War in Iraq // Current

Bomb attacks kill 5, wound 18 in Iraq

Bombing attacks at a hospital and a market place Sunday killed five people and wounded at least 18 others in Iraq, police and... more

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As U.S. and European officials ponder what to do about the situation in Afghanistan, they are coming to a perhaps surprising conclusion: The simplest way to stabilize the country may be to negotiate a truce with the Taliban fundamentalists.

The question isn't whether to negotiate with the Taliban but when. There's a widespread view among Bush administration officials and U.S. military commanders that it's too soon for serious talks, because any negotiation now would be from a position of weakness. Some argue for a U.S. troop buildup and an aggressive military campaign next year to secure Afghan population centers, followed by negotiations.

A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that the U.S. would consider any discussion with the Taliban militants who gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden as he planned the devastating attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The painful experience of Iraq and Afghanistan has convinced many U.S. commanders that if you can take an enemy off the battlefield, that's better than getting pinned down in protracted combat.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the argument for negotiations with the Taliban during a meeting with NATO allies who are weary. "There has to be ultimately -- and I'll underscore ultimately -- reconciliation as part of a political outcome to this," Gates said. "That's ultimately the exit strategy for all of us."

Gen. David Petraeus, who has overall responsibility for the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, has made similar arguments. He believes that the U.S. must work to separate the "reconcilables" among the Taliban from those who are allied with al-Qaeda, and draw the moderates into the government. Petraeus successfully pursued that strategy with Sunni Muslim insurgents in Iraq -- encouraging them to break with al-Qaeda then forming alliances with them.

Petraeus believes an effort to co-opt the Afghan insurgency should probably be accompanied by a stronger U.S. troop presence, just as it was in Iraq. He argues that it's a mistake to think that there's a purely military solution in either country. "You can't kill or capture your way out of this," he explains.

A move to negotiate with the Taliban is already underway thanks to a quiet diplomatic push by Saudi Arabia. Late last month, at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Saudi King Abdullah met in Mecca with representatives of the Taliban and other Afghan insurgent groups headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, who was represented in Mecca by his brother Qayoum Karzai, supported the Saudi mediation. "We're at the very early stages now, but we do have hope for the future," Qayoum Karzai said.

President Karzai is said to have demanded that the Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, publicly renounce bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as a condition for further talks. A Taliban representative took this demand to Mullah Omar in his hideout in Afghanistan and returned to Mecca with a positive answer, according to a source familiar with the talks.

Mullah Omar has sent the Saudis a list of seven demands of his own, according to this source. Among the items on the Taliban agenda are a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan; a role for Taliban representatives in provincial and national government; assimilation of Taliban fighters into the Afghan army; and amnesty for guerrillas who fought against the United States.

The Saudis have proposed a second round of discussions in Mecca, when the hajj pilgrimage season begins. U.S. officials are said to be skeptical, but France and Britain appear to be encouraging the Saudi effort. Some Pakistani government and army leaders are also supportive.
Gates notes that we reached just such an accord in Iraq with Sunni insurgents. "At the end of the day, that's how most wars end," he said.
As U.S. and European officials ponder what to do about the situation in Afghanistan, they are coming to a perhaps surprising... more

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19 days ago

Revolution 08

Coldcut vs TV Sheriff "Revolution '08" Music Video

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20 days ago

Is Senator McCain a Warmonger?

John McCain appears to place a great deal of focus on aggressive military solutions to just about every scenario that is presented... more

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28 days ago

Iraqis Rally Against U.S. Pact Video

Large protest in Iraq against our troops staying in the country. In my opinion they should be grateful they are able to... more

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26 days ago

Come Home Soon: The Hardest Job in the Navy

Juliet Soukup is a 21-year-old Navy Wife, her husband Michael left for Iraq in March. He was deployed a month after they were... more

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27 days ago

Lawyers Criticize Quality of Guantanamo Interpreters

Something was being lost in interpretation. Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a Saudi national accused of war crimes and murder for his alleged role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was speaking in Arabic. Ralph H. Kohlmann, a Marine colonel and military judge at Guantanamo Bay, was listening to a simultaneous interpretation in English.

