BLACKFIVE: Taking care of Vets, or not.

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Taking care of Vets, or not.

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Paul Rieckhoff and the folks at IAVA have a new ad up wondering what in the world is going on with the budget for veterans care and benefits. This is completely unsat.

1LT Fishman serves up the Weekly Surge Wrap

Al-Qaeda in Iraq reported crippled

The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.

But as the White House and its military commanders plan the next phase of the war, other officials have cautioned against taking what they see as a premature step that could create strategic and political difficulties for the United States. Such a declaration could fuel criticism that the Iraq conflict has become a civil war in which U.S. combat forces should not be involved. At the same time, the intelligence community, and some in the military itself, worry about underestimating an enemy that has shown great resilience in the past."I think it would be premature at this point," a senior intelligence official said of a victory declaration over AQI, as the group is known. Despite recent U.S. gains, he said, AQI retains "the ability for surprise and for catastrophic attacks." Earlier periods of optimism, such as immediately following the June 2006 death of AQI founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a U.S. air raid, not only proved unfounded but were followed by expanded operations by the militant organization.
There is widespread agreement that AQI has suffered major blows over the past three months. Among the indicators cited is a sharp drop in suicide bombings, the group's signature attack, from more than 60 in January to around 30 a month since July. Captures and interrogations of AQI leaders over the summer had what a senior military intelligence official called a "cascade effect," leading to other killings and captures. The flow of foreign fighters through Syria into Iraq has also diminished, although officials are unsure of the reason and are concerned that the broader al-Qaeda network may be diverting new recruits to Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The deployment of more U.S. and Iraqi forces into AQI strongholds in Anbar province and the Baghdad area, as well as the recruitment of Sunni tribal fighters to combat AQI operatives in those locations, has helped to deprive the militants of a secure base of operations, U.S. military officials said. "They are less and less coordinated, more and more fragmented," Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, said recently. Describing frayed support structures and supply lines, Odierno estimated that the group's capabilities have been "degraded" by 60 to 70 percent since the beginning of the year.
Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, head of the Joint Special Operations Command's operations in Iraq, is the chief promoter of a victory declaration and believes that AQI has been all but eliminated, the military intelligence official said. But Adm. William J. Fallon, the chief of U.S. Central Command, which oversees Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, is urging restraint, the official said. The military intelligence official, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity about Iraq assessments and strategy.Senior U.S. commanders on the ground, including Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of U.S. forces in Iraq, have long complained that Central Command, along with the CIA, is too negative in its analyses. On this issue, however, Petraeus agrees with Fallon, the military intelligence official said.For each assessment of progress against AQI, there is a cautionary note that comes from long and often painful experience. Despite the increased killings and captures of AQI members, Odierno said, "it only takes three people" to construct and detonate a suicide car bomb that can "kill thousands." The goal, he said, is to make each attack less effective and lengthen the periods between them.Right now, said another U.S. official, who declined even to be identified by the agency he works for, the data are "insufficient and difficult to measure."
"AQI is definitely taking some hits," the official said. "There is definite progress, and that is undeniable good news. But what we don't know is how long it will last . . . and whether it's sustainable. . . . They have withstood withering pressure for a long period of time." Three months, he said, is not long enough to consider a trend sustainable.Views of the extent to which AQI has been vanquished also reflect differences over the extent to which it operates independently from Osama bin Laden's central al-Qaeda organization, based in Pakistan. "Everyone has an opinion about how franchisement of al-Qaeda works," a senior White House official said. "Is it through central control, or is it decentralized?" The answer to that question, the official said, affects "your ability to determine how successfully [AQI] has been defeated or neutralized. Is it 'game over'?"In Baghdad, the White House official said, the group's "area of operations has been reduced quite a bit for a variety of reasons, some good and some bad." Three years of sectarian fighting have eliminated many mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods. Those areas had been the most fertile and accessible places for AQI, which is composed of extremist Sunnis, to attack Shiite civilians, security forces and government officials. But the death of mixed neighborhoods also has made another Bush administration priority -- promoting political reconciliation -- more difficult.The expanded presence of U.S. troops in combat outposts in many parts of Baghdad has also put pressure on AQI, but a major test of gains against the organization will come when the U.S. military begins to turn security in those areas over to Iraqi forces next year. While a victory declaration might have the "psychological aspect" of discouraging recruitment to a perceived lost cause, the White House official said, advantages overall would be minimal. "I recognize that there are pros to saying, 'Hey, listen, the bad guys are on the run.' " But if AQI were later able to demonstrate residual capabilities with a series of bombings, "even though it was temporary," he said, "the question becomes: How does this play out in terms of public opinion?"
17) Iraq insurgency: People Rise Up Against al-Qa'eda http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/08/wanbar308.xml&page=2 By Damien McElroy in Husaybah 09/10/2007 Damien McElroy spent a week in the heart of the insurgency in Anbar province in Iraq. In the second of seven exclusive reports he describes how peace and prosperity have returned to a town formerly riven by sectarian killings. In a town tucked tight against the Syrian border, US Marines pass softly along a darkened street as the crack of contact rings out. Instead of a panicked rush for cover, the leader of the patrol turns to cheer. The familiar sound was not from the barrel of gun but the baize of an upstairs pool hall. A transformation has swept western Iraq that allows Marines to walk through areas that a year ago were judged lost to radical Islam control and hear nothing more aggressive than a late-night game of pool.Behind the shutters the Sunni Muslim residents of the province are enjoying the dividends of driving out al-Qa'eda fighters who had imposed an oppressive Taliban-style regime. The popular uprising against al-Qa'eda by residents of Anbar Province turned former enemies into American allies earlier this year. The result was a dramatic restoration of stability across Iraq's Sunni heartland. Husaybah bears the scars of the "terrorist" years - 2004 and 2005 - when al-Qa'eda and its local allies controlled the town.Buildings stand half destroyed, roads remain torn up and almost half its population has fled. Much of the physical damage was inflicted in Operation Iron Curtain last year when Marine companies fought building by building to retake the town. Amid the ruins, relationships have been built by a softly-softly approach by American troops. Footpatrols are hailed with cries of Salaam (Peace) and Habibi (Friend) in streets that were in no-go zones for the coalition a year ago. A ten-man unit of US Marines passes nightly along Husaybah's market street and zig-zags down alleys into residential areas. As they walk out, the sounds of a town reviving fill the air. Sweet shops are filled with customers, workshop churn out furniture. "It's been a while since we hit any trouble," said patrol leader, Corporal Kristian Bandy. "We get a lot of feedback from the locals now, they tell us where arms caches are and if anyone's acting suspicious they turn him in."In the advanced field combat hospitals run by the Navy in Anbar province, there is suddenly nothing to do. Equipped to handle sudden rushes of dozens of gravely injured troops, the hospitals are empty.Commander William Klorig, the chief US medic in Anbar, said the numbers treated at the facility in al-Taqqadum has plummeted to less than 80 personnel in a week."Our expectation on deploying here was we would be caring for a great many combat wounded," he said. "That is not the way it has turned out. Many days we have no work." Confident that progress is irreversible America is pushing to reopen Husaybah's border crossing with Syria. A large checkpoint under construction is due to start operating in mid-November. Security guards at the border will be equipped with a plethora of high technology to ensure bombs and weapons can't be smuggled from Syria."I'm not putting a number of how many vehicles will go through here, probably very many," said Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Giorno, the official in charge of the project. "My standard is safety. If just one gets through and nobody is killed, that's good for me." Mr Kareem and other Husaybah residents claim that the peace that followed the expulsion of al-Qa'eda has triggered an economic revival and restoration of favourite pastimes. Ghanim Mirdie Waleed, coach of the local football team, who celebrated a recent victory with cigarettes, paid tribute to the American role in Husaybah.
