Thursday, April 17, 2003
What Do We Call This Hurricane?
I feel like we are dealing with a hurricane here. We survived the frontal force of it and we are now sitting in the eye. The air is alive with tension, but the direction from which we will receive the next blow is unknown. Where do we look? Let's read the signs as of today.
Kurds oust Arabs from homes in Kirkuk
KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) — Years after they were dispossessed under Saddam Hussein, Kurds are taking what they say is rightfully theirs, evicting Iraqi Arabs and seizing their homes in northern Iraq.
"We're homeless," complained Sadi Qader Muhammad, whose family was ordered out of their four-room house by a group of Kurds in this largely Kurdish city. "For years, we've worked hard from morning until night, and getting kicked out of our home is the fruit of our labor."
The new Kurdish occupants took over the house in the days of confusion immediately after the April 10 collapse of Baghdad's authority in Kirkuk. They claim the land was theirs before Saddam evicted them in the 1980s.
"It was our land," said Khader Rashid Rahim, a trader who plans to move his wife and seven children to this house. "Years ago, three of my brothers were killed by Saddam's government. They took all of our property and forcibly moved us away."
An estimated 400,000 Kurds were displaced from Kirkuk. Many ended up in refugee camps and dedicated their lives to retrieving their lost property.
No Oil fields for the Kurds!
On top of Turkey's economic worries, Turkey's recurring nightmare is that war would lead to the creation of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq.
The outgoing prime minister, whose protracted illness led to the collapse of his governing coalition and early elections, fears that Turkey's 12 million Kurds, mainly in the south-east, would break away and fragment the country.
Reconciliation between the two Kurdish factions in northern Iraq earlier this summer sharpened Ankara's suspicions that America had secretly offered independence in return for Kurdish cooperation.
The Turkish government further reasoned that if the Kurds occupied Kirkuk and Mosul, once Ottoman cities, the oil wealth in the area would boost their political aspirations.
Threats have come from government spokesmen and retired generals, suggesting that Turkish troops would occupy cities in northern Iraq if the Kurds occupy the oil rich area.
Marines quell riot, catch bank robbers
BAGHDAD, Iraq-- A riot broke out at a Baghdad bank Thursday after thieves blew a hole in the vault and dropped children in to bring out fistfuls of cash. As ordinary Iraqis protested vehemently, U.S. troops calmed the situation by arresting the thieves and removing $4 million in U.S. dollars for safekeeping.
About 1,000 civilians surged around the 16 soldiers attempting to secure the bank building. At one point the soldiers cocked their rifles and charged at a group of men to get them to back away from their Bradley fighting vehicles.
Local Iraqis not impressed by US-selected leader
Skepticism ran deep among groups united by little more than joy at Saddam's fall and unease at getting too close to Washington. Even Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi, eager not to be seen as a stooge of the Americans who back him, opted to stay away and to send a representative instead.
The main Shiite Islam opposition group decided not to come at all.
City of Kut has their own ideas on leadership
In the city of Kut, southeast of Baghdad, an anti-American cleric took over City Hall. Hundreds of his followers blocked U.S. Marines from entering Tuesday with a message that ''there is more than just one leader in the region.'' The Marines departed, opting against confrontation.
US backed Iraqi fighters not warmly greeted
BAGHDAD, April 16 A Pentagon-backed Iraqi militia composed mostly of exiles rumbled into town today on the back of U.S. military trucks.
Wearing U.S. issued uniforms, the fighters waved their weapons. They pumped their arms. They chanted joyfully of their return.
And they were greeted with a cold-eyed indifference that finally silenced them.
As Baghdad showed itself revealing blackened streets littered with the debris of lawlessness, dead zones of shuttered stores and, most starkly, a suspicious populace the buoyant mood of the 120-man Baghdad Company of the Free Iraqi Forces wilted
A US marine spokesman in Baghdad has downplayed reports that an Iraqi has been elected to govern the city.
The officer was responding to news that Mohammed Mohsen Zubaidi had announced his "election" by local people and was liaising with the US military. "Anyone can call themselves anything they want to, but future appointments like this will be handled through USAid," Captain Joe Plenzler told AFP news agency.
Political manoeuvring is intensifying across Iraq as exiled opposition leaders return to the country and try to stake their claims for roles in the future government.
There are a number of emerging leaders throughout Iraq and the coalition works with a number of them on a variety of levels
Mr Zubaidi, who says he is a member of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC), told reporters he had been elected by religious and community leaders as "president of Baghdad's executive committee" but he gave few details.
Reuters news agency reports that most Iraqis it interviewed after Mr Zubaidi's "election" said they knew nothing about polling.
MOSUL, Iraq --U.S. Special Forces troops caught in the middle of a political power grab battled a violent mob with assault rifles and heavy machine guns from the governor's building here Tuesday.
A crowd of more than 2,000 repeatedly surged at the building for roughly an hour, hurling rocks and chunks of concrete, as U.S. soldiers drove them back with one barrage after another, including rounds from .50-caliber machine guns. There were unconfirmed reports that at least 10 people were killed.
New concerns with Hezbollah
The Damascus government has given Hezbollah weapons and political and logistical support, the officials say. The group's ties to Iran and Syria prompted the United States to put both nations on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
With thousands of well-trained, well-armed and highly disciplined soldiers, and thousands of missiles and other armaments, Hezbollah could pose a more potent threat than even Al Qaeda, several top U.S. officials have warned.
U.S. officials have accused Hezbollah, Iran and Syria of sending fighters or military equipment to Iraq for the war, charges that all three reject. Now, these officials believe that Hezbollah, Iran and Syria may try to thwart efforts to rebuild Iraq by launching attacks on U.S. and British targets there.
CAIRO, 18 April 2003 — Syria will not allow inspections of its military arsenal or its territory to refute US accusations that it possesses chemical weapons, Foreign Minister Farouk Shara said here yesterday.
North Korea
I don't even want to talk about North Korea, so I won't.
It looks like something wicked this way comes. The question is which one of the above, will evolve into something larger. Maybe it has not even shown it's face yet.
I feel so much safer now that we are at condition Yellow. The war is moving out of Bush's main focus. He now has the economy on his revised agenda. Colin Powell feels free enough to travel again. The Administration is starting to devote time to gather campaign funds for the 2004 election.
It doesn't look like anything is calming down to me. It looks like we are going to get hit with the back end of this hurricane and the winds of this war will continue to howl for a long time to come. Don't go Colin, please stay home!!!!
Sources cited: BBC News
The New York Times
The LA Times
Chris Tomilson, AP
Kevin Frayer, AP
Reuters
I feel like we are dealing with a hurricane here. We survived the frontal force of it and we are now sitting in the eye. The air is alive with tension, but the direction from which we will receive the next blow is unknown. Where do we look? Let's read the signs as of today.
Kurds oust Arabs from homes in Kirkuk
KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) — Years after they were dispossessed under Saddam Hussein, Kurds are taking what they say is rightfully theirs, evicting Iraqi Arabs and seizing their homes in northern Iraq.
"We're homeless," complained Sadi Qader Muhammad, whose family was ordered out of their four-room house by a group of Kurds in this largely Kurdish city. "For years, we've worked hard from morning until night, and getting kicked out of our home is the fruit of our labor."
The new Kurdish occupants took over the house in the days of confusion immediately after the April 10 collapse of Baghdad's authority in Kirkuk. They claim the land was theirs before Saddam evicted them in the 1980s.
"It was our land," said Khader Rashid Rahim, a trader who plans to move his wife and seven children to this house. "Years ago, three of my brothers were killed by Saddam's government. They took all of our property and forcibly moved us away."
An estimated 400,000 Kurds were displaced from Kirkuk. Many ended up in refugee camps and dedicated their lives to retrieving their lost property.
No Oil fields for the Kurds!
On top of Turkey's economic worries, Turkey's recurring nightmare is that war would lead to the creation of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq.
The outgoing prime minister, whose protracted illness led to the collapse of his governing coalition and early elections, fears that Turkey's 12 million Kurds, mainly in the south-east, would break away and fragment the country.
Reconciliation between the two Kurdish factions in northern Iraq earlier this summer sharpened Ankara's suspicions that America had secretly offered independence in return for Kurdish cooperation.
The Turkish government further reasoned that if the Kurds occupied Kirkuk and Mosul, once Ottoman cities, the oil wealth in the area would boost their political aspirations.
Threats have come from government spokesmen and retired generals, suggesting that Turkish troops would occupy cities in northern Iraq if the Kurds occupy the oil rich area.
Marines quell riot, catch bank robbers
BAGHDAD, Iraq-- A riot broke out at a Baghdad bank Thursday after thieves blew a hole in the vault and dropped children in to bring out fistfuls of cash. As ordinary Iraqis protested vehemently, U.S. troops calmed the situation by arresting the thieves and removing $4 million in U.S. dollars for safekeeping.
About 1,000 civilians surged around the 16 soldiers attempting to secure the bank building. At one point the soldiers cocked their rifles and charged at a group of men to get them to back away from their Bradley fighting vehicles.
Local Iraqis not impressed by US-selected leader
Skepticism ran deep among groups united by little more than joy at Saddam's fall and unease at getting too close to Washington. Even Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi, eager not to be seen as a stooge of the Americans who back him, opted to stay away and to send a representative instead.
The main Shiite Islam opposition group decided not to come at all.
City of Kut has their own ideas on leadership
In the city of Kut, southeast of Baghdad, an anti-American cleric took over City Hall. Hundreds of his followers blocked U.S. Marines from entering Tuesday with a message that ''there is more than just one leader in the region.'' The Marines departed, opting against confrontation.
US backed Iraqi fighters not warmly greeted
BAGHDAD, April 16 A Pentagon-backed Iraqi militia composed mostly of exiles rumbled into town today on the back of U.S. military trucks.
Wearing U.S. issued uniforms, the fighters waved their weapons. They pumped their arms. They chanted joyfully of their return.
And they were greeted with a cold-eyed indifference that finally silenced them.
As Baghdad showed itself revealing blackened streets littered with the debris of lawlessness, dead zones of shuttered stores and, most starkly, a suspicious populace the buoyant mood of the 120-man Baghdad Company of the Free Iraqi Forces wilted
A US marine spokesman in Baghdad has downplayed reports that an Iraqi has been elected to govern the city.
The officer was responding to news that Mohammed Mohsen Zubaidi had announced his "election" by local people and was liaising with the US military. "Anyone can call themselves anything they want to, but future appointments like this will be handled through USAid," Captain Joe Plenzler told AFP news agency.
Political manoeuvring is intensifying across Iraq as exiled opposition leaders return to the country and try to stake their claims for roles in the future government.
There are a number of emerging leaders throughout Iraq and the coalition works with a number of them on a variety of levels
Mr Zubaidi, who says he is a member of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC), told reporters he had been elected by religious and community leaders as "president of Baghdad's executive committee" but he gave few details.
Reuters news agency reports that most Iraqis it interviewed after Mr Zubaidi's "election" said they knew nothing about polling.
MOSUL, Iraq --U.S. Special Forces troops caught in the middle of a political power grab battled a violent mob with assault rifles and heavy machine guns from the governor's building here Tuesday.
A crowd of more than 2,000 repeatedly surged at the building for roughly an hour, hurling rocks and chunks of concrete, as U.S. soldiers drove them back with one barrage after another, including rounds from .50-caliber machine guns. There were unconfirmed reports that at least 10 people were killed.
New concerns with Hezbollah
The Damascus government has given Hezbollah weapons and political and logistical support, the officials say. The group's ties to Iran and Syria prompted the United States to put both nations on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
With thousands of well-trained, well-armed and highly disciplined soldiers, and thousands of missiles and other armaments, Hezbollah could pose a more potent threat than even Al Qaeda, several top U.S. officials have warned.
U.S. officials have accused Hezbollah, Iran and Syria of sending fighters or military equipment to Iraq for the war, charges that all three reject. Now, these officials believe that Hezbollah, Iran and Syria may try to thwart efforts to rebuild Iraq by launching attacks on U.S. and British targets there.
CAIRO, 18 April 2003 — Syria will not allow inspections of its military arsenal or its territory to refute US accusations that it possesses chemical weapons, Foreign Minister Farouk Shara said here yesterday.
North Korea
I don't even want to talk about North Korea, so I won't.
It looks like something wicked this way comes. The question is which one of the above, will evolve into something larger. Maybe it has not even shown it's face yet.
I feel so much safer now that we are at condition Yellow. The war is moving out of Bush's main focus. He now has the economy on his revised agenda. Colin Powell feels free enough to travel again. The Administration is starting to devote time to gather campaign funds for the 2004 election.
It doesn't look like anything is calming down to me. It looks like we are going to get hit with the back end of this hurricane and the winds of this war will continue to howl for a long time to come. Don't go Colin, please stay home!!!!
Sources cited: BBC News
The New York Times
The LA Times
Chris Tomilson, AP
Kevin Frayer, AP
Reuters
# posted by Thomas @ 11:41 PM 
