When he was buried in May, Majd al-Kurdy was nearly unrecognizable. His face was severely disfigured. He had cuts to the chest, long vertical slashes on the thighs, and what looked like gunshot wounds on the back of his legs.

Majd was buried with his brother So’dat, who also showed signs of mutilation. They were Syrians, two of nine young men seized by the Syrian army during an attack in Tell Kalakh.

During the raid, scores of men were arbitrarily arrested and tortured, including people already wounded. Security forces shot people as they fled to Lebanon.

Majd’s body was returned to his family in a nylon sack. They identified him by the tattoo of his girlfriend on his upper arm.

It’s a detail I cannot shake.

This is a freedom map of events taking place across Northern Africa and into the Middle East – including Syria, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The people who are protesting for freedom are being killed by a vicious dictator in Syria and in Bahrain, another violent dictator king has sent his Sunni troops to kill the Shia protesters who have been tormented and abused for years by their cruel Sunni king.

“All Hell is breaking loose” — We will update you and change the continuation of this map as events proceed…

Be a champion of freedom! Help your fellow human beings who protest and gamble their life for freedom!

Click here to view our full map and turn the pages.

Your Future Beckons — What are you doing to affect the Outcome?

We have the opportunity to restore Iraq to the beauty and international stature that it was historically.

We are on the brink of success IF… AND ONLY IF we in America with all possible support and assistance from the UN bring this current election to a close!

The beautiful Preamble to Iraq’s new Constitution stresses the vital necessity of transforming Iraq into a SECULAR country… where all citizens are judged solely upon their contribution to Iraq and the examples they set for Iraq’s total population to live in Peace and Harmony finally without the horrible, in-humane, inexcusable, devastating sectarian bombings that have killed and maimed Iraqi citizens for seven years.

Therefore…

WITH THIS PROVISO:

That American military might (90,000 American soldiers are presently in Iraq, but not in the cities!) These forces, plus whatever additional strength is needed, must be enlisted as the “Strong Right Arm” of Justice, Order, and Protection for all Iraqi citizens – men, women, and children – regardless of where they live – cities, marshes, deserts… anyplace!

In short…
America must go back to the advice of General Colin Powell:

“We broke it… we must fix it!”

This is the moral obligation of the United States of America!

If we fail to deliver this promise we will be fairly and justly SCORNED by all humanity world wide… for initiating a devastating invasion that tore an existing national control system down together with the power-base that then prevented chaos among the populace…

…without providing a new power structure to protect the population of Iraq from new forms of crime and corruption like the suicide bombings that killed and terrorized Iraqis ever since.

Now, basic human honor and respect and humanitarian values require the United States of America to provide all necessary military and police protection together with whatever the UN can provide to create a condition of absolute law and order so the people of Iraq can go about their daily lives without the fear of being killed or blown apart – which is the present condition-because of the radical, inhuman, sectarianism that permeates the entire country of Iraq since our occupation in 2003.

This we must do!

Basic laws of justice and humanity dictate that we Americans do no less.

To refresh your understanding of your own obligations as a Human Being–and those of all other Human Beings–Please read the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

As you know, the United Nations was created in the aftermath of WWII– with all the horrible killing and devastation in so many countries of so many hundreds of thousands of human beings. It only seemed right for all those people in all those countries initiated by the United States of America to come together and devise an organization that would ensure the future cooperation and harmony of all the various countries of the world–rather than the terrible, selfish and destructive actions of any country to defeat any future effort to resolve any future dispute by war instead of future negotiation.

You and I and all the countries of the world must, for the sake of sanity and respect for other human beings, must always resolve any differences without conflict or war.

But lets look around and recognize the conflicts that we have already in:

• Iraq
• Afghanistan
• India
• Pakistan
• Bosnia
• Chechnya
• Kyrgyzstan
• North Korea
• Israel
• Iran
• and Sudan…

This is bad enough, BUT consider how much worse it might be if the United Nations and its dedicated “BLUE HELMET” peace keeping forces did not exist.

Prime Minister Malaki

It’s time for Prime Minister al-Malaki to accept Allawi’s victory!

Iraqi’s win represents a bold new direction for Iraq: A government based on the secular equality of all citizens instead of the current government, which is dominated by Shiites. Allawi’s win represents the triumph of democratic pluralism over sectarian tribalism.

A passage in the beautifully written PREAMBLE of the IRAQI CONSTITUTION deals with the dangerous dilemma now facing Iraq: “Sectarianism and racism have not stopped us from marching together to strengthen our national unity, and to follow the path of peaceful transfer of power…”

In Nov., 2007, Allawi wrote: “Building democracy in Iraq will be a long-term process, established through the rule of law, a stable security environment, functioning state institutions and an emerging civil society. The alternative is continuing down the road we are headed, which leads directly to the disintegration of Iraq!”

The CRISIS IN IRAQ at the moment concerns al-Malaki’s refusal to accept the election results. He is rejecting the “PATH OF PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER” that the preamble talks about.

Al-Malaki is now claiming that 750,000 votes that went to Allawi supporters were fraudulent, which would tip the election in his favor. He has submitted his complaints to an election appeals committee within the High Electoral Commission, and is demanding a recount in five provinces, including Baghdad, which has 68 seats in the 325-member Parliament.

Al-Malaki’s STATE OF LAW bloc, with 89 seats, lost to IRAQIYA, which won 91 seats. If IRAQIYA forms alliances with smaller parties and gains 163 seats, it wins the right to form the new government and appoint the next prime minister.

This is precisely what al-Malaki is trying to prevent, and in so doing, subvert the electoral process and the PATH OF PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER.

Iraq stands at the crossroads. Will the rule of law and their Constitution prevail, or will democracy be strangled by al-Malaki machinations to sabotage the election results?

America has come too far and sacrificed too much to remain passive onlookers while al-Malaki and the Shiite majority derail their fledgling democracy. We still have about 90,000 troops in Iraq. Obama must be willing to use them to back up the United Nations in its efforts to certify the election results as they stand now.

To continue with Sectarian rule, that puts one group at advantage over all others will continue to divide the people of Iraq and produce the same infighting and violence we have witnessed throughout history. It’s time for this to change and we must help the Iraqi people be victorious based on their own votes.

A win for secular Allawi is a win for Iraqi democracy!

Read the wisdom and beauty of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám

Electoral workers carry ballot boxes at a counting center in Baghdad on Monday, March 8, 2010. It could be Days until returls come in, and after that, months to form a government.

The good news is that the Parliamentary elections finally came off in Iraq. The bad news is that voting was down from the 2009 Provincial elections, and that deadly violence continues to plague and terrorize Iraqi society.

But now the true test begins! In the weeks and months ahead, the two winning alliances in this election will have to work together to form a coalition government – and the sooner the better. The longer the al-Malaki government is in limbo, and his status as prime minister is uncertain, the more time Iraq has to fragment once again.

Al- Malaki’s STATE OF LAW party apparently split the majority of votes with former prime minister Ayad Allawi’s secular coalition, THE IRAQI NATIONAL MOVEMENT. Al-Malaki has successfully held off the more sectarian Shiite coalition, THE NATIONAL IRAQI ALLIANCE.

We now have the forces for democratic reform, openness and true reconciliation – Allawi’s coalition – in a strong position to wrest significant power from the corrupt and dictatorial Shiite-dominated government of Nuri al-Malaki.

The question thus becomes, will al-Malaki allow it? Will his Shiite government, and their supporters in the military, bow to the will of the voters or will they manufacture any excuse to suspend the democratic process and the election mandate?

Al-Malaki’s tenure as prime minister is very much in doubt, even within his own limited coalition. His reckless and transparent endorsement of the illegal disenfranchisement of over 500 candidates from this election made him new enemies.

Ayad Allawi

If the forces for peace, justice and honest government are successful, Ayad Allawi will emerge as the most respected and logical candidate for prime minister within these two coalitions.  All other arrangements and power-sharing decisions will flow from this one. Al-Malaki has accumulated much power within the office of the prime minister, and he will not give it up without a struggle, especially to Allawi, who has spoken out forcefully over the years in favor of a government free from religious dominance and influence.

The next few weeks and months will define Iraqi democracy once and for all.  The strong showing by THE IRAQI NATIONAL MOVEMENT means that the Shiite stranglehold on power is seriously threatened.

We know from experience that elections alone do not guarantee democratic outcomes. The forces of tyranny can ride into power on the back of a democratic election, then undermine and corrupt that very same process so as to guarantee their lock on power.

The true test of any democratic election is whether or not a transition of power can take place peacefully and honestly while the institutions of government continue to function.

We’re going to see, for better or worse, if Iraq can accomplish that difficult but essential goal. The Shiite-dominated al-Malaki government has been in power since 2005. With this election, Sunnis in exile and within the country have joined with secular Shiites and Christians to challenge the status quo and to stake their rightful claim to share in the decision-making processes of the central government.

A policeman frisked a man in line to vote at a polling center in Basra, Iraq. At least 38 were killed in Baghdad.

In 2005, we had thousands of troops in Iraq to guarantee an orderly transfer of power to the newly elected parliament and their new prime minister. This time around, we won’t be there in great and powerful numbers to enforce anything of a sort, which is why these coming weeks and months will be perilous.

This time around, Iraqis will be making all the hard but critical decisions and compromises necessary for an orderly realignment of power. If they fail in this test, and power ultimately ends up in the hands of those with the most brute force, then this experiment in Middle Eastern democracy will have failed completely.

If this happens, we will be held accountable.

At GOALS FOR AMERICANS, we call on the Obama administration to apply all the influence at our disposal to insure an honest, peaceful and equitable transfer of power from the former Iraqi government to the new one to come!

HOPE OR DESPAIR:
The Iraqi Parliamentary Elections Are Now Upon Us

“What will matter most is the acceptance by the Iraqi people of the election results.”

Ad Melkert, U.N. Special Representative to Iraq

Today the first voters go to the polls in Iraq in what many consider to be a make-it-or-break-it time for Iraq’s embattled attempts to move beyond sectarianism and violence.

On Sunday, the majority of the approximately 19 million registered voters will go to one of 50,000 polling places across the country to vote for members of Parliament that now has 325 seats up for grabs. Iraqi exiles will be able to vote as well, and that final tally could be anywhere from 300,000 to 3 million. Approximately 180,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), within the country, driven from their homes because of sectarian warfare within their communities over the past year, will also be voting.

Ad Melkert, U.N. Special Representative to Iraq

We want to salute the brave men and women of the U.N. ASSISTANCE MISSION FOR IRAQ (UNAMI), especially the Electoral Assistance Office, for the tireless and dedicated work they have done in working with the Iraqi High Electoral Commission to insure a fair, honest and successful election. U.N. Special Representative to Iraq, Ad Melkert, has directed these efforts.

The U.N. is fighting an uphill battle in this effort because this election is essentially under Iraqi control. The U.N. will have 13 teams of poll-watchers – not nearly enough with the thousands of polling places, each mandated to only handle a few hundred local registered voters. The international community will field approximately 600 monitors, and the EUROPEAN UNION will have 126 ‘observers’ in 14 provinces.

The Iraqi political parties and alliances will do their own monitoring. Fraud, abuse, vote-rigging and voter intimidation are expected, but on what scale remains to be seen. Violence has already increased, with the terrible bombings that occurred within the past days, targeting governmental buildings, civilians and voters on Thursday.

U.S. Embassy Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) have assisted the High Electoral Commission in advising and training election workers, in anticipation of this critical parliamentary election cycle. The U.S. military will stand by to assist the Iraqi security forces when help is requested, but our role and flexibility has diminished considerably since the last election. It’s a wait-and-see mission for us right now.

WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE THE 2005 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS?

Some Iraqis have demonstrated against what they describe as Kurdish influence in Mosul, the Capitol of the Northern province of Nineveh, and the proposed Kurdish constitution.

For better or worse, the political landscape in Iraq has changed dramatically, and this election will be historic in ways that will either be successful or disastrous! Unlike the 2005 parliamentary election, this time the Sunnis will be actively engaged, with their own parties, alliances and candidates. If this election produces a wave of fraud and corruption charges, and Sunnis decide they have been cheated out of their rightful place within the government, the Sunni-led insurgency could be re-ignited in short order, and that would most likely plunge Iraq back into the kind of sectarian warfare that terrorized the country in 2005 and 2006.

The unresolved questions concerning KIRKUK and the disputed northern territories has disrupted the politics of Kurdistan, and greatly increased the tensions between Kurdistan and the Iraqi government. Were it not for U.S. forces in the area, most everyone believes that major clashes would have broken out between Iraqi Arab security forces and Kurdish peshmerga militias. The Kurdish vote will be unpredictable.

The Shiite community is now split down the middle!  Unlike 2005, when the vast majority of Shiites voted for the united alliance that won a majority in parliament and appointed al-Malaki as prime minister, this time they are lining up behind two major alliances and smaller Shiite/Sunni groups. This fracturing will prove to be critical in the coming weeks because it will insure that there are no major winners, and that new alliances must be forged before a functioning government can be formed.

Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki

Prime Minister Nuri al-Malaki has split off with his STATE OF LAW party, which is aligned with the Anbar Salvation Front, a Sunni party.

Ahmed Chalabi

His menacing rival is the NATIONAL IRAQI ALLIANCE, which includes the Badr Brigade, Sadrists, the Islamic Virtue Party (Fadhilah) and the nefarious opportunist, Ahmed Chalabi, the career liar who feed the Bush administration the WMD disinformation that the Bush administration used to justify the war.

Ayad Allawi

The greatest hope for democracy, secularism and sanity in Iraq is the IRAQ NATIONAL MOVEMENT, led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

It is predicted that no alliance will win enough of a parliamentary majority to form a government. The ensuing negotiations and maneuvering will drag out for weeks and weeks if not months, which is just what happened after the 2005 elections. The civil war broke out during those months of governmental paralysis, and it could happen again!

This time, there won’t be thousands of U.S. forces in the cities to insure some degree of security. This time the forces of sectarian violence and intimidation will have free reign to use violence to distort and manipulate the ultimate outcome of the election.

If al-Malaki is rejected as the next prime minister, will he go quietly, or will he resist, thus jumpstarting a Constitutional crisis? Will the security forces back him or remain neutral? Will the Sunnis reject the election results and take up arms again?

This election is a watershed moment for Iraq. Their future begins right now. Will democracy survive, or will sectarian and tribal violence once again rule the day?

Will 2010 be a year of hope for the Iraqi people, or a return to despair?

Kurdistan includes the three Provinces of DAHUK, ARBIL AND SULAYMANIYAH.

The concept of FEDERALISM was incorporated into the political future of Iraq because of the ethno-sectarian violence that was tearing the country apart. The Constitutional writers recognized that the warring factions in Iraq might never reconcile their ethnic, religious and tribal grievances and blood feuds. They provided FEDERALISM as a mechanism to separate these factions to some degree while still maintaining a unified country – the FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF IRAQ.

As we see it in its most basic form, a FEDERAL REPUBLIC would break down into a predominately SUNNI REGION, a SHIA REGION, a MIXED REGION and the existing KURDISTAN. BAGHDAD PROVINCE, with its dense population, could be a REGION in and of itself, with Baghdad City remaining the Iraqi capital.

Why is FEDERALISM so critical right now?

The city of BAGHDAD is the perfect example of why REGIONS must be established, before it is too late.

On Oct. 25, massive suicide car bombs, killing more than 150 and injuring hundreds more, once again shook Baghdad. The Justice Ministry and the Provincial Council Buildings were destroyed as once again, the very heart of the Iraqi government has been targeted. Iraq continues to self-destruct before our eyes!

Until mid-summer, the various factions within the sprawling city were separated by a complicated maze of blast walls and traffic barriers. Al-Malaki started removing these barriers in Aug. as a crass political move to bolster his credentials as the prime minister who brought security to the country.

Shortly afterwards, the latest wave of truck and suicide bombings started up in Baghdad and across the countryside, including the horrific double-truck bombings that destroyed two ministry buildings. Al-Malaki quickly reversed the policy, his reputation seriously damaged as the number of dead and injured dramatically increased.

These latest Oct. bombings will weaken him all the more!

THE GREATER QUESTION THUS BECOMES: As American forces begin to drawn down in earnest, will the ethno-sectarian violence flare up with even greater intensity, laying bare the hollowness of al-Malaki’s security claims?

The terrible bombings that have taken place through Sept. and Oct. indicate to us that Iraq is far from secure, and that the next phase of sectarian civil warfare could already be in motion. The Obama administration must wake up and recognize this terrible possibility as well, and to take actions to head it off.

Two powerful forces are on parallel tracks right now in Iraq: The Jan 2010 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS and the BOMBING AND ASSASSSINATION CAMPAIGN.

Regardless of how the election comes out, and who the next prime minister is, we believe the United States MUST renegotiate the STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT so our troops can remain on hand to deal with an emerging civil war.

The next Parliament MUST move quickly forward with the implementation of FEDERALISM once and for all!

With that in mind, we have taken this opportunity to provide a hypothetical map of THE REGIONS OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF IRAQ. These five regions generally correspond to the main concentrations of SUNNI, SHIITE and MIXED POPULATIONS, as well as recognizing KURDISTAN as the de facto KURDISH REGION.

Like KURDISTAN, these theoretical regions would have the right to establish their own government, judiciary and security forces. And like KURDISTAN, they could have their own regional Constitution as long as it didn’t contradict the national Constitution.

This point is especially critical because Iraq already is facing a CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS in the form of the new KURDISTAN CONSTITUTION, which gives Kurdish courts the right to declare Kurdish Law superior to Iraq Law, if a conflict arises,

The Iraqi Constitution allows for the formation of REGIONS, but it does not mandate it! It is a Constitutional choice and option for like-minded Provinces, should they decide to come together.

We not only see the value in REGIONS, we see the absolute necessity of it!

The national government has abdicated its responsibility to implement FEDERALISM and we must call them on it. Two many critical issues have gone unresolved in Iraq for far too long, and FEDERALISM IS AT THE TOP OF THE LIST.

IF this issue is pushed off until after the election, and then ignored by the new parliament and prime minister, and the evolving civil war reaches critical mass, the possible scenarios are all terrible – for Iraq and us as well.

• As chaos once again grips the countryside, a MILITARY COUP could topple the government and a military leader could assume dictatorial powers.
• A civil war could degenerate into general anarchy, like SOMALIA.
• Neighboring countries could send troops across the borders: Saudi Arabia to defend their fellow Sunnis, Iran to defend their fellow Shiites.  The entire region could plunge into upheaval, with American forces trapped in the middle.
• KURDISTAN could declare full independence and claim the oil fields around KIRKUK as their own, setting off a conflict with Turkey.

OUR MAP OF REGIONS represents the most realistic chance for avoiding a complete breakdown of Iraqi social order. As the recent cycle of bombings demonstrates, Iraqi society is violent and fragile and unstable. And we can clearly see that the more our military pulls back, the worse it gets. The Success of the Surge is falling apart.

We must FIRST suspend the STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT. We must then put all available pressure on the new Iraqi government to move quickly forward with FEDERALISM so these warring factions can separate into secure REGIONS.

OUR MAP OF REGIONS illustrates a peaceful possible future for Iraq.

This map will save Iraq by creating its future, like its glorious past, as the sister city of Babylon that is pictured in the Jan./Feb. 2010 of The National Interest (inside front cover).

With the powerful continued stewardship of Iraq by both America and the UN, we can create Iraq’s new future that will again give it the ancient glory of Baghdad and Babylon.

America and the United Nations must except the continuing partnership and stewardship with and of Iraq for the benefits of their entire population, the harmony of the Middle East – and a model for other countries in the world to follow.

The future belongs to us – but only if we stay together continuously as partners dedicated to the power of human intelligence and cooperation…

Here’s to our mutual success!

Iraqi soldiers inspect the site of a car bomb attack in al-Qahira neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq on 8 December 2009. At least 112 were killed and 197 others injured in the wave of blasts that ripped through the Iraqi capital earlier today, police said

THE SUCCESS:

After many weeks of intense sectarian conflict and bitter negotiations, the IRAQI PARLIAMENT has finally approved the long-awaited ELECTION REFORM LAW. These reforms were essential if the 2010 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS were to have any legitimacy.

Without the reforms that have just been incorporated into the new law, the country faced the very real possibility that major ethnigroups would boycott the elections, setting the stage for a renewal of the 2006 civil war.

The elections are now tentatively scheduled for March 6, almost two months behind the original Jan. 12 date. If this schedule does not stand, a CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS will ensue and the current government will automatically dissolve.

The reform law was originally passed in early November, but Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, vetoed it. He demanded more representation for Sunnis living abroad, which number well over three million. The Kurds in turn demanded more representation for minorities in the disputed Northern Territories around Kirkuk.

The impasse these new demands created lead to intense American and UN involvement to break the deadlock and avoid the Constitutional crisis of a dissolved government.

Without the reform laws, the High Electoral Commission was paralyzed and unable to prepare for the elections. This is not a process that can be rushed to completion, especially without a firm election date to work around.

We know that both President Obama and Vice President Biden got involved by talking directly with Massoud Barzani. The Kurds had two other demands that have been met to their satisfaction – for now.

The Kurds have been pushing for a new census in the Northern Territories – the border regions between Kurdistan and northern Iraq – because they believe it will reflect a greater number of Kurds and Kurdish sympathizers then the 2005 census. They have now been promised a 2010 CENSUS, to be monitored by the UN.

The Kurds will now have 43 seats in Parliament instead of their current 38 seats. The 2010 Parliament will have 325 seats.

And most importantly, Obama and Biden promised the Kurds that the FINAL STATUS OF KIRKUK will be determined in 2010 according to parameters set out in the IRAQI CONSTITUTION.

Our reading of this development is that the FEDERALISM that is offered in the Iraqi Constitution will finally be allowed to play out – that the PROVINCES will be given the opportunity to come together as REGIONS. If this is, in fact, what Obama and Biden have promised the Kurds, then all of our remaining influence will have to be brought into play to force the new government to move forward with FEDERALISM.

The Kurds believe that if given the opportunity under FEDERALISM, Kirkuk Province (At Ta’min Province) will join the existing KURDISTAN REGION, thus giving Kurdistan the complete control over the oil-rich area they have long coveted.

The main obstacle to Federalism has always been the Shia Political Class, because Federalism would dilute the powers of the central government in Baghdad, and Shiites are clearly going to hold onto the majority of Parliamentary seats in the 2010 election, and once again be in a position to appoint the next prime minister. The last thing they are going to do is give up power voluntarily.

We’ve been arguing for years that a SHIA THEOCRACY would attempt to hang onto power, whatever it took.

In this sense, the coming year will be the FINAL SHOWDOWN ON FEDERALISM IN IRAQ. And Obama and Biden must keep their promises and make it happen!

The reform law also calls for OPEN LIST election ballots instead of the CLOSED LIST system that discredited past elections.

THE TRAGEDY

Just as Iraq was celebrating the final approval of the long-awaited Election Reform Law, the country was once again torn apart on Dec. 8th by a series of massive car bombs aimed at government and civilian targets. The new Finance Ministry building was destroyed – the original building having been destroyed in the Aug. 9^th attacks. Also targeted in Baghdad was a complex of federal court buildings as well as the Labor Ministry. Beyond Baghdad, a series of roadside bombs were detonated, killing four American soldiers along with many Iraqi civilians and police officers.

Over 110 people have died from these attacks and hundreds more have been wounded.

Will Iraq ever see an end to this kind of horrific violence? Will every step forward in Iraq be answered with three bloody steps backwards?

The targeting of American patrols with roadside bombs has particularly ominous implications. Are we seeing the beginning of a new insurgency, aimed at us once again?

The thousands of SONS OF IRAQ militiamen have long since become disillusioned with us and our failure to force al-Malaki to make good on his promise to hire them into the security services and our civilian jobs. Could these intentional attacks on our patrols represent the next bloody phase of our entanglement in Iraq’s endless cycles of violence?

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

Sunni terrorists with al-Qaeda connection have claimed responsibility for the Oct. and Dec. bombings with this announcement: “The young men of Islam…set off to target the citadels of evil, the nests of infidelity and the centers of the rejectionist (Shiite) government. We are determined to uproot this government and pull down the pillars and target its points of strength. The list of targets will not end until the banner of one God is once again raised over Baghdad.”

Sadly, this group represents just one aspect of the multi-headed monster that we have come to know as Islamic fundamentalism.  All of the militant Jihadi groups that assemble under this banner – the many heads of the monster – have one thing in common: They all are capable and willing to use deplorable violence to express their beliefs and to advance their campaigns of terror, even against their fellow Moslems.

In the case of this group, they are waging a cowardly truck-bomb war against innocent civilians in order to destabilize the Shiite government – their fellow Moslems.  During the terrible months of 2005/2006, as ethno-sectarian warfare terrorized Iraqi cities, it was Sunni insurgents exterminating Shiites and Shiite death squads and rogue militias exterminating Sunnis and driving them out of entire communities, creating a refugee crisis that lingers to this day.

Radical Islam is a cancer that will destroy Iraq’s fragile democracy if it is not controlled. There are many failures in Iraq today that have contributed to the horrid success of these bombings. First and foremost is the obvious incompetence and corruption within the security services – the very people who time and again allow these bombers access to their targets.

We know that a number of the security people involved in the Oct. targets have been arrested for accepting bribes and allowing the car bombs through the high-security checkpoints to get right up to their targets.

We also know that the Iraqi security services use a worthless bomb-detecting ‘wand’ at their check points – a piece of junk the Iraqi government paid millions for.

Corruption and incompetence in the Iraqi security establishment have created a deplorable vacuum that allows these terrorists to strike at will. And as their statement says, they intend to continue their bombing campaign.

Six years into this war and occupation, Iraq is still plagued from within by the multi-headed monster of Radical Islam. Reconciliation has failed.

It’s not too late for Obama and Biden to assert our still-considerable influence in Iraq.

Regardless of the Iraqi election results, they must be relentless in making FEDERALISM IN IRAQ a reality. It still represents the most realistic and immediate hope for separating the rival ethno-religious factions in Iraq before they destroy the country from within!

Now read the terrible report of a bombing at this same university January 17th, 2007. Here it is below, in the blog of Zeyad, an Iraqi in the United States whose brother and sister were attending the university at the time of THAT bombing.

Remember Zeyad with the Healing Iraq blog?  This is what he had to say about violence at Mustansiriya University back in 2007:

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Yesterday’s barbaric bombings that targeted the students of Baghdad’s Mustansiriya University are the latest in a long series of dark stains that will mar the history of Iraqis for a long time to come.  It was the first all-out, wholesale targeting of college students whose only sin was attempting to finish their higher education – perhaps to flee the disaster-stricken country later, or to seek better jobs to support their families.

Over 80 students were robbed of their future by fanatics bent on revenge and destruction.  No one can fathom what was possibly in the mind of those who planted a car rigged with explosives in a college’s parking lot, where students carrying their lectures and books gather to wait for their minivans and buses, maybe in hopes of returning home to study for tomorrow’s exam, or maybe to share a meal or tea with loved-ones.  Nor can we understand what the man who waited, while watching the devastating scene of torn limbs, pools of blood, amid fire and smoke and the smell of burning flesh, and fleeing students after the first explosion, then pressed a button to blow himself up was thinking.  What were the perpetrators hoping to achieve?

Can you imagine the scene? Try.  Think of your own schools, your own college campuses.  Think of how you would feel if your own son or daughter had to go to school in the hell that is called Iraq.  Think of what you would do if you heard the news that the school was bombed.

Eyewitnesses said cell phones were still ringing urgently in pockets and purses lying around human body parts.  Try to imagine the person on the other line.

A man searched for his son and finally found his head and torso, but no legs.  “Where is his other half?” he asked, before he started shaking with violent sobs.

Over here [in the United States], the above scenes elicit a 20-second sound bite in the news, perhaps immediately followed by dog food or deodorant commercials.  At best, politicians would use it in talking points, to justify even more bloodshed and destruction.

Sucked up in a sectarian vortex they can never escape, students in Iraq face enemies from all sides.  Sadrist militias took over this particular university [Mustaniriya] a long time ago.  Posters of religious symbols filled lecture halls.  A black religious flag flew above the university’s main tower.  Girls were told to cover up, not just in veils, as was the case last year, but in ‘abayas, or full Islamic body garb.  College texts were tampered with.  Student unions became fronts for militiamen, who replaced former Ba’athist unions and threatened students and professors alike for any reason.  Professors were kicked out, because they were of the wrong sect or political ideology, and many were abducted and assassinated.  Just days ago, there were rumours that three female students from the university were kidnapped, tortured and raped before they were killed by militiamen.  However, some students insisted to complete their studies, even though attendance rates in Baghdad have fallen to less than 30%.  Dozens of academics were abducted and went missing in one recent incident when gunmen in police uniform stormed an educational institution.

As if all that was not enough, Sunni insurgent groups distributed pamphlets recently, calling on college students and professors to boycott their universities. Ironically, they called it a “campaign to support our scientists and students in Baghdad universities.”  Students were warned not to attend their classes because universities have turned into headquarters of militias and death squads.  “Save the lives of our professors and dear students from the rejectionist government of Maliki and their death squads,” one pamphlet said.  “It is prohibited to attend after this announcement.”  Another one featured a photo of the very main gate of Mustansiriya University, where the bombings took place yesterday, reading, “From these universities, our scientists graduated.  And today they are killed on their gates.  There is no solution to stop the bloodshed except by boycotting.”  “God willing,” said another, “we will work to cleanse universities from these filthy groups.”

Fliers

In response to these fliers, PM Maliki, who hides behind the concrete walls of the Green Zone, threatened to expel students and professors that did not continue to attend their schools.  Many families decided not to send their kids, anyway, and professors are still trying to flee the country, but many more have no other option but to go on … until the criminals strike.

Both my brother and sister are still college students in Baghdad. I can’t stop thinking of them.

posted by Zeyad :  1/18/2007 04:42:00 AM

These terrible events must register for all of us Americans. What a tragedy we have “unintentionally” brought about in Iraq as a result of taking the “lid” off of the potentially “explosive” varied population of Iraq that Saddam Hussein had kept from exploding during the rule of his Baath Party before we “removed that lid” with our invasion earlier.

This dire situation can only be held in check to preserve the lives and livelihood and the families of decent Iraqi citizens by the forceful but civilized and very powerful oversight of America and the United Nations and our Coalition Partners.

As you can see, we are presenting to you and to our government, White House, Congress, Pentagon, State Department and Citizens the “further refined” solution of a federated republic of Five Regions as presented to you for your inspection and comments on this website.

All of us Americans must, a necessity, be involved in making this move and this choice.

The situation is far too Deadly, Dire and Dangerous for us to back away from the situation that our Government created with our invasion.

This article appeared in the October 20, 2009 edition of the New York Times
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and RIYADH MOHAMMED

Mustansiriya University

BAGHDAD — Mustansiriya University, one of Iraq’s most prestigious universities, was temporarily closed this month by the prime minister in an effort to rid it of a shadowy student gang accused of murdering, torturing and raping fellow students, and killing professors and administrators.

The decision to close the 24,000-student university in northeast Baghdad was made last week after members of the group, the Students League, beat and pistol-whipped Abdullah al-Bayati, 63, an education professor, on campus. The professor and his wife, who also teaches there, have been publicly critical of the group.

Nuri Kamal al-Maliki

To offer incontrovertible evidence to skeptics about the dangers of teaching at Mustansiriya University, Professor Bayati decided to make a point: He went to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s office wearing his bloodied clothes and with untreated gashes on his face and head.

The next day, the prime minister, once a student at Mustansiriya, ordered the university closed one week.

During Iraq’s war, universities like Mustansiriya have not been spared. Since 2007, bombings at the institution have killed or maimed more than 335 students and staff members. Dozens of students and professors have been killed, and a 12-foot-high blast wall has been built around Mustansiriya.

Although Baghdad and most other areas of the country are now generally free of the armed militias that caused much of the violence during Iraq’s sectarian warfare, Mustansiriya seems a remnant of that chaos. It is under the sway of an armed group of violent Shiite students in engineering, literature, law and other disciplines; faculty members; and campus security guards.

Abed Thiab al-Ajili, Iraq’s minister of higher education, and administrators and professors at the university said in interviews that it was commonly believed that violence continued there because of ties between some of the officials in Mr. Maliki’s Shiite party, Dawa, and the Students League through university administrators who shielded the group from prosecution.

“Political parties are causing some of the problems,” said Dr. Ajili, who added that the prime minister had personally interfered with the internal politics of the university in the past. “I’m facing a difficult task dealing with these problems with the parties, but I am fighting.”

Students look at scene of two explosions in front of Mustansiriya University on January 16, 2007.

Ali al-Mousawi, an adviser to Mr. Maliki, denied any ties between the prime minister, who leads the Dawa Party, and the Students League. He said that before Dr. Bayati arrived bloodied last week, there had been insufficient cause to disband the Students League.

“There were suspicions about many student groups, but there was no proof until the case of Dr. Bayati,” he said. “It was a confirmed incident with evidence, so the prime minister made the decision.”

But professors and administrators at the school solemnly give the names of colleagues and students who were threatened by the group before being found dead: Jasim al-Fahaidawi, a professor of Arabic literature, shot dead at the university’s entrance in 2005; Najeb al-Salihi, a psychology professor, kidnapped in 2006 near the campus and found in the morgue three weeks later, shot to death; and Jasim Fiadh al-Shammari, a psychology professor fatally shot near the university, also in 2006.

The Students League, they said, controls campus activities and security, as well as aspects of grading, admissions and even which courses professors teach.

Books covered in blood at the scene of two explosions at Mustansiriya University in 2006

“They have spread an atmosphere of terror at the university,” said one professor, who, like most of the current and former administrators, professors, students and education officials who were interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The Students League has also asserted control by sharing money with some school administrators through bid-rigging of campus contracts and various other illegal means, said a university administrator whom the group had threatened to kill.

Most of the Shiite-led political parties now dominant in Iraq, including the Dawa Party, once had armed militias. Most of the armed groups have now been formally disbanded.

Mr. Maliki has won a reputation for confronting militias, for example, when he ordered government forces in 2008 to take on the Mahdi Army, the armed wing of the Sadrists, a Shiite group allied with him at the time.

But the prime minister waited to intercede at Mustansiriya University until Oct. 14, the day after he was met at his office by the bloodied Professor Bayati.

Ali al-Dabbagh, Mr. Maliki’s spokesman, said in a statement last week that the college was closed “due to the riotous activity of some gangs and undisciplined people in the university.” The Students League was not mentioned.

The directive included an order to suspend political activity there and to ban all student groups.

A second government statement announced that Baghdad Operations Command, a military entity that reports directly to the prime minister’s office, would begin providing campus security in concert with the university’s security staff, though it intended to stay outside the campus gates.

Before its temporary closing, the university had deteriorated into disorder. Two men claimed to be chancellor: one appointed by the minister of higher education, a second by the deans of Mustansiriya’s colleges. The men had offices in different buildings.

And the Students League acted with near impunity, according to people on campus. In a video shot with a cellphone, league members are shown marching through campus wearing black masks and waving bright yellow flags. Students they believed to be Sunni or Kurdish were harassed and sometimes never seen again, according to current and former students. They are widely feared, even by Shiite students.

A few weeks before Professor Bayati was beaten, his wife, Sana’a al-Tamimi, 58, who teaches educational psychology, publicly denounced the Students League, saying it had come to control the university through violence. She also spoke about the murders and assaults of professors, saying the group had committed “acts of terror.”

Afterward, she said, Students League members came to her campus office and threatened to kill her. They left only after several male professors intervened and pushed a large refrigerator in front of her office door.

Professor Tamimi said that in 2008, shortly after she was named an assistant dean, Students League members came to her office, threatened her and told her to quit. She resigned after just 20 days.

A school administrator said that when a new university chancellor was named this year, the Students League arrived at his office with knives and told him to step down. The chancellor quit a few weeks later, said the administrator, who said he had witnessed the confrontation.

The same administrator, who has received a death threat from the Students League, said the group killed a fellow professor two years ago because he had refused to give in to their demands.

“He was killed at the front gates of the university,” the administrator said.

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company