On Sep 10, 2006, at 1:08 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> On 9/10/06, joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> ...while we're on the subject...
>>
>> How hi-tech Hezbollah called the shots
>> By Iason Athanasiadis
>>
>> BEIRUT - Hezbollah's ability to repel the Israel Defense Forces
>> during the
>> recent conflict was largely due to its use of intelligence techniques
>> gleaned from allies Iran and Syria that allowed it to monitor encoded
>> Israeli communications relating to battlefield actions, according to
>> Israeli
>> officials, whose claims have been independently corroborated by the US
>> Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
>
> Now, I completely agree that Hizballah, the Iranians, and the Syrians
> are smart people, but I'd have to say that they are among the palest
> in the denizens of the Middle East. . . .
>
> And if the Iranians are really smart, they'll come up with a better
> Iraq policy than this:
>
> <http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?
> type=topNews&storyID=2006-09-09T140905Z_01_COL948663_RTRUKOC_0_UK-
> IRAQ.xml>
> Iraq's PM to visit Iran next week for key talks
> Sat Sep 9, 2006 3:09 PM BST
>
> By Ibon Villelabeitia
>
> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will make his
> first official visit to Iran on Monday, a trip that will bring into
> focus key security and political issues at a time when Baghdad is
> battling to avert a civil war.
>
> Iraq and non-Arab, Shi'ite Iran fought a war in the 1980s under Saddam
> Hussein's Sunni-dominated rule. But relations have been warmer since
> Iraq's Shi'ite majority won national elections, unsettling Iraq's
> minority Sunni Arabs and many Sunni-dominated states distrustful of
> Tehran's influence.
>
> Washington, pushing for international sanctions against Tehran over
> its atomic ambitions, accuses Iran of providing logistical and
> financial support to Shi'ite militias in Iraq. Tehran denies this.
>
> Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said on Saturday Maliki, a
> Shi'ite, would discuss with fellow Islamist leaders in Iran, including
> President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the "principle of no interference in
> internal affairs" during his two-day visit.
>
> "The purpose of the visit is to discuss political and security
> issues," Dabbagh told Reuters.
>
> Though Maliki has brought Sunnis into his national unity government
> since he took over in May and conspicuously chose Sunni Gulf Arab
> states for his first foreign trip, his visit to powerful Iran will
> likely upset Sunnis.
>
> Analysts have pointed out Iran's increasing influence in post-war Iraq
> since the empowerment of its Shi'ite majority.
>
> This influence, analysts say, is particularly stronger in the mainly
> Shi'ite south, where a top Shi'ite leader this week renewed demands
> for an autonomous Shi'ite region.
>
> "Iran views Iraq as its own backyard and has now superseded the U.S.
> as the most influential power there; this affords it a key role in
> Iraq's future," a report by the London-based Chatham House think-tank
> said last month.
>
> It also said Tehran had an "unparalleled ability to affect stability
> and security across most of the country".
>
> The announcement of Maliki's visit follows a dispute between the two
> countries in which Iranian border guards this week detained Iraqi
> guards after accusing them of crossing into Iran.
>
> Iraq's Defence Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Shaker said the Iraqi
> patrol, consisting of five soldiers, an officer and a translator, had
> simply been doing "their duty".
>
> SHI'ITE MILITIAS
>
> While struggling to defeat a Sunni insurgency, Maliki has also pledged
> to rein in Shi'ite militias blamed for much of the sectarian violence
> that kills an estimated 100 people a day.
>
> Analysts have said disarming militias won't be easy because of their
> ties with political parties. The Badr Organisation, the armed wing of
> the powerful SCIRI party, a partner in Maliki's coalition, was a
> product of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
>
> Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims who had converged in the
> holy city of Kerbala to celebrate the Shaabaniya ritual began leaving
> the southern city after Saturday's climax ended days of chanting,
> praying and feasting.
>
> Heavy presence by police and Iraqi troops kept out the Sunni al Qaeda
> suicide bombers who have disrupted previous rituals. The provincial
> governor said 3 million attended.
>
> Worshippers heard SCIRI leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim repeat demands for
> legislation to let mainly Shi'ite regions of the oil-rich south merge
> into an autonomous federal region that would neighbour Iran.
>
> The Shi'ite-sponsored draft law, which exposed Iraq's sectarian
> tensions during a tumultuous parliament session on Thursday after
> Sunni lawmakers opposed it, is set to get its first reading on Sunday.
>
> Sunnis, who inhabit a large swathe in central and western Baghdad,
> fear federalism will allow Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the
> south to carve up their own regions and cut them off from the
> country's vast oil wealth.
>
> In fresh violence on Saturday, 16 bodies were found in different areas
> of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, bound, blindfolded and shot. Police
> said they were unable to identify them because they were not carrying
> identity cards.
>
> --
> Yoshie
> <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
> <http://mrzine.org>
> <http://monthlyreview.org/>
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