Pope: I Pray for Chile Earthquake Victims

“I implore God to give them relief from suffering and courage in this adversity”

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his 2008 Christmas Day blessing from St. Peter’s Basilica. (Photo credit: Franco Origlia / Getty Images)

Feb. 28, 2010 

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged the survivors of Chile’s devastating quake to be courageous and asked the Catholic church to play a role in relief efforts.

Photo chronicle Earthquake rocks Chile A devastating magnitude-8.8 earthquake strikes Chile.

The pontiff, speaking first in Italian and then in Spanish, told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square that he was praying for the victims.

“My thoughts go to Chile and to the population struck by the earthquake, which has caused much loss of human life and huge damage,” Benedict said.

“I am sure that solidarity won’t be lacking,” he said, singling out the local church in that predominantly Roman Catholic country for a role in disaster relief.

“I pray for the victims, and I am spiritually close to those so tried by such a grave calamity,” he said. “For those, I implore God to give them relief from suffering and courage in this adversity.” …

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 28, 2009

A cross and swastika are burned at an event called Hated and Proud in Nebraska in July 2008. (Photo credit: Southern Poverty Law Center / CNN)

Obama, Economy Fuel Hate Groups

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that the Southern Poverty Law Center had released its annual hate group report, titled “The Year in Hate.” The study identified 926 hate groups active in 2008 and found that the number of hate groups had grown by 54 percent since 2000.

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Chile Hit by 8.8 Magnitude Earthquake; Hawaii Braces for Tsunami

Warning sirens blare after Chile temblor triggers potentially deadly wave

Video

Feb. 27, 2010

EWA BEACH, Hawaii – A tsunami triggered by the Chilean earthquake raced across the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, threatening Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast as well as hundreds of islands from the bottom of the planet to the top.

Sirens blared in Hawaii to alert residents to the potential waves. Nine small planes equipped with loudspeakers flew along the shoreline, warning beachgoers. On several South Pacific islands hit by a tsunami last fall, police evacuated tens of thousands of coastal residents.

The first waves in Hawaii were expected to hit shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday (3 p.m. CST; 2100 GMT) and measure roughly 8 feet at Hilo. Most Pacific Rim nations did not immediately order evacuations, but advised people in low-lying areas to be on the lookout. …

A tsunami warning — the highest alert level — was in effect for Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Samoa and dozens of other Pacific islands. An advisory — the lowest level — includes California, Oregon, Washington state, parts of Alaska, and coastal British Colombia. …

President Barack Obama urged people to follow instructions about tsunami warnings. …

Wave may travel up to 600 mph

Waves were likely to hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of Saturday’s quake. A tsunami wave can travel at up to 600 mph, said Jenifer Rhoades, tsunami program manager at the National Weather Service in Washington, DC. …

In Hilo, officials cordoned off the first three blocks next to the beach. A few people watched the still ocean as a whale swam off the coast, but streets were mostly empty as tsunami sirens blared. …

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle … declared a state of emergency as the island chain prepares for possible tsunami damage. …

Late update

Tsunami Expert: Hawaii ‘Dodged a Bullet’

Hawaii largely unscathed by waves caused by massive Chilean temblor

Still images captured from video over a two-hour period show the changing water color and wave action in Hilo Bay during the time the first tsunami waves were expected following the Chilean earthquake. (Photo credit: MSNBC)

Feb. 27, 2010

TOKYO – With a rapt world watching the drama unfold on live television, a tsunami raced across a quarter of the globe on Saturday and set off fears of a repeat of the carnage that caught the world off guard in Asia in 2004. …

Hawaii had originally prepared to bear the brunt of the damage, but the tsunami was smaller than anticipated.

“We dodged a bullet,” said Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. …

The tsunami caused a series of surges in Hawaii that were about 20 minutes apart, and the waves arrived later and smaller than originally predicted. The highest wave at Hilo measured 5.5 feet high, while Maui saw some as high as 6.5 feet. …

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 27, 2009

Afghan men shout anti-U.S. slogans during a demonstration against coalition forces in Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. (Photo credit: Rahmat Nikzad / AP)

GOP Support for Iraq Pullout

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that President Barack Obama won crucial backing for his Iraq military withdrawal plan from leading Congressional Republicans, including Senator John McCain and Ohio Rep. John A. Boehner, the House minority leader.

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Bombers, ‘Intense’ Gunbattles Kill 16 in Kabul

Attackers target hotels catering to foreigners; Taliban claims responsibility

Afghan military personnel rush past a Kabul city center shopping mall during a firefight with the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2010 (Photo credit: Ahmad Masood / Reuters)

NBC News and The Associated Press
Feb. 26, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan – Insurgents struck in the heart of the Afghan capital Friday with suicide attackers and a car bomb, targeting hotels used by foreigners and killing at least 16 people and wounding dozens, police said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, which Afghan President Hamid Karzai said were aimed at Indians working in Kabul.

The Taliban has long opposed India’s involvement in the country and its ties to the Northern Alliance that helped the U.S. oust the Taliban regime in 2001 and formed the backbone of Karzai’s government.

Six Indians were killed in the attacks, a spokesman for the country’s foreign ministry said, revising the number from the ministry’s original estimate of up to nine Indians dead. An Italian diplomat and a French filmmaker were also among the dead. Three Afghan police were killed, and six more officers were among the 36 people wounded, Afghan government officials said.

The four-hour assault began about 6:30 a.m. with a car bombing that leveled a residential hotel used by Indian doctors. A series of explosions and gunbattles left blood and debris in the rain-slicked streets and underscored the militants’ ability to strike in the heavily defended capital even as NATO marshals its forces against them in the volatile south. …

Photo chronicle

Bombers, gunmen strike heart of Kabul Multiple explosions and deadly battles bring chaos to the Afghan capital.

Attack follows U.S. offensive

The Kabul attacks came two weeks into a major offensive against the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah, where thousands of U.S., Afghan and NATO soldiers are battling to drive out insurgents. The British government said one of its soldiers was killed Friday by an explosion while on a foot patrol — the 14th NATO service member to die in the operation.

In recent weeks, more than two dozen senior and midlevel Taliban figures have been detained in Pakistan, suggesting the attacks in the capital could be a way for the militants to show the insurgency remains potent. …

Video Taliban suicide bombers attack Kabul (NBC Nightly News, Feb. 26, 2010) – A coordinated attack by suicide bombers killed at least 17 people in Afghanistan’s capital Friday. NBC’s Brian Williams reports. (01:40)

The Indian Embassy in Kabul has been the target of two major attacks, one in July 2008 that killed more than 60 and another last October that killed 17. …

Kabul Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahman told reporters the attacks started with a car bomb that exploded outside the Arya Guesthouse where Indian doctors stay. …

The blast leveled the building, also known as the Hamid Guesthouse. After the car bombing, a suicide attacker detonated his vest of explosives outside the demolished building.

Two other attackers then entered a second hotel known as Park Residence. Police surrounded the building. One of them holed himself up in a room and then blew himself up, killing three police officers and wounding six others. The other attacker was shot dead by police. …

Video Suicide attacks kill 17 in Afghanistan (NBC News Channel, Feb. 26, 2010) – The Taliban is claiming responsibility for the suicide bombs that triggered a series of explosions and gunbattles in Kabul, killing at least 17 people. NBC’s Tom Aspell reports. (01:27)

First attack since Jan. 18

It was the first attack in the Afghan capital since Jan. 18, when teams of suicide bombers and gunmen targeted government buildings, leaving 12 dead, including seven attackers. On Dec. 15, a suicide car bomber hit near a hotel frequented by foreigners, killing eight people.

