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Harith al-Dhari

Harith al-Dhari

Association of Muslim Scholars

Iraq-Jordan

At Large

20050705

Iraq

Iraqi lawmakers seek review of security forces

2009-08-22

[Asharq al-Aswat] Iraqi lawmakers called Friday for a review to find and fix acknowledged shortcomings in the country's U.S.-trained security forces that were revealed by a wave of bombings this week, including attacks on government buildings in Baghdad. Lawmakers also called for an emergency session of parliament to address the security concerns, the deputy speaker said, as anger continued to mount over the attacks. The bombings have shaken public confidence in Iraq's security forces and caused some to wonder if the security transition from U.S. to Iraqi hands is happening to rapidly. A bombing Friday at a vegetable market in southern Baghdad exposed more lapses in security. An explosives-packed truck used in the attack passed through an Iraqi police checkpoint but was not searched minutes before exploding at the market's front gate, an Iraqi police official said. Two people were killed and 20 were wounded. The recommendation for a security review came out of a meeting of Iraq's political blocs and the ministers of defense, interior and national security, said deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiyah. The meeting was called by the parliament speaker to look into the bombings Wednesday, which primarily targeted government buildings, including the foreign and finance ministries. The attacks killed at least 101 people and wounded more than 500. The attacks revealed "breaches and soft areas in our security system," al-Attiyah said. "This matter requires a comprehensive review of the system and finding the shortcomings in order to fix them." The lawmakers and officials called for compensation to be paid to those wounded in the attacks and to relatives of those killed. They also recommended the creation of a joint committee of officials from the interior, defense and national security ministries to determine how to better investigate and prosecute insurgents. The Iraqi government said it was increasing security at checkpoints near government buildings and markets and keeping concrete blast barriers around potential targets. While Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blamed Al Qaeda in Iraq and accused them of stoking sectarian violence, authorities have detained 11 members of Iraq's security forces on suspicion of negligence. New details emerged Friday about the attacks Wednesday at the foreign and finance ministries. The truck bombs were water tankers that were loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer and artillery shells, said Maj. Gen. Jihad al-Jabouri, commander of an Iraqi bomb disposal unit. The truck bomb that exploded near the Foreign Ministry held two tons of explosives, while the one that targeted the Finance Ministry held one and a half tons of explosives, he said. The bombs were likely built in Baghdad because it would be impossible to drive such a bomb from a long distance, he added. Clerics roundly criticized the Iraqi government during Friday prayers, calling for the prosecution of those officials responsible for security lapses. "If the government is unable to protect the people, it can get the help from the occupying troops who are the reason for this catastrophe in Iraq," Sheik Ahmed Hassan al-Taha said during services at Baghdad's main Sunni mosque. But Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Mohammadawi blamed American troops during a sermon in the city of Kufa, saying the U.S. wanted Iraq's security forces weak so U.S. troops could remain in the country longer. U.S. troops withdrew from Iraqi cities on June 30, and the recent bombings have raised fears about the readiness of Iraqi forces to provide security as the U.S. winds down combat operations. Under an Iraqi-U.S. security pact that took effect Jan. 1, American forces will withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011. President Barack Obama has ordered all U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, leaving up to 50,000 U.S. troops in training and advising roles. The U.S. military has not been asked to help provide additional security in Baghdad or elsewhere in Iraq, though it has been asked by Iraq for help in gathering intelligence and analyzing evidence as part of the investigation into the recent bombings, said Maj. David Shoupe, a U.S. military spokesman. In the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad, gunmen killed a bodyguard of a prominent tribal official during a drive-by shooting, an Iraqi police official said. Sheik Abdul-Rahman Dhahir al-Dhari escaped injury, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason as the others. Al-Dhari is the cousin of Sheik Harith al-Dhari, who heads the Association of Muslim Scholars and has been accused by Iraqi authorities of having ties to Sunni insurgents. Meanwhile, the U.S. military continued to release or hand over to the Iraqi government thousands of detainees nationwide, under the U.S.-Iraqi security pact. Among the latest released was Amer al-Husseini, who ran anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's office in Baghdad. The U.S. has not released any details about allegations behind al-Husseini's detention. Al-Husseini told The Associated Press it was because he was al-Sadr's aide. He pledged his continuing support to al-Sadr and predicted the release of other Sadrists in the coming days, saying the cleric was pressing the Iraqi government for their release.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iraqi insurgency supporters rally in Damascus

2008-08-01

The Association of Muslim Scholars, an Iraqi Sunni group staunchly opposed to the United States-led occupation of Iraq, vowed in a conference in Damascus this week to continue fighting foreign soldiers in Iraq. The association -- made up of political, religious and tribal Sunni Iraqi figures -- held a four-day conference that focused on ridding Iraq of US-led forces. The conference, which ended on July 28, was not organised by the Syrian government and Syrian officials did not attend. It was the first time that five-year-old association held its conference in Damascus. For some reason they didn't meet in Baghdad or Fallujah. Hotels must have been booked. Shriners Convention. Must have been it ... The association is a fundamentalist Sunni group whose power in Iraq has waned as Sunni groups have joined forces with the US to fight al-Qaeda and other radical organisations. Sunni Arabs largely boycotted Iraq's local council elections in 2005 and have limited political power as a result. But Sunnis -- who held power in Baghdad under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime -- are expected to participate in new elections which the US is pushing to be held this year. In the conference, the association remained steadfast in its support for the insurgency against the US presence in Iraq and the government in Baghdad, arguing that the Iraqi authorities are illegitimate because they were elected during an occupation. "What was taken by force cannot be restored by any other means," said Harith al-Dhari, the association's secretary-general. He claimed that the majority of Iraqis "reject the occupation and believe in the option of resistance". Dhari, who has expressed opposition to al-Qaeda in Iraq, was re-elected to another two-year term at the conference.

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Iraq

Sunni leader’s head in rectal defilade: “Sunni’s majority population in Iraq”

2007-12-15

'US is the main irritant in Iraq' By Ahmed Janabi Al-Dhari says the resistance has chosen not to engage al-Sahwa militias to avoid internicine fighting Sheikh Harith al-Dhari, head of the Association of Muslim Scholars, is arguably one of the most influential Iraqi Sunni leaders today. He's also on the al-Qaeda side, has been since Sammy was toppled. His unequivocal opposition to the US-led occupation and criticism of the Nouri al-Maliki government attracted threats against his life and forced him into exile. Lots of lives would have been saved if he'd been bumped off early in the game.

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Iraq

Official Blames Al Qaeda in Iraq for Death of Key Sunni Insurgent Leader

2007-03-30

A military leader of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group, was killed Tuesday in an ambush west of Baghdad, the group said in an Internet statement. Harith Dhaher al-Dhari died when gunmen fired rocket propelled grenades on his car in the Abu Ghraib district, according to a district official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals. The official said a passenger traveling with al-Dhari also was killed as well as another associate in a second car traveling behind. He blamed Al Qaeda in Iraq for the attack, but did not say how he arrived at that conclusion. The group, in a statement posted on the Internet said: "The 1920 Brigades mourns its martyr, the brave leader Harith Dhaher Khamis al-Dhari who fell today, his honorable blood spilled on the battlefield of his jihad (holy struggle) in Abu Ghraib." The authenticity of the brief statement could not be verified but it appeared on a site that routinely publishes militant literature. The killing of al-Dhari is likely to deepen the increasingly bloody rift between government supporters and opponents of Al Qaeda in the Sunni Arab communities west of Baghdad. The attack took place at a time when the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was making progress rallying tribesmen in the Anbar province, the epicenter of the Sunni insurgency, behind it in the fight against Al Qaeda, the deadliest terror group in Iraq. The government-backed tribal militias have been trying to chase Al Qaeda fighters out of the vast Anbar province. Al Qaeda has responded with bomb attacks targeting leaders and key supporters of the tribes allied against them. The killing of the insurgent leader also came one day after outgoing U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters that American and Iraqi officials had talked to representatives of insurgent groups hoping to draw more Sunni groups away from Al Qaeda. The 1920 Revolution Brigades has consistently been rumored to have taken part in these secret talks, which are believed to have been deadlocked over the demand that insurgents to lay down their arms and join the political process. Al-Dhari's father is the sheik of al-Zuba'a tribe in Abu Ghraib. Also a member of this tribe is Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie, who was seriously wounded Friday when a suicide bomber blew up his vest of explosives at the prayer room of his Baghdad home. The Islamic State in Iraq, an Al Qaeda-linked group, claimed responsibility for the attack on al-Zubaie, which killed nine people. In separate statements, al-Dhari was mourned by the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni Arab party, and by the Association of Muslim Scholars, a radical Sunni group led by Harith al-Dhari, an uncle of the deceased al-Dhari. Both groups have long been suspected of maintaining links to Sunni Arab groups fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces since 2003. The Islamic Party, however, is widely viewed as a force of moderation within the Sunni Arab minority, which is deeply embittered by the loss of its domination under Saddam Hussein. The association, on the other hand, has grown increasingly militant. "To be associated with the insurgency is an honor," the surviving al-Dhari told a television interviewer earlier this week. "We believe it trusts the association when it comes to working toward forcing the occupiers out."

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Iraq

Iraq weekly Status Report by State Department

2007-02-02

The Poster admits to ommitting certain portions of this document that did not conform to his own, personal agenda. LTG Petraeus Confirmed to be New MNF-I Commander: • After confirmation from the Senate, LTG David H. Petraeus is scheduled to arrive in Baghdad in preparation to assume command of Multi-National Force-Iraq. Although there is no set date for the change of command, President Bush said last week that he wanted Petraeus to go to Baghdad as quickly as possible in order to begin implementing the new US strategy for stabilizing the country. • In his confirmation hearings last week, LTG Petraeus emphasized the need not only for the additional 21,500 US troops, but also for additional resources and support from all government agencies in order to carry out the mission. Petraeus stated, “if we are to carry out the Multi-National Force-Iraq mission in accordance with the new strategy, the additional forces that have been directed to move to Iraq will be essential. Greatly increased support by our government’s other agencies, additional resources for reconstruction and economic initiatives, and a number of other actions are critical to what must be a broad, comprehensive, multifaceted approach to the challenges in Iraq.” Iraqis Claim 200 Shia Cult Fighters Killed in Battle North of Najaf: • According to media reports, Iraqi officials claim an estimated 200-400 Shia cult members were killed and more than 100 were captured in a fight between the cultists and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Coalition Forces January 28-29. • Open-source reports indicate the 24-hour fight broke out after Iraqi officials learned of a large number of heavily-armed Shiite-led cult fighters outside of Najaf and sent local ISF to investigate. US forces and Coalition air support assisted as the fight escalated, reportedly killing large numbers of enemy fighters, but also resulting in the crash of a US helicopter and the death of its two crewmen. News reports also claimed approximately ten Iraqi soldiers and policemen were killed in the fight. • Iraqi officials claimed January 29 that over 200 militants were killed in a battle between US-backed Iraqi troops and a religious group allegedly plotting to kill Shia religious leaders and pilgrims during a festival celebrating Ashura. • Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the raid was targeting a predominantly Shia group called the Jund al-Samaa, or Soldiers of Heaven, which aims to clear Iraq of temporal leaders in order to hasten the return of the Mahdi, a messianic figure in Islam. Iraqi Legal Authorities Trained on New Military Code: • Nearly two dozen Iraqi military lawyers selected to be military judges and prosecutors met in Baghdad January 20 to attend a three-week course covering the new procedures for court-martials and disciplinary proceedings that are contained in the new military justice penal code and court-martial procedures that the Iraqi Parliament will soon enact. Mayor and Police Fired in Diyala: • Approximately 1,500 police officers in Iraq's Diyala Governorate and the mayor of the provincial capital, Baquba, have been fired. Provincial police chief Ghanim al- Qurayshi said January 28 that the officers fled rather than fight when Baquba was attacked by insurgents in November 2006. • Qurayshi also said Mayor Khalid al-Sinjari was suspected of collaborating with Sunni insurgents. Qurayshi took over police operations in Diyala after his predecessor was fired in December 2006. Communications: • Throughout Iraq, insurgents have attacked water and electricity plants to spread chaos and disrupt progress, but they have allowed the communications sector to rebuild - primarily because they rely on mobile phones to plan their attacks. Iraq Women in Business Conference: • On January 25, USAID's Izdihar Private Sector Development Project organized the “Women in Business Conference: A promise for Economic Progress” at the al- Rasheed Hotel in the International Zone. Over 60 women representing NGOs, businesses and government agencies engaged in lively discussions of issues facing Iraqi women entrepreneurs, such as access to small business loans, NGO registration processes, gender equality, business planning, and microfinance. • One of the conference highlights was the presentation by the Executive Director of the Izdihar-supported Small Business Development Center in Hillah, an Iraqi businesswoman, who shared the experience of running a business association that provides consulting and training for local businesses. USAID's Izdihar project supports five Small Business Development Centers throughout Iraq. CCCI Convicts 11 Insurgents: • The Central Criminal Court of Iraq convicted 11 security detainees January 13-18, for various crimes including possession of illegal weapons, taking advantage of someone else’s legal documents and illegal border crossing. • The trial court found one Iraqi man guilty of illegal possession of special category weapons in violation of Order 3/2003. Multi-National Forces (MNF) conducted a raid of the defendant’s compound near Tameem, Iraq. MNF searched the buildings and found numerous explosives, including 35 pounds of ammonium nitrate. On January 15, the trial panel sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment. Iraqis Get Ideas From S.C. Prisons: • Iraqi prison officials looking to rebuild their nation's jail system toured a South Carolina state prison January 29, gathering ideas - including electronic door locks and an onsite license plate plant - to take back to Iraq. • A delegation that included US Justice Department officials and their Iraqi counterparts visited the maximum security Broad River Correctional Institution, where the Iraqis watched inmates make South Carolina license plates and traffic signs. Iraqi prisoners don't have a place to work, one visitor said through an interpreter. The plant enables an inmate “to help himself and his family. We can have productive inmates, not just consumer inmates,” said the warden of a Nasiriya prison, whose name was withheld by the Justice Department for his own safety. The group was also interested in the prison's security system, which includes electronically locking doors and video monitoring. Muslim Brotherhood Leaders Calls for End to Violence: • The leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood appealed to Sunni and Shiite religious scholars to work together to end Iraq’s sectarian violence. Mohammed Mahdi Akef’s statement was posted January 26 on the group’s website and called on Harith al-Dhari, head of the influential Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars, and top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to work for an end to the sectarian violence in Iraq.

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Iraq

Al-Dhari in Yemen for talks

2006-12-04

The head of the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, Sheikh Harith al-Dhari, arrived in Sana'a on Sunday for talks on ways to end violence in his war-torn country, Yemen's official news agency Saba reported. The agency quoted al-Dhari, who is one of Iraq's most prominent Sunni figures, as saying upon arrival that he would hold talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the 'tragic situation that the Iraqi people is passing through.' He said his meeting with Saleh aims at 'discussing a way-out from this dangerous impasse.' Yemen officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that al-Dhari's talks with Yemeni officials would also touch on a Yemeni plan to host Iraq's political rivals for reconciliation talks. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu-Bakr al-Qerbi said last week his country was negotiating with the Iraqi government and its opponents to convince them to attend a reconciliation conference in Yemen. The minister said the Arab League and Iraq's neighbours were also involved in the discussions but gave no date for the proposed conference. Al-Dhari has rejected an arrest warrant issued last month against him by Iraq's Shiite-dominated government for allegedly provoking sectarian violence through his public remarks backing insurgents. How do you "reject" a warrant for your arrest? Isn't such an action usually followed by a warning to stop or somebody'll shoot?

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Arabia

Saudi Arabia working quietly to curb Iran's influence in region

2006-12-03

Worried by Iran’s deepening involvement in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia has been working quietly to curtail the Persian nation’s influence and prevent the marginalisation of Sunni Muslims in the region’s hotspots. In every major conflict zone in the region - in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian areas - the Sunni kingdom has been putting its economic and diplomatic weight behind allies in direct confrontation with groups backed by Shiite Iran. Analysts say the tug-of-war between the two Mideast powers signals a new chapter in an uneasy relationship, one that has swung over the years between wariness and - at certain times - outright coldness and confrontation. On the surface, both countries have maintained the same civil front that has marked ties since a thaw in relations in the early 1990s. “But events on the ground indicate that the two countries are working against each other as their differences are played out outside their borders,” said Ibrahim Bayram, a Beirut-based journalist for An-Nahar newspaper who follows Lebanon’s pro-Iranian Hezbollah group. The vicious violence pitting Sunnis against Shiites in Iraq, the quick rise of Iran’s influence in that country, Tehran’s support for the militant Palestinian Hamas group and the events in Lebanon - where Hezbollah is staging open protests to bring down the Saudi-backed government of Fuad Saniora - have cast a shadow on Saudi-Iranian ties. In addition, the kingdom has expressed concern over Iran’s nuclear programme. Saudi Arabia is worried about even a peaceful programme because of the possible environmental threat - and fears of the Gulf getting caught in the middle of any fight between Iran and US troops stationed in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. A Saudi official says Iran has sent messages expressing its desire to work with the kingdom to resolve the area’s conflicts. “But the deeds on the ground are louder than those messages,” a Saudi official said. “That’s making us more cautious” in dealing with Iran, he added. It has also made the kingdom more determined to be involved in exploring ways to find a settlement for the upheavals. It has stepped up attempts to reconcile Iraq’s fractious groups and has invited several Iraqi leaders for talks, including anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Harith al-Dhari, head of Iraq’s influential Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars. It has also been talking to Iraq’s Sunnis to urge them to renounce violence and increase their involvement in the political process.

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Iraq

Iraqi Sheiks Assail Cleric for Backing Qaeda

2006-11-19

Sunni Arab sheiks from volatile Anbar Province denounced a powerful Sunni cleric on Saturday, calling him “a thug” for supporting the terrorist group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and urging the Iraqi government to issue an arrest warrant against him. The sheiks, the founders of a group called the Anbar Salvation Council, which they formed in September to resist foreign militants in Iraq, were reacting to statements that the cleric, Harith al-Dhari, had made in interviews last week in which he criticized Sunni tribal leaders who had recently decided to take a stand against Al Qaeda. Anbar, a vast western desert province with Ramadi as its capital, is the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency, with various militant groups working to topple the Shiite-led government and end the American presence in Iraq. But as the fundamentalist members of Al Qaeda have tried imposing Taliban-like rule on areas of Anbar, some Iraqi tribes have turned against the group, leading to a further fracturing of what at least initially seemed to be a united resistance to the American invasion. Mr. Dhari leads the Muslim Scholars Association, a group of conservative clerics that is outspoken in its criticism of the American occupation and the Iraqi government. In the interviews last week, he accused the Anbar council of trying to cozy up to the Iraqi government in return for money. “We, on behalf of the Anbar tribes council, say to Harith al-Dhari: If there is a thug, it is you; if there is a killer and a kidnapper, it is you,” said Sheik Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, leader of the Rishawi tribe.

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Iraq

Iraqi Sunni head says arrest warrant illegal

2006-11-18

The head of Iraq's most influential Sunni Muslim organization said Friday that the government's bid to arrest him was illegal, and his spokesman urged Sunni politicians to quit the parliament and government. The brewing political crisis threatened the Shi'ite dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and could provoke an even more violent surge in sectarian conflict as Iraq teeters on the edge of civil war. The new upheaval began late Thursday when Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, a Shi'ite, announced on state television that he had issued the arrest warrant against the leader of the powerful Association of Muslim Scholars, Sheik Harith al-Dhari, for allegedly inciting terrorism and violence.

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Iraq

Warrant issued for Sunni leader

2006-11-17

Iraq's Shiite-led Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant Thursday for the top leader of the country's Sunni minority - a move certain to inflame already raging sectarian violence in Iraq. Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite, announced on state television that Harith al-Dhari was wanted for inciting terrorism and violence among the Iraqi people. On Friday, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh played down what al-Bolani had said about the arrest warrant. "There was an investigation warrant related to the activities of Sheik Harith al-Dhari," al-Dabbagh told state-run Iraqiyah television. "This is up to the Iraqi judiciary system and has not political effect."

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Iraq

Iraq: Factions that prefer violence over dialogue are getting more isolated

2006-07-23

from Iraq the Model 50%? Actually I'd say more than that. Another sign that factions that prefer violence over dialogue are getting more isolated; this time the radical 'association of Muslim scholars' is being renounced by no less than their former allies in the Islamic Party. This report from Radio Sawa quotes Omar al-Jubori the head of the human rights office in the Iraqi Islamic Party as saying that Harith al-Dhari, secretary of the association of Muslim scholars was "responsible for 50% of the blood of Sunni Iraqis who were killed in Iraq". In his statement Mr. Jubori said that Sunni political and religious leaderships were wrong when they prohibited Sunni men from enlisting in the Iraqi police and army (Arabic audio available). I realize that most of you do not know Arabic so I'm going to pick excerpts from that statement, in a part I found interesting Mr. Jubori said: Sunni political powers now demand that American troops remain in Iraq for some time the American forces represent a balancing element between the people and the security forces that are not balanced in their sectarian composition the Americans should work on correcting this imbalance. [ ] Harith al-Dhari is responsible for 50% of Sunni deaths in Iraq, the Americans are responsible for 25% and the Shia militias are responsible for the other 25% and this is something that most Sunnis admit I kind of agree with the above statement but in somewhat a different way; it is probably correct that al-Dhari and his gangs were responsible directly for 50% of Sunni deaths but they are equally responsible for the other 50% but rather indirectly. Ever since Saddam was toppled the al-Dhari's association was involved in most of the violence in Iraq in more than one way; they allied with Ba'athists, Saddamists and foreign terrorists and provided them with shelter and support. They preached hatred and sectarianism and provoked violence that we saw in the form of attacks in various regions in Iraq that killed thousands of Iraqis. That's the direct way, the indirect way on the other and is that the violence they stirred left the US military with no choice but to attack at some cities and those attacks left a lot of collateral damage including the deaths of many Iraqis who were trapped in the crossfire of those battles like what happened in Fallujah or Ramadi or Mosul. Those civilians were mostly Sunni and al-Dhari is to blame for their death. And when Dhari and his allies send their gangs to massacre civilians in mixed or Shia neighborhoods in Iraq they had also invited angry militias to take revenge and murder similar numbers of mostly Sunni civilians. Same applies to Shia militias who I also want to hold accountable for civilian deaths among Shia civilians in almost the same manner. When Sadr fought the US military in Najaf or Baghdad he was responsible for the collateral casualties among civilians and whenever he sent his militias or death squads to snatch people off the street and shoot them in cold blood he had also invited Sunni extremists like Dhari to send their gangs to kill more or less an equal number of Shia civilians. What I want to say is that it's good to finally see Sunni political parties renounce the doings of fellow Sunnis who took the far end of extremism And I'd so much like to see Shia political parties do the same and renounce Sadr and whatever other violent factions within the Shia community. See, addressing the bad elements is the key to having good plans but in contrast with that you read reports such as this one from the Daily Telegraph (via Pajamas) that talks about some Iraqi politicians considering plans to partition Baghdad into a Sunni west and Shia east. That idea is totally unacceptable and is not inline with the reconciliation plan some of them ironically support. What these politicians are saying is equal to saying that people of different sects should reconcile but at the same time they should not come near districts of other sects! And what about the million Shia who live in the west, or the million Sunni who live in the east? Does it make sense at all to tell them to simply relocate because the government and the coalition cannot or don't want to put in enough effort to stop the fanatics form slaughtering them? What makes sense in my opinion is to neutralize the gangs that commit atrocities on both sides and that's the only plan we should have and implement if we still want to keep Iraq in one piece. Relocating civilians will be a humanitarian catastrophe and cannot solve the real problem because unless troublemakers are defeated or neutralized they will keep causing troubles no matter how many partitions are in place. Although late, it was a bit of a relief to see Iraqi and US commanders planning to move more troops into the Baghdad area (also via Pajamas). I was thinking the other day that military priorities of the US and Iraqi forces need to be reorganized according to the challenges imposed by the intentions of the bad guys to take over Baghdad. I mean why does the US keeps thousands of combat troops in relatively less turbulent areas that are of much less strategic value to the bigger picture!? This redistribution of forces should've been considered months ago.

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Iraq

Iraqi Leaders Support Murtha's Plan

2005-11-22

Reaching out to the Sunni Arab community, Iraqi leaders called for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and said Iraq's opposition had a "legitimate right" of resistance. The communique — finalized by Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders Monday — condemned terrorism but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens. Have any of the attacks fallen in that category? The leaders How many leaders? WHo do the polls say? agreed on "calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation" and end terror attacks. Now there's a plan! Why didn't we think of that? The preparatory reconciliation conference, held under the auspices of the Arab League, was attended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Did he support the plan? Was he one of the leadersand Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers as well as leading Sunni politicians. Sunni leaders have been pressing the Shiite-majority government to agree to a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops. The statement recognized that goal, but did not lay down a specific time — reflecting instead the government's stance that Iraqi security forces must be built up first. On Monday, Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr suggested U.S.-led forces should be able to leave Iraq by the end of next year, saying the one-year extension of the mandate for the multinational force in Iraq by the U.N. Security Council this month could be the last. "By the middle of next year we will be 75 percent done in building our forces and by the end of next year it will be fully ready," he told the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera. Debate in Washington over when to bring troops home turned bitter last week after decorated Vietnam War vet Rep. John Murtha called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and estimated a pullout could be complete within six months. Republicans And nearly all the Demsrejected Murtha's position. In Egypt, the final communique's attempt to define terrorism omitted any reference to attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces. Delegates from across the political and religious spectrum said the omission was intentional. They spoke anonymously, saying they feared retribution. "Though resistance is a legitimate right for all people, terrorism does not represent resistance. Therefore, we condemn terrorism and acts of violence, killing and kidnapping targeting Iraqi citizens and humanitarian, civil, government institutions, national resources and houses of worships," the document said. It's nice they can make the distinction. I'm not sure Zarq can. The final communique also stressed participants' commitment to Iraq's unity and called for the release of all "innocent detainees" who have not been convicted by courts. It asked that allegations of torture against prisoners be investigated and those responsible be held accountable. The statement also demanded "an immediate end to arbitrary raids and arrests without a documented judicial order." WHo's making arbitrary raids? The communique included no means for implementing its provisions, leaving it unclear what it will mean in reality other than to stand as a symbol of a first step toward bringing the feuding parties together in an agreement in principle. "We are committed to this statement as far as it is in the best interests of the Iraqi people," said Harith al-Dhari, leader of the powerful Association of Muslim Scholars, a hard-line Sunni group. He said he had reservations about the document as a whole, and delegates said he had again expressed strong opposition to the concept of federalism enshrined in Iraq's new constitution. The gathering was part of a U.S.-backed league attempt to bring the communities closer together and assure Sunni Arab participation in a political process now dominated by Iraq's Shiite majority and large Kurdish minority. The conference also decided on broad conditions for selecting delegates to a wider reconciliation gathering in the last week of February or the first week of March in Iraq. It essentially opens the way for all those who are willing to renounce violence against fellow Iraqis. Shiites had been strongly opposed to participation in the conference by Sunni Arab officials from the former Saddam regime or from pro-insurgency groups. That objection seemed to have been glossed over in the communique. The Cairo meeting was marred by differences between participants at times, and at one point Shiite and Kurdish delegates stormed out of a closed session when one of the speakers said they had sold out to the Americans. Ah, politics! Ain't it wonderful?

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