Iraq Report, 2 January/06

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. This briefing is brought to you by Joel Gaines of No Pundit Intended and Andrew Olmsted of Andrew Olmsted dot com.

Happy New Year!

TOP TOPICS

• The Afghan-born US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, Looks Back And Looks Ahead In Iraq: 2005-2006

• Check out the latest from Bill Roggio, who returned from Iraq in late December.

• Toy trucks to defeat underground threats? No, not Tremors II - it's Iraq, where miniature BomBots will be destroying IED land mines.

Other Topics Today Include: Michael Yon's 16-year old replacement, Baghdad gets little electricity, hazardous waste clean up, Anbar province forms own unit, Chalabi relieves oil minister, Ukrainian President visit, Iran ships cars, Chalabi visits Kuwait, Baby Noor, Baghdad blasts wound 20, Fallujah, 10 year old treated in US

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD

• The remains of women and children have been found in a mass grave in Iraq’s southern city of Karbala.

• An inmate in a Baghdad prison grabbed a rifle from a guard today and opened fire, indiscriminantly killing up to 20 people. Reports are somewhat conflicting at this point.

• Fallujah - a year after Operation Al Fajr.

• Michael Yon says, "My Replacement is only 16 years-old."

RECONSTRUCTION & THE ECONOMY

• Baghdad is reportedly getting only around six hours of electricity a day - down from 11 in October. The US military reports attacks on Iraqis working on U.S.-backed reconstruction projects are at a record high.

• Reconstruction of Iraq includes more than the restoration of dilapidated infrastructure. In this case, it includes hazardous waste clean up.

• The provincial government of the volatile Anbar province is to form its own military brigade from local recruits to replace US troops.

IRAQI POLITICS

• Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi has been put in charge of Iraq's oil ministry for at least a month.

THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

• Ukranian President Viktor Yushchenko visits Iraq.

• The first consignment of 250 Iran Khordo sedans have been exported to Iraq.

• DPM Chalabi discusses his recent visit to Kuwait.

ETCETERA

• JK: Michelle Malkin offers the visuals from an op/ed cartoon shootout in The Atlanta Constitution newspaper. The paper's left-wing cartoonist Mike Luckovich used the names of the fallen in Iraq to create the word "Why?" Whereupon Georgia teenager Danielle Ansley submitted a cartoon riposte that also made the paper. See both cartoons, and kudos to Luckovich for acknowledging that media is no longer a monologue by including Ms. Ansley's response on his blog as well.

• Baby Noor al-Zahra was born with spina bifida and had little chance of survival in the slums of Abu Ghraib. She is on a long journey that Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team soldiers pray will end, possibly this week, with medical care in Atlanta. They discovered her plight during a search of her home, looking for insurgents.

• 10-year-old Hussein Yasser is in Phoenix, Arizona for medical treatment after sustaining injuries from a land mine.

• Do you have your GI Bracelet? Many military families fall into financial hardship when the breadwinner is injured or killed. The entire purchase price of the GI Bracelet is donated to support our troops and their families! Please join us to give back to these brave people in their time of need.

• The troops are still there. So is the Winds of Change.NET consolidated directory of ways you can support the troops: American, Australian, British, Canadian & Polish. Anyone out there with more information, contact us!

• Many American troops have taken it upon themselves to reconstruct schools and gather learning tools for the children of Iraq. Their efforts have been met with immense gratitude from the local Iraqis and their children. You can help too! Visit Operation Iraqi Children and get involved.

• Don't forget Chief Wiggles' Toys for Iraq drive!

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