Not much to add here, just a few things gleaned form Iraq news media. Funny and sad in a horrifying way. News you won't get in the US. My comments in [brackets]
Iraqi Government Said it Sacked Over 14,000 Interior Ministry Employees Over Human Rights [They mean Interior Ministry POLICE]
"The Iraqi government on 9 September said that more than 14,000 employees at the Iraqi Interior Ministry have been discharged for not observing human rights, Al-Sharqiyah TV reported the same day. The government said it rejected a US report that accused the Iraqi police of being sectarian." (Al-Sharqiyah TV) [Words fail me]
Iraqi President Hopes for Al-Mahdi Army to Become a Social, Cultural Institution" [Who is Talabani kidding??]
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has said he hopes Iraqi clergyman Muqtada al-Sadr will turn the Al-Mahdi Army into a social and cultural institution to serve Iraq, Iraqi TV reported. Talabani said innocent members of the Al-Sadr trend should be released from custody. He made these statements following a meeting with Al-Sadr movement MP Baha al-A'raji. (Al-Sharqiyah TV)
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Headlines from Iraqi Press
Al-Sharq al-Awsat [Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily newspaper, Saudi-owned]:
- In interview given to 'Al-Sharq al-Awsat', Ahmad Al-Chalabi cites need to forge government to cater for all Iraqis. [Well, he's the expert on catering to what people want to hear]
- Al-Maliki acknowledges failure of national unity government, stresses need for one based on partnership.
- Iraq to build biggest water pumping station in Middle East. [With whose electricity?]
- Iraq to launch EU-funded housing scheme for displaced citizens.
- Iraqi military officer sentenced to seven years in prison for accepting bribes to appoint 268 recruits.
- Bush administration seeking 'stability' instead of 'victory' as new objective in Iraq. [Haven't heard W announce this one yet]
Al-Zaman Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily newspaper:
- Kurdistan Alliance denies secret negotiations with Ba'thists, dismisses Talabani's meetings as personal in nature . [That's just great]
- Al-Washash residents demonstrate in protest of US aerial bombardment .
- Night curfew to be curtailed in Baghdad during Ramadhan .
- US Senator says US troops in Iraq held hostage, pending action by Iraqi politicians .
- Leader of car-bomb-rigging cell seized in Taji.
- Iraq in need of reconciliation with neighbours, says Zebari.
Al-Sabah al-Jadid [Baghdad, independent political daily newspaper]:
- Renamed 'National Police', Interior Ministry Commando Brigades ordered out of Baghdad, replaced with Iraqi Army units .
- Voices of Iraq quoted: Washington lauds discipline demonstrated by Mahdi Army, appreciates truce with US military . [We had to go hat in ahnd to Sadr. How sad for us]
Al-Mowaten Baghdad, independent daily newspaper:
- Al-Sadr Current agrees to Talabani's proposal to turn Mahdi Army into social welfare organization . [I'll believe it when I see it]
- Parliament to discuss draft Accountability and Justice Law next week .
- Official spokesman for government, Ali al-Dabbagh, says government has no intention of issuing general amnesty for armed groups now cooperating with US forces .
- US warplanes raid Sadr City, Uwaynat area near Tikrit .
- Iraqi List parliamentarians say dialogue with Ba'thists objectionable, could alienate decent constituencies.
Quotes from Iraqi Press
Al-Zaman From column by Fatih Abd al-Salam:
All that could be said by General Petraeus, or any other senior US official, is apt to be no more than an understatement dictated by the music the Bush administration is facing at Congress over Al-Maliki's utter failure to deliver on the political benchmarks set for him, which is basically why the US finds itself in such a quandary in Iraq Hence, we should expect to hear more of the same fatal justification that Al-Maliki is not to blame, after all, because his hands are effectively tied up by the political bloc he owes his position to. This kind of talk will continue to be heard with regard to any similarly constrained PM in the years to come The present security, political and economic failure in Iraq could have been avoided if Washington had sought a genuine national reconciliation right at the outset. What it still needs to realize, however, is that no such reconciliation can be attained, not even twenty years from now, if Al-Maliki stays at the helm and Iraq continues to be ruled by a sectarian regime.
Al-Sabah al-Jadid
From editorial:
It goes without saying that the world will never be back to the way it was before 9/11, but the snag is that we have dramatically failed to provide enough of a breathing space to contemplate the true impact of that sinister decision which was taken by Bin Laden and his henchmen in the mountains of Tora Bora In retrospect, 9/11 seems to have been something more than Pearl Harbour and less than a Third World War. Yet, surely enough, the various lesser calamities it has generated have so far proved much too difficult for anyone to contain."