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. This briefing is brought to you by Joel Gaines of No Pundit Intended and Andrew Olmsted of Andrew Olmsted dot com.
TOP TOPICS
- Iraq may soon have a new government, as negotiations are reportedly underway in Parliament to replace Nouri al-Maliki's national unity government due to complaints it has failed to protect Iraqis.
- President Jalal Talabani doesn't think much of the ISG report, calling it "an insult to the people of Iraq," and claiming it undermines Iraq's sovereignty.
Other Topics Today Include: report from Fallujah; U.S. airstrike raises hackles; Black Watch snags terrorist; military has done what it can; refugee problem grows; Japan looks to invest; 268 new companies in Iraq; some marshlands restored; Maliki criticizes Annan; no international conference; Carnival of the Liberated; Iraq asked for Egypt's help; ISG report arrives; Iran & Syria offer 'help'; Bush meets with al-Hakim; Khalilzhad resigns.
REPORTS FROM THE FIELD
- Bill Roggio, back in Iraq, files this report on the Fallujah police and their U.S. allies.
- A U.S. airstrike hit a building northeast of Baghdad resulting in roughly 20 casualties. The U.S. claims the airstrike killed insurgents, but local Iraqis claim the strike killed innocent civilians.
- The Black Watch nabbed a terrorist godfather on Friday.
- Lieutenant General Chiarelli, commander of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, says the military has done all it can to stablilize Iraq. He claims that political reconciliation is all that can solve Iraq's problems now.
- The U.S. had one of its worst days in Iraq on Wednesday when eleven U.S. soldiers were killed by IEDs and direct fire.
- Jordan and Syria are threatening to close their borders with Iraq to stem the flow of desperate Iraqi refugees into their countries.
- Private Saudi citizens are providing millions of dollars in funding to Sunni insurgents in Iraq, much of it used to buy weapons including anti-aircraft weapons, according to key Iraqi officials.
- Outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise trip to Iraq to say goodbye to the U.S. troops there.
RECONSTRUCTION & THE ECONOMY
- Japan has expressed its readiness for investing in Nassriya oilfields and establishing genetic refinery in the city.
- South Korea is considering lifting a ban on travel to Iraq to allow its companies to advance into the war-torn Middle Eastern nation.
- Al-Ibrahimi warns of adopting a policy of decentralization in Iraq and its impact on oil sector.
- The Iraqi Ministry of Trade said that the Registration Office of companies in the ministry had registered "268 new national Iraqi companies and eight foreign companies last month".
- Iraqi environmental officials said part of their country's fabled marshlands have been restored with international help, but further effort is needed to revive the ecosystem.
IRAQI POLITICS
- Iraq's leader criticized U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for saying that Iraq is suffering a civil war that is even deadlier than the one that decimated Lebanon in 1975-1990.
- Iraq's president rejected suggestions that an international conference be held to address the violence wracking his country, echoing sentiments expressed by other leading politicians.
- This week's Carnival of the Liberated is up.
THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE
- Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebary held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at which he asked the Egyptian leader to muster Arab support for the Iraqi government.
- Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller met Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad to discuss the possibility of withdrawing Danish troops from Iraq next year.
- The Iraq Study Group report has arrived, and the initial reactions suggest that few, if any, are pleased with its results.
- Iran is offering to help the United States withdraw from Iraq, if the U.S. agrees to certain Iranian conditions.
- Syria's Foreign Minister claims there's no way out of Iraq without cooperation with Syria and Iran.
- President Bush met with Shiite cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, former leader of the Badr Brigade, at the White House on Monday in an attempt to convince Iraqi leaders to turn away from sectarian conflict.
- The British government is charging the relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq for copies of inquest documents used in the investigation of servicemembers' deaths.
- A Dutch court acquitted three Danish journalist on charges of endangering national security for their publication of intelligence documents that revealed that Danish intelligence services had no evidence Iraq had weapons of mass destruction prior to the start of the war in 2003.
- U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zhalmay Khalilzhad will be replaced by Ryan Crocker, current U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, early in 2007. There is some speculation Khalilzhad will be offered the post of U.S. ambassador to the UN.
ETCETERA
- A U.S. Marine Sergeant will face murder charges for his alleged role in the murder of an Iraqi in Hamdaniya earlier this year.
- 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!
- Don't forget Chief Wiggles' Toys for Iraq drive!
- 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.
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I can only guess that Talabani has no clue what the word sovereignty means.
But he's welcome to start stabilizing his country whenever he's ready.
Nice to see where the Baker commissions craven recommendations to suck up to Iran and Syria have led us.
Even if we don't take their bluster seriously, the humiliation of having invited their demands is inescapable.
It's always good to see the worlds only remaining superpower begging for help from a bunch of two bit thugs.
Nice job Baker!
Talabini can get a pass. The Kurds would be complete morons not to half expect the US to leave them high and dry yet again. The Kurds, I assure you, are not complete morons.
Talabani is basically giving us fair warning- the Kurds have been the best allies we could ask for thus far. They fought Saddam side by side with us, didnt jump in and start grabbing every contested town and oil field because we asked, have hung on with the Iraqi federalism plan instead of striking out on their own, and have remained relatively quiet in the neighborhood. All at our behest. They have basically been better friends than the US has any right to expect with our track record.
But if we decide to take our ball and go home, the Kurds arent going to be particularly interested in what we have to say about Kirkuk or the PUK or any number of issues. They arent afraid of Turkey or anybody else on their own ground, if the US tells everybody to go boil their heads, the Kurds are going to take us at our word and impose their own idea of what Northern Iraq will look like. Fair warning.