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Milkman

Correct.

The failure in Iraq has been decided.

And Obama did not have anything to do with it.

spiff

A bit off-topic here, but this is not correct:

raycarey

yes, the GWB administration foolishly made all the wrong decisions....all the way through---from the ill conceived invasion to the bungled occupation.

obama was elected by the american people in part because he promised to withdraw the troops and attempt to extract the country from this fiasco ...and on top of that, recently the iraqis demanded the US leave.

history will remember this as a bush/cheney war....and that obama had almost nothing to do with it...except guiding the country out of it.

sabang

BAGHDAD — In new Iraq, many children do not go to school or play in the streets but rather hid in corners to take drugs or even worse sell them.

Ahmed, 12, is one of them.

"Smoking marijuana makes me happy even being orphan," the child, who has lost his parents to the bloody violence, told IslamOnline.net.

"I like to feel the sensation that, for a period of time, can help me forget all the problems I have," said Ahmed, not his real name.

"I do it as much as I want, until I feel safe again just like I used to feel before my parents were killed."

Experts say many children, especially orphans, have fallen prey to drugs over the past few years.

"Prior to the 2003 US-led invasion, drug addiction, mainly among children, was practically non-existent," said Ameer Mohammad Bayat, a psychologist working with child addicts.

He notes that in many cases children turn to drugs to lessen the pain and sufferings inflicted by the war.

"Years of violence have driven those innocent to drugs."

Other children, who suddenly found themselves the breadwinners of their families, also find their way to drug addiction on the streets, Bayat added.

UNICEF reports have warned that drug addiction is becoming more of a phenomenon amongst Iraqi children.

There has been a 30 percent increase in addiction among children since 2005, according to specialists.

Since last year alone, the number of child addicts jumped by nearly 10 percent, they estimate.

Dealers

The problem goes far beyond addiction, with many children being trapped in a thriving drugs trade in new Iraq.

"There is a huge market for drugs in Iraq where children are the main columns inside the drug dealing gangs," Yehia Khalil, who works for a local NGO tackling the issue in Baghdad, told IOL.

He said gangs usually target children who lost a beloved one or those working on the streets.

"The dealers offer job and relief, easily bringing drug dependence among those innocent kids."

It is not uncommon to see children selling drugs in some districts of the capital as well as in some poor neighborhoods in southern provinces.

Iraq's Children Drug Addicts, Dealers :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dall'Iraq occupato :: news from occupied Iraq :: - it

__________________
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Wallalai

Applause... it's not me who writed the post, but some ghost haunting my house. Naughty ghost

Texpat

Is this the thread that talks about some supposed WAR going on in Iraq?

Seems awfully quite -- no posts since Christmas.

Geeze. Must be a pretty quite WAR, huh?

Anyway:

BBC
Feb 1, 2009

US President Barack Obama has congratulated Iraqis for holding a largely peaceful vote for provincial councils across the country.

He called the elections "an important step forward" for Iraqi self-determination. PM Nouri Maliki hailed them as "a victory for all the Iraqis".

There was a strong turn-out in Sunni areas, which boycotted the last polls.

The first nationwide vote in four years is seen as a test of stability before a general election due later this year.

"I congratulate the people of Iraq on holding significant provincial elections today," Mr Obama said in a statement.

"This important step forward should continue the process of Iraqis taking responsibility for their future."

Mr Obama urged the newly elected councils to "get seated, select new governors, and begin work on behalf of the Iraqi people who elected them".

Earlier, Mr Maliki said this was "a day of happiness for all the Iraqi people and for all those who love Iraq".

Tight security

The BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says that while Iraq is not yet at peace, the election is a promising sign that it is on the way there.

Thousands of soldiers and police were deployed around polling stations.

The elections were held in 14 of the country's 18 provinces, with more than 14,000 candidates competing for just 440 seats.

There was no voting in the three provinces of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of the north and the ballot was postponed in oil-rich Kirkuk province.

Iraq's provincial councils are responsible for nominating the governors who lead the administration and oversee finance and reconstruction projects.

While the recent level of violence around Iraq is significantly lower than in past years, a major security operation took place across the country.

Iraq's international borders were shut, traffic bans were put in place across Baghdad and major cities, and curfews introduced.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Obama praises peaceful Iraq polls

***
Looks like the ongoing WAR is really fouling things up there...

Maybe we can stop calling it a war now that the Messiah has taken over. Everyone loves the Messiah.

Boon Mee

An Iraqi woman had 80 women raped and then talked into blowing themselves up to escape their shame.
The face of evil--


Mastermind ... Samira Ahmed Jassim confessed to organising the rape of 80 women so she could recruit them as suicide bombers. (Herald Sun)


George W. Bush didn't make her do it...

__________________
ผมเป็นคนบ้านนอก

helge

Confes?

No, seriosly. If this is true, she takes the gold on this one

Texpat

She looks sweet. She could be somebody's mother. She needs a hug.

