REPORTS FROM THE FIELD

• With the feast of Ashura approaching its climax Thursday, Iraqi security forces are stepping up their efforts to prevent Sunni attacks on Shiite pilgrims such as have occurred in past years.

• An Iraqi Army sweep in Ramadi netted fifteen suspected insurgents, eleven of whom were Syrian nationals working with Iraqis.

• The insurgency may be the biggest visible threat to Iraqi security, but a more signifcant problem is endemic corruption that allows Iraq's oil money to fund insurgents rather than Iraq's reconstruction. Corruption at that level is a more dangerous threat to Iraq because it threatens to render Iraq just another third-world kleptocracy where government service becomes a means to making money and crippling the economy.

• In the wake of the multiple injuries commonly caused by roadside bombs and other IEDs, the military has created four stateside centers dedicated to helping wounded Soldiers not only survive, but prepare for a new life in the wake of their injuries.

RECONSTRUCTION & THE ECONOMY

• A former CPA contracting official in Iraq has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to steal more than $2 million in reconstruction money and award a series of $500,000 contracts to a Romanian businessman in exchange for more than $1 million in cash and goods. It is reported that the CPA Official, in charge of reconstruction contracting in Hilla, already has a federal fraud conviction, but it is not clear if he was a convicted felon at the time of his employ with the CPA.

• Australian Prime Minister John Howard denied knowing about bribes paid by the country's wheat exporter AWB to Saddam Hussein's Iraq under the UN's corruption-tainted oil-for-food program.

• Take a look at this week's reconstruction highlights:

Publication of Iraq’s leading academic journal on accounting has been revived thanks to assistance from USAID’s Izdihar project. The Journal of the College of Administration and Economy, produced by a major Iraqi university, is distributed to accountants and auditors in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. The Journal covers topics essential to the working of a market economy, including accounting theories, statistical analyses of financial issues, and research on management and decision-making.

The Izdihar program recently helped host a day-long exhibition for Iraqi women entrepreneurs. Sponsored in coordination with the Iraqi Women’s Business Association, the exhibition highlighted a three-day training program to help women entrepreneurs from throughout Iraq export their products.

Buffalo nutrition improvement program expands in Muthanna and Thi-Qar. The Agricultural Reconstruction and Development in Iraq (ARDI) program is reaching out to include 400 additional buffalo in Muthanna and Thi- Qar governorates, incorporating them into a project to improve buffalo reproduction through nutrition.

Family Drip Kit system training program has been successfully completed. Last year, ARDI initiated a program to encourage small-scale cultivation of high cash value crops in eight southern governorates of Iraq through the use of Family Drip Kit irrigation systems.

The Iraq Pesticide Dealers and Agricultural Inputs Association was formally established last week through ARDI support. Three or four pesticide dealers from each governorate, a total of 55, were selected by other dealers in the governorate to represent their interests at the meeting. The Association, the result of months of coordination between ARDI and private sector pesticide dealers, must now be legally registered with the government of Iraq.

A local organization in northern Iraq supports balanced political information. The recently established non-governmental organization (NGO) seeks to educate the public about Iraq’s ongoing political transition without advocating particular political views.

IRAQI POLITICS

• Iraq's Minister of Transportation, Salam al-Maliki, has decided to cancel all its contracts with Denmark in response to a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons caricaturing Mohammed. Other Iraqi ministries have yet to react to the cartoons. If al-Maliki's response becomes the Iraqi response, it will severely undermine the U.S.'s attempts to create a more tolerant and liberal Iraqi government. Meanwhile an Iraqi militant group called for attacks on people from all countries where the cartoons were printed.

• The latest Carnival of the Liberated is up at Dean's World.

THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

• During a meeting with Iranian Charge d'Affaires to Baghdad Hassan Kazemi Qomi on Thursday evening, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari reiterated that expansion of bilateral ties between Iran and Iraq would help promote regional peace and security.

• Canadians are disputing the U.S. version of an incident in Iraq that saw American soldiers fire shots at a car carrying four Canadian diplomats in Baghdad.

• The British Army may soon remove some 25% of its troops from Iraq, if the security situation in the four provinces under British control permits. But there are reports that Britain will establish a permanent base near Basra for a prolonged presense in Iraq.

ETCETERA

• U.S. and Iraqi officials have tried to show Iraqis that Saddam's trial will be fair, but it may not be viewed that way if he is not present for much of it.

• An Iraqi girl who died on Jan. 17 in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, had bird flu, Iraq's health minister said today, despite the World Health Organization (WHO) having initially ruled out the virus.

• More than 600 Iraqis have been forced from their homes due to flooding in the Baghdad-Tikrit-Mosul area. If the heavy rains continue, Iraq could be facing a significant humanitarian problem.

• 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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