Iraq

Fort Hood shoot-out: "I knew the killer"

Team Observers — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:16:00 +0100

On Wednesday a Muslim army psychiatrist shot and killed 13 soldiers in a Military Base in Fort Hood, Texas. Our Observer Ernesto Haibi knew the shooter: he worked as a medic in the same base.

Haibi was not on the premises when Major Nidal Malik Hasan went on rampage in the huge Texas base of Fort Hood, gunning down and killing 13 fellow soldiers and wounding 30 others. The killer himself was seriously injured, and is in intensive care at the base's hospital unit.

Hasan dealt with troops returning from combat and faced his own imminent deployment to Afghanistan. The shooter's cousin, who expressed shock and grief at the tragic attack, told the New York Times that his cousin was "mortified by the idea of having to deploy" and had been harassed by other soldiers for being a Muslim, particularly since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Ernesto Haibi, an army medic based at Fort Hood, regularly met Nidal Malik Hasan when he escorted wounded soldiers returning from combat to be examined at the psychiatric ward. He tell us his story.

"Only for show" Baghdad checkpoints to blame for bombings

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:37:26 +0100

The Ministry of Justice building. Image author wishes to remain anonymous.

Sunday's double suicide bombing in Baghdad took place in what was considered the city's safest area barring the "Green Zone". As the death toll soars to over 150, the people of Baghdad are left wondering just how the attackers could get through the city's countless checkpoints.

The attack is the worst the Iraqi capital has seen since April 2007, and comes just months after the targeted road reopened to public traffic. At least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, which runs the city, were killed in the bombing.

Two days after the attack al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, saying they wanted to punish what they call "the Ministry of Injustice and Oppression". The government however, blames members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed party, Baath. Today (October 29), dozens of security force members who were on shift over the weekend, including 11 officers and 15 commanders of connected checkpoints, were arrested over the attacks.

The attack is suspected as a first attempt from opposition militants to destabilise Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government in the run up to January's parliamentary election.

Iraqi shoe-thrower to get hero’s welcome?

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:32:29 +0200

Published on al-Zaidi's Facebook fan page.

Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who shot to fame last December when he threw his shoes at then President George W. Bush, was released from prison on Tuesday. But is he still hailed a hero for his crime? Not all of our Iraqi Observers are convinced.

It was during a press conference in Baghdad that al-Zaidi took off his size tens and hurled them at Bush, catapulting him to worldwide recognition... and also into a three-year jail sentence for "attacking a head of state on an official visit". His sentence was later reduced to one year on appeal, and then nine months for good behaviour.

The celebrated hero is set to be showered with gifts on his release from Muthanna military base in West Baghdad. The Emir of Qatar plans to hand over a horse made of gold, Libyan colonel Muammar Gaddafi wants to present him with a bravery honour, and Bahraini businessman Quresh Khan Buneeri would like to send him a limousine. As for his former employer, TV channel al-Baghdadia, they'll be handing over the keys to a new apartment, so Al-Zaidi can say goodbye to his one-bedroom flat in bustling Rachid, downtown Baghdad.

The Middle East according to Fox News

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:43:33 +0200

This screen grab taken from Fox News programme The Live Desk on 27 July was posted on Twitter by StefanoScalia and then picked up by website mediamatters.

Find the mistake.

According to Fox, Egypt is situated between Syria and Iran. And as for Iraq...

Iraqi police, a bunch of ‘cowards’ and ‘women’

Emmanuel F24 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:48:49 +0200

A video showing a US instructor yelling at Iraqi police and calling them ‘a bunch of women’ and ‘cowards’ has caused a huge buzz on the Net. Our Observers take a look.

One of Barack Obama's objectives when he was elected to the White House was to pull all US troops out of Iraq as soon as possible. As Illinois senator, he had been one of the few to vote against the war. The withdrawal is to start in August 2010. After that date, Iraqi forces will be held responsible for the country's security. But until then, it is up to coalition forces to train them.

We don't know the exact date of the video, nor where it was filmed. We found out that it was posted for the first time on February 4, 2009. It became a hit when US link sharing website Digg published it.

Iraq’s version of 'Sex, Lies and Videotape'

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:41:41 +0200

"For you, we'd sacrifice Al-Maliki". It's these words, recorded in a video of the Iraqi Trade Secretary's spokesperson addressing a prostitute, that are causing a racket on the Iraqi Web. Not great timing either; the man in question faces corruption allegations, part of a scandal that has led to the resignation of his boss.

The unfolding saga is worthy of a Hollywood script: corruption, debauchery, death threats, selling off of out-of-date food (ok, maybe not that bit...). The only difference is that the main players are no posse of wheelers and dealers, but Iraq's very own trade minister and his aids.

