokesman for Najaf province. The men, who were from Najaf, died on Monday.

RAMADI - Gunmen killed one of the bodyguards of the governor of Anbar in a drive-by shooting in the restive Sunni stronghold, west of Baghdad, police said. The governor was not present during the attack.

MUQDADIYA - Fifteen people were wounded in a mortar attack on a market in Muqdadiya, 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

NEAR KIRKUK - Gunmen killed two people on the main road near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - The body of Dawoud Salman, an employee in the Shi’ite Endowment, a religious foundation that cares for mosques, was found in the southern Saidiya district of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR HILLA - The body of a man with gunshot wounds to the head was found near Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

BAQUBA - Gunmen killed a police major and seriously wounded his driver as he was heading home in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of the capital, police said.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed a man in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

YUSUFIYA - A civilian was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a police patrol near Yusufiya, 15 km (9 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

BAGHDAD - A former Iraqi electricity minister was detained on corruption charges on Tuesday and an arrest warrant issued for his successor, a spokesman for Iraq’s Commission for Public Integrity said.

Security developments in Iraq, Aug 21
Following are security and other developments in Iraq reported on Monday, as of 1000 GMT.

COUNTRYWIDE - Iraqi army arrested 103 suspected insurgents during the past 48 hours in different cities of Iraq, the army said on Monday.

ISKANDARIYA - Two policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb went off beside their patrol in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

BASRA - Gunmen killed Fadhil al-Magsusi, a colonel in the Facility Protection Services (FPS), on Sunday in the southern city of Basra, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

BASRA - Gunmen killed two off-duty members of the Interior Ministry Intelligence Service on Sunday in Basra, police said.

Security developments in Iraq, Aug 20
Following are security and other developments in Iraq reported on Sunday, as of 1300 GMT.

BAGHDAD - At least 20 people died and more than 300 were hurt in Baghdad in attacks on Shi’ite pilgrims who gathered in their hundreds of thousands for a religious festival in the capital, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

KERBALA - A policeman and a gunman were killed in clashes in the holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. A further two policemen were wounded and four gunmen arrested. It was not clear what sparked the fighting or whether the gunmen were linked to armed militia in the city.

JURF AL-SAKHAR - Police said they found the bodies of two unidentified men in fields in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad. They had been shot in the chest and head.

BAGHDAD - Defence minister says 14 soldiers were wounded and 30 suspected insurgents and militants arrested in violence against pilgrims in Baghdad on Sunday.

BAQUBA - Gunmen killed seven people, including two brothers in the local police force, police said.

DIWANIYA - Two people were killed and two wounded by a mortar attack on a car park in the town of Diwaniya, 180 km (110 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Security incidents in Iraq, Aug 19
Following are security incidents in Iraq reported on Saturday as of 1830 GMT.

ANBAR PROVINCE - A U.S. soldier died on Saturday from wounds sustained from enemy action in Iraq’s Anbar province, U.S. military said.

HAWIJA - A roadside bomb killed a civilian and wounded five others, including two children, in the town of Hawija, 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, Iraqi police said.

BAQUBA - Gunmen killed at least 12 civilians in Baquba and nearby towns including two university professors, students and farmers, a security source in the town said. It was not clear whether the attacks were co-ordinated.

DIWANIYA - A roadside bomb targeting the Iraqi army convoy of Brigadier-General Jamil al-Haji, killed two of his bodyguards and wounded three others in Diwaniya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police in the town said. Haji escaped unhurt.

MOSUL - A policeman was killed and another wounded when they were shot by a sniper whilst on patrol in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police Brigadier Saeed al-Jubouri said.

ISHAQI - Iraqi police said they found the body of a civilian in the town of Ishaqi, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, with gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

MAHMUDIYA - Several mortar rounds targeted a market in the town of Mahmudiya, just south of Baghdad, wounding 10 people, police said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict appealed for the release of an Iraqi Catholic priest kidnapped in Baghdad. Father Saad Syrop Hanna, of the Chaldean Catholic Church, was abducted on Aug. 15.

“I still remember the hunger clawing at me with constant pain.”

Go here.
link is here

“did you offer that link as an opportunity to volunteer, or healing?”

I offered it because that’s where I eat when I don’t have dough for food.

“By American standards, what I went through is considered traumatic or even tragic”

Americans are considered living in poverty on an income that probably seems like a fortune to people living in poverty in some countries.

“although I have no illusions or sense of victimhood about it.”

Yeah, well, you know, it happens. You just have to get up and dust yourself off and keep plugging away.

“Something like 30,000 kids die every day on this planet of starvation and disease.”

Yeah, it’s a rock and a hard place problem. I think it would be better if countries would, instead of giving people fish, help people learn how to fish.

“On the world stage, I was one of the lucky ones.”

