Friday, December 30, 2005

Growing pains of iraqi politics.

Earlier today, i mistakenly wrote that Iraq's Oil Minister, Ibrahim Bahr Ul-Ulum was fired, based on Al-Jazeera's description of him being 'given leave' by Iraq's government. It turns out that he was literally given leave to attend his son's wedding, as opposed to being fired. As it goes, however, he actually was a whisker away from being sacked due to him breaking ranks with the government over the raising of fuel prices. According to a source, speaking on condition of anonymity, Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari was incensed. He had already decided to fire him and had actually signed the form authorising his dismissal when a last minute intervention on Ul-Ulum's behalf from some of Jafari's advisors convinced him to change his mind. In the UK, we have an unwritten rule, a convention if you will, called collective responsibility. What this means is that if a cabinet minister disagrees with one of the government's policies, he must either resign in protest or voice his concerns to the cabinet only, and must not publicly express his displeasure. Either Ul-Ulum had never heard of this concept or had simply been moved by more selfish motives, like distancing himself from an unpopular but neccesary policy. At the very least, it was very unprofessional of him and he can count himself lucky that he hasn't lost his job. With Iraq making the transition from dictatorship to democracy, it is to be expected that problems like these will occur. We just hope that as time goes by, and Iraq's leaders gain experience, these occurences will be less and less frequent. Ul-Ulum's acting successor at the Oil Ministry, Ahmed Chalabi, stands a good chance of being involved in the next government, despite his awful showing at the polls. The source said that, as deputy Prime Minister, he had been an active and useful member of the Iraqi government and added that Prime Minister Jafari considered him a very competent deputy. It seems like Chalabi was Jafari's prefered deputy (he had several!) and that he delegated most responsibility to him when he was out of the country. Should Jafari remain as PM, it is almost certain that Chalabi will feature in some way.
Now for some excellent news :-)
Speaking on the possible make-up of the future Iraqi government, the source added that Iyad Allawi is struggling to keep his list together, as its members are abandoning his sinking ship and are doing what almost everyone in Iraqi politics is doing these days: looking out for themselves! Allawi's list didn't win enough seats to be a force in the next parliament, so it makes sense that the people on his list are protecting their own interests and are negotiating with the Kurds and the Shias. With him being unable to keep his own house in order, it seems that Allawi's political career has finally been put to bed.
In the words of that great orator, Nelson, from The Simpsons... Ha Ha!

Two people who do have a chance at being the next Prime Minister of Iraq are the incumbent Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, and Adel Abdel Mahdi, one of Iraq's two Vice-Presidents. Jafari enjoys considerable support within the shia alliance and this has forced Mahdi to seek support from outside the alliance. Apparently Mahdi has sought the backing of current Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who has expressed frustration at Jafari and has openly expressed a desire to be more than just a ceremonial president. Considering the fact that the alliance is ultimately the one who chooses the Prime Minister, I'd say that Jafari is now the odds on favourite to be Iraq's Prime Minister for the next 4 years. Jafari is seen as the one who is most qualified to do the balancing act required to be Prime Minister. Whoever accepts the role must balance the demands of the sunni and the shia, the arabs and the kurds, and the religious and the secular, as well as dealing with an occupation. The Prime Minister must also lead a government at war with terrorists who are waging a war against Iraq. These people are not the rejectionists who are fighting the US army only, they are the ones killing shias, blowing up pipelines which carry the nations wealth, killing anyone associated with the new government etc. The Shia alliance is lending its support to Jafari to be the man to lead this government, and they have confidence that he has the ability to do the job.

Chalabi becomes oil minister.

Ahmed Chalabi has taken over the oil ministry amid an impending oil cirisis. Ibrahim bahr Ul-Ulum was relieved of his duty's by the gov't.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/35CADFBB-7D78-4847-85E2-3E6AE80BDC67.htm

I don't know what to say except i hope he knows what he's doing, because the oil ministry is key to Iraq's development.

More shias were killed today, this time in a Baghdad bomb. I dont know whether sunnis are the ones who are massacring the shia on a daily basis but i would like to see them condemn these atrocities, if indeed it isnt them doing this.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Shias still being massacred. where are the Media?

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29143985.htm

This horrific story of 'sunnis' killing an innocent family of shias just because they wouldnt move out of their predominantly sunni area makes me burn inside with a rage so intense it hurts. I actually feel like crying and my chest is actually getting tight.

And where the hell is Al-Jazeera? I sometimes wish Bush had blown this Munafiqeen piece of shit television station of the face of the Earth, because you'll be hard-pressed to find this heart-breaking story on their website.
Even the BBC runs this story. Imagine that; The "Kafir-Zionist-Freemason-crusader" broadcasting company will run the story, but the "Brave-Defender of free speech-Protector of all the muslims" bunch acts as if it hasnt happened.

