The Diplomatic Times Review

Will Madrassa Slaughter Lead To Another Attempt To Kill Musharraf?

Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asian Times Online's Karachi-based Pakistan bureau chief, reported October 31, 2006, that "Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf (in photo at left) wanted to draw a line in the sand in his struggle for the spiritual soul of the country by early next month, ramming through parliament a controversial bill regarding women's rights that is seen as a move to purge Islamic laws from the constitution."

"Instead," Mr. Shahzad writes, "helicopter gunships raining death on a village in the remote Bajour agency tribal area on Monday morning [October 30, 2006] significantly escalated Musharraf's battle with militant Islamic forces fiercely opposed to any softening of the state's Islamic legislation." See "Another deadly blow for Pakistan."

He noted that, "A pre-dawn attack on a madrassa (Islamic seminary) in a village in the Bajour tribal district in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) claimed the lives of scores of people." The Christian Science Monitor called the attacks "a setback to border peace," while TIME magazine reported October 30, 2006, that Pakistan is bracing for a Backlash.

On that note, don't be surprised if another effort to assassinate or oust Mr. Musharraf in a coup occurs following this attack. See Mr. Shahzad's October 14, 2006, report headlined "Pakistan foils coup plot" for an analysis of the last attempt to oust the general.

Meanwhile, The News of Pakistan quotes "military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan" as saying "We had information that the madrassa was a militant training camp."  See "Up to 80 killed in Bajaur operation: Shaukat Sultan."

General Sultan added, according to The News: "We have not carried out a body count, but information we have received from certain local sources and intelligence sources suggests that there may be up to 80 dead." 

"He said that some foreign nationals were also killed in Bajaur operation but denied presence of Al Qaeda or Taliban elements among them," The News reported. Also see Pak Tribune.com's No Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants among the 80 dead: Sultan

The News said, "Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Qazi Hussain Ahmed accused the United States (US) forces of bombing Zia-ul-Aloom Taleemul Quran Madrassa in Bajour Agency in which 80 people were killed."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack was asked about the charge during his October 30, 2006. press briefing in Washington, DC:

QUESTION: On Pakistan. Do you have any -- what's the latest information on the air strikes that the embassy is getting maybe? And also, a leading Islamist figure is saying that the U.S. is responsible for this. He told a press conference that, apparently. So do you have any reaction to that?

MR. MCCORMACK: I haven't seen the press conference. We -- we're still going to get in contact with the Government of Pakistan to find out a little bit more about this action. So I don't have anything to offer you right now.

According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), "Siraj-ul Haq, senior minister of North West Frontier Province and Haroon-ur Rashid, member of the National Assembly, resigned in protest against the attack." See "Pak minister, MP resign over religious school bombing." 

By the way, on October 10, 2006, Amir Mir, Correspondent for gulfnews.com, reported that "The Bush Administration asked Pakistan to expel more than 1,000 foreign students in 500 religious seminaries in line with General Musharraf's declaration in the aftermath of the 7/7 suicide attacks in London to oust all non-Pakistanis students from the Islamic schools." See "Madrassas still host 1,000 foreigners."

To see pictures of the death and destruction caused by the madrassa raid, see the BBC report headlined "In pictures: Madrassa air strike.

Technorati tags: Gneral Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan, Pakistan Coups, Northwest Province, Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times Online, Madrassa Bombing

The al-Maliki Spin

Back on October 26, 2006, the Bush Administration issued "Setting the Record Straight: Mainstream Media Reports Inaccurate; Distort Prime Minister Maliki's Press Conference."  

I didn't find this White House attempt to convince the public that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is pleased to tow the Bush Administration's line on Iraq that convincing. However, he did play along with the administration's attempt to save face. He went along with a  joint statement issued in Baghdad after he "contradicted Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's assertion on Tuesday [October 24, 2006] that the al-Maliki government had already agreed to set timelines for curbing violence and solving Iraq's other problems." (The AP)

The statement said, "The government of Iraq is committed to a good and strong relationship with the U.S. government to work together toward a democratic, stable Iraq, and to confront the terrorist challenges in light of the strategic alliance between the two countries."

