A “Fanatic” Iraqi…
Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues
The other day, someone said to me “You know something – you really are a fanatic Iraqi”…hoping that he would hurt my feelings. Tell you what, I walked away feeling 10 inches taller. Of course I am a fanatical Iraqi. My country has been agonizing for 18 years to the total indifference of the world. My country is totally defaced, turned into a hideous monster. My country is totally destroyed, totally destroyed… From the sanction years and its utter misery and struggles to the present occupation by a so-called “great democracy”. An occupation by the mightiest military power on earth, and again to the total indifference of the world. Millions dead, millions exiled, millions orphaned, millions widowed, millions maimed for life and you don’t want me to become a “fanatic” Iraqi ? Ha! (…) A “fanatic” – Yes I am. A terrible, horrible “fanatic.” When one is abandoned the way we have been. When one has been forgotten the way we have been. When we have been shelved on the side, so as not to ruffle your sensitivities and your political correctness, yes we become “fanatic” Iraqis. When for 18 years, we’ve done nothing but pick up pieces and hang in there, when for 18 years your bombs and your silence has overpowered our cries, yes we become “fanatic” Iraqis…When we see you cheering every single “resistance” in the world, but ours, ours – made of resisting bodies and souls, forged by the fire of your weapons. When we hear your heated debates and revolutionary hot zeal and feel your ice, cold win! ds blowi ng our way, we become “fanatic” Iraqis…

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Giant mistakes on CounterPunch AND CommonDreams AND TruthOut AND ZNet RE: Iraq war death toll, Lancet and IBC
Gabriele Zamparini, The Cat’s Dream
Dear Bill Quigley, Thanks for your article “War Immemorial Day” published on CounterPunch on 26 may 2008. You write: 2003 to present Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom. 4082 U.S. military killed. British medical journal Lancet estimates over 90,000 civilian deaths. Iraq Body Count estimates over 84,000 civilians killed. I’d like to bring to your attention two grave errors and kindly ask you to correct them. The first, giant mistake is that the 2006 Lancet study estimated more than 650,000 deaths as a result of the US illegal war of aggression of Iraq. That was two years ago. [Then there was a ORB poll that estimated more than a million deaths.] The second mistake is that the IBC figures are NOT estimates but a simple count based mostly on Western media reports…

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Disneyland by the Tigris
Felicity Arbuthnot
…Iraq now lies at the bottom in every aspect of UN indices, its sick untreated, its children uneducated, the ‘cradle of civilisation’ victim of a scorched earth policy – from its agriculture, date and citrus groves to its archeological wonders. The orphans, traumatised, displaced, widowed, mutilated, beheaded, fleeing, stateless, dead, in just five years, equal history’s most chilling infamies. From 1st June, add starvation. The food rations, already cut to the barest minimum, of woeful quality, beset by (US overseen) governmental corruption, but on which much of the population exists, are to be abolished…But in the true tradition of ‘only in America’ fantasies, the US has a make believe answer. Not refurbished hospitals and schools, not clean water coming out of dysentery, typhoid and cholera inducing taps, not welcoming and healing orphanages for the estimated 4.5 million traumatised orphans they have created, not centres for and training of staff and technicians to provide prosthetic limbs for maimed children and adults. Baghdad instead, is to have a Disneyland theme park (on appropriated land.)…

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IRAQ: Through Occupation, The Very Dreams Change
Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
After more than five years of U.S. occupation, the very dreams of the people of Baquba have changed. For a start, they are no longer about the future. Today, a shower is a dream. Or that the electricity supply continues just that little bit longer. “These needs are very trivial for people of other countries,” 43-year-old political leader Saad Tahir told IPS. “But in Iraq, people dream more of these things than of some ambition or success.” Abdullah Mahdi, a retired 51-year-old trader, says he dreams only of electricity….

