Protesters break through Green Zone wall again in Baghdad

Iraqi security forces have opened fire on protesters who have broken into the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad. The thousands of protesters were angry at the government's inability to approve corruption reforms.

Many of the protesters were followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, who has been spearheading attempts to force the Iraqi government to approve a cabinet of technocrats and jettison the system of dividing jobs and positions among different parties and sectarian groups. Sadr did not specifically call for the demonstrations. There were other groups as well, equally angry with the situation. The security forces used not only tear gas but apparently live fire with dozens of people reportedly injured and one death that has not been confirmed as yet. The protesters were able to enter at least one government building. The Zone houses the Iraqi parliament, government buildings, and many foreign embassies, including the giant U.S. embassy. The protesters withdrew from the Zone to Tahrir square but according to witnesses an Interior Ministry Force and unidentified gunmen opened fire there. The Zone had been stormed earlier at the end of April. The protesters had entered parliament and other government buildings.

State television claimed the Baghdad Operations Command had imposed a curfew on Baghdad "until further notice" and warned that: "Riot police are dealing with anyone trying to damage state institutions in accordance with the law." Added to anger about corruption is anger about the lack of security in Baghdad as the capital has been the scene of many fatal suicide and other attacks by the Islamic State that are taking many lives as well as resulting in many wounded. This month already attacks have killed more than 150 people.

The protests have been ongoing since February when PM Haider al-Abadi tried to appoint a cabinet of independent technocrats as al-Sadr wants in order to do away with the present system of political patronage, but Sadr claims that many political groups are blocking Al-Abadi in order to protect their vested interest.

An article in the Middle East Eye says that Iraq has sunk to depths previously thought possible even though confronting the serious threat of the Islamic State:".. Iraqi politicians, with their corruption, nepotism, patronage networks and Mafia-like ways, still seem to think that politicking and jockeying over who has what ministry so that they may further their own economic interests is more important than attending to the crisis afflicting the country that they were installed – I mean “elected” – to serve. One is then left to wonder just how overblown the IS threat has become."

However the author, Tallha Abdulrazaq, a researcher at the University of Exeter's Strategy & Security Institute, has nothing but criticism for Sadr whom he accuses of some of the worst sectarian atrocities in Iraq and calls his Mahdi Army a terrorist organization. The Army fought often against the U.S. occupation forces when they were still present in Iraq. The author claims al-Sadr was until recently bent on destroying the Sunni population: The sad thing is that, in the past few months, terrorist leaders responsible for death squads that committed some of the worst sectarian atrocities in Iraq are now being painted as heroes of democracy and Iraqi social plurality. Of course, here we are discussing Moqtada al-Sadr, scion of the Sadr family of Shia clerics, leader of the Mahdi Army terrorist organisation and of their now rebranded Peace Brigades.

I have always understood al-Sadr as a nationalist who wants to ensure that Sunnis can be part of the federal government to ensure Iraq is not divided. But Abdulrazaq claims that al-Sadr is simply trying to gain more power. Although Abdulrazaq admits the corruption in Iraq he says nothing specifically about the plan to have a cabinet of technocrats. It is not clear how such a plan increases al-Sadr's power and as Abdularzaq notes some of al-Sadr's colleagues are criticizing him, surely because it would hurt their own power. While others may be using the crisis to help force the few remaining token Sunni's from power, this hardly seems to be al-Sadr's aim. The whole article seems slanted very much against Iran and is pro-Sunni. He blames much on the Americans:If the international community is serious about solving the Syrian crisis, they need to atone for the original sin that is Iraq, and how it was handed over to sectarian fanatics covered in the shroud of a false democracy.He does not say exactly how the international community can atone for its sins but obviously it is not by having a cabinet of technocrats as al-Sadr suggests, I presume.

While it is true that al-Sadr has sometimes opposed Sunnis, that is only part of the picture:On 25 April 2007 al-Sadr condemned the construction of Azamiyah wall around a Sunni neighbourhood in Baghdad, by calling for demonstrations against the plan as a sign of "the evil will" of American "occupiers" On 25 May 2007 al-Sadr delivered a sermon to an estimated 6,000 followers in Kufa. Sadr reiterated his condemnation of the United States' occupation of Iraq and demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces, al-Sadr's speech also contained calls for unity between Sunni and Shi'a.[31] In June 2007, al-Sadr vowed to go ahead with a planned march to the devastated Askariyya shrine in central Iraq, al-Sadr said the march was aimed at bringing Shi'is and Sunnis closer together and breaking down the barriers imposed by the Americans and Sunni religious extremists.These actions show that al-Sadr was trying to break down barriers between Sunni and Shia not taking advantage of them for his own purposes.

Iraqi PM fires head of Green Zone forces and tightens security

Iraq's prime minister Haider Al-Abadi has fired the commander of special forces in Baghdad's Green Zone after protesters were able to breach the concrete walls recently and enter the parliament buildings.

The move by PM Al-Abadi is a sign that Al-Abadi is taking a harder line against protesters as he tightens security. He vowed to prevent another breach of the Green Zone.

Al-Abadi replaced Lieutenant-General Mohammed Ridha with Major General Kareem al-Tamimi, according to sources. Ridha had been seen on videos kissing the hands of leader of the protests Muqtada Al-Sadr when he entered the Green Zone for a sit-in in March. The protesters are demanding that Al-Abadi establish a reform government of technocrats to stem the tide of corruption engaged in by Iraqi political parties. Al-Abadi has been unable to meet protesters' demands so far because of resistance from politicians who profit from the existing system.

Taif Jany, Program Manager at Education for Peace in Iraq Center told Al Aribiya: “The fortifications reinforce a literal barrier between Parliament and the people. Not only is the government's business conducted without our input, but we are also cut off by razor wire, guards, and enormous concrete fences...The Green Zone contains the homes of Members of Parliament and high-ranking officials and this represents a significant class difference which begs the question: how can you represent us if you don't live among us?"

Protests are expected again today and the protesters could attempt to enter the Green Zone. Al-Abadi called on all who want reforms to respect the law. Iraqi security forces have blocked major roads and bridges in an attempt to keep followers of Moqtada al-Sadr from reaching the area around the Green Zone. A Sadr representative asked supporters to rally outside mosques after Friday afternoon prayers rather than at the heavily fortified Green Zone in order to avoid clashes. Three regiments of an elite police division that had been battling Islamic State militants has now been deployed to protect the Green Zone. On one bridge over the Tigris River dozens of counter-terrorism forces manned Humvees mounted with machine guns. They were behind two blast walls 12 feet high. The head of Sadr's political office claimed that large-scale demonstrations were being put off until next Tuesday when a parliamentary session was planned. According to CBC News correspondent, Charlie D'Agata, security forces had worked overnight to erect the blast walls on the bridge leading into the Green Zone.

Protesters breach Green Zone wall and storm parliament

Thousands of protesters managed to break into the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad and storm the parliament buildings inside the zone.

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The action came after politicians again failed to approve new ministers. The protesters have demanded a cabinet of neutral technocrats to replace the existing members, who are accused of corruption. The PM, Haider al-Abadi, has been trying to accede to the demands for reform but has been blocked from doing so by members of parliament who profit from the existing system. Although some ministers had been approved earlier in the week, on Saturday a quorum was not reached.

The storming of parliament follows weeks of turmoil. There was a sit in by some MPs and fights in the chamber, plus attempts to fire the speaker. Earlier in the day, a bomb targeting Shia pilgrims near Baghdad killed at least 23 people. The action in the Green Zone started just minutes after cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ended a news conference in the city of Najaf in which he condemned the political deadlock. He had earlier led some of the protests against the government. He had threatened to storm the Green Zone back in March but did not give an order to do so after his news conference. Al-Sadr complained politicians "refused to end corruption and refused to end quotas". He said that he and his supporters would not take part in "any political process in which there are any type of quotas." Government posts have long been shared on the basis of political and sectarian quotas. Al-Sadr was active in opposing the Americans earlier in the Iraq war. While he is a Shia, he is at the same time a nationalist who wants to see the Sunni minority integrated into a unified Iraqi government. He no doubt sees it as in the national interest to have a neutral government which would work for the benefit of all Iraqis rather than particular sects. Al-Sadr opposes more American ground troops in Iraq.

The Green Zone is the most secure and heavily guarded area in Baghdad. Security forces did not try to stop the protesters by force. The protesters attached heavy cables to the heavy concrete blast wall and managed to create an opening. One protester shouted: "You are not staying here! This is your last day in the Green Zone." The protesters headed to parliament where some rioted, rampaged through the buildings and broke into offices. Other protesters shouted to be peaceful. The security forces did not try to prevent protesters from entering the parliament even though they were present. A barbed wire was stretched across one road to prevent lawmakers from escaping. Several cars thought to belong to parliamentarians were destroyed.

Baghdad Operations Command has declared a state of emergency with all roads into the capital being closed. Additional forces have been deployed around the city. Checkpoints at city entrances were closed. However, violence during the protests remains limited. One protester said to the Kurdish news channel Rudaw, pointing to chocolates on the desk of lawmakers, said: “People have nothing to eat. The lawmakers are sitting here eating chocolates and mocking our pain.” To many Iraqis the Green Zone symbolizes tyranny, occupation, and corruption. The ruling elite in Iraq seems unresponsive to the needs and aspirations of ordinary citizens. It is this discontent that Al-Sadr is able to organize and use he hopes as a means to force reform. The security forces must have been supportive of the protesters as there were no reports of shots fired or perhaps they simply wanted to avoid bloodshed.

The UN, U.S. and others are concerned that the political crisis will interfere with the fight against the Islamic State. It remains to be seen if PM Abadi is able to regain control and pass reforms that will satisfy the demands of the protesters.

al Maliki ready to oust the U.S. from the green zone

One benefit of turning over the green zone to the Iraqis is that it will probably result in a test of the building skills of those who built the security walls and blast proof buildings within the U.S. embassy. Insurgents will be able to get closer to the embassy and test its defences. The U.S. will just have to withdraw to its bases and the embassy and leave the rest of the green zone to the Iraqis. The embassy will still be a little America within Baghdad paid for by American citizens who are losing their houses back in the good old U.S.A. Of course it remains to be seen how much Maliki's pronouncement is bluster meant to show he is not a puppet rather than an actual policy he is going to implement soon. He is a politician preparing for fall elections.


July 13, 2008Nouri al-Maliki ready to oust US from Iraq green zoneMarie Colvin in BaghdadThe green zone of Baghdad, a highly fortified slice of American suburbia on the banks of the Tigris river, may soon be handed over to Iraqi control if the increasingly assertive government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, gets its way.A senior Iraqi government official said this weekend the enclave should revert to Iraqi control by the end of the year. “We think that by the end of 2008 all the zones in Baghdad should be integrated into the city,” said Ali Dabbagh, the government’s spokesman.“The American soldiers should be based in agreed camps outside the cities and population areas.“By the end of the year, there will be no green zone,” he added. “The separation by huge walls makes people feel angry.” Dabbagh acknowledged that getting rid of the green zone would be a huge undertaking, given the thousands of American soldiers, private contractors and foreign workers who live inside. He said the concrete walls that divide it from the rest of the city would be taken down slowly, “depending on the threat and circumstances”.The prospect may prove disconcerting for the Americans, who have just begun to transfer their diplomatic operations in the zone from Saddam Hussein’s Republican Palace to a new embassy, the largest and most expensive in the world.The £300m building, at the heart of the green zone, protected by blast walls and layers of barbed wire, is the size of the Vatican City. It is virtually a self-contained town, with a heli-pad, sewerage and water treatment plants, a telephone exchange with a Virginia dialling code, a swimming pool and a bombproof gym. It will contain 619 blast-resistant flats.Under the Baghdad government’s plan the embassy will remain but the Iraqis will take back the five-square-mile secure “bubble” surrounding it.The green zone, which was built after the US-led invasion in 2003 as a safe administrative hub, has long infuriated Iraqis. It sliced off neighbouring districts from one another.Mortars fall in the area but the kidnappings, car bombs and lack of water and electricity in the rest of the country seem remote to its inhabitants. Many American visitors never leave except to fly by helicopter to Baghdad airport.The call for the “liberation” of the zone reflects Maliki’s growing confidence after military victories that have prompted him to declare that terrorism has been defeated.

