-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: July 28, 2007 1:39:18 AM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Bush's "Crusade" Costing America Its Only Arab Allies
White House warns Saudis
over machinations in Iraq
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
July 27, 2007, Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2136515,00.html
The extent of the deterioration in US-Saudi relations was exposed
for the first time today when Washington accused Riyadh of working
to undermine the Iraqi government.
The Bush administration sent a warning to Saudi Arabia, until this
year one of its closest allies, to stop undermining the Iraqi prime
minister, Nuri al-Maliki.
The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the defence
secretary, Robert Gates, are scheduled to visit Jeddah next week. A
diplomat in Washington said of the two governments: "There is a lot
of bad blood between the two."
In a sign of the extent to which the relationship has deteriorated,
the US made public claims that the Saudis have been distributing
fake documents lying about Mr Maliki.
The Bush administration, as well as the British government, is
telling the Saudis, so far without success, that establishing a
stable government in Iraq is in their interest too and that they
stand to suffer if it collapses.
Relations have been strained since King Abdullah, in a speech
earlier this year, unexpectedly criticised the US, describing the
Iraq invasion as "an illegal foreign occupation."
That was the first sign of a rift between the two who have enjoyed
a solid relationship for decades, based on Saudi's vast oil reserves.
The state department spokesman, Sean McCormack, at a briefing, did
not refer directly to US frustration with Saudi, beyond saying that
Ms Rice and Mr Gates on their trip to the region "will be wanting
more active, positive support for Iraq and the Iraqi people".
The British government, which retains a close relationship with the
Saudis, shares many of the US concerns about Riyadh's role in Iraq
but, unlike Washington, is unwilling to go public about its concerns.
A Foreign Office spokesman said today: "We have always encouraged
the Saudis to participate in the political process in Iraq. Saudi
Arabia has a crucial role to play and the Saudis recognise the
success of the whole project for the region's stability."
The US claims that the Saudi royal family are offering financial
support to co-religionist Sunni groups in Iraq opposed to Mr
Maliki's Shia-led government.
In a graphic example of the tension, Zalmay Khalilzad, until
recently the US ambassador to Baghdad, protested to the Saudis over
fake documents distributed in Baghad which claimed Mr Maliki was an
Iranian agent and had tipped off the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada
al-Sadr, about a US crackdown on his Madhi army militia.
Mr Khalizad, who is now US ambassador to the UN, wrote an opinion
piece in The New York Times last week in which he said: "Several of
Iraq's neighbours - not only Syria and Iran but also some friends
of the United States - are pursuing destabilising policies."
As well as allegedly undermining Mr Maliki, the Bush administration
is also expressing its unhappiness with the Saudis for failing to
stem the flow of Saudi jihadists crossing its border to fight in
Iraq, often as suicide bombers. The US estimates that about 40% of
the 60 to 80 foreign fighters entering Iraq each month are from
Saudi Arabia.
The Bush administration, like Britain, is still dependent on oil
supplies from Saudi and until now has been reluctant to go public
about the increasing differences with the kingdom. But it has
briefed the US media about the strained relationship ahead of Ms
Rice's trip to Saudi.
Diplomats caution that the rift at this stage, while alarming for
those used to the old certainties, is not about about fundamental
ties but is tactical. Other causes of tension include Saudi's
support for Hamas, which now controls Gaza, and Riyadh's lack of
support for a US Israel-Palestinian peace plan.
The repositioning of Riyadh reflects the concern of other Gulf
states - which, like the Saudis, are primarily Sunni - about the
increasing influence of Iran, which is Shia-dominated.
---------------
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3740/
US_Papers_Sat_US_Steps_Up_Sunni_Recruiting
Ann Scott Tyson leads the Post's front page-- http://
www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3740/
US_Papers_Sat_US_Steps_Up_Sunni_Recruiting--with news that the U.S.
military is expanding its efforts to "fund armed Sunni residents as
local protection forces." The fighters are being paid by U.S.
emergency funds, reward payments and "other monies," indicating the
scramble to find money anywhere to pay these guys who are more than
just the co-opting of Sunni tribesmen or former insurgents; they're
kind of a heavily-armed neighborhood watch. The rush gives the
project a feeling of desperation, especially given that it's a
departure from the official policy of building formal armies.
Gen. David H. Petraeus calls the recruitment of the Sunni fighters
one of the most significant developments "of the last four months
or so" and he thinks it could lead to reconciliation among Iraq's
squabbling religious and ethnic factions. (How that will happen
isn't really explained, however.)
But it's alarming the Shi'ite-led government, and there's a real
risk the government won't incorporate these guys into the armed
forces down the road and will instead use the rosters as target
lists. One Sunni leader told Col. Ricky D. Gibbs, a commander in
Baghdad, that he had 250 names ready to serve and take out members
of the Jaysh al-Mahdi or al Qaeda. Gibbs gave him the green light
but told him to follow the rules and no vengeance killings. "But
the bad guys," he said. "I don't care. Go get them."
One question not really answered by Tyson's important story is if
this initiative is in response to the boot-dragging by the Iraqi
government in providing its share of troops for the security of
Baghdad. Sure sounds like it.
But aside from that, this plan sounds like a disaster waiting to
happen. The U.S. says it will train the local groups in proper
rules of engagement and to capture people, not kill them, but the
training of the Iraqi police hasn't gone so well, what with the
allegations of brutality, torture and death squads. There are also
no written orders from the Iraqi ministries of Defense or Interior,
so the Iraqi Army and Police are going to have to determine which
Sunnis are "Friendly" and which are al Qaeda. As Lt. Col. George A.
Glaze, commander of 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, who
oversees the Sadiyah neighborhood where the 250 Sunnis volunteered,
said: "I see the firefight on the street corner" between Iraqi
police and local forces, "and I have to pick a side?"
As one officer fears, the U.S. is creating "little Iraqi
Blackwaters" to guard neighborhoods, and who will never be on the
payroll of the Iraqi government and might even be actively targeted
by the cops.
----------------
U.S. plans to sell arms
to Saudi Arabia, Egypt
Administration looks to reassure its allies of U.S. commitment to
the Mideast.
By Warren P. Strobel - McClatchy Washington Bureau
July 28, 2007, Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/296293.html
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has decided to supply
billions of dollars in advanced new weapons to Saudi Arabia, other
Arab allies of the United States and to Israel, senior State
Department officials and congressional aides said Friday.
The arms and aid package, which the officials said is to be
announced Monday, is part of a new U.S. initiative to reassure
worried allies in the Middle East that despite its troubles in
Iraq, the United States remains committed to the region.
It also is meant to send a signal of resolve to Iran's increasingly
confident leaders.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert
Gates are scheduled to leave for the Middle East on Monday on a
rare mission to deliver those messages in person to the region's
leaders.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
package has not yet been announced, said it would include selling
Saudi Arabia advanced weapons known as Joint Direct Attack
Munitions. JDAMs convert simple gravity bombs into accurate "smart"
weapons.
Israel protested the proposed sale when word of it first leaked in
April.
The package also will include new weapons for the United Arab
Emirates, another U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, and both military
and economic support to Egypt. Other details of the proposed arms
sales weren't immediately available Friday.
Although it's likely to be controversial, the administration has
decided to proceed with the sale and will compensate Israel --
which seeks to maintain a "qualitative military edge" over its Arab
neighbors -- with military upgrades of its own, the officials said.
"All that has been sorted out," said a senior State Department
official.
Israel has asked for access to the Air Force's most advanced
fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, and its stealth technology, which
makes the aircraft more difficult to see on radar.
Administration officials shared details of the proposed arms sales
with members of Congress this week. Congress has the power to block
such sales, but the White House is hoping to avoid a major fight on
the issue.
The weapons sales, however, are almost certain to be criticized by
democracy and human rights advocates.
President Bush and Rice have criticized the lack of democracy in
some of the countries -- particularly Egypt -- that Washington will
now help rearm.
But the Bush administration is eager to fend off the notion, which
has begun to take root in the Middle East because of the U.S.
domestic debate over withdrawing troops from Iraq, that America's
commitment to the region's security is in question.
"We haven't had significant military sales there in some time," the
official said.
Under a 10-year agreement that will soon expire, the United States
has been phasing out economic aid to Israel but increasing military
assistance.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns is expected to travel to
Israel in early August to negotiate the agreement.
----------------
Police fire tear gas at Pakistan mosque protesters
Posted Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:05pm AEST
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/27/1990640.htm?section=justin
Pakistani religious students watch as others paint a wall and the
dome of the Red Mosque in Islamabad. (AFP: Farooq Naeem)
Pakistani police have fired tear gas to disperse protesting radical
Islamists who had spoiled government plans for activities to resume
smoothly at a mosque complex in Islamabad, hit this month by a
deadly commando raid.
Pakistani security forces stormed the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque,
compound on July 10 following a week-long siege after supporters of
radical clerics there refused to surrender.
The government of President Pervez Musharraf said 102 people were
killed in the assault on the compound, the base for a Taliban-style
movement.
After the battle the authorities closed off the bullet-riddled and
explosion-scorched complex and renovated it before formally
reopening it for prayers on Thursday.
Maulana Abdul Aziz, the mosque's firebrand cleric before the siege,
had been caught fleeing disguised as a woman after troops
surrounded the complex, while his younger brother and deputy, Abdul
Rashid Ghazi, was killed in the attack.
Chanting slogans of "Musharraf is a killer" and "Ghazi, your blood
will spark revolution", hundreds of bearded protesters stormed out
of the mosque after offering the most important prayers of the week
on Friday.
They threw rocks at police and uprooted signboards on the roadside,
and earlier manhandled Islamist parliamentarians who tried to enter
the mosque.
Police lobbed tear gas to break up the demonstration. One policeman
was slightly wounded in skirmishes, witnesses said.
The protesters refused to allow a government appointed imam to lead
prayers in the mosque, and about two dozen climbed to the mosque's
roof and raised a black flag inscribed with Kalma -- the Muslim
expression of faith.
"If jihad is terrorism then this terrorism will stay forever," said
protester Ghulam Mustafa.
Stave-wielding young protesters threw stones at an armoured vehicle
as it careened through the street, and some brushed red paint and
inscribed "Lal Masjid" on the mosque walls, coloured cream and
white by authorities during the renovation.
The mosque's original red bricks gave the complex its name.
The reopening of the mosque had been seen as a government move to
cool anger over the siege and assault, which sparked bomb blasts
and suicide attacks by militants across the country.
------------------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6920244.stm
Police probe attack at Red Mosque
The Pakistani authorities have launched an inquiry into the suicide
bombing outside the
Red Mosque in Islamabad, in
which at least 13 people died.
An interior ministry spokesman said the investigation would be
thorough, but he believed earlier Islamist protests and unrest at
the mosque were factors
Revolution call
Friday's protest began when students demanded the return of the
mosque's surviving pro-Taliban cleric, Abdul Aziz, who is in
detention.
Security forces initially stood by as the protesters emerged from
the mosque chanting "[President Pervez] Musharraf is a dog!", and
calling for an Islamic revolution.
But as angry demonstrators started hurling stones at police,
officers in riot gear were deployed and tear gas was fired.
The protesters daubed red paint over the mosque, which had been
repainted in pale colours by the authorities after the end of the
siege.
They wrote "Red Mosque" in large Urdu script on the dome of the
building. They also raised a black flag with two crossed swords -
meant to symbolise jihad, or holy war.
Calm shattered
Earlier, protesters had prevented a government-appointed cleric
from leading Friday prayers at what was supposed to be the peaceful
re-opening of the mosque.
"I was told everything would be peaceful. I was never interested in
taking up this job, and after today I will never do it," Mohammad
Ashfaq told AFP news agency as he left the mosque with a police
escort.
The explosion took place in a restaurant outside the mosque soon
after the protests were subdued by police, said the BBC's Dan
Isaacs, who was only a short distance away.
It appeared to be targeted at the police cordon arranged round the
mosque, where dozens of officers were lined up, he said.
Such a high-profile attack in the heart of the Pakistani capital
will be extremely worrying for President Musharraf, who is under
increasing political pressure and facing rising violence by
militants, our correspondent says.
Less than three weeks ago, troops stormed the mosque after its
clerics and students waged an increasingly aggressive campaign to
enforce strict Sharia law in Islamabad.
The mosque had become a centre of radical Islamic learning and
housed several thousand male and female students in adjacent
seminaries.
The chief of Dyala prison in Rawalpindi told Pakistan's Supreme
Court that 567 of the 620 students detained during the siege and 36-
hour battle had been freed. Of those still being held, three are
women.
More than 100 people were killed in the siege, including 11
soldiers and an as yet unknown number of militants and their hostages.
The attack on the mosque was the fiercest battle fought by security
forces in mainland Pakistan since President Musharraf vowed to
dismantle the jihadi network in the country in the aftermath of the
11 September 2001 attacks on the US.
More than 180 people have been killed in militant attacks in the
past few weeks.
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