APS Diplomat Strategic Balance in the Middle East articles from October 2005

APS Diplomat Strategic Balance in the Middle East archives from October 2005

IRAQ & The Neo-Salafi - The Challenges Of Terrorism - Part 5B - Iraq Challenge.
October 3, 2005... In Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism is the sect of the state, radical militants bent on undermining the royal regime are called neo-Wahhabis. In Iraq, neo-Wahhabi militants are the most deadly enemy of the US-led forces as well as the Shi'ite Arab...

IRAQ - Iraqi Forces Are Weaker Than In May.
October 3, 2005... Army Gen. George Casey, US commander of the MNF in Iraq, on Sept. 29 told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing the Iraqi security forces now had fewer fully trained and equipped battalions than six months ago. He said: "Conditions-based...

IRAQ - The Foreign Insurgency.
October 3, 2005... Much of the US military effort in Iraq in recent months has been aimed at stopping the inflow of foreign, neo-Salafi jihadis. US warplanes have blown up bridges to deny insurgent infiltration routes, troops have occupied towns in the west seen...

IRAQ - The Radicalising Factor.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... The occupation of Arab land and ill-treatment of Arabs contributed to the radicalisation of Arabs in the past. This radicalisation is poised to witness a surge. "Wait and see what is going to happen when Saddam's trial starts [on Oct. 19}", Paz...

IRAQ - US Withdrawal Options.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... In strategic terms, a full and swift US withdrawal from Iraq would be counter-productive, say most experts. But Michael Schwartz, professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is calling for an immediate withdrawal...

IRAQ - Blair Says Stay The Course.
October 3, 2005... The Middle East was the main issue at last week's Labour Party conference in the UK, dominated by Iraq. On Sept. 25 British Prime Minister Tony Blair conceded he had not anticipated the ferocity with which insurgents and neo-Salafi extremists...

IRAQ - Caution Advised.
October 3, 2005... US critics of Bush's Iraq policy are proposing "phased" withdrawal scenarios which could keep American troops at the ready for years to prevent the Iraqi pressure cooker from blowing its top. Most cautious scenarios are advocated by opponents...

IRAQ - What Harm The US Stay Can Make.
October 3, 2005... Schwartz lists four main ways US forces in Iraq can cause such mayhem. In the first way, he says, "there are the hundreds of checkpoints around Baghdad and in other contested cities, sites of numerous violent incidents. Because of the danger...

IRAQ - The Key Sunni Demand.
October 3, 2005... This may also explain why the primary condition for a ceasefire set by the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS, the political arm of the Sunni Arab insurgency) was a US "troop pullout from most urban areas and an end to military checkpoints and...

IRAQ - The Shi'ite-Sunni Balance Of Power.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Numerically, jihadis represent a tiny minority of fighters in Iraq. The vast majority, well over 90%, of the 70 or so attacks each day are staged by the nationalists. But the jihadis are responsible for high-profile car bombings and spectacular...

IRAQ - The Argument For US Pull-out.
October 3, 2005... Given this situation, Schwartz asks, "how might a speedy American withdrawal affect the levels of Iraqi-generated violence?" He answers: "Most obviously, it would eliminate the presently predominant form of Iraqi violence - the 65 or so...

IRAQ - Shi'ite Counter-Attacks.
October 3, 2005... On Sept. 27 Iraqi officials said they had found another mass killing: 22 bodies with bullets in their heads and their hands bound 160 km south-east of Baghdad near the Iranian border. The bodies were in civilian clothing, and it was not clear...

IRAQ - US Wait Till '06.(troop reduction in Iraq)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... In March and again in July, Gen. Casey, who also commands the 147,000 US troops in Iraq, had predicted a "fairly substantial" cut in American forces next spring and summer if the political process goes positively and progress is made in...

IRAQ - A Positive Trend.
October 3, 2005... Gen. Casey, however, added: "One of the most positive trends that we see across Iraq is the willingness of the Sunnis to participate in a political process. We have seen them registering in large numbers in all of the major Sunni provinces"....