The hate mongers at Al-jazeera weren't slow to report the "torture" of 120 animals at the Ministry of Interior but they will ignore human beings being massacred in such an evil way. Those dogs who were allegedly mistreated by the Interior Ministry were admittedly enemies of the democratically elected government. whats the problem?

If anything this government is being too soft on the terrorists. They are just lucky that Prime Minister Jafari is a God-fearing man, because he would be well within his rights to put down the rebellious bunch in as equally a vicious manner with which they are conducting their campign of hate.
Only unity between the Shia, Kurds and the real Sunnis can defeat this cancerous scum.

Victory to Iraq.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

A Confused American policy.

Just recently I asked Iraq Expert Juan Cole about the rift in the US government over what course it should take in Iraq. He confirmed that there is a Neo-Con/Pentagon Pro-Shia faction and a State Department Pro-Secularist/Allawi faction. This rift is worrying for the simple fact that if the American oligarchs can't come up with a solution, then what hope is there for the Iraqi politicians who are trying to figure a way out of this mess? I simply do not understand what the Americans want to happen in Iraq. Let's look at the State Department faction first. Some people would have you believe that this is the 'reality based' community within the US administration. What is reality based about trying to force Iyad Allawi on the Iraqi people when nobody wants him as their leader? As Mr.Cole says on todays Informed comment, one of the myths circulating within the US is that Iraqis are a secular bunch. Once upon a time maybe, but not any longer. I think the last two election results have proven this, so shouldn't the State Dept get in touch with reality and drop Allawi like a hot potato? And as for the Neo-cons/Pentagon? On the one hand, Cheney flies in to give Ibrahim Jafari his support to continue as PM for four more years and to call for a 'Unity Government', whilst on the other hand, new figures released show that the US army has stepped up its number of air strikes, mainly in Sunni areas. Apparently, over two times more civilians are being killed than insurgents, and this is fuelling more hatred against the US and the Shia govt. How do they expect the Shia to form a 'Unity' govt with the Sunni's, when they are pushing the Sunni's more and more into the arms of the terrorists?

And why the sudden pressure on the Shias to give up their political rights anyway? After all, the Sunni's are the ones who have vowed to keep killing US troops, whilst also pursuing a political path, yet in November the US army 'accidently' discovered alleged Shia torture prisons. They attempted to stain the reputation of Jafari's government and I believe this about-turn against the Shias was an attempt to push Allawi into power on December 15th. Now that Allawi's gone will this deadly American game against the Shia stop, or will they continue to sabotage the rightful rule of the majority in Iraq?

I guess the white folk over in Washington only support democracy when the results suits them. But democracy, means the rule of the majority, and if the Shias are the majority then the US is morally obliged to accept this rule. If they don't, I predict that the Shias will finally kill off the long suffering US project in Iraq.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Civil war is Inevitable.

With the sunni arabs of Iraq continuing their morally bankrupt demonstrations against the election results, about 1,000 shiites have come out to show their support for the Government of Ibrahim Jafari.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/25/AR2005122500745.html

The sunni's dont seem to understand that they are a minority in Iraq, and that democracy pretty much protects the interests of the majority and no one else. I don't see the point in wasting time negotiating with them as they will always demand more. They will not be satisfied until they are back in power, and no amount of talking will mollify them. They've vowed to continue their policy of terrorism whilst pursuing a political path. Many are likening them to Sinn Fein and the IRA in Northern Ireland.

As it goes the election results are pretty consistent with the populaton figures and so the sunnis really have nothing to complain about. They are afflicted with a racist mentality that has been hammered home by years of dominance over the shias. They repeat the mantra that before the war, there was no difference between sunni and shia, that everyone was equal. Well I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you but this was never the case guys. The shias were treated abysmally under the former regime while the sunnis prospered and remained silent at the persecution of the "brothers". Now that the shias are the ones in power, they can't deal with it and are throwing their toys out of the pram, to deadly effect. What's worse is the media's criminal neglect of the simple facts. They go on and on about "shia death squads" but hardly mention the brutal sectarian nature of this guerilla war. When Jafari's government took power, the sunni's war of terrorism and misery went into overdrive. They attempted to show the Iraqi people that the shia Islamist parties couldn't protect them, and that what was really best for them was a return to the old order. In order to stem the tide of death, the Interior Ministry sent elite squads like the Wolf brigades out into sunni areas to combat the violence. In late November, the US Army 'Accidently' stumbled across an Interior Ministry prison, where about 170 people, mainly sunnis, were found in a pretty bad way. By their own admission these people were actively involved in the violent war against the government, so why the fuss? What was the government supposed to do, ask nicely for them to stop killing people? They had taken part in a crippling campaign of death and destruction against the Iraqi people and yet all the media could do was hold interviews with people like Iyad Allawi, where he talked about how wonderful life was under Saddam and how bad those shias were for daring to defend themselves. And you can call me paranoid but I'm convinced that certain secrect agencies of some western nations (CIA?) were taking part in this campaign of terrorism and sabotage, in order to make the shia Islamists look bad by the time Iraqis went to the poll on Dec 15th. The ploy failed as the people remained steadfast and voted in huge numbers for the UIA, the coalition of shia parties.
Faced with such a racist and pig-headed enemy, who refuses to use any logic or humanity to resolve the crisis, the only alternative for the shia government is to finally give in and put down the rebellion by any means neccessary. The shia have shown immense restraint and patience while their mosques have been bombed and their Imams beheaded, purely for being shia. This has been down, to a great extent, to Ayatollah Sistani controlling the people. The time has come, however, to throw the Idea of a 'National Unity' government out of the window, and to face facts. Such a unity government would be good in theory if the Iraqi people had a decent and sane partner to work with but the sunni arabs have proved that they aren't any of these things.
I have already stated that the sunni arab people must isolate the Baathists and Salafi's, and produce their own independent leaders. Until this happens, then they are responsible for everything that happens in their name, and must therefore be prepared to reap the consequences of what they've sowed.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Merry xmas to everyone.

Merry xmas to everyone! i hope you all have a peaceful day, be you muslim, christian, jewish, hindu buddhist or anything else!

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Allawi killed six people? Cheney plotting coup?

http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/smh41.html

And he had the cheek to say the current government is worse than Saddam!

and maybe we havent seen the end of Allawi after all...

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp...&Cat=14&Num=001

Divide and Rule.

It is often said that the number one rule for any occupying force to adhere to in order to control the masses is to 'divide and rule'. In the Post 9-11 world, it is alarming to find the pace with which the west has achieved this, with regard to the muslim world. Just over 4 years after the attacks in Washington and New York, it has not become uncommon for muslims meeting each other for the first time to ask 'are you sunni' or 'are you shia', even in the west. This newly emboldened sectarianism within the Ummah (the global muslim brotherhood) is referred to as 'fitna', something which is forbidden by the Holy Quran.
The Western media, 'independent' or not, contributes to this with ridiculous articles such as Nancy Youssef's:
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13468354.htm

The mistakes she makes are so obvious you could be forgiven for thinking they are deliberate. The title itself is ridiculous; 'Many Sunni Muslims diverting anger from Israel to Iran'. She writes as if she is speaking for the 90% of the 1.3 billion muslims who would identify themselves as sunni, when firstly she is only refering to sunni's in Iraq. She also doesn't consider that sunni kurds in Iraq hold no ill-will towards Iran. It's true that some sunni arabs in the middle east are suspicious of Iran but it's pushing the boat out to suggest that the majority of these arabs have now decided to forgive the Israelis for their crimes and are instead hating the Iranians. And even the Iraqi sunni arabs would say that Israel is the main target of their hatred. Nancy, with her suspiciously mis-spelt muslim surname (I have NEVER met anyone who spells Yousef with 2 S's), quotes TWO people. It hardly constitutes the 'many sunni muslims' her article claims to represent. I know for a fact that the sunni arabs in Iraq ultimately blame Israel for pushing this war which unseated them in the first place. Are we going to conveniently forget that the Neo-cons who pushed for this war were almost all Jewish-Americans with extremely close ties to Israel? Are we going to believe that the Iraqi sunni arabs are going to just forgive Israel for the US push to war? How can this woman sit there and seriously expect us to believe that the sunni's generally have decided to forgive Israel for everything thats happened in the last 58 years in the middle east? Her article is of such a poor standard that quite frankly I'm a little disappointed that Antiwar.com (a very good site) ran with it.
One of the Iraqi sunni's she quoted thinks that the Israelis would be more merciful than the Iranians. I'm sure the sunni arabs of Palestine would disagree. Even the most notorious and extreme arab of recent times, Osama Bin Laden endorsed the Iranian Regime and warned muslims against indulging in 'fitna' that would separate them. Any hatred of Iran is a result of arab nationalism so it would be a mistake to say sunni 'muslims' hate Iran, as this would suggest that it is a hatred born out of religious differences. Rivalry between the persians and the arabs goes back hundreds of years and I'm sure there is an element of this competition here. This arabism, encouraged by Saddam and the other arab regimes is dying out as an ideology in the face of a new-born Islamist current of thought, brought about by the 9-11 attacks and the west's response to them. Iran's new President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is currently doing his best to unite this Islamism under Iranian leadership, with his recent tirades against Israel. For most of the muslim world, only Ahmadinejad is speaking out against Israel's crimes, while the sunni arab regimes do the complete opposite by seeking 'normalisaton' with the Israeli's. This is doing plenty of good for Iran's standing amongst the sunni muslims, with Islamic Jihad and Hamas already declaring that they will attack Israel should Iran come under attack. Even Baathist Syria finds itself getting closer and closer to Tehran everyday, in the face of growing Israeli and Western pressure. But the majority of muslims aren't even arab and I fail to see why a sunni from Indonesia, for example, would now hate Iran more than Israel. Is Iran oppressing muslims? No. Is Israel? Yes. That's all there is to it for these people.
The sunni arab governments are just getting antsy because the balance of power in the middle east has shifted in Iran's favour. The majority of their people, however, are quietly praying that Iran acquires nuclear weapons and delivers a fatal blow to Israel, because they know there's no chance of their own leaders doing it. Not that this is what the Iranians would do, should they get these weapons, but im sure there are some who want to see this outcome.
I don't want to waste much more time on this blatant attempt to cause discord amongst the muslims. The article is mis-leading, uninformed and poorly-written, and to such an extent that it leads me to conclude that maybe the US hasn't limited itself to planting stories in the Iraqi media only and is indeed broadening its scope!
There have been, and will be, many stories of this nature, trying to highlight the percieved strains within the muslim community. Now while shia-sunni relations are strained in Iraq, the emergence of Iran as the voice of the muslims, will surely temper these tensions, and lead to a more unified Ummah. I just urge all muslims to ignore the nature of these articles and to remain vigilant in the face of such trouble-making.

The race to become Iraq's next Prime Minister.

What with the UIA looking very likely winners of the December 15th elections, the focus now turns to who will become the next Prime Minister. As was reported here on thursday, incumbent PM Ibrahim Jafari is seeking to remain in Iraq's top job. He will face a challenge from Adel Abdel Mahdi, who is a member of SCIRI, Iraq's most pro-Iran party. The former Maoist, who spent his years in exile in france, is seen by Washington and London as the best hope for Iraq, now that the message has got through that Iyad Allawi's political career is dead. This support from the west may prove to be Mahdi's undoing, as the UIA politburo weighs up his credentials against Jafari's. He has been eager to sign deals with major US oil companies regarding exploration of Iraq's fields, and this is sure to work against him. Also it important to remember that SCIRI is led by Aziz Al-Hakim, and it is almost certain that any Mahdi premiership will mean a lot of decision will be made by Hakim behind the scenes. SCIRI's closeness to Iran will also work against Mahdi, especially as the nationalist Sadrists are now a part of the equation. The Sadrists clashed with SCIRI earlier this year, and Jafari had to reprimant both sides like a teacher would reprimand two school kids scrapping in the play ground.

I personally wonder whether the UIA will indeed give SCIRI the premiership in return for the interior ministry, in the hope of avoiding civil war. Many analysts of Iraq have said that if the country is to move in the right direction, then the Badr Brigades, SCIRI's militia, should be reigned in, and the Interior Ministry be given to a Shia party which doesn't have an over-bearing militia, in other words Dawa (Jafari's party). If the SCIRI lost the Interior Ministry then the only thing that could mollify them would be the Prime Minister's office. They can't have the Defence ministry as the Sunni's look likely to retain that, and swapping the Sunni's to the Interior Ministry is out of the question. The Foreign Ministry is headed by a kurd, Hoshyar Zebari, and he is doing a very good job of it by all acounts. Perhaps SCIRI could be given the Oil Portfolio, although from what i gather Ibrahim Bahr AL-Ulum is the best qualified person for the job.
SCIRI will not settle for any of the smaller ministries, and so this is the only scenario in which I can envisage Mahdi becoming PM. But i honestly don't see Dawa giving up the PM's office in return for the Interior Ministry, and i think that Jafari's standing within the party, as well as his standing amongst the country's leading shia clerics makes him the favourite to win the contest.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Rumsfeld on troop reduction

Today's announcement from Donald Rumsfeld confirms the exclusive given here at pray4iraq, that the US will indeed scale down their troop levels. Rumsfeld cited 2 brigades were to be drawn down, and with each brigade consisting of around 4,000 soldiers, this is consistent with the figure of 7000 given yesterday.
the only contentious issue is the timing, which the Financial Times reports as being early next year, and yesterday's report put the draw down as taking place by the years end. However it remains to be seen whether Rumsfeld is witholding some information, for security reasons.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

7000 US troops to leave Iraq within the week?

According to sources in Baghdad, there will be an anouncement regarding an imminent US troop reduction, which will take place around midday (GMT) tomorrow (friday 23 december). 7000 American troops will leave Iraq in the next 7 days.

This can only be described as good news for the Iraqi people who are suffering under the strain of this occupation and may even see some insurgent groups call a truce, temporarily anyway.

Ibrahim Jafari WILL seek to remain PM.

According to very reliable sources in Baghdad, Ibrahim Jafari WILL throw his hat into the ring for the Job of PM. He is favourite to retain his position as Iraq's most powerful man. His only real challenge will come from Adel Abdel Mahdi, a former Moaist with good relations with washington. This however may work against him, as the UIA will now comprise of more anti-US voices in the form of Moqtada sadr's followers. Also the sadrist's may feel uneasy with SCIRI, headed by Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim, getting the top job. Sadr's Mahdi Army clashed with the Badr organisation, SCIRI's militia, in the summer and there are also historic tensions between the Sadr and the Hakim clerical dynasties. This could lead to Ibrahim Jafari, a student of Moqtada's uncle Syed Mohammed Baqr Al-Sadr, gaining enough internal support to become PM for a full four years.

If the UIA enters into a coalition with the Kurds again, however, they may find troubles ahead. Earlier this year, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called for Jafari to resign, and complained that Jafari had ignored the kurds demands. They could block Jafari's nomination, although i seriously doubt that the kurds will be successful. It is also unlikely that they will waste that much political capital trying to block Jafari's path. No matter who the UIA nominates to be Prime Minister, that person will have to work with the consent of the party, and will not concede anything Jafari didnt concede.

Ibrahim Jafari is looking quite strong at the moment, but this is Iraq and anything can happen.

Saddam complains of beatings

Saddam Hussein today complained of being beaten while being held in custody by US and Iraqi custody. He seems to be able to make these complaints with a straight face even though his victims would never have come even close to being treated as well as he is being treated. The videos from yesterdays posting would support that.

On a more important note i have just finished watching series 4 of 24. My life is now empty and meaningless. I guess this blog will have to fill the massive void which has been left behind :-)

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Allawi comes 3rd in Baghdad

According to The Guardian website Iyad Allawi has come 3rd in Baghdad, behind the main shia and sunni coalitions. this was an area where he was predicted to do well. the paper mistakenly projects this to mean he's 3rd overall in Iraq. He wont get any votes in the kurdish north, he'll get some in the sunni west and may do ok with the secular shia in the south. but i dont see him getting more than the sunni list or the kurdish list.

Electoral Fraud Allegations?

Juan Cole talks a little about the allegations of electoral fraud on his excellent blog, informed comment. As he knows i dont agree with everything he says, and this is one of them. While i agree that there probably were instances of fraud, i dont think it was a swidespread as some are saying. What with the security situation being as bad as it is, i dont think these elections went to badly, and if there was fraud, all sides took part in it and the blame cannot rest solely with UIA. The first source he uses is The Guardian of London, a notoriously anti-religion paper (it's secular tone is highlighted by the fact that Salman Rushdie has an article with them). And his second source is one of Iyad Allawi's allies, who is most probably just displaying symptoms of that seasonal illness, sour grapes. Victims usually contract it during the chilly post-election period.

Allawi really makes my blood boil. This is the man who accused the current government of being worse than Saddam's regime. If that were the case, wouldn't Allawi have been tortured and executed by now for his dissent? Wouldn't his family have been charged for the bullets used to kill him? Wouldn't all the male members in his family be shot dead as a warning to anyone else who wants to challenge the government? There isn't a word in the dictionary to describe this man. 'Chutzpah' is the cleanest of the ones swirling around in my head.

Anybody want to see how lovely the baath party were? Here's the people Allawi wants to bring back to power.


WARNING. THE FOLLOWING LINKS CONTAIN EXTREMELY GRAPHIC LEVELS OF VIOLENCE: CHILDREN ARE STRICTLY WARNED NOT TO VIEW THESE VIDEOS.

http://inhonor.net/videos/uped/fl_video.php?f_num=83500

or how about this one.

http://inhonor.net/videos/uped/fl_video.php?f_num=76500

granted, this is from Fox News, but just concentrate on the footage from Iraq.

http://inhonor.net/videos/uped/fl_video.php?f_num=53800


I'm very sorry if anyone was disturbed by this footage but this is what Iraq is up against today. These are the kind of people waging war on the people of Iraq.

And Allawi talks about having compassion for them and allowing them back into government.

Thanks but no thanks Iyad.

Monday, December 19, 2005

violence returns to Iraq

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2005%5C12%5C19%5Cstory_19-12-2005_pg7_1


Again innocent iraqis are targetted, this time at the shia district of kadhimia in Baghdad. Why do we rarely hear anything in the western press about this sort of sectarian strife? lets be honest here, the shias are still suffering more than anyone in Iraq, yet all they focus on is the torture of people who admit to being insurgents. and the baathists have the gall to claim that the sunnis are being ethnically cleansed, even though they themselves massacred innocent sunnis as well as shias.

The sunnis of Iraq have to take responsibility for their future. At the moment they are being represented by either salafi extremists or baathists, and the kurdish and shia factions assume that all sunni fall into one of the two groups, when this is untrue (although some would say that the US army's policies have pushed normally moderate people into one of these camps).
http://www.mezomorf.com/week/news-9633.html

John F Burns writes a good article on this issue.
If the sunnis want to play a role in Iraqs future, they MUST condemn the sectarian nature of attacks aimed at shia holy sites and mosques. They constantly claim that before the 2003 invasion there was no such thing as sunni or shia, you were simply iraqi. The onus is on the sunnis to prove this claim by showing their solidarity with the shias and by condemning these attacks. Otherwise shia patience will run thin, and Grand Ayatollah Sistani and the US troops may no longer be able to restrain the long suffering and much provoked shia of Iraq.

Unofficial election results

Unofficial election results are indicating that my election day predictions could be accurate and that the UIA has a commanding lead.

The key number is 138 seats. anyone who has this has a majority.

these are the rough figures, as we are still a week or two away from the final official result.

The UIA have an estimated 132 seats
the kurdish alliance has 57 seats
the sunnis have 54 seats
Allawi has around 21 (around half the number he got last time)

apparently the smaller independant shia groups won 10 seats. if this is true the UIA could absorb these smaller parties and could rule without having to form a coalition although i doubt that will happen. Hopefully an alliance can be struck with the sunnis and we can have some degree of unity after way too much sectarian bloodshed.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Prime Minister Jafaari in Najaf, Pan-islamic coalition?



Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al jafari has been in Najaf, meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and Moqtada al-Sadr. In a joint press sonference with Sadr, he welcomed the high Sunni turnout in the elections, and told the sunni's that 'your brothers in Najaf, Karbala and Hilla have long waited to work with you'. A huge crowd turned out to welcome him, which disproves the idea that some have of Iraq being so dangerous that no politician can venture out of the Green Zone. Yes, Baghdad is dangerous but the south has been relatively peaceful, as has the north.

Look above at the picture of the Prime Minister in Najaf. See any shoes flying his way? any rocks? Does this look like it has been staged like so many of Allawi's photo-ops?

THIS is our leader. THIS is the man we trust, and we beg the West to understand that the freedom they claim to have given us must be respected. If you try to force Allawi onto the People we WILL NOT accept it. Iraqis will decide on the future of Iraq and no one else, and if we make a mess of it then thats our problem, not anyone elses.

Hopefully if the Prime Minister can secure some sort of alliance with the sunni's of Iraq then it may pave the way for a Pan-islamic coalition, and could pull Iraq back from the brink of Civil war. We hope that this is the case.

What Ahmedinejad was trying to say?

This is something i wrote a little while ago after a deep conversation i had with one of my (Iraqi!) jewish friends...

"l was having a discussion with my friend the other day and he made a good point and it was that, had it not been for the racist white supremecist tendencies of the europeans throughout the ages, theodore herzl and the other founders of zionism would never have needed to even come up for a plan for the jewish state. for hundreds of years jews were persecuted and treated as 2nd class citizens, from london to moscow. from shakespeares 'the merchant of venice' to the all out attack of goebble's propaganda machine the jews have been portrayed as evil rats, who plot to destroy the community they live in. this, despite the fact that wherever they have gone, they have contributed so much to the communty they live in. the jews in the middle east were treated better than anywhere in the world in their 4,000 year history. in iraq the jews were the ones who built the roads, hospitals and other infrastructure. they lived peacefully among the muslims for hundreds of years. this is down to the fact that islam acknowledges that the jews and muslims are natural semite cousins, through Prophet Abraham, due to the fact that Isaac's lineage went on to become the jews and that Ismael's lineage went on to become the arabs, and hence the muslims. the natural love between jews and muslims is clear for all to see, as true islam preaches love and peace between all humanity.
The golden age for the jews in europe was in spain during muslim rule! and then in came the 'christian' white men with their inquisition, and the jews were once again being murdered. anyway fast forward a few hundred years to Hitler and you get the straw that broke the camels back. even though the Holocaust was 50 years after theodore herzl started his campaign for a jewish state in palestine, it was just what was needed for the international community to be cowered into acquiescing to all and any jewish demands. the zionists then managed to bore into their faith and use it to further and justify their political goals just like the saudi royal family is doing to islam.

Now the zionists are committing horendous acts of murder and sabotage all throughtout the middle east in order to achieve their goal of greater Israel, from the Nile to the Euphrates. but we must understand that at the root of their evil lies hundreds, if not thousands, of years of persecution, which is now being taken out on the poor palestinians and the muslims in general. the emphasis is on the europeans to do more than just cower to any demand that israel makes. even though it is understandable that the jews are humiliating the european governments in this way, the governments must use their political capital to knock heads together to get a fair result for both sides, a real peace deal that is fair to both sides. Either that or they can give up some of their land to create a jewish state. It is unjust for the palestinians to be the ones to suffer the consequenses of racist Europe's blood letting."

Maybe Ahmedinejad was trying to make a similar point, which is that Europe is ultimately to blame for the Arab-Israeli conflict. It should be those nations who pay the jews the compensation they deserve, including a homeland, and it was a huge injustice that the palestinians had to lose their nation because of someone elses crimes.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Election predictions.

The UIA, Iraq's largest shia muslim co-alition is well ahead by all indications. the battle for 2nd place is between the kurdish and sunni arab list. Allawi is way back and may not even come 4th.

no one in iraq likes Allawi. there is this insistence in the western media that Allawi is really popular and that he will be the next PM. sometimes it's almost as if they think they know whats best for us. well to the Financial Times, which has desperately (and perhaps slanderously) been criticising Ibrahim al-Jafari for the last year, and to everyone else who thinks they know whats best for Iraq i say this:

Noone knows whats best for Iraq, except for Iraqis. WE will decide on our path and WE will decide who is the best person to lead us. It was condescending foreigners who came to enlighten us backward iraqi people about the merits of Democracy, even though WE were doing democracy thousands of years ago that got us into this mess in the first place.

you got rid of Saddam. thank you. now leave the rest to us. this election has met international standards, yet surprise surprise Allawi's camp is complainign of fraud. The only fraud iraqis are angry about is the $1.3 BILLION theft from the Ministry of Defence, by Hazem Shallan, under Allawi's reign as PM. THAT is the man the west is hailing as the best hope for Iraq.

According to the election results i think the majority of Iraq agrees with me when i say:
you can keep him.

US army in desperate shape,

This 'Baltimore Sun' report from fortwayne.com is quite interesting with regards to the make up of the US army.


WASHINGTON – "The Army met its recruiting goal for November by again accepting a high percentage of recruits who scored in the lowest category on the military’s aptitude tests, Pentagon officials said Thursday, raising renewed concerns that the quality of the all-volunteer force will suffer.
The Army exceeded its 5,600 recruit goal by 256 for November, while the Army Reserve brought in 1,454 recruits, exceeding its target by 112. To do so, they accepted a “double digit” percentage of recruits who scored between 16 and 30 out of a possible 99 on the military’s aptitude test, said officials who requested anonymity.
Last month, the Baltimore Sun reported that the Army reached its recruiting goals in October by accepting 12 percent from these low scorers, known as Category IV recruits. The Army may accept no more than 4 percent annually, according to Defense Department rules. While officials last month disclosed the percentage accepted in October, Thursday they refused to reveal the November figure.
“We are not giving out (aptitude test) categories during the course of the year,” said Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky.
Still, Army officials continue to say that at the end of the recruiting year, next Sept. 30, the total percentage of Category IV soldiers will be no more than 4 percent.
For more than a decade, the Army kept its Category IV soldiers to 2 percent of its recruitment pool.
But last year, faced with a difficult recruiting climate because of the war in Iraq, Army Secretary Francis Harvey decided to double the number of Category IV soldiers.
“We will be at 4 percent at the end of the fiscal year, that’s what matters,” said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a spokesman for Army personnel.
The increasing reliance on the lowest-scoring recruits is troubling to former officers who fear that the quality of the force will erode.
They say that the increasingly high-tech Army needs even more qualified soldiers. And with troops facing more complex duties involving nation building and peacekeeping duties, good judgment is more important."


This shows how desperate the US has become and shows the pitiful state of the army. with the chaos in Iraq the army has been struggling to meet recruitment levels for about a year.


talk about scraping the barrel.



and this is a gem from Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to the US:

Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to the United States on Thursday denigrated in an interview with the Washington Post the Iranian president's description of the Holocaust as a myth, saying the "horrific genocide" is a "historical fact" no longer in dispute, adding that the Arab world has "made our peace" with the Jewish state's establishment.
In the interview, Prince Turki al-Faisal said "As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, [the Holocaust is] a historical fact, you cannot deny that, and people should move forward from that."


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/658450.html



Made their peace? try telling the palestinians that.

Friday, December 16, 2005

God help us.

i just picked this off juancole.com.
cnn has a report which says that Abu MusaB Zarqawi, the jordanian terrorist leader in iraq, was arrested and then mistakenly released.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/15/zarqawi.captured/


if the most wanted man in iraq can slip through the authorities' hands, what hope is there in finding the other terrorists who do not wish to be celebrities in the way Zarqawi does.

God help us.

Ahmadinejad - Village idiot or political genius?

Following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's President, recalling ayatollah Khomeini's call for Israel to be wiped off the face of the Earth, he has followed it up by saying that the holocaust was a myth and that Europe should pay for persecuting the Jews and not the muslims of palestine. He suggested moving Israel to Europe or North America. He kinda has a point in this regard. I personally have several Jewish friends who i hold dearly and they are saddened, like me, that Jews and Muslims now hate each other even though we have suffered more as a result of European policies than anyone else.

Many have criticised the president for a lack of political nouse, saying his inexperience is causing Iran a great deal of trouble on the world stage and is inviting an Israeli attack (apparently scheduled for the end of march). But seeing how the likudniks have been planning this attack for a while now, i dont think his remarks really change things that much. i think instead he is playing up to the muslim audience around the world, showing them that the only nation that cares about the sunni palestinians is shia Iran. what with sunni-shia tensions boiling over in Iraq, he is trying to appeal to the sunni majority to create some unity of the Muslims and is also showing up the cowardice of the sunni Arab regimes which remain silent on the Israel issue, and who are indeed making tentative moves to a 'normalisation' or relations with Israel. when the Israeli attack comes Iran will have the support of the entire muslime world and no one will even say the words 'sunni' or 'shia', it'll simply be Islam against the aggressive zionists.

Ahmadinejad's tactics are reminiscient of Saddam Hussein's in the 1st gulf war when he shelled Israel to gain the support of the muslims. He was successful in creating an image for himself of being a strong, brave leader who was prepared to defy the west.

If Ahmadinejad is successful in winning the support and unity of muslims all over the world, it could even help ease tensions in Iraq, where the sunni arabs are deeply suspicious of Iran.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Allawi's political career in ruins?

This latest electoral prediction just in from Baghdad...

The UIA will win 120 seats, they are way out in front, with the sunni's and kurds battling for second. heres the juice though... Allawi is way back in 4th or 5th. if this turns out to be true then id say that, short of attempting a coup, his hopes of running Iraq are over forever.

News coming from Iraq yesterday says that Dr laith kubba, Ibrahim al-Jafari's spokesman, had offered his resignation in order to run for parliament and for there to be no clash of interst with the UIA. but Syed Jafari refused, saying that Kubba Could continue serving the government. Dr Kubba had wanted to run on the UIA list but would've been too far down the list to have stood a chance. so he started his own list which will probably be invited back into any governing co-alition.

Ahmed Chalabi will also apparently come back to the alliance if he gets a seat... he seems to have drawn votes away from Allawi, namely secular middle-class iraqis, and i wonder if this was a deliberate ploy.

the election december 15th 2005

i have just voted for list 555, the United Iraqi Alliance. The Inclusion of SCIRI has given me doubts as to the independence of this list but Dawa and Sadr Movement has tipped the balance for me. Dawa is the oldest iraqi institution, if you could call it that. Founded in 1958 by the Great Syed Mohammed Baqr al Sadr, it was set up to counter the influx of communist ideology. Syed Ibrahim al Jafari, a mujtahid, heads the party today and is currently the Prime Minister of Iraq. It advocated an Islamic republic but one very different from the iranian model. The Khomeinist 'wilaya al-faqih' model would not work within iraqi society, historically quite a secular society, and Syed Baqr Sadr's model is a much more pragmatic and accomodating system. He envisioned an Islamic state based on islamic social and economic principles, where people cannot be forced to believe. Instead they should be invited/called to islam (Dawa) and should follow the faith voluntarily.

His nephew, im sure we all know about. Moqtada al sadr led 2 uprising against the US in 2004, and draws passionate emotions from all sides... basically you either love him or hate him! i cant say i love him, but his uprising showed the US that if they were to provoke the wider shia community in the way they provoked him then they would be in serious trouble. his Mahdi Army were a small militia of poor shia from Sadr City, a Baghdad Slum, representing a tiny fraction of the Shia and together with the Sunni uprising had caused more US military deaths than any other time since the end of the war. If the US went against the wider shia community then that would have been good night for their project and i believe moqtada, along with syed Sistani's more peaceful approach, helped us get the direct elections in Iraq, which have lifted the shia majority in iraq to a position we have never been in before.


needless to say his militia has swelled and is responsible for security in large parts of the capital Baghdad, especially Sadr City, named after his father syed Mohammed sadiq al Sadr.

As for SCIRI, they are a party of old time Dawa guys, created, funded and trained by Iran. it remains that way today and while i support the Islamic Republic, i do not believe it has a place in iraqi politics, and i cannot support SCIRI.

but the UIA is not just SCIRI it is the shia list, i just hope it makes serious attempts to reach out to the Sunnis in Iraq. while i wish nothing but misery on the Wahabi and Baathist murderers in Iraq today, i refuse to believe that 5 million people are all guilty. this mindset is unislamic, racist and just wrong.

Welcome!!

hi and welcome to pray4iraq!

this blog is my place to get my message off to people about the situation in iraq, try to bring you what ever news i can as well as bringing in the views of others.

the blogosphere is full of iraq-related blogs, i just hope this one is informative!

will start posts soon but i have to go and vote!
to read more about me check out my profile!

Eisa