At a recent pretrial hearing, Hawsawi, according to his military lawyer, wanted to discuss the potential responsibilities of his attorneys and the implications of representing himself before the military commission. Those in the courtroom, however, often heard head-scratching sentences such as, "In the beginning of the timing of the laws, I said there is no difficulties base."

A linguist working with Hawsawi's team later estimated that half of what the defendant said was rendered incorrectly by court interpreters and that Hawsawi didn't understand at least 25 percent of what was said in English.

As five key defendants charged in the Sept. 11 attacks -- including self-described mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed -- move toward a trial by jury, defense lawyers and human rights advocates charge that the fairness of the most significant proceeding at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is routinely undermined by incompetent interpretation.

"Regular omissions, or mistranslations of key words or phrases often led to disjointed, incomprehensible or misleading translations into both English and Arabic," Hawsawi's attorneys wrote in a draft document supporting a motion they filed asking to halt the case until qualified interpreters are hired. The lawyers asked the court to order the government to produce an Arabic transcript of each hearing -- a motion military prosecutors are resisting.

The Pentagon rejected charges that interpreters at Guantanamo Bay are not qualified, but Defense Department officials said they were instituting new controls to address attorneys' concerns. Officials said that only native speakers or native-level speakers are hired and that they are equal to interpreters used in federal court. The interpreters are subject to in-house testing by the Pentagon's contractor, based on State Department standards, as well as testing by an outside firm, officials said.

"We work hard to provide the most qualified translators to do an important mission for our nation," Joseph DellaVedova, a spokesman for the Office of Military Commissions, said in an e-mail. "Nevertheless, because of concerns expressed by counsel -- particularly regarding their ability to speak at normal pacing -- OMC is instituting an additional quality control system which will enable us to pre-screen potential interpreters to assess their skill level."

Defense lawyers and court observers said the Guantanamo interpreters do not approach the standards for interpretation in federal courts or in forums such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. "There is no way someone who doesn't understand what's going on in court can get a fair trial," said Army Maj. Jon Jackson, military counsel to Hawsawi. "This is being done on the cheap."

Something was being lost in interpretation. Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a Saudi national accused of war crimes and murder for his... more

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1 month ago

Iraq lays out rules for 1st round of oil bids

Tell us why this is interestingLONDON -- Iraq's oil minister met 34 oil company representatives in London on Monday to set out the ground rules for foreign multinationals' first bite at the country's enormous energy reserves since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Hussain al-Shahristani spoke to executives as part of Iraq's first round of bidding for new contracts since Saddam Hussein was removed from power. Journalists were barred from the talks.

At the top of the list: Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Total SA, all eager for a shot at helping extract some of the 115 billion barrels of oil thought to lie beneath Iraq's surface.

The process is highly sensitive. Multinationals are eager to establish themselves in a country thought to have the world's second-largest proven oil reserves, but they want to avoid fueling accusations that the war in Iraq was fought on their behalf.

And while Iraq's oil industry badly needs foreign investment, Iraqi officials don't want to be viewed bowing to Western oil interests, some of whom are still resented for the stranglehold they had on the country's industry until the 1960s.

Oil company representatives have been tightlipped about the meeting and, as late as Friday, Iraqi Embassy Counselor Ali Al-Bayati insisted he had no idea where exactly the conference was taking place. It was in the Sheraton's Park Lane Hotel.

Officials in Iraq say the conference's purpose is to help the world's energy giants prepare their bids for 20-year service contracts at Iraq's biggest oil and gas producing fields.

Those include Kirkuk and Bai Hassan in the country's north and Rumaila, Zubair, West Qurna Stage 1 and the three Missan oil fields in the south. Also on the table are the Akkas gas field in western Iraq and the Mansouria gas field to the country's east.

Iraqi officials will present the companies with tender protocol, contract terms, and legal and technical details _ including geological data and production targets.

Some industry representatives outside the conference expressed frustration over the lack of details begin given.

Iraq's Oil Ministry has hired British energy consultant Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd. to help present the data and the draw up the contracts.

The ministry has given the firms a six-month deadline to submit their bids. It plans to announce winners in June 2009.
Tell us why this is interestingLONDON -- Iraq's oil minister met 34 oil company representatives in London on Monday to set... more

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1 month ago

Gates, Rice Brief Lawmakers On Draft Accord With Iraq

As Iraq's Oil Flows Freely, Profits Are Stuck in Bureaucracy U.S., Iraqi Officials Question Terms of Draft Security Deal ... more

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1 month ago

Al-Qaeda Web Forums Abruptly Taken Offline

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 17 -- Four of the five main online forums that al-Qaeda's media wing uses to distribute... more

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1 month ago

Donald Trump: Impeach Bush For Iraq!

Donald Trump thinks impeaching Bush would be "a wonderful thing." If Bill Clinton got impeach then, Bush definitely... more

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1 month ago

Army's life-or-death drama: To combat suicides, service introduces interactive video

Alarmed by a record rate of suicide in its ranks, the Army yesterday unveiled a unique prevention tool -- an interactive video to be mandatory viewing Army-wide -- in which soldiers will play the role of an anguished infantryman and make virtual choices that lead the character to get help or, in the worst case, shoot himself in the head.

"This is you: Specialist Kyle Norton," a male narrator begins, putting soldiers in the boots of a 19-year-old Midwesterner after a bomb-clearing mission in Iraq.

The video, titled "Beyond the Front," leads the viewer through a detailed drama in which Norton is hit by relationship troubles, financial problems and scrapes with the law -- what Army research shows are major events that precipitate suicide. Norton is blindsided by an e-mail from his fiancee, who has become pregnant by another man. He is devastated further when one of his best friends is killed in an ambush.

Questions pop onto the screen at key moments, prompting the viewer to decide whether to get help -- by opening up with buddies, Norton's sergeant or a chaplain. Depending on the choices, Norton edges toward recovery or sinks deeper into suicidal thoughts. The goal is to immerse the viewer into Norton's life in a way that makes preventive lessons stick, say Army officials and the video's creators.

The video is one of several initiatives launched by the Army to try to stem the suicide rate among active-duty soldiers. That rate increased from 12.4 per 100,000 in 2003, when the Iraq war started, to 18.1 per 100,000 last year.

This year, 93 active-duty soldiers killed themselves through the end of August, the latest data show. A third of those cases are under investigation by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner's Office. In all of 2007, 115 soldiers committed suicide. Suicide attempts by soldiers have also increased since 2003.

If the trend continues, the death rate this year is likely to exceed that of a demographically similar segment of the U.S. population -- 19.5 per 100,000, Stephens said -- which has not happened since the Vietnam War
Alarmed by a record rate of suicide in its ranks, the Army yesterday unveiled a unique prevention tool -- an interactive video to... more

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1 month ago

Lawmakers seek review of denied Medal of Honor case - CNN.com

A California congressional delegation asked President Bush on Friday to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to a Marine who was chosen to receive only the second-highest medal the Navy can bestow for valor.

The delegation, spearheaded by Rep. Duncan Hunter, sent a letter asking for a review of the case of Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who witnesses say covered a grenade with his body to save comrades on November 15, 2004, during fighting in Fallujah, Iraq. Already wounded by gunfire, he died immediately.

A copy of the letter given to The Associated Press was signed by a bipartisan group of five other representatives and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. It urges Bush to award the nation's highest honor, the same medal he gave to Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, who was killed in 2004 after covering a grenade with his helmet.

"Intentionally absorbing a grenade blast to protect one's comrades in arms has been traditionally recognized by awarding the Medal of Honor. The sacrifice of Sergeant Peralta manifests the same devotion to one's comrade's and country as that displayed by Jason Dunham," the letter said.

