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Dozens killed in Baghdad attacks

At least 54 people have been killed by two bomb attacks in the Karada shopping area in the centre of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, security officials say.

The blasts left another 130 people injured, the officials said.

A witness at the scene described people holding body parts and a woman crying as rescuers searched for her sons.

The BBC's Hugh Sykes in Baghdad said the second bomb targeted crowds gathered at the site of the first, causing the high death toll.

He says there are no obvious military targets in the area, and local residents were out shopping ahead of the Iraqi weekend in fine spring weather when the bombs exploded.

A roadside bomb exploded first in the predominantly Shia area, followed a few minutes later by a second blast caused by a suicide bomber, police said.

Many of the victims were teenagers and young adults.

Hassan Abdullah, 25, told AP he was standing near the clothing shop he owns when the first explosion went off about 150 metres away.

He was walking towards the scene when the second explosion struck.

"I saw a leg and a hand falling near me as I was walking. The whole place was a mess," he said.

"Wounded people were crying for help and people started to run away."

Our correspondent says attacks like this used to occur almost daily but have become much less common in recent months.

However, Iraqi government figures this week showed that the number of Iraqi civilians killed in February was a third higher than in January.

The figures reversed the six-month-long trend of falling death tolls attributed to a surge in US troop numbers, the formation of anti-al-Qaeda militias by Sunni Arab tribes and a freeze in activities of the Mehdi Army militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr.

US Iraq troops 'insult to region'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the presence of foreign forces in Iraq is a humiliation and an insult to the region.

On the second day of a visit to Iraq, he said major powers should not be interfering in the region's affairs.

Mr Ahmadinejad called for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops.

It is the first-ever visit to Iraq by an Iranian president. The two countries fought an eight-year war when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980.

Mr Ahmadinejad did not mention the US by name, but Washington still has more than 150,000 soldiers based in Iraq, nearly five years after it led the 2003 invasion.

The Iranian president and his Iraqi counterpart, Jalal Talabani, on Monday signed a number of co-operation agreements on trade and transport.

"Without the presence of the foreign troops the region will live in peace and brotherhood," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

"We believe that the forces that came from overseas and travelled thousands of kilometres to reach here must leave the region, and must hand over responsibility to people of the region," he said.

Mr Ahmadinejad made these comments in response to questions from Iraqi and foreign journalists.

BBC Baghdad correspondent Jim Muir says Mr Ahmadinejad's comments did not amount to a strident call for an immediate American withdrawal.

HAVE YOUR SAY This is a historic opportunity for Iraq and Iran to bury the venom of the past. Rajendra Aneja, Dubai, UAE
He knows his Iraqi hosts are about to negotiate a long term strategic accord with the US that would keep troops here long enough to ensure the Baghdad government's survival against both internal and external threats.

Our correspondent says Mr Ahmadinejad's visit could not contrast more strongly with those of Iraq's only other presidential visitor since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, President Bush, whose trips have been unannounced, brief and confined to American military bases.

Mr Ahmadinejad arrived in Iraq on Sunday.

He accused the US of bringing terrorism to the region, called on Washington to change its standpoint towards Iran and said it had to understand that the Iraqi people did not like the US.

US officials have often accused Iran of supporting militants operating in Iraq.

The Iranian leader is due to end his visit on Monday.

Iraqi leaders extended a warm welcome to the Iranian president on Sunday.

After talks with Mr Talabani, Mr Ahmadinejad said the visit had opened a "new page" in Iran-Iraq relations.

Prime Minister Maliki said his talks with Mr Ahmadinejad had been "friendly, positive and full of trust".

Despite the reconciliation between Baghdad and Tehran, many analysts believe that in the long term, the two countries are destined to be rivals for regional power.

During the long war between them in the 1980s, many of the prominent Shia now in positions of power in Iraq fled to Iran as Saddam Hussein cracked down on internal dissent.

The US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime allowed them to return from exile.

Trade is now growing between the two countries and tourism, in the form of Iranian pilgrims visiting major Shia shrines in Iraq, is booming.

Iran blames US for Iraq 'terror'

On the first-ever visit to Iraq by an Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused the US of bringing terrorism to the region.

He also called on Washington to change its standpoint towards Iran and said it had to understand that the Iraqi people did not like America.

A BBC correspondent says many Iraqis see the visit as the culmination of a process of normalisation in ties.

The two countries fought a war when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980.

The BBC's Jim Muir adds that Mr Ahmadinejad has not been welcomed by all Iraqis, since some agree with the Americans' view that Iran supports extremist militias in Iraq and is to blame for much of the trouble there.

Mr Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Baghdad on Sunday, made his remark about the US and terrorism after US accusations that Iran was supporting militants.

"Six years ago, there were no terrorists in our region," he said after talks with Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, head of Iraq's largest Shia Muslim political bloc, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri).

"As soon as the others landed in this country and the region, we witnessed their arrival and presence."

Earlier, at a news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the Iranian president said it was not Tehran's fault that Iraq "does not want the US".

On Saturday, US President George W Bush, speaking at his ranch in Texas, called on Iran to "quit sending in sophisticated equipment that's killing our citizens".

The Iranian leader is due to end his visit on Monday. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said a number of agreements will be signed.

'New page' HAVE YOUR SAY The president's visit will bring benefit neither to the Iranians nor to the Iraqi people Farhad, Tehran

Iraqi leaders extended a warm welcome to the Iranian president, who flew into Baghdad airport and travelled into the city centre by car.

US forces are not involved in security for the visit and did not provide helicopters.

After talks with President Talabani, Mr Ahmadinejad said the visit had opened a "new page" in Iran-Iraq relations.

Prime Minister Maliki said his talks with Mr Ahmadinejad had been "friendly, positive and full of trust".

Despite the reconciliation between Baghdad and Tehran, many analysts believe that in the long term, the two countries are destined to be rivals for regional power.

During the long war between them in the 1980s, many of the prominent Shia now in positions of power in Iraq fled to Iran as Saddam Hussein cracked down on internal dissent.

The US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime allowed them to return from exile.

Trade is now growing between the two countries and tourism, in the form of Iranian pilgrims visiting major Shia shrines in Iraq, is booming.

'Chemical Ali' execution approved

The execution of Saddam Hussein's cousin and henchman "Chemical Ali" has been approved by Iraq's presidency.

He was condemned to death on genocide charges for killing 100,000 people during the 1988 Anfal campaign against the Kurds in northern Iraq.

Chemical Ali - whose real name is Hassan al-Majid - was initially sentenced to death in June last year but legal wrangling held up the case.

The execution was approved two days ago, to be carried out within 30 days.

He was convicted along with two other top officials - Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, a senior military chief, and the former defence minister, Sultan Hashim al-Tai.

Asked when Majid would be hanged, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki told Reuters news agency: "It will be a matter of days."

The presidency, which is made up of President Jalal Talabani and two vice-presidents, has not yet approved the hanging of Tikriti and Hashim, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad.

THE ANFAL CAMPAIGN
Anfal (English: Spoils of War) took place between February and August 1988
Officially it was a clampdown on Kurdish separatism in the north
With a civilian death toll of up to 180,000, Kurds regard it as a campaign of genocide
Mustard gas and nerve agents were used in air attacks
Other victims were summarily executed or died in captivity

The two men will remain in custody not knowing whether they are to live or die, says our correspondent.

The trio, all in the custody of American forces, were supposed to have been hanged by October.

But the executions were delayed after Hashim became a cause celebre among Sunni politicians.

Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashimi was among prominent Sunnis who insisted Hashim had simply been a career soldier carrying out orders and should be reprieved.

The case strained relations between the Iraqi prime minister's administration and US officials.

Nouri Maliki's Shia-led government had pressed US officials to hand over the trio so the sentence could be carried out.

But the Americans had refused to surrender any of the three until the Iraqi presidency reached an agreement.

Former regime leaders, including Saddam Hussein himself and his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti, have been handed over by the Americans and hanged by the Iraqi government without significant popular or political repercussions.

BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs says from early on in Saddam Hussein's rule, Majid was one of the former leader's most trusted and most ruthless associates.

As with so many in Saddam Hussein's inner circle, it helped that he had close family ties with the former leader, as a first cousin.

Majid acquired his nickname Chemical Ali after poison gas was used to kill many of the tens of thousands of Kurds who died during the Anfal campaign.

The former Iraqi regime claimed Anfal was a necessary counter-insurgency operation during Iraq's bloody eight-year war with neighbouring Iran.

After Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam Hussein turned to his cousin to put down a Shia revolt in the south, which again he did with great brutality, says our correspondent.

During the US-led invasion of 2003, Chemical Ali appeared as the fifth most-wanted member of Saddam Hussein's regime, and was the King of Spades in the notorious deck of cards that the US-led forces issued.

The coalition thought it had killed him in an air strike during the invasion but he survived, only to be captured in August 2003.

Over the course of the Anfal trial, which opened in August last year, a defiant Majid showed no trace of remorse.

He said at one hearing: "I am the one who gave orders to the army to demolish villages and relocate the villagers. I am not apologising. I did not make a mistake."

Iraq cleric Sadr explains absence

The Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has explained why he has not been seen in public for more than nine months - and acknowledged splits in his movement.

He said he missed his followers "too much" but that every "commander needed to be away for a while to worship".

He has reportedly resumed his religious studies to gain the title of ayatollah.

The statement comes two weeks after the cleric renewed a unilateral ceasefire his powerful Mehdi Army militia has been observing for the past six months.

The ceasefire has been widely credited with reducing sectarian tensions and contributing to the overall drop in violence in recent months.

In a rare statement issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf, Moqtada Sadr acknowledged that his absence "could be a reason for depressing" his followers.

"I swear that I live with you and among you. I am a part of you. I will not change his unless death separates us," he said.

He said the main reason for him going away - US military commanders believe he is in neighbouring Iran - was the advice of his father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq Sadr, who was assassinated in 1999 reportedly by Iraqi agents.

Many persons who are close to me have split for materialistic reasons or because they wanted to be independent and this was one of the reasons behind my absence.

"My late father personally recommended me to pay more attention to learning and studying. The brothers in Sadrist offices are continuing to serve the society," he added.

In December, a senior aide, Salah al-Ubaidi, said Moqtada Sadr had not been seen in public since 25 May because he resumed his religious studies at a Shia seminary in Najaf.

Correspondents say gaining the honorific title of ayatollah would enhance his religious credentials, as well as providing him with enhanced authority over spiritual matters in his country and the ability to issue fatwas (legal rulings).

He would also be able to more effectively disassociate himself from powerful senior Shia clerics such as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who have co-operated with the Iraqi authorities and US-led coalition since the 2003 invasion, they add.

Moqtada Sadr also acknowledged in his statement the divisions in the movement he leads and to distance himself from his followers who had developed their own agendas.

Many of his followers had split from him "for materialistic reasons or because they wanted to be independent", he said.

"This was one of the reasons behind my absence... yet I still have many people loyal and faithful to me and I advise them to direct society toward education and teaching," he added.

Since he declared a ceasefire in August, the US military has continued to target what it calls rogue Mehdi Army elements, who have been ignoring his orders.

Death toll rises in Baghdad bombs

Sixty-eight people were killed in twin bomb attacks on a shopping area in central Baghdad, Iraq's interior ministry has said.

The Thursday blasts left another 130 people injured, officials said.

Funerals are taking place in the mainly-Shia district of Karada - the scene of the bombings.

The second bomb hit a crowd of people, including emergency workers, who had gathered to help after the first blast, causing the high death toll.

No-one has claimed to have carried out the attack, but Iraqi and US security officials are blaming al-Qaeda in Iraq.

A roadside bomb exploded first in the market area as shoppers were out in numbers on a pleasant spring evening. One report said the bomb was hidden under a vendor's cart.

A few minutes later, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest in the middle of the crowd that had gathered, Iraqi officials said.

A local merchant said he was walking towards the scene of the first bomb when the second one exploded.

"I saw a leg and a hand falling near me as I was walking," Hassan Abdullah told Associated Press news agency.

"The whole place was a mess. Wounded people were crying for help, and people started to run away."

The BBC's Hugh Sykes in Baghdad says there are no obvious military targets in the area.

Attacks like this used to occur almost daily but have become much less common in recent months, says our correspondent.

However, Iraqi government figures this week showed that the number of Iraqi civilians killed in February was a third higher than in January.

Last month, two women bombers killed 99 people at crowded pet markets in Baghdad.

The figures reversed the six-month-long trend of falling death tolls attributed to a surge in US troop numbers, the formation of anti-al-Qaeda militias by Sunni Arab tribes and a freeze in activities of the Mehdi Army militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Ahmadinejad: We won't discuss our nuclear program with anyone

UN decision on new sanctions 'unlawful and unimportant,' Iranian leader says, adding ' If the world powers believe that the Iranian nation will conduct negotiations in an atmosphere of force and pressure - then they are mistaken'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that Iran would not hold negotiations with regards to its nuclear program with anyone, according to a report by the IRNA news agency.

In meeting with students at Druze town, prime minister says Security Council's decision to impose third round of sanctions on Tehran proves world is determined to stop Islamic republic's nuclear program. 'The Iranian threat is not just on Israel,' he adds.

Ahmadinejad referred to the recent UN Security Council decision to toughen sanctions on the Islamic state, saying that "it is clear that this decision is unlawful and unimportant. This decision will not harm the Iranian nation at all.

"It is clear that there are people outside the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who believe Iran is obligated to negotiate - but this isn't the case," he said following a cabinet meeting. "Iran is willing to discuss with other countries issues such as disarmament, global security and the world's economy because Iran is a strong country."

According to the Iranian leader the UN resolution "will not harm the Iranian nation at all, but will rather damage the credibility of the Security Council.

"From here on end, the Iranian issue will be dealt with solely by the IAEA in accordance with the mutual commitments and the Non-Proliferation Agreement. We have repeatedly announced that the (Iranian) nuclear issue has been resolved and that the agency's report is proof of this," Ahmadinejad said.

"If they (world powers) believe that the Iranian nation will conduct negotiations in an atmosphere of force and pressure - then they are mistaken. We suggest that they change their behavior because they will be the ones to suffer from it."

On Tuesday Russia called on Iran to study the incentives the world's key powers are offering - including improved relations with the United States - and suspend uranium enrichment as the Security Council is demanding.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said there is broader consensus among the world's powers today on how to deal with Iran and a new reality on the ground that will hopefully create the right conditions for Tehran to halt enrichment.

U.S. captures Iranian special forces commander near Baghdad

BAGHDAD — The U.S.-led coalition has captured a senior Iranian operative who helped finance and equip Shi'ite militias.

U.S. Army paratroopers detained the suspected senior leader of the Iranian-sponsored Special Groups network during an operation in Baghdad's Beida neighborhood on Feb. 27, Middle East Newsline reported.

Officials said the Special Groups was trained and equipped by Iran. They said the organization, believed to comprise a series of cells, introduced the Explosively-Formed Penetrator, designed to destroy U.S. — and other Western origin main battle tanks.

"The loss of yet another senior Special Groups leader places additional stress on the criminal Special Groups network," Maj. Trey Rutherford, executive officer for the 2nd Bn., 325th Abn. Inf. Regt., said.

"The network's armament caches are being discovered and destroyed," Rutherford said. "Even more importantly, the Special Groups element is being recognized by locals for what it is — a criminal force focused on instilling fear, for monetary profit, in the people they claim to protect."

The Special Groups was first detected in 2007 as the Mahdi Army became splintered into rival factions. Since August 2007, the Mahdi Army has honored a ceasefire against the U.S.-led coalition, a decision that raised the profile of the Special Groups.

Officials said the unidentified Special Groups leader was captured after he left Sadr City, the teeming Shi'ite area that serves as the headquarters for Iranian-sponsored militias. They said the suspect has been a key facilitator in the procurement and movement of weapons in northeast Baghdad. He was also said to have been involved in the abduction, torture and death of Iraqis.

The coalition and Iraq have been receiving increasing cooperation from Shi'ites in identifying and capturing operatives from the Special Groups. Officials said the organization has been mostly engaged in intimidating Shi'ite businessmen.

"The network is cornered in Sadr City, and every member of the criminal group who sets foot outside is being captured rapidly," Rutherford said.

Pentagon: Syria, Iran supporting Iraq terror
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Despite increased counterterrorism efforts by Damascus, as much as 90 percent of the foreign fighters in Iraq cross the border from Syria, according to a Pentagon report that says Iran's support for Shiite militants also is hurting efforts to improve Iraq security.

As those external pressures dog coalition and Iraqi forces, the government of Iraq is also hamstrung by internal corruption and persistent problems getting basic services to the people, the report said.

The Defense Department's quarterly report on progress in Iraq, released Tuesday, said that militants continue to find safe havens and logistical support in Syria.

"It is not clear that Syria has made a strategic decision to deal with foreign terrorists using Syria as a transit point into Iraq," said the report, which covers events from December through February.

In late January, Iraqi officials suggested that about 150 foreign and Iraqi fighters slipped into the country from Syria a few months earlier and were responsible for a devastating explosion in northern Iraq that killed at least 38 people and wounded more than 200.

On the other border, meanwhile, Tehran's support for Shiite militant groups remains a sizable threat to stability in Iraq. The report asserts that the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, still provides much of the explosives for the militants.

Several military commanders in recent weeks have said that despite recent promises by Tehran to help promote stability in Iraq, there is continued evidence that Iran is training and funding Shiite extremists.

During a recent visit to Iraq, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the allegations and said instead that the US presence there was the problem.

The Pentagon report reflects the ongoing decline in violence in Iraq, bolstered by last year's increase in US forces and the continuing growth of the Iraqi troops.

But while it specifically points to improved security conditions in Anbar Province, Baghdad and some surrounding areas, it also said al-Qaida remains strong in parts of the Tigris River Valley and in Ninewa Province.

Al-Qaida members, it said, have been targeting key figures in the groups of Sunni tribesman that have joined to fight the terrorists. The US-funded groups are called the Sons of Iraq, and the report said they numbered about 91,000, with more than 71,000 being Sunni and the remainder Shiite.

Overcoming corruption in the government, the judiciary and prison systems continue to be key challenges. And the Iraqi government is still struggling to provide basic services to its citizens. Electricity demands have grown and - as of the report date - outpaced supplies by 57 percent.

While electricity generation hit a record high in December, it then dropped sharply in January due to maintenance and fuel distribution problems.

In related testimony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, auditors told Congress that Iraq isn't spending much of its own money, despite soaring oil revenues that are pushing the country toward a massive budget surplus.

The expected surplus comes as the US continues to invest billions of dollars in rebuilding Iraq and faces a financial squeeze domestically because of record oil prices.

"The Iraqis have a budget surplus," said US Comptroller General David Walker. "We have a huge budget deficit. ... One of the questions is who should be paying."

Walker and the other auditors did not give a figure as to the likely surplus. US officials contend that Iraq's lack of spending is due primarily to Baghdad's inability to determine where its money is needed most and how to allocate it efficiently. Two senators have called for an investigation into the matter.

Democrats say the assessment is proof that the Iraq war was a waste of time and money. The US has spent more than $45 billion (€29 billion) on rebuilding Iraq. And while officials in Iraq contend that much progress is being made, many projects remain unfinished and US troops are still needed to provide security.

"They ought to be able to use some of their oil to pay for their own costs and not keep sending the bill to the United States," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat.

____________________________________________

Gas being rationed in Iran
Global money woes hit, with inflation at 19%

Financial analysts for British intelligence agencies have produced a graphic view of how the global financial crisis is affecting the Iranian economy, with inflation rampaging at 19 percent and fuel for cars on a ration-only basis, according to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

The assessment comes just as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secures his hold on the country after this week's elections, which saw hard-liners overwhelmingly returned to power.

The elections affirmed the Islamic Republic's continuation through a combination of brutal suppression and a highly effective security system controlled by the Revolutionary Guards.

But behind that, there are growing signs the financial crisis that has rocked Wall Street and world stock markets has begun to bite ever deeper into the Iranian economy.

A country which is awash with oil – Iran produces 4.3 million barrels a day and possesses the world's second largest reserve of oil – cannot provide sufficient quantities of refined material to meet the needs of its 65 million people.

An MI6 report states: "The reason for this state of affairs is clear. The regime's insistence on diverting an increasing amount of energy and resources in pursuit of the holy grail of nuclear enrichment and the subsequent UN economic sanctions that policy has attracted. It means the ayatollahs are unable to maintain the oil-refining facilities for domestic purposes."

MI6 analysts – working with information which in part came from anti-regime sources in Iran – show the country's economic inflation is now at 19 percent and the regime has failed to meet any of its growth targets.

The result is that there is rationing of 100 liters a month of gasoline for each household -- the equivalent of two full tanks for the average family car.

Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is the premium, online intelligence news source edited and published by the founder of WND.

For the complete report and full immediate access to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, subscribe now.

Bush: We can't jeopardize gains in Iraq
Speaking at Pentagon on 5th anniversary of start of war

President Bush says he won't accept additional troop withdrawals from Iraq beyond those already planned if they would jeopardize recent security gains.

Speaking at the Pentagon on the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, Bush signaled Wednesday that he is unlikely to order new reductions after next month's report from the top U.S. military officers in Iraq. He says that increasing the pace of drawdowns could unravel the progress spurred by an increase of 30,000 troops over the past year.

The president told an audience of Pentagon brass, soldiers and diplomats that "having come so far and achieved so much, we are not going to let this happen."

Bush also said America is confronting Osama Bin Laden's "grim ideology" and Iraqis have grown tired of "al-Qaida's brutality."

Five years after launching the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Bush is making some of his most expansive claims of success in the fighting there. Bush said last year's troop buildup has turned Iraq around and produced "the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden."

As anti-war demonstrations were planned in downtown Washington to mark Wednesday's war anniversary, across the river at the Pentagon Bush was to give a 25-minute speech, warning against backsliding from the recent progress fueled by the increase of 30,000 troops ordered more than a year ago.

"The challenge in the period ahead is to consolidate the gains we have made and seal the extremists' defeat," he said in excerpts the White House released Tuesday night. "We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast—the terrorists and extremists step in, fill the vacuum, establish safe havens and use them to spread chaos and carnage."

Bush criticized those who "still call for retreat" in the face of what he called undeniable successes.

Democrats took a different view.

"On this grim milestone, it is worth remembering how we got into this situation, and thinking about how best we can get out," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. "The tasks that remain in Iraq—to bring an end to sectarian conflict, to devise a way to share political power and to create a functioning government that is capable of providing for the needs of the Iraqi people—are tasks that only the Iraqis can complete."

Before top Pentagon officials and hundreds of others, Bush planned to trace the war's "high cost in lives and treasure." He defended the war as necessary at first, now, and for an undefined future until Iraq is stable enough to stand on its own.

"The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around—it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror," the president said. "In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his terror network. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated."

The president's address sought to shift the nation's focus from economic ills and put Iraq back on the front burner, part of a series of events the White House planned around the anniversary and next month's report from the top U.S. figures in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Vice President Dick Cheney, who just completed a two-day visit to Iraq, said the administration won't "be blown off course" by continued strong opposition to the war in the United States.

Cheney compared the administration's task now to Abraham Lincoln's during the Civil War. "He never would have succeeded if he hadn't had a clear objective, a vision for where he wanted to go, and he was willing to withstand the slings and arrows of the political wars in order to get there," Cheney said of Lincoln in an interview broadcast Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

The U.S. has about 158,000 troops in Iraq. That number is expected to drop to 140,000 by summer in drawdowns meant to erase all but about 8,000 troops from last year's increase.

Bush has successfully defied efforts by the Democratic-led Congress to force larger troop withdrawals. Still, with just 10 months before he hands off the war to a new president, Bush is concerned about his legacy on Iraq.

Both Democratic candidates have said they would begin withdrawing forces quickly if elected. Only expected GOP nominee John McCain has indicated he planned to continue Bush's strategy of bringing troops home only as conditions warrant.

It is widely believed that the president will endorse a recommendation from Petraeus for no additional troop reductions, beyond those already scheduled, until at least September. This pause in drawdowns would be designed to assess the impact of this round before allowing more.

The surge was meant to tamp down sectarian violence in Iraq so that the country's leaders would have time to advance legislation considered key to reconciliation between rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities. But the gains on the battlefield have not been matched by dramatic political progress, and violence again may be increasing.

Bush appeared to be referring to recent cooperation by local Iraqis with the U.S. military against the group known as al-Qaida in Iraq, a mostly homegrown, Sunni-based insurgency. Experts question how closely—or even whether—the group is connected to the international al- Qaida network. As for bin Laden, he is rarely heard from and is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

As of Tuesday, at least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have died in the war, which has cost the U.S. roughly $500 billion. Nobel Prize- winning economist Joseph E. Stiglizt and Harvard University public finance expert Linda Bilmes have estimated the eventual cost at $3 trillion when all the expenses, including long-term care for veterans, are calculated.

Without specifics, Bush decried those who have "exaggerated estimates of the costs of this war."

"War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much," he said.

President Bush marks the 5th Anniversary of the Iraq War with claims of a major strategic victory

President Bush, while acknowledging the Iraq War has been fought at a high cost, also believes that the US troop buildup in Iraq has opened the door to a major strategic victory against Islamic militants.

The president believes that the successes which are being seen in Iraq are undeniable and the president has an upbeat assessment of the US-led campaign on this the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq. President Bush, while touting the security gains from the troop increase in Iraq, says the surge has done more than turn the situation around in Iraq, it has made Iraq the central front in the battle against Islamic extremists.

As the US marks the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War, any student of Bible prophecy can understand the significance of this controversial war in the Middle East.

With only a few months left in office, President Bush still maintains that the high cost of the war and the US troop buildup has set in place a major strategic victory against Islamic militants. Prophetically, the war in Iraq and the demise of Saddam Hussein has had a major impact on setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Saddam's Jerusalem Army of seven million soldiers who planned to liberate Jerusalem and give it to the Palestinians had to be stopped, according to Bible prophecy, so that Iraq, Biblical Babylon, could rise to power, Revelation 18. Time after time in the prophetic passages of Scripture, you can see accounts of how the Lord used human world political leaders to accomplish His will, II Chronicles 36, Ezra 1, Nehemiah 2, Daniel 11 and Revelation 17, 18. The principle of prophecy related to God's use of world leaders is found in Revelation 17:17 where it says God puts into the hearts of world leaders to do His will.

The 5th anniversary of the Iraqi War is indeed evidence that Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

Saddam's son plotted hit squad for UK
Uday reportedly ordered elite team to carry out murders, bombings in Britain

Saddam Hussein's son Uday hatched a plot to assassinate the leader of the Iraqi opposition in London in April 2000, according to a new Pentagon study based on documents seized during the Iraq war.

The abortive conspiracy called for an elite recruit in the Fedayeen Saddam paramilitary group to kill Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, who was based in London.

The plot is outlined in Iraqi memos that detail Saddam’s support for a wide network of Middle Eastern terror groups, including Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda. They include a 1993 cooperation deal with Egyptian Islamic Jihad, headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became second-in-command of Al-Qaeda when the two groups merged in 2001.

There is, however, no evidence of the firm link to Osama Bin Laden that the Bush administration had claimed as one of the justifications for attacking Iraq: “This study found no ‘smoking gun’ [ie, direct connection] between Saddam’s Iraq and Al-Qaeda.”

A British official said this weekend: “Nothing we have seen has changed our prewar position that there was no link between Saddam and Bin Laden.”

However, there was strong evidence of Uday Hussein planning to order the Fedayeen, which he set up in the 1990s as answerable only to himself or his father, to carry out assassinations and bombings in London.

In a possible recognition that Britain would be one of the most difficult targets to attack, officials ordered that only the best recruits should be based there.

One memo from a senior Fedayeen official refers to orders given by Uday at two meetings in May 1999. The dictator’s son had ordered officials to “start planning special operations in the centres of the traitors’ symbols in the fields of London / Iran / self-ruled areas [Kurdish northern Iraq]”.

The operations were to be known by the codename Blessed July and would be backed by the Iraqi intelligence service, the Da’irat al-Mukhabarat al-Amah. Agents in London were to carry poison suicide capsules, with orders to use them if captured.

The official then listed Uday’s orders on how to prepare the recruits: “Select 50 Fedayeen martyrs according to the required specifications. Admit them to the Intelligence School to prepare them for their duties.

“After passing their tests they will be selected for their targets as follows. The top 10 will work in the European field – London. The next 10 will work in the Iranian field. The third 10 will work in the self-ruled area.”

The plot to attack Chalabi in April 2000 is the only example of a specific attack planned in London. It called for a Fedayeen operative to make his way across Europe “for the purpose of executing a sanctimonious [sic] national duty, which is eliminating hostile agent Ahmed Chalabi”.

The Fedayeen was later to prove one of the few Iraqi forces that offered tough resistance to the 2003 invasion, but on this occasion its operation failed because the agent was unable to obtain a visa to enter Britain.

The documents show that officials at the Iraqi embassy in London had a stock of weapons that Saddam had ordered them to destroy in July 2002. The embassy asked Baghdad for advice “regarding how to destroy weapons in London, which include seven Kalashnikov guns, 19 other guns with ammunition, and silencers”.

Saddam had extensive cooperation with Middle Eastern terrorist groups. One memo refers to an agreement with Egyptian Islamic Jihad during the 1991 Gulf war for attacks against Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt, which was taking part in the operation to free Kuwait. The memo, dated March 1993, says that whereas Iraq had promised to finance and train Egyptian Islamic Jihad for the attacks, it was now prepared only to provide the group with finance.

The study’s assessment of Iraq’s lack of links to Al-Qaeda represents a final acceptance by the Pentagon that it was wrong to make such claims.

MoD in ‘secret justice’ over deaths

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused of operating “secret justice” after issuing a court gagging order to conceal how Whitehall cost-cutting might have caused the deaths of 10 servicemen in Iraq.

The MoD has demanded that key parts of the inquest next week into the crash of an RAF Hercules in Iraq in 2005 be held in secret on grounds of “national security”.

Nine British servicemen and one Australian airman died in the tragedy. It was the largest single loss of life of British forces in Iraq.

Their lawyers said they might challenge the gagging order in the coroner’s court this week because its real purpose appeared to protect the government from political embarrassment.

The secret MoD papers are understood to cover its decision not to spend an extra £50,000 buying a fire suppressant foam system for each Hercules plane in Iraq.

Iraq forces battle Basra militias

Heavy fighting has been raging in Basra as thousands of Iraqi troops battle Shia militias in the southern city.

At least 12 people have died in the operation, which is being overseen in Basra by Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki, a day after he vowed to "re-impose law".

British forces carried out air strikes to support embattled Iraqi army tanks and artillery on the ground.

Oil-rich Basra is in the grip of a bitter turf war between armed groups, including the Mehdi Army, say analysts.

The Mehdi Army - which supports radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr - called for a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience.

The powerful militia declared a truce last August which had been credited with helping restore stability to parts of Iraq.

The BBC's Adam Brookes says three Iraqi army brigades were deployed from Baghdad to Basra as back-up for the offensive, and that up to 15,000 troops could be involved.

Some of the fiercest fighting in the operation - dubbed Saulat al-Fursan (Charge of the Knights) - has focused on Mehdi Army strongholds.

Of the suspected militants known to have been killed so far, four died in street fighting and five in a coalition air strike.

British military spokesman Maj Tom Holloway told the BBC no UK troops were involved on the ground.

The UK military returned control of Basra to the Iraqis in December and concentrated its forces at the city airport.

The Iraqi commander in charge, Lt Gen Ali Ghaidan, said the operation aimed to purge Basra of what he called "outlaws".

He said his forces had confiscated weapons and roadside bombs during raids across Iraq's second city.

Routes into Basra have been sealed off, according to reports.

One resident of the city told the BBC: "The streets are very dangerous, there's continuous exchange of fire in areas very close to my house, even though my neighbourhood is relatively safer than others."

The offensive comes a day after the authorities in Basra imposed an indefinite night-time curfew.

On Tuesday, police also imposed curfews in the southern Iraqi cities of Kut and Nasiriya, amid reports of clashes there between gunmen and security forces.

Moqtada Sadr called in a statement for Iraqis to stage "sit-ins" and threatened to declare a "civil revolt" if attacks by US and Iraqi forces did not stop.

In Baghdad's Sadr City, Mehdi Army fighters reportedly ordered Iraqi police and soldiers out of the district.

Hundreds of protesters marched in the Iraqi capital to launch a campaign of civil disobedience, calling on shops to shut.

Moqtada Sadr last month renewed the group's ceasefire, under which it pledged not to attack rival armed groups or American forces in Iraq.

But the truce is said to have come under strain in recent weeks as US and Iraqi forces detained militia members.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the BBC: "Militias have taken over almost the city and law and order has collapsed, although it is not a hopeless case because the government is taking measures to reverse the situation.

"Remember, Basra is the lifeline of Iraq. Most of Iraq's oil exports go through Basra."

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Fresh clashes break out in Basra

Fresh fighting has erupted in the southern Iraqi city of Basra and elsewhere, as Iraqi security forces battle Shia militants for a second day.

So far more than 40 people have died and some 225 have been injured over the two days of clashes in Basra.

Fighting is also continuing in Baghdad, and there have been casualties after rockets were fired at the Green Zone.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has given militants 72 hours to lay down their arms or face "severe penalties".

His campaign to "re-impose law" in the city triggered unrest elsewhere in Iraq, and many towns are under curfew.

Unrest in Basra has been stoked by a variety of militias and criminal gangs.

But the government's unspoken intent is to stop it falling under the sway of the Mehdi Army, led by the radical young cleric Moqtada Sadr, BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says.

After an overnight lull, the fighting resumed in Basra on Wednesday.

The AFP news agency quoted witnesses in Basra as saying the fighting was concentrated on the districts of Gazaiza, Garma, Khmasamene, Hayania and Maqal.

BASRA KEY FACTS
Third largest city, population 2.6 million approx
Located on the Shatt al-Arab waterway leading to the Gulf - making it a centre for commerce and oil exports
Region around city has substantial oil resources
4,000 UK troops based at international airport

Medical officials say 46 people have been killed in the fighting, along with 225 hurt. A Basra city council member said there were few civilian casualties as they were staying inside their houses.

A large number of gunmen have been detained, say officials.

Reports suggest that the fighting is not on the same scale on Tuesday but, where there was no fighting, Basra's streets remained deserted even after the night curfew ended at 0600 (0300 GMT).

British forces, which patrolled Basra for nearly five years, withdrew to a base outside the city in December and have not been involved in the fighting.

In Baghdad, rockets were fired at the Green Zone, the diplomatic and government compound.

Five Iraqi civilians were killed by stray rockets, while inside the heavily fortified zone three Americans were seriously injured.

In Sadr City, a vast Shia suburb in the capital, there were overnight clashes between Mehdi Army fighters and American and Iraqi soldiers.

Twenty people died in the violence and at least 115 people have been injured, according to police.

Here and in other Shia areas of Iraq, many shops and offices are shuttered, indicating Moqtada Sadr's call for a campaign of civil disobedience is being followed.

One report also suggests hundreds of people are demonstrating in Sadr City.

More clashes also broke out in Kut, south-east of Baghdad, where two people were reported dead on Wednesday.

In a separate incident, US forces battling suspected al-Qaeda insurgents in the northern town of Tikrit say they injured or killed "several Iraqi civilians" in an airstrike.

Iraqi sources say at least five are dead, including a judge.

In a statement, Mr Maliki gave militants a 72-hour deadline to lay down their arms and sign a pledge renouncing violence.

"Otherwise, they will face the most severe penalties," he said in the statement which was broadcast by state television.

The Basra operation is being personally led by Mr Maliki, a fact hailed by Washington as "brave".

Sadrists are convinced the operation is an attempt to weaken them ahead of provincial elections due in October, but Mr Maliki has embarked on a risky strategy, says the BBC's Roger Hardy.

For one thing, it is far from clear that it will succeed.

The Sadrist movement enjoys widespread support, especially among the young and the poor, and is well entrenched in Basra and many other predominantly Shia towns and cities in the south.

For another, if the ceasefire which the Sadrists have largely followed since last year were to collapse, that would seriously undermine claims by the government - and by the Bush administration in Washington - that Iraq was moving from civil war to political reconciliation, our correspondent says.

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Baghdad under curfew amid clashes

A curfew has been imposed on Baghdad amid continuing clashes between Shia militias and Iraqi security forces.

The curfew will last from 2300 (2000 GMT) on Thursday until 0500 on Sunday to "protect civilians", officials say.

More than 130 people have died since a clampdown on Shia militias in the southern city of Basra started on Tuesday. Unrest has spread to Baghdad.

Earlier US President George W Bush praised Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki's decision to order the crackdown.

Heavy fighting between the Shia Mehdi Army, led by radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, has continued in Basra for a third day, with violence in other parts of southern Iraq.

Late on Thursday, Sadr called for a political solution to the crisis.

In a statement relayed by his aide Hazem al-Aaraji, he said he wants "everyone to pursue political solutions and peaceful protests and a stop to the shedding of Iraqi blood".

Mr Maliki earlier vowed that he would continue the fight against the militias for as long as was necessary.

"We have made up our minds to enter this battle and we will continue until the end. No retreat," Mr Maliki said in a speech broadcast on Iraqi state television.

The prime minister has personally overseen the operation in Basra, which involves some 30,000 troops and police.

But Mehdi Army fighters remain in control of some densely-populated areas.

Speaking at a US Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio, Mr Bush said "normalcy" was returning to Iraq.

"As we speak Iraqis are waging a tough battle against militia fighters and criminals in Basra, many of whom have received arms and training and funding from Iran," he said.

Mr Maliki's move against Basra's militias underlined "his leadership and his commitment to enforce the law in an even-handed manner", the US president added.

Rising violence

He spoke as one of several Americans injured this week in rocket attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone died, amid fresh missiles attacks on the fortified area.

US embassy staff in Baghdad have been told not to leave reinforced structures, following the attacks.

The state department has instructed embassy personnel to wear helmets and other protective gear if they leave the building, even if they stay within the Green Zone.

Meanwhile, one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines from Basra was blown up in a bomb attack, sending oil prices above $107 a barrel.

And Basra's police chief survived a bomb attack that killed three of his bodyguards.

BASRA KEY FACTS
Third largest city, population 2.6 million approx
Located on the Shatt al-Arab waterway leading to the Gulf
Region around city has substantial oil resources
4,000 UK troops based at international airport

With many shops and markets shut, residents in the city said they were beginning to run out of food and water.

In Baghdad, thousands of Sadr supporters marched to demand Mr Maliki quit over the Basra operation and there was sporadic fighting in Shia areas of the capital.

In other developments:

* The FBI said it had recovered the bodies of two US security contractors kidnapped in Iraq in 2006
* A prominent Sunni civilian spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, Tahseen Sheikhly, was kidnapped by gunmen
* Dozens died in clashes between the security forces and militias in the southern city of Kut
* Clashes have also been reported in the towns of Hilla and Diwaniya, as well as the Shia holy city of Kerbala

The number of gunfights in southern Iraq appears to be growing, says the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Baghdad.

The fighting still seems to be mainly with members of the Mehdi Army, our correspondent says.

The militia had held to a ceasefire since last August, contributing to the general fall in violence across Iraq.

The government says it aims to re-impose law and order in Basra, which the British military handed over to Iraqi forces in December.

However, Moqtada Sadr's supporters say the government wants to weaken the militias before local elections in October.

At stake, analysts say, is control of Iraq's only port city and the region's oil fields.

________________________________________________

Iraq PM gives militants ultimatum

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has given Shia militants in the southern city of Basra 72 hours to lay down their arms or face "severe penalties".

Mr Maliki issued the threat on the second day of a government offensive, that has left at least 46 people dead.

The leader of the main militia, the Mehdi Army, says Mr Maliki must leave Basra and start negotiations.

The clashes have spread elsewhere with rockets fired at Baghdad's Green Zone, causing a number of injuries.

Many Iraqi towns are under curfew.

Unrest in Basra has been stoked by a variety of militias and criminal gangs.

But the government's unspoken intent is to stop it falling under the sway of the Mehdi Army, led by the radical young cleric Moqtada Sadr, BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says.

No chasing

As night fell, Basra was quieter, after a second day of intensive fighting, concentrated on the districts of Gazaiza, Garma, Khmasamene, Hayania and Maqal.

BASRA KEY FACTS
Third largest city, population 2.6 million approx
Located on the Shatt al-Arab waterway leading to the Gulf - making it a centre for commerce and oil exports
Region around city has substantial oil resources
4,000 UK troops based at international airport

About 225 people are said to have been injured. A Basra city council member said there were few civilian casualties as they were staying inside their houses.

A large number of gunmen have been detained, say officials.

British forces, which patrolled Basra for nearly five years, withdrew to a base outside the city in December and have not been involved in the fighting.

Prime Minister Maliki has been overseeing the operation from Basra.

"We are not going to chase those who hand over their weapons within 72 hours," Mr Maliki said.

"If they do not surrender their arms, the law will follow its course," the Basra Operational Command quoted him as saying.

Hours later, a senior aide to Moqtada Sadr, Hazim al-Araji, told the BBC that the Sadrists would be willing to send a delegation to meet Mr Maliki for talks if he left Basra.

But events might overtake any efforts at dialogue, says the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Baghdad.

Black-shirted members of the Mehdi Army have reappeared on the streets of Sadr City in Baghdad. They had been withdrawn when the movement declared a ceasefire last August.

Across the Iraqi capital, the thud of rockets and mortars has been heard - several fell short of their target, the Green Zone - home to the diplomatic and government offices - killing at least eight civilians.

Inside the heavily-fortified zone three Americans were seriously injured.

In Sadr City, a vast Shia suburb in the capital, there were overnight clashes between Mehdi Army fighters and American and Iraqi soldiers.

Up to 20 people died in the violence and at least 115 people have been injured, according to police.

Here and in other Shia areas of Iraq, many shops and offices are shuttered, indicating Moqtada Sadr's call for a campaign of civil disobedience is being followed.

More clashes also broke out in Kut, south-east of Baghdad, where at least three people were reported dead on Wednesday.

Sadrists are convinced the operation is an attempt to weaken them ahead of provincial elections due in October, but Mr Maliki has embarked on a risky strategy, says the BBC's Roger Hardy.

For one thing, it is far from clear that it will succeed, he says.

The Sadrist movement enjoys widespread support, especially among the young and the poor, and is well entrenched in Basra and many other predominantly Shia towns and cities in the south.

For another, if the ceasefire which the Sadrists have largely followed were to collapse, that would seriously undermine claims by the government - and by the Bush administration in Washington - that Iraq was moving from civil war to political reconciliation, our correspondent says.

______________________________________________

Battles across Iraq's south in crackdown

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered Shi'ite militiamen to surrender on Wednesday as a crackdown on followers of powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr spread across southern towns leaving a ceasefire in tatters.
Posted: Thursday, March 27, 2008, 7:11 (GMT)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered Shi'ite militiamen to surrender on Wednesday as a crackdown on followers of powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr spread across southern towns leaving a ceasefire in tatters.

Sadr, whose truce last year was praised by U.S. forces for curbing violence, called for talks to end the crackdown on his followers, the biggest military operation that Iraqi forces have undertaken without U.S. or British combat units.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the fighting, which began in the southern oil hub of Basra and spread to Shi'ite parts of Baghdad where Sadr's followers hold sway and the towns of Hilla, Kut and Diwaniya in the south.

Maliki, in Basra to oversee the campaign there, said fighters would be spared if they surrendered within 72 hours.

The assault is a chance for his government to prove it can impose its will and allow American forces to withdraw. But it also runs a risk of unleashing more violence after a year that saw security in Iraq improve dramatically.

"We have been living for the last hours in hell. We have spent most of the time hiding under the staircase," said Basra resident Faris Hayder, 28. "We haven't seen anything like this since the foreign troops arrived in 2003."

Battles which began on Tuesday in Basra resumed with heavy gunfire and explosions. A health official said 40 people had been killed and 200 wounded in the city by Wednesday morning.

A Reuters correspondent in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) south of Baghdad, heard gunfire and mortar impacts and saw buildings and cars aflame. Police said at least 18 people died in clashes there, including a baby girl.

In Hilla, several Iraqi security sources spoke of large-scale casualties after a U.S. air strike called to help Iraqi police fighting militiamen. U.S. forces confirmed the helicopter strike but denied there were large numbers killed.

In the capital, a health official said 14 people were killed and more than 140 wounded in clashes in the Sadr City slum.

Mortar bombs in other parts of the city killed nine people and wounded dozens, including three American civilians in the fortified Green Zone diplomatic and government compound. Two American soldiers died of bullet wounds.

A roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol on a main road through Sadr City late on Wednesday and troops were cordoning off the area, a U.S. spokesman said. He had no details of casualties.

Iraqi forces also reported clashes in other mainly Shi'ite districts with a strong Sadr presence.

Such a big Iraqi operation would have been impossible a year ago, showing how far Iraqi forces have come, said U.S. military spokesman Major-General Kevin Bergner: "These are Iraqi decisions, they are Iraqi government forces and these are Iraqi leaders implementing and directing these decisions."

U.S. and British backing was limited to air support and teams of mentors embedded with Iraqi officers, Bergner said.

WITHDRAWAL PLANS

Washington aims to bring 20,000 of its 160,000 troops home by July after a build-up of troops improved security last year. U.S. Democratic candidates who aim to succeed President George W. Bush next January are calling for a faster withdrawal.

But violence has increased in the past few months and Iraqi forces have yet to show they can tackle militants on their own.

Sadr, a young, anti-American cleric, helped install Maliki in power after an election in 2005 but later broke with him. His followers, known as the Mehdi Army, have feuded with other Shi'ite groups seen as influential in Maliki's government.

Sadr declared a ceasefire last August, winning praise at the time from U.S. commanders for helping to reduce violence, although they say "rogue" Mehdi Army units outside Sadr's control have fought on with support from Iran.

Despite the violence, Sadr aides said the cleric's truce was still formally in place, a negotiating posture that could be useful for Sadr in coming days.

Sadr's followers have taken to the streets demonstrating against Maliki's government and forcing schools, universities and shops to close. On Tuesday he said he would call a "civil revolt" if attacks on his followers did not stop.

The head of Sadr's office in Basra, Harith al-Ithari, said the movement was negotiating with Maliki to end the fighting.

"There are ongoing negotiations with the prime minister. Maliki asked to meet Sadr officials in Basra," he told Reuters.

Another top aide, Hassan al-Zargani, read to Reuters what he said was a statement from Sadr calling on Maliki to leave Basra and appoint a delegation to hold talks.

Sadr has long been a thorn for rival Shi'ite groups in Maliki's circle, said Iraqi political analyst Hazem al-Nuaeimi.

"There is a need to minimise the Sadrists' strength and influence and to draw the lines before they get any stronger."

British forces, which patrolled Basra for nearly five years, withdrew to a base outside the city in December and were not involved in the fighting. A British military spokesman said the Iraqi assault was expected to last two to three more days.

An official with Iraq's Southern Oil Company said production in the Basra area which produces 80 percent of Iraq's exports could be disrupted if fighting lasted more than three days.

____________________________________________

How U.S. lost Basra
'Iraq really is beginning to look like Vietnam'

The U.S. suffered a major strategic military setback in Basra yesterday if its goal is truly to turn over Iraq to the Iraqi army – a goal about which some of the war's biggest defenders are beginning to question, reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

One well-paced military source told G2 Bulletin the initial fight over the Iraqi town went like this: "We lost Basra last night. An Iraqi army commander was told by the local Madhi army commander to lay down all their weapons, surrender all their uniforms, surrender their equipment and then there would be no trouble. The Iraqi army did just that."

"So we lost Basra faster than we lost Da Nang in 1975," he continued.

And this senior officer is not alone in observing parallels to Vietnam.

The "surge," while without question successful at reducing U.S. casualties and increasing the costs of war for the terrorists, is somewhat akin to Lyndon B. Johnson's bid to escalate the war by increasing the number of ground troops but in continuing to restrict their actions in destroying the enemy, say some frustrated U.S. troops and officers.

Likewise, some veterans of the conflict, including those who genuinely believe the war against Islamo-fascists was just and necessary, say the rules of engagement are mystifying – leaving some to wonder if military victory is actually the goal.

"We really should have assassinated Moqtadr al-Sadr in 2004, in the second Fallujah battle when we had the chance," said one senior officer frustrated by the fall of Basra to the Madhi army. "Of course, just down the road from me, the American military is forbidden from going into Sadr City in hot pursuit of insurgents who have fired upon coalition forces."

US forces clash with Iraq militia

Twenty people were killed in clashes in Baghdad between members of the Mehdi Army militia group and US and Iraqi forces, Iraqi medical workers say.

Iraqi officials said women and children were among the dead and more than 50 wounded in the Sadr City district. The US says nine "criminals" were killed.

The mainly Shia area of east Baghdad is a stronghold of the Mehdi Army.

The militia's leader, the cleric Moqtada Sadr, has called for a mass demonstration against the US presence.

In a statement, the US military said it had carried out an air strike in Sadr City at about 0800 local time (0500 GMT) in which nine "criminals" were killed.

US commanders have previously said their forces are targeting those firing mortars and rockets from Sadr City into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and the US embassy are based.

On Saturday, the Iraqi president, prime minister and other political leaders called for militias to be disbanded.

Analysts said the call was aimed mainly at the Mehdi Army, which was recently involved in heavy fighting with the security forces across southern Iraq.

The clashes eased after Moqtada Sadr ordered his fighters off the streets but sporadic fire fights continue, especially in Sadr City.

Students freed

Sunday also saw Iraq's security forces report that they had freed 42 university students hours after they were kidnapped by gunmen near the northern city of Mosul.

The male students were on two buses ferrying them to Mosul from their homes in Shurkat, 70 km (40 miles) further south, when they were ambushed and captured.

Mosul, some 360km north-west of Baghdad, has recently been the scene of extra security effort as US and Iraqi forces try to stop violence in cities outside the capital.

Also on Sunday, hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Father Youssef Adel in the capital's Karradah district.

The Assyrian Orthodox priest was killed on Saturday at his home.

One of the mourners, Midhat Faez, was quoted as saying the assassination was aimed at provoking conflict between Muslims and the tiny Christian community.
_______________________________________

Rival claims over Basra battle
By Adam Brookes
BBC News, Baghdad

The fighting between Shia militias and Iraqi and coalition forces in Basra last week led to hundreds of deaths - more than three hundred by some counts.

Yet what the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, declared to be "a fight to the end" concluded with an accommodation, the details of which remain unclear.

As the dust settles in Iraq's second city, different versions of what actually took place there last week are emerging.

A military operation - overseen by Mr Maliki - was intended to "cleanse" the city of militia activity.

But resistance by fighters of the Mehdi Army, loyal to the cleric Moqtada Sadr, was unexpectedly fierce.

Mr Maliki returned to Baghdad this week, calling the operation a success.

It is a claim that is being widely disputed in Iraq.

Tehran role?

The Mehdi militiamen withdrew from the streets after six days of fighting, but they appear to have taken their arms with them, defying Prime Minister Maliki's initial demand that all militia-held medium and heavy weapons be surrendered.

The political leadership of Iraq is saying that there was no deal with the Mehdi militia to stop the fighting.

On Thursday Mr Maliki insisted he had not ordered negotiations with Moqtada Sadr.

And a source close to the prime minister says that Moqtada Sadr's order to cease fighting came at the instigation of Iran.

The source said that as the bloodshed in Basra began early last week, Moqtada Sadr tried to telephone Prime Minister Maliki from Qom, in Iran - and the prime minister refused to take his call.

But a delegation from the United Iraqi Alliance, the parliamentary bloc that supports Mr Maliki, flew to Tehran, where they told representatives of the Iranian leadership that Iran's involvement in stirring up the militia violence was unacceptable and would have to stop, the source said.

They pointed out that Iranian munitions were being used in the fighting.

The Iranian leadership, according to the source, then brought Moqtada Sadr to Tehran.

There, late on Saturday night, he crafted the statement that would order his Mehdi Army militiamen off the streets, the source said.

In this version of events, the Iraqi prime minister retains the ability to deny entering talks with Moqtada Sadr. In effect, it appears to have been done for him, with Iranian influence brought to bear.

Protest call

Moqtada Sadr's organisation, for its part, says its leader chose to order his militiamen off the streets for the sake of "Iraqi unity". His militiamen fought Iraqi troops to a standstill in parts of Basra.

British and American support - including logistics, air strikes and artillery fire - was organised hurriedly to help break their resistance.

Moqtada Sadr has called for a million people to take to the streets across Iraq on 9 April - supposedly to protest against the coalition military presence in Iraq.

But a large turnout would also serve to demonstrate at home as well as abroad the strength of his following, even after the Basra confrontation. The United States ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, on Thursday reinforced the view that Iran was directly supporting the activities of the Mehdi Army militia through the week.

Rockets, he said, that had landed inside the Green Zone were manufactured in Iran, some of them as recently as last year.

"How does he know? We have the tailfins," he said.

'Tangible gains'

Ambassador Crocker was insistent that the operation had shown the Iraqi armed forces in a positive light, even if some objectives were not achieved.

"There is still a major problem in Basra," he said, "but in terms of decision, resolve and ability, they did it themselves and they got in the fight."

He pointed to what he said were tangible gains for the Iraqi government - "thousands" of people, at the behest of tribal leaders, were signing up to be security volunteers, he said.

And the vital port facilities of Um Qasr were now completely in the hands of the Iraqi security forces, he added.

The armed forces had demonstrated in Basra that they were growing in strength and confidence:

"One thing [the Basra operation] tells us is that the Iraqi Security Forces will increasingly be in the lead."

Earlier in the day, Mr Maliki conceded that elements of the military had not performed well, and were being investigated.

His comments echoed those of a US military spokesman on Wednesday, who said some of the were not "up to the job".

Surprise

Mr Crocker will soon board a plane back to Washington, where, together with the commander of coalition forces, General David Petraeus, he will testify before Congress on the situation in Iraq.

He will no doubt be questioned about the competence of Iraq's military and its ability to take over security responsibilities from US troops - it appears he will use the Basra operation as evidence that the Iraq's soldiers are performing.

But the Ambassador is a man with few illusions, and he conceded that the Basra operation did not go as planned.

"I did not expect a major battle from day one," he said.

The Basra operation, it appears, is an empty vessel - it can be filled with any interpretation you choose.

For the Iraqi government and the Americans it is evidence of the growing confidence of the state to exercise power, even though Mr Maliki and Ambassador Crocker have said they were taken by surprise by the scale of the resistance.

For the movement of Moqtada Sadr it was a demonstration of power across south and central Iraq - even though its militia ended up withdrawing.

The role of Iran in the outcome appears important, but is still opaque.

The one conclusion which, so far, can be drawn unequivocally - Iraq is a place where violence can flare and spread exceedingly quickly. The security gains of recent months, as Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus have readily conceded, remain fragile.
____________________________________________

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Iraq to Execute al Qaeda Leader in Murder of Bishop

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

BAGHDAD (ANS) -- A leader of al Qaeda in Iraq has been sentenced to death for the killing of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, whose murder in March drew worldwide condemnation, the Iraqi government said Sunday.

According to a story by Ross Colvin and published by the Reuters News Service, the Iraqi Central Criminal Court imposed the death sentence on Ahmed Ali Ahmed. He is known as Abu Omar, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

Reuters reported that Rahho, the archbishop of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, was abducted on Feb. 29 after gunmen attacked his car and killed his driver and two guards. His body was found in a shallow grave two weeks later.

At the time, Reuters reported, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed al Qaeda and vowed to bring the bishop's killers to justice.

Reuters said his Shi'ite Muslim-led government has been accused by members of Iraq's shrinking Christian minority of not doing enough to protect them from violent persecution.

Chaldeans belong to a branch of the Roman Catholic Church that practices an ancient Eastern rite, Reuters said, and form the biggest Christian community in Iraq.

Reuters reported Dabbagh said Ahmed was a leader of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, and had been sought for his involvement in a number of “terror crimes against the people of Iraq.”

Dabbagh described Rahho as an advocate of peace and tolerance among Iraqis.

Reuters said when Rahho’s body was found on March 13, police said it was not clear whether the 65-year-old clergyman, known to be in poor health, had been killed or died of other causes.

A number of Christian clergy have been kidnaped and killed, and churches bombed in Iraq, since the 2003 U.S.- led invasion.

A former archbishop of Mosul, Basile Georges Casmoussa, was kidnaped in 2005 but released after a day in captivity.
_________________________________

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,361248,00.html (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,361248,00.html)

SYDNEY, Australia — Australia, a staunch U.S. ally and one of the first countries to commit troops to the Iraq war five years ago, ended combat operations there Sunday, a Defense Department official said.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was swept into office in November largely on the promise that he would bring home the country's 550 combat troops by the middle of 2008.

Rudd has said the Iraq deployment has made Australia more of a target for terrorism.

The combat troops are expected to return home over the next few weeks. Local media reports said the first of the soldiers had already landed in Australia on Sunday afternoon.

Several hundred other troops will remain in Iraq to act as security and headquarters liaisons and to guard diplomats. Australia will also leave behind two maritime surveillance aircraft and a warship to help patrol oil platforms in the Gulf.

The troops on Sunday held a ceremony that included lowering the Australian flag from its position over Camp Terendak in the southern Iraq city of Talil, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as required by the Defense Department.

The soldiers, as well as 65 army trainers, were stationed at Talil, about 185 miles south of Baghdad, and were responsible for providing security training for Iraqi forces, as well as reconstruction and aid work. They have been on standby to offer backup to Iraqi forces in the south for the past two years.

In February, the head of Australia's defense force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, told a Senate inquiry that the troops were no longer needed in Iraq.

Rudd remains committed to keeping Australia's 1,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Ahmadinejad: 'Satanic' U.S. almost done for
'The countdown to the annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth has started'

Ahmadinejad says Israel will soon disappear

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted on Monday that Muslims would uproot "satanic powers" and repeated his controversial belief that Israel will soon disappear, the Mehr news agency reported.

"I must announce that the Zionist regime (Israel), with a 60-year record of genocide, plunder, invasion and betrayal is about to die and will soon be erased from the geographical scene," he said.

"Today, the time for the fall of the satanic power of the United States has come and the countdown to the annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth has started."

Since taking the presidency in August 2005, Ahmadinejad has repeatedly provoked international outrage by predicting Israel is doomed to disappear.

"I tell you that with the unity and awareness of all the Islamic countries all the satanic powers will soon be destroyed," he said to a group of foreign visitors ahead of the 19th anniversary of the death of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Ahmadinejad also again expressed his apocalyptic vision that tyranny in the world be abolished by the return to earth of the Mahdi, the 12th imam of Shiite Islam, alongside great religious figures including Jesus Christ.

"With the appearance of the promised saviour... and his companions such as Jesus Christ, tyranny will be soon be eradicated in the world."

Ahmadinejad has always been a devotee of the Mahdi, who Shiites believe disappeared more than a thousand years ago and who will return one day to usher in a new era of peace and harmony.

His emphasis on the Mahdi has been a cause of controversy inside Iran with critics saying he would be better solving bread-and-butter domestic problems rather than talking about Iran's divine responsibility.

Quote

Ahmadinejad also again expressed his apocalyptic vision that tyranny in the world be abolished by the return to earth of the Mahdi, the 12th imam of Shiite Islam, alongside great religious figures including Jesus Christ.

"With the appearance of the promised saviour... and his companions such as Jesus Christ, tyranny will be soon be eradicated in the world."

Brother,

It's disgusting that anyone would profane and blaspheme the HOLY NAME OF JESUS CHRIST by using it in connection to evil hosts. HIS only connection will be as their JUDGE for Eternal punishment. They will meet JESUS CHRIST soon enough, and it won't be pleasant.

Joel 2:1-2,10-11:

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming.
It is close at hand-
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old
nor ever will be in ages to come.
Before them the earth shakes,
the sky trembles,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
The LORD thunders
at the head of his army;
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty are those who obey his command.
The day of the LORD is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?

No power can stand against the Day of the LORD. Great hosts of evil will perish and be reserved for final JUDGMENT.

Matthew 24:27-31 NASB "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Iraq proposes memorandum for U.S. withdrawal
Al-Maliki tells ambassadors 'goal is to end the presence of foreign troops'

The Iraqi government proposed the memorandum after widespread Iraqi opposition to U.S. demands emerged during talks on a more formal Status of Forces Agreement. Some type of agreement is needed to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end.

"Now there is a memorandum of understanding replacing the draft agreement," al-Maliki told several Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates during a meeting Monday.

The proposed memorandum includes a formula for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, said the prime minister -- an idea opposed by U.S. President George W. Bush.

"The goal is to end the presence (of foreign troops)," said al-Maliki.

The prime minister provided no details on that formula. But his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the government was proposing a timetable that would be conditioned on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security.

By transitioning to a less formal memorandum and including a withdrawal formula, al-Maliki may have an easier time getting support from Iraqi lawmakers. They had been concerned about the original negotiation's impact on Iraqi sovereignty.

Al-Maliki has promised in the past to submit a formal agreement with the U.S. to parliament for approval. But the government indicated Monday it may not do so with the memorandum.

"It is up to the Cabinet whether to approve it or sign on it, without going back to the parliament," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press.

Less than three weeks ago, al-Maliki said negotiations with the U.S. over the agreement were deadlocked. But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said after returning from high-level meetings in Washington that the U.S. had made several serious concessions and a deal was "almost finalized."

At the same time, however, Zebari said that if the two sides could not agree, Iraq would either have to seek an extension of the U.N. mandate or pursue the type of memorandum of understanding that al-Maliki announced Monday.

The contentious issues are U.S. authority to carry out military operations in Iraq and arrest the country's citizens, plus legal immunity for private contractors and control of Iraqi air space.

Zebari said the U.S. had agreed to drop immunity for private contractors and give up control of Iraqi air space if the Iraqis guaranteed they could protect the country's skies with their limited air force.

But those concessions, which were never confirmed by the U.S., were apparently not enough to cement a formal agreement, leading Iraq to pursue the memorandum announced Monday.

The Iraqi government's decision to push the U.S. for a less formal agreement comes at a time when the government feels increasingly confident about its authority and improved stability in the country.

Violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level in four years. The change has been driven by the 2007 buildup of American forces, the Sunni tribal revolt against Al Qaeda in Iraq and al-Maliki's crackdowns against Shiite militias and Sunni extremists, among other factors.

Despite the gains, frequent attacks continue.

On Monday, a roadside bomb near a dress shop in Baqouba killed one woman and injured 14 other people, police said. Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, and the surrounding Diyala province remain one of the country's most violent regions.

Iran test-fires more missiles in Persian Gulf

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 10, 5:05 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran test-fired more long-range missiles overnight in a second round of exercises meant to show that the country can defend itself against any attack by the U.S. or Israel, state television reported Thursday.

The weapons have "special capabilities" and included missiles launched from naval ships in the Persian Gulf, along with torpedoes and surface-to-surface missiles, the broadcast said. It did not elaborate.

A brief video clip showed two missiles being fired simultaneously in the darkness trailed by red plumes of fire and smoke.

The report came hours after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran that Washington will not back down in the face of threats against Israel.

"We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies," Rice said Thursday in Georgia at the close of a three-day Eastern European trip.

The director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, said Iran's missile tests have emphasized the urgency of going ahead with plans to place a proposed U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

Among the missiles Iran said it tested Wednesday was a new version of the Shahab-3, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead.

That would put Israel, Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan and Pakistan all within striking distance.

Wednesday's missile tests were conducted at the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which up to 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.

Another Iranian state channel, Press TV, quoted a senior Republican Guard commander Thursday as saying Iran would maintain security in the Strait of Hormuz and the larger Gulf.

Gen. Mohammad Hejazi, chief of the Guards' joint staff, called the missile tests a "defensive measure against invasions," according to the channel's Web site.

Iran will not jeopardize the interests of neighboring countries, he said without elaborating.

Even as Hejazi tried to reassure Iran's neighbors, Tehran's standoff with the West took a new toll when French energy giant Total SA said it is too risky to invest in Iran for now. The decision raised questions about the future of major western involvement in developing Iranian gas reserves.

"The conditions are not present for investing in Iran today," said Total spokeswoman Lisa Wiler. "We hope that the political relations will improve so that we can invest."

Total had been in discussions for developing a liquefied natural gas project linked to Iran's South Pars gas field with Malaysia's Petronas.

But Total and oil majors have been under increasing political pressure from the United States and its allies over their activities in Iran amid mounting tensions over Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. and other countries fear that program is aimed at building nuclear weapons but Tehran insists is for producing energy.

Israel showed off its latest spy plane Thursday in what defense officials said was a display of strength in response to Iranian war games and missile tests.

"It has the most sophisticated early warning and intelligence devices to date and is capable of reaching all destinations required by the air force," said Assaf Dargan, a spokesman for Israel Aerospace Industries.

Iran test-fires more missiles in Persian Gulf (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_missiles;_ylt=Au5P13RhakLq0tDnZ.5k82Gs0NUE)

Iran tests more missiles as U.S. vows to defend allies
Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:11pm EDT

By Alistair Lyon

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran tested more missiles in the Gulf on Thursday, state media said, and the United States reminded Tehran that it was ready to defend its allies.

Video here (http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=86193&newsChannel=wtMostRead)

The United States, which accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear arms, said after Iran test-fired nine missiles on Wednesday that there should be no more such tests if Iran wanted the world's trust. An intelligence official in Washington said there had been a second test and that it was small.

U.S. leaders have not ruled out military options if diplomacy fails to assuage fears about Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is only to produce electricity.

Israel, which has long been assumed to have its own atomic arsenal, has sworn to prevent Iran from emerging as a nuclear-armed power. Last month it staged an air force exercise that stoked speculation about a possible assault on Iranian nuclear sites.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he favored diplomatic pressure and sanctions, but: "Israel is the strongest country in the region and has proved in the past it is not afraid to take action when its vital security interests are at stake."

Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, has vowed to strike back at Tel Aviv, as well as U.S. interests and shipping, if it is attacked, asserting that missiles fired during war games in the Gulf included some that could hit Israel and U.S. bases in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on a visit to the former Soviet republic of Georgia that no one should doubt Washington's commitment to protect its allies.

"We are also sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and ... the interests of our allies," she said.

Rice said a planned U.S. missile defense shield, to be partly based in the Czech Republic and Poland, would dampen any threat of an attack from Iran. Russia opposes the project.

Iranian state TV and radio said the Revolutionary Guards -- the ideologically driven wing of Iran's armed forces -- had fired ground-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles overnight. Long-range missiles were also launched.

"The ... maneuver brings power to the Islamic Republic of Iran and is a lesson for enemies," Guards Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying.

OIL

The missile tests have rattled global oil markets. In late afternoon trading, oil prices surged $6, with some traders talking of a potential third missile test. Crude prices have hit a series of record highs this year partly over Iran.

The U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been no information to substantiate a rumor of a third test. She said the United States was still investigating details of the second launch.

"What we were seeing here is there was a round of tests first, then later in the day, Wednesday Iran time, there was a much smaller second test," she said.

Iran's state-run English and Arabic language satellite channels, which have been swift in reporting previous missile launches, gave no indication of a third missile test in news bulletins late on Thursday.

Iran has threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for Gulf oil exports, if it is attacked. Thursday's exercises involved divers, speedboats and the launch of a high-speed torpedo called Hout, state media said.

China urged restraint, and did not echo Western rebukes over the missile firings. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said he welcomed the prospect of fresh talks on the nuclear program. Iran is China's third biggest crude oil supplier.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have offered Iran incentives to curb its nuclear work. Tehran rejects their demand to suspend uranium enrichment.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana is expected to meet Iranian officials for talks on the package, but no time or place has been announced.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the six powers would be "extremely precise" on the issue of enrichment. "Yes to dialogue, but there must be an answer on uranium enrichment, halting it," he said.

China and Russia, which is building Iran's first, and so far only, nuclear power plant, have been resisting U.S.-led calls for expanding U.N. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Sanctions have made Western firms increasingly wary of investment. France's Total said on Thursday it would not invest for now in a big gas deal due to the risk. Iran brushed off the impact, saying it has enough cash from oil to carry out the project itself or find other interested parties.

"We will proceed with development with or without them," Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari told journalists when asked about the latest comments from Total.

Iran tests more missiles as U.S. vows to defend allies (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0925390620080710)

What Do High Oil Prices Mean for Iraq's Future?
By DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS (Special to the Middle East Times)
Published: July 28, 2008

There are very few silver linings to current record-high oil prices — but a more stable future for embattled Iraq may be one of them. Many experts believe that the country's growing oil revenues will yield three benefits: an improving economy that can diminish some support for the insurgency, more money to develop Iraq's security forces, and a greater willingness by other countries to invest in Iraq's future.

The U.S.'s Energy Information Administration projects that crude oil prices will average about $127 a barrel in 2008 and $133 in 2009, up from the $72 average in 2007. With the world's third largest proven reserves, and production having finally returned to 2.5 million barrels per day, Iraq's revenues will surely be greater than in past years. Iraq is expected to draw $70 billion in oil revenue this year alone, and its government has announced plans to further increase oil production.

This brings us to the first benefit that analysts foresee: a growing Iraqi economy.

One of the first things Iraq will need to do is upgrade its equipment used for oil production. Much of this infrastructure is antiquated, and there have been over 450 attacks on Iraq's pipelines, oil installations, and oil personnel since the insurgency began.

Michael Makovsky, foreign policy director at the Bipartisan Policy Center and former special assistant for Iraqi energy policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, told me that the funding needs of Iraq's oil infrastructure are tremendous.

"Some can come from foreign investors," he said, "but Iraq will have to put in a lot of money."

There are also multiple spending needs inside the country — including building power plants, meeting Iraqis' healthcare needs, and undertaking a housing reconstruction project for displaced people.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh recently told Iraqi media outlet Buratha News that "next year's budget will focus on economy, investment and services [while] the focus was security in previous phases."

A large federal budget means that funds should now be available to address Iraq's little-mentioned healthcare crisis; currently each Iraqi receives an average of only $68 a year in medical services. It also means, as reported by Iraq's Radio Sawa, that the government-sponsored food coupon program will receive additional support through a recent $21 billion supplementary federal budget.

Iraq's federal government will also be able to expand provincial budgets. According to Iraq's Al-Sabah newspaper, the government's 2009 budget apportions $13.6 billion to provincial ministries — which will likely increase the national government's influence at a regional level.

The combination of expanded social programs and a generally improving Iraqi economy will signal to citizens that the country's future is not destitute.

Iraqis, shaken by years of violence, may have a reason to participate in the reconstruction process; improving conditions may diminish both direct and also "soft" support for the insurgency as citizens economically invested in Iraq's future.

Danielle Pletka, the American Enterprise Institute's vice president of foreign and defense policy studies, said, "The problem we had in Iraq related to the space in which a relatively few extremists could operate, tolerated by locals. They will no longer be tolerated if the locals are employed and invested in Iraq's success."

Some observers hope that a growing Iraqi economy may even diminish Iran's influence. A senior American military intelligence officer expressed hopes that this new oil wealth could help incumbent Shias fund their campaigns in the next round of elections, and thus reduce Iran's financial hold over them.

He argues that one reason the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (formerly the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq) was able to break with Iran was that the group began to run a budgetary surplus, and could thus provide for its own funding needs.

The second benefit that many analysts see for Iraq from high oil prices is the government's ability to invest in the security forces.

Bill Roggio, a civilian military affairs analyst and my colleague at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told me that the security forces want to upgrade.

"The Iraqi army is currently a motorized infantry force," he said. "It appears that the ministry of defense is looking to transform several motorized divisions into mechanized and armored divisions. This can cost billions per division, but now the Iraqi government will have the money to purchase the equipment."

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told me that as increased oil revenues allow Iraq's government to spend more on its military, "it might help deflect the U.S. political pressure that Iraq isn't spending enough money on its security forces."

The third benefit is that other countries will be more likely to help ensure Iraq's continued stability.

Perhaps this can be glimpsed in Kuwait recently naming its first ambassador to Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War, and in Norway, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates considering reopening their embassies in Iraq.

The intelligence source quoted above said, "This is likely due to a combination of oil prices and the improving security situation in Iraq."

Makovsky said, "In a world where more oil is needed on the market, Iraq has the potential to be one of the largest producers in the world."

As Iraq's oil production capacity increases through infrastructure investments, Iraq may earn not only a better seat in the global oil market, but also at the diplomatic table.

However, the road paved with oil is slippery. One reason improvements should not be seen as inevitable is the possible return of heavy insurgent violence, while another factor is the political situation and the government's ability to effectively spend its newfound wealth.

Marina Ottoway, director of the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told me: "They key is the security situation, which is in turn tied to the political situation."

Pointing out that there is currently a debate about how successfully Iraq's government is spending its budget, Ottoway said, "Greater revenue will not make a difference unless the government is organized well enough to spend it."

Iraq may also face challenges specifically related to its increased oil wealth, as greater amounts of money pouring into the country will have an inflationary effect. Lowering interest rates may help Iraq cope with the rising costs of consumer goods, but only for so long. The government must develop a long-term strategy for stabilizing the economy.

But despite these uncertainties, high oil prices seem to be a significant boon for Iraq. They will provide the country with unprecedented economic leverage that can in turn enhance stability.

What Do High Oil Prices Mean for Iraq's Future? (http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/07/28/special_report_what_do_high_oil_prices_mean_for_iraqs_future/7411/print/)

US troops 'to quit Iraq by 2011'
22 August 2008

US combat troops could leave Iraq by 2011 under the terms of a deal awaiting approval by Iraq's parliament and presidency, an Iraqi official has said.

The draft security agreement also calls for US forces to withdraw from all Iraqi urban areas by June 2009.

The 27-point agreement reportedly includes a compromise allowing US soldiers some immunity under Iraqi law.

The final date when US troops leave will depend largely on security, the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Baghdad says.

The decision will be taken by a joint committee, which could reduce or extend the amount of time US troops spend in the country.

Mohammed al-Haj Hammoud, the top Iraqi official negotiating with the US on the status of US forces in Iraq, said a deal had been agreed that envisaged all US combat troops leaving Iraq by 2011.

Some US troops could remain beyond 2011 "to train Iraqi security forces", the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

"The combat troops will withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 2009," Mr Hammoud said.

"Both the parties have agreed on this... The negotiators' job is done. Now it is up to the leaders."

A White House spokesman has however said details of the draft agreement were still being discussed.

Gordon Johndroe said US President George W Bush had spoken with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki about the deal.

They "had a good conversation", Mr Johndroe said, adding that "there are a lot of details that have to be worked out".

Handover aim

A deal also appears to have been struck on the controversial issue of granting US troops immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

Mr Hammoud said the deal allowed US troops to remain immune from prosecution on military bases and while on operation.

All other cases would be considered by a joint judicial committee.

The draft deal still needs to be approved by the Iraqi Presidential Council, and critically, by the parliament.

The deal marks the end of 10 months of difficult negotiations.

Speaking on a visit to Baghdad on Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the final deal would be in line with Iraqi laws and sovereignty.

Ms Rice said the aim remained to hand over responsibility for security to Iraqi forces.

There are currently around 147,000 US troops in Iraq.

US troops 'to quit Iraq by 2011' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7577730.stm)

Aug 25, 1:53 PM EDT

Iraq demands deadline for pullout of all US troops

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the United States could be reached unless it included a "specific deadline" for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.

Last week, U.S. and Iraqi officials said the two sides had agreed tentatively to a schedule which included a broad pullout of combat forces by the end of 2011 with a residual U.S. force remaining behind to continue training and advising the Iraqi security forces.

But al-Maliki's remarks Monday suggested that the Iraqi government is still not satisfied with that arrangement. An aide to the prime minister said Monday that Iraq remained adamant that the last American soldier must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 - regardless of conditions at the time.

The official, like others who spoke about the specifics of the debate, spoke on condition of anonymity because the text had not been approved by either government.

President Bush has long resisted a timetable for pulling out troops from Iraq, even under heavy pressure from a nation distressed by American deaths and discouraged by the length of the war that began in 2003.

"There can be no treaty or agreement except on the basis of Iraq's full sovereignty," al-Maliki told a gathering of tribal sheiks. He said such an agreement must be based on the principle that "no foreign soldier remains in Iraq after a specific deadline, not an open time frame."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said negotiations with the Iraqis continued, but reiterated the U.S. stance depended on conditions in Iraq.

"We're optimistic that Iraq and the U.S. can reach a mutual agreement on flexible goals for U.S. troops to continue to return on success - based on conditions on the ground - and allow Iraqi forces to provide security for a sovereign Iraq," he said in Crawford, Texas.

The Bush administration now speaks about "time horizons," but even that now appears unacceptable to al-Maliki's government.

"We find this to be too vague," a close al-Maliki aide told The Associated Press on Monday. "We don't want the phrase 'time horizons.' We are not comfortable with that phrase," said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing negotiations.

Another top al-Maliki aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said the Iraqi government has "stopped talking about the withdrawal of combat troops. We just talk about withdrawals," including trainers and logistics troops.

In his Monday address, al-Maliki also suggested that the question of granting immunity to U.S. military personnel or contractors continued to be a sticking point in the negotiations.

In one key part of the draft agreement, private U.S. contractors would be subject to Iraqi law but the Americans are holding firm that U.S. troops would remain subject exclusively to U.S. legal jurisdiction.

Al-Maliki said Monday that his country could not grant "open immunity" to Iraqis or foreigners because that would be tantamount to a violating the "sanctity of Iraqi blood." He did not elaborate.

The agreement had been scheduled to be concluded by the end of last month.

No new date has been set, but the two al-Maliki aides said a final draft was now available to the political leaderships in Baghdad and Washington. One of the two said a breakthrough was not expected before next month.

Quote from: DreamWeaver on September 04, 2008, 11:44:15 AM

This sounds like Hitler back in 1942 all over again. No........ can't come in........ go die somewhere else........... :'( :'(

Hello DreamWeaver,

Brother, this is all quite strange. I'm having a hard time understanding why Iran made the Jews promise not to go to Israel before they would let them leave. I realize how much Iran and other countries in the Middle East hate Jews, but I also realize how senseless that hatred is. Did Iran fear that those Jews leaving would become enemies if they went to Israel? Maybe that's it. It's actually impossible to find real reasons for hating Jews OTHER than they are GOD'S People, and GOD has promises that will be fulfilled soon to Israel. However, those who hate Jews don't believe the Holy Bible or accept the TRUTH of GOD'S Promises. SO, what's left to be jealous of with Israel, and what manufactured lies must be conjured up to hate them? After all, Israel has has a hard time throughout history.

I've had many Jewish friends all of my life, and most of them aren't Christians. As individuals, they share something in common: they really make it almost impossible to dislike them. This is obviously just my personal experience, and I realize that not all Jews are good people. Most Jewish people throughout the world share something else in common: they face senseless hatred and persecution when some find out that they are Jews. They just want to survive and be treated with basic dignity. Just survival has been a formidable task for them. Sadly, Israel's greatest trials and persecution is yet to come. This is a Bible Fact, but GOD has also Promised to restore Israel. JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF will rescue and restore Israel, but Israel will have to cry out to GOD for help in a genuine way first. Israel's cries to GOD in the second half of the Tribulation Period will be completely genuine, and GOD will answer their cries. Israel will rightfully fear total annihilation from the face of the earth. What's left of Israel will accept their only Rightful MESSIAH and KING this time, and HE is JESUS CHRIST!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Favorite Bible Quotes 423 - Psalms 56:3-4 What time I am afraid, I
will trust in thee. 4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put
my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Quote from: blackeyedpeas on September 05, 2008, 04:38:53 AM

Brother, I'm sure you already know this but, I'm going to post it for those that don't know.

It maybe it's because the Jewish people are a physical reminder of God.

Isaiah 43:10 "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me."

Isaiah 44:8 'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'

From Abraham, God gave the land of Caanan to the Israelites. Today, that map would include Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the so-called Palestinian Territory and Israel. Because of disobedience, God caused the Israeli's to be exiled away from their land, dispersing them to the four corners of the earth. This did not, however, negate the everlasting covenant God made with Abraham and to his descendants on the claim of the land of Israel.

Deuteronomy 30:3-5 The Lord will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it.

Ezekiel 37 God prophesied that Israel will be a nation again.

Ezekiel 37:11-14 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished; We are completely cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it, declares the LORD.'"

This event took place in May 14, 1948. Since that time, the land of Israel has been a focal point of the world and the goal of the Arab world to destroy. There was never a state of Palestine. Biblical references to "Palestine" often are about Philistine or Philistia. The Canaanites and Philistines, along with many other Biblical tribes, no longer exist, except for the Jews. Interestingly enough, the Philistines were European people from the region of Greece, not arabs. How did "Palestine" come about? Around 135 AD, Emperor Hadrian renamed the land of Israel to Palestine to try and erase any references to Jews and Israel. Just as today, the arab world's goal is to destroy Israel and the Jews.

Current news of the day is the ensuing battle between Israel against the Islamic terrorist groups hamas and hezbollah, that leads to Lebanon, Syria and Iran. The call for a Palestinian State is a con by the arab/muslim world to detract from their true agenda. What are world leaders saying in the midst all this conflict? Peace? if there is a Palestinian State. Peace? if Israel concede more land. Peace? if Israel stop their aggression. Israel has made concessions since 1948. Israel was attacked while trying to form their young nation by the arab/muslims around them. Then 1956, the fight over the Suez Canal against Egypt, Syria and Jordan. The 1967 Six day War again the arab armies made war with Israel to try and destroy them. The 1973 Yom Kippur War, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on their most holiest day. In all four of these wars, the tiny nation of Israel was victorious against the large arab armies, gained the lands of the Golan Heights, West Bank, and Gaza Strip. The muslims lost these lands that they are now claiming the Jews stole from them. The chances of Israel winning these battles against the armies of the surrounding muslim nations combined was very low. More than likely, they would be have been destroyed as a people and a nation. I believe that God had a hand in all these victories. This is the land that God gave to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob. No one can uproot them, unless God allows it.

So is it any wonder that when missiles are falling on Israeli towns, you don't hear a peep from news or world leaders, but when Israel finally retaliates against these terrorist, the world tells Israel to stop their aggression. >:(

What should we make of this? The Jews are not only a witness to the sovereignty of God, but also His power. In Ezekiel 38-39, God prophesied of nations invading Israel named Gog and Magog. These are I believe to be Iran, several arab nations and Russia. Iran is calling for the destruction of Israel and supporting Hamas and Hezbollah in its terrorist acts against Israel. Russia has been aligned with Saddam Hussein (Iraq), Iran, North Korea, Hamas. That war will be won by the Power of the Most High, not by the might of man. Both Gog and Magog will be destroyed. Will we see these biblical events happen before our eyes? I don't know. But what I read from the Bible is that when this war happens, this will be the beginning of the end. The wrath of God will be let loose upon the earth, and those who have thumbed their nose at God will feel that wrath. Those who are in Christ, that is those who call upon His Name as Lord and Savior of their soul, will escape the wrath to come and be taken up to heaven in the Rapture.

That explains why people hate the Jews and why they will be a focal point in the end times, but why does God continue to bless and protect and help Israel even though they for the most part don't follow Him and have rejected His Son their Messiah? The answer to that is simple, yet very complicated. First God made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and He will not break His promises.

Genesis 15:18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--"

Genesis 35:10-12 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel." So he named him Israel. 11 And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you."

cont'd next post

Notice that God didn't make this a conditional promise, He just plainly said that He would give this land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for ever. This promise cannot be broken. Now because of disobedience, God has at times removed the Jews from the land, but it has and will remain their land until the end of time.

There is another reason that God continues to bless and help Israel, and that is because they represent Him. Now as a nation they don't think they represent God, many Jews in fact don't believe in the God of their Father Abraham, or at the very least don't think much about Him. But that doesn't matter, God and the Jews are connected and will remain connected.

2 Chronicles 6:5-6 'Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel; but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.'

Ezekiel 20:14 "But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out."

Whether it is the Christians, or the muslims or anyone else in the world who look at the Jews, they see the God of the Bible. They may or may not believe in Him, but they see Him in the Jewish people. The Jews, and especially the nation of Israel, bear God's name and He is very jealous for His name.

God says that sometimes He backs Israel and supports them because He refuses to allow His name to be profaned. It isn't about the Jews as individuals, it isn't even about whether they believe in God or follow Him, but rather it is about what they represent. They represent God and His holy name. He has made promises and those promises will stand. There may be give and take, and He may even allow horrible things to happen to Israel, but they will never be destroyed and God will never allow His name to be profaned.

The nation of Israel is a nation today because of these promises of God, and God's world will be fulfilled. His word says that the world will hate Israel, it also says that Jerusalem will be the focus of the world in the last days. As we see the things happening in Israel we should prepare ourselves because the time is short. I am not saying that the incidents of the last few days mean that Christ will return in the next year or soon, but He certainly could, but what I am saying is that the time is growing short and we as believers need to look up and be prepared.

The moment of truth is Americans need to take a hard look at what is going on in the Middle East, because it provides the clearest picture possible of the war we are in. On one side are al-Qaeda, hamas, hezbollah, Syria and Iran and their allies: Russia, France, Greece, and the UN majority. On the other is the only democracy in the land of Muslim and Arab terror. The origins of this front in the war on terror are crystal clear: the desire of the muslim terrorists, the elected majority among Palestinian Arabs and the occupying Shi'ite army in Lebanon, backed by Syria and Iran, to destroy Israel and push the Jews into the sea.

Human Rights (Except for Jews) The main mistake lies in the fact that the Palestinian organizations did not respond correctly to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and its consequences. Instead of beating their swords into plowshares, pens, and other things that are needed for the development of Palestinian society, in terms of the economy, society, culture, and so on, most of them read the developments incorrectly and immaturely. This was exploited by the terrorist networks, that are funded and run by the regimes of the ayatollahs (I have a better name, but it isn't for the forum) in Tehran and the Ba'th party in Syria, and people have been taken in by delusions and empty slogans like "liberation from the river to the sea" that are heard among the poor, hungry, and desperate Palestinian masses. At present, what these masses need most is Jesus, food, medicines, clothing, and other essentials, not explosive belts, car bombs, and the slogan, "Congratulations, oh martyr, the black-eyed virgin awaits you."

I know some Texans, that would like to meet a few of these "wanna be martyr's". :o :o

Iran’s Complicity in the 9/11 Attacks?

The United States government is concealing Iran’s role in the 9/11 attack, says Kenneth Timmerman, world-renowned investigative journalist and contributing editor of Newsmax.

Timmerman published an expose on unknown Al Qaeda head terrorist Osama Bin Laden for the Reader’s Digest in 1998. Less than a decade later, in 2006, he was nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize by former Swedish deputy Prime Minister Perk Ahlmark for his expose on the Iranian nuclear weapons program.

Speaking on Israel National Radio’s Tovia Singer Show, Timmerman stated that the Iranian government was “deeply, directly and materially involved” in the preparation, the planning, the execution “and the aftermath of the attack in helping Al Qaeda“. He said that the American public is in general unaware of this connection.

Timmerman quoted the 9/11 Commission Report, issued on July 2004 as saying: “We now have evidence suggesting that 8 to 10 of the 14 Saudi “muscle” operatives traveled in or out of Iran between October 2000 and Feb 2001.”
There’s strong evidence that Iran allowed transit of Al Qaeda members before 9/11
The “muscle” operatives were the 9/11 hijackers who overpowered airline crew members, slit their throats, and terrorized passengers so the Al Qaeda pilots could seize control of the airliners and fly them into their targets.

The commission concluded that there was “strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of Al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers.”The commission also concluded that the hijackers “were accompanied by a senior Hizbullah operative.” Timmerman, in his book “Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran”, identified the operative as Imad Faize Mughniyeh, Hizbullah’s second-in-command who was assassinated last February in Damascus.

Although the commission noticed that “either this was a direct material evidence of Iran’s involvement in the hijackings or it was just a remarkable coincidence”, says Timmerman, “they didn’t come down either way… they wouldn’t say which”. In explanation of this resignation he said: “I can assure you they (the commission) were under tremendous, tremendous pressure from the US intelligence community not to say anything about this.”

Rabbi Tovia Singer is the founder and director of Outreach Judaism, an anti-missionary organization. Rabbi Singer addresses more than 200 audiences a year. He is the author of the book and accompanying audio CD series entitled Let’s Get Biblical and Singer holds a bachelor’s degree in social work. He has hosted the Tovia Singer Show since 2002.

Are these our future allies? Iraq may execute MP for crime of visiting Israel

Prophecy News Watch

First his two sons were murdered. Now he faces prosecution. The reason for Mithal al-Alusi's troubles? Visiting Israel and advocating peace with the Jewish state - something Iraq's leaders refuse to consider.

The Iraqi is at the center of a political storm after his fellow lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to strip him of his immunity and allow his prosecution for visiting Israel - a crime punishable by death under a 1950s-era law. Such a fate is unlikely for al-Alusi, though he may lose his party's sole seat in parliament.

Because he had visited Israel, many Iraqis assume the maverick legislator was the real target of the assassins who killed his sons in 2005 while he escaped unharmed.

Now he is in trouble for again visiting Israel and attending a conference a week ago at the International Institute for Counterterrorism.

"He wasn't set to speak, but he was in the audience and conversed with a lecturer on a panel about insurgency and terrorism in Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel," said conference organizer Eitan Azani. "We didn't invite him. He came on his own initiative."

Al-Alusi has a German passport, allowing him to travel without visa restrictions imposed on other Iraqis. Lawmakers accused him of humiliating the nation with a trip to the "enemy" state.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor called the reaction to al-Arusi's visit "very distressing" and said it was sad this was the response to someone who merely visited Israel and was interested in a dialogue with it.

"It is very unfortunate that the reaction was so violent and aggressive," he said. "It adds nothing."

Palmor said Israel was appreciative of al-Alusi's "courage," and that the reactions to his visit were an example of the extremism that was plaguing that country and leading to so much bloodshed there.

The uproar shows how far Iraq has moved from the early US goal of creating a democracy that would make peace with Israel and remove a critical force from the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The US Embassy declined comment. "It is an issue for the Iraqi parliament, not the US Mission to Iraq," said spokesman Armand Cucciniello.

"What has happened was a catastrophe for democracy," Al-Alusi told The Associated Press in an interview in his Baghdad home. "Within an hour's time, the parliament became the policeman, the investigator, the judge, the government and the law. It was a sham trial."

Al-Alusi said he went to Israel to seek international support for Iraq as it struggles against terrorism, and insisted that the outcry reflected Iranian meddling in Iraq's internal affairs - an accusation often leveled by Sunnis like himself against Iraq's mostly Shi'ite neighbor.

"Iran is behind Hamas and Hizbullah and many other terrorist organizations. Israelis are suffering like me, like my people. So we need to be together," he said. "Peace will have more of a chance."

Iraq sent troops to three Arab wars against Israel, and fired Scud missiles at it in the 1991 Gulf War. It remains technically at war with the Jewish state. Iraq's once-thriving Jewish community has shriveled to just a few people, most having fled after Israel was established in 1948.

Neighbors vow to help Iraq
Arab News
24 October 2008

AMMAN/BAGHDAD: Interior ministers of Iraq and eight of its neighboring countries met in Amman yesterday and vowed to support the Baghdad government in strengthening its security and stability.

The meeting coincided with the handover of Babil province, part of what was once known as the “Triangle of Death,” to Iraqi security by US forces.

The Amman conference was significant as it came at a time when the Iraqi government is locked in intense negotiations with the United States on a long-term security pact that reportedly provides, among other things, for the withdrawal of the allied forces from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Interior Minister Prince Naif, who led the Saudi delegation, said the conference was a success. “All countries neighboring Iraq want the Iraqi people to live in peace and security,” Naif told reporters after the meeting.

The Kingdom will extend all possible support to the ongoing efforts to ensure the security and stability of Iraq, the prince said. “The situation in Iraq will affect not only the Gulf region but the whole humanity,” he said, adding that security is essential for Iraq’s progress at political, developmental and social levels.

Ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Iran and Turkey, and officials from the Organization of the Islamic Conference and Arab League attended the meeting, which denounced all forms of terrorist activities and affirmed the need to protect the unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty and Arab identity of Iraq.

The meeting also supported Iraq’s efforts to strengthen security; agreed to prevent terrorists from using their countries as bases for terrorist operations; and called for measures to prevent intruders and arms smuggling through their borders.

The ministers decided to sign security agreements with Iraq; activate existing bilateral security cooperation; and support Iraqi security machinery. Their next meeting will be in Egypt.

Iranian Interior Minister Ali Kordan said that Tehran opposed any document that threatens Iraqi interests, in an apparent reference to a draft of the Washington-Baghdad security pact. “We believe that the Iraqi people must remain strong enough to take their own decisions in line with their interests. Iran will support any document that is accepted by the Iraqis,” Kordan told the meeting. “The American troops must leave Iraq unconditionally and in accordance with a timetable,” he added.

Babil is the 12th of 18 Iraqi provinces to be placed under Iraqi control as a sign of improving security. US forces will remain in the area to assist the Iraqis when needed. At a transfer ceremony held near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon, Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 US commander in Iraq, said security gains have been remarkable with the number of attacks falling about 80 percent from an average of 20 per week a year ago.

But he cautioned that “while the enemies of Iraq are down, they are not necessarily defeated.” With Babil’s handover to the Iraqi government, the only province left under US control in southern Iraq is Wasit, a rural desert region that borders Iran. Wasit will be transferred to Iraqi authorities on Oct. 29, said Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, US commander south of Baghdad.

Other provinces that remain to be handed over are north of the capital, where violence has been slower to decline after insurgents fled security crackdowns in Baghdad and surrounding areas.

Salim Al-Musilmawi, Babil’s provincial governor, credited tribal leaders and Sunnis who turned against Al-Qaeda in Iraq in a US-funded revolt with the downturn in violence. “Today’s security handover is the fruit of the victory over Al-Qaeda,” he said at the ceremony.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, a man rammed his car into the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry convoy as it passed through the central Bab Al-Sharji area. Minister Mahmoud Mohammed Al-Radhi escaped unharmed but three of his guards were killed.

Neighbors vow to help Iraq (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=115754&d=24&m=10&y=2008)

Iran: We arm Middle Eastern 'liberation armies'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

A top Revolutionary Guards commander has said Iran is supplying weapons to "liberation armies" in the Middle East, a state-run news agency reported - the first official confirmation the country provides weapons to armed groups in the region.

Slideshow: Pictures of the week Gen. Hossein Hamedani, deputy commander of a volunteer militia that is part of the elite Revolutionary Guards, did not provide specific details. But Iran is widely believed to provide weapons to Hizbullah. The US military has also accused Iran of arming Shi'ite militias in Iraq.

"Not only are our armed forces self-sufficient, liberation armies of the region get part of their weapons from us," Borna news quoted Hamedani as saying on its Web site late Sunday.

In the past, Iran - a majority Shi'ite country - has denied arming Hizbullah, saying it only provided political and financial support. The Iranian government has also denied providing weapons or financial support to Shi'ite militants fighting US forces in Iraq.

But the US military has said it has evidence that elements of the Mahdi army, an Iraqi militia loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have been armed by Iran.

Hamedani also said Iran has no shortage of advanced missile systems.

"Our chemical engineers have upgraded Iran's missile capability," he was quoted as saying.

Hamedani didn't elaborate, but Iranian officials have said they successfully tested a solid fuel motor for the medium-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile, a technological breakthrough for Iran.

Experts say solid fuel increases the accuracy of missiles in reaching targets. But many in the West have expressed doubt about Iran's professed military accomplishments.

Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.

Iraq's damaged Babylon hopes for revival
14 November 2008
By Andrew North
BBC News, Babylon, Iraq

Picture 1 (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45206000/jpg/_45206056_989f6985-1da3-4fa9-a45b-619ed306478c.jpg)

Beneath a patch of stony, desert ground on the River Euphrates, surrounded by date palms, many of the secrets of the cradle of civilisation are still waiting to be uncovered.

But the site of ancient Babylon in Iraq - with its legendary hanging gardens and the Tower of Babel reaching to the sky - has suffered under Saddam Hussein's rule and years of conflict.

Parts have been looted, altered or built on, and some of the historic soil has even been used by US coalition soldiers to fill sandbags.

Iraq's former ruler left the biggest mark, recreating his own version of Babylon on top of some of the original ruins, parts of which date back more than 4,000 years.

Today, the site itself is peaceful, almost forgotten, with only a few sleepy guards and the manager there to greet us when we arrive.

It is 85km (55 miles) south of Baghdad. But getting there means passing through one of the most dangerous parts of Iraq - the so-called "triangle of death" just beyond the capital.

It is a bit quieter now, with Iraqi army and police checkpoints every mile in places.

'Substantial damage'

In the UK, an exhibition just opened at the British Museum in London on Babylon and the myths that surround it.

Many experts question, for example, whether the hanging gardens really existed.

But the exhibition has put the city's story back in the limelight.

The museum has also focused attention on what it says is "substantial damage" caused by US and Polish troops who had a base here until 2005.

"We have many important historical sites here, but still only a quarter of the area has been excavated" Maythem ubgone19

One patch of flat ground we saw had been concreted over to serve as a helicopter landing pad.

A fuel store was carved out of the soil nearby - disturbing key evidence of the past before it could be explored, archaeologists complain.

The Americans say their presence helped to deter looters.

But manager Maythem ubgone19, working with the UN's heritage organisation Unesco, says he is pressing for compensation.

What you first see when you arrive is a large replica of the city's Ishtar Gate, commissioned by Saddam Hussein.

Beyond are a series of courtyards and arches, surrounded by high walls and ramparts - his version of the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled Babylon in the 6th century BC.

It is built along the outline of the original ruins, and at the base you can still see some of the old bricks.

But Saddam Hussein went further, inscribing his name on many of the bricks.

"This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq," they read.

But he did also protect some parts of the site, such as the main avenue known as the Procession Street.

Rebellion

I first visited Babylon while Saddam Hussein was still in power, in 2000.

At the time, there was a huge portrait of him and Nebuchadnezzar at the entrance to the ruins.

That has gone now, but the huge palace Saddam Hussein had constructed on another part of the ruins still looks down on the site.

"Don't photograph that building," the minder with me at the time instructed, without saying what it was. He was terrified even to look at it.

Eventually, when we were alone, he whispered that he did not agree with what had been done here - a fleeting moment of rebellion against his then ruler's megalomania.

Today, site manager Mr ubgone19 can be more open, condemning the desecration.

The main ruins you can see now are of Nebuchadnezzar's northern palace, some 2,600 years old, and parts of the old city walls.

Picture 2 (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45206000/jpg/_45206058_3c5ca960-0f38-4af5-b86f-1aec5b18fcc3.jpg)

Saddam Hussein had a statue of a lion killing a man, which was found there, set up on a plinth nearby.

It was Nebuchadnezzar who is supposed to have built the hanging gardens for his wife. The story goes that she was from the mountains, but living in this desert city, she missed the sight of greenery.

Perhaps the real story is still there underground.

Mr ubgone19 hopes that one day, proper archaeological exploration will resume.

"We have many important historical sites here," he says, "but still only a quarter of the area has been excavated."

Its importance, and that of the many other ancient sites in Iraq, cannot be overestimated.

Long before there were any towns or cities in Europe, Babylon was thriving.

Modern civilisation as we know it now - built around organised, planned cities - first emerged in what is now Iraq.

Before that, humans had only lived as nomads.

Mr ubgone19 says he hopes Babylon can regain its World Heritage status - removed because of Saddam Hussein's alterations - and eventually re-open to visitors.

But at the moment, the shutters on the old souvenir shop I remember from 2000 are still down.

Iraq's damaged Babylon hopes for revival (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/middle_east/7729064.stm)

A few pictures of Babylon, as it is now. These links are directly to the news, in pictures.

Picture 1
Nebuchadnezzar II ruled Babylon from 604-561 BC,
building palaces and the famed hanging gardens. (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45206000/jpg/_45206461_-18.jpg)

Picture 2
More recently, former ruler Saddam Hussein sought
to leave his mark on the site, building walls and
ramparts on top of ancient ruins. (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45206000/jpg/_45206463_-20.jpg)

Picture 3
A statue of a lion killing a man has been
raised on a plinth. (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45206000/jpg/_45206460_-15.jpg)

Picture 4
The site's manager says the US military damaged
the ruins by building a concrete helicopter pad. (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45206000/jpg/_45206459_-14.jpg)

Picture 5
Now US troops mostly just fly over, having handed
the site back to the Iraqis three years ago (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45206000/jpg/_45206457_-12.jpg)

Picture 6
Saddam Hussein built a huge palace that looks
down on Babylon (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45206000/jpg/_45206462_-19.jpg)

Now a few of you maybe asking questions on why, I posted about this development..........

During Tribulation, Babylon WILL be the most important site of the anti-christ till it is destroyed by God. There are two Babylons mentioned in Revelation.

The first Babylon described in Revelations 17, Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, represents the apostate church of the last days which will be based in Rome.

The second Babylon, referred to in Revelations 18, and Isaiah 13, represents the rebuilt city of Babylon in Iraq.
During the tribulation period, Babylon will once again become the world's center for demonic religious worship, and also an economic superpower which thrives under satan's mark system.

Further proof that these two are separate entities lies in the prophecies about the destruction of the two Babylons.

Revelations 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

Revelations 17:16 - John reveals that the apostate Babylonian church will be destroyed by the Antichrist's ten kings at the mid point of the seven year tribulation period.

On the other hand, the actual city of Babylon will be destroyed by God during the Great Day of the Lord (Isaiah 13)
using fire from the heavens just as He did in Sodom & Gomorrah. This annihilation of the city of Babylon will occur 1260 days after the Antichrist destroys the false church in Rome.

Iraq's al-Sadr renews threats to attack US
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press Writer
Fri Nov 14, 2:24 pm ET

BAGHDAD – Iraq's two most powerful Shiite clerics on Friday challenged the government's planned security pact with the United States, undercutting efforts to reach a deal before the U.N. mandate for American troops in Iraq expires Dec. 31.

Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr renewed threats to unleash his militia fighters to attack U.S. forces unless they leave Iraq immediately, and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani vowed to intervene if he concludes the proposed agreement governing the presence of U.S. forces infringes on national sovereignty.

Iraqi officials have said they will seek a renewal of the U.N. Security Council's mandate if the pact, which would allow American troops to stay in Iraq through 2011, is not passed by parliament by year's end.

The pressure from the clerics showcases the precarious position of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Most of his Shiite allies reject the deal, including the senior partner in his coalition, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, and his own spiritual guide, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah of Lebanon.

Al-Sadr's threat to attack American troops if they don't leave came in a statement by the Iran-based cleric that was read to thousands of supporters at Friday prayers in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City enclave and the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad.

"I repeat my call on the occupier to get out from the land of our beloved Iraq, without retaining bases or signing agreements," he said. "If they do stay, I urge the honorable resistance fighters ... to direct their weapons exclusively against the occupier."

The statement did not say when or under what conditions the attacks might resume.

Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia fought the Americans in 2004 and again last spring, although it was battered by the U.S. military. Hundreds of militiamen died in those battles, but the tenacity of al-Sadr's loyalists forced American troops into weeks of fighting.

Al-Sadr called on breakaway cells from the Mahdi Army to join the "Promised Day Brigade," a name he used for the first time Friday. It refers to a unit of seasoned and loyal fighters who remained armed after he ordered the militia disbanded in July.

The cleric is backed by 30 lawmakers in the 275-member parliament and enjoys the support of a significant segment of Shiites in Iraq's oil-rich south, also home to the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala. Last month, tens of thousands of al-Sadr supporters rallied in Baghdad to oppose the security pact.

But the biggest threat to the proposed agreement was the warning relayed from al-Sistani, who has the political muscle to sink the deal.

An official close to al-Sistani said Friday that the cleric has vowed to "directly intervene" if the final version of the agreement breaches Iraq's sovereignty. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Al-Sistani does not talk to reporters, instead conveying his political views through edicts or leaks by officials at his office in Najaf. The tone of Friday's comment suggests he wants al-Maliki's government to heed his concerns before it refers the draft to parliament.

Most of Iraq's Shiites consider al-Sistani to be infallible, and politicians routinely consult with him before they take a position on key issues. The agreement would have virtually no chance of parliamentary approval if he publicly spoke against it.

Al-Sistani's reported view was stronger than an Oct. 29 announcement from the cleric's office that said he wanted Iraqi sovereignty to be protected in the agreement.

The escalation by al-Sistani is likely to rattle al-Maliki, whose government has sought changes to the pact to satisfy critics.

The Bush administration last week responded to Iraqi demands for changes in the text before al-Maliki sends the deal to his Cabinet and then to parliament. U.S. officials described the text as final and said it was up to the Iraqis to push the process further, but Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh later said the changes agreed to by Washington were "not enough."

Iraq is understood to have demanded guarantees for its right to try U.S. soldiers and defense contractors for serious crimes committed off-duty and off-base and to ensure that the United States does not use Iraqi territory to attack a neighboring country, like Iran or Syria.

It also wanted stronger language to clarify that U.S. troops cannot stay in Iraq after Dec. 31, 2011.

Many Shiite politicians have looked to al-Sistani for political cover on the question of the agreement, fearing that publicly supporting it in a country where most people see the Americans as occupiers could cost their parties in provincial elections due by Jan. 31 and a national ballot late in 2009.

This is particularly true of the Supreme Council, al-Maliki's senior coalition partner and the largest Shiite party. It is closely allied with al-Sistani and has the additional worry of losing the support of Iran if it publicly backs the agreement.

Iran, which enjoys considerable influence with Iraq's Shiite parties, bitterly opposes the deal, which it sees as enshrining the U.S. military presence in Iraq and posing a threat to its own security.

Iraq's al-Sadr renews threats to attack US (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081114/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq;_ylt=AvNl3RM4uOV1TAXOePGlycQLewgF)

Iraqi government sponsors Christmas celebration
Picture of Jesus floats overhead while official declares Iraqis 'all Christian'

Christians, the first people of Iraq, have faced persecution, threats, assassination and mass extermination in recent years. But to celebrate Christmas 2008, the government formally recognized the Christian faith by sponsoring a Baghdad city-center party featuring a huge poster of Jesus suspended by a balloon and an artist creating oil paintings representing Jesus.

According to a report from CNN, the agency's correspondent was told by Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf, "All Iraqis are Christian today!"

Ken Joseph Jr. of the Assyrian Christians told WND walking through the streets of Washington, D.C., provides a visitor with no link between the decorations and festivities of the holiday time and the birth of Jesus.

Yet in Baghdad, "the government sponsored a special Christmas celebration for the Christians. The main focus was the huge picture of Jesus," he said.

"It's ironic that this was part of our whole struggle. We have fantastic support from the Iraqi side. They love the Christians," he said.

At Hot Air, Ed Morrisssey wrote, "Can anyone imagine this celebration taking place with government support in any other Arab nation — even those normally described as 'moderate'? Not only does this celebration include the standard secular imagery of Santa Claus, they actually put a picture of Jesus Christ on a hot-air balloon. That's a big deal in a Muslim nation, where they object strenuously (and often violently) to iconography. Suggesting that Iraqis are 'all Christians' on any day would get a Muslim fired or worse anyplace else in the region."

He continued, "This is what victory looks like. Iraq has settled into what Condoleezza Rice called a 'multi-confessional' society, one that has begun to promote a religious tolerance that is unlike anything seen in that region in decades, if not centuries or ever."

The CNN report said the celebration featured tables loaded with cookies and cakes, with Santa balloons hanging from trees.

It was held at a public park in eastern Baghdad and included a Christmas tree and military band, which played martial music instead of Christmas carols, the report said.

Khalaf told the CNN correspondent Iraq lost thousands of people to sectarian and ethic violence.

"Now that we have crossed that hurdle and destroyed the incubators of terrorism," he told the network, "and the security situation is good, we have to go back and strengthen community ties."

The report cited the presence of Father Saad Sirop Hanna, a Chaldean Christian priest. He recalled the 28 days he was held by kidnappers in 2006, because of his Christianity.

"We are just attesting that things are changing in Baghdad, slowly, but we hope that this change actually is real. We will wait for the future to tell us the truth about this," he said.

Baghdad is not the only Iraqi city to celebrate, either. According to AsiaNews, Christians in Kirkuk are awaiting a return of midnight Mass, an institution banished during years of conflict and violence.

The report said while the event hasn't yet been returned to the traditional midnight hour – it's held these days at 5:30 in the afternoon – the assembly itself is a promise to the Christian community.

Joseph said the Christian community in Iraq dates to the same time period the apostles were spreading their faith. In fact, he said, the people of the original Assyrian Christian community were among the first to send missionaries to other nations.

To this day, many Assyrian Christians still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. They are also the people of ancient Nineveh, the city visited by the biblical prophet Jonah that lies today near the modern city of Mosul, Iraq.

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Theology => Prophecy - Current Events => Topic started by: nChrist on March 07, 2008, 01:30:03 AM