Bombings in Kirkuk kill 29

"BAGHDAD -- A series of bombings killed at least 29 people Thursday in the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk amid a growing debate over security in the oil-rich area ahead of the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces at year's end.

Two coordinated explosions targeted the police headquarters in Kirkuk, 140 miles north of Baghdad, killing 25 people and wounding at least 65, security officials said. A third blast struck the motorcade of the city's chief counterterrorism official, killing four security guards and seriously wounding nine others."


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/19/2224545/deadly-iraq-bombings-add-fuel.html#ixzz1MpWO6hpe

US special forces leaving Iraq

NYT: "MOSUL, Iraq — Several nights a week, Iraqi and U.S. special forces operatives head out in Humvees or Black Hawk helicopters to arrest extremists in the most volatile region of Iraq.

After years of training with their U.S. counterparts, the black-clad Iraqi forces are taking the lead, busting in doors and arresting suspects while their American advisers monitor the mission."

The "precarious peace" in the West Bank

"With all of the unrest sweeping the Middle East, one place long-associated with bullets and bloodshed has so far been remarkably calm: the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

I recently traveled there for the first time in a decade and so much had changed. Cities once racked with violence like Ramallah, Hebron and Jericho are now bustling. Peaceful. Vibrant. Where Israeli bullets and Palestinian rocks used to fly, the biggest danger I felt was getting trampled by herds of shoppers or struck by taxis racing to their next fare.

The purpose of our visit was to look at what is behind this new security and prosperity in the West Bank -- and whether it could hold. One of the cornerstones of the new West Bank -- and the focus of our upcoming report -- is a little-known U.S. program that for about five years has been providing training and equipment to Palestinian national security forces. There are now some 3,500 of these freshly trained, professional and disciplined troops standing watch on West Bank streets.

The very idea that United States is supporting Palestinian troops would have been unthinkable not long ago -- these very troops previously existed to resist occupation of Israel, America's closest ally in the region. But what makes this story even more interesting is that these newly-trained Palestinian forces are now working shoulder to shoulder with Israeli soldiers against a common enemy: the Islamist group Hamas. Hamas is intent on wiping the Jewish state off the map; but it also wants to usurp the Palestinian territories from the Palestinian Authority. And in 2007, it had some success -- violently seizing control of Gaza Strip, which borders Egypt, from the Palestinian Authority and using the territory to launch rockets into Israel." --Dan Rather

Also watch this:

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Iraq's security at risk without more US aid

"Without more help — and quickly — Iraqi security forces may not be able to protect the fragile nation from insurgents and invaders after American troops leave at the end of the year, according to a U.S. report released Sunday.

The semiannual report by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction also cites data by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad showing that the nation's government, economy, legal systems and basic services like electricity and water remain unstable.

The 156-page report forecasts a dim outlook at best for Iraq's near future as the United States steps back after nearly eight years of war and billions of dollars in aid.

It largely blames corruption in Iraq's military and police forces for wasted resources and bad planning in running its bases and maintaining its equipment. Congress is still weighing how much money to give Iraqi forces this year."

Iraqi police officer makes ultimate sacrifice to protect civilians

Thanks Maury for posting the link.

'As the suicide bomber clutched the detonator to his explosive belt, preparing to spray fire and shrapnel into a religious procession here, an Iraqi police officer named Bilal Ali Muhammad faced a choice between his own life and something larger.

If he ran and took cover, Mr. Muhammad, 31, had a chance to save himself, to continue supporting his widowed mother, to help put his younger brother through college and to watch his three young daughters grow up.

Instead, the officer — a Sunni Muslim — threw himself onto the bomber, blunting the explosion’s impact on the Shiite worshipers.

“He gave his soul to the country,” said his mother, Alaahin Hassan, holding two of his daughters in her lap as dozens of black-veiled women filled her living room this week with ritualized wails of grief. “He believed in God. That made him great.”