The bipartisan delegation formed after Peralta's mother said publicly this week that she was told her son would be awarded the Navy Cross, rather than the Medal of Honor, because the nomination was tainted by reports he was accidentally shot by a fellow Marine shortly before an insurgent lobbed the grenade.

The question of whether to award Peralta the Medal of Honor centers on whether the mortally wounded Marine, who had been shot in the head and upper body during a house-to-house search, could have intentionally reached for the grenade and covered it with his body.

After all the evidence was scrutinized, officials determined the nomination did not meet the standard necessary to support the Medal of Honor, said Capt. Beci Brenton, spokeswoman for Navy Secretary Donald Winter.

Defense Department officials have said that because there was some contradictory evidence, Gates took the extra step of asking for a review by a panel consisting of a former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, a Medal of Honor recipient, a civilian neurosurgeon who is retired from the military and two forensic pathologists who also are military retirees.

The panel recommended against the Medal of Honor, and Gates made the decision this month, officials said.

A California congressional delegation asked President Bush on Friday to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to a Marine who was... more

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1 month ago

Seeing Baghdad with fresh eyes - World Blog

I filled out the vital statistics and personal information questions requested by the U.S soldiers at the press center and... more

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1 month ago

Ethnic cleansing, not surge, key to drop in Iraq violence

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellite images taken at night show heavily Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baghdad began emptying before a... more

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1 month ago

Mother to ask Congress to award son Medal of Honor

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) -- The mother of a Marine who witnesses say covered a grenade with his body to save comrades in Iraq plans to appeal to Congress to award her son the nation's highest military honor after learning it was denied by Defense Secretary Robert Gates because of questions about his final act.
Rosa Peralta said Thursday she made the decision after a Marine general told her that her son, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, would be awarded the Navy Cross rather than the Medal of Honor because the nomination was tainted by reports he was accidentally shot by a fellow Marine shortly before an insurgent lobbed the grenade.
"I'm going to see what can be done, because I'm not satisfied with what they want to do now," she said in Spanish.
President Bush singled out the Marine's actions in a 2005 Memorial Day speech, saying Peralta "understood that America faces dangerous enemies, and he knew the sacrifices required to defeat them."
"The president spoke of him. So how is this now possible that they do this," Rosa Peralta said.
She said she was considering rejecting the Navy Cross, the second-highest award for valor in combat that can be awarded to a Marine. Peralta will be the 24th recipient of the Navy Cross for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I still don't know what I'm going to do," she said.
The question about whether to award Peralta the Medal of Honor centers on whether the mortally wounded Marine, who was shot in the head and upper body, could have intentionally reached for the grenade and covered it with his body.
"There was conflicting evidence in the case of Sgt. Peralta as to whether he could have performed his final acts given the nature of his injuries," said Capt. Beci Brenton, spokeswoman for Navy Secretary Donald Winter.
The initial recommendation that he receive the Medal of Honor went through reviews by the Marine Corps, U.S. Central Command, the Department of the Navy and ultimately up to Defense Secretary Gates, Brenton said.
After all the evidence was scrutinized, officials determined that it "did not meet the exact standard necessary to support the Medal of Honor," she said.
But Rosa Peralta said she was led to believe her son would get the Medal of Honor in a November 2007 telephone call from an undersecretary of the Navy, who she says told her the nomination was to be forwarded to the White House.
Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said there was a June 2007 Navy recommendation for the Medal of Honor, but it never went to the White House because Gates didn't approve it.
He said that because there was some contradictory evidence, Gates instead took the extra step of asking five other individuals to review the case - a former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, a Medal of Honor recipient, a civilian neurosurgeon who is retired from the military and two forensic pathologists who also are military retirees.
The five were given medical reports that had not been available in thCAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) -- The mother of a Marine who witnesses say covered a grenade with his body to save comrades in Iraq... more