US warns of rising threat from al-Qaida in Iraq

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top U.S. and Iraqi diplomats warned Thursday of a rising threat in Iraq from al-Qaida, which is carrying out suicide and car bombings with greater frequency nearly two years after U.S. troops withdrew from the country.

"Iraq sits at the intersection of regional currents of increasingly turbulent, violent and unpredictable actions," Kerry said. "Sunni and Shia extremists on both sides of the sectarian divide throughout the region have an ability to be able to threaten Iraq's stability if they're not checked.

"And al-Qaida, as we have seen, has launched a horrific series of assaults on innocent Iraqis, even taking credit for the deplorable bombings this past weekend that targeted families that were celebrating the Eid holiday. And this al-Qaida network, we know, stretches well beyond Iraq's borders."

In 2011 and 2012 there was an average of five to 10 suicide bombings a month, according to a senior administration official familiar with Kerry's talks with his Iraqi counterpart. They have averaged about 30 in each of the past three months and it's suspected that the suicide attackers are mostly coming from Syria, indicating a fairly sophisticated al-Qaida network, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the meeting.

The official said the U.S. wants to share intelligence and help the Iraqis map the network and disrupt its financing. Also, the U.S. is encouraging Iraq to make precision attacks against perpetrators to avoid aggravating the fragile security situation in the country by rounding up too many people or targeting the wrong person.

___________

The overflights in Iraq, which is sandwiched between Iran and Syria, long have been a source of contention between the U.S. and Iraq.

Iraq and Iran claim the flights are carrying humanitarian goods, but American officials say they are confident that the planes are being used to arm and support Syrian President Bashar Assad's fight against U.S.-backed opposition forces.

In 2012, then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton secured a pledge from Iraq to inspect the flights, but until March when her successor, Kerry, visited Baghdad, only two aircraft had been checked by Iraqi authorities, according to U.S. officials.

Kerry said some progress has been made since then to curtail the movement of weapons but that he and Zebari agreed that "there is very significant progress yet to be made."

Congress recently was notified that a $2.6 billion air defense system was being sold to the Iraqis to help them better control their airspace, but it won't be operational for some time, the administration official said. The Iraqis also are getting a shipment of F-16 aircraft from the U.S. in the fall.

The official said that since March there has been a disruption in the overall frequency and number of what the U.S. suspects is illicit cargo transfers, but that much work is needed to curb the problem. The official said, however, that no illicit cargo or weapons had been intercepted.

Zebari emphasized that Iraq was neutral on the Syrian crisis. He said Iraq had not provided arms, money or oil to the Syrian regime and said Iraqis were not going into Syria to fight with the consent of the Iraqi government.

"Iraq is a reliable, a dependable ally and partner for the United States," Zebari said.

__________

Violence has been on the rise across Iraq since a deadly crackdown by government forces on a Sunni protest camp in April, and attacks against civilians and security forces notably spiked during Ramadan. The surge of attacks has sparked fears that the country could see a new round of sectarian bloodshed similar to that which brought the country to the edge of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

Zebari acknowledged the upswing in violence, but said the nation was not undergoing a civil or sectarian war.

Kerry said he and Zebari talked about Iran and Hezbollah's efforts to fuel conflict in the region.

"We agreed that we cannot allow them to play on the sectarian divides to recruit young Iraqis to go fight in a foreign war, the same way that we cannot allow al-Qaida and other extremists to recruit young men from Iraq and elsewhere to join into their twisted version of jihad," Kerry said.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20130815/US--Kerry-Iraq/

Divisions are mine.

Edited August 16, 2013 by The Patriot

[Jacque67 7,328]

WGAF. If there wasn't any oil in the region, would America commit itself?

[Darnell 8,478]

One cool thing Saddam was really good at, was keeping the Sunni and the Shi'a from these types o conflicts. His mantra was - 'Piss me off, in any way, and I kill you, your family, all your cousins, and take your land'.

It worked very well, all during his reign.

Nothing has replaced 'this', so it makes sense for the conflict to resume.

IMO.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

There used to be a saying among the less squeamish and more anti-communist talking heads, that he may be a dictator and a ruthless thug, but he is our ruthless thug. That applied to totalitarian regimes around the world, from Marcos to Noriega. Turning Saddam from a Soviet thug to an American thug, after the fall of the Shah Pahlavi in Iran, was a coup for sure, but after the Church Commission, the CIA was given less of a free hand, and Communists in the Senate, like the current Secretary of State, John Kerry, and his frequent sack mate, Tom Harkin, were sucking up to the enemies of the free world like Castro and Ortega.

Edited August 17, 2013 by The Patriot

[Bayareaguy 156]

WGAF. If there wasn't any oil in the region, would America commit itself?

Oh, like Afghanistan?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Oh, like Afghanistan?

[Dan and Judy 614]

There used to be a saying among the less squeamish and more anti-communist talking heads, that he may be a dictator and a ruthless thug, but he is our ruthless thug. That applied to totalitarian regimes around the world, from Marcos to Noriega. Turning Saddam from a Soviet thug to an American thug, after the fall of the Shah Pahlavi in Iran, was a coup for sure, but after the Church Commission, the CIA was given less of a free hand, and Communists in the Senate, like the current Secretary of State, John Kerry, and his frequent sack mate, Tom Harkin, were sucking up to the enemies of the free world like Castro and Ortega.

I don't think he was ever "Our thug". I think he attacked Iran because the Ayatollah was trying to export his revolution into Iraq. Since Iran was holding American hostages at the time it was logical for us to root for Iraq and even provide a little assistance.

[Pooky 3,809]

Oh, like Afghanistan?

Afghanistan was never about oil. In the beginning, it was all about Al Qaeda and its training operations. Trouble is, we never had an end game there. And that has been a pattern repeated throughout history, with the British, the Soviet Union and now the rest of the world.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I don't think he was ever "Our thug". I think he attacked Iran because the Ayatollah was trying to export his revolution into Iraq. Since Iran was holding American hostages at the time it was logical for us to root for Iraq and even provide a little assistance.

15 months after the massacre in Du'jail for which Saddam was eventually hanged in 2006, Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East, Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq is shaking Saddam Hussein's hand and pledging our support in his war against Iran.

[Dan and Judy 614]

Oh, like Afghanistan?

We went into Afghanistan to to get that terrorist guy but once we were there we liked it so much we stayed.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

We went into Afghanistan to to get that terrorist guy but once we were there we liked it so much we stayed.

Why didn't we invade Pakistan, depose the current regime and establish democracy there, if that was the case? (Nukes)

[Dan and Judy 614]

15 months after the massacre in Du'jail for which Saddam was eventually hanged in 2006, Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East, Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq is shaking Saddam Hussein's hand and pledging our support in his war against Iran.

whats your point?

[Dan and Judy 614]

Why didn't we invade Pakistan, depose the current regime and establish democracy there, if that was the case? (Nukes)

We had already spent our whole allowance on Afganistan and Iraq so we had to settle for a surgical strike in Pakistan.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

whats your point?

The Shia were now our enemy. Saddam just massacred a bunch of Shia. A few months later, the US is putting it's support behind him. Do the math.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq_during_the_Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_war

[Dan and Judy 614]

The Shia were now our enemy. Saddam just massacred a bunch of Shia. A few months later, the US is putting it's support behind him. Do the math.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq_during_the_Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_war

this is what I said in response to your post which suggested that he was "Our thug"

"I don't think he was ever "Our thug". I think he attacked Iran because the Ayatollah was trying to export his revolution into Iraq. Since Iran was holding American hostages at the time it was logical for us to root for Iraq and even provide a little assistance."

Then you post something about a massacre that happened well after he attacked Iran. and we were shaking his hand.

"Our thug" would imply that he attacked Iran at our behest, I think he was his own man with his own priorities..

Just because we assisted him didn't make him ours.

it's possible our disagreement is only semantics because I don't think what you are saying contradicts my assertion