A member of Maliki's leading Shiite Dawa party, Abdul Falah as-Soudany denies all involvement in the embezzlement and corruption scandal and accuses discontented staff members and political rivals of scheming his demise. His reputation in ruins however, the disgraced minister handed over his resignation to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday.

At the beginning of the month two of the minister's brothers and his spokesman were accused of accepting bribes in exchange for food import contracts. When security forces were sent to the ministry to arrest the suspects, guards at the building fired into the air in order to baffle them - leaving time for the as-Soudany brothers to escape. One of them was later stopped at a roadblock, carrying a large sum of money and several identity cards.

Youth suicide bomber stopped in the nick of time

Julien — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:29:57 +0200

Guardians at the Shi’ite Al-Zahra mosque in Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, managed to stop a young suicide bomber on May 1, moments before he could set his explosive belt alight during Friday’s prayer. Pictures of the intervention were then posted on the Web.

The suicide bomber, Syrian-born Ammar Afif Hamada, aged 16, was allegedly executing orders from al Qaeda’s chief in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. According to witnesses, he fired on a guardian as he charged into the mosque shouting “Allah is great!” The other guardians, Shi’ite Turkmen, managed to immobilise him and hand him over to the police, who then defused the explosives. The young suicide bomber later told the police he had been through a training camp in the Syrian city of Homs.

Kirkuk province is home to several communities, each involved in an ongoing power struggle. While Kurds form a majority, Turkmen see themselves as the original inhabitants of the region. There are also Assyro-Chaldeans and Arabs, many of whom were newcomers under Saddam Hussein’s “Arabisation” policy.

Neither Kirkuk province nor the three neighbouring Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq took part in the country’s January 31 local elections. The authorities now fear separate polls scheduled in the provinces for July 25 will be preceded by a surge in violence.

Good behaviour guide for U.S. soldiers

Ségolène Team Observers — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 11:12:44 +0100

American soldiers can now get closer to their Iraqi and Afghani neighbours before their feet hit the ground. With virtual teachers, soldiers learn the lingo and the local customs at the same time... in a virtual game..

When the US Army touched down in Afghanistan in 2002, they barely spoke anything but English. When villagers ran into the streets, the soldiers, unable to communicate, couldn't work out if they were friend or foe. It was as the situation unravelled that a Californian defence professor came up with the idea of launching a "tactical language" programme www.tacticallanguage.com. Now, soldiers are briefed by their virtual counterparts in Arabic, Pashto or Dari, and given a few hints on how to follow the local customs and avoid cultural boo-boos. Former soldiers in Iraq tell us why the training isn't to be laughed at.

Web abuzz with Bush shoe-hurling incident

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:25:25 +0100

Posted on Flickr by Andrea Fistetto.

Throwing your shoes at George W. Bush is all the rage in the Arab blogosphere. Our Observer in Baghdad tells us that the journalist behind the brogue hurling incident has become something of an icon in Iraq.

Journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi stood up at a farewell conference on Sunday and hurled one, and then the other, of his shoes at the outgoing president (see video below). "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is a farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!" he shouted. Showing the soles of your shoes (especially in a rapid hurling motion...) is considered a grave insult in the Arab world. But Bush didn't seem phased: "If you want the facts, it's a size ten shoe that he threw", he said in response. An immediate hit all over the world, the incident has become something of a phenomenon on the Arabic net, with various versions of the footage quickly appearing online, including mock video games, caricatures and music video clips. A Facebook group entitled Muntazer al-Zaidi, Hero Journalist has already attracted over 5,000 members in 24 hours and Arabic news sites and forums, Al-Jazeera for example, have been inundated with excited comments from Web users. And yet, Bush still hasn't got the message. His thoughts on the event: "The guy wanted to get on TV and he did. I don't know what his beef is...".

Blackwater contractors: mercenaries or reckless cowboys?

Ségolène Team Observers — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:09:17 +0100

Photo by Steve Gubin

Five guards from US private military firm Blackwater were charged Monday with the killing of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad last year. As the group faces growing criticism on several fronts, amateur video footage published by The Observers gives a concrete example of the contractor's reckless approach to combat, as if it was just one big video game.

Critics have repeatedly accused Blackwater combatants of displaying a "cowboy" mentality, conducting security operations on a "shoot first, ask questions later" basis. Some also accuse the company of harbouring obscure links with the Bush administration and Republican members of the US Senate.

As for the Iraqi government, it has pressed the state department to completely withdraw Blackwater from the country after last year's incident, but the security firm's contract was renewed earlier this year.

The contractor insists that its men were acting in self defence, even if a joint FBI and Iraqi police investigation shows that apparently the mercenaries opened fire without provocation. As the trial unfolds, video and audio footage of previous reckless behaviour on the part of Blackwater has further raised doubts on the professionalism of its men in the field.