"The conflict here was all caused by al-Qa'eda," he said. "We work and play as we like under the coalition security. There are jobs for people, shops are opened and we are very happy." With al-Qa'eda pushed out, Anbaris are even rallying to a new shared cause with America - a fight to secure the country against Iranian infiltration. Husaybah residents condemned Iran at nightly meetings where locals sit on stoops to enjoy the cool midnight breeze. Sectarian fighting is taking place hundreds of miles to east of the Syrian border but Iran's interference in Iraq ranked as a primary reason to back the American presence. "The Shia are my brothers in Iraq," said Raad Majid Kareem. "But the militias in Baghdad are an Iranian front that taking over the country. They are bringing hellfire to Iraq. The Coalition Forces are trying to destroy them. The Sunnis and the tribes embrace American so that they can to do it." One of the leaders of the tribal revolt, Shiekh Kurdi Rafi Al-Shurayji said there was nothing to distinguish al-Qa'eda and the regime in Teheran. "They are no different," he said. "Al-Qa'eda relies on Iran's support, just the same as every evil force in Iraq." Police Col Obaida Sueidi Khalif said Anbar's gains will remain dependent on the Americans until the government in Baghdad is capable of representing the entire nation."A lot of people from outside Iraq are trying to destroy our country," he said. "The people have to let the Coalition Forces not just here but in the capital help us because Baghdad can't run Iraq until it reconciles with the competent officials who served under Saddam Hussein." A reduction in extremist intimidation has brought a flood of officers and men from the army disbanded after the 2003 war, back into Iraq's security forces. Anbar's main training academy this month held the first class devoted exclusively to Saddam era colonels and majors who have joined the new army's 7th Division. Symbolically the class was the first to receive instruction in the workings of the US M16 assault rifle, which is to be the new weapon of the country's armed forces."I decided to rejoin two years ago but I live in Ramadi and the insurgents would have killed me and my family if I signed up until now," said Lt-Col Hamid Adwas. "As soon as the city was safe, I came back."
1B) Favorable trends in Iraq http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/10/favorable_trends_in_iraq.html
Greg Richards 14 October American Thinker
We are seeing favorable trends in a variety of figures of importance from Iraq:
1.USAID puts out weekly progress reports on Iraq. If you click on the most recent report and scroll down several pages to Section 4 - Electricity Overview - you see something very interesting. Which is that electricity is finally on an upward trend and is now at a record post-war level. The trend is modest and the level is still much too low -- note the 7.1 hours of electricity from the grid in Baghdad, for instance -- but the year to year numbers are now positive. It appears that this may be a dividend from the harmony that we are starting to see in the Sunni provinces around Baghdad.
2.If you scroll on further to Section 5 - Crude Oil Production - you see that production at about 2.3 million barrels per day is modestly above the goal of 2.1 million barrels. I.e., the insurgency is not able to shut off oil production, even if oil growth is modest.
3.If you clock on the website for the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), go to Key Statistics and scroll down to the bottom of the spreadsheet you see the table for inflation. At the beginning of this year, inflation was 66%. In the last three months - June, July, August - inflation declined: 46%, 30%, 20%
4.With the high interest rate policy of the CBI, the value of the Iraqi dinar continues to improve. It has increased 11% this year against the dollar and 20% since last fall.
5.The Iraq Stock Exchange is up 50% year-to-date and is holding its 30% surge of mid-summer.
We don't want to forget the estimated 2 million internal and 2 million external refugees in Iraq, nor the estimated 50% unemployment rate. However, in his interview on Charlie Rose, David Kilcullen observed that political progress in Iraq will be "alchemy" not "engineering" meaning that progress cannot be laid out in a mechanical fashion. To use a different image, progress in Iraq will very likely be a "jelling" of different components into a whole. I think this will be true of economic life in Iraq as well. To determine if this is happening, we need to monitor as many figures of merit as we can, such as the five points above.
2) Relations Sour Between Shiites and Iraq Mahdi Militia
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/world/middleeast/12mahdi.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin By SABRINA TAVERNISE New York Times
BAGHDAD, Oct. 11 — In a number of Shiite neighborhoods across Baghdad, residents are beginning to turn away from the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia they once saw as their only protector against Sunni militants. Now they resent it as a band of street thugs without ideology. The hardening Shiite feeling in Baghdad opens an opportunity for the American military, which has long struggled against the Mahdi Army, as American commanders rely increasingly on tribes and local leaders in their prosecution of the war.
