US Arrests Iraqi Shia Deputy Minister

[LoungeMachine]

US arrests radical Iraqi Shia deputy minister
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:38am GMT 09/02/2007

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/09/wirq09.xml

American and Iraqi troops stormed Baghdad's health ministry yesterday to arrest the deputy minister.

Hakim Zamali, a follower of the radical Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr, is alleged to have overseen a murderous campaign against its employees by a sectarian militia. Shias loyal to al-Sadr control four government ministries.

A statement from the US military alleged that Zamali was a key figure in Sadr's Madhi army, which has been accused of waging a sectarian campaign against Sunnis.

advertisementAli al-Shammari, the Iraqi health minister, condemned the early morning raid. He said American troops had "humiliated" Iraq.

"They have kidnapped my deputy," said Mr Shammari.

Pictures from inside the ministry showed doors that were kicked in and tables and chairs overturned.

The US military statement said Zamali was suspected of funding militants through large-scale employment of Madhi army members.

It said: "These militia members are reported to target Iraqi civilians using [health ministry] facilities and services. The suspect's corruption is believed to have funnelled millions of US dollars into rogue [activities]."

[ODShowtime]

Being targeted for death by the health ministry? Man Iraq is fucked up!

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
US arrests radical Iraqi Shia deputy minister
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:38am GMT 09/02/2007

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/09/wirq09.xml

American and Iraqi troops stormed Baghdad's health ministry yesterday to arrest the deputy minister.

Hakim Zamali, a follower of the radical Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr, is alleged to have overseen a murderous campaign against its employees by a sectarian militia. Shias loyal to al-Sadr control four government ministries.

A statement from the US military alleged that Zamali was a key figure in Sadr's Madhi army, which has been accused of waging a sectarian campaign against Sunnis.

advertisementAli al-Shammari, the Iraqi health minister, condemned the early morning raid. He said American troops had "humiliated" Iraq.

"They have kidnapped my deputy," said Mr Shammari.

Pictures from inside the ministry showed doors that were kicked in and tables and chairs overturned.

The US military statement said Zamali was suspected of funding militants through large-scale employment of Madhi army members.

It said: "These militia members are reported to target Iraqi civilians using [health ministry] facilities and services. The suspect's corruption is believed to have funnelled millions of US dollars into rogue [activities]."

The USA Today piece said Al-Sadr controls 6 branches of ministry,but oh,well.
It was also belived he used reconstruction money to fund Mahdi.
The bad news is obviously,they're crooked.
The good news is,if you choose to look at it,is they got caught,while Maliki and the other senior Iraqi officials didn't cry foul.
Why would they do such a thing,you ask?
Because it is their view that WE haven't been able to keep the sunnis off of them for the past 4 years,and were willing to steal to hire their own shiia security.Enter Al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army.
I'm not saying they're upstanding citizens,but I really can't blame them for wanting an equalizer to the sunni terrorists.
We do not conduct ourselves the same way these two groups do.
Like Einstein I don't know exactly how 07 is gonna go for Iraq,but I have this feeling 08 isn't going to include us.

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by hideyoursheep
The USA Today piece said Al-Sadr controls 6 branches of ministry,but oh,well.



Damn you're picky :D


FROM USA-FUCKING-TODAY :


Iraqis arrest deputy health minister, allege links to Shiite death squads

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S.-backed Iraqi forces stormed the Health Ministry and arrested the No. 2 official Thursday, accusing him of diverting millions of dollars to the biggest Shiite militia and allowing death squads use of ambulances and government hospitals to carry out kidnappings and killings.
Shiite politicians allied with anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr denounced the arrest of Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and demanded that the prime minister intervene to win his release.

But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his senior advisers remained silent. Al-Maliki, a Shiite, is under strong U.S. pressure to crack down on Shiite militias and has pledged not to interfere in the security operation to rid Baghdad's streets of gunmen from both Islamic sects.

The arrest took place at 9 a.m., an hour after Iraqi government offices generally open. Iraqi troops pushed through the iron gates of the Health Ministry building in northern Baghdad, ordered people to drop to the ground and rushed to al-Zamili's ground-floor office, witnesses said.

