Some of this week's stories

Pentagon's second thoughts on Iraq withdrawal

 

AP reports (April 10^th): Eight months shy of its deadline for pulling the last American soldier from Iraq and closing the door on an 8-year war, the Pentagon is having second thoughts.

Reluctant to say it publicly, officials fear a final pullout in December could create a security vacuum, offering an opportunity for power grabs by antagonists in an unresolved and simmering Arab-Kurd dispute, a weakened but still active al-Qaida or even an adventurous neighbor such as Iran.

The U.S. wants to keep perhaps several thousand troops in Iraq, not to engage in combat but to guard against an unraveling of a still-fragile peace.

http://www.thestate.com/2011/04/10/1773114/pentagons-second-thoughts-on-iraq.html

UN finds 28 bodies at Iranian exiles' camp

 

AP reports (April 14^th): A western diplomat says UN observers found 28 bodies during a tour of a camp of Iranian exiles stormed by Iraqi soldiers.

The diplomat says 25 of the bodies had gunshot wounds and at least three appeared to have been crushed by vehicles.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/14/bodies-iranian-exiles-camp-ashraf

The Iraqi government detains and tortures peaceful demonstrators from Tahrir Square

 

OWFI reports (April 12^th): In today's demonstration of Tahrir square, the youth marched towards the bridge in order to cross to the Green Zone, and chanted the slogan of 'Ousting the System'. The security forces - under the "General Commander of Armed Forces" Mr. Nouri Al Miliki gave orders to detain and torture all the organizers of the demonstration. Division 11 of the Iraqi army (army intelligence) took pictures of all the demonstrators including the OWFI women. The same division used civilian cars to arrest tens of demonstrators into detainment.

http://www.equalityiniraq.com/activities/130-the-iraqi-government-detains-and-tortures-peaceful-demonstrators-from-tahrir-square?6dcb5c0485db6830947a0e9cf1d291b1=a5b2def29193ae42c3119d448ab47439

Iraq demo rules miff protesters, sports officials

AFP reports (April 15^th): Anti-government protesters and sports officials in Baghdad formed an unlikely team, complaining about new rules banning street rallies in the capital.
The recently announced regulations, which allow demonstrations in Baghdad only at three football stadiums, were ostensibly put in place after shopkeepers in the city's main Tahrir Square complained they were losing trade during weekly protests since late February.
"Why should we go to Al-Shaab stadium?" shouted 48-year-old Mohammed Abdul Amir, referring to Iraq's national football grounds. "Are we going to play a football match with the police?"

http://www.france24.com/en/20110415-iraq-demo-rules-miff-protesters-sports-officials

Iraqi Youths’ Political Rise Is Stunted by Elites

NY Times reports (April 13^th): Inspired by the democratic uprisings around the Arab world to push for change, young lawmakers in Parliament are running up against an ossified political elite still dominated by the exiles who followed American tanks into Iraq to establish a fragile, violence-scarred democracy.

On the streets, the voices of young demonstrators and journalists have been muted by the batons and bullets of elite security units that answer only to a prime minister who officials say personally sends orders by text message.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/world/middleeast/14iraq.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast

Iraqi authorities must halt attacks on protesters

AI reports (April 12^th): The Iraqi authorities must stop attacks on peaceful protesters calling for an end to unemployment, poor services, and corruption and demanding political reforms, Amnesty International said today in a new report.

Days of Rage: Protests and Repression in Iraq documents how Iraqi and Kurdish forces have shot and killed protesters, including three teenage boys, threatened, detained and tortured political activists, as well as targeting journalists covering the protests.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU2011041222966&lang=e&rss=recentnews

Full report here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/52897940/Amnesty-International-Iraq-Days-of-rage-Protests-and-repression-in-Iraq

 

Iraqi protesters describe April 9, the day U.S. troops occupied Baghdad, as ‘the black day’

  

Azzaman reports (April 11^th): There were demonstrations in several cities in Iraq marking the 2003-U.S. invasion and occupation of the country.

But the event, which toppled a dictatorial regime, had no words of praise as tens of thousands of Iraqis went to the streets lashing out at their U.S. occupiers and the factional leaders they brought with them.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2011-04-11\kurd.htm

Ninewa tribes reject extension of U.S. forces presence in Iraq 

 

Aswat al-Iraq (April 14^th): The tribes of northern Iraq’s Ninewa Province have organized a commemoration occasion on the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, taking place nowadays, rejecting the extension of the U.S. troops presence in the country after the end of the current year, and calling for the release of all prisoners.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=141979&l=1

Iraqi Refugees at High Risk of Brain and Nervous System Disorders

AAN reports (April 12^th): New research suggests that a high number of Iraqi refugees are affected by brain and nervous system disorders, including those who are victims of torture and the disabled. The late-breaking research will be presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, April 9 – 16, 2011, in Honolulu.

http://www.aan.com/press/index.cfm?fuseaction=release.view&release=931

Iraqi scientists, doctors targeted

Al-Arabiya reports (April 9^th): Iraqi scientists and doctors are increasingly expressing alarm about threats to their lives as the numbers targeted in killings rise while a weak government seems unable to provide adequate security.

The latest victim in the spree of apparently targeted killings was Zaid Abdul Mun’im, head of research of the molecular department at al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. He died after a bomb went off in his car on April 3.

Prior to his death, Mohammed Alwan, a prominent Baghdadi surgeon and the dean of the faculty of medicine of the same university, was assassinated on March 29. 

Neither of the men had any known political affiliations.

“A government that cannot protect its people, does not deserve to be a government,” said Hikmat Jamil, head of the self-funded group International Society of Iraqi Scientists, and a professor of medicine at the Wayne State University in Michigan.

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/09/144874.html

There are nearly 1.5 million orphans in Iraq, government confirms

  

Azzaman reports (April 12^th): Iraqi Minister of Human Rights says there are 1.450 million orphans in the country.

The official number of Iraqi orphans is close to the population of countries such as Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Botswana.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2011-04-12\kurd.htm