Here is U.S. President George W. Bush and Mr. al-Maliki's Joint Statement on Iraq issued October 28, 2006 after their video conference. The conference took place following "the fourth time in a week that al-Maliki challenged the U.S. handling of the war." See the Associated Press article "Aide: Iraqi leader playing on U.S. angst."

Should Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki Watch His Back?

I agree with Just World News proprietor Helena Cobban's opinion that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has been defying the Bush Administration lately over face-saving directives issued to its caretaker government in Baghdad, should start worrying about his personal safety. See "Maliki pushes back; power shift in the relationship? Also see US, Iraq at odds over strategy, troop withdrawal and US says gulf with Iraqi leader making goals harder to reach.

Ms. Cobban noted in an October 28, 2006, post:

There have, of course, been many reports in the past month or so that the Bushites are getting so "tired" of Maliki, or are so "dissatisfied" with him for one reason or another, that they have fairly inelegantly been threatening him that they'd overthrow him in a coup if he didn't behave."

"Well, who'd do that? The Bushites and whose army?

For his part, Maliki now seems to be acting as if he finds such threats and reports inherently non-credible. And maybe at this point, he's right?"

On the other hand, if I were him I'd be very, very careful regarding all aspects of personal security in the days ahead.

A FEW RELATED LINKS

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad --- New Blaze, USA

U.S. envoy, Iraqi PM issue rare joint statement, cite need for timeline --- USA Today, Virginia, USA

 

Nouri al-Maliki is not 'America's man in Iraq', says Bush ---- US UnCut, USA

Nouri al-Maliki: The Wrong Man For The Job --- Decision '08, USA

I'm not America's man, says Iraqi PM --- Ireland Online, Ireland 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Has "Pinocchio Syndrome" --- Spiderweb, USA 

Al-Maliki, Bush agree to expedite Baghdad's full control over Iraqi forces... --- International Herald Tribune, Paris

Professor Juan Cole: 'I Don't Take Pleasure In Being Right About Iraq...'

Juan Cole (below), a University of Michigan professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History and proprietor of the influential Informed Comment blog, says he doesn't "take any pleasure in having been right about Iraq" when some of his most caustic critics were wrong. He writes in a highly recommended, October 30, 2006, article headlined "Goldberg and Jarvis Fold; And, The Real Meaning of 'Fools Rush In'":

I don't take any pleasure in having been right about Iraq when they were wrong, or that they are they now are admitting it. I wish we could have avoided so much bloodshed and horror in Iraq, for our own troops and for the Iraqis. But I knew they weren't right, three years ago.

Mr. Cole adds: "I wish the Bush administration had paid more attention to the costs of the war it planned in 2002, costs that I foresaw."

The Goldberg Mr. Cole refers to is columnist Jonah Goldberg, who writes at the National Review, and for other publications. See his October 19, 2006 column headlined "Jonah Goldberg: Iraq Was a Worthy Mistake."

Jarvis is Jeff Jarvis, proprietor of the media blog BuzzMachine. He has been one of Mr. Cole's most caustic critics. For his most recent views on the war, see his October 22, 2006, post headlined "The Iraq war and me."

Technorati tags: Professor Juan Cole, Informed Comment, Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine, Jonah Goldberg, National Review

Note: The photo above is taken from Mr. Cole's website.

SIGIR's 537-Page Report On U.S. Spending And Waste In Iraq

This should come as no surprise. "The U.S. military does not have a full accounting for the 278,000 weapons "purchased to arm some 325,500 Iraqi Security Forces by December 2006," according to a report released  by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Reuters and other news outlets have reported. See "US can't account for some weapons for Iraqi army."

Many of the weapons are probably in the hands of the Iraqi resistance.

To read more on how taxpayer money is being spent and misused in Iraq, see SIGIR's 537-page report dated October 30, 2006. Here are the appendices.

Did Failure to Heed Warning Lead To U.S. Soldier's Kidnapping In Iraq?

Ahmed Qais al-Taayie, the "U.S. soldier kidnapped last week in Baghdad was married" to Israa Abdul-Satar,26, a physics student "in her final year Baghdad’s al-Mustansariyah University," The Associated Press (AP) reported October 30, 2006. See "Missing U.S. soldier was secretly married to college student from Baghdad."

The AP said the solider, an Arabic translator with the U.S. occupation force in Iraq, was with his wife, Israa Abdul-Satar, "and her family when hooded gunmen dragged him out of a house" in "the central Baghdad’s Karadah district." They "bound his hands and threw him in the back seat of a white Mercedes, a woman who identified herself as his mother-in-law said today," the AP noted. See "US soldier kidnapped on family visit in Baghdad."

Published reports says U.S. forces took the soldier's wife to safety in the Green Zone, where U.S. occupation force leaders and Iraqi politicians live.

I'd say he took a big chance in the name of love. He will likely catch hell from the U.S. military if he is found alive. U.S. forces occupying or fighting in a country are forbidden to marry locals. One can see the security implications in permitting it.

Mohammed, Sooner or Later, All Occupiers Go Home

Mohammed over at Iraq the Model asked in an October 26, 2006, post headlined "The Amara lesson:

What will happen if the MNF (Multinational Force) are withdrawn prematurely [from Iraq) before the job is done?

"Perhaps the lesson from the recent troubles in Amara when militias took over large parts of the city gives a clear answer and offers Iraqis and the allies a forecast of what the future holds for us should we make the wrong decisions.

The wrong decision was made on March 20, 2003, when the U.S. invaded Iraq. Many Americans were deceived into supporting the invasion. However, now that the extent of the deception and wrongness of the war is evident, many will not tolerate their sons and daughters dying year-after-year in Iraq.

And since all occupiers leave sooner of later, now is a good time for the U.S. to leave. So, whether Mohammed likes it or not, he and other Iraqis will be on their own and at the mercy of the forces from hell unleashed by Operation Iraqi Freedom. Iraqis had only one power to fear when Saddam Hussein was in power. Now, they don't know if they will be killed by Iraqi insurgents, militiamen, criminals, Al-Qaeda or the Americans. Regardless of who kills them, they're just as dead.

Today In Iraq's War News For October 28, 2006

Today in Iraq's war news for October 28, 2006, is the usual grim stuff. It reminds me of war news from Vietnam during the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s.

Healing Iraq: Baghdad Rife With Coup Rumors

The Healing Iraq blog reported October 28, 2006 that, "Baghdad is rife with the strangest rumors again chiefly as a result of the latest deployment of American troops around major Shi’ite districts in Baghdad, signaling a movement against Shi’ite militias.:

Zeyad, the proprietor of Healing Iraq, said, "The rumors also seem to have penetrated the concrete barriers of the Green Zone where anxious Iraqi governmental officials are whispering about an impending American “coup,” and according to some well-connected Iraqis inside the Green Zone, several officials have made travel arrangements."

To read more, please see "More 'Coup' Rumors in Baghdad." It's a fascinating analysis.

Iraq and the November 7, 2006 Elections in the U.S.

The Toronto (Canada) Daily News reports that, "Iraq is an important issue for voters in November congressional elections in the USA." If you're interested, see "U.S. Voters Angry of Iraq War.

RELATED LINKS

Iraq bleeds away Bush support --- Sunday Business Post, Ireland 

US evangelical support for Iraq war slipping --- Reuters AlertNet, UK 

US Senate candidate says Iraq turnaround depends on Democratic Take Over in Congress --- International Herald Tribune, Paris