city:baghdad

#Asking_for_a_friend
▻http://africasacountry.com/2015/11/asking-for-a-friend-2

The big questions that animated our friend this week: Facebook, thanks for the ‘Paris Safety Check.’ Can we have one for Baghdad, Beirut and Borno too? Why is a public.....

#AFRICA_IS_A_COUNTRY #FRONT_PAGE

Poutine, âme d’airain, forêts de pins, guerre et paix | Par M.K. Bhadrakumar – Le 19 octobre 2015 – Source mkbhadarkumar | Traduit par jj, relu par Diane pour le Saker Francophone
▻http://lesakerfrancophone.net/poutine-ame-dairain-forets-de-pins-guerre-et-paix

(...) Ma seconde considération était que la Russie a encaissé le coup du lapin de la nouvelle guerre froide et il est important d’obtenir une sensation de première main sur la façon dont il a réussi à surmonter le coup – et, enfin, à inverser la marée – de la stratégie de confinement tentée par les États-Unis. Bien sûr, il a dû sembler évident pour l’administration de Barack Obama, tout au long de l’affaire, que le projet d’isoler une grande puissance comme la Russie était voué à l’échec. Mais alors, Obama a été béni par le don de l’éloquence et a presque réussi à faire croire à un monde crédule qu’il était sérieux au sujet de l’aventure dans laquelle il se lançait. En fait, dans le processus, quelque chose a changé dans la mentalité russe. L’airain est entré dans son âme, et cela se reflète dans la conduite de la Russie sur la scène mondiale.

Nous avons entendu tellement de lamentations américaines sur une Chine s’affirmant avec autorité. Mais nous n’avions pas encore vu à l’œuvre ce qu’est l’affirmation de soi tant que vous n’avions pas vu le retour de la Russie sur la scène mondiale. Est-ce une bonne chose ? Je pense que oui. Parce que, l’affirmation de soi de la Russie est une garantie de paix. L’équilibre stratégique mondial est extrêmement important pour maintenir la paix et seule la Russie peut fournir les bases de équilibre. Encore une fois, les règles de conduite internationale fondamentales doivent respecter le droit international et la Charte des Nations Unies. Le système international ne peut plus du tout être dominé par une superpuissance. L’insistance de la Russie sur ces règles de base introduit un mécanisme de correction bien nécessaire dans le système international d’aujourd’hui. (...)

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Putin makes his move on Syria
M K Bhadrakumar in Sochi
October 22, 2015 16:59 IST
▻http://www.rediff.com/news/column/putin-makes-his-move-on-syria-/20151022.htm

The sudden, unexpected meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Moscow late Tuesday, October 20, focused on the diplomatic push to kickstart a political process, according to prominent Russian experts here.

As a top Russian diplomat, Ambassador Alexander Aksenyonok (who was involved in the negotiations over the Dayton Accord) told me in Sochi today, October 22, Moscow is keen on a political settlement in Syria “as early as possible — which is also our exit strategy.”

From all accounts, the meeting in Moscow on Tuesday took place in an exceptionally warm, friendly atmosphere. Assad had come at short notice at Putin’s invitation. The two leaders held delegation- level talks as well as a restricted meeting.

The official transcript by the Kremlin quoted Putin as saying to Assad, ’On the question of a settlement in Syria, our position is that positive results in military operations will lay the base for then working out a long-term settlement based on a political process that involves all political forces, ethnic and religious groups.’

’Ultimately,’ Putin added, ’it is the Syrian people alone who must have the deciding voice here. Syria is Russia’s friend and we are ready to make our contribution not only to the military operations and the fight against terrorism, but also to the political process. We would do this, of course, in close contact with the other global powers and with the countries in the region that want to see a peaceful settlement to this conflict.’

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Russia, Iran hold common views on Syria
M K Bhadrakumar – October 23, 2015
►http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar

Sochi – It turned out to be a real treat that the speaker of the Iranian parliament who is on a visit to Russia, Ali Larijani (a key figure in the foreign and security policymaking in Tehran) flew down to Sochi from Moscow and joined President Vladimir Putin on the podium Friday evening to address the Valdai Club members and have a Q&A with us, lasting nearly three hours. Syria, Ukraine, missile defence and Russian-American relations — it could have been predicted that these would be the areas of interest for the audience, which was almost entirely western.

The ‘hot topic’ of course was Syria, given President Bashar al-Assad’s sudden visit to Moscow on Tuesday evening. (See my column in Rediff Putin make his move on Syria.) The salience that came through is that there is no daylight possible between the Russian and Iranian positions on Syria. Whereas, speculations were rife lately in the western (and Israeli) media that Russia and Iran are not on the same page regarding the future of Syria, and that it is a matter of time before the contradictions would surface.

Indeed, Russia and Iran are pursuing different objectives in Syria insofar as although both are waging a war against the Islamic State [IS] and other extremist groups, Tehran also has an agenda toward Syria in terms of that country being a frontline state in the so-called ‘resistance’ against Israel as well as in terms of Tehran’s nexus with the Hezbollah in Lebanon (plus of course the rivalry with Saudi Arabia.) Again, Russia would have geopolitical considerations in Syria, whereas Iran has its commitments as an Islamic republic to fulfill. Putin made the following specific points:

– The Russian military assesses that the air strikes in Syria have already yielded some results, although they are ‘insufficient’ and it will still be desirable if ‘all countries’ could work together in the fight against the terrorist groups.
– Russia hopes that Iran will join the FM level talks between the US, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. There cannot be a solution on Syria without Iran’s participation.
– The Syrian army is making progress and this will continue.
– Moscow is not planning any extension of military operations to Iraq. At any rate, the Iraqi government has not approached Russia so far. For the present, Russia is providing arms and intelligence to Iraq within the framework of the coordination centre that has been set up in Baghdad.
– Putin had asked Assad whether he’d be open to working with moderate rebel groups to fight the extremists; Assad promised to consider.

Larijani said:

– He “totally agreed” with Putin’s analysis on Syria.
– Iran regards that the Russian military intervention in Syria is legitimate.
– Compared to the operations against the IS for over the past year and more by the US-led coalition, the Russian operations have proved effective. In fact, Russia has achieved already “much more” than the US-led coalition ever could during the past 18 months.
– The IS transports its Iraqi oil in trucks moving in long convoys. “Don’t the Americans see these convoys?” The US failed to liberate any IS-held territory in Iraq. It is “playing games” with the IS and is virtually “handing over” Iraqi territories to the IS.
– The intelligence agencies of “some major powers” have secret dealings with the IS, providing them weapons and so on with a view to use them as instruments to advance their interests. (Putin also indirectly, but forcefully, alluded to this collusion between the US and the IS.) The IS gets huge financial support from regional states.
– “Long-term strategic bonds” are needed among “responsible countries” so that trust develops amongst them to tackle terrorism.(...)

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Syrian war ends West’s dominance of Middle East
By M K Bhadrakumar – October 26, 2015
▻http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2015/10/26/syrian-war-ends-wests-dominance-of-middle-east

Three weeks and 5 days into the Russian military operations in Syria, Moscow has achieved the objective of compelling the major external players involved to rethink their established stance on the crisis. Unsurprisingly, new fault lines have appeared in Middle East politics. Last week witnessed a surge diplomatic activity to cope with the new fault lines.

First, of course, much as the United States dislikes the Russian military role in Syria, Washington and Moscow concluded a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday regarding the ground rules guiding the aircraft of the two countries operating in the Syrian skies so that no untoward incidents occur. In political terms, Washington is coming to terms with a Russian presence in Syria for a foreseeable future. (By the way, an analysis by FT concludes that Russia can easily sustain the financial costs of the military operations in Syria.)

This, in turn, has intensified the US-Russian diplomatic exchanges on Syria. The US Secretary of State John Kerry met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Vienna on Friday at a meeting that also included the foreign ministers of Turkey and Saudi Arabia to discuss the various approaches to bringing together the Syrian parties to peace talks.

Kerry disclosed that the discussions may continue in a wider format (possibly including Iran, Egypt and Jordan as well) next Friday, which suggests that there was sufficient meat in the discussions in Vienna to be followed up without delay. Put differently, some sort of coordinated US-Russian moves on Syria in the coming days or weeks cannot be ruled out. (...)

#Valdai #Larijani

U.S. General Wins Assurance Iraq Will Not Seek Russia Air Strikes - The New York Times
▻http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/10/20/world/middleeast/20reuters-mideast-crisis-usa-iraq.html

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, under pressure to show progress in his war against Islamic State, said on Oct. 1 that he would welcome Russian air strikes in his country.