In a country fractured by sect and ethnicity, from villages like this all the way to the government that is finally forming in Baghdad, Mr. Muhammad’s last act was a burst of heroism and humanity set against the viciousness that still stalks Iraq.

Many Iraqis see the police and the army as corrupt, incompetent and brutal, still unprepared to secure the country as the Americans withdraw over the next year. But Mr. Muhammad’s death, one of thousands among Iraqi security forces, offers a counterpoint to that view.

On Monday afternoon, Mr. Muhammad was guarding the edge of an annual religious celebration of Ashura as Shiites waved green and black banners and beat drums to commemorate the killing of one of their sect’s foundational members in A.D. 680. The ceremonies have been ripe targets for Sunni insurgents, and Iraq’s leaders have deployed swarms of security forces this year to guard against attacks.

At 2:30 p.m., according to witnesses and police officials, Mr. Muhammad spotted a suspicious man approaching the crowd, his hand wedged into his pocket.

Mr. Muhammad, a police officer for five years, stopped the man and asked him, What do you have in your pocket? The man replied, It’s none of your business.

Pulling open the man’s jacket, Mr. Muhammad found an explosive belt strapped to his chest. Whether from instinct or training, or sheer lack of any other options, he acted in that instant.

Shouting warnings to the crowd, he wrapped his arms around the bomber. As both men tumbled to the dirt, the explosion ripped through their bodies and raked the street, scarring the white walls of a schoolyard.

A woman and her granddaughter sitting nearby were killed and a dozen others were wounded. But the police said the death toll would have been drastically higher had Mr. Muhammad not thrown himself onto the bomber.

“He’s a hero,” said Mr. Muhammad’s uncle, Hamza Hassan, who spent the day welcoming well-wishers to a funeral tent outside Mr. Muhammad’s family home here in this farming town near the Iranian border. “The only choice was to become a martyr.”

Since 2004, about 2,200 police officers have been killed here in Diyala, a northeastern province that is a stronghold of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and a crucible of Iraq’s volatile mix of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. They have been killed in broad offensives against police stations, by magnetic bombs under their cars, by pistol shots at checkpoints.

At least three of them, confronting suicide bombers, have made the extraordinary decision to wrap their arms around their killers to absorb the blast.'

Iraqi govt gets serious about security

The Iraqi government is finally getting serious about security. Is it because elections are just 4 weeks away and the government has been exposed as fools for believing in magic wands?

'The American military is rushing delivery of dozens of bomb-detection dogs to Iraq after accusations that widely used mechanical devices are ineffective to pinpoint explosives at checkpoints and other search sites, The New York Times said.

“Army Maj. Sylvester Wegwu said the first 25 of 145 trained bomb-sniffing dogs are due to arrive Friday in Baghdad,” the newspaper said.

“Another 120 bomb-sniffing dogs are scheduled to arrive in Iraq over the next 12 months in Iraq.”

”We have more requests than we have dogs and handlers,” added police Brig. Gen. Mohammad Mesheb Hajea, who is in charge of the training program.'

Thanks Montrose Toast

Bow wow wow yippie yo yippie YAY!

UK company that sold fake bomb detectors busted

By RIYADH MOHAMMED and ROD NORDLAND, NYT

'The owner of a British company that supplies questionable bomb detectors to Iraq has been arrested for fraud, and the export of the devices has been banned, British government officials confirmed Saturday.

Iraqi officials reacted with fury to the news, noting a series of horrific bombings in the past six months despite the widespread use of the bomb detectors at hundreds of checkpoints in the capital.

“This company not only caused grave and massive losses of funds, but it has caused grave and massive losses of the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians, by the hundreds and thousands, from attacks that we thought we were immune to because we have this device,” said Ammar Tuma, a member of the Iraqi Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee.

But the Ministry of the Interior has not withdrawn the device from duty, and police officers continue to use them.'

Thanks David All for posting about this good news.

PS: See this NYT article published in November. Thanks Maury for posting the link.

Iraqi Army targeted in Mosul

"At least 30 people have been injured after a car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi army base in the northern city of Mosul.

Among the wounded at the army compound on Wednesday, were 18 soldiers, five police officers and 10 civilians, police said.

The explosion, which took place at 10am (07:00 GMT), was also close to the city's Al-Zuhoor police station .

Al Jazeera sources said police were alerted of another car bomb, this time in the centre of Mosul city, 350km north of Baghdad, but that device was defused.

While overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply following years of sectarian conflict that killed tens of thousands of people, bombings and assassinations still occur on a daily basis.

US and Iraqi officials have said they expect attacks to rise before parliamentary elections scheduled for March 7."

Have neo-Baathist candidates been complicit in terrorism?

"The security and the welfare of grief-stricken Iraqi people stand above any short-term personal or factional political gains. In the run-up to parliamentary election campaigns the hopefuls should seriously avoid beating the drums of sectarian or ethnic differences.

In a budding democracy like Iraq, where the tolerance level is not that high yet, any miscalculated move or statement by political aspirants may cost the country dearly.

Competition among rival groups is a normal thing and necessary for the promotion of democratic values in any society but the candidates should not turn competition into an open confrontation.

But, unfortunately, according to investigative reports, certain local Iraqi groups and individuals, who are mostly the remnants of the Baathist regime, have been complying with terrorists to wreak havoc in the country in order to prove the current Iraqi government as inefficient.

Likewise, certain Arab countries, who have also been fearful of a rising democracy in the Arab world, have been fanning the sectarian-flame in Iraq since the Saddam regime was thrown into the dustbin of history."

50,000 Sahwa now employed by Iraqi govt

"Nearly 50,000 Sunni fighters who sided with American forces against al-Qaida and other militants in Iraq are now in government jobs, a top official said Tuesday in an attempt to soothe fears they would be neglected by the country's Shiite leaders."

US helps Iraq prevent terrorism

Much to the chagrin of the resistance-minded people of the world, America is helping Iraq to defeat the "resistance" that has murdered mostly Iraqi civilians, including women and children. I cheer the Iraqi Army and the American advisors who helped them. A big CHEERS to Iraq and America for preventing the terrorists, who have long entered Iraq via Syria, from mass murdering Iraqis today.

When Baghdadis awoke Tuesday to find their streets sealed off and the Iraqi capital under virtual lockdown, the rumors began to fly. Army officers had staged a coup in the Green Zone, one version said. No, members of the Baath party loyal to the former regime had taken over, according to another.

At midday, officials appeared on television to try to calm the city. "The security forces can't stage a coup. Our security forces are professional," military spokesman Mohammed Askari told a news conference. "The era of coups is gone."

Rather, he said, the government had ordered the lockdown to foil a major plot involving car bombings and suicide attacks against civilian and government targets.

In a later statement, security forces said they had detained 25 people and confiscated 440 pounds of TNT, 440 pounds of C4 explosives, more than 65 gallons of ammonium nitrate and 60 mortar rounds.

There may well have been such a plot: Parliamentarians were told by the authorities that the Iraqis had received a tipoff from the U.S. military that around six booby-trapped cars had arrived in Baghdad from the Syrian border area, and were to be used to target sites such as government ministries, Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said.

ISF prevent mayhem

"A wide-ranging plot to bomb government ministries and other public places, to be followed by a wave of political assassinations, was uncovered by Iraqi officials, who responded Tuesday by bringing much of the capital to a virtual standstill while security forces conducted raids that netted large quantities of explosives, officials said.

At least 4 suicide car bombers — and as many as 10 — were apparently on their way to government buildings Tuesday morning when they were stopped by the police and arrested, the authorities said.

During raids on homes and warehouses in Baghdad that began in the early morning and lasted throughout the day, the authorities arrested 25 people and recovered more than 440 pounds each of TNT and C4, about 66 gallons of ammonium nitrate solution and 60 mortar shells, according to a statement from Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, which is responsible for security in the capital.

Even by Iraq’s violent standards in recent years — in which mammoth explosions have become a possibility of everyday life in the capital — the plot unveiled by the Iraqi government Tuesday would have been devastating if carried out."

ISF arrest recruiter of female suicide bombers

"Iraqi Security Forces arrested two wanted al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) terrorist-group members today during two joint security operations conducted in Baghdad and northern Iraq.

Both security operations were conducted based on warrants issued by Iraqi courts.

In northwest Baghdad, ISF and U.S. advisors searched a residential building for a suspected female terrorist who is believed to be actively recruiting female suicide bombers for use in high profile, AQI-sponsored attacks against government officials and innocent civilians.

Based on preliminary questioning and evidence found on the premises, ISF identified and arrested the wanted female terrorist and a suspected AQI associate without incident.

During a second security operation conducted in Esaiwid, located northeast of Baghdad, the 3rd Emergency Response Unit and U.S. advisors searched two buildings for a member of a Kirkuk-based improvised explosive device cell, who provides safe haven to cell leaders who are running from ISF.

Information and evidence collected at the scene led the 3rd ERU to identify and arrest the warranted AQI member without incident."

Thanks Anand for sending.

Baghdad security chief fired

'Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has sacked Baghdad's security chief after attacks that killed 127 people, with police claiming the bombers were backed by groups in Syria or Saudi Arabia.'

Politics a threat to security

' “We are witnessing now a new trend of conflict based on political disagreement,” said Dr. Hazim al-Nuaimi, a political analyst in Baghdad. “The election is approaching and the people in charge of security are politicians competing on different lists. That is destroying any cooperation and coordination between them. The result is a security gap and the blood of more innocent Iraqi civilians.”

Vast swaths of the security forces are more loyal to political parties than to the state, according to security officials.

...The government’s public response followed a predictable routine. Dozens of arrests were announced, including members of the security forces, but many were quietly released, according to government officials. Snippets of televised confessions were trumpeted, even as politicians from different ethnic groups outlined contradictory accounts of who was behind the attacks. Syria was blamed by some, mainly Shiites, and Iran blamed by others, mainly Sunnis.'

Iraq needs a real government

It's good to see Al Jazeera, the station that once praised the "legitimate" resistance in Iraq, being genuinely concerned about the terrorist attacks in Iraq. However, this AJ article states the bombings struck "key government sites" without mentioning that Al Shorja (one of Baghdad's biggest markets) and a university were also attacked.

Iraqis are still awaiting strong condemnation from our Arab brothers.

From Irish Times: 'The first explosion, detonated by a suicide bomber in the southern district of Dora, killed three policemen on patrol and 12 students from a technical college. The other targets were the busy Shorja market near the health ministry, the heavily guarded labour and interior ministries, a civil court in the diplomatic district of Mansour, a training institute for judges, the fine arts institute, where 27 musicians were injured, and the Mustansariya University, founded in 1234.'


The Al Jazeera article: 'A string of bombings which struck key government sites in the capital, Baghdad, killed and injured hundreds of people.

The death toll of at least 127 accounted for more dead in a single day than the number or those killed throughout the month of November.

But the co-ordinated attacks also cast doubts on the government's ability to maintain security using the country's national forces ahead of pivotal elections scheduled for March 7, 2010.

Al Jazeera's Ahmed Janabi interviewed Wafiq al-Samaraei, a former intelligence chief under the Saddam Hussein government, and more recently the former security advisor to Jalal al-Talabani, the current Iraqi president.

Al-Samaraei currently resides in London where he is an intelligence and security analyst.

Al Jazeera: The bombings on December 8 mark the third major set of attacks to hit the capital, Baghdad, since August. Why have the attack tactics changed to become fewer in number but greater in terms of the level of death and destruction?

Wafiq al-Samaraei: After the US implemented their security plan which involved setting up and supporting the emergence of the Awakening Councils (Sunni tribal militias) in 2006, many anti-government and anti-US armed groups found that they had lost the friendly environment that allowed them to freely operate after the US-led invasion in 2003.

Iraqi security forces increased in number and deployed to almost every part of Iraq.

Obviously, these armed groups can no longer stage face-to-face battles with heavily-equipped government forces. As a result, they began to modify their tactics to rely on intelligence-gathering operations.

Before 2006, the average number of attacks was 200 daily, only 10 of which were successful. Now, the average has dropped to 20 attacks a day but some 50 per cent are successful.

What can the Iraqi government do to avoid such a large number of casualties?

Iraq now is full of security forces, but lacks a sophisticated and effective intelligence department and the attackers know that very well. That is why they started to carry out attacks that cannot be foiled by police and security forces.

The government committed several fatal mistakes, the first being that it dismissed experienced intelligence officers because they worked under Saddam.

This has ultimately weakened the country's security situation because incompetent and inexperienced people now run the intelligence department in the defence ministry.

The second mistake was that in a bid to force his party's command of security forces, Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, (who lacks military experience), has been intervening in how security forces conduct their operations. This complicates their tasks and makes them lose their focus.

The third mistake is that there are nine security departments and each is controlled by different political blocs and work for different agendas.

How are the attackers able to bypass the huge number of checkpoints in Baghdad and carry out such devastating attacks?

Al-Maliki leads a small faction inside the Daawa Party, while the security forces are loyal to many other factions. This effectively means that al-Maliki does not have loyal security forces.

When security forces do not believe in the political agenda of their government, you end up with disloyal forces that perform sloppy security work, which could include accepting bribes to look the other way.

On the other hand, the attackers seem to have good intelligence. I am saying that because they managed to carry out simultaneous attacks in different areas in Baghdad. They were able to locate the secret headquarters of the ministry of finance. It also means they have good planning and manpower.

Again, I would urge Iraqis to work together to establish an efficient intelligence force; it is the only solution to prevent such tragic attacks on innocent people.

The government has accused the deposed Baath party and al-Qaeda of being behind the recent string of attacks. Other quarters point at US military involvement and Iranian operatives. Some have even gone so far as to say the government itself has been orchestrating the attacks. What are we to believe?

Whenever there is an attack, the al-Maliki government tends to use already prepared accusations to point the finger of blame at the Baath Party or neighbouring countries.

Such quick accusations that are not based on evidence and proper intelligence work would confuse everyone, and give anti-government forces an opportunity to suspect that the security forces themselves are involved.

Ultimately, accusations that are not based on forensic hard evidence end up harming security forces and eating away at their credibility.'

The Surge

An interesting documentary about the surge of US troops that helped reduce the violence in Iraq. Thanks to Abu Muqawama for posting it.

Abu Muqawama writes: "Now we just need a documentary/book about the Surge told from the perspective of the ordinary Iraqis who lived it."

A comment about the book by Kim Kagan: 'Readers should be aware that The Surge is a military history, and as such is told from the perspective of the military.'

Understanding the Surge from ISW on Vimeo.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

"The double suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday was the deadliest attack in Iraq for over two years. It claimed more than 130 lives, and wounded hundreds more."

The resistance strikes again, at Iraqis of course, and our Arab brothers do not seem to be very concerned about it.

As Mish3an Jabouri dreams of unity between Iraq and Syria (but not unity with the Iraqi government), and as 3arab jarab praise Saddam and preach "resistance" from their homes in California, the "resistance" continues to mass murder Iraqis, targeting Iraqi security forces and government employees.

Well at least the "resistance" is no longer targeting markets and cafes. That is considered progress in the Arab world. Anthony Shadid (Arab American journalist) wrote: "Unlike the carnage unleashed by attacks in crowded mosques, restaurants and markets, aimed at igniting sectarian strife, these blasts appeared to rely on a distinctly political logic." I do not understand how "distinctly political logic" can result in the murder of 137 people, but I betchya the Arabs do.

From David Ignatius of the Washington Post: 'But my Iraqi friends were surprisingly upbeat about the future, even after Sunday's terrible bombings. "In every sector, Iraq is coming back to its normal mode," said one. "There is no way it will slip back," insisted the other. I wondered at their confidence on such a day, but that is part of the Iraqi toughness.

Rather than talking about the bombings, we talked politics. My friends sharply criticized the incumbent prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. But as we were debating, one turned to me with a smile: "Here we are talking about who will run the government after the elections. Could you do that in any other country in the Arab world?"

Barack Obama on the bombings: "The United States will stand with Iraq's people and government as a close friend and partner as Iraqis prepare for elections early next year, continue to take responsibility for their future, and build greater peace and opportunity," President Barack Obama said in a statement that condemned the bombings."

From our friends in Europe: "Sweden, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said in a statement: "The presidency of the European Union condemns today's car bombs in Baghdad."

It seems that only our Arab "brothers" cannot bring themselves to condemn these bombings that target Iraqi government employees, who are after all ordinary IRAQIS.

The Arabs never ask "why does the Arab resistance attack the Iraqi government by murdering innocent Iraqis?" They do not consider what was happening in Iraq before 2003 and wonder if Baathist extremists would mass murder Iraqis in order to gain power, like they did before 2003.

The bombings apparently do not make the "Angry Arab" angry enough to condemn the Arabs who continue to mass murder Iraqis in the most horrific ways. Instead, California Professor As'ad Abu Khalil wrote recently: "So the US comes to Iraq, sets up a puppet government and tells the puppets that they now have a democracy. So the puppets believe it. I find that quite amusing."

On the same day the Angry Arab wrote about Sistani, who has repeatedly called for peace and unity between all Iraqis. The professor wrote on Friday: "He [Sistani] is one of the worst puppets in the Middle East, and will go down in history as the Cleric of Foreign Occupation. So this man says that he does not interfere in politics but recently has been making noises insisting on open electoral lists."

Incredibly the professor wrote on the same day a post about the Saudis promoting a "Saddam TV satellite channel that will air Saddam speeches and songs non-stop". So Iraqis cannot count on even an educated, respected, liberal Arab American professor who has acknowledged the sadism and criminality of Saddam, to condemn the Arab extremists who continue to mass murder Iraqis.

I suppose I should not expect ordinary Arabs and Arab Americans to condemn the mass murderers of Iraqis, after Arab nationalist poets lauded Saddam, and after Arab American academics still call it a puppet government in Baghdad while ignoring the Arab insurgency that continues to kill Iraqis 6 years after the toppling of the former dictator. I have never seen an Arab or Arab American condemn the bombers, who are obviously Arab and who have killed thousands of innocent Iraqis this year, and this has been a relatively peaceful year in Iraq compared to the sectarian violence of 2006 and 2007.

So these are our Arab "brothers". They seem to have no problem fighting "imperialism" by mass murdering Iraqis. It makes me very sad.

Update (Oct 26): On the Palestinian Pundit, where blaming America for all of Iraq's problems is quite normal, the Arab American blogger Tony posted an article by an Iraqi British "senior lecturer" at London Metropolitan University: 'the Iraqi people are still paying with their blood for the US-led invasion and occupation of their country......the Iraqi people will not freely accept a pro-US regime in Baghdad and that the "exit strategy" will inevitably result in long-term occupation, and bring only more bloodshed and destruction. Why are the Iraqi people expected to elect a disparate collection of corrupt and sectarian pro-US politicians?'

Our Lebanese Australian friend who contributes to the Palestinian Pundit and to the Angry Arabs Comments Section, quoted Juan Cole, who pointed out that "The Minister of Public Works is Riyadh Gharib, a prominent member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which is close to the clerics in Tehran. Public Works as a ministry would thus have a lot of ISCI party members as employees and it is also a huge source of political patronage. Baathists or Sunni extremists would have every reason to hit it."

But this is the part of Cole's article that interested our respected Lebanese Australian friend: "The Republican's avaricious and illegal war on Iraq destabilized the eastern Mediterranean, perhaps for decades, creating long-term challenges to US and global security of which the Baghdad blasts are very possibly only minor omens."

I guess Iraqis should have stuck it out with Saddam so that the eastern Mediterranean would remain "stable" in the eyes of Juan Cole and non-Iraqi Arabs.

Also today the Angry Arab wrote about the bombings: 'Look at this language about the bombings yesterday: "leaving a scene of carnage that raised new questions about the government’s ability to secure its most vital operations." You would not know from this sentence that the US has some 130,000 troops.'

And you would not know from any Arab "intellectual" that Arabs murdered around 150 Iraqis yesterday, including 30 Iraqi children.

Update (Oct 27): "Iraq's government pledged tighter security the day after two suicide bombings claimed at least 155 lives, including two dozen children trapped in a bus leaving a day-care center."

Are Iraqi Security Forces Ready?

Recently I've read a few articles whose authors wonder if Iraq's security forces are ready to take over after the US military withdraws from Iraqi cities at the end of this month, but I wonder if the US military really has been able to prevent overall violence in the country, even with brave men who defuse bombs. Americans cannot prevent suicide bombings - I believe that only Arab Muslims can infiltrate the groups responsible for recruiting suicide bombers and end their existence.

Iraq: forgotten and in trouble?

Saturday's massive bomb in Kirkuk, combined with political gridlock, raises questions about how ready Iraq is for the withdrawal of US troops from cities by June 30.

By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the June 23, 2009 edition

WASHINGTON - Fresh concerns about the US-Iraq relationship are rising as the draw-down of US forces approaches. A suicide bombing in Kirkuk Saturday was the deadliest in Iraq in more than a year. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government continues to fail to approve crucial laws for administering the country.

With the 133,000 US troops in the country set to be withdrawn from Iraqi cities by June 30, demands on the diplomatic relationship between the two countries will only grow, some Iraq specialists warn.

Going further still, some of them worry that Iraq will be neglected as the US turns its focus to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. If that happens, Iraq could slip back into instability and violence, reemerging as a top American security issue.

"President Obama cannot afford to lose Iraq," says Kenneth Pollack, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "If nothing else, there's so much potential for spillover into Saudi Arabia, Syria, and elsewhere in the region."

continued

Why would Americans be worried about violence spilling into Saudi Arabia and Syria, considering that many suicide bombers have come from Saudi Arabia and Syria?

Iraq has come a long way, has a long way to go

A February poll suggests Iraqis are 'more upbeat about future' even though Iraq is 'traumatised and divided six years on'.

From the poll:

"While deep difficulties remain, the advances are remarkable. Eighty-four percent of Iraqis now rate security in their own area positively, nearly double its August 2007 level. Seventy-eight percent say their protection from crime is good, more than double its low. Three-quarters say they can go where they want safely – triple what it’s been.

Few credit the United States, still widely unpopular given the post-invasion violence, and eight in 10 favor its withdrawal on schedule by 2011 – or sooner. But at the same time a new high, 64 percent of Iraqis, now call democracy their preferred form of government.

Remaining challenges are serious. Many views have not recovered to their pre-2006 levels. Violence continues, even if much abated. Basic services such as medical care and clean water, though better, are still in short supply. Even with their confidence vastly improved, Sunni Arabs remain far more vulnerable personally and skeptical politically. Sunni/Shiite segregation has increased sharply. Kurdish-Arab relations are tense. And issues from corruption to suspected vote fraud and political gridlock cloud the horizon."