Where's Panda?

I don't like hugging sweet grannies with lumps of C-4 packed around her meaty hips.

helge

´^ Sexbomb ?

raycarey

errrr...what do you know about a war zone that you haven't seen on TV?

oh yeah, that's right....NOTHING.

and while i'm here, tell me again what the US 'won' in iraq.

btw, that's quite the 'enemies' list you've got there....time to get from fresh air, eh war hero?

raycarey

err....how many threads are there on iraq?....and because i haven't posted on this particular thread in a few weeks that somehow indicates something to you? get a grip, fester......or rather loosen the grip on that bottle of chang...and btw, what did the US 'win' in iraq?

raycarey

too funny....and so much for 'respecting the presidency', eh?





c'mon fester, quit ducking the question .....what did the US 'win' in iraq?

Texpat

The presidency -- Good to see you're finally quoting me correctly, Reach Around. And he is quite a showman, isn't he?

That's a start.

Texpat

^^ Look who just slipped in (figuratively).

Tell us how the War is going Sputter. Try not to dribble.

sabang

At least 12 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a restaurant in north-eastern Iraq.

The attack took place in Khanaqin, Diyala province, a town close to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region and near the border with Iran.
It comes days after Iraq held largely peaceful provincial elections, the first results of which are expected to be released on Thursday. Kurdish and police officials say at least 15 other people were injured.


Ethnic tensions

Khanaqin is the centre of a power struggle between Kurds and Arabs.
The town holds sizeable oil reserves and longstanding Kurdish ambitions to incorporate Khanaqin into their northern semi-autonomous region have sparked ethnic tensions with Arabs.
Correspondents say that on election day, hundreds of Kurds complained that they couldn't find their names on voter registration lists.
Salahuddin Kokha, an official with a local Kurdish political party, said the attack was meant to upset Kurdish claims of a strong showing in the provincial elections. "Terrorists want to destroy the happiness of the Kurds over their election victory in Khanaqin," he said.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Deadly bombing at Iraq restaurant

I don't normally bother linking all of these attacks to this thread- to say the least, repetitive. Violence is down, unquestionably good, but still happening. Ethnic/ regional tensions are the biggest concern currently.

The operation was a failure, but at least one with an end in sight for the occupying force. But the cost so far is around fifty times the pre-invasion estimates. 'Democracy' has not been a good force in Iraq so far, but that should not surprise too many people seeing as it was foisted on the back of a violent invasion, the country plunged into anarchy following the summary dismissal of the security forces, the infrastructural promises not remotely delivered, the country descending into bloody internecine warfare, some shameful incidents involving the Occupation forces- and all justified on the back of a false accusation.

Quite some failure.

Texpat

Obama seemed pretty happy with the elections.

By William Shawcross
The Guardian
Feb 3, 2009

The weekend's elections in Iraq were a huge success for the Iraqi people. The remarkably peaceful day of voting on Saturday - and the interim results - give good reason to hope Iraq really is on the way to building a decent society.

These provincial elections were held in 14 of the country's 18 provinces (Kurdistan will hold separate elections, and the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk was deemed "too hard" at present).

This was the first post-Saddam election that the Iraqis handled themselves. Iraqi soldiers protected the polling stations. It was also the first election to have international observers in all 712 constituencies. In 2005 terrorist attacks made that too dangerous. Then, more than 200 candidates were killed - this time, eight died. There were 14,412 candidates standing for office, an impressive number.

This was also the first election in which there was no boycott on ethnic or sectarian grounds. There was an enormous spread of views represented on the ballot papers - Iraq is the only Arab country which offers almost everyone, including Trotskyites and monarchists, the freedom to stand for election.

The turnout, 51%, was less than some predicted but importantly it included many Sunnis who had boycotted the last elections in 2005. Turnout in some of the Sunni areas was as high as 60%. The hope is that these Sunnis have turned from the methods of al-Qaida, which dominated the early post-Saddam years, to the political process.

The peaceful polling was remarkable and so were the results. All the Islamic parties lost ground, especially that associated with the so-called "Shia firebrand", Moqtada al-Sadr, whose share of the vote went down from 11% to 3%. The principal Sunni Islamic party, the Islamic Party of Iraq, was wiped out.

The only Islamic party to gain ground was the Dawa party of the Shia prime minister Nouri al-Maliki - and even that party dropped the word Islamic from its name. The power of Maliki, who has emerged a stronger leader than expected, is further enhanced by these elections. Now no Islamic parties will be able to control any provinces on their own. The election is thus a big defeat for Iran which had hoped that Shia religious parties would control the south and enable Iran to turn them into a mini Shia republic.

Instead, a new generation of Iraqi politicians is coming forward. Many of them are young and secular. They have lived always in Iraq, not in exile; they are Iraqis with local roots first and foremost - they are not pan-Arabs or pan-Islamists. Nor do they have connections to the US.