Lucky that you’re an American.

“Humans have a staggering insensitivity to the suffering of others.”

I don’t believe that. Life is a struggle. People are worried about keeping up with their own lives. However, when people are faced with a humanitarian crisis, they tend to rise to the occasion. Even Hezbollah has a humanitarian side to it (you know, for propaganda purposes, but whatever).

“War and famine could not exist without it.”

Bah… greed, ignorance, lethargy, hatered and every other sort of malevolence and barbarism all combine to turn this world to shit…

Another case of the all the world being wrong and America right.

Just like they are usually the only nation to veto UN resolutions aimed at bringing peace to the Middle East.

If the USA was “wiped off the face of the map” tomorrow the world would be all the better for it.

No matter what the topic of the post, it always gets around to america=bad. Kind of hard having a real conversation with a broken record.

How do you expect me to take you seriously Michael when you call for the destruction of my family and everyone I care about? Insert your country into that statement and tell me how it feels. Surely we can dig up some dirt on your birthplace and justify it’s annihilation?

We’ve got some serious shit to clean up on this planet, so can we talk about where to go from here?

Sorry, Stef, I meant to post this link:

link is here

“It was a statement of fact Jarn, if the USA didn’t exist the world would be a much safer and better place”

It is a statement of emotion. You are much more emotional than most men I have met. You must be very in touch with your feminine side.

the only things we would have to learn to do without is coca cola and McDonalds

Yeah, right. That’s our only contribution to the world. I wonder why so many people risk death to come here?

We can U.S.-bash indefinately, but I’ll ask you again - where do we go from here? My thoughts:

1. Elect Democrats to congress. They may be the lesser of two evils, but there is no chance of impeachment with Republicans in power, and there is no chance of ending the Iraqi war without removing BushCo.

2. Empower the U.N. to protect human rights. I don’t care if it sounds ridiculus - if they had any cajones they would have stopped BushCo from invading.

3. Improve communications with the ME. Blogs like this help. We need to see each other as human - makes it harder to change the channel.

Your turn, Michael.

I do apologise Jarn, I forgot chewing gum.

You know, although this won’t be any of Jon’s history books, Nazi Germany had the decency to resign from the League of Nations. The NewWorldNazis seem content to hang around and sabotage the UN.

How many Americans would continue to stand by if they really understood the depth of suffering in the ME? Communication can bring that home.

To be honest , well over 90%. Americans just care about themselves, they are not interested in hearing about the death and destruction they bring to the world as long as the price of gas doesn’t get too high.
This is why I intend to enjoy every moment of the pending economic demise of the Yanquis.

To be honest Jarn, for an American, you seem reasonably well balanced, so much so I would consider allowing you to become a member of my own discussion forum if there was a way of letting you know its location without the undesirables also getting to see it. But to be honest, my best advice to you is to emigrate somewhere.

Now America goes cap in hand, as Britain once did
link is here
By Michael Meacher
(Filed: 18/08/2006)

The financial and trade imbalances that are now severely stretching the US are changing the balance of power in China’s favour.

Indeed, what prompted George Bush’s recent Asian trip was no new political initiative but, crudely, a search for money. With US net foreign debt of over $4,000bn (£2,110bn) now approaching 40pc of GDP, and a current account deficit of more than 6pc, the US is reduced to seeking financial support from China, just as Britain was obliged to go cap in hand to the US after the Second World War.And, as was the case with Britain 60 years ago, help will be forthcoming but at a price. The Chinese politely listened, and waved Bush off as he flew on to thank the Mongols personally for sending 160 troops to Iraq. The symbolism could hardly be lost on anybody.

China’s investment rate has accelerated to the point where it now exceeds 40pc of GDP, leading to a huge growth in exports capable of financing an equally dramatic growth in imports and still yielding a current account surplus of over $70bn. With Japanese exports to China now totalling nearly £10bn a year, Asia is increasingly forming into an economic bloc focused on China.

The American response to its parlous financial state is eerily reminiscent of the strategy adopted by Britain when its empire faced a similar financial and security challenge a century ago. In the inter-war years Britain still maintained a global military stance dependent on Middle Eastern oil to fuel it but gradually undermined by a weakening home industrial base and rigid domestic wage structure.

World-wide investments built up over the previous century were no longer sufficient to cover the British deficit. With sterling still the reserve currency, the solution sought was a mix of capital controls and imperial trade preference. The British Empire was transformed into an international trading and monetary bloc, with the main net savings surplus countries forced to keep those assets in sterling to finance Britain’s deficit.

Today the US appears to be trying to achieve a similar device. The trading range for the dollar, euro and yen has stabilised over recent years, and this has been matched by the stability of longer term bond yields, not least in Japan.

The Clinton administration’s strong dollar policy was a move in the same direction. Efforts to lock in Japanese credit flows were explained by the need for Japan to invest its savings overseas to finance an ageing population and, indeed, if Japan’s net foreign assets of over $2,000bn were brought within the dollar area, they would cover half the US deficit.

On the security side the US has increased its military presence in north-east Asia, including a new base in the Japanese islands, and Japan has contributed forces to the coalition in Iraq. Above all Japan needs oil and American support is needed to ensure its continued availability.

There are, however, significant obstacles to this US strategy. Hitherto the US has used access to its enormous internal market to finance its growing worldwide military presence and particularly to ensure the continued flow of strategic commodities on to international markets, above all oil. America now has troops in 135 countries across the globe. But there are clear signs that this cannot be sustained indefinitely as US trade and finance deficits continue to grow remorselessly.
First, whilst the US is important to Japan, it is not obvious that Japan would accept being constrained within a dollar bloc. Rather its trading future lies increasingly with China.

Secondly, whilst European independence remains hostage on its energy flank and was prevented by two world wars from gaining dominance over Middle Eastern and Caspian oil, the expanded EU is now increasingly the subject of contest between the US and Russia for influence over this important geopolitical space. Moreover Franco-German opposition to the Iraq War, the deadlock over the French-Dutch referenda and the instability over the recent German elections suggest it is unlikely that Europe will offer a strong partnership.
Third, the US has even less leverage over China. Chinese imports from the US amount to only $4bn a year while Chinese exports to the US account for only 15pc of its total trading. American difficulties are now magnified by the rapid approach of peak oil, the expensive elongation of the Iraq conflict, and the unleashing of increasing opposition to the so-called War on Terror doctrine.
The latter was never anything more than a cover for gaining US control over the lion’s share of the world’s oil supplies plus a justification for expanding the US military hegemony. However, the strategy depended on integrating Iraq as swing producer into a US-UK-Israeli oil cartel, together with the privatisation under Western influence of the former Soviet oil industry. If this had succeeded, wider gains might have included containment of Chinese expansion and significant limitation of Japanese room for manoeuvre.
This strategy has become badly unstuck. The war in Iraq is as unwinnable as ever, the cost is becoming prohibitive, and the safeguarding of the pipeline transit routes through Iraq and Syria is probably unachievable. The prospect of the oil sector dominating the Russian national interest has been upstaged by Putin’s takeover of Yukos.
The US exit from Iraq, which will be enforced under unfavourable conditions, will certainly not be the final day of reckoning. That will come when the US is compelled to make fundamental changes to its current financial-trade-political stance as being insupportable, as happened half a century earlier to Britain at Bretton Woods.
Michael Meacher, Labour MP for Oldham West and Royton, was Environment Minister from 1997 to 2003

Jarn,

Stef, it is sad that the US has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On the other hand, children are treated far better here than they are in many of countries that have signed.

You are absolutly right, and those countries would not have any credibilities, if they have the pretention to say to others countrie how to respect human rights and how to treat children, having the rules of laws…
Finally It is like that some countries had ratified the Geneva Convention and finaly do not applied. Those can not have any credibilities.

Maybe your should direct your criticism at countries where children suffer the most.

Oh it was just an cut and past from wikipedia, , call it a criticism if you want but you can also correct it if this is not the truth.

I say we wash our hands of the whole affair and let them fall of their own accord.

Does that mean you are leaving us then?

You will get nowhere talking to this guy because he doesn’t know how to be honest.

That’s coming from a person who in a rare moment of lucidity this morning admitted that there’s no difference between the truth and falsehoods in his own mind.

Exactly. However, he continues to harass and the eventual result of his harassments will be to turn the tide back against him. Even I, a die-hard libertarian, am considering voting Republican just to spite him.

Not my problem Jon. I must say I think Libertarians are a bunch of loony tunes in any case

That’s because you are a communist.

Hardly Jon, Bolshevism/Communism is a Jewish idea. When it failed in the Soviet Union they all moved to the USA or Israel.

I believe most EU countries have socialist policies in regards to health, schools and also to a certain extent, housing. But not in regards to land ownership or the control of production, capital and distribution. Which is why it’s a better place to live in than the states.

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -5.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.72

Michael… have you read this?

link is here

Anyway must go now, looks like Jarn isn’t coming back so there’s no chance of an adult exchange.

Toodle pips.

Economic Left/Right: 1.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.64

~~

since right after slaughtering a few million Vietnamese, I’ve run my own co. since 1975…

Damn but I do love the smell of CASH!

I was a Libertarian when you were in knickers Skippy!

..but left on account of it’s more un-realistic/un-pragmatic notions…like open borders for instance.

But if you run across any time machines Jon (reasonably priced of course) plz fire me a message, as I’d love to meet Jefferson and the whole crew.

de duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum