1 600 gefallene US-Soldaten im Iraq

Bush vows new look at Iraq military needs
 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, facing political pressure for troop cutbacks, said Tuesday he would make a fresh assessment about Iraq's needs for U.S. military help now that a new government has taken office in Baghdad.

Bush also said Americans should not judge what's happening in Iraq solely on the basis of the unrelenting violence. "It is a difficult task to stop suicide bombers," Bush said at a news conference.

Bush said progress was being achieved on the military and political fronts - as Iraqis are trained to handle their own security force and a new unity government begins works.

Iraq's government will assess its security needs and its security forces and work with U.S. commanders, Bush said.

 

 
"We haven't gotten to the point yet where the new government is sitting down with our commanders to come up with a joint way forward," the president said. "However, having said that, this is a new chapter in our relationship. In other words, we're now able to take a new assessment about the needs necessary for the Iraqis."

One of Bush's top aides said the role of U.S. military in Iraq will change as the new government takes place.

"This is a new, permanent government that will chart a new path for Iraq," said White House counselor Dan Bartlett. "Obviously, we will play an instrumental role in security operations, but as their capability grows and they centralize authority of Iraqi forces, our role will change."

Iraq hangs heavily over Bush's presidency. More than 2,450 members of the U.S. military have died since Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq more than three years ago. The war is a major factor in Bush's slump in the polls to the lowest point of his presidency. There are 132,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, and election-year pressure is building to begin troop withdrawals.
 
At least 40 people were killed Tuesday in attacks across Iraq. In Baghdad, a bomb exploded in the courtyard of a Shiite mosque and killed no fewer than 11 while wounding at least nine others.

Bush said Americans should look beyond the daily scenes of violence.

"If one were to measure progress on the number of suiciders, if that's your definition of success, I think it obscures the steady, incremental march toward democracy we're seeing," the president said in the East Room, standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"But that's the main weapon of the enemy, the capacity to destroy innocent life with a suicider," Bush said. "So I view progress as - is there a political process going forward that's convincing disaffected Sunnis, for example, to participate? Is there a unity government that says it's best for all of us to work together to achieve a common objective, which is democracy? Are we able to meet the needs of the 12 million people that defied the car bombers? To me, that's success.

"Trying to stop suiciders, which we're doing a pretty good job of on occasion, is difficult to do," he said.

Bush's comments came just hours after the White House had played down prospects of major troops withdrawals.

"We're not going to sort of look at our watches and say, 'Oop, time to go,'" said spokesman Tony Snow.

The establishment of a unity government in Baghdad has stirred talk of troop reductions by the United States and Britain, the two major players in terms of soldiers in Iraq. But with violence still widespread, both the White House and Pentagon indicated it may be too soon to make decisions on troop cuts.

"The conditions on the ground tell us that our job's not done," Snow said.

At the Pentagon, Brig. Gen. Carter Ham told reporters that he is unaware of any numerical target for troop cuts this year, and he cautioned against expecting major reductions before Iraqi troops show they can handle the insurgents.

"We want to do it as soon as we can, but you can't do it too fast," said Ham, who is deputy operations chief for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He cautioned against "rushing to failure."

Ham also noted that security conditions have been deteriorating in the restive city of Ramadi, where U.S. officials are not even certain who the enemy is. Some officials say the Ramadi problem argues against early decisions to cut troop levels.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's chief partner in Iraq, visited Baghdad on Monday and agreed with the country's new leadership that Iraqi forces would start assuming full responsibility for some provinces and cities next month, beginning a process leading to the eventual withdrawal of all coalition forces.

British media quoted an unidentified senior British official traveling with Blair as saying coalition forces should be out within four years. Blair and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declined to set a timetable for that withdrawal.

"We are there at the request and behest of the Iraqi government," Snow said. "We'll stay only as long as the Iraqi government wants us to stay there. But at this point, we are not going to harness ourself to an artificial timetable."

Blair will be in Washington for talks with Bush on Thursday and Friday about Iraq and other subjects, such as the impasse with Iran over its nuclear program and the deteriorating prospects for peace in the Middle East.

In an interview with al-Arabiya, the pan-Arab satellite TV station, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice indicated that no decision on troop reductions would be made until U.S. officials consulted further with Iraqi leaders.

"General Casey will sit down with the Iraqi military people, with Iraqi civilians, with Prime Minister Maliki himself to try and determine what needs to be done, what role we will play in the coalition forces, what role the Iraqis will play," Rice said. She referred to Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Tariq Aziz, a top-ranking member of the former Saddam Hussein regime, took the stand Wednesday as a defense witness in the trial of Hussein and seven co-defendants.

