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Iraq Authorities Acknowledge Horrific Prison Overcrowding

5/8/2019

Those Arrested Have a Right to Speedy and Fair Trails

Several members of Iraq’s parliament and the province’s deputy governor visited prisons near Mosul, Iraq, calling what they found a “humanitarian catastrophe.” This happened two days after Human Rights Watch released research detailing the horrible conditions of the prisons, which hold terrorism suspects.

Immediately after our report release, local authorities claimed Human Rights Watch’s research was “fallacious.” But the government’s tone has since changed. One parliamentarian admitted that “what Human Rights Watch reported was small relative to the actual catastrophe inside the prisons of Nineveh.”

Nongovernmental organizations working on these issues have said that Human Rights Watch’s research has made their work easier. Human Rights Watch has also been told that the report release has positively supported their work and has sparked serious conversations in Baghdad about addressing prison conditions.

Human Rights Watch documented extreme overcrowding, inhumane conditions, and ill-treatment at three Nineveh pretrial detention facilities. The detainees have no space to lie down or sit comfortably and have no mattresses because there is no room for them in the cells. Lawyers cannot visit their clients, because, among other reasons, there is no space for meetings.

Iran-backed PMF militias extend their role beyond Iraqi ‘national defence’

31/7/2019

A members of Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) walks past a poster at the militia group’s media centre in Baghdad, July 2. (Reuters)

Militia forces, which the state argues act under its direction, have used their “anti-ISIS” mandate to control important networks and strategic roads and refineries.

Military operations led by Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces in northern Iraq have ended but a new chapter in the history of the umbrella group of militias begins.

The operations, deemed a “success” by Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) media, were said to have driven out Islamic State (ISIS) operatives along Iraqi-Syrian border.

As another victory was claimed, the existing mandate of the PMF could extend beyond the battle and political field.

Mass grave excavated in Iran’s Susa uncovers true fate of Iraq’s missing war prisoners

24/7/2019

The remains of up to thirty-four bodies (male) were discovered by Ahwazi farmers in an open field of the rural hinterland of Farhan Khobor, nearby Susa. on Monday 15 July, 2019.

In an effort to excavate the site, bones were uncovered by local residents, alongside personal items — engraved dog tags, identification cards, photographs, weapons, blood-stained tatters of uniform and perforated helmets — belonging to Iraqi army soldiers (deployed either with 1st mechanised infantry or 9th armoured divisions) in the context of the eight year Iraq-Iran war.

37 years on, POWs fate uncovered

Using photographic and video evidence presented below, FRB was able to geolocate the site of the mass grave. The bodies of military personnel were found 30 kilometers west of Susa. The surrounding area is referred to by locals as ‘El Ruqabiyyeh’ that, one resident explained, “was a point of entry for the Iraqi army.”

The nearest village to where the discovery was made, as FRB can confirm, that the bones excavated were buried mid way between two villages, Farhan Khabour, and Susa— the site of a former ancient city, located in the lower Zagros Mountains, approximately 250 km east of the Tigris River.

Iraq gov't 'failures' could lead to more Basra water crises: HRW

22/7/2019

Around 40 percent of Basra's sewage is being dumped directly into the Shatt al-Arab. © Nabil al-Jurani/AP

Human Rights Watch slams Iraqi government for doing little to provide safe drinking water in the southern region.

One year on from Basra's health crisis, which saw 118,000 people hospitalised due to stomach pains and skin rashes blamed on poor water quality, the Iraqi government has done little to ensure safe drinking water for the southern region of four million people, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The international rights group on Monday outlined the multiple, complex factors that led to last summer's crisis in a new report, titled Basra is Thirsty: Iraq's Failure to Manage the Water Crisis.

The primary water source for Basra is the Shatt al-Arab river and its freshwater canals, though for decades water infrastructure has been neglected and laws against dumping waste into the river have not been enforced, HRW said.

Unaoil's former Iraq partner pleads guilty to bribery

19/7/2019

The former partner in Iraq for Unaoil, a Monaco-based oil and gas consultancy, has pleaded guilty to five counts of bribery in the first conviction in a three-year criminal investigation by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Basil Al Jarah, 70, pleaded guilty on July 15 to conspiring to give corrupt payments in connection with the award of contracts to supply and install single point moorings and oil pipelines in southern Iraq, the SFO said.

Al Jarah’s conviction, which comes six months before three other defendants in the case face a criminal trial in London, was announced after reporting restrictions were lifted in a pre-trial court hearing on Friday, the SFO said.

Ziad Akle, Unaoil’s former territory manager for Iraq and Stephen Whiteley and Paul Bond, who worked for Dutch-based oil and gas services company SBM (Offshore) (SBMO.AS), have pleaded not guilty and face a London jury in January.

Secret Files Show UK Profited From Arms Sales During Gulf War

17/7/2019

Weapons sales in 2016 alone brought in nearly US$800 billion according to the U.K. Defense and Security Organization. ©Reuters

“These revelations show that the U.K. government saw the coming of the first Gulf war ... as an opportunity for arms companies to profit from the death and destruction,” Joe Lo said.

