Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Petraeus hints at withdrawal next year
Security
(The Guardian) - America's leading military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, last night signalled that the Bush administration may be ready to reverse its troop surge in Iraq and begin pulling soldiers out as early as next March.
Only days before he is to deliver his progress report to Congress on the 'surge', Gen Petraeus told ABC television he did not forsee maintaining present troop levels in Iraq because of the strain on the military. "The surge will run its course. There are limits to what our military can provide, so my recommendations have to be informed by, not driven by, but they have to be informed by the strain we have put on our military services," he told ABC during an interview in Baghdad.
The general refused to be more specific. But asked whether the US would begin pulling out the 30,000 extra forces deployed during the 'surge' by next March, he replied: "Your calculations are about right." Another official told ABC the reduction could begin as early as December with further withdrawals every 45 days.
Yesterday's interview came a day after George Bush made a surprise visit to a US air base in Anbar province. Mr Bush also raised the possibility of withdrawing some forces from Iraq, but warned Congress he would not bow to public opinion in setting his war strategy. The US forces in Iraq rose to more than 160,000 after Mr Bush ordered more troops into the war zone earlier this year.
Mr Bush's direction of the war also came under attack from an unexpected quarter yesterday: Paul Bremer, who in 2003 was America's proconsul in Baghdad. An angry Mr Bremer released two letters to the New York Times yesterday to reject Mr Bush's comments that the official had acted on his own accord in committing one of the most calamitous mistakes of the Iraq war. The disbanding of Saddam's military left hundreds of thousands of Iraqi soldiers stranded without jobs or income, and is recognised as one of the most disastrous measures undertaken by Mr Bremer.
Mr Bremer told the newspaper he sent a draft of the order to the Pentagon on May 9 2003 and that it had been circulated to the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and other officials. In the first letter, from Mr Bremer to the president, dated May 22 2003, Mr Bremer writes at length about Iraqis weeping tears of joy at their liberation, and the dissolution of Saddam's ruling Ba'ath party. He deals with the disbanding of the army in a single sentence. "I will parallel this step with an even more robust measure dissolving Saddam's military and intelligence structures to emphasise that we mean business."
The breezy tone was at odds with the opposition from US military officials at the time. Mr Bush responded the next day, in a brief reply sent from his ranch in Texas. Though it was such a big step in the de-Ba'athification process, there is no direct reference to dissolving Saddam's army. "Your leadership is apparent. You have quickly made a positive and significant impact. You have my full support and confidence. You also have the backing of our administration," Mr Bush writes.
Only days before he is to deliver his progress report to Congress on the 'surge', Gen Petraeus told ABC television he did not forsee maintaining present troop levels in Iraq because of the strain on the military. "The surge will run its course. There are limits to what our military can provide, so my recommendations have to be informed by, not driven by, but they have to be informed by the strain we have put on our military services," he told ABC during an interview in Baghdad.
The general refused to be more specific. But asked whether the US would begin pulling out the 30,000 extra forces deployed during the 'surge' by next March, he replied: "Your calculations are about right." Another official told ABC the reduction could begin as early as December with further withdrawals every 45 days.
Yesterday's interview came a day after George Bush made a surprise visit to a US air base in Anbar province. Mr Bush also raised the possibility of withdrawing some forces from Iraq, but warned Congress he would not bow to public opinion in setting his war strategy. The US forces in Iraq rose to more than 160,000 after Mr Bush ordered more troops into the war zone earlier this year.
Mr Bush's direction of the war also came under attack from an unexpected quarter yesterday: Paul Bremer, who in 2003 was America's proconsul in Baghdad. An angry Mr Bremer released two letters to the New York Times yesterday to reject Mr Bush's comments that the official had acted on his own accord in committing one of the most calamitous mistakes of the Iraq war. The disbanding of Saddam's military left hundreds of thousands of Iraqi soldiers stranded without jobs or income, and is recognised as one of the most disastrous measures undertaken by Mr Bremer.
Mr Bremer told the newspaper he sent a draft of the order to the Pentagon on May 9 2003 and that it had been circulated to the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and other officials. In the first letter, from Mr Bremer to the president, dated May 22 2003, Mr Bremer writes at length about Iraqis weeping tears of joy at their liberation, and the dissolution of Saddam's ruling Ba'ath party. He deals with the disbanding of the army in a single sentence. "I will parallel this step with an even more robust measure dissolving Saddam's military and intelligence structures to emphasise that we mean business."
The breezy tone was at odds with the opposition from US military officials at the time. Mr Bush responded the next day, in a brief reply sent from his ranch in Texas. Though it was such a big step in the de-Ba'athification process, there is no direct reference to dissolving Saddam's army. "Your leadership is apparent. You have quickly made a positive and significant impact. You have my full support and confidence. You also have the backing of our administration," Mr Bush writes.
Labels: former Iraqi Army, General David Petraeus, Paul Bremer, U.S. troop reduction
Monday, May 21, 2007
Former Iraqi Army told to report to MOI or face prosecution
Government
(Voices of Iraq) - The Iraqi interior ministry will call on all staff from security agencies during the time of the former regime to appear at the ministry's institutions and police stations, "otherwise they will be dealt with in accordance with the terrorism law," an official source said.
"The decision to bring back the old security staff includes those who worked in intelligence, public security and special services, except those who have reached the age of retirement," Maj. General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, the interior ministry's national command center chief, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"Security staff outside Iraq will have to refer to the country's consulates and interest sections in 90 days, and those inside the country have to refer to the interior ministry in 60 days," added Khalaf. The interior ministry official affirmed that those "who fail to report to the security organizations in the country, during the mentioned period of time, will be considered involved in acts of hostility against the Iraqi people."
The interim coalition authorities led by U.S. Civil Administrator Paul Bremer, following the fall of the former regime in April 2003, had issued decisions dissolving all the then operating Iraqi security agencies, as well as the Iraqi army and information ministry.
"The decision to bring back the old security staff includes those who worked in intelligence, public security and special services, except those who have reached the age of retirement," Maj. General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, the interior ministry's national command center chief, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"Security staff outside Iraq will have to refer to the country's consulates and interest sections in 90 days, and those inside the country have to refer to the interior ministry in 60 days," added Khalaf. The interior ministry official affirmed that those "who fail to report to the security organizations in the country, during the mentioned period of time, will be considered involved in acts of hostility against the Iraqi people."
The interim coalition authorities led by U.S. Civil Administrator Paul Bremer, following the fall of the former regime in April 2003, had issued decisions dissolving all the then operating Iraqi security agencies, as well as the Iraqi army and information ministry.
Labels: former Iraqi Army, Maj. General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, Ministry of Interior
Friday, April 06, 2007
Senior officers of Saddam's military to receive pensions
Politics
(AP) - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has ordered that senior officers of Saddam Hussein military receive pensions and requested that lower-ranking soldiers be allowed to serve again as part of a sectarian reconciliation plan, the government said Friday. Al-Maliki's office said the decision was made during a Cabinet meeting late last month.
Many former top intelligence, security and military officials are believed to have joined the Sunni insurgency after L. Paul Bremer, the former U.S. administrator, disbanded Iraq's 350,000-member military on May 23, 2003, a month after Saddam's regime was ousted. The al-Maliki statement said any former officer above the rank of major would be given a pension equal to that of officers now retiring. Former officers above major who wanted to rejoin the army were encouraged to check with the military command to learn if they were acceptable in the Iraqi army that is being rebuilt by American forces.
Those who had the rank of major or lower may voluntarily return to the army and will be guaranteed a place.
Lower ranking officiers and enlisted men with scientific or medical training would be given jobs in an appropriate government ministry, the statement said.
The prime minister and President Jalal Talabani were expected to introduce legislation in parliament last week that would allow former members of Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath party — including those in the feared security and paramilitary forces — to regain government jobs. The measure still has not reached the floor, a delay that reflects heavy opposition to the measure among Shiite and Kurdish officials whose people were oppressed by Saddam. The Bush administration has set out several benchmarks for al-Maliki's government. One is passage of the de-Baathification law to encourage Sunnis to rejoin the political process.
Many former top intelligence, security and military officials are believed to have joined the Sunni insurgency after L. Paul Bremer, the former U.S. administrator, disbanded Iraq's 350,000-member military on May 23, 2003, a month after Saddam's regime was ousted. The al-Maliki statement said any former officer above the rank of major would be given a pension equal to that of officers now retiring. Former officers above major who wanted to rejoin the army were encouraged to check with the military command to learn if they were acceptable in the Iraqi army that is being rebuilt by American forces.
Those who had the rank of major or lower may voluntarily return to the army and will be guaranteed a place.
Lower ranking officiers and enlisted men with scientific or medical training would be given jobs in an appropriate government ministry, the statement said.
The prime minister and President Jalal Talabani were expected to introduce legislation in parliament last week that would allow former members of Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath party — including those in the feared security and paramilitary forces — to regain government jobs. The measure still has not reached the floor, a delay that reflects heavy opposition to the measure among Shiite and Kurdish officials whose people were oppressed by Saddam. The Bush administration has set out several benchmarks for al-Maliki's government. One is passage of the de-Baathification law to encourage Sunnis to rejoin the political process.
Labels: former Iraqi Army, insurgency, pension, Saddam Hussein
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Islamic State of Iraq asks former Iraqi army to Islamic State
Insurgency
(SITE) The Islamic State of Iraq addressed members of the former Iraqi army in a statement issued on Monday, March 5, 2007, reminding them of the appeal from the group’s Emir, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, to join the Islamic State. The message stems from a conference held on Sunday by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with commanders of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s army, urging them to join his national reconciliation project. This call, the Islamic State believes, is the result of incapability of the Iraqi government and its “American masters” to defeat the jihad. The group also warns the army officers from pursuing the same path as Sunni “betrayers” Salam Zakam and Tariq al-Hashemi, stating: “For those who sold their religion and their Ummah for a very cheap price and agreed to follow in Maliki’s footsteps, we have nothing for them but the cutting sword.”
The appeal by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi to which the statement refers is from his audio message of December 22, 2006, “Truth has Come and Falsehood has Vanished”. Here, Baghdadi addressed officers between the rank of lieutenant and major in the former Iraqi army, instructing them that to join the Islamic State they would have to meet certain requirements, including: being able to recite at least three chapters from the Qur’an and to pass an exam in Islamic doctrine by a Shari’a Committee. Baghdadi states: “This is to make sure that he is free from his unbelief with Ba’ath and its devil”.
The appeal by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi to which the statement refers is from his audio message of December 22, 2006, “Truth has Come and Falsehood has Vanished”. Here, Baghdadi addressed officers between the rank of lieutenant and major in the former Iraqi army, instructing them that to join the Islamic State they would have to meet certain requirements, including: being able to recite at least three chapters from the Qur’an and to pass an exam in Islamic doctrine by a Shari’a Committee. Baghdadi states: “This is to make sure that he is free from his unbelief with Ba’ath and its devil”.
Labels: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, former Iraqi Army, Islamic State of Iraq
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
85,000 former Iraqi Army members returned to jobs
Security
(Al Iraqiyah) An estimated 500 Iraqi Army officers attended the Officers' Conference for National Reconciliation sponsored by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office in Baghdad on March 4. Addressing the conference, al-Maliki told attendees: "If we want to reach the shore of safety, stability, sovereignty, and the building of the homeland, all our efforts must be geared to this end," Al-Iraqiyah television reported.
Rashid Majid al-Nasiri, director-general of the Iraqi cabinet's Dissolved Entities Department, told attendees that recruitment centers will be opened in all governorates to recruit specialists who can contribute to the development of the military, security, and engineering efforts of the government.
Al-Nasiri said some 85,000 members of the former Iraqi Army, dissolved under the Coalition Provisional Authority, have been returned to their jobs. "More than 99 percent of the members of the present army are from the former army," he said. Al-Nasiri added that the new Iraq has room for all those who want to serve their people and country
Labels: director-general of the Iraqi cabinet's Dissolved Entities Department, former Iraqi Army, Officers' Conference for National Reconciliation, Rashid Majid al-Nasiri