The sectarian landscape has shifted, with Sunni extremists largely defeated in many Shiite neighborhoods, and the war in those places has sunk into a criminality that is often blind to sect. In interviews, 10 Shiites from four neighborhoods in eastern and western Baghdad described a pattern in which militia members, looking for new sources of income, turned on Shiites. The pattern appears less frequently in neighborhoods where Sunnis and Shiites are still struggling for territory. Sadr City, the largest Shiite neighborhood, where the Mahdi Army’s face is more political than military, has largely escaped the wave of criminality. Among the people killed in the neighborhood of Topchi over the past two months, residents said, were the owner of an electrical shop, a sweets seller, a rich man, three women, two local council members, and two children, ages 9 and 11. It was a disparate group with one thing in common: All were Shiites killed by Shiites. Residents blamed the Mahdi Army, which controls the neighborhood. “Everyone knew who the killers were,” said a mother from Topchi, whose neighbor, a Shiite woman, was one of the victims. “I’m Shiite, and I pray to God that he will punish them.” The feeling was the same in other neighborhoods. “We thought they were soldiers defending the Shiites,” said Sayeed Sabah, a Shiite who runs a charity in the western neighborhood of Huriya. “But now we see they are youngster-killers, no more than that. People want to get rid of them.”
While the Mahdi militia still controls most Shiite neighborhoods, early evidence that Shiites are starting to oppose some parts of the militia is surfacing on American bases. Shiite sheiks, the militia’s traditional base, are beginning to contact Americans, much as Sunni tribes reached out early this year, refocusing one entire front of the war, officials said, and the number of accurate tips flowing into American bases has soared. Shiites are “participating like they never have before,” said Maj. Mark Brady, of the Multi-National Division-Baghdad Reconciliation and Engagement Cell, which works with tribes. “Something has got to be not right if they are going to risk calling a tips hot line or approaching a J.S.S.,” he said, referring to the Joint Security Stations, the American neighborhood mini-bases set up after the troop increase this year. “Everything is changing,” said Ali, a businessman in the heavily Shiite neighborhood of Ur, in eastern Baghdad, who, like most of those interviewed, did not want his full name used for fear of being attacked. “Now in our area for the first time everyone say, ‘To hell with Mahdi Army.’ “Not loudly on the street, but between friends, between families. Every man, every woman, say that.” The street militia of today bears little resemblance to the Mahdi Army of 2004, when Shiites following a cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, battled American soldiers in a burst of Shiite self-assertion. Then, fighters doubled as neighborhood helpers, bringing cooking gas and other necessities to needy families. Now, three years later, many members have left violence behind, taking jobs in local and national government, while others have plunged into crime, dealing in cars and houses taken from dead or displaced victims of both sects. Even the demographics have changed. Now, street fighters tend to be young teenagers from errant families, in part the result of American military success. Last fall, the military began an aggressive campaign of arresting senior commanders, leaving behind a power vacuum and directionless junior members. “Now it’s young guys — no religion, no red lines,” said Abbas, 40, a Shiite car parts dealer in Ameen, a southern Baghdad neighborhood. Abbas’s 22-year-old cousin, Ratib, was shot in the mouth this spring after insulting Mahdi militia members. “People hate them,” Abbas said. “They want them to disappear from their lives.” One of the most notorious killers in Topchi, who residents say was a Mahdi Army fighter, Haidar Rahim, was born in 1989. On a hot August afternoon, he and two accomplices shot and killed a woman named Eman, a divorced mother, in front of her house, residents said. The fighters said she was a prostitute, but shortly after her death they brought tenants to rent her house. “They are kids with guns, who have cars and money,” said Eman’s neighbor, referring to the fighters. “Being kids, they are tempted by all of this.” Residents’ fear was so great that Eman’s body lay untouched in a pool of blood for more than an hour, until the Iraqi authorities took it away, said the neighbor. She watched Eman’s 8-year-old son crying next to his mother’s body. “They are bloodthirsty,” said a man whose father, a neighborhood council member from Topchi, was killed on Sept. 26. “They can kill an entire family for a $10 mobile phone scratch card.” Mr. Rahim was killed a month later. His young face is emblazoned on a memorial sign, planted near a giant wheel of rotisserie chicken in Topchi. Some said Americans killed him. Others said Iraqis. A spokesman for the Sadr office in Shuala, the large Shiite neighborhood north of Topchi, said that he had no information on the killings, but that any illegal actions were the work of criminals who merely called themselves Mahdi Army members. “The claims of membership in the Mahdi Army are huge at this time,” said the spokesman, who goes by Abu Jafar. “The Sadr office is not responsible for anyone who terrorizes the people, Sunnis or Shiites.”
Patterns of violence are different in the Shiite south, where competing Shiite militias with political ties are vying for power. The militia in Baghdad, always loosely organized, swelled with recruits after a bombing of a Shiite shrine in February 2006. The change disrupted the organization and injected it with angry young men, some with criminal pasts, who were thirsty for revenge. Criminals began to give the organization a bad name. The price for used cars plummeted as militiamen sold vehicles that had belonged to their dead victims. A Sadr City sheik issued a religious edict permitting the confiscation of the property of Sunni militants who see Shiites as heretics. But many took it as a blank check to seize property, as long as the victim was Sunni.
A 36-year-old Mahdi Army leader from western Baghdad described a system in which victims’ cars were shipped to northern Iraq in convoys of Kurdish soldiers returning from military leave. New documents were drawn up there. For Yasir, 35, a former member of the militia who had witnessed its breakdown firsthand, a final blow came when his cousin, a wealthy businessman, was kidnapped by young Mahdi members from the neighborhood. He was later killed. “Don’t call it the Mahdi Army,” Yasir said. “It was the Mahdi Army when people in it had a conscience.” In a last-ditch effort to re-establish control and respect, Mr. Sadr issued an order halting all Mahdi Army activity in August. Abu Jafar, the spokesman, said that “the goal of this statement is to uncover the bad people that claim membership in the Mahdi Army and to let the security forces deal with them.” While the turbulence continued in Topchi, a frontier neighborhood where local militia members are poorer, much of the activity stopped in Sadr City, the base for the most senior leaders, who have grown wealthy and are established politically, residents said.
“At first, we couldn’t drive our cars, we couldn’t walk because they have weapons, AK, pistols on the street,” said Ali, the Ur businessman. “Now they disappeared. There is nothing. You can’t see anything from these people.” Like many Shiites, Abbas, the car parts dealer, attributes part of the drop-off to a new precision in American arrests, fed by tips from Shiite residents. Abbas said he and his friends had a name for the Americans, the Janet Brothers, a tongue-in-cheek term of tribal respect that plays off an American name. Another name, Madonna Brothers, refers to the American pop star. American commanders like Lt. Col. David Oclander, of the Second Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division, whose area includes Sadr City and other Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, have seized on that cooperation. In the past month and a half, he said, Shiite leaders have begun to make contact with the Americans. The brigade is now working with 25 sheiks in the Shiite neighborhoods of Shaab and Ur and is interviewing up to 1,200 candidates for semiofficial neighborhood guard positions.
The lieutenant colonel compares the shift among the Shiites to the one in Sunni neighborhoods that began to turn against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown Sunni extremist group that American intelligence agencies say is foreign led. In some cases, residents seem more willing to stand up to the Mahdi Army. In Topchi, several businessmen refused to pay protection money to Mahdi Army members this month. The news spread through the neighborhood. Four months ago, a truck driver was killed in Lieutenant Colonel Oclander’s sector, after the driver’s boss refused to pay protection money. Such retribution is much rarer now, he said. Ali, the Ur businessman, said he expected the Mahdi Army to be much smaller in the future. People simply do not believe its leaders anymore. “There is no ideology among them anymore,” he said. As proof, he told a story from his neighborhood about a religious man and a car acquisition. “He was a poor man, but now he has a Mercedes-Benz,” Ali said. “The Prophet Muhammad, he didn’t even have a horse.”
3) 300 Iraqi Sheikhs Gather to Plan Security Transition

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Iraqi governmental officials met with more than 300 sheikhs from the Mada’in Qada in Baghdad to discuss the way ahead for reconciliation in their area Oct. 4, home to approximately 1 million Iraqis. (A qada is roughly equivalent to a county in the U.S.) Leaders from the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and Multi-National Division - Center attended as observers. “When this many sheiks attend a meeting such as this, it is an indicator that the people are tired of the violence and have a desire to return to normalcy,” said Maj. Dave Fivecoat from Delaware, Ohio, 3rd HBCT operations officer. The sheikhs agreed security in the qada had improved since the arrival of the 3rd HBCT in March 2007, and pledged to continue cooperation with U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces to fight terrorism. To that end, they discussed a plan that would lead to the eventual acceptance of concerned local citizens into the Iraqi Security Forces.The sheikhs also proposed a plan to increase coordination between tribal leaders and the government. U.S. commanders hold out the Concerned Citizens Programs as Iraq’s best hope for reconciliation and stabilization from the ground up, but stress that the concerned citizens must, in a timely manner, be folded into the official Iraqi security forces. According to Maj. Jeremy Moore, 3rd HBCT Iraqi Security Force liaison, the meeting was a positive step toward that transition. “We are optimistic that their inclusion will ultimately enable the ISF to accurately represent and effectively secure the local populace,” Moore said. In the meantime, actions and intelligence from the concerned citizens have led to a dramatic turnaround in the security situation .“We’ve seen a large increase in tips that have led to the seizure of caches in the areas where concerned citizen groups are formed,” said Maj. Rhett Griner, 3rd HBCT effects coordinator. “We have received 34 tips that have led to the arrest of 91 insurgents in the last 90 days.”

4) Al QAEDA ON THE RUN http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/10082007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/qaeda_on_the_run.htm By AMIR TAHERI New York Post

October 8, 2007 -- UNKNOWN gunmen murdered Muhammad Gul Aghasi - one of the key "theologians" of al Qaeda - at a mosque in northern Syria last month. Candidates for the fiery preacher's killing include rivals within his own radical group, agents of the Americans - and his Syrian hosts. Whatever the truth, this is bad news for the already ailing al Qaeda. Born in 1973, Aghasi, who was of mixed Kurdish-Turkmen ethnic stock, studied Islamic theology in Damascus in the 1990s before traveling to Pakistan, where he established contact with the Taliban and al Qaeda. In 2004, having returned to his Syrian hometown, he created the Ghuraba al-Shaam (Aliens of the Levant), with the declared aim of recruiting, training and arming jihadists to fight against the new Iraqi government and the U.S.-led Coalition forces. By 2006, Aghasi - using the nom de guerre Abu Qaaqaa (Father of the Hissing Sound of Swords) - claimed that his group had dispatched more than 2,000 jihadists from half-a-dozen Arab countries to Iraq. The group also boasted of providing jihadists in Iraq with safe havens inside Syria where they could rest, get medical care (even dental work!), retrain and even get married before returning to the battlefield. Wearing Afghan-style clothes and the mandatory flowing beard, Aghasi was especially proud of the role his jihadists had played in fighting the Americans in Fallujah for more than a year. He claimed that his bulletproof, German-made limousine had been a gift from an Arab businessman for his role in the Fallujah battle. He had created an outfit called Office of Services for the Mujahedin in Iraq, handling millions of dollars collected from unknown benefactors. The Syrian authorities, not normally known for their tenderness toward anyone operating outside lines fixed by the government, allowed Aghasi to do as he pleased. Damascus dismissed demands by Iraq and a number of other Arab countries (whose citizens Aghasi recruited) to curb the activities of the "Aliens" and insisted that Aghasi was only "a man of faith preaching his version of Islam." Members of Aghasi's family claim that he had all along worked alongside the "legitimate authorities of the country" to further the interests of "Syria and Islam."
The Syrian authorities claim he was killed by two former jihadists from Iraq who had defected to the U.S. forces there. But it is rumored in pro-jihadist circles that Aghasi had worked for both the Syrians and the Americans. In this theory, the self-styled Sword of the Faith had started working for Syrian intelligence before getting a better offer from the Americans; when he switched sides, the Syrians decided to put him on the fast track to martyrdom.
Some experts have long maintained that al Qaeda no longer exists as a single organization and should be seen as a system of franchise used by a variety of groups, including many copycat outfits, across the Muslim world and beyond. Aghasi's story suggests an even more complex picture, since it shows that any individual or group could take the name of al Qaeda without referring to any central authority that issues the franchise. Al Qaeda's original leaders, including Osama bin Laden, assuming he is still alive, are only too happy to let others fight their fight while they huddle in their hideouts. These are not happy days for the worldwide al Qaeda brand. Having focused most of its energies on fighting in Iraq, the movement has all but disappeared from the scene in other parts of the global jihad, notably the Caucasus, southern Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kashmir and the Arabian Peninsula. The dream of defeating the American "Great Satan" in Iraq has also forced al Qaeda affiliated groups and individuals to cooperate with regimes that they had hitherto regarded as ideological enemies - including the Islamic Republic in Tehran and the Ba'athist establishment in Damascus. Two of Bin Laden's sons, Saad and Seif al-Adl, have been in Iran since 2002, along with at least six other al Qaeda leaders. The Iranians say all are under arrest and will be tried on unspecified charges. Aghasi's story, meanwhile, shows that al Qaeda couldn't have maintained its presence in Iraq without the tacit consent of the Syrian intelligence - a consent that may be withdrawn at any time when and if Damascus decides to repair its ties with Baghdad and Washington. Al Qaeda had hoped that the U.S. Congress would hand it a victory in Iraq by forcing the Bush administration to withdraw American forces before the Iraqis were ready to defend themselves. But that hope vanished last month when it became clear that the United States will retain its military presence in Iraq for at least another year. Al Qaeda took another hit last week when Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia's grand mufti and the most prestigious cleric in the kingdom, issued a fatwa against "traveling abroad for the purpose of jihad." Hours after the fatwa was issued, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hailed it as a "major step toward defeating al Qaeda in Iraq." Inside Iraq itself, a new force of more than 30,000 volunteers is getting ready to battle al Qaeda in the two predominantly Arab Sunni provinces of Anbar and Ninveh. Many of the volunteers are young men who had previously fought for Al Qaeda in Iraq. They decided to switch sides when Arab Sunni religious and tribal leaders realized that al Qaeda was merely using Iraq as a battlefield in its own war against the United States. Even before Aghasi was gunned down, the flow of jihadists going to Iraq via Syria had slowed down. According to Iraqi official estimates, the number of foreign jihadists entering between January and July was down by almost 50 percent compared to the same period in 2006. This is, perhaps, one reason why the al Qaeda cyberspace is now full of desperate calls for more jihadists for Iraq. Despite the setbacks it has suffered, al Qaeda still sees Iraq as a make-or-break moment for its dream of world conquest.
5) Sunnis, Shias put differences aside for peace
4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division Camp KALSU, Iraq – The government of Musayyib hosted a celebration of security and economic growth at the city’s police station Oct. 8. In a move that could prove to be the turning point in sectarian violence in North Babil, leaders from the predominately Shia city of Musayyib came together with sheiks and representatives of the largely Sunni region of Jurf As Sukhr to share their optimism for the growth and development of the entire area. With Sunni extremists influence such as the Jaish Al Islami and al-Qaeda from the north and west, and Shia militias such as the Jaish Al Mahdi rising from the south, the region surrounding Musayyib and Jurf has been a sectarian battleground for years. With the security celebration in Musayyib, the sectarian tensions seem to be finally coming to an end. The chairman of the Musayyib Town Council, Thamir Thaban, and Sheik Fadel Yousif, a representative of the newly formed Jurf As Sukhr government, gave speeches praising the drop in violence and pledged to continue their work together to bring a lasting peace to the region. Thaban is a member of the Office of Mahdi Sadr, the political wing of the Jaish Al Mahdi, while Fadel was once a leader of the Jaish Al Islami. With these two former enemies coming together, they have created a bond and a possible model for all of Iraq to follow to finally bring an end to the sectarian violence which has plagued the fledgling government.

6) Military meets or exceeds recruiting and retention goals
Dog bites man, I guess.

7) Local Iraqi leaders set recovery pace
Wednesday, 10 October 2007 http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14532&Itemid=1 BAGHDAD — Security improvements in Fallujah are allowing Coalition forces and Iraqis to reinforce success, the city’s provincial reconstruction team leader said today. A year ago, Fallujah was a battlefield between al Qaeda and Coalition forces. Today it is recovering, and local Iraqi leaders are setting the pace of that recovery, said Stephen G. Fakan, leader of the provincial reconstruction team in the Anbar province city. “We have to find Iraqi solutions to Iraqi problems,” Fakan said during a conference call with defense reporters. His 14-member team works hand in hand with local Iraqis and members of Regimental Combat Team 6 to improve long-term prospects of the city and its environs. The area’s 800,000 people are mostly centered on the Euphrates River, and the security situation there has improved. “There are still combat operations in area, but not nearly as frequent as when we got here in April,” Fakan said. This has allowed the team to go outside the wire and do what they need to do: interface with the Iraqi population and help build the government and the business infrastructure of the region. Fakan said the goal is for the Coalition to leave and for Iraqis to sustain the structure of government and the idea of “working with each other that everyone buys into.” The team works with tribal leaders and sheikhs, local government leaders, civil affairs professionals with RCT 6, businessmen and other Iraqi citizens. The team is now working to kick-start the economy and is working with state-owned enterprises. In one sign of progress, local workers have turned a former artillery factory into a civilian machine shop, Fakan said. The Iraqi government will build a dedicated power plant for the factory, and the team is getting power generating capabilities to the site as a bridge until the powerhouse comes on line. The factory now employs 600 people and could employ up to 4,000. In other examples of progress, a brick factory near the city that employs 500 people is going full speed, and the team would like to see a state-of-the-art cement factory come on line. The Euphrates River also provides life and livelihood for the people of the province, and the PRT members are working with local officials to irrigate 16,000 acres of farmland and reclaim another 7,000 acres. Improvements in local governments “turned government on its head here,” Fakan said. Under Saddam Hussein’s regime, the Iraqi government was very much top down, with all decisions made in Baghdad and then communicated to local governments. “Now the people in the towns and cities are putting together budgets and proposals” that then goes to the district councils, provincial councils and ultimately to the federal government, Fakan said. Tribes of the area have bought into the idea of the Coalition as an ally against al Qaeda, and most of the people in the region follow tribal leaders’ orders, Fakan said. He said the team is trying to convince the people that “even though it is a tribal culture, there is still room for a tribal culture and civil governance.” He said his group will continue to work with local Iraqi leaders and with military leaders, as a bridge for both cultures.

9) Samarra and Kirkuk: A strategic city update http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14465&Itemid=128 Saturday, 06 October 2007 COB Speicher — In the city of Samarra, Iraq, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed 40 of the 45 planned projects in the Iraq Reconstruction Program. “We’re joining the Iraqi people in reconstructing their country,” said Col. Michael F. Pfenning, commander of the Corps’ Gulf Region North district, or GRN. “We’re executing construction and project management in a dynamic environment in terms of security, market capability, material delivery challenges, quality of workmanship, and immediate need of the Iraqi people.” As one of four strategic cities in Pfenning’s seven-province, 66,000 square mile area of responsibility, Samarra is steadily making a comeback to its days as a trade center of the region. Although not a Reconstruction Program project, Iraqi media reported last week that reconstruction of the Shi’a-venerated al-Askariya shrine in Samarra will begin after Ramadan, funded by the European Union and the Government of Iraq. The shrine and mosque of the 10th and 11th Imams—Ali al-Hadi and Hassan al-Askari—was destroyed in a bomb explosion in February of last year. With a population of approximately 200,000, Samarra lies on the east bank of the Tigris River, and was the capital of the Muslim world for 56 years in the 9th century. Today the ancient city benefits from upgrades to its electrical grid, and water and sewage projects, totaling more than $37 million—in both the Iraq Reconstruction Program and the Commander’s Emergency Response Program. There are nine electrical projects budgeted for this city of 200,000, with eight of those completed and one still ongoing; with most of the homes and businesses receiving power at least 12 hours a day. This meets the goal at the time of Iraq’s sovereignty in 2004 and the simultaneous start of the Iraq Reconstruction Program, which was to increase hours of power in Iraqi homes to an average of 12 hours of electricity daily. The city pumps river water to treatment facilities and then into the city via main water lines. It has no operating water department to maintain or repair the existing system, which is only 20 percent operational. With no sewage system in Samarra, citizens rely on septic tanks and open drainage. To help alleviate these problems, over $5 million is budgeted in public works and water projects; with nine projects finished and one left to start. Recently a contract was awarded to repair an existing pump station, install new pumps, and install a new rural water line by extending the existing network located in Samarra. The new water network extension of 21,000 meters will provide raw water from the Tigris River to nearly the entire population of Samara. The city of Kirkuk has always been “strategic”; whether as a crossroad for three empires; or since its first oil gusher in 1927; or for its historic reputation as a city where people of different ethnic groups lived together in peace. Today the city’s population is well over 750,000. The city receives a helping hand from the Iraq Reconstruction Program with 74 projects; 62 complete; eight ongoing; and four that remain to start. This effort totals over $218 million in reconstruction projects in this city where, according to current estimates oil fields produce up to one million barrels of oil a day, or almost half of all Iraqi oil exports. Pfenning said a large part of the mission here is capacity-building, or enabling Iraq’s capability to sustain. “Our Provincial Reconstruction Teams [PRT] work directly with their local Government of Iraq representatives daily…on government, legal and business processes.” Electrical power has risen from four to 16 hours daily, with the installation of new generators at the power plant in February of last year. Of the 12 planned projects to improve the oil infrastructure in Kirkuk, eight are complete; three are ongoing and one remains to start. There is no sewage system in Kirkuk and citizens rely on septic tanks and open drainage. There are eight projects funded through three different sources; three are completed; four are ongoing; and one planned but not started. Forty-six facilities and transportation projects are planned for Kirkuk; with 43 complete; one ongoing; and two planned but not started. “In the United States, we don’t have to extend the post-construction timeline on projects as we do here,” Pfenning added. “Here, we continue the coaching, teaching and mentoring the young Iraqi government. Each Iraqi Governorate knows and trusts one of our local engineers on the PRT or in one of our area offices as their local ‘go to’ person.”
10) Forces must develop irreversible momentum in Iraq http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47675 BAGHDAD — Coalition and Iraqi forces have “tactical momentum” in the country, but they need to develop “irreversible momentum,” Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said today during a Pentagon interview. Odierno, the commander of Multi-National Corps Iraq, said Coalition and Iraqi forces have made significant progress against al Qaeda in Iraq and are making progress against Shiia extremist groups as well. “September is the lowest month for incidents we’ve had going back to January 2006,” he said. The numbers of improvised explosive device attacks and car bombings are at the lowest level in 18 months. For the past three years, the Islamic holy month of Ramadan has been a signal that extremists would launch attacks on Coalition and Iraqi government targets. This year, Odierno said the 30 days before Ramadan began on Sept. 13, and the first two weeks of the holy month, have been the least violent of the year. “That says something about security progress,” he said. The corps commander said that al Qaeda in Iraq has been significantly degraded. “I believe we are in the pursuit phase with them,” he said. “They are still capable of conducting some operations, but their ability to do so is becoming more and more difficult for them.” Iraqi Sunni Muslims have rejected the group, and tribal leaders are reaching out to the Iraqi government to get back into the mainstream of society, the general said. Al Qaeda is losing militarily and, more importantly, they are losing because of their conduct over the past two years. The terror group has indiscriminately targeted Iraqi civilians and behaved in a Taliban-like way that almost all Iraqis reject, Odierno said. Shiia militias continue to be a target for Coalition and Iraqi forces, he said. The Coalition especially is going after those Shiia groups that are Iranian surrogates. “I think we saw a surge of Iranian support for what I call these Iraqi special groups of the militias in May, June and July,” he said. “We’ve seen a bit of a decrease in August and September, but nothing statistically significant enough to say that Iran has done anything to stop the support for these surrogates. We continue to watch that.” There has been a separation between the extreme special groups closely tied to Iran, and the Jaysh al Mahdi – the leading Shiia militia group. Odierno said there is a lethal and non-lethal way of dealing with the groups. He said most members of Jaysh al Mahdi can probably be reconciled to the government of Iraq. There have been encouraging signs. Coalition officials met with sheikhs and tribal leaders in Sadr City – the Shiia city east of Baghdad proper. “It’s an important first step,” he said. But there are Shiia groups that believe they cannot reconcile and see violence as the only way forward. Most of these are under malign Iranian influence. “I focus on them not only with special operations force but with conventional forces,” he said. “They have a completely different agenda, which is to de-legitimize the government of Iraq.” He said the Coalition needs to make it clear to Jaysh al Mahdi that the Coalition and Iraqi security forces will continue to go after leaders who think the only way forward is through violence.
The Iraqi security forces continue to make slow and steady progress, Odierno said. “The Iraqi army is fighting,” he said. “Their ability to plan, their ability to target operations is getting better. They have a corps command and control structure in Baghdad that is operating and functioning well – better than I thought it would be when it was set up a year ago.” But what would really accelerate momentum and make it irreversible is closing the gap in providing essential services to Iraqis, Odierno said. The government needs to provide electricity, fuel, food and jobs. The government of Iraq has provided money to the provinces to repair infrastructure and provide jobs. Anbar province, for example, received $207 million from the central government to rebuild.The general touched on the reduction in U.S. forces from 20 brigades today to 15 by next summer. He said planners in Iraq are looking at the “second, third and fourth order effects of the reduction in forces,” and what that means to other forces like military and police transition teams, provincial reconstruction teams and combat support/combat service support units.There will be military changes throughout Iraq. “We will transition differently across the country,” he said. In some areas, Coalition forces will still be fighting a counterinsurgency battle. In others, they may be supporting Iraqi forces. In still other areas, there may be no Coalition forces at all.“Where we have the (ethnically) mixed areas – and those tend to be closest to Baghdad, we will probably do counterinsurgency operations for at least the next year or so,” he said. “But in other areas we will go to a much heavier training and oversight for security forces.” Odierno used Mosul as an example. It is the second-largest city in Iraq and Iraqi police are in control. There is a Coalition battalion on the outskirts of Mosul that can provide a quick reaction force and intervene if necessary. This has been the case there for almost six months.
11) Coalition forces kill nine terrorists; detain 21 suspects http://www.mnfiraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14514&Itemid=21 BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces killed nine terrorists and detained 21 suspects during operations Monday and Tuesday to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq networks operating in central and northern parts of the country. South of Baghdad, Coalition forces conducted an operation targeting an associate of al-Qaeda in Iraq operating in the southern belt. The targeted individual is reportedly responsible for providing guidance on operations against Coalition forces. Upon arriving to the target area, the ground force was engaged by an armed individual throwing a grenade. Responding in self-defense, Coalition forces returned fire and observed several individuals maneuvering from the target area. The ground force called for supporting aircraft to engage the fleeing men, killing three terrorists. Eight suspected terrorists were also detained during the operation.
In an operation south of Mahmudiyah, Coalition forces targeted an associate of al-Qaeda in Iraq believed to be a military leader in Yusufiyah. Reports also indicate he is responsible for coordinating the movement of foreign terrorists and suicide bombers for attacks against Coalition forces. Upon arrival to the target area, the ground force discovered three armed individuals in a field. Coalition forces called for the individuals to come out from their location, but they did not comply. Perceiving a hostile threat, the ground force engaged, killing two of the three armed terrorists. The third armed man fled the area and was engaged and killed by supporting aircraft. One of the terrorists killed was wearing a military-style assault vest. The ground force also discovered grenades and blasting caps which were safely destroyed on site. As Coalition forces continued to secure the area, they encountered an individual armed with several grenades. Responding in self-defense, the ground force engaged and killed him. In addition, one suspected terrorist was detained during the operation. Near Bayji, Coalition forces captured an associate of al-Qaeda in Iraq believed to be involved in weapons facilitation and providing false documentation to facilitate travel for senior terrorist leaders. In addition to the targeted individual, the ground force detained four other suspected terrorists on site without incident. Farther north in Mosul, Coalition forces detained three suspected terrorists while targeting an associate of al-Qaeda in Iraq believed to be responsible for security for the terrorist network in the city. Reports also indicate that the targeted individual is involved in kidnapping operations in the area. Coalition forces captured another wanted individual during an operation west of Samarra. The suspect is alleged to be a leader of a Sunni extremist group affiliated with al-Qaeda in Iraq and is involved in kidnappings and improvised explosive device production. Intelligence reports indicated that the target area was used as a weapons cache site. In addition to the targeted individual, the ground force detained three other suspects. South of Samarra Monday, Coalition forces conducted a precision operation targeting associates of al-Qaeda in Iraq alleged to have ties to senior terrorist leaders. Acting on time-sensitive intelligence, Coalition forces pinpointed the exact location of the wanted individuals and supporting aircraft engaged, killing two terrorists.
13) Residents join volunteer security program http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14447&Itemid=110
By Sgt. Mike Pryor 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs BAGHDAD — Inside a stuffy conference room in a makeshift recruiting station, a dozen men from eastern Baghdad’s Sha’ab neighborhood stood with their right hands raised. The men were all different sizes and shapes, some in their teens, some with grey hair, some in oxford shirts and dress shoes, others in sports jerseys and flip-flops. In front of each man was a piece of paper with a statement of loyalty to the Iraqi government printed on it. Haltingly at first and then louder as their voices joined together, the men recited the words on the paper, pledging to serve the government and obey the law. With that, the men officially went from being average citizens to protectors of their community. Over the last week, almost 600 men have applied to join Sha’ab’s new volunteer security force, a government-authorized, U.S.-funded community police force which will guard important local infrastructure sites like offices, schools and markets. The total force will eventually number more than 1,200 people.“These guys are going to work in partnership with the Iraqi police and the Iraqi national police to secure their own neighborhoods and streets and markets,” said Hinckley, Ohio, native Capt. Dennis Marshall, commander of Headquarters Company, 2nd “White Falcons” Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The White Falcons have backed the creation of the new force with funding and assistance screening applicants. While Sha’ab’s volunteer security force program comes in the wake of several other well-publicized community police programs in other parts of Baghdad, Marshall said it was not a case of jumping on the bandwagon.“This is something the sheiks have been asking for since I first got here,” he said. “It’s about local solutions to local problems.”The allure of the program is that it gives area residents a greater role in securing their own neighborhood, while also providing much-needed jobs, said Hamood Hassem, a political figure known as the mayor of Adhamiyah, and one of the key organizers of the program.“We want to give people a chance to work and we want to protect our area,” Hassem said. Hassem played a central role in creating the program, working with local sheiks, elders, Imams (Muslim clerics), and community leaders to build support for the idea and select the members of the new force. Each applicant had to be “sponsored,” or vouched for, by a local leader, which ensured that militia members, criminals and terrorists were kept out, Hassem said. The depth of support the program has generated was evident during a screening for recruits that took place at Hassem’s office in Sha’ab, on Sept. 27. By 9 a.m., hundreds of men had gathered out in the street for the chance to join. Hassem strode up and down, a gaggle of sheiks and officials around him, haggling and bartering about which men to let in. Inside the building, paratroopers had a series of stations set up, where the applicants filled out paperwork, had fingerprints and retina scans taken, and received medical inspections. The last step in the process was to swear the oath of loyalty. As the day wore on, the crowd still left outside started trying to push their way in. Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Taylor, outside working crowd control, told a group of men who were surging on the building to step back. Only one of them, a teenager with floppy, too-big shoes and a mop of hair, obeyed promptly. When the crowd was under control, Taylor plucked the good-listener out and escorted him inside, and then made sure he was seen quickly at every one of the stations.“He was doing the right thing. You take care of people who play by the rules. That’s what this is all about,” Taylor said.
14) Israeli doctors screen Iraqi patients, defying tensions http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/10/10/israeli_doctors_screen_iraqi_patients_defying_tensions?mode=PF By Jamal Halaby, Associated Press | October 10, 2007 AMMAN, Jordan - Israeli doctors screened 40 Iraqi children suffering from heart disease yesterday - a rare case of direct cooperation between the Jewish state and the Arab country. The doctors said they hope their work will help improve relations between the two Mideast nations and ease tensions between Israel and the rest of the Arab world. Dr. Sion Houri, director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel, said he thinks "ties and friendship" are being built through his work in Jordan with the Iraqi children. "Our only previous exchanges with the Iraqis are the Scud missiles," he said, referring to the missiles Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, fired on Israel during the 1991 Gulf War."But the Iraqis we met here have been very receptive and cooperative, which makes me believe that the animosity and war aren't between the people," Houri said as he and two colleagues screened the Iraqi children, who range in age from a few months to 14 years. Following the US-led war that ousted Hussein in 2003, diplomats discussed the possibility of improved relations between Israel and Iraq, which fought two wars with the Jewish state since its foundation in 1948.But in 2004, Iraq's then-prime minister, Iyad Allawi, vowed that Iraq would not break Arab ranks and sign a separate peace deal with Israel. Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel.Yesterday, the Iraqi children and their parents gathered at an outpatient clinic in the Red Crescent Hospital in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Most of the families are Sunni Muslims of Kurdish origin who live in northern Iraq.Also among them were three Sunni families who live in Baghdad.Inside the clinic, some children were lying in beds, hooked to heart monitoring machines as doctors examined them. Children played with toys in a reception area and cut paper hearts.One child screened yesterday was 4-year-old Mustafa, who Houri said was diagnosed with crossed arteries and needs two surgeries in Israel soon, to unfold the blood vessels before they harden.Mustafa's mother, a Kurdish woman who identified herself only as Suzanne because she fears reprisals from militants in Iraq, said traveling to Israel made her "anxious. Not because I'm going to a country considered an enemy of Iraq, but because I'm afraid of retribution by Iraqi militants, by the terrorists back home.""I'm afraid and it's not easy for me at all, but I'm willing to take the risk to save my beloved son's life," she said as she caressed Mustafa.The heart program is sponsored by Save a Child's Heart, a humanitarian organization founded in Israel in 1996. Logistical support is provided by the Jerusalem-based Christian group, Shevet Achim. Surgery is carried out at Israel's Wolfson Medical Center, and funding comes from private sources, including Christian charity groups and individuals.In four years, 35 Iraqis have received surgery through the program, including 18 children who traveled from Iraq to Jordan for screening in January. It was not immediately clear how many of the children screened yesterday will be taken to Israel for treatment.

15) Reconciliation begins in Muqdadiya http://uscavonpoint.com/articles2/Article.aspx?id=6609
MUQDADIYA, Iraq – Approximately 70 tribal leaders, representing 25 tribes from areas throughout the northern Diyala River Valley, met at an Iraqi Army base in Muqdadiya to discuss the way ahead and the need to unite in the fight against terrorism. “The solution to security in Diyala is reconciliation,” said Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of Coalition Forces in Diyala province. The meeting was organized by the Director General of Tribal Affairs; the Muqdadiya mayor, Mayor Najem Abdullah Ahmed, the leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party in Diyala, Hamdi Hassoun al-Zubaidi, and a key tribal leader in Muqdadiya, Ali Hamid Mohammed al-Tamimi. It was the first large-scale reconciliation gathering in the Muqdadiya area thus far, which is vital because of the recent operations targeting al- Qaeda in the region.
“We are not here to blame each other,” said Nazim. “We are here to stop the bloodshed. I am asking everyone here to work against the terrorists and al-Qaeda,” the mayor continued. “We have to stand up for our families and for our future.” During the gathering at Forward Operating Base Fallock, the leaders discussed security and services, as well as ways to move beyond past grievances and issues that have caused previous rifts between sects and tribal areas.“We don’t want to focus on the past,” said the chairman of Muqdadiya’s city council. “If we can’t solve our problems, no one else can. Who will stand and say they are responsible?” he asked.After discussing tribal differences and why it is important to unite, the leaders signed a reconciliation agreement and swore over the Quran as a promise to uphold the agreement. Some conditions of the peace treaty include ending tribal conflicts and attacks; cooperating with the ISF to fight al-Qaeda, militia groups and other terrorist organizations; working with the security forces to remove corrupt members; returning displaced families to their homes; reporting and removing improvised explosive devices; and respecting all sects, religions and women’s rights. “We need to make our hearts clear,” said Sheik Mustafa al-Tamimi, an influential tribal leader for the Tamimi tribe. “It isn’t about kissing each others’ cheeks or signing paper. It is about acting and taking responsibility.”
16) Iraqis say 48 al-Qaida fighters killed in 4-day operation to clear Sunni enclave in Baghdad http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=7878000 Iraqi forces clashed with suspected al-Qaida-linked insurgents during a four-day operation in a Sunni enclave in central Baghdad and 48 gunmen were killed in the fighting, a spokesman said Saturday. The Iraqi army was supported by local Sunni tribal members and other armed civilians who have turned against al-Qaida in Iraq in the volatile Fadhil neighborhood, according to Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the military spokesman for Baghdad.The military was acting on intelligence when it launched the raids against the terror network in the area.
"We managed during the past four days to put the area under siege, to kill 48 terrorists from al-Qaida and to force the others to flee," he said in a telephone interview, adding the slain militants had been buried in a nearby cemetery.Al-Moussawi said the area was now stable and local mosques were broadcasting messages saying "God is Great" or "Allahu Akbar" in gratitude.The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the clashes, but American helicopters have been buzzing over the area in recent days and heavy gunfire could be heard.Fadhil, one of Baghdad's oldest and poorest areas, is ridden with Sunni insurgents and common criminals and its narrow streets and alleys have been the site of frequent clashes.