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FBI Compiled “War Crimes” Dossier on Prisoner Abuse and Torture
Tom Burghardt
According to an explosive 437-page report released Monday by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), FBI agents assigned to the U.S. prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, compiled what they dubbed a “war crimes” file documenting prisoner abuse and torture by U.S. military and intelligence personnel. The OIG report on the role of the FBI in observing or participating in prisoner abuse was compiled from a survey of several hundred field level agents and supervisors. FBI protests over these practices traveled up the chain of command and reached the White House–where they were ignored….

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PCHR: Eighteen years of work destroyed in less than four hours
PCHR Narratives Under Siege
In order to highlight the impact of the siege and closure of the Gaza Strip on the civilian population, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is publishing a series of “Narratives Under Siege” on their website. These short articles are based on personal testimonies and experiences of life in the Gaza Strip, highlighting the restrictions, and violations, being imposed on the civilians of Gaza….

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FIRST THEY BURNT THE BOOKS ~~ THEN THEY BURNT THOSE WHO WROTE THEM
Desertpeace
Almost to the day… plus 75 years, nazi style atrocities take place in Israel…. similar to those that happened in Germany. 1933… Germany… In a symbolic act of ominous significance, on May 10, 1933 the students burned upwards of 25,000 volumes of “un-German” books, presaging an era of state censorship and control of culture (…) 2008… Israel… Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in the latest act of violence against Christian missionaries in the Holy Land…

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American Psychological Association Supports Psychologist Engagement in Bush Regime Interrogations: A Critique of Stephen Behnke’s Letter to the ACLU
Stephen Soldz
Since 2005, the American Psychological Association (APA) has steadfastly asserted that psychologists participating in detainee interrogations protects detainees by helping to keep these interrogations “safe, legal, ethical, and effective.” Last week, the APA’s Ethics Director Stephen Behnke seized upon newly released portions of an official investigation of US detainee abuse, called the Church Report, as an opportunity to reinvigorate support for the APA policy of psychologist participation in interrogations…

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Barzani’s connection to Al-Qaeda in Mosul
Roads to Iraq
I reported few days ago that Al-Qaeda in Mosul is the creation of the Kurdish officials in Barzani’s PDK, Al-Akhbar gives a full details of this connection [interesting you can’t find this in the western media]: Confessions of the detainees revealed that the death-squad group is connected to the Kurdish officials in Mosul province. The government tried to keep this information confidential after Barzani’s request but security forces leaked the information….

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The forgotten kid of Guantánamo
Stacy Sullivan, Salon
When Mohammed Jawad, a 23-year-old Afghan detainee, was summoned to appear before the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay for his arraignment in March, he told his military handlers that he would not go. After being held for more than five years here, he didn’t believe he could get a fair hearing from the U.S. military. But appearing at arraignments at Guantánamo is mandatory, so as has been done with others, military personnel forcefully extracted Jawad from his cell and brought him to court in shackles. Sitting before the judge in his orange jumpsuit, the color reserved for uncooperative detainees, Jawad buried his face into his hands and announced that he would boycott future proceedings — a right the commissions allow…

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Development by Colonialism: The Bethlehem Conference
Adel Samara, Palestine Think Tank
The huge propaganda machine went in parallel with the so-called “Bethlehem Investment Conference” which has attracted more than 1400 participants from many places around the world. It is the first time since 15 years of siege that the holy town of Bethlehem enjoyed the chance to see the holy city of Jerusalem. Thanks to the few days that Israel lifted the blockades[1]. But why not, when capital speaks, religion must fall on its knees. Those who want to pass from Bethlehem to Jerusalem are not Christian or Muslim pilgrims, they are capitalists. In his marketing speech of the conference, the PA’s Prime Minister said (Al-Auds Daily May 22): “The main proof of the conference’s success is the attendance of the PA’s chairman Abu Mazen!”…

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Israeli demolition threatens 3,000 Palestinian homes: UN
AFP
Thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank risk being displaced as the Israeli authorities threaten to tear down their homes and in some cases entire communities, a UN agency said on Wednesday. “To date, more than 3,000 Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank have pending demolition orders, which can be immediately executed without prior warning,” the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report…

