On the way home tonight I was listening to NPR and they were discussing Negroponte's trip to Iraq.
He was in Ramadi and they we teling how attacks a month ago were around 30 a day. Now they are around one attack per day and it is because the local sheiks have decided to actually work WITH US forces and relieve their area of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The region is in a relative calm now.
Now where I can find the news of this? Practically no where. The only place I found it tonight was on the Federal News Service.
http://www.fnsg.com/transcript.htm?id=20070614t6810
I wonder if it had been bad news, would it have been plastered all over?
A senior U.S. diplomat visits Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, once the most dangerous place in Iraq for U.S. troops but now the scene of an alliance with Sunni tribal leaders bent on destroying al-Qaida in Iraq.
Unnamed officials in the Bush administration have made claims to reporters that the move has reduced violence in al-Anbar, but residents in the area think otherwise.
"The American Army failed to control the situation in al-Anbar province through military attacks that killed thousands of civilians, so they decided to set up local militias," former Iraqi Army colonel Jabbar Ahmad from Ramadi told IPS.
"It started with the so-called campaign 'Awakening of al-Anbar', then it developed into forming 'The Revolutionary Force for Anbar Salvation'," Hamid Alwani, a prominent tribal leader in Ramadi told IPS. "This was supposed to be a local fight between al-Qaeda and the local people of al-Anbar, but in fact we all realised the Americans meant us to fight our brothers of the Iraqi resistance."
Alwani said "most tribal sheikhs opposed the idea" and made it clear to U.S. military commanders that they would never be part of the U.S. plan. "It seems that the Americans have started to realise their mistake now."
Few tribal groups are backing U.S. forces any more.
June 12 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1200 GMT on Tuesday:
* MOSUL - Gunmen killed a medical student at a college in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
* HAWIJA - Gunmen killed a policeman in a drive-by shooting on his way home near Hawija, 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.
* NAJAF - Iraqi security forces arrested a Syrian driving a truck which was carrying a car packed with explosives near Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Baghdad, on Monday, a media official from Najaf said.
* SULAIMANIYA - Kurdistan police arrested militants charged with killing a Falluja police commander near the city of Sulaimaniya, 330 km (205 miles) northeast of Baghdad, on Monday, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman.
* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed two civilians and wounded seven others near al-Resafi square in central Baghdad, police said.
* ZAAFARANIYA - A roadside bomb wounded three civilians in Zaafaraniya south district of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - Coalition forces detained 11 suspected militants during operations against al Qaeda in Iraq in Baghdad.
NEAR RAMADI - A suicide car bomber killed three police officers and wounded 15 other people at a checkpoint west of Ramadi, 110 km (70 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
HAWIJA - A roadside bomb wounded five policemen near Hawija, 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded two civilians in the Mansour neighbourhood of western Baghdad, police said.
TIKRIT - Iraqi police found the body of a kidnapped policeman in Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S.-Iraqi Joint Coordination Center said. He had been shot.
In Iraq, insurgents target police
Al Qaeda-linked group claims it kidnapped 14
By Tina Susman
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Published June 13, 2007
BAGHDAD -- Insurgents on Tuesday took aim again at Sunni Arabs who have joined forces with U.S. troops against Al Qaeda, setting off a car bomb in Anbar province that killed at least two policemen, officials said in Ramadi.
Reprisals hit Iraq Sunni mosques
Suspected Shia Muslim militants have destroyed three Sunni mosques near the Iraqi capital, a day after a repeat attack on a major Shia pilgrimage site.
The overnight attacks bring to six the number of Sunni mosques targeted since suspected Sunni militants toppled the two minarets of the Samarra shrine.
Curfews appear to have prevented the same level of violence seen after a similar attack on the mosque last year.
Then militants blew up Samarra's dome, triggering massive reprisals.
The BBC's Andrew North says that attack on 22 February 2006 brought Iraq to the brink of civil war.
AL-ASKARI SHRINE FACTS
One of the four major Shia shrines in Iraq
Contains tombs of two of the 12 revered Shia imams - Ali al-Hadi and al-Hassan al-Askari
First developed during the 10th and 11th Centuries
Two 36m-high golden minarets destroyed in June 2007
68m-high golden dome blown up in February 2006
An official in the prime minister's office said the curfew in Baghdad would be lifted on Saturday.
But the threat of major sectarian bloodshed remains, our correspondent says, with many Sunni communities still fearing retribution from Shia death squads.
hbg, The BBC report you highlighted in blue tells the whole story; sectarian violence is over one thousand years old in Iraq. Bush's war was lost before he even started it. All the other violence being reported just proves that violence in Iraq will not be stopped by 150,000 American soldiers. A "funny" way to fight world terrorism.
cicerone imposter wrote:hbg, The BBC report you highlighted in blue tells the whole story; sectarian violence is over one thousand years old in Iraq. Bush's war was lost before he even started it. All the other violence being reported just proves that violence in Iraq will not be stopped by 150,000 American soldiers. A "funny" way to fight world terrorism.
