Category: General

The Iranians, along with the Syrians, have been promoting and assisting the instability in Iraq, knowing the danger of a successful democracy next door. Now, it seems that Iran is also working on an insurance plan — pouring people and resources into Iraq to influence the elections they seem unable to stop.

Kicking off his country’s first democratic election campaign Wednesday, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi declared his own candidacy, saying the country can handle the challenge.

But as Iraqis register to vote, the United States worries that the real winners could be the ayatollahs in neighboring Iran. U.S. intelligence sources tell NBC News that 1 million Iranians have already poured across the border to register to vote in Iraq. And Iran is spending as much as $100 million to elect its favored slate of candidates in Iraq — and may have thousands of spies in Iraq.

“They’re putting money into Iraq,” says Danielle Pletka, an Iraq expert at the American Enterprise Institute. “They’re promoting candidates. They’re sponsoring terrorist groups that are pressuring people in Iraq. They’re doing everything they can.”

And while Iraq’s defense minister warned Wednesday that both Iran and Syria are cooperating with Iraq’s No. 1 terrorist — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — the United States has no proof of that.

On Wednesday, President Bush, after a White House meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, told Iran and Syria to stay out.

“We will continue to make it clear to both Syria and Iran — as will other nations in our coalition, including our friend, the Italians, that meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq is not in their interest,” said the president.

But, it is not clear what the United States can do.

The United States says Iran is funding the leading Shiite candidate Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who is expected to emerge as the country’s most powerful figure. A new Shiite government could oppose controversial military operations, like Fallujah, or even demand a rapid U.S. withdrawal.

“I think we have to accept it might not be an outcome that we particularly desire, but if it’s a free and clear election, then that’s what our policy has been all about,” says Geoffrey Kemp, an Iranian expert at the Nixon Center.

U.S. officials hope that Iraqi voters will resist Iran’s influence and remember that less than 20 years ago, Iran was their enemy in a brutal war.

The rulers in Iran know they are sitting on a powderkeg next to an open flame. A sizable and restless portion of their country’s population stirs with a desire for democracy. The thought of a successful democracy taking root in neighboring Iraq without strong Iranian influence could only mean a growing threat of instability at home.

Okay, wrapping up the flood of quick-hits for the night with this.

The Iraqi president, Ghazi Yawar, yesterday warned that long-term instability in his country could give rise to an “Iraqi Hitler” if citizens continued to feel humiliated and despondent.

Mr. Yawar also criticised the US-led coalition for dismantling Iraq’s security services too soon after the war and accused neighbouring states of doing nothing to stop the insurgency.

Agreed, but it’s nice to see that this guy shares the trait of 20/20 hindsight with John Kerry, the former presidential candidate and occasional senator.

The Iraqi president said bombings and kidnappings had plagued the country since last year’s invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, while the relentless Sunni-led insurgency had crippled reconstruction and development projects.

“This could in the long term create an environment in which an Iraqi Hitler could emerge like the one created by the defeat of Germany and the humiliation of Germans in the First World War,” Mr Yawar said in an interview with the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.

Perhaps we should round up any corporals who fought in the first Gulf War.

Iraq’s interim leaders have come under fire for failing to reach out to some alienated factions and US-led offensives on rebel-held cities have led to further divisions.

Mr Yawar — a Sunni Muslim who was chosen for the largely symbolic post of president in June — urged Iraq’s neighbours to break their “negative silence” about attacks in Iraq and play a positive role in helping stabilise the country.

“When a fire breaks out in your neighbour’s house you should act quickly to put it out, not only for the sake of your neighbour but also so that you are not forced to put it out in your own home when it spreads there,” he said.

Earlier this month, Iraq and its neighbours made vague promises to improve security co-operation after a meeting in which Iraqi officials voiced frustration that neighbouring states were not doing enough to halt the flow of people, arms and funds linked to guerrilla violence in Iraq.

Agreed, the Syrians and Iranians cast a pall on the whole neighborhood. Not that anybody else has been much help, though. How much motivation does anybody in the region have for a free, democratic Iraq? Not much without a ton more pressure applied.

Mr Yawar has said elections should go ahead on time on 30 January. But he told the BBC yesterday that he expected more violence aimed at derailing the polls. He said the security situation could not be solved unless Iraqi forces became efficient.

Most parties representing Sunnis have called for the elections to be postponed for up to six months, saying a fair poll could not be held amidst the violence, most of which is affecting Sunni areas.

Mr Yawar said some former army and police officers with clean records should be reinstated, adding that Washington had made a mistake when it dissolved the defence and interior ministries.

I’m trying to be sarcastic, but this guy is making a lot of sense.

Anniversaries are meant to be cherished.

One year ago today, the ace of spades in the infamous deck of 55 cards representing the most-wanted people in Iraq, was taken into custody. Saddam was found by American forces, hiding in a hole not far from where the former dictator was born.

The world learned of the capture of the most wanted man in Iraq, when former American Administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer told a news conference in Baghdad, “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.”

Arab and Iraqi reporters attending the news conference, stood and cheered for several minutes.

Iraqis began celebrating in the streets of the capital.

Baghdad University college student Alia Hadi, remembers.

The second-year college student says she was very glad to see Saddam Hussein on the television, looking confused from hiding in a hole. She says this was the last right of all Iraqis, to see their God punish him like he punished the Iraqis. She says he should be prosecuted and put to death.

At about 8:30 at night, the once defiant 66-year-old former dictator was found hiding in a small hole, near a farmhouse about 15 kilometers south of his hometown, Tikrit.

His arrest occurred as the result of information provided by former bodyguards and relatives of people close to the former Iraqi president.

In his possession was $750,000 in cash, two AK-47 machine guns and a pistol . But, he gave up without a fight. One of the American commanders involved in the capture says Saddam Hussein was “caught like a rat.”

With long hair and a long graying beard, Saddam Hussein looked confused and very tired. Within hours of his capture, a videotape was released, showing a doctor examining the former dictator, including an examination of his teeth. It was not an image most Iraqis ever expected to see.

The general manager of Radio Dijla, a station that broadcasts the views and opinions of Iraqis, is Karim Yousef.

Mr. Yousef says many Iraqis were saddened to see Saddam Hussein captured in this way. He says Saddam held the power of Iraq for 35 years and many people considered him to be a brave and powerful man. He says it was sad to see Saddam looking so confused, with his long hair and beard.

Such images of the former dictator angered some Iraqis, who saw the video as an attempt to embarrass Saddam Hussein. However, Baghdad University political-science professor Abdel Jabbar Abdullah, says he believes the images of Saddam were broadcast in an attempt to send a message.

“They deliberately show us this picture in order to send some message, not to the Iraqi people, to all Arab homelands to tell them this is the future of your ruler, unless you cooperate with the American strategy in this region,” he says.

Pentagon officials said it was necessary to show proof to the Iraqi people that Saddam Hussein had been taken into custody, because many Iraqis were afraid the former dictator would, one day, return to power.

Today, the former Iraqi leader sits in a jail cell in the Baghdad area. He is expected to go before an Iraqi war crimes tribunal some time in the coming year.

Iraqi officials who have seen the former leader have say he remains unapologetic to the Iraqi people.

But, according to potential future candidate for prime minister of Iraq, Nadim al-Jabbri, whether Saddam Hussein ever apologizes makes very little difference.

Mr. al-Jabbri says he knew that God would create this destiny for Saddam Hussein because he killed so many Iraqis. He says God has always intended to punish Saddam, just as Saddam punished his own people.

What is the traditional gift for former dictators on their one-year anniversary of captivity? Paper? A death certificate would’ve been nice.