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The Iraqi minister of defense pushed the debate with the Iranians over their provision of weapons to Shia militias one more step on Monday. Minister Abdul Qadir Obeidi indirectly confronted the Iranians, without naming them, with new findings that prove their involvement in the arming of Shia militias.On Monday, state-owned al-Sabah published a statement by the minister in which he spoke of the capture of a certain type of rocket that was never found in militia-held caches until now: Defense minister Abdul Qadir Mohammed Obeidi revealed that army troops found a 200-mm ground-to-ground rocket manufactured in 2007 during a search...

The recent offensive operations taken by the Iraqi government against the Mahdi Army (Jaish al-Mahdi - JAM) of Muqtada al-Sadr have received much analysis and commentary since the onset. Each of the ensuing analysis and commentary offerings have agreed that the Maliki government’s military actions and the Mahdi Army response are revelatory in nature. But that is where the agreement seems to end, as there appears a divergence regarding precisely what has been revealed: Who has operated and enjoys the position of strength, Maliki and the Iraqi government and military forces, or the Mahdi Army forces of Muqtada al-Sadr, which...

A controversy that shouldn't exist. McCain was mocked by Democrats when he said Iran is supporting Al-Qaeda, that Iran would not as Iran is shia and Al-Qaeda sunni. That's a nonsense. Terrorist groups and states don't care about those things. They primarily gather to survive. The US used jihadists. The Sunni Syria is supporting Shia Hezbullah. Here is an excerpt of the arabic press, reported by Iraqi Omar on his blog Iraq the model, showing ties between Iran and Al-Qaeda : According to this report from Azzaman, Iran's revolutionary guard corps is supplying Zarqawi's al-Qaeda in Iraq with Russian-made anti-aircraft...

Thursday, September 06, 2007 Islam, The Solution...!? Yesterday Maliki went to visit Sistani to discuss the latest security and political developments with him. It's the kind of a move that reflects the government's persistence to let clerics make the political decisions for the country. As if they haven't done enough harm so far! Instead of reaching out to his partners in the political process from other groups he goes in the exact opposite direction and I really don't know what he thought such visit could do to improve his position, especially at a time when he's in desperate need to...

After being technically in progress for about over a week, Operation Imposing the Law officially started yesterday. Al-Maliki who's been on a tour in the mid-southern region announced the beginning of the operation from Kerbala. This choice I think delivers two messages; first it looks that Maliki was trying to show that the plan is solid enough and could go on without his immediate supervision and presence in Baghdad and that the military commanders are operating without interference from politicians. And second I think he wanted to say that even though the focus has been in Baghdad for months, the...

The past four days during which we were under siege were long and rough for Baghdadis. Anxiety and fear haunted us at our homes and a flow of horrible news made the prison feel even tighter…it was a material and psychological siege that will not be easy to forget. Thursday began differently for me, first thing in the morning I received very troubling news that one of our friends has been kidnapped. His shocked, terrified father came to us looking for any bit of information that might be possibly helpful in the search for his son who vanished a day...

Where do Iraqis stand from all the debate about Iraq's future, and how do they look at the expectations and recommendations being made these days? Iraqis are of course the most concerned and affected by the ongoing crisis but the continuous pressure and trauma made their vision so confused that they are drowned by the daily dangers and problems that compressed their dreams and thought and made seeing tomorrow's sunshine their top priority. The government stinks—that’s the overwhelming impression that is undermining the public's support for the government and its institutions. People are tired of criticizing and there's frustration about...

Hot and fresh from al-Iraqiya TV... Finally! The interior minister Jawad al-Bolani just announced that an arrest warrant has just been issued against Harith al-Dhari, head of the association of Muslim scholars. If you're not familiar with the name, al-Dhari and his organization are the only party that totally rejected the political process, never denounced Saddam's regime, explicitly praised al-Qaeda and is believed to be responsible for sponsoring a great deal of the activity of terror groups and insurgents loyal to the Ba'ath regime. Al-Bolani said the decision was made according to the 'national safety law' and anti-terrorism legislations and...

Well, well, well It's seems our friend Blair is planning to seek help from Syria and Iran to stem the violence in Iraq…I'm truly shocked to see this unprecedented level of impotent thought coming out from London and from no less than Blair. Take a look at this: Blair will argue the need for a Middle East strategy that includes making clear to Damascus and Tehran how they can help in the region while warning them of the consequences of hindering peace, a spokeswoman said . Not only that, he's going to ask Washington to do that same and it...

Baghdad is living tense hours awaiting the announcement of a verdict by the special tribunal against Saddam. First, the defense ministry announced canceling all leaves and vacations for all personnel then the government declared a curfew for tomorrow in Baghdad, Salah Addin, Diyala and Anbar. Baghdad's international airport will also be closed from Sunday morning "until further notice" according to al-Iraqiya state TV. Today, heavy presence of police forces is visible in Baghdad and a few districts like Adhamiya and Ghazaliya are, partially or completely, locked from the rest of the capital with roadblocks and checkpoint. However, the situation is...

(before the verdict) Baghdad is living tense hours awaiting the announcement of a verdict by the special tribunal against Saddam. First, the defense ministry announced canceling all leaves and vacations for all personnel then the government declared a curfew for tomorrow in Baghdad, Salah Addin, Diyala and Anbar. Baghdad's international airport will also be closed from Sunday morning "until further notice" according to al-Iraqiya state TV. Today, heavy presence of police forces is visible in Baghdad and a few districts like Adhamiya and Ghazaliya are, partially or completely, locked from the rest of the capital with roadblocks and checkpoint. However,...

I had read some arguments about how the war in Iraq and the war on terror in general are as critical as WWII or the cold war were to the western world. Of course the differences between those conflicts are numerous and obvious but they all are the same when it comes to the threats they carried/carry to the present and future of our world, and in all three wars the conflict was about eliminating the threat of extremely dangerous doctrines; fascism, Nazism, communism and now violent religious extremism and tyranny. I will try to keep this as short and...

America's sin...Hesitation. In the last post we talked about the biggest mistakes of Iraqi leaders and politicians and today I'm going to talk about America's mistakes. I chose this order for my thoughts because Iraqis with their mistakes contributed more to the current problems in Iraq than America did. America too had her share of mistakes that made things go in the wrong direction instead of helping out. Perhaps America's biggest mistake was the hesitation in keeping up the strategy of preemptive war. Yes, America used that strategy in Iraq but failed to go on, and instead of chasing terrorists,...

Among the things I cannot accept is exploiting the suffering of people to make gains that are not the least related to easing the suffering of those people. I’m talking here about those researchers who used the transparency and open doors of the new Iraq to come and count the drops of blood we shed. Human flesh is abundant and all they have to do is call this hospital or that office to get the count of casualties, even more they can knock on doors and ask us one by one and we would answer because we’ve got nothing to...

In the last post we talked about the biggest mistakes of Iraqi leaders and politicians and today I'm going to talk about America's mistakes. I chose this order for my thoughts because Iraqis with their mistakes contributed more to the current problems in Iraq than America did. America too had her share of mistakes that made things go in the wrong direction instead of helping out. Perhaps America's biggest mistake was the hesitation in keeping up the strategy of preemptive war. Yes, America used that strategy in Iraq but failed to go on, and instead of chasing terrorists, America stopped...

With every anniversary of the September attacks the Arab media reserve wide space to cover the commemoration of the terror attack with visible assertion from the media that what happened in 9/11 was a terror attack and no channel or paper would use a different description. Sounds good so far? I find myself compelled to follow the responses from Arab media and commentators in the hope that I could find a change, a review of calculations or a rereading of facts that is different from the previous. But the media is keen to disappoint me every single time because after...

Is it civil war in Iraq or is it not? And if it is, is there a way to stop it and if it's not, is there a way to avert it? Who's to blame for the sectarian violence and who's escalating it? And what role foreign terror groups like al-Qaeda is playing in this regard? Is it possible that foreign terrorists, with their numbers estimated to be between several hundreds to a few thousands, were/are capable of inflicting so much damage and taking the lead in provoking sectarian strife in a country of 28 millions? These are some of...

I'm back in Baghdad now after I spent a week in Cairo attending a seminar for bloggers and civil society activists that was sponsored by the Cato institute, American Islamic Congress and HamsaWeb. It was really an interesting and informative experience to meet and talk to people like Dr. Palmer, Johan, Zainab and Jess and the training designed and supervised by Dr. Shafeeq (head of the American University in Kuwait) were particularly excellent in exploring the potential skills of the participants. In fact what was even more fun was meeting that little crowd of active middle eastern young men and...

It's common wisdom to say that the war between Hezbollah and Israel is a regional struggle that also includes Iran and Syria, who have supported and supplied Hezbollah. What seems to be less understood is that this is the first war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel, via Iran's proxy Hezbollah, and that its overarching purpose is to advance Iran's ambitions to export the Islamic revolution throughout the Middle East. Thus, while religion has always played an important role in prior Arab-Israeli wars, this time it has moved to center stage. It is the theological aspect of this...

Although we have greater issues to be concerned about here in Baghdad I feel I must talk about the Arab media and its deception campaign and that's because wars in both Lebanon and Iraq are largely the same. In both cases the media functions not only as a means to deliver news but had long turned into an effective weapon that is not the least interested in objectivity or factuality. The Arab media shamelessly sided with terrorism (or resistance from their perspective) and this propaganda machine funded by the evil powers in our region continues poisoning the minds of their...

Does the CNN have problems with translation from Arabic to English or is it a case of deliberate twisting of facts? Yesterday Iraq's and Iran's foreign ministers had a joint press conference in Baghdad after which the CNN ran a headline that reads "Iraqi minister defends Iranian nuclear program" and wrote: Iran has a right to develop nuclear technology and the international community should drop its demands that Tehran prove it's not trying to build a nuclear weapon, Iraq's foreign minister said Friday. […] "Iran doesn't claim that they want to obtain a nuclear weapon or a nuclear bomb, so...

Last week we stopped writing for a while and we apologized to our readers saying that we lost a close friend but we didn't want to give more details as we were overwhelmed by an exceptional situation and a huge shock. We also were afraid from writing more about this subject for security concerns but now I think I must share this with you as it's part of the pain and suffering my nation is going through. Last week our little and peaceful family was struck by the tragic loss of one of its members in a savage criminal act...

A new massacre has struck Baghdad when three suicide bombers attacked the Buratha mosque in Baghdad this afternoon. "More than 70 people were killed and more than 150 were injured" a doctor from Baghdad's medical city told me in a phone call. A closer look at the targeted mosque makes me think that the ramifications of this massacre can possibly be much worse than the immediate death and pain this terror attack brought, the Buratha mosque is not an ordinary mosque, it has a special religious value for Shia Iraqis as it's thought to be one of the places where...

The reason why they chose 'Buratha' A new massacre has struck Baghdad when three suicide bombers attacked the Buratha mosque in Baghdad this afternoon. "More than 70 people were killed and more than 150 were injured" a doctor from Baghdad's medical city told me in a phone call. A closer look at the targeted mosque makes me think that the ramifications of this massacre can possibly be much worse than the immediate death and pain this terror attack brought, the Buratha mosque is not an ordinary mosque, it has a special religious value for Shia Iraqis as it's thought to...

It has been three years since 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' began and for three years we debated whether the decision was right or wrong and until this moment we have different feelings and opinions about where this operation brought us and where its aftermaths are going to lead us. This disputed operation no doubt had-and will continue to have-major effects on the future of the region and the rest of the world and it's not limited to the boundaries of Iraq; a fact that makes rational debate legitimate by all standards. To me, each anniversary brings emotions, thoughts and expectations; some...

Monday, March 20, 2006 The third anniversary...sacrifice, fear and hopeIt has been three years since 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' began and for three years we debated whether the decision was right or wrong and until this moment we have different feelings and opinions about where this operation brought us and where its aftermaths are going to lead us. This disputed operation no doubt had-and will continue to have-major effects on the future of the region and the rest of the world and it's not limited to the boundaries of Iraq; a fact that makes rational debate legitimate by all standards....

I was just about to leave home to work when I heard a big bang… Uh, oh…I won't be able to reach the clinic today, I told Mohammed. The explosion was probably less than a mile away so I knew the roads around us would be soon blocked. And minutes later I found they were. I decided to go back to bed but then I heard that a new session of Saddam's trial was scheduled for today. Recalling the past few sessions, I thought that was a good idea to watch while lying on the couch as it would soon...

As the Iraqi website Iraq The Model suggested yesterday, the world is waking up to the very real possibility that the extensive violence we are seeing linked to the Danish cartoons depicting the prophet, Muhammed, was a setup. Believable suggestions are being made that these violent protests have been arranged to offset European and American pressures to 1. stop Iran’s development of nuclear weapons (God help us), 2. get Syria entirely out of Lebanon, and 3. reduce or stop financial aid to a Palestine government controlled by Hamas. iraqthemodel.blogspot.com What we have learned overnight is that three additional cartoons which...

You have to click on each one to see the whole cartoon and a translation, but go here to see what has caused the Muslim world to explode. http://www.humaneventsonline.com/sarticle.php?id=12146 When the US government funded an artist who showed the Crucifix in a jar of urine, one of our methods of peaceful protest was to elect a Republican Congress; but let ‘Newsweek’ file a phony report on flushing a Koran, or let some cartoons refer to Islam’s prophet, Muhammed, in ways that link him to violence, and the Muslim world goes violently crazy. It is really ludicrous because the acts of...

An analysis of secular Iraqi bloggers' take on the rise of Islamic parties in recent Middle East elections and other stuff they disagree on. Money Quote:"Before I go on, I have one more observation: The attitude of defeatism and paranoia and moral affrontery among many Iraqi bloggers writing in English (most of whom are educated, non-religious, and strongly backed Allawi) reminds me of the feelings among Anybody But Bush Democrats in the 2004 American Presidential election. Both were convinced that they morally, culturally and intellectually superior to those who voted differently. Both were -- as election day approached-- convinced that...

Is it possible for democracy to succeed here? And is the struggle to change our backward present and catch up with the modern world a losing one? Are we really ready to change ourselves and replace the old ways of violence and hatred with tolerance and dialogue for a better future? And do we deserve help from the world in our battle?..... These questions and others are insistently looking for answers especially after seeing the results of the latest elections in more than one spot in the region; these results shown that Islamists have the advantage and it shown the...

The Suuni choose Allawi as their leader, the Kurds unite their administrations. Stage two of the current phase of the political in Iraq which we anticipated a few days ago has just begun and its beginning is marked by the emergence of a new large political bloc. The new bloc was announced today in Baghdad after the largest three blocs of Maram-the Iraqi list, the Accord Front and al-Mutlaq’s Dialogue Front-signed an agreement to form one unified political body. This agreement will grant the new political body a significant political weight with a total of approximately 80 seats in the...

It’s become clear from the active shuttle-like movement of the rival parties and mediators that the intensity of the political crisis began to subside compared to how things looked like a week ago. In spite of the violence that disturbed Baghdad this morning, the rival parties resumed their meetings and talks with some politicians playing the role of mediators; the most prominent of whom is President Talabani and even in the two main competing camps we’re hearing moderate voices emerge to propose solutions like the Virtue Party from the UIA and al-Mutlaq from Maram.

I think most of you have seen the disturbing results of the elections after the commission completed counting 90% of the votes. I think the announcement was due to pressures on the commission which also chose to show the results of the Sunni provinces apparently to calm the Accord Front down a bit as the Front achieved good results in those provinces. Today we heard that a delegation of Hachim al-Hasani (chairman of the National Assembly), Mowafaq al-Rubai’i (national security advisor) and Barham Salih (planning minister, a Kurd) went to the Accord Front to talk to them and convince them...

All Freepers and lurkers in good standing are invited to join the D.C. Chapter of Free Republic at our rally this Saturday afternoon in front of the White House to celebrate the Iraqi elections held this year.The rally is being organized by D.C. Chapter member Iraqikurd and others in the chapter. He has invited speakers from the Iraqi and Muslim community including Sheikh Ahmed Subhi, Kamal Nawash (Free Muslims Coalition), and Suhaib Albaraniji.The rally has been endorsed by the Iraq the Model blog (#1 voted mid-east blog).Please join us as we celebrate freedom in Iraq, denounce terrorism and thank President...

The voting has begun! (updated) Voting in Iraq’s second parliamentary elections has begun this morning; this coincides with the deadline for all campaigning activities by all lists and parties who are required now to enter “electoral silence”.The first votes are coming from army bases, detention centers and hospitals. The presence of representatives from different political bodies was strong in the voting centers we have seen on TV so far. The political bodies used SMS technology for campaigning for the first time; more than 20 lists and parties sent hundreds of thousands of messages via cell phones throughout the country; I...

Iraq the Model goes deep inside the Iraqi election By Mohammed of Iraq the Model, for Pajamas Media In spite of the wide variety of political bodies competing in the December elections, making speculations and estimations is not difficult at all when one realizes that most Iraqis will follow their emotions, rather than minds, when they vote. There will be little serious interest in exploring the platforms and programs of candidates and parties. Although we see more people and local media interviewing politicians and asking questions about programs and platforms, this increase in political awareness still cannot be considered the...

In spite of the wide variety of political bodies competing in the December elections, making speculations and estimations is not difficult at all when one realizes that most Iraqis will follow their emotions, rather than minds, when they vote. There will be little serious interest in exploring the platforms and programs of candidates and parties. Although we see more people and local media interviewing politicians and asking questions about programs and platforms, this increase in political awareness still cannot be considered the definitive method Iraqis will use to choose representatives. Sectarian or ethnic loyalties will still have a greater role...

IRAQ THE MODEL Assessment of the Arab League Conference Monday, November 21, 2005 On the Cairo conference and its final statement... The preparatory Cairo conference for reconciliation ended with a final statement that came at the last minutes after there were doubts an agreement on one could be reached if not for the Arabic language that is pretty good at twisting and playing on the meanings of texts. The conference itself is viewed as an accomplishment for the Arab League let alone reaching a final statement that satisfied all parties without much troubles. In my opinion, the Iraqi parties had...

November 11, 2005, 8:22 a.m. I Never Knew His Name The true face of Muslim martyrdom. By Chaplain Carlos C. Huerta Mosul, Iraq — It is October 11 as I write this, the day before Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement is supposed to be a day of fast, reflection, and prayer for the Jews: a time when I reflect on my own actions and intentions from the previous year. But the images I carry into my fast are sad ones, of someone else’s child, a Muslim child. There is blood spattered on my uniform despite the fact that I...

Let justice be served. While Baghdad’s streets were nearly empty, most Iraqis were glued to the TV and I bet many Arabs were as well. Our place was full of full of friends today as we decided we would watch the trial together just like we lived what led to this day together; the first thing we noticed was that electricity was much better today and I don’t know if that was an exceptions made to allow more people to watch the awaited show but anyway we already prepared for outages and stored enough fuel for the generator. We all...

The information in the story below was collected from the popular Iraqi web blog, IraqTheModel. This Iraqi blog creator, Omar, met and interviewed in December of 2003 one of the survivors personally affected by Sadddam’s crime against the people of Al-Dijail. Omar writes in his most recent October 18th, 2005 blog that he hopes this story will help you the reader understand this town and its' story; and turns back the clock to the early days of his blog when he interviewed a survivor who as a child lived in Al-Dijaile. Omar's entitled his blog report: "War and Peace" and...

Al-Jazeera's reporter in Spain, Tayseer Alluni has just been sentenced to seven years in jail after a Madrid court found him guilty of joining a terror cell and facilitating money laundry. This is bad news for Al-jazeera who's been defending and campaigning to protect their reporter and they obviously failed in eluding justice but the question that we must think about is; was Alluni working on his own using his media credentials as a cover or could it be that Al-jazeera itself is involved? It seems that twisting facts, biased coverage and supporting the terrorists morally aren't giving some media...

One of the major reasons for our efforts in Iraq was to change the dynamics of the Arab world by introducing democracy in one of its most significant states, Iraq. Even though Katrina is on everyone’s minds, it is hard to understand why the Washington Post would bury this story on page 24. The new surge in registrations deals a terrific defeat to the Zarqawi terror network, which has repeatedly warned of their intent to target anyone who participates in democracy. Even if the Sunnis manage to vote down the new Iraqi constitution and force a delay in the whole...

Mohammed over at iraqthemodel.blogspot.com seems claifies a very important point that the AP missed in their "Anti-sadr and Pro-sadr forces clash in Najaf" story. That the "anti-Sadr" forces were the citizens of Najaf who remembered 'last time' and didn't want him coming back. (bonus for more examples of 'militants' using holy sites to 'hide' in) ------------------------------------------ Wednesday, August 24, 2005 Muqtada's office in Najaf is on fire. Right now there are bloody clashes in Najaf between the supporters of Muqtada Al-Sadr and the residents of the city. The clashes started after Al-Sadr men tried to reopen their office which has...

I realize how tragic your loss is and I know how much pain there is crushing your heart and I know the darkness that suddenly came to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams and I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your question; why you lost your loved one? I have heard your story and I understand that you have the full right to ask people to stand by your side and support your cause. At the beginning I told myself, this is yet another woman who lost...

A message to Cindy Sheehan I realize how tragic your loss is and I know how much pain there is crushing your heart and I know the darkness that suddenly came to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams and I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your question; why you lost your loved one? I have heard your story and I understand that you have the full right to ask people to stand by your side and support your cause. At the beginning I told myself, this is...

IRAQ THE MODEL Friday, August 12, 2005 A message to Cindy Sheehan I realize how tragic your loss is and I know how much pain there is crushing your heart and I know the darkness that suddenly came to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams and I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your question; why you lost your loved one? I have heard your story and I understand that you have the full right to ask people to stand by your side and support your cause. At...

I realize how tragic your loss is and I know how much pain there is crushing your heart and I know the darkness that suddenly came to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams and I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your question; why you lost your loved one? I have heard your story and I understand that you have the full right to ask people to stand by your side and support your cause. At the beginning I told myself, this is yet another woman who lost...

Tuesday, August 09, 2005 http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/ And the protests for a civil constitution continue... This was the headline in the announcement that called for today's women protest in Baghdad. In spite of the heat and the dust that's covering Baghdad for the 2nd day, more than a hundred Iraqi women representing NGOs and active groups gathered to declare their demands in equality and a civil family and personal affairs law. The women set a large tent in Al-Firdows square which witnessed the fall of Saddam in April 2003. Under this icon of freedom the women held their signs and demands high....