Good News From Iraq

From our good friend Haider Ajina:

Greetings, The following are two articles from Iraqi Media,

Semblance of normal life returns to restive Doura in Baghdad By Zainab Khuder Azzaman, November 30, 2007

Normal life is slowly returning to Doura, once one of Baghdad’s most violent neighborhoods. Anti-U.S. rebels and criminal gangs have apparently left the district following joint Iraqi and U.S. military operations. The neighborhood was almost under the full control of Islamic radicals, mainly those affiliated to al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia who imposed by force their strict interpretation of Islamic jurisdiction.

Religious minorities like Christians were either forced to leave or embrace Islam. The churches had closed their doors. Many Christians are reported to be returning. So have others including Sunni Muslims who objected to the imposition of Islamic rule in the neighborhood.

Meantime, Baghdad municipality is back with full force, paving roads, tidying roundabouts and squares, extending water pipes and collecting garbage. But residents say only portions of the sprawling neighborhood are so far covered with municipal services. They say such services have yet to cover the whole area. Adhra Mahmoud says public services have improved recently and the areas covered are tidier than before. “It is good that the government is employing people from Doura itself, leading to a drastic drop in the rate of joblessness,” she added.

Certain sections of Doura are on the fringes of Baghdad, believed to be the world’s largest city in area. For example, the Mekanik district is close to an abandoned marsh which the rebels have been using for hit-and-run attacks. Hala Mustafa does not hide her happiness on seeing municipality workers with their equipment roaming the neighborhood after an absence of nearly two years. “We do not have piped water but the workers are extending a new network and we hope clean water will flow to our homes soon,” said Mustafa.

The older network is rickety and sewage water seeps through it, added Mustafa. But there are fears that violence would return, forcing the municipal workers to flee.

Abdullah Mohammed said Doura was in need of “a comprehensive reconstruction plant” because it has suffered perhaps more than any other part of Baghdad.He called on the authorities to boost public services and expand them to cover the whole of Doura and “keep or rather reinforce the security forces charged with protecting its people.”

Gates: Largest military division to pull out from Iraq in weeks
Baghdad - Voices of Iraq Wednesday , 05 /12 /2007 Time 9:58:05

Baghdad, Dec 5 (VOI) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said on Wednesday that the biggest American division is to withdraw from Iraq by December 2007.

The withdrawal of more American troops is to take place next February and March, provided that security conditions continue to significantly improve.

“The largest American unit in Iraq will start withdrawing by December 2007, if security improves significantly. More units are to pull out next February and March” Gates said in a joint press conference with Abdel Qadir al-Ubaidi, his Iraqi counterpart.

180,000 U.S. soldiers are currently stationed in Iraq since U.S. President George Bush announced a surge in the level of U.S. troops stationed in Iraq in early 2007.

Gates added, “Numbers of al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq are trying to regroup and move back into the areas that they have been pushed out of.”

Yet he notes that “al-Qaeda in Iraq has been significantly weakened with U.S. troops and friendly tribal forces pushing them out of Anbar province and Baghdad.”

When asked about the affects of military bases on civilians, Gates answered “I understand the nature of the affect that military troops have in a populated city, but we are talking about ways to achieve progress in security and not other things; enhancing security is what is now important.”

Gates' plane landed in Iraq's northern city of Mosul coming from Afghanistan," the head of the Joint Media Center, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

It is the sixth visit for the U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates since assuming the post in mid-2006. Gates' last visit to Iraq was on September 3, 2007 when he accompanied President George W. Bush on a surprise visit to the Sunni Anbar province, where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, and Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi at Al-Asad air base near Ramadi.

My comments,

Cafés and shops in Baghdad are beginning to stay open for longer hours and are having a resurgence of clientele and improvement of Business. Abu Nawass Street, a four lane wide street running along the Tigres in Baghdad, famous for its well light cafés and Mesgoof fish restaurants. Mesgoof is a style of cooking fish in front of an open wood fire. The fish is opened and held up by wooden stakes. Similar to how our local Native Tribes cook Salmon. Prime Minister Alamliki recently reopened Abu Nawas Street after improved security, much refurbishment and improvements to the road, wide sidewalks and infrastructure. Speaking to my father, in Baghdad earlier this week, he said, ‘If just four months ago any one would have said that security in Baghdad would be this good no one would have believed them’.

The surge (thanks to our men and women serving in Iraq and the Iraqis) is defiantly making a large positive difference in the security of Baghdad in specific and Iraq in general.

Regards

Haider Ajina

MCkeinleyville CA