As homicide bombers continue to devastate Iraq the Washington Post is reporting that “Officers here said they knew of no documented case in which a suicide attacker turned out to have been an Iraqi”. So it now seems that George Galloway was right when he said “actually, the Iraqi Resistance does not target its own civilians”. What price Tariq Ali’s ‘national liberation movement’ now? (hat tip HP) (AJ)
Christopher Hitchens on the ‘outrages’ of Abu Ghraib (AJ)
Mohammed over at Iraq the Model tells of an important shift in Sunni opinion toward embracing politics and the 2006 elections.
Michael Yon explains how he came to take this iconic photograph in Mosul.
Friday May 6, 2005, Guardian Letters Some Iraqis (Letters, May 4) remind voters about the negative consequences of the war, which I and my colleagues also opposed. But positive changes are taking place in Iraq. Unions were repressed brutally by Saddam Hussein. Now a small clandestine network has been turned into a federation with more than 200,000 members. We want the same things as British people do and are trying – through political pressure, as part of the democratic process being supervised by the UN, negotiations with employers and strike action, where necessary – to improve workers’ pay and conditions, … Continue reading Support Iraqi unions
Akbar asks which side are you on?
Once a rescuer always a rescuer? Denmark’s government has decided to increase aid for Iraq’s reconstruction by an additional 100 million kroner ($17 million), officials said on Wednesday. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said the Scandinavian country would extend its troop mandate in Iraq for another eight months. In words that Charles Kennedy (and Robin Cook for that matter) should ponder long and hard Moeller has refused to set a date for a final pullout of Danish troops from the war-torn country, claiming that “if we did that we would risk seeing the terrorists putting their ammunition on ice … Continue reading Reconstructing Iraq (11): Denmark to increase reconstruction aid to Iraq
On May 3th Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign affairs of Iraq discussed arrangements for the Brussels International Conference to be held in late June, 2005 with the participation of Iraqi and US governments and the European Union. The conference will discuss how to handle Iraq’s needs of political and economic support, reconstruction programs and maintaining the rule of law. See here and here
George Galloway (These are Blair’s last days, May 3) refers to the “manipulated elections” in Iraq. I know the glorious “resistance” which he supports threatened to kill anyone who voted, but presumably that is not the manipulation he is thinking of. I notice too that he does not compare the recent elections with those in Iraq prior to 2003. Obviously no one was manipulating anything when his friend Saddam got 99% of the vote. What a pity those days are not still with us. Prof Bob Borsley University of Essex
Amman Center for Human Rights Studies received a proclamation from the National Society for Human Rights Advocacy in Iraq presenting the news of the disappearance of the Iraqi citizen Dr. Shakir Hassoun Al-Dujaily who holds Swedish citizenship after his arrival to Damascus Airport on Thursday 31/3/2005 where he came by the Swedish Airlines, flight number (SAS 79025). His news was cut after calling his wife in Iraq on Thursday 31/3/2005 at 10:20pm where he informed her with his arrival to Damascus Airport. Thus, and in light of the above, Amman Center for Human Rights Studies calls upon all international and … Continue reading Campaign for solidarity with the Iraqi Citizen Dr. Shakir Al-Dujaily