Americans in Green Zone under siege.

This is from Salon via Der Spiegel. The Americans have already been dragged into the fighting via way of air attacks. No one seems to even mention that the use of air attacks in an urban area is bound to cause many civilian casualties as well as turn many Iraqis against the occupiers. Those who lose family members are likely to join the insurgency.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/03/28/green_zone/print.html







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Americans in Green Zone under siege
Fighting between militants and the Iraqi government has threatened what was once the best-secured district in Baghdad.
By Dieter Bednarz

Mar. 28, 2008 | Sarah is not the type of woman who loses her cool very easily. As an employee of the U.S. State Department, she has seen too much for that. Her superiors in Washington have repeatedly sent her to the world's hot spots. Now Sarah works as a "special agent" in the personal protection unit of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, where she is responsible for the security of high-ranking guests.

Since Tuesday, it has been Sarah's job to look after German politician Elke Hoff. And, since Wednesday afternoon, Sarah has occasionally had to address her charge -- "Sorry about that, ma'am!" -- more forcefully than usual: "Hurry up! We have to duck and cover."

Sarah already has helmets and bulletproof vests at the ready when she and her security team urge a small delegation of members of the German parliament, the Bundestag, to board an armored personnel carrier. The sound of incoming rockets and grenades isn't long in coming.

The security team doesn't tell the German delegation where exactly the missiles have landed. Having to admit that attacks are taking place in the Green Zone, the best-secured district in the Iraqi capital, is already embarrassing enough. And because the attacks continue into the afternoon, long-scheduled meetings between parliamentarian Hoff, a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party, and high-ranking Iraqi politicians, including former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, have to be canceled "for security reasons."

The attacks on the "I.Z.," or "International Zone," as the U.S. military has dubbed the former Karkh neighborhood, represent one of the biggest challenges to the American forces in Iraq to date. The enclave covers fewer than seven square kilometers (2.7 square miles) and houses the headquarters of the U.S. armed forces and their allies. Until the beginning of the week, the enclave was considered the safest place in a country plagued by violence and terror.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein chose the area, which is strategically located along a bend in the Tigris River, as the site for his palaces. The hangers-on of the regime lived there, and only the despot's most loyal henchmen were allowed in.

The country is still ruled from this neighborhood today, and access hasn't become much easier. Tens of thousands of soldiers and diplomats live and work behind roof-high concrete walls. An estimated 4,000 people, most of them soldiers and security personnel, live on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy in a former Saddam palace.

The huge area is like a "Little America" in the midst of this hostile country. Even though the number of attacks has declined by about half compared with what it was like during the height of insurgent activity three years ago, Western news agencies still counted 455 attacks throughout Iraq last week. Foreigners -- and especially Americans -- can only feel safe in their I.Z.

The unrest in the Green Zone continued Thursday. Reuters reported that a giant column of black smoke could be seen near the U.S. Embassy after what was believed to be a mortar strike on a former palace of Saddam that is being used as a headquarters for American civilian and military personnel. However, an embassy spokeswoman said there had been no serious injuries or deaths as a result of the attack. Four people, including two U.S. civilians, were wounded by mortar attacks in the Green Zone Wednesday.

The special zone also has room for some privileged Iraqis. The Green Zone is home to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has his office there, and to the most important ministries. The Iraqi parliament has taken up temporary quarters here, in a former conference center Saddam had built in the early 1980s. It is also home to influential Iraqis such as Sunni member of parliament Mithal al-Alusi. Al-Alusi is one of the most popular politicians in postwar Iraq and hence one of the people the Hoff delegation had arranged to meet.

Al-Alusi has gotten used to the fact that his life is in danger. It used to be threatened by Saddam and his intelligence services, and today it is threatened by insurgents such as the militia headed by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Alusi also blames the Badr Brigades for the rocket and mortar attacks of the past few days. The attacks, says an outraged al-Alusi, are a "targeted provocation."