That followed an October attack on a small residential hotel that housed a number of U.N. election workers. Gunmen with suicide vests stormed the building, killing five U.N. staff.

India is among the largest economic donors to Afghanistan apart from countries that have sent troops to the NATO-led mission. India is seeking regional allies and access to oil- and gas-rich central Asia.

India’s growing role here is strongly opposed by Pakistan, which wants a friendly government without ties to its archrival, and by the Taliban. Many of the Islamic extremist groups in the region have been fighting the Indians for years in Indian-controlled parts of Kashmir. …

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Related report

Shellshocked: The Kabul Bombing

The Park Residence hotel in Kabul, blown up on Feb. 26, 2010, was a favorite of foreigners, including Newsweek reporters. (Photo: Behrouz Mehri / AFP — Getty Images)

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Related reports on this site

Taliban Siege Rattles Kabul (Jan. 19, 2010)

Escalating Afghanistan Violence (Nov. 20, 2009)

Afghan War Closes in on Kabul (Oct. 28, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 26, 2009

Bachmann: “DCCC is After Me!”

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann had acknowledged for the first time — at least implicitly — the uproar her controversial public comments have caused.

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Anti-American Bloc Gains Ahead of Iraq Vote

Next Iraqi prime minister could be openly hostile to U.S. and friendly toward Iran

Thousands of demonstrators march during a rally at Firdous Square in Baghdad, Nov. 21, 2008. Followers of Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who called America “an enemy of Islam,” marched against a pact letting U.S. forces stay in Iraq until 2011 and toppled an effigy of President George W. Bush where U.S. troops once tore down a statue of Saddam Hussein.

Feb. 24, 2010

BAGHDAD — The political movement of Iraq’s best-known anti-American cleric has emerged as a major contender in next month’s national elections, raising the possibility that the next prime minister could be openly hostile to the U.S. and friendly toward Iran.

A prime minister loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr might push the U.S. military to speed up its withdrawal timetable and pose a threat to future military and economic cooperation between the United States and Iraq.

Such a choice also could undermine efforts to reconcile Iraq’s religious groups, with memories still fresh of brutal sectarian warfare between al-Sadr’s Shiite militiamen and Sunni extremists.

The United States looks to the March 7 election as a key step to cement Iraq’s infant democracy.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s alliance, backed by the powers of incumbency, has been widely viewed as the bloc that would emerge with the largest number of seats.

Coalition facing tough challenge

But al-Maliki’s standing has been hurt by a series of horrific bombings in central Baghdad that exposed the inadequacies of Iraq’s security forces. The lack of tangible improvement in basic services and allegations of corruption have further hurt his chances.

Al-Maliki’s coalition is facing a tough challenge from a rival Shiite bloc, the religiously oriented Iraqi National Alliance. The main partners in this bloc are the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC [formerly the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI], and the Sadrists.

If the Iraqi National Alliance emerges as the largest bloc in the 325-seat parliament — and if the Sadrists win more seats than SIIC — that would likely place the fiery cleric in a strong position to pick the next prime minister.

SIIC officials are quietly acknowledging that the Sadrists are likely to emerge as the biggest winner in the bloc, thus robbing their own party of the chance to secure the prime minister’s job.

They say Iran, which wields a great deal of influence within Iraq’s Shiite establishment, is throwing its weight behind the Sadrists in the hope that they would do its bidding in a new government.

A top SIIC leader, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said the party would try to prevent the Sadrists from gaining control by securing the support of smaller groups within the coalition.

Officials at al-Maliki’s Shiite-led “State of Law” coalition also have acknowledged the Sadrists will fare well in the vote.

Salah al-Obeidi, al-Sadr’s chief spokesman, told The Associated Press that party projections indicate the National Alliance would win 70 to 80 seats in the new legislature. Of these, he said, the Sadrists would have at least 35 seats.

While the forecast by the Sadrists could prove to be optimistic — there are no reliable polls — the movement has rebounded over the past year.

Grass-roots social welfare network

Al-Sadr’s own political fortunes have been cyclical since he emerged as a power broker at the height of Iraq’s violence. He maintained a low profile after leaving for Iran in 2007 as the U.S. began its buildup of troops, who cracked down on his militia and Sunni insurgents. But he recently has appeared to be positioning himself as a politician, replacing his militia with a grass-roots social welfare network.

His movement made a respectable showing in last year’s provincial elections and has seen support grow in Baghdad and across the southern Shiite heartland. Much of its rise is tied to its social, health and education services and tireless calls for the withdrawal of the Americans, a stand that resonates with mostly poor Shiites who see the U.S. presence as the root of the country’s problems.

A Sadrist prime minister, or one under the movement’s influence, would likely call for a faster withdrawal of U.S. forces, who are currently scheduled to be gone by the end of next year.

A Sadrist-led administration also could jeopardize progress toward national reconciliation after years of killings and kidnappings, mostly at the hands of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia — which battled U.S. troops for years in Baghdad’s Shiite slums and in cities across the south.

It also would deal a blow to the U.S. aim of creating a model Western-style democracy in the region, as the Sadrists would likely favor a strict interpretation of Islamic teachings. Al-Sadr himself believes in the right to rule by the most learned cleric, the concept that underpins the rule of the clergy in neighboring Iran.

Unlikely that cleric would take job

Al-Sadr’s supporters haven’t commented on whether they have a specific candidate for the prime minister’s post — and it’s highly unlikely that the fiery cleric would himself take the job himself. Al-Sadr, who has been studying in Iran for the last two years, prefers to speak from the pulpit and is known to be seeking an elevated position in the Shiite religious hierarchy.

But al-Sadr, whose followers fought U.S. forces for years before being routed in a series of offensives, would be able to handpick a candidate for the job or at least play kingmaker if his supporters win enough seats in the new parliament.

Sami al-Askari, a close al-Maliki aide, questioned the Sadrists’ ability to forge a postelection alliance with the country’s main Kurdish bloc — a necessity in Iraq’s fractured political scene since no single bloc is expected to win enough votes to claim an outright majority.

Iraq’s Kurdish and Sunni minorities are expected to emerge with enough seats to allow them to be key partners in a Shiite-led government. In a similar position is a secular alliance led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi.

Another al-Maliki aide, Ali al-Adeeb, said the Sadrists would probably adopt a candidate from outside their ranks to ensure the support of other blocs. The two aides said an election victory for the SIIC-Sadrist alliance was far from guaranteed.

One-time Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi and former prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari were among names mentioned by officials from SIIC and within the ranks of the Sadrists.

Many Sunnis particularly loathe Chalabi for what they see as his campaign to weaken them through his leadership of a panel that has weeded out thousands from government and armed forces jobs for their alleged ties to Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Al-Jaafari’s tenure as prime minister in 2005 and 2006 saw some of Iraq’s worst sectarian violence, leading some to charge that he turned a blind eye to the slaughter of Sunnis.

Both men are known to be close to Iran.

» New development

Shiite Cleric Faces Warrant over 2003 Murder

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra

March 2, 2010

BAGHDAD – In a surprise move ahead of weekend elections, Iraq’s highest judicial body has renewed an arrest warrant against an anti-U.S. Shiite leader for the murder of a moderate cleric nearly seven years ago, a senior government official and a spokesman for the leader said Tuesday.

Muqtada al-Sadr, who heads one of the major Shiite parties competing against Iraq’s Shiite prime minister, is believed to have been living in neighboring Iran for the past two years. He is not thought to be planning to return to Iraq any time soon, although a rumor has been circulating among supporters that he wanted to make an appearance in Iraq before Sunday’s parliamentary vote.

U.S. officials blamed al-Sadr for the April 10, 2003, assassination of Shiite cleric Majid al-Khoie, who was slain after returning to the holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad in hopes of winning support for the Americans from Shiite clergy.

A warrant was issued for al-Sadr in the al-Khoie slaying by Iraqi authorities in 2004, but he was never arrested. Instead, the warrant was quietly shelved as part of the cease-fire deals the Americans accepted under pressure from Shiite clerics and politicians.

They feared a public backlash if foreign occupiers dealt harshly with the scion of one of the Shiites’ most prestigious families.

But The Associated Press has obtained a new arrest warrant dated Feb. 7 that lists al-Sadr along with 13 other men as wanted in the killing of al-Khoie. …

Similar moves against al-Sadr in the past have unleashed protests by his followers across much of Iraq.

His militia, the Mahdi Army, fought U.S. forces in Baghdad and across the Shiite south in at least two full-scale rebellions since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. But his fighters were routed in a series of U.S.-Iraqi offensives in 2008, forcing al-Sadr to declare a cease-fire, and the issuance of the warrant was unlikely to spark a violent backlash.

His movement, which has 29 seats in the outgoing legislature and performed respectably in provincial elections last year, also has been positioning itself as a political force. …

Al-Sadr on Monday urged followers to turn out in large numbers for Sunday’s vote, endorsing the election as a means to rid Iraq of what he called U.S. occupation. …

Sadrist spokesman Salah al-Obeidi said the warrant was “designed to undermine the popular base of Muqtada al-Sadr.” A statement by the politburo of the “Sadrist Trend” — the name by which al-Sadr’s supporters are known — called it an “irresponsible” act by the government.

Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, however, denied that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki or anyone in his government had anything to do with the arrest warrant. “This is cheap election propaganda,” he said. “Muqtada al-Sadr is an important figure and his movement is part of the political process.”

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2/28/10 Update

Iraq’s Ex-U.S. Favorite Rising Again Ahead of Vote

By Hamza Hendawi

Feb. 28, 2010

BAGHDAD – Ahmad Chalabi — a one-time Pentagon favorite whose faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction helped pave the way for the Iraq war — was a secular politician groomed by his U.S. backers to replace Saddam Hussein.

After falling out with the Americans, the MIT graduate has reinvented himself — again. He is now a top candidate in an alliance led by an Iranian-backed Shiite religious party.

Chalabi, 65, has bolstered his Shiite credentials with a push against former Saddam loyalists from the helm of a committee that banned nearly 500 candidates linked to the ousted Baath Party from running in the March 7 election.

The move has angered Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority and jeopardized U.S. efforts to promote the parliamentary vote as a chance to reconcile the rival Islamic sects following years of violence.

“The Iraqi people have ousted Saddam but the Baath Party is now trying to barge into the political arena again despite the clauses in the constitution that ban the party,” Chalabi said as he addressed a crowd of about 200 tribal leaders and other Shiites Sunday at a campaign rally in northern Baghdad.

It’s testimony to his ability to adapt and to the influence of religion on post-Saddam Iraqi politics despite a backlash against sectarian parties in provincial elections held last year. Chalabi has joined forces with anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC, in a coalition called the Iraqi National Alliance.

That raises the possibility that he could emerge as a compromise candidate for prime minister if the alliance wins the largest number of seats in the new 325-member legislature. He would be an unlikely choice, but the Sadrists might choose Chalabi since he’s more able to secure the support of other groups to join a coalition government.

Long known as an elitest who is out of touch with Iraqis after spending decades in exile, Chalabi also has been trying to garner more support by appealing to the ordinary man, often singling out al-Sadr’s supporters, mainly impoverished Shiites who comprise the bulk of the population in Baghdad and southern Iraq.

As part of his latest political orientation, Chalabi has been making regular public appearances at major Shiite religious occasions, donning mourning black, for example, at ceremonies dedicated to the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, one of Shiism’s most revered saints when participants weep and beat their chests to show their sorrow. …

He also was at total ease laying out campaign promises that ranged from jobs, cheap housing, better education, fighting corruption and a transparent government. …

“He is an old fox,” Kazim al-Muqdadai, a political analyst who lectures political science at Baghdad University, said of Chalabi. “He is only thinking of his personal glory.”

Chalabi has drifted far from where he was on the eve of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

At the time, his Pentagon backers saw him as a possible replacement for Saddam. Intelligence he provided on Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction gave the Bush administration reason to invade Iraq. He was a guest at Bush’s State of the Union address in 2004. When no WMDs were found, relations soured quickly.

The Americans picked a rival Shiite, Ayad Allawi, for the prime minister’s job when they formally ended their occupation of Iraq in June 2004. It was during that year too that the Americans accused Chalabi of passing to Iran U.S. military secrets. …

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INTERACTIVE

Iraq votes: The 2010 Iraqi parliamentary elections

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SIDEBAR

AP (March 2, 2010) — Republican strategist Karl Rove argues in a new memoir, “Courage and Consequence,” that history will look favorably on Bush’s two-term presidency, particularly his decision to invade Iraq. He calls the 2003 invasion the most consequential act of the Bush presidency and a justifiable response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, even though al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, not Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, were responsible. … Full story

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AFTER SADDAM — IRAN’S GROWING INFLUENCE

Sunni Party Drops Out of Iraq National Elections

Controversy over legitimacy of vote threatens to re-open sectarian wounds

Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni politician who has been barred from running in Iraq’s national election next month because of alleged ties to the Baath party, is seen at a press conference in Baghdad on Sept. 5, 2006. (Photo credit: Khalid Mohammed / AP)

Feb. 20, 2010

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s main Sunni party said Saturday it is dropping out of next month’s national elections, seizing on U.S. concerns about Iran’s influence in the political process as proof that the vote will not be legitimate.

A statement from the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue stopped short of urging Sunni voters to boycott the March 7 parliamentary election. But the party called on other political groups to join it in withdrawing from the ballot.

Saturday’s announcement raises the likelihood that the results of the vote will be called into question. U.S. and United Nations diplomats have expressed fears that a Sunni boycott that hands victory to Shiites would throw the results of the election into doubt. In turn, that could open the door to a new round of violence and delay plans for American troops to leave Iraq.

“The Iraqi Front for National Dialogue cannot continue in a political process run by a foreign agenda,” party spokesman Haidar al-Mullah said in a statement, referring to Iran’s alleged interference.

He said the party decided to pull out of the vote after U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill and Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top American military commander in Iraq, each described the Shiite leaders of a candidate-vetting panel as having ties to Iran.

‘Candidates ‘influenced by Iran’?

The vetting panel is led by Shiite politicians Ali al-Lami and Ahmed Chalabi. It banned more than 440 candidates whom it described as loyalists to Saddam Hussein’s outlawed Baath party. …

In a speech last week to the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, Odierno said the U.S. has direct intelligence that al-Lami and Chalabi “are clearly influenced by Iran.” Odierno also accused al-Lami of having been “involved in various nefarious activities in Iraq for some time.”

A day later, Hill told reporters in Washington that “absolutely, these gentlemen are certainly under the influence of Iran.” …

Setback to security?

A perception among Sunnis that they are being shut out of the election could set back progress the U.S. military has made since 2007 in reversing the insurgency, which threatened Iraq with civil war. A breakdown in security could also hamper U.S. plans to withdraw all combat troops by the end of August, a step that is critical to President Barack Obama’s new focus on Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blamed Baathists, in part, for a spate of horrific attacks on government buildings, hotels and religious sites since August that killed hundreds of people. Like most Shiite politicians in Iraq, al-Maliki has had a close relationship with Iran. …

The National Dialogue currently has 11 members in parliament, including al-Mutlaq. It is the main Sunni wing of the Iraqi National Movement, the nation’s top nonsectarian coalition. The Shiite wing of the National Movement is headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Shortly after al-Mullah issued his statement Saturday morning, another party, the National Council for Tribes of Iraq, said it also would drop out. The party includes both Sunnis and Shiites. …

Iraqi election officials say they expect about 19.8 million voters on March 7, and have opened 10,000 polling centers across the country.

Late update: Saleh al-Mutlaq has reversed the decision to pull his party out of the election, thereby mitigating the threat that minority Sunnis would boycott the vote.

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3/2/10 Update

Iraq Sunnis Brace for Election Fallout

Officials fear results of March 7 vote could lead to violence

An Iraqi policeman walks past campaign posters for candidates in Iraq’s March 7 national election, in Ramadi on Tuesday, March 2, 2010. (Photo credit: Hadi Mizban / AP)

March 2, 2010

RAMADI, Iraq – Here in the birthplace of Iraq’s insurgency and its later turnabout against al-Qaida, Sunni Arabs are pushing to get out the vote in an election they see as their best hope of restoring some of their lost power. But they are gloomy over their chances of succeeding.

They say what should have been an open vote has been tainted after hundreds of their candidates were blacklisted from the ballot. More broadly, they fear the nation’s Shiite majority will bring to power hard-line religious parties who will only solidify Iraq’s sectarian divisions.

Far from bringing peace, the March 7 parliamentary elections could bring disputes over the results that could undo reconciliation efforts between Sunnis and Shiites, or worse, provoke a new wave of attacks. …

Once Iraq’s ruling elite during Saddam Hussein’s regime, Sunnis lost much of their power after the U.S. invasion toppled the former leader. …

Get out the vote

Sunni Arabs make up about 20 percent of Iraq’s estimated population of 28 million. Anbar province is their stronghold, stretching west from Baghdad to the borders with Syria and Jordan. An estimated 800,000 Sunnis are registered to vote in Anbar, a desert expanse that is a little smaller than New York state.

Anbar Gov. Qasim al-Fahadawi said Tuesday he defied doctors’ orders to come home from San Antonio, Texas, and encourage Sunnis to vote. In Texas, he underwent leg surgery and was outfitted for a prosthetic arm after a December suicide bomb attack on his Ramadi office. …

Candidates ban

The blacklist has fueled Sunni feeling that Shiites are trying to squeeze them out of power. A Shiite-dominated committee, led by two politicians whom U.S. officials accuse of being linked to Iran, ordered the ban on 440 candidates on suspicion of ties to Saddam’s former ruling Baath Party. The ban is widely believed to target mostly Sunnis although a sectarian breakdown has never been released and Shiites are included.

The main Sunni political bloc splintered in 2008, and its chief remaining faction, the Iraqi Islamic Party, is shunned by many mainstream Sunnis because of its hard-line religious ties. As a result, many of Anbar’s voters say they will support coalitions that combine Sunni and Shiite candidates in a nonsectarian platform, like the Iraqiya list headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a moderate Shiite.

One of the most prominent banned candidates, Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq, was on Allawi’s slate, and many of his supporters say they would still give their votes to the list. …

Sectarian divisions

Sunnis hope moderate coalitions that include both sects will balance the hard-line Shiite groups that they accuse of links to Iran and that could get the bulk of the Shiite majority’s support.

The biggest Shiite coalition is the Iraqi National Alliance, an overtly religious grouping led by the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and followers of the radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Sunnis also remain suspicious of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite who has tried to distance himself from Tehran and cast his State of Law Coalition as nonsectarian. Last week, his government announced it would reinstate 20,000 Saddam-era army officers who were dismissed after the 2003 invasion. But many called that move a blatant election ploy. …

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Iran Arrests Sunni Rebel Accused of Links with West

By Parisa Hafezi and Hossein Jaseb

Feb. 23, 2010

TEHRAN – Iran seized a Sunni Muslim rebel leader on Tuesday behind a bombing which killed dozens of people last year, and who Tehran says has links to al Qaeda and support from Pakistan, Britain and the United States.

There were contradictory reports about how Iranian security forces detained Jundollah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, whose group had claimed the October 18 bombing that killed more than 40 Iranians, including 15 from the elite Revolutionary Guards.

Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said Rigi had been in a U.S. military base 24 hours before his arrest, was carrying an Afghan passport supplied by the United States and had earlier visited European countries, state-run Press TV reported. …

The United States, Britain and Pakistan all deny backing Jundollah, which operates in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Moslehi said Rigi had been arrested on board a plane flying between Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia and the Gulf Arab emirate of Dubai. …

Some lawmakers said Iranian warplanes might have intercepted Rigi’s aircraft and forced it to land in Iran. …

Jundollah accuses the government of discrimination against Sunnis. …

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Syria, Iran Affirm Ties Despite U.S. Calls

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, and Syrian President Bashar Assad review the honor guard at al-Shaab presidential palace, in Damascus on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. (Photo credit: Bassem Tellawi / AP)

Feb. 25, 2010

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian President Bashar Assad defied U.S. calls to loosen ties with Iran on Thursday, saying his long-standing alliance with Tehran remains strong despite overtures from Washington intended to shift his loyalties.

The U.S. has reached out to Syria in recent months by nominating the first U.S. ambassador to Damascus since 2005 and sending top diplomats to meet with President Bashar Assad. Washington is hoping to draw Syria away from Iran and the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

But with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by his side in Damascus, Assad said Thursday that America should not dictate relationships in the Middle East.

“I find it strange how they talk about Middle East stability and at the same time talk about dividing two countries,” Assad told reporters when asked about Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s call Wednesday for Syria to move away from Iran. …

President Barack Obama is determined to engage with Syria, a country seen as key to peace in the region but which the State Department considers a sponsor of terrorism. …

‘A new situation’

Speaking to lawmakers in Washington, Clinton said the nomination of career diplomat Robert Ford signaled a “slight opening” with Syria. But she said Washington remained troubled by suspected Syrian support for militant groups in Iraq and elsewhere, interference in Lebanon and Syria’s close relationship with Iran.

Ahmadinejad’s trip comes amid rising U.S. tension with Iran over its nuclear program. The U.S. and others believe Iran is hiding nuclear weapons development under the guise of a civilian energy program. Iran insist its intentions are peaceful.

Assad called America’s stance toward Iran “a new situation of colonialism in the region.”

Despite its efforts to woo Syria, Washington has not lifted sanctions on Damascus. First imposed by [George W.] Bush and renewed by Obama in May, the sanctions cite Syria’s support for terrorism, its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and other activities including efforts to undermine U.S. operations in Iraq.

‘Brotherly relations’

Iran’s economic and political support has enabled Syria to survive those sanctions and international isolation.

Ahmadinejad stressed that Syria and Iran are partners with a long history.

“There is nothing that could harm these brotherly relations,” he said. “With each passing day, these relations will improve and deepen.” …

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 25, 2009

Americans Killed in Afghanistan and Iraq

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that four U.S. soldiers and an Afghan civilian working for them were killed in southern Afghanistan when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, while in Iraq two policemen opened fire on U.S. soldiers visiting a police station, killing an American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter, wounding three Americans, and raising concerns about insurgent infiltration.

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Death Toll in Afghan War Nears 1,000

Marines carry wounded troops to a waiting helicopter after their armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Marja, Afghanistan, where a major offensive is taking place. (Photo credit: Brennan Linsley / Associated Press — The Washington Post)

By Craig Whitlock, Greg Jaffe and Julie Tate

February 24, 2010

Excerpts

More than eight years after the Taliban was toppled from power, the number of U.S. military fatalities in the war in Afghanistan is nearing 1,000, a grim milestone in a resurgent conflict that is claiming the lives of an increasing number of troops who had survived previous combat tours in Iraq.

As of Tuesday, 996 U.S. military personnel had died while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom. The roll call of the fallen began on Oct. 10, 2001, when Air Force Master Sgt. Evander E. Andrews was killed in a forklift accident in Qatar while building an airstrip in preparation for the invasion of Afghanistan. The latest confirmed addition came Sunday, when Army Pfc. J.R. Salvacion, 27, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit near Kandahar.

The number of dead is small in comparison with U.S. casualties in Iraq, where 4,366 uniformed personnel have died since 2003. But as operations intensify in Afghanistan, the war is killing more and more service members who came home safely after serving in Iraq, only to return to the battlefield in another theater.

Since Dec. 1, at least 30 percent of the American military personnel who have died in Afghanistan have been veterans of the Iraq war, according to a Washington Post analysis.

Among them: Marine Staff Sgt. Chris Eckard, 30, who was killed Saturday in Helmand province, the site of a major NATO offensive targeting Taliban-held territory. Eckard, an explosives specialist from Hickory, N.C., had disarmed hundreds of makeshift bombs during four tours in Iraq. It was his first assignment to Afghanistan. He leaves behind a wife and two sons, ages 4 and 18 months.

“Chris loved the Marines. He was all about the Marines,” said his sister-in-law, Chastity Eckard. “This was going to be his last tour.”

The impending milestone of 1,000 deaths hasn’t drawn much notice in the United States or in Afghanistan, despite the Obama administration’s focus on the war and the launch this month of the largest U.S.-NATO military operation in the country since 2001.

When the United States crossed the threshold of 1,000 deaths in the Iraq war in September 2004, there was widespread concern in Washington that public support for the conflict would collapse. To some, the relatively quiet approach of the new benchmark is a sign that the country has grown more sober-minded in the way it perceives the war.

“We’ve learned that the public doesn’t react reflexively to the tote board of [war deaths],” said Peter Feaver, who served in George W. Bush’s administration and teaches political science at Duke University.

Others see a fundamental change in American foreign policy after almost nine years of combat. “The American people and the governing class have accepted that war has become a permanent condition,” said retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich, a history professor at Boston University whose son was killed in Iraq in 2007. “Protracted war has become a widely accepted part of our politics.” Even before his son’s death, Bacevich spoke out forcefully against the wars.

More than 600 troops from NATO allies and other countries have died in Afghanistan since 2001. Thousands of Afghan civilians, soldiers and police officers have also died in the war, although the precise number is unknown.

Back to the front, again

For many Americans, what is most striking is that so many Marines and soldiers have died during their second or third combat tours. Of the 73 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan since Dec. 1, at least 23 had previously served in Iraq, according to The Post’s analysis.

“It affirms what we already knew, which is that the burden of this very long war is being borne by a small percentage of the population,” Bacevich said.

Both the Obama and Bush administrations have wrestled with how to highlight the sacrifices of the troops and, to the extent possible, share the burden with the rest of the country. During the debate last year over the Afghanistan strategy, President Obama made high-profile visits to Arlington National Cemetery and Dover Air Force Base to witness the return of fallen U.S. troops. Lawmakers, meanwhile, have repeatedly boosted pay and benefits for service members, sometimes to the consternation of the Pentagon, which has become concerned that the surging personnel costs are squeezing out money for new weapons.

But the White House, Congress and the military seem broadly comfortable with the notion that a relatively small number of professional soldiers and Marines should be expected to fight multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“There are enormous and disturbing moral implications in the tacit agreement we have made to have such a small percentage of our population bear so great a burden,” Bacevich said. “But there is no recognition of it or desire to raise questions about it.” …

Related content

Obama’s War

Related reports on this site

Operation Moshtarak Has Begun (Feb. 13, 2010)

Marines Mass for Marjah Assault (Feb. 10, 2010)

Major Afghan Offensive Imminent (Feb. 5, 2010)

Afghanistan Fog of War (Jan. 31, 2010)

Deadly Day in AfPak War Zone (Jan. 23, 2010)

Deadly Day in Afghanistan (Jan. 11, 2010)

Afghanistan Tougher Than Iraq (Nov. 28, 2009)

Escalating Afghanistan Violence (Nov. 20, 2009)

Afghan War Closes in on Kabul (Oct. 28, 2009)

14 Americans Dead in Afghanistan (Oct. 26, 2009)

Deadly July for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. An Army carry team carries a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Chester W. Hosford of Hastings, Minn. Wednesday July 8, 2009 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. The transfer cases of 2nd Lt. Derwin I. Williams of Glenwood, Ill., second from right, and Pfc. Nicholas Gideon of Murrieta Calif., right, are already loaded into the transfer vehicle. According to the Department of Defense, all three soldiers died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. (Photo credit: Associated Press / Steve Ruark)

Obama Attends Return of Fallen Troops from Afghanistan

——

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 143-10
February 23, 2010

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)

On the Web: http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=13328
Media Contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public Contact: http://www.defense.gov/landing/comment.aspx
or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1

Wounded Warrior Web Site Upgraded

The Department of Defense announced today that its National Resource Directory (NRD) Web site for wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans, their families and those who support them, recently received a comprehensive system upgrade to provide users with easier access.

This Web site is a collaborative effort between the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs (VA) and Labor (DOL), and compiles federal, state, local and non-profit resources for wounded warriors, veterans, family members and caregivers in a single, searchable site.

“We worked closely with users of the National Resource Directory to find out how to make the information they need easier to find,” said Noel Koch, deputy under secretary of defense for Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy. “The resulting re-design is easier to navigate and adds useful new features.”

The upgrade makes the latest wounded warrior and veteran issues easier to locate and follow. A new “bookmark and share” application helps visitors alert others to the content they’ve found most helpful through social bookmarking, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking tools. Visitors can also subscribe to Really Simple Syndication (RSS) or e-mail updates to receive new content, events and features based on their specific interests and needs.

“There are thousands of programs and benefits available to wounded warriors and their families, from healthcare and housing to education and employment assistance,” said Koch. “Our people must have an easy way to sift through it all to find the resources that are most helpful for their circumstances, especially while they’re dealing with what can be overwhelming challenges. That’s why we’ve partnered with the VA and Department of Labor to offer the National Resource Directory. And with the feedback mechanisms we’ve added in the re-design, we’ll be able to keep improving our service to our wounded warriors and families.”

The faster, enhanced search engine ranks information based on the popularity of the sources among other site users, so the most valuable resources rise to the top of the search results. Visitors can tailor searches for resources in specific states and territories, and apply filters to narrow their searches.

The re-designed site also highlights resources to assist homeless veterans. NRD users can also recommend additional resources. All resources are thoroughly vetted prior to inclusion on the National Resource Directory, and as always, content is updated and reviewed daily by a content management team which includes veterans and subject matter experts.

More information is available at http://www.NationalResourceDirectory.gov

—— 

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 24, 2009

Americans Still Dying in Iraq

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that although the worst of the sectarian bloodshed and loss of American lives have ebbed in Iraq, U.S. service members continue to die in the 5-year war.

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U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010, at least 4,379 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 31,693 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department’s weekly tally.

U.S. Troop Casualties in Iraq

Latest identifications:

• Army National Guard Capt. Marcus R. Alford, 28, Knoxville, Tenn., died Feb. 21, 2010 in Qayyarah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter had a hard landing. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 230th Cavalry Regiment, Louisville, Tenn.
• Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer Billie J. Grinder, 25, Gallatin, Tenn., died Feb. 21, 2010 in Qayyarah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter had a hard landing. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 230th Cavalry Regiment, Louisville, Tenn.

U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan

As of Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, at least 913 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

Latest identifications: 

• Army Pfc. Charles A. Williams, 29, Fair Oaks, Calif., died Feb. 7, 2010 at Camp Nathan Smith, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained while supporting combat operations. He was assigned to the 97th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, Fort Riley, Kan.
• Army Spc. Bobby J. Pagan, 23, Austin, Texas, died Feb. 13, 2010 in Zhari province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
• Army Staff Sgt. John A. Reiners, 24, Lakeland, Fla., died Feb. 13, 2010 in Zhari province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
• Marine Cpl. Jacob H. Turbett, 21, Canton, Mich., died Feb. 13, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Army Sgt. Jeremiah T. Wittman, 26, Darby, Mont., died Feb. 13, 2010 in Zhari province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
• Marine Pfc. Jason H. Estopinal, 21, Dallas, Ga., died Feb. 15, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Sean L. Caughman, 43, Fort Worth, Texas, died Feb. 16, 2010 while supporting operations in Kuwait. Caughman was assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Twenty-Two.
• Marine Lance Cpl. Noah M. Pier, 25, Charlotte, N.C., died Feb. 16, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
• Marine Lance Cpl. Alejandro J. Yazzie, 23, Rock Point, Ariz., died Feb. 16, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
• Marine Pfc. Eric D. Currier, 21, Londonderry, N.H., died Feb. 17, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Marine Pfc. Kyle J. Coutu, 20, Providence, R.I., died Feb. 18, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Marine Lance Cpl. Kielin T. Dunn, 19, Chesapeake, Va., died Feb. 18, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Marine Lance Cpl. Larry M. Johnson, 19, Scranton, Pa., died Feb. 18, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Marine Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary, 27, Columbus, Ind., died Feb. 18, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua H. Birchfield, 24, Westville, Ind., died Feb. 19, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Farah province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
• Marine Cpl. Gregory S. Stultz, 22, Brazil, Ind., died Feb. 19, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.
• Army Staff Sgt. Michael David P. Cardenaz, 29, Corona, Calif., died Feb. 20, 2010 in Kunar, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with rocket-propelled grenades. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
• Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher W. Eckard, 30, Hickory, N.C., died Feb. 20, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Marine Lance Cpl. Adam D. Peak, 25, Florence, Ky., died Feb. 21, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Army Pfc. J.R. Salvacion, 27, Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died Feb. 21, 2010 at Senjaray, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Read personal details about these service members 

Remember Their Sacrifice

Related links

Iraq Casualties

Afghanistan Casualties

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 23, 2009

Coleman v. Franken Live Coverage

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I featured live coverage of the trial to decide the winner of the Coleman-Franken contest for U.S. Senate, courtesy of The UpTake.

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Iran to Build Nuke Facilities ‘Inside Mountains’

Move appears to be aimed at shielding sites from potential military attack

Feb. 22, 2010

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran said Monday it plans to build two new uranium enrichment facilities deep inside mountains to protect them from attack, a new challenge to Western powers trying to curb Tehran’s nuclear program for fear it is aimed at making weapons.

Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also Iran’s vice president, said Tehran intends to use its more advanced centrifuges at the new sites, a decision that could add to growing concerns in the West over Tehran’s program because the technology would allow Iran to accelerate the pace of its program.

The two plants are among 10 industrial scale uranium enrichment facilities Iran approved the construction of in November, a dramatic expansion of the program in defiance of U.N. demands it halt enrichment.

“Hopefully, we may begin construction of two new enrichment sites in the next Iranian year as ordered by the president,” the semiofficial ISNA quoted Salehi as saying Monday. The Iranian calendar year begins March 21. …

Israel considers Iran’s nuclear program a strategic threat, and has hinted at the possibility of airstrikes against Iran if world pressure does not halt Tehran’s nuclear efforts.

The Israelis have launched such strikes in the past. In 1981, an Israeli air attack destroyed an unfinished nuclear reactor in Iraq. Israel also hit a suspected nuclear facility in Syria in September 2007.

Iran’s enrichment of uranium is the central concern of the United States and other nations negotiating with the country over its disputed nuclear program. The technology can be used to generate fuel for power plants and isotopes for medical purposes, but it can also be used to make weapons-grade uranium for atomic bombs. …

Tehran has already said it may install its more advanced centrifuges at its small enrichment site near the holy city of Qom, which was made public last September. The new centrifuges are more advanced than the decades-old P-1 type centrifuges in use at the country’s main enrichment facility at Natanz, in central Iran. …

The new models will be able to enrich uranium much faster than the old ones — which means Iran could amass more material in a shorter space of time that could be turned into the fissile core of missiles, should Tehran choose to do so. …

Tehran produced its first batch of uranium enriched to a higher level earlier this month, prompting the U.S. and its allies to seek new U.N. Security Council sanctions.

——

Iran Now a ‘Nuclear State’ (Feb. 11, 2010)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threat assessment

Iran, N. Korea Threat Level Rises (Dec. 13, 2009)

Obama Demands Access to Nuke Site (Sept. 26, 2009)

Video

Obama: Iran ‘must now cooperate fully’ (NBC Nightly News, Sept. 26, 2009) – Iranian leaders declared Saturday that international inspectors would be allowed access to a newly disclosed nuclear site as President Barack Obama continued his push for more transparency from Iran during his weekly internet address. NBC’s Mike Viqueira reports. (03:15)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 22, 2009

Bachmann ‘Marie Antoinette-ish’

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), criticizing the economic stimulus plan on KTLK radio in the Twin Cities with her trademark gloom-and-doom histrionics, foresaw a “national rationing board,” claimed “your doctor will no longer be able to make your health care decisions with you,” and catastrophized that “we’re running out of rich people in this country.”

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Helping Nurse an Impaired Water Back to Health

One person can make a difference

Nancy Carver of Rice, Minn., has led by example by restoring her shoreline on Little Rock Lake to native flowers and grasses during the past two years. She is helping educate her neighbors on how to develop restoration plans for their shorelines. (MPCA video)

February 2010

What do you do when you find out your lake has been placed on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) Impaired Waters list? If you were Nancy Carver of Little Rock Lake near Rice, Minn., you would start attending workshops and reading everything you could about restoring your shoreline and helping to make a lake healthy again.

“What I learned was making sure to have a properly working septic system and restoring a natural shoreline were two important things lake home owners could do on their own. My septic system checked out okay so the next step was to make the shoreline environmentally friendly to the lake,” says Nancy. The first things she did were to stop mowing all the way to the shore and plant some new native grasses to develop a buffer to the lake.

With help from her local Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), MPCA, and American Meadows, Nancy learned about more affordable options for natural plantings. Nancy says, “A SWCD manager and a DNR staff person came to my home and found some native flowers and bur reed already starting to grow along my shore. And American Meadows helped me choose more plants native to Central Minnesota and develop a planting plan.

“It was so exciting to see plantings bloom in all the colors and variety of native flowers earlier this summer. And now the bold colors of the fall blooms are beginning to show. I will continue to work on this project until nature takes control.”

Of course with any worthwhile project there are hurdles. Nancy says early on there was resistance among some of her neighbors because it appeared as though she was just ignoring her lawn and making their neighborhood look sloppy. By meeting with her neighbors and explaining her intentions were to create a natural shoreline and do her part to help restore the health of the lake, that resistance turned into acceptance and appreciation. Several of her neighbors are taking her lead and developing plans to restore their shorelines as well.

Nancy says that without the help from the SWCD, DNR, MPCA, “and the muscle and sweat from a wonderful young man named Keith, this project would not have become a reality for me and my lake.”

It is also important to note that without the brains and passion of a wonderful young woman named Nancy Carver, this project would not have become a reality for our environment.

——

Related links

Minnesota Water Stories

Little Rock Lake Association

——

Related content on this site

Aubrey Immelman meets with Little Rock Lake resident Nancy Carver to discuss water quality issues at Little Rock Lake, July 24, 2008.

Patrick (2) fishing from a constituent’s dock during a campaign swing to Little Rock Lake in Benton County, September 1, 2008. 

Aubrey Immelman listens to Little Rock Lake residents at the Little Rock Lake TMDL Public Meeting and Open House at Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School, July 29, 2008, to learn about water quality issues on Little Rock Lake in Benton County. The main focus of the TMDL project is to mitigate phosphorus, the water quality limiting nutrient responsible for the toxic blue-green algae blooms in the lake.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 21, 2009

Minnesota private college students present their scholarly research in the Capitol rotunda.

Barack Obama’s Leadership Style

Sarah Moore and Angela Rodgers in the Capitol rotunda.

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that two of my student research associates in the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, Sarah Moore and Angela Rodgers, presented their research on “The Personality Profile of President Barack Obama: Leadership Implications” at the 6th annual Minnesota Private Colleges Scholars at the Capitol event, Feb. 19, 2009 in the State Capitol rotunda, St. Paul, Minn.

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Conspiracy theories have long been a fixture on the political landscape, with political paranoia most virulent among politically marginalized sectors of the polity. So, with Democrats holding the reins of power, it stands to reason that the right fringe has become the prime repository of collective craziness.

Newsweek has a handy primer on the current proliferation of political paranoia, but omits mention of conspiracy theorist-in-chief Michele Bachmann, which has been added to Newsweek’s coverage by way of sidebars.

Know Your Conspiracies

Town Hall Face: An unsightly condition caused by unsanitary health-care politics. (Photos: Landov, AP, Getty Images / Newsweek)

By David A. Graham
Newsweek Web Exclusive
February 12, 2010

Excerpts

1. Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

It’s not clear where he must have been born instead: some say Indonesia; some say Kenya (initial suggestions that Hawaiian natives weren’t citizens when he was born in Honolulu in 1961 were quickly dismissed). The point, so-called birthers say, is that he wasn’t born in the good old US of A, hence isn’t a natural-born citizen and therefore cannot legally be president.
Proponents: Chief birther and Beverly Hills dentist and attorney Orly Taitz, WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah, Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), former presidential and Senate candidate Alan Keyes, assorted tea partiers.
Kernel of Truth? It’s fully debunked. Forged Kenyan birth certificates have been exposed, and — despite protestations to the contrary — Obama’s birth certificate has been certified by the state of Hawaii, and images have been shown on national television. And that’s leaving aside plenty of circumstantial proof, like birth announcements in both major Hawaiian papers from August 1961.

2. Anthropogenic global warming is a hoax.

[Read more]

Sidebar: A ‘Rash of Lies and Falsehoods’ (April 9, 2009)

3. Goldman Sachs intentionally created the economic crisis.

[Read more]

4. Democrats’ health plan will create death panels.

Part of Barack Obama’s devious plan to reform health insurance will be the creation of panels of experts who will decide whether or not patients are “worth” treating, making them arbiters of life and death.
Proponents: Sarah Palin, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a lot of angry town-hall-meeting attendees.
Kernel of Truth? Palin was apparently referring to a provision of draft legislation that would have funded consultation about end-of-life care. There was and is, however, no plan for rationing care as a cost-cutting measure, and fact-checking outlet PolitiFact named the theory the “Lie of the Year” in 2009.

Sidebar: Bachmann Rebuked for Nazi Image (Nov. 12, 2009)

5. Barack Obama is a secret Muslim.

[Read more]

6. Sarah Palin is not the mother of her 1-year-old son, Trig.

[Read more]

7. ACORN is part of a liberal conspiracy to steal elections.

The coalition of community organizations first came under fire after allegations that members were filing fraudulent voter-registration forms in order to beef up the Democratic vote in the 2008 elections. Pressure heated up after a videotaped sting humiliated the group. 
Proponents: Glenn Beck, conservative commentators Michelle Malkin and Andrew Breitbart, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), unsuccessful N.Y. Conservative Party congressional candidate Doug Hoffman.
Kernel of Truth? The James O’Keefe videos showed questionable conduct at the very least, but neither they nor anything else proves a vast left-wing conspiracy between Democrats and ACORN to steal elections.

Sidebar: ACORN: Bachmann ‘Pants on Fire’ (July 2, 2009)

8. FEMA is establishing detention camps.

The government has quietly made the Federal Emergency Management Agency a shadow government. Even now, FEMA has concentration camps ready across the country to intern American citizens. The idea attracted leftists during the Bush administration and — updated for the Obama administration — now has right-wing adherents.
Proponents: Glenn Beck (briefly), the Internet.
Kernel of Truth? Too silly to discuss.

9. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is trying to infiltrate Capitol Hill and spread jihad.

[Read more]

10. Obama wants to conscript Americans into a civilian defense corps.

The group would be a brownshirtlike organization that would enforce order in the United States.
Proponents: Glenn Beck, Watergate burglar and media personality G. Gordon Liddy, Ann Coulter.
Kernel of Truth? Liberal press watchdog Media Matters says the theory stems from a speech Obama made in which he argued for the importance of the Foreign Service, AmeriCorps, and the Peace Corps. That’s a far cry from an American Gestapo — a claim for which there’s no support.

Sidebar: Bachmann Brainwashing Paranoia (April 8, 2009)

11. Time magazine wants to restrict the Internet to licensed users.

12. 9/11 was an inside job.

[Read more]

Kernel of Truth? Not even the staunchest mainstream George W. Bush bashers believe this one. Enough said.

13. The Omnibus One-World Government, Unified Currency, Dollar-Abolishing, Free Trade-Advocating Theory of Everything.

To make, first reheat old theories about elite organizations that supposedly control various world governments and would like to create a single, unitary, global regime — the Bilderberg Group, the Council of Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission. Add a healthy portion of slightly newer but equally discredited theories about the Amero, a pan-North American currency, and the NAFTA superhighway, a planned thruway from Canada to Mexico said to be six football fields wide. Freshen with the economic-crisis-born idea that Ben Bernanke is trying to destroy the value of the dollar. Add a pinch of tea-party spice from former Alabama State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who believes there’s a plan underfoot to have a United Nations guard at every American’s door. The finished product should taste a little like this.
Proponents: Alex Jones, finance blog Zero Hedge, WorldNetDaily, conservative news site NewsMax, Roy Moore.
Kernel of Truth? Eh, sounds plausible to us.

Sidebar: Bachmann Says ‘I’m Not a Kook’ (March 28, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 20, 2009

Iraqi Shoe Hurler Goes on Trial

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush, said at his trial that President Bush’s smile as he talked about achievements in Iraq had made him think of “the killing of more than a million Iraqis, the disrespect for the sanctity of the mosques and houses, the rapes of women,” and enraged him.

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BREAKING NEWS . . . February 18, 2010 . . . 11:31 a.m. CT

Small Plane Crashes into Texas Office Building

The Associated Press via MSNBC.com
Feb. 18, 2010

AUSTIN, Texas – A small plane crashed Thursday into a multistory office building in Austin, causing a fire and sending black smoke billowing from the seven-story structure, officials said.

The Associated Press, citing what it described as a “source,” said the crash didn’t appear to be terrorism. …

[Commentary: The building reportedly houses one or more federal agencies, so the possibility exists that this incident could be an intentional act.]   

The plane hit the Echelon Building, which is located on a major highway north Austin.