U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, on his first trip to Iraq since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Oct. 1, said Abadi and Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi both told him they were not seeking Russia’s help.

“I said it would make it very difficult for us to be able to provide the kind of support that you need if the Russians were here conducting operations as well,” Dunford told a small group of reporters traveling with him after his talks.

“Both the minister of defense and the prime minister said: ’Absolutely.’ There is no request right now for the Russians to support them, there’s no consideration for the Russians to support them, and the Russians haven’t asked them to come in and conduct operations.”

Dunford also played down a much-touted Baghdad-based intelligence-sharing cell between Russia, Iran, Syria and Iraq, which has stoked questions about Moscow’s intentions in Iraq.

A senior Iraqi parliamentary figure said last week that Baghdad had already begun bombing Islamic State jihadists with the help of new intelligence center in Baghdad.

But Obeidi, Dunford said, told him during closed-door talks in Baghdad that the intelligence cell so far “hasn’t stood up.”

“He said they have not done anything right now,” Dunford said.

Kurdes et Arabes créent les Forces démocratiques de Syrie - L’Orient-Le Jour
►http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/949062/kurdes-et-arabes-creent-les-forces-democratiques-de-syrie.html

Perso, je vois cela comme une façon de tirer le tapis de dessous les pieds de Poutine... C’est aux Kurdes de décider, mais je ne suis pas certain qu’ils aient fait le bon choix !

#syrie #kurdes

The Young Iraqis Promoting Darwinism and Rationalism To Save Iraq | Informed Comment
▻http://www.juancole.com/2015/10/promoting-darrwinism-rationalism.html

One of the more unusual, grass roots groups in Iraq today is Real Sciences. They are young Iraqis who translate scientific articles into Arabic, believing that a little more of this could combat violence.

In the midst of the conflicts that Baghdad in particular, and the rest of Iraq in general, has suffered through over the years, many grassroots movements advocating positive social change have arisen. Whether they are aid campaigns or movements that lobby for certain rights, gauging their impact remains difficult. What one can be sure of though, is that activism and advocating for a civil, liberal society is ongoing in Iraq – and in some creative ways.

#irak #éducation

Pentagon’s top Russia official resigns - POLITICO
▻http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/pro-defense-farkas-wrightewing-214223

The Pentagon’s top official overseeing military relations with Russia and Ukraine is resigning amid the ongoing debate within the Obama administration over how to respond to Russian moves in Ukraine and Syria.

Evelyn Farkas, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, is leaving her post at the end of next month after five years with the Defense Department, a senior defense official confirmed to POLITICO.

“She has advised three secretaries of defense on Russia policy, providing steady counsel on how the U.S. should respond to Russia’s aggressive actions and has been deeply involved in securing $244 million in support for Ukraine,” the official said. “In addition, Evelyn has brought fresh thinking to Southeast Europe policies — supporting Montenegro’s interest in joining NATO, expanding defense cooperation with Georgia, and increasing multilateral cooperation with the three Caucasus nations.”

Another senior defense official said the administration would likely have a hard time finding a replacement.
“There are not a lot of Europe experts in this administration who have a long record of accomplishment,” the official said. “There’s no doubt this leaves the Pentagon weaker in terms of its policy-making on European issues.”

Norway: Reversal of suspension of returns to Tripoli, Libya and certain provinces of Iraq

The Immigration Appeals Board (UNE), has published statements on its website which reverse the suspension of returns to certain provinces of Iraq and to Tripoli in Libya.

It considers that since the decision to temporarily suspend the duty to return for individuals with a final decision to return to the provinces of Anbar, Ninewa, Salah al Din, Kirkuk, Baghdad, Diyala, Kerbala and Bab in Iraq the security situation has been clarified. Those who have received a decision to return to these provinces are obliged to leave Norway and forced returns will be possible. Those who fear persecution or risk upon return may request a reconsideration of their rejected application, and the Immigration Appeals Board will consider each case on a case by case basis.

It has also reversed the temporary suspension of the duty to return to Tripoli in Libya made due to the unrest and armed conflict there, based on updated country of origin information on the situation of asylum seekers who return to Tripoli. Similarly, those who have received a decision to return to Tripoli are obliged to leave Norway and forced returns will be possible. The Immigration Appeals Board continues to monitor the situation in Libya and will make an individual assessment in each case of whether return to Tripoli is possible.

▻http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8e3ebd297b1510becc6d6d690&id=31d958b997&e=#Norwa
#Norvège #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Libye #Irak #renvoi #expulsion

Russians, Syrians and Iranians setting up military coordination cell in Baghdad | Fox News
▻http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/25/russians-syrians-and-iranians-setting-up-military-coordination-cell-in-bagh

Russian, Syrian and Iranian military commanders have set up a coordination cell in Baghdad in recent days to try to begin working with Iranian-backed Shia militias fighting the Islamic State, Fox News has learned. 

Western intelligence sources say the coordination cell includes low-level Russian generals. U.S. officials say it is not clear whether the Iraqi government is involved at the moment. 

Describing the arrival of Russian military personnel in Baghdad, one senior U.S. official said, “They are popping up everywhere.”

Et donc, tout ce petit monde se coordonne à Bagdad, mais il n’est pas certain que le gouvernement irakien soit au courant.

#c'est_celà !

Notes rapides pour un billet sur le câble de l’ambassade US en Syrie de décembre 2006, proposant des « actions possibles » pour la déstabilisation du régime de Bachar Assad :
►https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06DAMASCUS5399_a.html

Au Liban, ce que dévoilent les câbles de Wikileaks
►http://blog.mondediplo.net/2013-06-24-Au-Liban-ce-que-devoilent-les-cables-de-Wikileaks

Ainsi M. Samir Geagea, dirigeant de l’extrême droite chrétienne, suggère-t-il (25 juillet 2006, 06BEIRUT2471) : « La clé pour démanteler le Hezbollah comme force militaire est d’en faire “un problème intérieur”, c’est-à-dire de faire comprendre au peuple libanais que le Hezbollah est la menace qui a causé tant de destruction au pays. La pression politique résultante, accompagnée de la dégradation continue de ses capacités infligée par l’armée israélienne, est le seul chemin vers le désarmement. » Pour M. Geir Perdersen, envoyé personnel du secrétaire général des Nations unies au Liban (5 août 2006, 06BEIRUT2539), « Israël a besoin de trouver rapidement un moyen pour permettre à des “facteurs politiques” de gérer la menace du Hezbollah (…) Un tel facteur serait l’opinion publique libanaise ».

WikiLeaks : Saad Hariri a demandé en 2006 le départ d’Al-Assad
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2011/04/15/wikileaks-saad-hariri-a-demande-en-2006-le-depart-d-al-assad_1508069_3218.ht

Selon un câble diplomatique de l’ambassade américaine au Liban daté du 24 août 2006, soit dix jours après la fin de la guerre dévastatrice entre le mouvement chiite libanais Hezbollah et Israël, M. Hariri a exhorté la communauté internationale à isoler le président Assad. M. Hariri a également mis en garde les responsables américains contre des troubles au Liban si la communauté internationale ne parvenait pas à isoler M. Assad avec des sanctions.

A la question de savoir qui pourrait combler le vide en cas de chute du régime de M. Assad, M. Hariri a proposé une alliance entre les Frères musulmans, interdits en Syrie, et d’anciens responsables syriens en exil comme l’ancien vice-président Abdel Halim Khaddam et un ex-chef d’état-major, Hikmat Chehabi, toujours selon les documents.

The Redirection (mars 2007) : rencontre de Hersh avec Nasrallah datée de décembre 2006
►http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/05/the-redirection

Nasrallah accused the Bush Administration of working with Israel to deliberately instigate fitna, an Arabic word that is used to mean “insurrection and fragmentation within Islam.” “In my opinion, there is a huge campaign through the media throughout the world to put each side up against the other,” he said. “I believe that all this is being run by American and Israeli intelligence.” (He did not provide any specific evidence for this.) He said that the U.S. war in Iraq had increased sectarian tensions, but argued that Hezbollah had tried to prevent them from spreading into Lebanon. (Sunni-Shiite confrontations increased, along with violence, in the weeks after we talked.)

Nasrallah said he believed that President Bush’s goal was “the drawing of a new map for the region. They want the partition of Iraq. Iraq is not on the edge of a civil war—there is a civil war. There is ethnic and sectarian cleansing. The daily killing and displacement which is taking place in Iraq aims at achieving three Iraqi parts, which will be sectarian and ethnically pure as a prelude to the partition of Iraq. Within one or two years at the most, there will be total Sunni areas, total Shiite areas, and total Kurdish areas. Even in Baghdad, there is a fear that it might be divided into two areas, one Sunni and one Shiite.”

He went on, “I can say that President Bush is lying when he says he does not want Iraq to be partitioned. All the facts occurring now on the ground make you swear he is dragging Iraq to partition. And a day will come when he will say, ‘I cannot do anything, since the Iraqis want the partition of their country and I honor the wishes of the people of Iraq.’ ”

Nasrallah said he believed that America also wanted to bring about the partition of Lebanon and of Syria. In Syria, he said, the result would be to push the country “into chaos and internal battles like in Iraq.” In Lebanon, “There will be a Sunni state, an Alawi state, a Christian state, and a Druze state.”

Joseph Willits sur Twitter : “Incredible photos from #Baghdad by alieale1 - protestors call for a secular #Iraq”
▻https://twitter.com/josephwillits/status/637377334916567040

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNhrR_5WgAA6hQb.jpg

“#élite” #escrocs #voleurs #meurtriers

The $30B Iraq Experiment
The Cable | Foreign Policy
▻http://foreignpolicy.com/channel/the-cable

Bankrupt on selling. Since January, the Pentagon has picked up the tab to ship almost 300 heavily armored MRAP vehicles and dozens of Humvees to an Iraqi Army struggling to find its feet after entire divisions broke and ran earlier this year in the face of the Islamic State.

The latest shipments of equipment are only a fraction of the estimated $30 billion that the American taxpayer has paid to train and equip — now for a second time in a decade — a force that has yet to really prove itself. From 2003 to 2011, the United States spent $25 billion to build a 400,000-strong Iraqi security force that today numbers (according to anyone’s best guess) in the tens of thousands. But that original $25 billion is old news, as the U.S. investment keeps growing.

After pulling combat troops out of Iraq at the end of 2011, Washington has spent almost $6 billion to retrain and equip the Iraqi Army.

For starters, the Defense Department spent $857 million to run the Office of Security Cooperation - Iraq out of the embassy in Baghdad between 2012 and 2014. The office, which kept a small U.S. military staff, focused on mentoring Iraqi military leadership and managing and planning weapons buys. There is also the $1.6 billion that Congress agreed to in 2015 for the Iraqi Train and Equip Fund, along with the $700 million that the Pentagon has requested for the fund training in the 2016 budget.

Add to that the $3.3 billion (or $9.4 million per day) that the Pentagon has paid since last August to fly strike missions over Iraq and Syria, as well as to house, feed, and provide security for the 3,500 U.S. military trainers in Iraq.

Some of those strike missions, of course, have involved bombing military equipment that the United States handed over the Iraqi forces. In total, American aircraft have bombed 336 Humvees captured by the Islamic State, which is only a small portion of the 2,300 Humvees that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the jihadists captured from Iraqi forces when they abandoned Mosul earlier this year. American aircraft have also hit 116 tanks, some of which are also American-made.

Despite the tens of billions spent on training hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops in the early 2000s, according to the latest numbers the U.S. Central Command provided to FP, there’s still plenty of work to do. A total of 11,100 Iraqi troops have gone through the newest U.S. training program in recent months, while another 3,000 are currently being run through the five U.S.-staffed training sites in Iraq.

Facing Islamic State threat, Iraq digitizes national library - Ahram

▻http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/136903.aspx

The dimly-lit, dust-caked stacks of the Baghdad National Library hide a treasure of the ages: crinkled, yellowing papers holding the true stories of sultans and kings; imperialists and socialists; occupation and liberation; war and peace.

These are the original chronicles of Iraq’s rich and tumultuous history — and now librarians and academics in Baghdad are working feverishly to preserve what’s left after thousands of documents were lost or damaged at the height of the U.S.-led invasion.

Now, as Islamic State militants set out to destroy Iraq’s history and culture, including irreplaceable books and manuscripts kept in the militant-held city of Mosul, a major preservation and digitization project is underway in the capital to safeguard a millennia worth of history.

The Kurdish Elephant - FPIF
▻http://fpif.org/the-kurdish-elephant

... the Kurds [...] are not only good fighters but good pragmatists as well. The KRG has managed to maintain good relations with Iran, with Turkey, and even (more or less) with Baghdad.

This [...] is the paradox for the Kurdish elephant. The more chaotic things get in the Middle East, the more power and territory Kurds can control. But the more power and territory they control, the greater the fear in Tehran, Ankara, and Baghdad that the Kurds will create greater Kurdistan.

Let’s mix metaphors one last time. The Obama administration must start acknowledging and addressing the elephant in the room: Kurds and their aspirations for a state. It must recognize that the elephant has many different aspects: the PKK and YPG tusks, the solid flank of the KRG, and the vulnerable tail of the Kurdish minorities in Iran and Turkey. And it must resist the temptation to pound the ground and smash heads with its adversaries in the region, for both the United States and the Kurds may well suffer adverse consequences.

Elephants are extremely smart creatures with legendary memories. Treating them like pawns, instead of the much more powerful rooks that they are, is a very risky proposition.

#Kurdistan may use water to pressure Baghdad
▻http://rudaw.net/english/business/11072015

Now, central cities like Karbala, Najaf, Babel and Qadisiyah are without water, and most agricultural lands are being destroyed by drought.

#Irak #Turquie #Tigre #Euphrate #eau

10 Must-Read Saudi Cables on Iraq
▻http://1001iraqithoughts.com/2015/06/22/10-must-read-saudi-cables-on-iraq

While only a small portion of the half a million Saudi cables have so far been released by WikiLeaks, a quick scan of the available documents that relate to Iraq reveal three consistent approaches adopted by the Kingdom in an effort to extend its influence in the country: financial and political support for Sunni Arab tribes, politicians and Kurdish actors that are willing to undermine the central government in Baghdad; close communication with Baath Party officers, financial support and political asylum for families of high-ranking former officials; and regional diplomatic efforts aimed at undermining the sovereign legitimacy of the Iraqi state.

#saudileaks

I’m safer in Baghdad, Courtney Love says as caught in Paris Uber demo | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/25/france-uber-courtneylove-idUSL8N0ZB3NH20150625

(Please note there are swearwords in Love’s tweets)

American rock singer Courtney Love got caught up in violent protests against online ridesharing service UberPOP in Paris on Thursday, saying the car she was travelling in was besieged by angry demonstrators.

The widow of late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain wrote about the incident on her Twitter and Instagram accounts, saying the vehicle had been “ambushed” at the airport by protesting taxi drivers and “destroyed”.

The Hole frontwoman, who posted a picture of what appeared to be a smashed egg on her car window, also vented her anger at French President Francois Hollande.

“Francois Hollande where are the fucking police??? Is it legal for your people to attack visitors? Get your ass to the airport,” she wrote on her Twitter feed.

“They’ve ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. They’re beating the cars with metal bats. This is France?? I’m safer in Baghdad.”

The 50-year old singer and actress later said she was under siege for about an hour but managed to escape the chaos

“Paid some guys on motorcycles to sneak us out, got chased by a mob of taxi drivers who threw rocks, passed two police and they did nothing,” she wrote.

Iraqi Sunnis join Shia militias to fight IS militants | Middle East Eye
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraqi-sunnis-join-shiite-militias-fight-militants-520291754

Many new Sunni battalions, each one consisting of 250-600 fighters, have been formed in the Sunni areas in Diyala province east of Baghdad, the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar and Salahudeen province, the home town of the former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein.

These battalions have linked to Badr, Kataib Hezbollah-Iraq, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, al-Nujabaa (a split group of Asaib), Jund al-Imam (a new Shia militia formed last year), Ali al-Akbar Bregaid (a new Shiiite militia formed a few months ago), and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada (a new Shia militia).

“From the beginning we thought there was no way to liberate our lands, but by getting the help of Iraqis, not relying on the United States nor any other countries, so we joined the Popular Mobilisation,” Khalid Abdullah, the commander of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Sunni Battalion in Salahudeen told MEE by phone.
– See more at: ▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraqi-sunnis-join-shiite-militias-fight-militants-520291754#sthash.TY

Escape From Ramadi: One Iraqi Mother’s Mission

When fighting broke out in Ramadi, Sahar Anwar gathered her three young children and joined the mass exodus out of the Iraqi city. They now live with a few hundred other people in #Abu_Ghraib on the outskirts of Baghdad city.

▻http://www.wfp.org/sites/default/files/images/2015/AbuG2.JPG

http://www.wfp.org/sites/default/files/images/2015/AbuG3_0.jpg

#réfugiés #asile #migration #Irak #DPIs #déplacés_internes #témoignage

« La colère est dirigée contre les Occidentaux » - Europe 1, 1er juin 2015
Témoignages de deux correspondants français présents l’un en Syrie (Damas, Homs et la zone sous contrôle gouvernemental près de Palmyre), l’autre à Baghdad sur Europe 1. Le témoignage de Baghdad ayant une portée moindre étant donné ce qu’est devenu la ville en termes confessionnels...
▻http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2s9iwd_syrie-la-colere-est-dirigee-vers-les-occidentaux_news?start=0

Bataille décisive pour le contrôle de Ramadi en Irak
▻http://www.argotheme.com/organecyberpresse/spip.php?article2523

La manière avec laquelle les soldats irakiens ont été délogés de leur casernement à Ramadi, la ville à l’est de Baghdad qui donne sur le vaste désert partagé avec la Syrie et la Jordanie, est une démonstration du mode de combat adopté par les islamo-terroristes du Daech. Le même que celui appris contre l’armée afghane abandonnée par les russes pendant les années 80. Depuis la reprise de Tikrit en mars dernier, que nous avons rapporté sur POPULI-SCOOP, l’armée irakienne a projeté de reprendre le désert (...)

conflits, situation, points chauds, monde, international, efforts, position, opinion, interventionnisme,

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"François Burgat De Ghannouchi à Baghdadi. Le Printemps an IV, entre contre révolution et confessionalisation
Ces quatre années ont vu s’affirmer spectaculairement la capacité de « l’Islam politique » à franchir à nouveau avec succès, le seuil, tunisien cette fois, de la démocratie et, à l’opposé, se dresser la puissante lame de fond jihadiste. Contrairement à une représentation largement répandue, les débordements de violence extrémiste ne peuvent aucunement être expliqués par la seule poussée de ce radicalisme religieux. Toutes les formes de torture [2], des assassinats de masse sur une base sectaire aux viols systématiques, la famine programmée, ou l’usage d’armes de destruction massive contre des civils, ont bel et bien été le fait d’un État, et exercées au nom de « la légalité » aussi bien que de la défense, « des minorités » ou même « de la laïcité ».

▻http://iremam.hypotheses.org/5734#more-5734

Shia crescent: self-fulfilling prophecy
▻https://www.opendemocracy.net/ranj-alaaldin/shia-crescent-selffulfilling-prophecy

When King Abdullah of Jordan referred to the dangers of a “Shia crescent” in December 2004, one stretching from Damascus to Tehran, passing through Baghdad, the definition of the Iraqi state was still unclear at the time and it was equally unclear whether Iraq would come to be ruled by a Shia alliance. Yet, Iraq’s neighbours in the Arab world had already decided to characterize the new Iraq as an Iranian client-state; its Shia parties, Iranian proxies. In other words, the post-2003 Iraq did not have to exacerbate sectarianism and polarise the region further along sectarian lines. But in response to this characterisation, a flood of jihadists used the Arab world states as a transit point to enter Iraq and wreak carnage, with the acquiescence of the governments of those states. Militants received active support from either Arab world governments or wealthy individuals from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

If Shi’ite militias beat Islamic State in Tikrit, Iraq will still lose
▻http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/03/30/if-shiite-militias-beat-islamic-state-in-tikrit-iraq-will-still-lose

ere is a new Iraqi paradox: whatever progress the Shi’ite Muslim-dominated Baghdad government makes against jihadi insurgents occupying large swathes of north-western Iraq, it is simultaneously undermining what is left of the Iraqi state, whose frailty and malfunctions created the environment in which jihadism was able to surge in the first place.

The dereliction of the Iraqi state was already powerfully illustrated by the takeover of one-third of Iraq, including the city of Mosul, by Islamic State (also known as ISIL or ISIS) in June 2014. Security forces proved rotten to the core despite a decade of training and expansion. Local Sunni Arab elites were revealed to have turned their backs on their constituencies in favor of a corrupt, corrosive relationship with authorities in Baghdad. Power struggles in the capital often deteriorated into sectarian fear-mongering.

Iranian Al Qods chief on landmark visit to Amman as guest of Jordan’s national intelligence director
▻http://www.debka.com/article/24449/Iranian-Al-Qods-chief-on-landmark-visit-to-Amman-as-guest-of-Jordan’s-nationa

debkafile’s military and intelligence sources reveal exclusively that Gen. Qassem Soleiman, commander of the Revolutionary Guards elite Al Qods Brigades, paid a groundbreaking visit last Thursday, March 5, to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as guest of Gen. Faisal Al-Shoulbaki, director of General Intelligence and a close adviser to King Abdullah II.

The visit, encouraged by Obama administration policy, showed one of America’s oldest Sunni Arab allies, recognizing the direction of the trending regional reality to jump the lines over to Tehran. Iran’s grab for Middle East influence is now reaching from four capitals, Baghdad, Damascus, Sanaa, Beirut to a fifth, Amman.
Our sources report that Royal Jordanian Air Force fighter jets escorted the Iranian general’s armored motorcade as it drove from Baghdad to Amman through the main highway connecting the two Arab capitals.

It is not known whether the king gave Soleimani an audience, but the possibility is not ruled out.

Debka est un site... hum, comment dire... proche des services isréaliens... Mais si la nouvelle est vraie, c’est du très très gros !

Des juifs irakiens rejettent la « manipulation cynique » de leur histoire par Israël et les sionistes, comme le raconte à l’Electronic Intifada l’écrivain Almog Behar. - [UJFP]
►http://www.ujfp.org/spip.php?article3931

Par Ali Abunimah, lundi 17 septembre 2012.

Dans le contexte actuel, l’UJFP a souhaité publier sur son site ce texte de 2012.

« C’est loin d’être la première fois que l’on maquille, exploite et efface notre histoire mais c’est la goutte d’eau qui a fait déborder le vase, alors... on a créé le Comité des Juifs de Baghdad à Ramat Gan ».

C’est ainsi que l’écrivain, poète et militant Almog Behar décrit la décision d’un groupe de juifs d’origine arabe et kurde de s’élever énergiquement contre les efforts renouvelés de propagande du gouvernement israélien visant à contrer les droits des réfugiés palestiniens en utilisant les revendications des juifs qui ont quitté des pays arabes pour Israël dans les années 1950.

Le Comité des Juifs de Baghdad à Ramat Gan, nouvellement formé et dont fait partie Almog Behar, a réagi (...) dans une déclaration extraordinaire publiée sur Facebook :

Nous visons à demander des compensations du gouvernement irakien – et non de l’Autorité palestinienne - pour nos biens perdus et nous n’accepterons pas que la perte de nos biens soit compensée par la perte des biens d’autrui (c’est-à-dire des réfugiés palestiniens) ou que des compensations soient transférées à des organes qui ne nous représentent pas (c’est-à-dire au gouvernement israélien).

La déclaration continuait avec une demande que la complicité d’Israël dans le départ des juifs irakiens de leur patrie fasse l’objet d’une enquête, y compris en matière d’actes terroristes perpétrés contre des juifs :

Nous demandons la mise en place d’une commission d’enquête chargée d’examiner :

1) Si et comment des négociations ont été menées en 1950 entre le Premier Ministre israélien David Ben Gourion et le Premier Ministre irakien Nouri Al-Said et si Ben Gourion a informé Al-Said qu’il serait autorisé à prendre possession des biens des juifs irakiens s’il acceptait de les envoyer en Israël.

2) Qui a ordonné l’attentat à la bombe contre la synagogue Massouda Chem-Tov de Baghdad et si le Mossad israélien et/ou ses agents ont été impliqués. S’il est établi que Ben Gourion mené en 1950 des négociations sur le sort des biens des juifs irakiens et a instruit le Mossad de mener un attentat à la bombe contre la synagogue de la communauté afin d’accélérer notre fuite d’Irak, alors nous déposerons une plainte auprès d’un tribunal international demandant la moitié de la somme totale des compensations pour notre statut de réfugiés au gouvernement irakien et la moitié au gouvernement israélien.