One of al-Zamili's bodyguards said American soldiers accompanying the force asked everyone to step aside and approached the deputy minister, who introduced himself. A U.S. soldier handcuffed al-Zamili and led him away, the guard said on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal.

AP Television News footage of al-Zamili's office showed overturned chairs and smashed computers along with scattered files and telephones on the floor. Dusty, white boot prints marked the door, apparently because the troops had kicked it in.

A U.S. military statement did not mention al-Zamili by name but said Iraqi special troops captured a "senior official" suspected of alleged corruption and links to al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The Health Ministry is among six Cabinet posts controlled by al-Sadr, an ally of the prime minister.

The statement also alleged the senior official played a role in the deaths of several ministry officials, including the Sunni director of health in Diyala province. The director, Ali al-Mahdawi, vanished last June after coming to Baghdad for a meeting at the ministry.

According to the statement, the official was believed to have siphoned millions of dollars from the ministry to the Mahdi Army "to support sectarian attacks and violence targeting Iraqi citizens."

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said militiamen were also allowed to use government hospitals and clinics to gather information on Iraqis seeking treatment and "those Iraqis that were discovered to be Sunnis would later be targeted for attacks."

American officials had long complained that al-Sadr's followers were transforming hospitals into bases for the Mahdi militia and were diverting medicine from state clinics to health care facilities run by the cleric's movement.

The clinics helped al-Sadr build a powerful nationwide political movement modeled in part on the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

The arrest is likely to add new strains to al-Maliki's fragile coalition as it embarks on a high-risk campaign to curb violence in Baghdad. Shiite politicians persuaded al-Sadr to pull his militiamen back from the streets in the run-up to the security campaign.

But a series of bombings and suicide attacks on Shiite civilians in Baghdad and the southern city of Hillah has led many Shiites to complain that U.S. and Iraqi forces have not launched the security campaign fast enough to protect them against Sunni extremists.

Nasr al-Rubaie, leader of the Sadrist bloc in parliament, called al-Zamili's arrest a "kidnapping."

Health Minister Ali al-Shemari also denounced the raid.

"This is a violation of Iraq's sovereignty," he said. "They should have a court order to carry out a raid like this."

U.S. officials have insisted that al-Maliki rein in al-Sadr's forces, and the prime minister told the cleric last month that he could no longer provide him with political protection in the face of U.S. pressure, according to al-Maliki's aides.

Curbing the militias is considered key to halting the wave of Sunni-Shiite reprisal killings that surged after last year's bombing of a Shiite shrine in the mostly Sunni city of Samarra.

Despite recent efforts, the violence showed little signs of receding.

At least 104 people were killed or found dead Thursday in Iraq, including at least 10 Sunni men gunned down in the village of Rufayaat, just east of Balad. Balad is a majority Shiite town 50 miles northeast of the Iraqi capital, but it is surrounded by territory that is mainly populated by Sunnis.

In the day's deadliest attack, a parked car bomb exploded at a food market in the predominantly Shiite town of Aziziyah, 35 miles southeast of Baghdad, killing 20 people and wounding 45, police said.

Another parked car bomb tore through a minibus in the mainly Shiite Amin neighborhood of southeastern Baghdad, killing seven passengers and wounding 10, police said.

Partners: USA WEEKEND | Sports Weekly | Education | Space.com
Copyright 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
Damn you're picky :D


It's a more in-depth article,wouldn't you agree?

Unbelivable how our priorities lie with Anna Nichole Golddigger.

Embarrassing.:(

[pflo]

When I look at the globe it says "USA" on one side and "Iraq" is way over on the other side. How come the USA is in Iraq? Maybe my globe is outdated?

[VanHalener]

Originally posted by ODShowtime
Being targeted for death by the health ministry? Man Iraq is fucked up!


FUBAR

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by pflo
When I look at the globe it says "USA" on one side and "Iraq" is way over on the other side. How come the USA is in Iraq? Maybe my globe is outdated?

Canada and Afghanistan are pretty far apart,too.

Where are you going with this?

[Nickdfresh]

I don't think he knows...

[pflo]

Originally posted by hideyoursheep
Canada and Afghanistan are pretty far apart,too.

Where are you going with this? That a UN SANCTIONED peacekeeping mission...big difference, my friend. The Afghan govt asked us for help.

[Nickdfresh]

No it isn't. It's a NATO counterinsurgency campaign.

[pflo]

Counterinsurgency = peacekeeping. Thats pretty indisputeable. Look up what "insurgency" means if you disagree. And YES, we were asked by the Afghan govt to participate.

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by pflo
And YES, we were asked by the Afghan govt to participate.

The Taliban asked you to the dance?WTF???:confused:

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by pflo
Counterinsurgency = peacekeeping. Thats pretty indisputeable. Look up what "insurgency" means if you disagree. And YES, we were asked by the Afghan govt to participate.

You have no clue what you're talking about, you should work for the Bush Admin. with your semantic bullshit.

Why don't you just provide a definition of "insurgency," and you'll see your choice of wording was poor to retarded.

The UN has peacekeeping missions whilst NATO mounts offensive counterinsurgency and counter-terrorist operations, which are far more aggressive and proactive than "peacekeeping" missions, and without the funny blue hats.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by pflo
Counterinsurgency = peacekeeping. Thats pretty indisputeable. Look up what "insurgency" means if you disagree. And YES, we were asked by the Afghan govt to participate.

Really, it's "indisuteable?" Look up the definition of "Counterinsurgency," and tell me about all of the "counterinsurgency" campaigns the UN has been involved in.

[Nickdfresh]

Dupe.

[pflo]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
You have no clue what you're talking about, you should work for the Bush Admin. with your semantic bullshit.

Why don't you just provide a definition of "insurgency," and you'll see your choice of wording was poor to retarded.

The UN has peacekeeping missions whilst NATO mounts offensive counterinsurgency and counter-terrorist operations, which are far more aggressive and proactive than "peacekeeping" missions, and without the funny blue hats. COUNTERINSURGENCY-"a program or an act of combating guerrilla warfare and subversion."
Combating guerilla warfare? Sounds like peacekeeping to me. While the last two years have seen an escalation in our military involvement there so the US can focus on the shitstorm THEY made there, the bottom line is our original deployment in Afghanistan WAS as a peacekeeping capacity and WAS reqested by the Afghan govt. No, Im not referring to "peacekeeping " as the official blue hat dudes, but as the military "objective".The taliban towelheads are the unwelcome shit disturbers, and we are using force to kick them out of there. Why? To KEEP the PEACE. As in, we are not trying to bomb the shit out of and destabilize another country to get at the cheap oil.THATS the difference.

[Guitar Shark]

Originally posted by pflo
Combating guerilla warfare? Sounds like peacekeeping to me.

Peacekeeping implies that there is peace that needs to be kept.

Guerilla warfare is the opposite of peace.

You're welcome.

[Nickdfresh]

That retainer is really paying off.:)

[pflo]

Originally posted by Guitar Shark
Peacekeeping implies that there is peace that needs to be kept.

Guerilla warfare is the opposite of peace.

You're welcome. No guerilla wafare is when they throw bananas and the dominant males fuck the litlle ones up the ass.Like I am doing to you:p . YOURE welcome.

[pflo]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
That retainer is really paying off.:) Teeth straightening out?

[ODShowtime]

Originally posted by pflo
WAS reqested by the Afghan govt.

That's the third time you mentioned that canadian forces were requested by the afghan gov't.

Big fuckin whoop! If it wasn't for the US, there wouldn't be a decent afghan gov't. It'd still be the taliban, and they'd still have the most evil, repressive society on the planet!

The Iraqi gov't still needs and requests US help now, and guess what? We helped create that gov't too.

So your point is...?

[ODShowtime]

Originally posted by pflo
No guerilla wafare is when they throw bananas and the dominant males fuck the litlle ones up the ass.Like I am doing to you:p . YOURE welcome.

yikes:rolleyes:

[pflo]

Originally posted by ODShowtime
That's the third time you mentioned that canadian forces were requested by the afghan gov't.

Big fuckin whoop! If it wasn't for the US, there wouldn't be a decent afghan gov't. It'd still be the taliban, and they'd still have the most evil, repressive society on the planet!

The Iraqi gov't still needs and requests US help now, and guess what? We helped create that gov't too.

So your point is...? Jesus Christ, go look up the history of Afghanistan before you spew off! The Taliban CAME FROM PAKISTAN AND HAVE ONLY BEEN IN AFGHANISTAN SINCE 1996. Its not like they are some age-old traditional government. Dont lecture me when you obviously do little to educate yourself.If you got something to bring, be able to back it up.....If it wasnt for the US and the Soviets fucking it up ,it wouldnt have been an attractive area for the Taliban to go to in the first place.

[ODShowtime]

Originally posted by pflo
If it wasnt for the US and the Soviets fucking it up ,it wouldnt have been an attractive area for the Taliban to go to in the first place.

Let's get one thing straight asshole. The soviets fucked up afghanistan, not the US.

It's just such moronic viewpoint to think that the Soviets pouring in 90,000 troops and bombing the shit out of the cities isn't the reason for the conditions there in the early 90s.


:rolleyes:

[pflo]

Originally posted by ODShowtime
Let's get one thing straight asshole. The soviets fucked up afghanistan, not the US.

It's just such moronic viewpoint to think that the Soviets pouring in 90,000 troops and bombing the shit out of the cities isn't the reason for the conditions there in the early 90s.


:rolleyes: Name calling, huh? The last sign of desperation. :argh: Here, Ill post this AGAIN, maybe this time you will read it and possibly pull your head out of your ass-"Initiation of the insurgency with U.S. and Pakistani support

In June of 1975, fundamentalists attempted to overthrow the PDPA government. They started the insurgent movement in the Panjshir valley, some 100 kilometers north of Kabul, and in a number of other provinces of the country. However, government forces easily suppressed the insurgency and a sizable portion of the insurgents defected and settled in Pakistan where they had total freedom of action. In May 1978, the insurgents found their first base in Pakistan to train armed bands for combat in Afghanistan. Afterwards, similar centers were found in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Numerous political, military and covert actions by US-backed Pakistan were reported. These included political activities and propaganda hostile to the government of Afghanistan taking place in Pakistan, border crossings of men and material from Pakistan to Afghanistan, cross-border firings, acts of sabotage, rocket attacks on major urban centres, violations of Afghan airspace by Pakistani aircraft, the continued presence in Pakistan of training camps and arms depots for Afghan insurgent groups, and direct involvement by Pakistani military personnel inside Afghanistan, as well as restrictions placed on refugees who wished to return to Afghanistan.

The former director of the CIA and current Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, stated in his memoirs "From the Shadows", that American intelligence services began to aid the opposing factions in Afghanistan 6 months before the Soviet deployment. On July 3, 1979, US President Jimmy Carter signed a directive authorizing the CIA to conduct covert propaganda operations against the revolutionary regime.

Carter advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski stated "According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise." Brzezinski himself played a fundamental role in crafting U.S. policy, which, unbeknownst even to the Mujahideen, was part of a larger strategy "to induce a Soviet military intervention." In a 1998 interview with Le Nouvel Observateur, Brzezinski recalled proudly:

"That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap..." [...]"The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter. We now have the opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War."[4]

[ODShowtime]

blah fucking blah.

The "revolutionary regime" ?

Where the fuck do you think that came from?

Just posting some article you found somewhere with no references doesn't mean shit to me or anyone else.

Desperation? Please, this is child's play. I'm just glad someone's stepping up to the plate since the republican losses in November.

[pflo]

Originally posted by ODShowtime
blah fucking blah.

Yup, now I see what level youre at. Im done.Read some books.

[ODShowtime]

Originally posted by pflo
Yup, now I see what level youre at. Im done.Read some books.

No, you're done because you don't have anything else to say.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by pflo
Yup, now I see what level youre at. Im done.Read some books.

Or you could just post some unattributed bullshit websites which completely distort historical events...:)

[pflo]

Thse are Zbigniew Brzezinski DIRECT quotes; what the fuck more "attribution" do you need.Do you want me to get him to send you a handwritten copy?All you say is "thats not legitimate, wheres the sources?" Look the shit up! You havent posted shit backing up your points. Your debating skills are a joke. Its a tough racket being wrong, huh?

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by pflo
[B]Thse are Zbigniew Brzezinski DIRECT quotes;

...Taken completely out of context.

You failed to note that the Afghan leader we were supporting resistance against was a communist dictator that was installed in a direct Soviet coup detat, when Red Army Spetsnaz assassinated the previous President and put his ass in Kabul.

And the Pakis were no more guilty of fucking around in Afghanistan than the Soviets were, which is why the US and Pakistan formed an alliance.

You make it sound as if Carter and crew were stirring up trouble when there was already plenty aboot...


what the fuck more "attribution" do you need.Do you want me to get him to send you a handwritten copy?

I can pull meaningless shit out of the aether and put quotes completely out of context too, leaving out important facts. It's called "revisionism," too suit ones' mindless agenda.


All you say is "thats not legitimate, wheres the sources?" Look the shit up!

Fuck you. Post links you lazy prick, it's board edicate for this forum, which prevents a lot of dickheads from posting (mostly American extremist right wing) shit --and stop trying to mount other men.

BTW, posting without a link is also "plagiarism" as well as intellectually lazy and dishonest.


You havent posted shit backing up your points. Your debating skills are a joke. Its a tough racket being wrong, huh?

That's because I'm not quoting anyone, nor using others' work, brainiac. Quotes are not necessitated. See above for more clarification. I'm using my own superior intellect and solid memory.

Go ahead, make my day you angry little cunt'nuck...

[ODShowtime]

Thank you for expanding upon some of the themes in my earlier posts Nick.

Using this snowhick's logic, it's Iraq's fault for drawing us into the mesopotamian trap by kicking out inspectors and bluffing about WMD.

It's too bad the US is no longer culpable for the war. I was really hoping we'd someday hold some people accountable. But it was totally saddam's fault according to our shining beacon of enlightenment from the north.

[pflo]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
...Taken completely out of context.

You failed to note that the Afghan leader we were supporting resistance against was a communist dictator that was installed in a direct Soviet coup detat, when Red Army Spetsnaz assassinated the previous President and put his ass in Kabul.

And the Pakis were no more guilty of fucking around in Afghanistan than the Soviets were, which is why the US and Pakistan formed an alliance.

You make it sound as if Carter and crew were stirring up trouble when there was already plenty aboot...



I can pull meaningless shit out of the aether and put quotes completely out of context too, leaving out important facts. It's called "revisionism," too suit ones' mindless agenda.



Fuck you. Post links you lazy prick, it's board edicate for this forum, which prevents a lot of dickheads from posting (mostly American extremist right wing) shit --and stop trying to mount other men.

BTW, posting without a link is also "plagiarism" as well as intellectually lazy and dishonest.



That's because I'm not quoting anyone, nor using others' work, brainiac. Quotes are not necessitated. See above for more clarification. I'm using my own superior intellect and solid memory.

Go ahead, make my day you angry little cunt'nuck... HAHAHAH!!! Superior intellect, huh? Tell me , genius, what is "edicate"? And youre a MOD?? My respect for this site has just dropped a notch.You DUMB FUCK. Dismissed.:rolleyes:

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by pflo
HAHAHAH!!! Superior intellect, huh? Tell me , genius, what is "edicate"? And youre a MOD?? My respect for this site has just dropped a notch.You DUMB FUCK. Dismissed.:rolleyes:


you have funneled this into another topic entirely.

Start one and let everyone in on it.

Now beat your face.:D

[ODShowtime]

Originally posted by pflo
HAHAHAH!!! My respect for this site has just dropped a notch.

Guys we gotta be careful. He might stop posting and that would be tragic.

[pflo]

Thats not proper edicate. :sleepy: