Women Back In The Driver’s Seat in Baghdad
Duraed Salman, Institute for War and Peace Reporting (Aug 13, 2008)
Samira Hussein, 36, walks out of the supermarket and slips behind the
wheel of her car in the Karrada Maryam area of Baghdad near the heavily
protected Green Zone. It is a scene that is played out day after day in countries all around
the world, but in Iraq, even simple tasks for women such as running
errands and driving are deeply significant. Hussein, a mother of four,
stopped driving in late 2003 as security in Baghdad deteriorated – but
got behind the wheel again earlier this year.
UN Proposal Provokes Iraqi Anger
Zaineb Naji, Institute for War and Peace Reporting (Jun 24, 2008)
Rival political factions have slammed a United Nations proposal to
settle disputes over control of a number of areas in the north of the
country, arguing the recommendations are more likely to deepen their
disagreements than resolve them.
Iraq’s Provincial Elections: Another D-Day Approaching
Reidar Visser, Historiae (Jun 16, 2008)
Monday June 30, 2008 could be one of those fateful dates in Iraqi
politics that will remain mostly unnoticed by the outside world. June 30 is the new deadline set by Iraq’s electoral commission for
forming coalitions for this autumn’s provincial elections. The deadline
for registering political parties expired with some 500
entities having registered. The question is whether any of
these parties are capable of amalgamating into larger alliances that
could mount a challenge to the established elites represented by the
core components of the Maliki government. In the previous local
elections in January 2005, it was mainly those elites that excelled in the art of coalition building prior to the elections.
Internally displaced Iraqis demand government return them home
Report, IRIN (Jun 16, 2008)
Nearly 500 Iraqis took to the streets of central Baghdad on 14 June
demanding the government secure their return to their homes and pay
compensation to those with damaged propertie. "We have been displaced for nearly two years now and we don't
see any serious action being taken by the government to end our
suffering," said Emad Taha Ali, a 39-year-old father-of-two who took
part in the demonstration in Baghdad's Jadiriyah area.
Finally, the U.S. Mega-Bases in Iraq Make the News
Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com (Jun 15, 2008)
Engelhardt begins with an almost $6 million contract recently awarded to a private contractor for "replacement
facilities for Forward Operating Base Speicher," near Tikrit. Work on this small U.S. base is expected to be
completed by January 31, 2009, a mere 11 days after a new president enters the
Oval Office. It is but one modest reminder that, when the next administration
hits Washington, American bases in Iraq, large and small, will still be
undergoing the sort of repair and upgrading that has been ongoing for
years.
Embarrassed U.S. Starts to Disown Basra Operation
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service (Mar 31, 2008)
As it became clear last week that the "Operation Knights Assault" in
Basra was in serious trouble, the George W. Bush administration began
to claim in off-the-record statements to journalists that Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki had launched the operation without consulting
Washington.
The struggle for Kirkuk
Oliver Poole, Institute for War and Peace Reporting (Mar 4, 2008)
You might have missed it as in most of the world it was not front page
news but a NATO member attacked a sovereign state last week. Troops
were amassed, as many as a 10,000 of them in some reports, and then
poured across the border supported by combat helicopters and fighter
jets.
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