Aziz, frail-looking and said to be in failing health, said the attempt on Hussein's life -- a 1982 assassination try that spurred a crackdown against Shiites in the town of Dujail -- was part of a chain of criminal actions against the state and the government.

The former foreign minister also talked about an attempt on his life around that period in Nasiriya.

Aziz, who maintained that other defendants never mentioned the Dujail incidents to him, said that "no one is guilty of anything" and added that the enforcing of law by the government is not a crime.

He also compared the conflict in the 1980s to the instability in Iraq today, saying that if people in Dujail should be compensated for the destruction of their orchards during the crackdown, people in places like Falluja today where fighting has destroyed property should also be compensated.

Hussein and seven co-defendants are charged in connection with the detention, torture and killing of dozens of Shiites in Dujail. Nearly 150 Shiites, some of them teenagers, were executed and hundreds more were jailed in the crackdown.

Once perhaps the Iraqi official most recognized by Westerners, with his white hair, glasses and articulate statements in fluent English, Aziz is now in custody.

He was No. 25 on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis when the war began.

Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman reopened the proceeding on Wednesday with a warning to defense attorneys to act respectfully.

Near the start of Monday's court session, a female attorney representing Hussein in his trial on crimes against humanity was thrown out of the courtroom, only minutes after she had been readmitted after an ejection in April.

Bushra Khalil had to be physically removed from the Iraqi Special Tribunal after ignoring Abdul Rahman's admonition to remain silent.

In April, Khalil was thrown out of the courtroom after she showed pictures of Iraqi prisoners being abused by U.S. troops at Abu Ghraib prison and said to Hussein, "Look what they are doing to your country."

On Monday, the judge told her she would need to behave properly this time and remain silent. Khalil refused and removed her robe, throwing it in the direction of the judge.

Also Monday, Hussein smiled and laughed as a half-brother testified in his defense and compared the U.S. military's 2004 assault on insurgents in Falluja to the bloody Dujail crackdown on Shiites allegedly ordered by the then-Iraqi leader.

Sabawi Hassan Ibrahim told the court that Hussein was not an aggressive man and that he remained calm after the Dujail assassination attempt.

While not mentioning Falluja by name, the defense witness appeared to be referring to the western Iraqi city, which he said U.S. troops "wiped off the map" after four Americans were killed there.

 

lt. Pentagon:


http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf


füx  

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi troops will be able to handle security in all 18 provinces by the end of 2007 with additional training and equipment, the country's new prime minister said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki offered that forecast during a meeting with Denmark's prime minister, according to a statement from the Iraqi leader's office.

It is the second time in a week that al-Maliki has discussed a timeline for the handover of security responsibilities to Iraqi troops -- a development that President Bush has said would enable U.S. troops to leave.

With more training and better equipment "our security forces will be capable of taking over the security portfolio in all Iraqi provinces within one year and a half," al-Maliki said during the meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Denmark has about 500 troops in Iraq, based in the south.

More than 130,000 U.S. troops and more than 7,000 British troops remain in Iraq to provide security for al-Maliki's fledgling government, the first permanent administration since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

During a joint appearance with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday, al-Maliki said his government could take over security for 16 of Iraq's 18 provinces by the end of this year. The exceptions were Baghdad and the sprawling western province of Anbar, where U.S. troops are battling a stubborn insurgency.

The conflict has become increasingly unpopular in both Britain and the United States, where solid majorities of Americans in published polls say they disapprove of Bush's management of the war.

Blair is scheduled to meet with Bush on Thursday in Washington, and the president said Wednesday that U.S. commanders will be making "a new assessment" of the need for American troops now that the permanent government led by al-Maliki has taken power.

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Tuesday that the three remaining Cabinet positions -- Defense, Interior and National Security -- would be filled by al-Maliki within a few days. But he acknowledged "there is a challenge in getting the right ministers" for the sensitive posts.

White House spokesman Tony Snow tried to dampen expectations that Bush and Blair would announce any troop withdrawals, but he said U.S. and allied troops would increasingly take on a supporting role for Iraqi forces.

"I do not believe that you're going to hear the president or the prime minister say we're going to be out in one year, two years, four years," Snow said.

Tortured victims found
Continued violence in Baghdad and elsewhere Wednesday served as a reminder of the ongoing effort to combat an insurgency and sectarian violence.

At least four bodies were found at various sites across Baghdad Wednesday morning, according to Baghdad police. All had been shot in the head and showed signs of torture.

Also, a civilian was killed and three others were wounded when gunmen opened fire on a car in the Iskan neighborhood of northwestern Baghdad on Wednesday morning, police said.

In western Baquba, gunmen opened fire on car Wednesday morning, killing one person and wounding another, Baquba police said. Baquba is about 38 miles (60 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

An insurgent was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb he was trying to plant near the town of Tuz exploded, an official with the Salaheddin Joint Coordination Center said. Tuz is about 120 miles (190 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Three alleged "al Qaeda associates" were among seven insurgents killed by coalition forces in operations north and south of Baghdad on Tuesday evening, the U.S. military said in statements released on Wednesday.

Nephew accused of 'many crimes'
A nephew of Saddam Hussein was arrested in Beirut, Lebanon, by Iraqi security services, with the help of Interpol, according to the office of Iraq's prime minister Wednesday. Bashar Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti was one of Iraq's most-wanted men.

The office, when contacted by CNN, would not say when the arrest happened or specify what charges Bashar Sabawi, 35, faces.

Sabawi was wanted "because of the many crimes committed against the innocent Iraqi people during and after the ex-dictatorial regime," a press release said.

"Capturing the criminal Bashar Sabawi represents an important intelligence success for our security services," the press release stated.

"The Iraqi Security Forces will continue to work toward pursuing all loyalists to the previous regime who fled abroad and bringing them to face justice."

Sabawi's father, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, served as presidential adviser to his half-brother Saddam Hussein, and was No. 36 and the six of diamonds on the U.S. card deck list of the 55 "most wanted" Iraqis.

Syria turned over Sabawi Ibrahim to Iraq in February 2005.

Five months later, the U.S. Treasury Department blocked the assets of Sabawi Ibrahim's six sons -- including Bashar Sabawi -- to "halt the flow of money and resources to anti-coalition forces."

On Monday, Sabawi Ibrahim testified as a witness for Hussein's defense, saying that Hussein had been calm after a 1982 assassination attempt in Dujail. (Hussein laughs in courtroom chaos)

Hussein and seven co-defendants face charges in connection with the detention, torture and killing of nearly 150 Shiites in an ensuing crackdown.

On Wednesday, Tariq Aziz, once the public face of Hussein's former regime, testified on behalf of the ex-dictator and his co-defendants, saying the government acted properly in response to the assassination attempt. (Aziz on the stand)

Other developments

A U.S. soldier was killed south of Balad on Tuesday while serving as part of a team conducting operations to detect roadside bombs, the U.S. military said. Insurgents attacked his patrol with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The death brings to 2,451 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. During May, 54 American troops have died. Seven American civilians employed by military contractors also have died in the war.


The Marine Corps has launched an investigation into an allegation that its troops killed an Iraqi civilian west of Baghdad in April, the service announced Wednesday. Several Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, have been sent back to the United States while the investigation is under way, said a Marine Corps spokesman based at Iraq's Camp Falluja. (Full story)


Prosecutors in the court-martial of a former U.S. Army dog handler at Abu Ghraib prison, Sgt. Santos Cardona, are looking for Megan Ambuhl Graner, who pleaded guilty to her role in the prisoner abuse scandal. She recently quit her job and is no longer at the family home, a process server testified Tuesday. And because Graner had not yet been served with a subpoena, a bench warrant for her arrest cannot be issued, according to the judge in the court-martial, Lt. Col. Paul McConnell.  

LONDON, England (CNN) -- UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, fresh from his visit to Iraq, flies to Washington on Thursday for talks with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Blair is expected to brief Bush on his summit with Iraq's new prime minister Nouri Maliki in Baghdad, and their discussions of a possible timetable for the withdrawal of the multinational force, mainly composed of U.S. and British troops.

The two leaders will also discuss the Middle East peace process, following the Israeli prime minister's recent visit to Washington.

Blair is expected use the second day of his visit to make a long-awaited foreign policy speech about the need for reform of multinational institutions, such as the United Nations and the World Bank, set up after World War II.

Blair's official spokesman said the White House talks would also cover the controversy over Iran's nuclear program.

But he stressed: "The starting point will be the prime minister's impressions of Baghdad this week and the need for the international community to come behind the democratically-elected government of Iraq."

In Washington, the White House said it was premature to talk about planned troop withdrawals from Iraq.

Presidential spokesman Tony Snow said: "I do not believe that you're going to hear the president or the prime minister say 'we're going to be out in one year, two years, four years' -- I just don't think you're going to get any specific prediction of troops withdrawals.

"I think you're going to get a restatement of the general principles under which coalition troops stay or go."

Bush, Blair 'running out of time'
CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley, said: "Both the president and the prime minister have faced tough questions about faulty intelligence used to justify the war -- with words on record to haunt them. (Watch how Iraq has influenced the two leaders' ratings -- 2:33)

"The installation of Baghdad's new government has merely boosted demands for the troops to come home -- and both Bush and Blair are running out of time.

"For the American president, measurable progress in Iraq could be crucial in what's expected to be a hard-fought mid-term election battle.

"Tony Blair, expected to quit next year, needs to avoid the mess in Iraq poisoning his political legacy. But some analysts say, it is Blair who is taking the bigger political risk.

"They are not expected to announce any timetables this week. But few doubt, they'll be discussing an exit strategy."

Stefan Shakespeare, Chief Executive of online polling site YouGov, said: "In America public opinion has changed more as a result of things going wrong in Iraq -- the idea that it hasn't been very well handled. In Britain, the problem for Tony Blair has been less direct. It was a matter of trust. I think people felt lied to.

"Every time George Bush meets Tony Blair, Tony Blair's ratings drop. I'm afraid that from the UK perspective this is entirely a negative. People do not see him then as a big player on the world stage. They see him as a poodle to the United States."

 

Irak, Land der Witwen
Täglich kommen rund 100 dazu

Nicht zuletzt auf Grund der anhaltenden Gewalt wird der Irak mehr und mehr zu einem Land der Witwen. Wie arabische Medien unter Berufung auf eine irakische Frauenorganisation meldeten, beläuft sich ihre Zahl mittlerweile auf rund 2,3 Millionen. Grund dafür seien die Kriege der vergangenen Jahre (gegen Iran, Kuwait-Invasion und amerikanisch-britischer Angriff 2003) aber auch der tägliche Terror. Dieser führe inzwischen dazu, dass die Zahl der Witwen jeden Tag um 90 bis 100 steige. In der konservativen irakischen Gesellschaft heiraten viele Frauen nach dem Tod ihres Ehemannes kein zweites Mal.

Unterdessen entführten Unbekannte einen Richter aus der schiitischen Kleinstadt Dudschail, die eine zentrale Rolle im ersten Prozess gegen Ex-Machthaber Saddam Hussein spielt. Das Polizeikommando der nördlichen Provinz Salaheddin erklärte, Walid Ahmed Kurdi sei am Mittwochabend in der Nähe von Tikrit von Bewaffneten verschleppt worden, die ihm in zwei Fahrzeugen aufgelauert hätten. Das Motiv der Kidnapper blieb zunächst unklar. 1982 waren nach einem fehlgeschlagenen Attentat auf Saddam 148 Männer aus Dudschail hingerichtet worden. In der selben Provinz wurde in der Nacht zum Donnerstag zudem ein hochrangiger Funktionär der Irakischen Turkemen-Front zusammen mit drei Begleitern entführt.

Iraks Ministerpräsident Nuri al-Maliki erklärte, die irakischen Truppen würden die Sicherheitslage bis Ende 2007 im Griff haben. Die Situation könne dann mit zusätzlicher Ausbildung und besserer Ausrüstung in allen 18 Provinzen unter Kontrolle gebracht sein, sagte Al-Maliki beim Besuch seines dänischen Kollegen Anders Fogh Rasmussen. US-Präsident George W. Bush hatte erklärt, nur in diesem Fall könnten die USA ihre Truppen abziehen.



 

FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The former commander of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay urged the use of dogs to the "maximum extent possible" to control detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, but did not order their use in interrogations, a witness said on Thursday.

The testimony came on the fourth day of the military trial of army dog handler Sgt. Santos Cardona, who is accused of taking part in abuse of detainees at the Iraqi prison that the U.S. government blames on rogue low-ranking soldiers.

Defense attorneys are trying to prove that Cardona, who faces 16 years in prison if convicted on all charges, and other soldiers were acting on orders from their superiors.


U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, former head of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, was sent to Iraq to try to improve information gathering as the insurgency intensified after the March 2003 invasion.

Ten soldiers have so far been convicted of abusing prisoners, including sexual humiliation and the use of snarling, unmuzzled dogs in late 2003 and early 2004 after Miller arrived.

"All I can recall is him encouraging using them (dogs) to the maximum extent possible," retired Lt. Col. Jerry Phillabaum, who was in command of Abu Ghraib before September 2003, told the court in a military base in Maryland.

"I don't recall him saying anything about interrogations."

Despite evidence of pressure from above to extract more information from prisoners, there are few signs that senior army leaders or administration officials will be charged with condoning the abuse. The U.S. government was severely embarrassed when photographs showing prisoners being abused and sexually humiliated by U.S. military personnel were leaked in 2004.
 

Miller, the highest ranking officer to testify in the scandal, said on Wednesday he never suggested using military dogs in interrogations of Iraqi prisoners, undercutting Cardona's defense. Cardona is charged with dereliction of duty and assaulting and threatening Iraqi detainees with his Belgian shepherd dog.

Prosecutors say Cardona and another dog handler, Sgt. Michael Smith, who was convicted on similar charges in March and sentenced to 179 days in prison, were "corrupt cops" who terrified prisoners into urinating and defecating on themselves.

Capt. Carolyn Wood, who was an intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib, testified there were clear rules against the use of unmuzzled dogs handed down in a memo from Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and which were signed by all personnel at the prison.

"Using an unmuzzled dog goes against the CG's (commanding general's) policy," she said, when asked if she would have approved the use of dogs against detainees.

 

gerechtfertigt ist"...hört sich vernünftig an der Mann...frage mich nur, ob das die US-Marines nicht in der Ausbildung lernen...tsts


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Marine Corps general flew to Iraq on Thursday to tell his troops they must kill "only when justified," as the U.S. military investigated whether Marines killed civilians in two incidents.

The trip by Gen. Michael Hagee, the Marine Corps commandant, to meet with Marines at bases in Iraq showed his personal concern over recent allegations about the actions of Marines in combat, the Marines said in a statement.

Military officials were to brief members of Congress on Thursday about a criminal probe into a November incident in which Marines are suspected of killing numerous civilians in Haditha, Iraq last November.


The military has said 15 civilians were killed, while a senior Republican lawmaker put the number at about 24.

In addition, the Marines announced on Wednesday a separate criminal investigation into the role of "several" troops in the death of an Iraqi civilian on April 26 in the area of Hamandiyah, west of Baghdad.

"We do not employ force just for the sake of employing force. We use lethal force only when justified, proportional and, most importantly, lawful," Hagee said in remarks, intended for Marines in Iraq, that were released by the military.

There are about 21,000 Marines currently deployed to Iraq. A total of 717 Marines have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, the military said.

Hagee will emphasize a need to follow the laws of war, the Geneva Conventions and rules of engagement set by the military, the Marine Corps said. Marines are serving in Anbar province, one of the most violent parts of Iraq and the heart of the Sunni Muslim insurgency
 

"We must regulate force and violence, we only damage property that must be damaged, and we protect the noncombatants we find on the battlefield," Hagee added.

'BRINGING DISHONOR'

He said Marines had to be "doubly on guard" when engaged in combat, particularly counterinsurgency operations.

"Many of our Marines have been involved in life or death combat or have witnessed the loss of their fellow Marines, and the effects of these events can be numbing. There is the risk of becoming indifferent to the loss of a human life, as well as bringing dishonor upon ourselves," Hagee added.


"The nature of this war with its ruthless enemies, and its complex and dangerous battlefield will continue to challenge us in the commitment to our core values. We must be strong and help one another to measure up. The war will also test our commitment to our belief in the rule of law," he added.

The Marines' statement said Hagee will address Marine Corps officers and enlisted troops in a series of events over the next several weeks inside and outside the United States.

Last week, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said "approximately 24 Iraqi civilians" were killed in Haditha.

Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and retired Marine Corps officer, said military reports on the incident will show that "our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," including women and children.
 

wird da auch nur getötet, wenn es gerechtfertigt ist ?


MfG
kiiwii  

äh...ist diese Frage an mich gerichtet ? tschecke jetzt nicht ganz auf was du hinaus willst...

füx  

....quasi als Erinnerungsposten, damit Tschetschenien nicht völlig aus dem Blick verschwindet vor lauter "Ami-Watching"...

MfG
kiiwii  

Bagdad (Reuters) - Nach der Ankündigung des Iraks, bis Ende 2007 die Verantwortung für die Sicherheit im Land übernehmen zu können, beraten die USA und Großbritannien über das weitere Vorgehen.

Es wurde jedoch nicht erwartet, dass US-Präsident George W. Bush oder Premierminister Tony Blair bei ihrem Treffen am Donnerstag in Washington einen Zeitplan für die Truppenreduzierung bekannt geben würden. Am Tag zuvor hatte der neue Ministerpräsident des Golfstaates, Nuri al-Maliki, erklärt, Polizei und irakische Armee könnten bis Dezember selbst für Sicherheit sorgen. Dies haben die USA und Großbritannien zur Bedingung für den Abzug ihrer zusammen 140.000 Soldaten gemacht. Unterdessen suchten den Irak neue Anschläge Heim.

Die USA und Großbritannien wollen vor dem Beginn des Abzugs eine merkliche Besserung der Sicherheitslage erreichen. Dabei setzen sie auf Maliki, der mit seiner Regierung der nationalen Einheit gegen die Aufständischen vorgehen soll. Wie groß die Herausforderung ist, zeigte zum Beispiel der Anschlag auf einen hochrangigen Mitarbeiter des Verteidigungsministeriums in Bagdad am Donnerstag. Dabei wurden General Chalil al-Ibadi und sein Fahrer angeschossen und schwer verletzt. Am Mittwoch wurde Polizeigeneral Ahmed Dauod erschossen. Die Attentate gehören offenbar zu einer Serie von Anschlägen auf leitende Mitarbeiter des Sicherheitsapparates.

Dennoch teilte al-Maliki nach Gesprächen mit dem dänischen Ministerpräsidenten Anders Fogh Rasmussen am Mittwoch in Bagdad mit, Polizei und irakische Armee seien in der Lage, binnen eineinhalb Jahren in allen 18 irakischen Provinzen für Sicherheit zu sorgen. Experten bezweifeln allerdings, ob die noch unerfahrenen irakischen Sicherheitskräfte in den Konflikten zwischen verschiedenen politischen und religiösen Gruppen des Landes, das sich am Rande eines Bürgerkriegs bewegt, die Oberhand behalten können.


 

Konflikt gibts eben fast keine (unabhängigen) Nachrichten...drumm wohl auch keinen Thread und so...

füx  

...genau wie im übrigen "Darfur".


MfG
kiiwii  

yep; hast du natürlich vollkommen recht...ähnlich Somalia, Ost-Timor usw...aber wo keine (oder nur wenige...) Nachrichten sind da auch wenig zu posten...

füx  

wenn man suchen würde, könnte man sicher was finden...

MfG
kiiwii  

"Haben das Richtige getan"

Bush und Blair gestehen Probleme mit Sicherheit im Irak ein.


  US-Präsident George W. Bush und der britische Premierminister Tony Blair haben Fehler im Irak-Krieg eingestanden. Dennoch sei die Entscheidung zum Sturz Saddam Husseins und für die Demokratisierung des Landes richtig gewesen, verteidigten Bush und Blair am Donnerstagabend in Washington ihr Vorgehen.

"Wir haben das Richtige getan", sagte Bush, der die Misshandlungen im US-Militärgefängnis Abu Ghoraib als "größten Fehler" bezeichnete.


"Nicht alles wie erhofft"


Die Truppen der Koalition würden so lange im Irak bleiben, bis die irakische Regierung selbst für die Sicherheit des Landes garantieren könne. Mit der Regierungsbildung in Bagdad befinde sich der Irak auf einem guten Weg zu Stabilisierung und nationaler Versöhnung, betonte Bush.


Auch wenn in den drei schwierigen Jahren "nicht alles so war, wie wir es erwartet und erhofft haben", mache nun das ehrgeizige Programm des irakischen Ministerpräsidenten Nuri el Maliki Hoffnung auf eine positive Entwicklung, sagte Bush auf der gemeinsamen Pressekonferenz mit Blair im Weißen Haus. "Unabhängig von Rückschlägen und Fehltritten bin ich fest davon überzeugt, dass wir das Richtige getan haben", meinte der US-Präsident.


Formulierungen "missverstanden"


Die Misshandlungen im US-Militärgefängnis von Abu Ghoraib seien "der größte Fehler" gewesen, den die USA im Irak gemacht hätten. "Wir werden dafür noch lange zahlen müssen." Er habe zudem gelernt, mit Worten vorsichtiger zu sein, antwortete Bush auf die Frage nach den Fehlern, die er am meisten bedaure.


Manche Formulierungen - wie "tot oder lebendig" im Zusammenhang mit der Jagd nach Terroristen - seien in manchen Teilen der Welt "missverstanden" worden.


"Herausforderung bleibt enorm"


Blair betonte, dass kein politischer Führer im Irak einen raschen Abzug der Koalitionstruppen wünsche. "Nicht einer der gewählten politischen Führer der verschiedenen Gruppen will, dass wir jetzt gehen", sagte Blair.


Zunächst einmal gehe es darum, dass die irakischen Sicherheitskräfte selbst die Verantwortung für die Sicherheit im Land übernehmen könnten. "Die Herausforderung bleibt enorm", betonte der britische Premier.


Kein Zeitplan für Abzug


"Es wäre töricht, zu sagen, es gebe keine Probleme mit dem Militär und der Polizei im Irak." Dennoch seien die Fortschritte beeindruckend und ermutigend.


Die beiden Politiker, die in ihren Heimatländern nicht zuletzt wegen ihrer Irak-Politik mit sinkenden Umfragewerten konfrontiert sind, nannten auf Fragen keinen Zeitplan für den Abzug der Truppen aus den USA, Großbritannien und den anderen Koalitionsländern. Das richte sich nach den Fortschritten im Irak.


Eigenständiger Irak als Ziel


Maliki zufolge sind die irakischen Sicherheitskräfte in 18 Monaten in der Lage, für Sicherheit im Land zu sorgen. Weder Bush noch Blair wollten sich am Donnerstag dazu äußern, wann sie als Konsequenz daraus ihre Truppen aus dem Irak abziehen könnten.


"Wir werden mit unseren Partnern im Irak zusammenarbeiten", erklärte Bush lediglich. Das Ziel sei weiterhin "ein Irak, der sich selbst regieren, aufrechterhalten und verteidigen kann".


Über 2.500 tote Soldaten


Medienberichten zufolge hofft das US-Verteidigungsministerium, bis zum Jahresende rund 30.000 seiner derzeit 131.000 Soldaten im Irak nach Hause holen zu können.


Washington werde so viele Soldaten im Irak behalten, "wie notwendig sind, um zu gewinnen", sagte Bush dazu. Seit Kriegsbeginn vor drei Jahren sind mindestens 2.460 amerikanische und 106 britische Soldaten im Irak getötet worden.



 

kannst mir ja glaubwürdige (unabhängige) Seiten im Netz mitteilen, wenn du mal eine gefunden hast...stehe es mir bei politischen Themen hauptsächlich auf Reuters und AP, weil da von einer gewissen unabhängigen Berichterstattung ausgegangen werden kann...Berichte zB aus Tschetschenien kommen meist von russischen Nachrichtensendern oder von den "Rebellen" selbst und da kann man wohl kaum von glaubwürdigen Nachrichten sprechen...

grüsse
füx  

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded in Baghdad on Friday, killing at least nine people, police said.

Hospital sources said 31 people were wounded in the blast, near a bridge in central Baghdad.

The explosion underlined security challenges facing Iraq's new Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has vowed to use maximum force to crush insurgent violence.

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Iraq's leadership wants a steady transfer of security to Iraqi forces and no one in government urged an immediate withdrawal of U.S.-led forces on a trip to Iraq by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, an official said on Thursday.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said this week that Iraqi forces could take over security by the end of 2007, although Washington and London are concerned a hasty departure could risk civil war.

"No member of the government there asked us to withdraw immediately," Blair's official spokesman said. "What they want is a steady transfer of control."


Blair, who was the staunchest ally of President Bush over Iraq, travels to Washington on Thursday for talks about Iraq, Iran and the Middle East peace process

The spokesman said Blair would relay his experiences from Iraq, when he met the country's new government and agreed a troop withdrawal timetable -- albeit heavily conditioned on the ability of Iraqi forces to control security.

"The prime minister's main perspective in going will be the impressions he has brought from his visit to Iraq," he said.

Iraq's prime minister said during Blair's visit to Baghdad that Iraqi forces could take charge of security in two provinces next month and could be in control of all but two of Iraq's 18 provinces by December.

GREATER SUPPORT FOR IRAQ  
 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tony Blair may be unpopular at home, but if President Bush had his way, the British prime minister would stay in office until January 2009.

"My attitude is, I want him to be here so long as I am the president," Bush said with Blair by his side at a White House news conference.

Blair's authority has been on the wane since he said he would not seek a fourth term, while anger over the Iraq war and disillusionment after nine years in office have eroded his popularity with the public. Blair's Labour Party was re-elected in May 2005.

He has been under pressure to stand aside, with many in the Labour Party now expecting him to resign in mid-2007.



When a British reporter suggested it was possibly Blair's last official visit to Washington as prime minister and asked each of the close allies what he would miss about the other, Bush jumped in, saying, "Wait a minute."

"I'll miss those red ties, is what I'll miss," Bush said. "I'll say one thing. He can answer the question, don't count him out, let me tell it to you that way. I know a man of resolve and vision and courage."

Blair begged off.

"Probably wise not to say anything more at all."

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused Thursday to set a date to begin troop withdrawals from Iraq and said he trusted the American people to do "the right thing" in upcoming congressional elections.

In a wide-ranging interview with CNN's Larry King, the secretary acknowledged he was surprised at the strength of the insurgency in Iraq and that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found there.

"It was more than had been predicted," he said of the insurgency, blaming it on "imperfect intelligence."

"But all intelligence is imperfect," he added. (Watch Rumsfeld respond to critics -- 3:39)

As for a timetable for troop withdrawal, Rumsfeld said that timetables are often wrong.

"Once you start doing that, then you are stuck with a number and a date, and it just doesn't do any good," he said.

"[The decision to withdraw] is based on conditions on the ground. There's no question that it's our desire to reduce the forces, and we intend to, and the Iraqis intend for us to," the defense secretary said.

"The question is at what pace can we continue to go up to the 325,000-Iraqi-force target goal and what's the intensity of the insurgency," Rumsfeld said.

But Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and a decorated retired Marine colonel, said Thursday "there is no progress" in Iraq.

"I would like to hear a timetable for the redeployment of our troops, and a realistic timetable, because the slower it is the more we put our troops in danger," Murtha told CNN.

"Things aren't getting better on the ground," he said. "The economic situation is deplorable. Infrastructure is completely out of control. And look at the money. We're spending $9 billion a month."

At a news conference Thursday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush acknowledged that the war in Iraq hasn't gone as smoothly as they had hoped. As Bush dodged questions about withdrawing troops, Blair said it's "possible" they could be replaced with Iraqi security forces by the end of 2007. (Full story)

A new Iraqi Cabinet was sworn in Saturday, but three posts have yet to be filled -- Defense, Interior and National Security.

Once the new Iraqi government is fully in place, Rumsfeld said, the American general in charge of U.S. troops in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq would begin discussions with Iraqi officials.

"They will discuss the situation and lay out a plan going forward, and ultimately the president of the United States is going to decide" when the troops leave Iraq, he said.

"This is not a security problem only," the secretary added. "It is a governance problem. And as that government gets into place, if they engage in a reconciliation process that is successful and bring people in to support that government, then I think the future will be much brighter."

'Inadequate force'
Rumsfeld said that "history will decide" if the United States went into Iraq with the right troop level. But he defended the number of troops used, saying all the generals in the chain of command -- save one, then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki -- agreed with it.

"If you have too many troops, you run two risks," he said. "You're too heavy-footed, you're too intrusive, you feed the insurgency because you look like an occupying force. The second risk is you create a dependency -- you do all the work for the Iraqis instead of pushing them and having them do all the work.

"If you have too few, then the environment is such that the political process or the economy can't go forward."

More than 130,000 U.S. troops are currently in Iraq, and more than 2,400 American troops have died since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Rumsfeld's interview touched on several other issues, including President Bush's plan to use National Guard troops on the U.S.-Mexico border to combat illegal immigration; Gen. Michael Hayden's nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and the coming congressional elections, of which Rumsfeld said he had "confidence the American people will do the right thing."

Murtha on Thursday was sharply critical of the Bush administration's management of the war.

"They sent inadequate force in to get it under control. It's gotten no better," he said.

Murtha and Sen. Joe Biden, a Delaware Democrat, each said Thursday that Iraq was facing a sectarian "civil war."

"We have no plan to deal with the sectarian violence," Biden said, estimating that half of the Iraqi security forces trained by U.S. troops were part of a militia.

Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offered ideas he said would "leave a relatively stable government" in Iraq after a U.S. withdrawal.

"Come up with specifics that each of the parties should and could be doing now. Amend the constitution in a way that will get them all to buy in to the situation," Biden said.

"Insist on their pulling back their militias into their own regions. Give them an incentive to stay together and not be engaged in sectarian violence," he said. "And call a world meeting led by the five major powers to put pressure on all the neighbors to stay out of the game."

 

würdige" (sind das die, denen DU glaubst?) Quellen verlassen möchte, verzichtet man automatisch auf die Berichterstattung über sehr viele Themen, man blendet sie einfach aus...

Einen Tschetschenien-Thread halte ich mindestens für so wichtig wie einen Afghanistan- oder Irak-Thread; für einen Darfur-Thread gilt das sogar noch stärker...


Man könnte ja zur Lösung des Dilemmas Berichte beider Seiten reinstellen; der Leser kann sich dann selbst ein Urteil zu bilden versuchen. Was hältst davon ?


Weißt Du, der Punkt ist einfach der: Die Threads, in denen vermeintlich unabhängige und deshalb aus deiner Sicht glaubwürdige Berichte gepostet werden, sind solche, in denen es vorzugsweise um Länder geht, in denen die Anwesenheit amerikanischer Truppen den Journalisten (von Reuters oder app) überhaupt erst eine Bewegungs- und damit Berichtsmöglichkeit verschaffen.

Das kann man positiv werten, aber ob es unabhängig ist, stelle ich in Frage.
In jedem Fall vermittelt es den Eindruck eines anhaltenden "Anti-Amerikanismus" -denn nur die USA stehen im Fukus.


Und das ist in jedem Fall selektiv - zum Nachteil der ausgeblendeten und so in Vegessenheit geratenden anderen "berichtenswerten" Konfliktherde - und natürlich zum Nachteil der dortigen Opfer.


MfG
kiiwii