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POPSUPDATE: Al Qaeda in Iraq: al-Masri Captured: US Military Yet To Comment "The police raided this house and arrested him. During the primary investigation, he confessed that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Now a broader investigation of him is being conducted," he said to Iraqiya. If confirmed, the arrest would represent a major blow to Al Qaeda in Iraq, which has been on the run for the past year following a shift in alliances by Sunni tribesmen in western Anbar province, and elsewhere, and an influx of thousands of U.S. troops. "The commander of Ninevah military operations informed me that Iraqi troops captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajir the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq," al-Askari told The Associated Press by telephone. He did not have any further details nor did he say when the Al Qaeda leader was arrested. According to unconfirmed reports he was caught Thursday evening in the Tayran area in central Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
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POPSGermany plans to take in Christian Iraqi refugees • U.N. estimates 2 million Iraqis have left their country since war began • U.S. tells U.N. it will try to resettle 7,000 Iraqi refugees in United States this year • So far, U.S. has taken in 466 Iraqi refugees • New U.S. plan calls for $18 million for refugee aid, placement in other countries Because we certainly don't want them here. Create a crisis and let other take care of the messy leftovers.
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POPSWhittling Away At Shia Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
(continued) Al-Qaida in Iraq tried to ignite a sectarian war -- its now-dead emir, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, made that goal explicit in February 2004. Al-Qaida massacred en masse, to the point that U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D for Defeatist) declared the war in Iraq lost. Then, the Sunni tribes in Anbar turned on al-Qaida. Sunni political integration is by no means complete, but al-Qaida has failed. In August 2004, Sadr's thugs grabbed the Grand Mosque in Najaf. Sadr was counting on Americans to bomb the mosque. The United States opted to follow the political lead of Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Sistani's aides told coalition officers: "Let us deal with Sadr. We know how to handle him and will do so. However, the coalition must not make him a martyr." Think of the Iraqi anti-Sadr method as a form of suffocation, a political war waged with the blessing of Ayatollah Sistani that requires daily economic and political action, persistent police efforts and occasional military thrusts.
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POPS75% of al Qaeda in Iraq destroyed Another indication of our success in Iraq, democrats notwithstanding. 2008 will see Iraq free of al Qaeda and the new stabilized Iraq taking control of its own destiny and security - all thanks to the courage and fortitude of our troops and our magnificent President. The world is getting tired of islamic militancy, and I predict al Qaeda will be destroyed everywhere.
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POPSHoliday Surge Report No thanks to skippy for this "turkey". I'm positive he's just re-gifting that crap that GWB was passing around last summer.
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POPS Blackwater, USA The Maliki government is closely aligned with Iran. Some have speculated as to whether Blackwater was set up. The Ministry of Interior is not the Iraqi government. Rather, it is an entity made up of Iraqi police and the municipal branches. An oftentimes corrupt entity that has seen some of its members work with the insurgents to murder U.S. troops. The Department of State “after action report” makes it very clear that the convoy being protected by Blackwater at the time, was indeed under attack.
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POPSMore Profiteers, More Death Yet, with how close Blackwater is to Dick DeVos (brother-in-law is the scumbag in charge), right-wing nutbag and mass-funder of all that is evil in the universe (including Republicans), I am sure after some pressure, this ban will be lifted...let's see if I'm right.
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POPSBanned from Iraq: Blackwater Mercenaries More: Blackwater is one of many security firms contracted by the U.S. government during the Iraq war. An estimated 25,000-plus employees of private security firms are working in Iraq, guarding diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials. As many as 200 are believed to have been killed on the job, according to U.S. congressional reports. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee estimated in February that nearly $4 billion had been spent on security contracts amid the insurgency that followed the U.S. invasion in 2003 -- costs that have forced the delay, cancellation or scaling back of some reconstruction projects. Sunday's incident highlighted concerns in the U.S. Congress about a subject that one lawmaker, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, has called "one of the biggest gray areas of the entire war effort" -- the legal status of private security firms in Iraq.
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POPSPetraeus Political Ambitions Guide Decision Making More: Mr Khadim is sceptical that the "surge" is working. Commenting on the US military alliance with the Sunni tribes in Anbar province, he said: "They will take your money, but when the money runs out they will change sides again."
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POPSIraqi Ministry Gun Running from Iraly Al-Handal has figured in questionable dealings before, having been identified by U.S. investigators three years ago as a "front company" in Iraq's Oil-for-Food scandal. The Interior Ministry's need at that point for such a massive weapons shipment is unclear. The U.S. training command had already reported it would arm all Interior Ministry police by the end of 2006 through its own three-year-old program, which as of July 26 has bought 701,000 weapons for the Iraqi army and police with $237 million in U.S. government funds.
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POPSThis is the government Bush praises as being democratic.
Where is the revulsion about this matter? We keep hearing how this nascent Iraqi government believes in Democracy, and yet, right before their eyes, a minority group is being murdered and they are in total denial. Why has the media been silent about this? Why has this question not been asked of the president during news conferences. Are gays and lesbians just not really important enough to be of concern to the president or the media? This president stands and defends this Iraq government knowing full well, that they are murdering people strictly based on their sexuality. Al Malaki is no better than the other murderers that are marauding the country and killing innocent civilians. Let's get the hell out of there and stop defending this government. If their democracy and freedom is important enough to them, they would be happy to see us go so they can make their own country work. Of not, at the very least they should renounce violence against ALL of its citizens.
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