Several fires were burning from the second to the fourth floors, KXAN reported. Crews used ladder trucks and hoses to battle the blazes.

The IRS, CIA and FBI all have offices in the complex where the building is located, though it was not clear if they are in the building that was hit. The FBI said its office was not in the building that was struck. …

A witness who described himself as a small-aircraft pilot told KXAN-TV that he witnessed the accident from the parking lot of a nearby restaurant.

“It was really low,” he said. “He brushed along a parking lot light … (and) shot right across the road. It was going really fast. … It sounded like the engine was on full blast. Then it whacked in-between the first and second floor.” …

Tucker Thurman was driving to work when he said he saw a small plane flying very low over the highway. He said he saw it then bank heavily to the right before heading into the building. …

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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UPDATE

Officials: Texas Plane Crash Targeted Feds

‘Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different’

Video

Joe Stack’s final act (NBC Nightly News, Feb. 18, 2010) – As investigators and journalists raced to piece together a picture of the suspected pilot who crashed into a Texas building early Thursday, a story of growing frustration and rage emerged. NBC’s Pete Williams reports. (02:01)

The Associated Press via MSNBC.com
Feb. 18, 2010

AUSTIN, Texas – ”If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, ‘Why did this have to happen?’ The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time.”

So began a lengthy, rambling anti-government Web message believed posted by a Texas man suspected of crashing his small plane into an office building housing IRS employees.

The man, identified by federal law enforcement officials as Joseph Stack, 53, was a software engineer who had a long-running grudge with the Internal Revenue Service, whom he referred to in the screed as “thugs and plunderers.”

The Web message was dated Thursday and signed “Joe Stack (1956-2010).”

Hours after posting it, Stack set fire to his home, drove to a municipal airport, got into his single-engine Piper Cherokee and deliberately crashed it into a multistory office building, authorities said. …

Slide presentation

Austin plane crash

At least two people were seriously injured and a third person — a federal employee who worked in the building — was unaccounted for, fire officials said.

The crash caused a raging fire that sent black smoke billowing from the seven-story Echelon Building. The fire was extinguished hours later.

At an afternoon news conference, Austin police Chief Art Acevedo said the crash “appears to be an intentional act.”

“It would appear to be by a sole individual, and it appears this individual was targeting federal offices inside that building,” Acevedo said.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said in a statement that the crash was “a cowardly act of domestic terrorism.” The police chief, however, said he preferred to describe it as “a criminal act by a lone individual.”

The FBI was taking over the investigation.

About 190 IRS employees work in the building, and IRS spokesman Richard C. Sanford the agency was trying to account for all of its workers.

Violence ‘the only answer’

The pilot, listed in FAA and property records as Andrew Joseph Stack III of Austin and identified by law enforcement sources as Joseph Stack, apparently had a long-running dispute with the IRS.

Associated Press In a statement posted on the Web early Thursday morning, Joseph Stack appeared to blame the IRS for the loss of tens of thousands in savings and retirement money over the years.

A long message posted on a Web site registered to Stack outlined a litany of problems with the IRS and said violence “is the only answer.”

The Web site was taken offline Thursday afternoon by the hosting company at the request of the FBI.

A senior law enforcement official told NBC the saga began Thursday morning, when police received a domestic disturbance call at Stack’s house, about six miles from the crash site. When they responded, they discovered that the man had lit a fire in his house and fled. They said he went to the Georgetown Municipal Airport, got into his small plane and took off.

A short time later, the plane crashed into the office building about 30 miles away. …

House fire

Elbert Hutchins, who lives one house away from Stack’s home in a quiet, tree-lined middle-class neighborhood, said the house caught fire about 9:15 a.m. He said a woman and her teenage daughter drove up before firefighters arrived.

“They both were very, very distraught,” said Hutchins, a retiree who said he didn’t know the family well. “‘That’s our house!’ they cried ‘That’s our house!’” …

The Echelon Building is next to a major highway in north Austin, and the crash started fires on several floors of the hulking black building. Dozens of windows were blown out and vehicles traveling on a nearby highway paused to look.

Thirteen people were treated at the scene and two people were taken to a hospital with serious injuries, Austin fire officials said. Their condition wasn’t immediately known.

A third person, a federal employee, was unaccounted for. “The prospects are not very positive for that person,” Acevedo said.

Thao Nguyen / AP Authorities say Joseph Stack set fire to his home before crashing his plane.

Pilot’s background

According to California Secretary of State records, Stack had a troubled business history, twice starting software companies that ultimately were suspended by the state’s Franchise Tax Board.

He started Software Systems Service Corp. in Lincoln, Calif., but that business license was suspended in 2004 for nonpayment of back taxes totaling $1,153, KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported. Another company, Prowless Engineering Inc. was suspended in 2000 for failure to file a 1994 tax return, according to KCRA.

Stack listed himself as chief executive officer of both companies.

According to records, Stack apparently moved to the Austin area around 2003 and ran Embedded Art, a small, independent software firm specializing in “process control and automation” and “complex software engineering development tasks.”

In his 3,200-word statement posted on the company’s Web site early Thursday morning and later taken down, Stack appeared to blame the IRS for the loss of tens of thousands in savings and retirement money over the years.

Administrative records show the Web site was registered to Joe Stack of San Marcos, Texas, in 2006.

‘Unthinkable atrocities’

Stack said his “nightmare” with the federal government dated to the early 1980s.

In one passage, Stack writes: “That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their ‘freedom’ … and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.”

He also wrote: “Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours?

Toward the end, he wrote, “I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different.  I am finally ready to stop this insanity.  Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.” …

The IRS Web site said an office of its EP Team Audit Program is located in the building where the plane crashed. The group, known as EPTA, examines employee benefit plans with 2,500 or more participants, according to the Web site. …

Video Act of desperation shocks Austin (NBC Nightly News, Feb. 18, 2010) — Texas officials are continuing to investigate the apparently deliberate plane crash early Thursday that injured more than a dozen people – two seriously. NBC’s Janet Shamlian reports. (00:49)

Played in country band

Stack lived in a 2,500-square-foot house in North Austin with wife Sheryl and her daughter, who is about 12, the Austin Statesman reported, citing friends, neighbors and county records.

He played bass in the Billy Eli Band [link added], an Austin alt-country band, according to friends.

Michael Cerza, who played drums in the band with Stack, told the Statesman, “My impression of Joe was a kind, quiet, not at all brooding or taciturn person.”

“I didn’t sense anything boiling under the surface. There was no indication in his actions or his words that he would harm anyone.”

Stack’s wife and daughter were believed to be in a neighbor’s house being assisted by the Red Cross. When reporters went to the door, an FBI agent answered, the newspaper reported. …

——

Related content

Read Stack’s full statement posted on Web site

Newsweek: Is anti-government violence on the rise?

Newsweek: A history of recent anti-tax violence

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Anger in America: Topical reports on this site

Condemning Beck and Bachmann (Nov. 19, 2009)

Anger in America (Oct. 31, 2009)

Economy and Obama Volatile Mix (April 16, 2009)

Obama, Economy Fuel Hate Groups (Feb. 28, 2009)

Obama Racist Backlash (Nov. 16, 2008)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 19, 2009

‘Craziest Interview’ in U.S. History

Video

Bachmann strikes (out) again (MSNBC, Feb. 18, 2009) — Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., took a new stand against President Barack Obama when she claimed the stimulus bill was just a payoff for those who supported him throughout the election. The Nation’s Chris Hayes discusses (07:14)

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that some Republican politicians were taking credit in their home districts for stimulus money coming their way, even though they voted against it, but that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann went the extra mile by claiming the stimulus bill was nothing but a payoff for those who supported President Barack Obama during his election campaign.

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