Iraq: Not Running for President, Still Newsworthy
Here’s a roundup of the news that you’re not going to see "Big News Media" featuring, because, well, it’s not bloody and dramatic. It’s good news.Overall security is continuing to improve and casualties are still dropping. A new Department of Defense report says deaths from sectarian violence are down 90% since last June. Civilian and coalition deaths are down by over 70% in the same time period. The cause: the surge, winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, cooperation from tribal leaders, a decrease in Iran’s instigations, and Moqtada al Sadr’s ceasefire, which he recently extended another six months.
Iraqi and U.S. forces are continuing to find weapons caches and mass graves, including one last week of some age, holding over 100 decomposed bodies. They also uncovered 29 airplane engines, which I can't find any sort of explanation for. I assume if the insurgents were mobilizing an air force, they would have found planes as well. General Petraeus estimates we’re disrupting and destroying about one bomb-making operation a day.
The one dark spot in Iraq is Mosul. The city over more than a million has been one of the more peaceful areas for much of the war, but insurgents who’ve been run out of Baghdad and other areas seems to have started putting down roots there. There were over 500 attacks in Mosul in January, and the number dropped to about 400 last month. For fear of igniting latent ethnic tensions, the U.S. and Iraq will not be mobilizing local “irregular” militias in Mosul.
The talks concerning the future of U.S. - Iraq relations began in Baghdad this week. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry describes the talks as seeking "a basis for long-term friendly relations between both countries, including a temporary agreement for the presence of American forces in Iraq". Hillary Clinton has championed opposition to President Bush negotiating an agreement with Iraq without Congressional approval. Iraq does not want the U.N. mandate under which U.S. troops operate to be renewed when it expires at the end of 2008, so a bilateral agreement is necessary to provide for further U.S. involvement.
Condoleeza Rice thinks “we've learned that, yes, it is really important to be able to help others build their states, to help others build their nations," according to her testimony before Congress. She was justifying the 2008 budget, which includes almost $250 million dollars to create 351 diplomatic positions related to nation building. If you remember the Republicans of the 1990s, not to mention Bush's campaign in 2000, this is a dramatic about-face. A welcome one, I say.
A week after Turkey ended ground operations in northern Iraq against Kurdish separatists, the President of Iraq paid a diplomatic visit to Istanbul to try to patch things up. President Talabani, who is a Kurd, had been denied diplomatic meetings by the previous president of Turkey.
The surge has a new, hot proponent. Angelina Jolie penned an op-ed to the Washington Post in her role as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador. Her concern for the humanitarian crisis in Iraq spurred her to urge Congress to authorize $261 million dollars, “not a small amount of money -- but it is less than the U.S. spends each day to fight the war in Iraq” to provide for refugees of the Iraq violence. “Without the right support, we could miss an opportunity to do some of the good we always stated we intended to do.” OH SNAP!
A U.S. Comptroller is reporting that Iraq had a budget surplus last year, though can’t pinned down just how big. Iraqi il revenues are estimated to be between $35 and 60 billion dollars. Blame increased oil production, higher oil prices, and the Iraq government’s “inability to determine where its money is needed most and how to allocate it efficiently.”
Finally, looking for a little R&R in Iraq? Why not join in the First Annual Fallujah 5K Run (yes, that Fallujah). Not a jogger? Take a stroll through the Baghdad Zoo.
Iraq, Turkey, U.N., U.S., Angelina Jolie