Al-Alusi is also one of the few to hazard an explanation: America's two highest-ranking representatives in Iraq -- Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and ambassador Ryan Crocker -- are scheduled to deliver their reports on the situation in Iraq in one week. According to al-Alusi, the security analyses destined for Washington will not conclude that "the Americans have the situation under control," at least not if "Sadr and his backers in Iran have their way."

No one doubts that the fanatical cleric hates the Americans more than anyone and wants to drive them out of the country as quickly as possible. It is also considered likely that Sadr is in league with his fellow Shiites in Tehran. According to Western security experts, the most recent proof of al-Sadr's Tehran connection is the fact that the projectiles landing in and around the Green Zone are Iranian made.

The attacks on the high-security zone are also intended to strike the Iraqi government of Prime Minister al-Maliki, a Shiite. Some political observers in Baghdad are even convinced that the mortars and rockets are aimed more at the prime minister than at the Americans. The secular al-Maliki declared war on religious fanatic al-Sadr a few days ago.

Since last weekend, government troops have started energetically pursuing "terrorists, bandits and a few foreign elements," as government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh cautiously puts it. Al-Dabbagh, an experienced diplomat, falls short of saying that the true target of the government's attack is al-Sadr's militia, which has apparently developed its bastion in the south and has received reinforcements in the form of Iranian fighters.

Nevertheless, al-Dabbagh is quick to emphasize the successes of the Iraqi government troops. In the capital there are increasing reports that the government's enemies are retreating across the border into another country. No one mentions that the country in question is Iran, probably out of consideration for Baghdad's new partnership with the regime in Tehran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Baghdad early this month was still a "historic event" for the Iraqi government, especially in light of the fact that former dictator Saddam plunged both countries into an eight-year war that claimed millions of lives. Now, though, Baghdad and Tehran are planning economic cooperation programs worth billions of dollars -- much to the chagrin of George W. Bush.

Washington also appears to be doomed to impotence when it comes to the attacks on its only true stronghold in Iraq. The attacks are said to come from the city's eastern part, which is controlled by al-Sadr and his militia. The insurgents apparently launch their rockets and mortars from movable ramps and then immediately disappear into the densely populated neighborhoods.

Officials on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy say that the insurgents are trying to draw the Americans into a trap that would force them to launch "aerial attacks with many dead and wounded." Besides, the Americans can hardly afford grueling house-to-house combat in the al-Sadr-controlled neighborhood, especially after the U.S. armed forces reported this week their 4,000th death in Iraq.

As a result, the Americans have limited themselves to ducking, at least for the time being, even in front of political visitors like German parliamentarian Hoff, to whom it had hoped to present a picture of progress in Iraq.

On Tuesday evening, the "esteemed guest" from Berlin, whose safety the U.S. Embassy had assumed responsibility for, was moved to new quarters -- from the Al-Rashid Hotel on the edge of the security zone, where government guests stayed in the days of Saddam, to the U.S. Embassy. The small German delegation will be flown out Thursday -- ahead of schedule.

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan.



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-- By Dieter Bednarz


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Food shipments to Green Zone facing troubles

It is surprising that the convoys must usually make it through. I guess the insurgents have not made attacking them a priority. The cost of the Green Zone is astonishing. I am surprised that the US taxpayer puts up with footing much of the cost of the Iraq war. There are companies associated with Cheney and his buddies that are making great profits from the war but it is hard to see what the US citizens gain. The US dollar is on the slide too so the costs of imported goods will skyrocket.

Taste of Home Runs Low in Iraq
Complications Hold Up Embassy Food Convoys

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 24, 2007; A26



Congress and the White House may be sparring over funds for the U.S. effort in Iraq, but the mint chocolate chip is still flowing at the embassy in Baghdad. At least for now.

Life in the Green Zone -- a Foreign Service hardship post -- has long been mitigated by the culinary comforts of home. Virtually every bite and sip consumed there is imported from the United States, entering Iraq via Kuwait in huge truck convoys that bring fresh and processed food, including a full range of Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavors, every seven to 10 days.

But mouths turned dry Monday when an internal embassy e-mail announced a "Theater-Wide Delay in Food Deliveries." Due to an unspecified convoy problem, it said, "it may not be possible to offer the dishes you are used to seeing at each meal. Fresh fruits or salad bar items will also be severely limited or unavailable."

If the delays continue, the message said, "DFACs [dining facilities] will be required to serve MREs for at least one meal out of the day."

Instead of rice pilaf with turkey or fish -- Monday night's main entree, according to embassy spokesman Dan Sreebny, who said he topped it off with two cookies -- the staff would have to make do with military Meals Ready to Eat, freeze-dried concoctions with prescribed amounts of starch and protein, capable of withstanding parachute drops and remaining edible for three years after packaging.

"We've run out of some things," Sreebny said. "I miss my yogurt in the morning and my fresh-cut melon."

In April 2003, the U.S. occupation administration established its headquarters in Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace and its surrounding grounds -- seven square miles on the west bank of the Tigris River. The fortified area became known as the Green Zone, an island of tranquility and safety in chaotic Baghdad where Americans could live and work and eat in a semblance of home.

Over the years the area was renamed -- it's now officially known as the "International Zone" -- the fortifications were expanded and U.S. tanks were parked at the gates. As the security situation in Baghdad worsened, others with the right connections or titles moved in. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government lives and works in the zone, which also houses the Iraqi parliament. Thousands of foreign contractors live there. U.S. civilian officials live there along with their military and contractor protectors. Meanwhile, a massive U.S. Embassy compound -- 24 buildings on 104 acres inside the zone, the biggest and most expensive embassy in the world -- is under construction and due for completion in August.

Although the State Department has not budged from an original embassy price tag of $592 million, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) complained two weeks ago to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of a "growing size in costs" and a staffing increase of more than 30 percent since Congress approved the State Department's plans two years ago. Leahy chairs the appropriations subcommittee in charge of the foreign operations budget.

"We have 1,000 Americans at the embassy in Baghdad," Leahy told Rice at a hearing. "You add the contractors and the local staff, it comes to 4,000 . . . a deviation from the plan that we'd agreed to." According to Senate staffers, operating costs now total $1.2 billon a year.

Recently, the zone's tranquility has been shattered by a rash of mortar attacks over the walls. This month, embassy staffers were ordered to wear helmets and flak jackets while outdoors or in unprotected buildings. On Saturday, the "palace pool area . . . chairs and lounges, outside dining area, ping-pong tables, etc." were all placed off-limits until further notice "due to the threat of indirect fire (IDF) against the Embassy compound," according to a security notice sent to all embassy personnel.

As if security threats and overcrowding weren't enough, now the food is under threat. Asked about the convoy problems, Col. Steven A. Boylan, spokesman for Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, cited bad weather in Kuwait and along the routes north. "Visibility was very poor and [it] would not have been safe to drive," Boylan said in an e-mail.

The embassy food is supplied under a U.S. government contract with Houston-based KBR, which separately provides similar services to the military.

Sreebny, who said on Tuesday that the last supply trucks arrived in Baghdad two weeks prior, attributed the delays to paperwork problems on the border, traffic jams and "security issues." He said the embassy stocks three weeks of non-perishable food for use in the event of emergency, so no one was yet in danger of MREs.

The Bush administration's Iraq strategy includes an effort to boost the economy and create jobs in Iraq, and Iraqi factories hope to begin shipping manufactured products to U.S. retailers later this year. But security concerns bar any purchase of Iraqi food, and even Iraqi prisoners held by the U.S. military are fed with imports. In addition, Sreebny said, "if we're buying [local] food in large quantities it means that less is available for the citizens of Iraq. It's not fair to them."

In any case, American personnel assigned to the embassy are promised American food -- although Kuwaiti bottled water is acceptable.

"This has happened before, in terms of convoys," Sreebny said, although "this one may be a little bit longer than in the past. Then the food comes and we all gorge ourselves on apples and oranges and bananas again."

In an e-mail update last night, Sreebny reported that the looming crisis was at least partially averted. "Some trucks have arrived at our embassy and are being unloaded even as I write."