Iraq's polity is still fragile. Parliamentary elections later this year will be another test of whether the horrific inter-Islamic violence of recent years is over. The country is still far from united and its infrastructure still needs massive investment. But there are now real grounds to hope that Iraqis are finally on track to creating a far more decent society than they have ever had. This would never have been possible without the US-led overthrow of the psychotic Saddam family.

There were lamentable failures in the subsequent US occupation, which allowed the rise of the hideous sectarian violence that threatened to tear the country to pieces. But in the last two years the "surge" of US troops under General David Petraeus appears to have destroyed much of the terrorists' infrastructure and support. Now, as US troops begin their phased withdrawal, the new American-trained Iraqi army is defending the country against Islamist violence.

There will be further setbacks. But who knows, Iraq may yet even become a model for democratic change in other Arab countries. If so, who deserves some credit? The much maligned President Bush. And Tony Blair.

William Shawcross: Democratic dawn in Iraq | Comment is free | The Guardian

***

raycarey

^err....why would you copy an paste someone else's opinion?

and btw, how does this jibe with your continued bleating about the 'liberal' media'?



anyway, why won't you detail what the US 'won' by invading and occupying iraq? should be an easy enough question, right?

raycarey

hmmmm....so who is this william shawcross?

let's take a look at the titles of a few of the other articles by texpat's 'source'.....

quite the unbiased source.

you're slipping, texpat....you're slipping.

sabang

According to this analysis from the Asia Times, the Iraqi election results were a victory for secularism over religious fundamentalism and partisanship. The results will be seen as positive by the US and the West:-

The political re-birth of Nuri al-Maliki
By Sami Moubayed

DAMASCUS - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has emerged as the winner of provincial elections in Iraq that took place January 31. A total of 14,000 candidates competed for 440 seats in 18 provincial councils, and five were assassinated in the period preceding the elections.

Preliminary results were released on Thursday, while the final results are scheduled for announcement on February 22. Some Iraqis were thrilled by the results, while others sulked, having expected a smashing defeat for Maliki at the polls. For weeks, the Saudi Arabia-aligned Arab press had been saying that Maliki, whom such organizations consider an extension of Iranian influence in the Arab world, was politically finished.

They speculated that with US President Barack Obama in the White House, Maliki's honeymoon with the United States would come to an end by mid-2009. With no American support, observers claimed, he would be voted out of office by ordinary Iraqis in the provincial elections.

Many in the Arab world could not conceal their happiness at the prospect of his political demise. There was even gloating and claims that Maliki was a sectarian clown who, since coming to power in 2006, had advanced Shi'ite interests in Iraq, at the expense of Iraqi Sunnis. He had failed to bring security to Iraq or any kind of rapprochement between Shi'ites and Sunnis. Many saw Maliki as a stooge for both the US and Iran, who had transformed pockets of Iraq into a miniature theocracy, based on the Iranian model.

Preliminary results on February 5 proved them wrong. Maliki has been literally "re-born".

Maliki's team took Baghdad in a landslide victory, along with eight of the nine Shi'ite provinces in Iraq. By all accounts, this was a dramatic show of confidence in the prime minister. Additionally, these were the most peaceful elections Iraq had known since the Anglo-American invasion of 2003 - a fact noted by everybody, including Obama.

Over 50% of Iraqis came out to vote on July 31, signaling confidence in the security measures of the prime minister (lower nevertheless than the 55.7% of 2005). Maliki himself did not run for elections, but threw full weight behind his team, standing as the Coalition of Law and Order.

Although originating from a party that preaches political Islam, neither the prime minister nor any of his team campaigned on religious slogans, in an attempt to appeal to both Sunnis and Shi'ites. That secular move was warmly received by Iraqis, especially the youth, who seemed to be finally fed up with the sectarian violence that has been a constant threat since 2003. Many wanted a new political narrative, and strangely enough, the one to provide it was Maliki.

According to election results, Maliki's team won 38% of the votes in Baghdad and 37% in the oil-rich city of Basra. Maliki's allies in the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), who had relied heavily on religious slogans (as they did during the elections of 2005), were strikingly voted out of office in seven out of the 10 provinces they previously controlled.

The political bloc of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which also used religion in its campaign, was similarly defeated, with less than 30,000 votes in Basra, a city it had strongly controlled since 2003. Sadr's team are expected to get one or two seats in Basra, another major setback for religiously driven politicians. Secular parties scored better than expected, showing that voting for religious figures - the trend in 2005 - may now be fading away.

That was the most important outcome of the Iraqi elections: a visible reduction of religious loyalties and their replacement by pan-Iraqi ones. At one level, the results were a defeat for the SIIC while at another it was regarded as a major setback for Iran. Iran's relations with the SIIC date to the 1980s, when its militia, the Badr Brigade, was founded and armed by the Iranians to help fight the Iraqi army in 1980-1988. The SIIC's ailing leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim is very close to the upper-echelons of power in Tehran and its defeat in such elections is no joke.

Full Article:- Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs