TEHRAN, July 25 –President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran’s firm policy regarding Iraq is to support the country’s security, solidarity and its government.Ahmadinejad made the remark while speaking to reporters at the end of the Cabinet session on Wednesday, ISNA reported.Commenting on the second round of Iran-US talks on Iraq held in Al-Khadra district west of Baghdad on Tuesday, the president said, “Assisting the people and government of Iraq was the
by Matt Duss for Foreign Policy in Focus In a July 11 Wall Street Journal op-ed, writer Kimberly Kagan touted the success of the Iraq surge strategy. Kagan noted, among other supposed triumphs, that the Maliki government had “confronted Muqtada al-Sadr for promoting illegal militia activity, and has apparently prompted this so-called Iraqi nationalist to leave for Iran for the second time since January.” While one can perhaps excuse Kagan’s
Today I am publishing an interview which truly gives me great pleasure: my Q&A email exchange with Mizgîn, a Kurd who has studied in the West and who generally supports the PKK. That is all I can say about her as in fact that is all I know about her. And that is how it should be. On my blog, names do not matter, not even self-evidently nonsensical ones (like,
by Mehrnaz Shahabi, Wednesday, July 18, 2007 (CASMII Columns) David Milliband, British foreign secretary, confirmed in an interview (1) with the Financial times, 8th July, that there is no evidence of Iranian complicity in instability in Iraq or attacks on British troops: Asked by the FT, “What do you think of Iran’s complicity in attacks on British soldiers in Basra”?, Miliband’s first response was, “Well, I think that any evidence
One of the most absurd accusations against Iran has been that Tehran is secretly arming (and even possibly training) the anti-Imperial resistance forces in Iraq. Why is this an utterly absurd accusation? Because as Robert Dreyfuss explains it in his many excellent articles (see here, here and here) the USA and Iran are supporting the same side in this war: the Maliki government. They are also the only ones to
Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan supports the terrorist group Mujahedin Khalq Organization after he backs al-Qaeda and Fath al-Islam. In an MKO congress held recently in MKO’s Ashraf military camp in Iraq, Prince Bandar donated $750,000 to the exiled terrorist group in the presence of the former Iraqi Baath leaders, intelligence officers, several members of al-Qaeda and armed group Ansar al-Sunna, Baztab Internet site reported. The Iraqi daily ‘Al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah’
by Jacques N. Couvas ANKARA – The button of the stopwatch counting down the invasion of northern Iraq by the Turkish army was probably pressed on Tuesday, at an impromptu meeting between Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two men have, in theory, scheduled meetings on Thursdays, which are often not maintained, as they do not see politically eye-to-eye. The surprise meeting on Tuesday
Bush Turns Iraq into Israel/Palestine; Gaffe endangers US Troops Bush said in a speech on Thursday that he hopes Iraq will be like Israel, a democracy that faces terrorist violence but manages to retain its democratic character: ‘ In Israel, Bush said, “terrorists have taken innocent human life for years in suicide attacks. The difference is that Israel is a functioning democracy and it’s not prevented from carrying out its
Surging Past the Gates of Hell By Tom Engelhardt Sometimes, numbers can strip human beings of just about everything that makes us what we are. Numbers can silence pain, erase love, obliterate emotion, and blur individuality. But sometimes numbers can also tell a necessary story in ways nothing else can. This January, President Bush announced his “surge” plan for Iraq, which he called his “new way forward.” It was, when
Presence of occupiers, the main problem facing Iraq Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei told the visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and his accompanying delegation Tuesday evening that the paramount issue facing Iraq at the moment is the presence of the occupiers and lack of security. “The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to give unstinting support to the serving Iraqi government, its president, its premier, its administration and its
ANKARA, June 27–The head of Turkey’s powerful armed forces reaffirmed on Wednesday his view that a cross-border operation into northern Iraq was needed to crush Kurdish rebels based there. His comments pile more pressure on Turkey’s government to allow a military operation, just weeks before parliamentary polls. The staunchly secular military dislikes the Islamic-rooted ruling AK Party and political analysts say the generals are trying to portray it as weak
Iran Daily reports that a suicide bomber apparently targeting a meeting of US-allied Sunni sheikhs penetrated layers of security and blew himself up in a hotel lobby on Monday, killing four tribal leaders and at least eight others, police reported. The sheikhs were associated with the Anbar Salvation Council, which had taken up arms to help drive extremists of Al-Qaeda in Iraq from the western province of Anbar, AP reported.
US Military Riding the Perfect (Sine) Waveby William S. Lind Looking idly at the front page of last Wednesday’s Washington Post Express as I rode the Metro to work, I received a shock. It showed a railroad station in Iraq, recently destroyed by an American air strike. So now we are bombing the railroad stations in a country we occupy? What comes next, bombing Iraq’s power plants and oil refineries?
Moqtada al-Sadr visits with Ali al-Sistani (Voices of Iraq) – Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr visited, on Sunday night, top Shiite cleric ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in his office in Najaf and both discussed the latest security and political developments in Iraq, a source from Sistani’s office said. “Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr visited, today at 9:30 pm, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and both leaders discussed the political and security situation in the country,”
By David Phinney*WASHINGTON, Jun 8 (IPS) – The U.S. Justice Department is actively investigating allegations of forced labour and other abuses by the Kuwaiti contractor now rushing to complete the sprawling 592-million-dollar U.S. embassy project in Baghdad, numerous sources have revealed. Justice Department trial attorneys Andrew Kline and Michael J. Frank with the civil rights division have been contacting former employees of First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting and other
The Turkish Incursion By PATRICK COCKBURN Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas early Wednesday. The incursion, though limited in scope, gives the crisis in Iraq a new twist. “It is not a major offensive and the number of troops is not in the tens of thousands,” said an official in south-east Turkey where there has recently been an upsurge in activity by the
Al-Manar TV reports that the head of Iraq’s Sadr bloc, Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr, has said the US is responsible for all of Iraq’s woes, calling on Arab nations to help end Iraq’s suffering. In comments during an interview on Iraqi state television, Sadr said the US is behind the sectarian violence in Iraq, the schism between Iraqi ethnic groups and the country’s economic hardships. He called for a “cultural resistance”
Iraq New Monitor reports that a Sunni insurgent group said Wednesday it has reached a cease-fire with al-Qaida in Iraq. The claim comes as the conflict between the Islamic Army in Iraq and al-Qaida in Iraq, which is also Sunni, has intensified in recent months. Last week, the two groups were believed to have clashed in the Baghdad neighborhood of Amariyah.“This agreement is based on a cease-fire between the two
By Raed Jarrar and Joshua Holland, AlterNetPosted on June 5, 2007,http://www.alternet.org/story/53230/ While most observers are focused on the U.S. Congress as it continues to issue new rubber stamps to legitimize Bush’s permanent designs on Iraq, nationalists in the Iraqi parliament — now representing a majority of the body — continue to make progress toward bringing an end to their country’s occupation. The parliament today passed a binding resolution that will
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s Foreign Ministry and military General Staff on Wednesday denied a Web site report that 50,000 Turkish troops had crossed into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels hiding there. “This report is not true,” a Foreign Ministry source told Reuters. A General Staff official described the report as “disinformation”. The report, carried on the DEBKAfile Web site, sparked jitters among foreign investors who fear Turkish military action