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US ‘close’ to Iraq military deal
Aljazeera.net
The US government is close to reaching an agreement with the Iraqi government over its long term military role in the country but will not seek permanent bases in the nation. Bush administration officials told Al Jazeera that they expect to finalise a deal by the end of July over the so-called Status of Forces agreement, or Sofa. The agreement would replace the current United Nations mandate authorising US troops to remain in the nation, which expires in December 2008…

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Israel ready for prisoner exchange with Hezbollah: radio
AFP
Israel is prepared to free five Lebanese prisoners and return the bodies of 10 Hezbollah fighters in exchange for the release of two of its soldiers captured in 2006, army radio said on Monday. The report came after Lebanese sources said progress had been made in UN-sponsored talks on a prisoner exchange between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah…

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Israeli siege raises its victims to 167 after death of cancer patient
Palestinian Information Center
As a result of the Israeli restrictions imposed on travel for medical treatment outside the Gaza Strip, a 22-year-old Palestinian young man called Mohamed Al-Ammawi died Tuesday of blood cancer; thus, his death raised the siege victims to 167 patients. Rami Abdo, the spokesman for the popular committee against the siege, stated that the young man’s father spent about $80,000 on his son’s treatment after he sold all his property, but the Israeli closure of crossings led to the death of his son….

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Feeling safer, Iraqis come home — but only a few
KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
The surge has been good for the Murads. Just over a year after they were driven out of their Baghdad neighborhood by militants who kidnapped their son, the parents and children are back in their home. The Shiite family is living among longtime Sunni neighbors, protected by U.S. forces and armed with safety guarantees from the Sunni tribal sheiks who had joined forces to drive al-Qaida in Iraq from the area. “I am happy to be back to my house and enjoying the company of my Sunni neighbors and friends,” says Ali Jassim Murad, 43, a Culture Ministry employee and head of the household. But 15 months after the U.S. military poured reinforcements into Iraq’s worst battlefields to regain control over them, families like the Murads are a tiny minority. Of some 5.1 million Iraqis uprooted from their homes, some 78,180 — fewer than 1 percent — had returned by March 31, according to the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental humanitarian group based in Switzerland…

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One third of those banned from travel for treatment are children
Palestinian Information Center
The popular committee against the siege stated Monday that 31 percent of Gaza patients whose travel for medical treatment abroad was not approved by the IOA for flimsy security pretexts are children under age 15. In a press conference, Rami Abdo, the spokesman for the committee, said that this percentage does not include hundreds of patients who did not apply for medical treatment outside Gaza because they already know that Israel would reject their requests. Abdo cited the suffering of a two-year-old Palestinian girl called Farah Al-Sawwaf who has a tumor in her right kidney and her application for treatment abroad was not approved yet by the IOA…

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Saddam loyalist to continue fight
AFP
Saddam Hussein’s former deputy has vowed that loyalists to the deposed dictator will continue fighting until the US withdraws from Iraq, according to an interview. Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a fugitive with a 10 million dollar (£5 million) bounty on his head, has not been seen publicly since the fall of Saddam’s regime in April 2003. The interview with al-Douri was published in Al-Mawqif Al-Arabi, a little-known Egyptian tabloid known to have close links with the former Iraqi regime. The paper’s editor, Abbel-Azim Manas, said he interviewed al-Douri “on the battlefield” but would not provide additional details…

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Mosul’s detainees
Said Rifai in Mosul, LATimes
My visit to Mosul with Vice President Tariq Hashimi’s delegation took us to the local police detention center. Some of the prisoners claimed that they were arrested for arbitrary reasons, rather than any credible evidence. One man, with a long white beard and wearing a traditional white robe, said that he had fled to Mosul from the western city of Tall Afar. In Mosul, he said, he had been arrested on the street because he belongs to the Sabawi tribe, which many consider a supporter of violence against the Americans and the Iraqi government. The man claimed that many people had been locked up for no good reason. There were at least 150 people inside his pen of metal and cinder blocks. In another cell, 70 detainees were packed inside…

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Plan Mexico: Plan Colombia Heads for Mexico
Stephen Lendman
It’s called “Plan Mexico,” or more formally the “Merida Initiative,” and here’s the scheme. It’s to do for Mexicans what Plan Colombia has done to that nation since 1999, and, in fact, much earlier. Since then, billions have gone for the following: — to establish a US military foothold in the country; — mostly to fund US weapons, chemical and other corporate profiteers; it’s a long-standing practice; in fact, a 1997 Pentagon document affirms that America’s military will “protect US interests and investments;” in Colombia, it’s to control its valuable resources; most importantly oil and natural gas but also coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, silver, emeralds, copper and more; it’s also to crush worker resistance, eliminate unions, target human rights and peasant opposition groups, and make the country a “free market” paradise inhospitable to people…

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Zionist Morality
Robert Thompson, AxisofLogic.com
…Curiously, Mr Dror insists, without explaining why, that it is necessary to have a “Jewish state” to ensure the survival of those whom he classifies as “Jews”. This leads me to presume that he believes in a “Jewish race”, as did Wilhelm Marr, Theodor Herzl, Adolf Hitler, and the Zionists. When I personally use the word “Jewish”, I think of followers of Judaism, and fully understand that they are not all of one race, but that they share highly honourable beliefs and traditions received from men and women who have valued and passed them on over centuries. Similarly, I think of Christians as being followers of Christian beliefs and traditions, and I do not see why they should need to live in a supposedly “Christian” state to live as Christians. In any case, most of those who think of themselves as Jews live in many countries spread around the world and have not all gone to live in Palestine. This brings us to the nonsensical question of whether a “Jewish atheist” (an oxymoron if ever there was one) is different from a “Christian atheist” or a “Muslim atheist”, since by definition no genuine atheist can belong to any religious group…

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nternet, it is fair to assume that those of our citizens who remain ignorant of the extent of their government’s commitment to torture as an official policy have made a choice not to be informed…

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Taliban Shadow Governments
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers
The ousted Taliban is gaining grounds in districts near the capital Kabul and acting as an alternative to the weak West-backed government, while winning hundreds of sympathizers inside Afghanistan’s biggest educational institution. “The shadow governments that they attempt to form are more worrying than insurgent violence,” one Western military source told the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, May 27….Taliban is not only forming alternative authorities in areas under its control, but is also winning the hearts and minds of hundreds of students in Kabul University, the country’s most prestigious educational institution and its largest with 12,000 students. “At the time of the Taliban there was security and basic justice and prices were not as high as now,” Abdul, 21-year-old law undergraduate, told The Times. “There also was not as much corruption. Lots of aid money comes to Afghanistan and disappears. We want to liberate our country, to remove these authorities and do something for the people.”…

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May 28, 2008: 31 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com
Clashes reignited in Sadr City on an otherwise quiet day. At least 31 Iraqis were killed and 24 more were wounded in the latest violence. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, the main Sunni political bloc has suspended talks to rejoin the Shi’ite government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. In Baghdad, four dumped bodies were discovered in Ubaidi. Another four bodies were found in other areas. At the Diyala Bridge, six people were wounded. No casualties were reported after mortars struck a ministry building. Ten special groups gunmen were killed and one more was wounded during clashes in eastern Baghdad….

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Arresting John Bolton
George Monbiot
On Wednesday 28th May 2008, I will attempt a citizen’s arrest of John Robert Bolton, former Under-Secretary of State, US State Department, for the crime of aggression, as established by customary international law and described by Nuremberg Principles VI and VII. These state the following: “Principle VI
The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:(a) Crimes against peace:(i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;(ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i)…

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Basra’s population surges as migration from countryside continues
Abed Battat, Azzaman
Basra’s population is surging at a rate that makes provision of essential services extremely difficult, Basra’s governor said. “Basra’s population is exploding and the city is seeing major demographic transformations,” the Governor Mohammed al-Waili said. According to the last census conducted in 200, Basra’s population was less than 2.5 million. “We have now exceeded three million people mainly due to the influx from the countryside,” Waili said…

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Opium for the Masses
Who is the Enemy in Afghanistan?
ERIC WALBERG
…The facts speak for themselves, however. The Taleban wiped out heroin production entirely by 2001. Three years later, there were once again bumper opium crops, accounting for over half Afghanistan’s GNP, and ninety percent of the world’s heroin. And not only turning a blind eye, but actively engaging in drug smuggling, according to many observers, including Russian Ambassador Zamir Kabulov…

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PETITION! Lift Travel Restrictions on Palestinian Journalist
Mary Rizzo, Palestine Think Tank
To: Israeli and Palestinian Authorities -Palestinian journalist Khalid Amayreh, who lives in the West Bank, has been invited to attend a media conference in Germany. As required, he set about to request all of the necessary travel documents, including a visa that needs to be granted from the German representative office in Ramallah. After routine questioning regarding his political affiliations, it was not only determined that he was not a member of any party, nor formally associated with any organisation, but it was clear that he had never been arrested or detained by Israeli authorities. Mr Amayreh was granted an entry visa to Germany. However, the Israeli military authorities have refused to give him a permit to leave the West Bank. No Palestinian can travel abroad without receiving such a permit beforehand, otherwise he or she would be turned back once arriving at the Israeli-controlled border terminal at the Allenby Bridge…

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Arab resident of Nazareth to be imprisoned for defending the Basilica of Annunciation Church
Saed Bannoura – IMEMC
Arab member of Knesset, Wasel Taha, slammed an Israeli court decision to imprison an Arab resident of Nazareth for defending the Basilica of Annunciation Church in the city after in came under attack by an extremist Israeli couple. Jeffry Abu Sinna was sentenced to eight months imprisonment for participating in defending the church which was attacked by Odilia Habibi and his wife who hurled fire crackers and gas bombs at the church setting part of it on fire…

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Two-month-old infant dies due to Gaza siege
Palestinian Information Center
A two-month-old Palestinian baby and a 20-year-old youth died in Gaza on Wednesday as a result of the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza Strip that blocks entry of proper medication and bans travel for treatment. Medical sources said that the infant Bashir Himmo and Jihad Ali, 20, who suffered cancer, died as a result of lack of proper medication and the travel ban…

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“Surreal Coincidences”
Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues
…Iraq where the clear cut Iranian-American deal is on the table. All Iraqis know it and see it, except you. Another little show of force and a few barks here and there, and they will both rush to another Doha table. I guess you can call that another “surreal coincidence” in the making… And further down the line, expect more of the Iraqi “experiment” to take place where there are Shia minorities —in particular Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan. Bahrain and Kuwait have already sold it to both — the U.S and Iran…

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An Immemorial Day for the progressive media
Gabriele Zamparini, The Cat’s Dream
Four among the most prestigious US progressive media outlets (CommonDreams, CounterPunch, TruthOut and ZNet) published on Memorial Day (26-5-’08) an article titled “War Immemorial Day – No Peace for Militarized U.S.” penned by Bill Quigley. One paragraph in particular got my attention: 2003 to present Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom. 4082 U.S. military killed. British medical journal Lancet estimates over 90,000 civilian deaths. Iraq Body Count estimates over 84,000 civilians killed. On May 27, I spent much time writing emails to the article’s author and to the editors of CommonDreams, CounterPunch, TruthOut and ZNet as well as to other writers, intellectuals and activists. You may read the full correspondence on my blog, Giant mistakes on CounterPunch AND CommonDreams AND TruthOut AND ZNet RE: Iraq war death toll, Lancet and IBC. Following are the changes those progressive media made (or didn’t make) to the original paragrap…

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Iraq’s main Sunni bloc suspends government talks
Wisam Mohammed, Reuters
Iraq’s main Sunni Arab political bloc said on Wednesday it had suspended talks to rejoin the Shi’ite-led government after a disagreement with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over a cabinet post. Persuading the bloc to rejoin has been a main aim of U.S. policy in Iraq and is widely seen as a vital step in reconciling the country’s factions after years of conflict. Sunni Arabs have little voice in a cabinet dominated by Shi’ites and Kurds…

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The Unforgotten City and its Forgotten Suffering
Reham Alhelsi. Palestine Think Tank
Jerusalem, the holy city, a city once the religious, social and economic center of the Palestinians for thousands of years, has turned into a ghost city under Israeli occupation. Moslems, Christians and Jews lived peacefully here until the Zionists started implementing their plans of establishing a Zionist state in Palestine. A city that was open throughout the centuries has become a closed city under the rule of what Bush and others call “the only democracy in the Middle East”! In what other country in the world is the original Moslem and Christian population prevented from living in their own city and reaching their holy places?…

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Iran plays positive role in preparing Iraq conference: Sweden
AFP
Iran has played a positive role in preparations for a conference on Iraq here this week at which it was hoped US and Iranian delegates could hold bilateral talks, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Wednesday on the eve of the meeting. “In so far as they have been involved, yes, their role has been positive,” said Bildt of the Iranians. Sweden is organising the first follow-up meeting, starting in Stockholm Thursday, of the so-called International Compact with Iraq (ICI) drawing some 100 delegations. “On the bilateral dialogue with Iran, (when) we’ve talked to Iranian diplomatic representatives, we find that the policies they present are constructive ones,” the minister told AFP…Washington and Tehran will each have large delegations present, and “they are interested in talking to each other, I know that,” he said…

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Deal Imminent between Israel and Hezbollah
Ulrike Putz, SpiegelOnLine
…According to the well-informed Israeli army radio, Israel has said it is willing to hand over five Lebanese prisoners for the return of Goldwasser and Regev. Israel would also be willing to release the bodies of 10 Hezbollah fighters, it added. The low numbers of prisoners being mentioned in the deal has raised eyebrows in Israel. Many take it to mean that the two soldiers are no longer alive….

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Palestinian President meets with Hamas government leaders
Saed Bannoura – IMEMC News
In a meeting that could re-start stalled national unity talks between the two main Palestinian political parties, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (with the Fateh party) met with leaders from the rival Hamas party on Monday. According to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, the Hamas delegation consisted of former Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Addin Ash-Sha’ir, Sheikh Hamid Al-Beitawi and Samir Abu ‘Eisha. The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, confirmed a meeting between Abbas and Sheikh Hamid Al-Beitawi. Al-Beitawi is a Palestinian lawmaker who was, until recently, imprisoned by Israeli forces in an Israeli detention camp…

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Post-traumatic stress soars in U.S. troops in 2007
David Morgan, Reuters
Newly diagnosed cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among U.S. troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan surged 46.4 percent in 2007, bringing the five-year total to more than 38,000, according to U.S. military data released on Tuesday. The statistics, released by the Army, showed the number of new PTSD cases formally diagnosed at U.S. military facilities climbed to 13,981 last year from 9,549 in 2006…

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Red Cross: Denying visits to detained relatives worsens suffering of Gaza people
Palestinian Information Center
The International Committee of the Red Cross has called on the Hebrew state to allow Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to visit their detained relatives in its jails, which had been suspended for almost a year after Hamas’s takeover of Gaza. The head of the ICRC delegation in Israel and the occupied (Palestinian) territories Christoph Harnisch said in a statement on Monday that despite his acknowledgement of Israeli security fears yet such fears do not alone justify the complete suspension of family visitation to those detainees. The Israeli siege on Gaza for almost a year blocked the visitation of families of 700 Gazans who are held in Israeli occupation jails…