A set of recently declassified documents released by the National Archives show the U.S. was not the only nation to take advantage of Iraq’s two-day invasion of Kuwait in 1990, revealing the U.K. became the world’s second largest arms dealer as a result.

Almost 10 years to date since the report was written, the highly confidential briefings which date back to the 1990 U.S.-led coalition invasion of Iraq, showed the U.K. rushing to sell arms to Gulf states, meeting the demand for ammunition and rapidly boosting weapons sales.

A memo from Alan Clark, defense procurement minister to U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, stated he believed the U.K. and its allies should view Saddam Hussein’s invasion as an “unparalleled opportunity” for the Defense Export Services Organization.

The extent of Iran’s deep state within Iraq

17/7/2019

Iraq has always played a defining role in the destiny of the Middle East, but its sovereignty is being threatened by its all-powerful neighbour and the US.

With such a storied and fabled history, Iraq has long been viewed as a land that possesses inherent worth and value. Whether that value was utilised by the people who inhabit the land or whether it was exploited by a multitude of different empires, Iraq, as it's called today, has always played a central and defining role in the destiny of the Middle East.

In more recent years, however, it would appear that Iraq’s own destiny has been reduced to little more than becoming the plaything of regional and global powers, its policies haphazardly put together with no clear indication as to how it advances the country’s interests.

The only clear thing is that Iraqis themselves rarely see any benefit to their leaders’ decisions, which always appear to be geared towards either pleasing Iran or appeasing the United States.

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 used by UK to boost weapon sales

16/7/2019

Challenger II tanks were among the weapons being promoted. © Derek Hudson/Getty Images

Thatcher government saw war on Saddam as an ‘unparalleled opportunity’ to sell arms, declassified secret memos reveal

The British government saw Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait as an “unparalleled opportunity” to sell arms to Gulf states, according to recently declassified secret documents.

The memos, released by the National Archives, reveal how in the build-up to the 1990 Gulf war ministers and civil servants scrambled to ensure Britain’s arms manufacturers could take advantage of the anticipated rise in orders for military hardware.

The documents include confidential briefings from Alan Clark, then defence procurement minister, to the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, as he toured Gulf states on the eve of the war. The government’s efforts reaped dividends. The war provided a significant fillip for arms sales to the region and helped nurture a strong relationship that continues to this day.

Pompeo Seeks to Make Baghdad Embassy Pullout Permanent, Officials Say

15/7/2019

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boards a plane before departing from Baghdad during a brief visit to Iraq on May 7. © MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The abrupt evacuation in May left hundreds of diplomats in limbo and too few in Iraq to handle Iran’s influence and other pressing issues, according to State Department sources.

In May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered a partial evacuation of diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Iraq amid escalating tensions with Iran. Now, several State Department officials say they are being told the drawdown in embassy staff will effectively become permanent, a move that could leave the U.S. Embassy short-staffed to undertake important tasks like countering Iran on the diplomatic front—and in the short-term has marooned hundreds of diplomats in the Washington area without an embassy to go back to.

A State Department spokesman said this characterization of the drawdown is “inaccurate.” He said: “No decision on permanent staffing levels have been made, but a review of staffing is in process.”

But three other State Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the staffing levels at the Baghdad embassy reached after the evacuation in May are being treated as a de facto permanent cap on State Department personnel in Iraq.

Majorities of U.S. veterans, public say the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting

15/7/2019

U.S. Army Capt. Matt Anderson and Sgts. (Ret.) Daniel Harrison and Noah Galloway ride in a helicopter to Forward Operating Base Fenty near Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2014. They were touring with a program that brings wounded servicemen back to Iraq and Afghanistan to help them come to terms with their injuries. ©Scott Olson/Getty Images

Nearly 18 years since the start of the war in Afghanistan and 16 years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, majorities of U.S. military veterans say those wars were not worth fighting, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of veterans. A parallel survey of American adults finds that the public shares those sentiments.

Among veterans, 64% say the war in Iraq was not worth fighting considering the costs versus the benefits to the United States, while 33% say it was. The general public’s views are nearly identical: 62% of Americans overall say the Iraq War wasn’t worth it and 32% say it was. Similarly, majorities of both veterans (58%) and the public (59%) say the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting. About four-in-ten or fewer say it was worth fighting.

Veterans who served in either Iraq or Afghanistan are no more supportive of those engagements than those who did not serve in these wars. And views do not differ based on rank or combat experience.

Views do differ significantly by party, however. Republican and Republican-leaning veterans are much more likely than veterans who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party to say the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were worth fighting: 45% of Republican veterans vs. 15% of Democratic veterans say the war in Iraq was worth fighting, while 46% of Republican veterans and 26% of Democratic veterans say the same about Afghanistan. The party gaps are nearly identical among the public.

Views on U.S. military engagement in Syria are also more negative than positive. Among veterans, 42% say the campaign in Syria has been worth it, while 55% say it has not. The public has very similar views: 36% say U.S. efforts in Syria have been worthwhile, while 58% say they have not.

Among veterans, these views are consistent across era of service, rank and combat experience. Republican veterans are significantly more likely than Democrats to say the Syrian campaign has been worth it (54% vs. 25%).

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Iraq