Stupid malarkey!
Sectarian violence between humans is over five-thousand years old. I guess you also conclude that all human wars (past, present, and future) to reduce sectarian violence were/are/will be lost before they even started.
Iran's Supreme Jurisprudent,Ali Khamenei, managed to blame the Iraqi Baath Party, the Wahhabi sect of Islam, the Salafi Jihadi radicals among Sunnis, and the United States, jointly for the blowing up of the minarets at the al-Askariya Shrine in Samarra. The shrine is among the holiest sites for the Shiite branch of Islam. Iran is the largest Shiite country, with 90% or so of its 70 million people adhering to it. Khamenei is both the head of the Iranian state and the head of Iranian Shiism, and is recognized as authoritative by some Shiites outside Iran, especially the Hizbullah Party of south Lebanon. Most non-Iranian Shiites follow instead Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf, who has called for calm. But Khamenei has a big megaphone among Shiites. His laying of responsibility for the bombing at the feet of the US will increase anti-American hatred in the Shiite world. Khamenei's heated and irrational rhetoric, positing a vast conspiracy among various groups that hate one another, is typical of the hardliners in Iran, but it is my impression that in recent months he has tended to leave the wilder talk to his rival Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi and his protege, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. I don't think Khamenei's remarks on this matter are a good sign.
Zionists, occupiers behind Samarra crime, says Leader Tehran
June 14, IRNA -
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Thursday expressed condolences on the occasion of Wednesday's sacrilege to the holy shrines in Iraq and considered the occupiers and Zionists the main masterminds behind this 'big crime.'
The holy shrines of Shiite Imams, Ali al-Naqi (AS) and Hassan al-Askariya (AS) in the Iraqi city of Samarra were attacked Wednesday morning for the second time by terrorists. The holy shrines were first attacked on February 22, 2006.
"While being vigilant in the face of dangerous divisive policies of enemies, the ulema and dignitaries in the world of Islam and all Muslims, particularly the Iraqi people - Shia and Sunni - should maintain self-restraint and amity with their Muslim brethren more than ever," the Supreme Leader said in a message issued on the tragic event.
The criminal seditionists once against committed another crime, said the Leader adding the explosion at the holy shrines and the sacrilege to the Askari shrines have pit the world of Islam against a horrible conspiracy aimed at fanning the flames of a civil war in Iraq and engaging Muslim states in bloody religious and sectarian events.
The Leader said, "The disgraceful and blind-hearted agents behind this big crime, whether they are remaining stooges of Saddam's Baathist regime or the beguiled Wahhabi and Salafi fanatics, it cannot be doubted that the intelligence services of the occupiers and Zionists are the main masterminds of these heinous schemes.
"The occupiers have left the scene open to terrorists and panic-mongers to weaken the bases of the popular government of Iraq and justify their illegitimate presence in that country and are causing discord among Muslim brethren."
The Leader stressed that the Askari shrines were respected in Samarra by Sunni Muslims for centuries and nobody had in any time insulted them.
"Now, this is the second time that this holy and exalted site has been violated shamelessly and criminally during the domination of the occupiers," said Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Supreme Leader urged the Iraqi Shia and Sunni brethren not to be entrapped by the enemy conspiracies.
"Muslims throughout the world should be vigilant of the discord-sowing and war-mongering policies of enemies of Islam. Today, enemies will fan the flames of discord in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and any corner of the world of Islam that they can and instigate Muslims on various religious, partisan and ethnic pretexts to stand against each other and commit fratricide."
The Leader warned that Muslims should not help the enemies achieve their "dangerous and disgraceful objective".
The Supreme Leader called on the Sunni ulema to condemn the Samarra catastrophe and voice their disdain towards those behind this event.
Ayatollah Khamenei also invited the Shia ulema and followers of the Ahl-al-Beit (the infallible family of the Prophet (PBUH)) to self-restraint.
The Leader advised all ulema and religious dignitaries of the world of Islam to show amity towards their brethren and respect the religious sentiments of any faith.
US cold toward Turkish buffer zone inside Iraq
The United States signaled on Thursday that it did not back Turkish intentions to set up a narrow buffer zone inside Iraq to bolster defenses against infiltration into Turkey by terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), but U.S. remarks fell short of an outright rejection of the idea.Asked to comment on the concept of a Turkish buffer zone on the border's Iraqi side, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "I'm not sure that that is an idea that we would support."But he and other U.S. officials declined to reject the measure categorically.One U.S. official admitted that a buffer zone, as a defensive measure, was different from a cross-border operation with an offensive character, which Washington strongly opposed.The official said Washington's position on the whole issue would likely depend on Iraqi reaction.McCormack said he was not aware of any detailed talks between Turkish and U.S. officials on the idea of a buffer zone.The concept has been floated in Ankara in recent days and was discussed at a Tuesday security summit of top Turkish military and civilian officials.
Easier to defend:
The requirement, according to military officials, stems from the fact that the border on the Turkish side is mountainous and very difficult to control. The border's Iraqi side, however, is flat and suitable for military measures against infiltration by terrorists.The idea is to create an up to 15-kilometer deep buffer zone inside northern Iraq to stop terrorists before they reach the rugged and presently porous border."Temporary use of a narrow strip as a buffer zone should never be considered as invasion of Iraqi territory," said one military official. "This, coupled with other security measures on the border, will give us enhanced capability to prevent terrorists from infiltrating into Turkey."The talk of a buffer zone inside Iraq came in the wake of increased PKK attacks on Turkish security forces and civilians. The PKK conducts such attacks from its bases in Iraqi Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Turkish calls on the United States and Iraq to put an end to the PKK's presence in the war-torn country's north have so far produced no result. In recent months, Turkey has warned that it might send its military into northern Iraq to fight the PKK there.Concerned that such action could further destabilize Iraq; Washington is strongly against Turkish military intervention.McCormack reiterated that an incursion into Iraq by Turkish forces was not a good idea. "Clearly the Iraqis have responsibilities. They have responsibilities to fight terrorism," McCormack said. "And the Turkish government has responsibilities also to be a good neighbor. We understand the losses that the Turkish people have suffered as a result of terrorist acts by the PKK."
The security industry's enormous growth has been facilitated by the U.S. military, which uses the 20,000 to 30,000 contractors to offset chronic troop shortages. Armed contractors protect all convoys transporting reconstruction materiel, including vehicles, weapons and ammunition for the Iraqi army and police. They guard key U.S. military installations and provide personal security for at least three commanding generals, including Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl A. Scott, who oversees U.S. military contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
'Wash Post': U.S. Secretly Funds Private Security 'Army' in Iraq
By E&P Staff
Published: June 16, 2007 8:00 AM ET
NEW YORK In a front-page in today's Washington Post, Steve Fainaru reveals, "Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives."
The report by the veteran Iraq reporter continues, "While the military has built up troops in an ongoing campaign to secure Baghdad, the security companies, out of public view, have been engaged in a parallel surge, boosting manpower, adding expensive armor and stepping up evasive action as attacks increase, the officials and company representatives said. One in seven supply convoys protected by private forces has come under attack this year, according to previously unreleased statistics; one security company reported nearly 300 'hostile actions' in the first four months.
"The majority of the more than 100 security companies operate outside of Iraqi law, in part because of bureaucratic delays and corruption in the Iraqi government licensing process, according to U.S. officials. Blackwater USA, a prominent North Carolina firm that protects U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, and several other companies have not applied, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Blackwater said that it obtained a one-year license in 2005 but that shifting Iraqi government policy has impeded its attempts to renew.
"The security industry's enormous growth has been facilitated by the U.S. military, which uses the 20,000 to 30,000 contractors to offset chronic troop shortages. Armed contractors protect all convoys transporting reconstruction materiel, including vehicles, weapons and ammunition for the Iraqi army and police. They guard key U.S. military installations and provide personal security for at least three commanding generals, including Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl A. Scott, who oversees U.S. military contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The rest of the article can be found at www.washingtonpost.com.
In "Private Warriors," FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith travels throughout Kuwait and Iraq to give viewers an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at companies like Kellogg, Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, and its civilian army. KBR has 50,000 employees in Iraq and Kuwait that run U.S. military supply lines and operate U.S. military bases. KBR is also the largest contractor in Iraq, providing the Army with $11.84 billion dollars in services since 2002.
Historically, there is nothing new about the military's use of private contractors, but the Iraq war has seen outsourcing on an unprecedented scale. The policy change came after the Cold War when the Pentagon was downsizing under then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. Cheney first hired Halliburton as a consultant and later became the company's president. Halliburton subsidiary KBR is now one of the largest recipients of government contracts.
FRONTLINE visits the biggest Halliburton/KBR run base, Camp Anaconda, in the Sunni triangle. Behind concrete walls 28,000 soldiers and 8,000 civilians live in bases that offer Taekwondo and Salsa lessons, movie theatres, fast food courts, and four meals a day. The amenities are impressive, but some argue that there is a price to pay. Says a former base commander Marine Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, "it's misguided luxury somebody's risking their lives to deliver that luxury."
Security Companies Doing Business in Iraq
The U.S. government assumes no responsibility for the professional ability or integrity of the persons or firms whose names appear on the list.
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AD Consultancy
(one of many companies listed by the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE))
Headquarters:
ADC House
P.O. Box 153
Sutton, Surrey SM3 9WF
United Kingdom
Tel: 0870 707 0074
Fax: 0870 707 0075
Website: www .adconsultancy.com
Email: [email protected]
Contact in Iraq:
Ian Grealey
Tel: 0870 707 0074
Email: [email protected]
Description of Services:
Risk and threat assessment, close protection teams/bodyguards, asset protection, secure commodity escort, travel and escort security, residential and premises security, aviation security, maritime security, oil and gas industry security, surveillance and counter surveillance.