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Salam Fayyad’s cynical party
Adri Nieuwhof, The Electronic Intifada
The Palestine Investment Conference held from 21 until 23 May in Bethlehem has incited broad resistance from Palestinian popular organizations. In his invitation to investors appointed Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad wrote, “We are throwing a party and the whole world is invited.” The organizers performed a tour de force by putting “Revitalizing Gaza” on the agenda of the conference, explicitly excluding a debate on political issues. It is obvious that ordinary Palestinians, who are battling every day with the endless rigorous Israeli occupation, will find it hard to relate to this “festive occasion” heavily advocated by the Quartet and its Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, the Portland Trust and various other donors. For the occasion the (PA) deployed 2,000 security personnel in Bethlehem during the conference…

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Iraqis losing patience with militiamen
Tina Susman and Usama Redha, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
Four summers ago, when militiamen loyal to hard-line Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr were battling U.S. forces in the holy city of Najaf, Mohammed Lami was among them. “I had faith. I believed in something,” Lami said of his days hoisting a gun for Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia. “Now, I will never fight with them.”…

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Aid shortage to hit Iraqi refugees
Suha Philip Ma’ayeh
The queue at the aid distribution centre in Zarqa backs out onto the street, where Narjas Assem waits impatiently for a food package, along with dozens of impoverished Iraqi families who arrive at the centre in north-western Jordan in droves at the end of each month. After a long wait, Mrs Assem, a mother of three, shows the volunteers her UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) card, signalling her status as a refugee, and is handed a brown box containing a sack of rice, sugar, milk, lentils, tins of tuna and other basic food items…The vast majority of refugees in Syria and Jordan depend on medical, food and financial assistance…But that could all change as the UNHCR, facing a shortage in funding, said this month that many of its assistance programmes run the risk of closure. In January, the UNHCR appealed for US$261 million for its operations on behalf of some of the 4.7 million people uprooted by the conflict in Iraq, but so far it has received only US$134m. It is feared the downsizing of distribution programmes in both countries will lead to widespread malnutrition…

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Lebanon’s Deal Hints at New Regional Accord
Osama Al Sharif
It was a spectacular event verging on the surreal. The historic session by the Lebanese Parliament to elect the country’s 12th president on Sunday brought together rivals and enemies, friends and allies and not only on the floor of the legislature. Up in the balconies, representatives of countries that had jockeyed for power and influence in Lebanon sat close to each other in the crowded chamber and watched the inauguration of army chief, Gen. Michel Suleiman, as head of state…A Hezbollah representative said in Doha that “the whole world was negotiating with us!” Indeed, the presence of such a highly mixed group of regional and Western officials and representatives underlines the valuable stake that each and everyone have in today’s Lebanon…Theories began to surface as fast as the ink began to dry on the Doha agreement. The success and role of Qatar drew attention. The backing of Iran and Syria to the deal was seen as a diplomatic triumph for both. The fact that the United States lauded the agreement launched regional and international punditry into a heated debate. What does this all mean?…

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Barzani’s connection to Al-Qaeda in Mosul
Roads to Iraq
I reported few days ago that Al-Qaeda in Mosul is the creation of the Kurdish officials in Barzani’s PDK, Al-Akhbar gives a full details of this connection [interesting you can’t find this in the western media]: Confessions of the detainees revealed that the death-squad group is connected to the Kurdish officials in Mosul province. The government tried to keep this information confidential after Barzani’s request but security forces leaked the information….

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May 27, 2008: 1 US Soldier, 37 Iraqis Killed; 83 Iraqis Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com
At least 37 Iraqis were killed and 83 more were wounded in the latest attacks. One incident involved Iranian soldiers at the border. One American soldier was killed and two were wounded in a roadside bombing near Diwaniya on Sunday. Also, Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called for weekly protests against the U.S.-Iraqi security deal. A car bomb blew up in a Tal Afar marketplace, killing four people and wounding 46 more…

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