Arctic Ice: Going, going . . . gone; Schweitzer on Energy in Denver

BBC: Arctic ice is at a 'tipping point'.

Watch for yourself on google earth: "This animation in Google Earth shows satellite data of Arctic sea ice concentration from May 25 to August 21, 2008. Note how the decline rate speeds up during August, with strong losses north of Siberia." -



The more drilling and use of oil and other fossil fuels in which we engage, the faster the arctic and antarctic ice will melt, leading to rising sea levels.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer makes the point in Denver that the most important barrel of oil is the one you don't use.

Schweitzer's little-noticed speech may be the most important address on energy given so far by an American politician.



Now if only someone could get him off this liquefied coal kick.

Pakistan Markets Roiled by End of Coalition Government

Pakistan has had to impose trading limits to stop the slide in its stock market coming off the end of the coalition government.

Investors have been worried about the withdrawal of the Muslim League (N) from the parliamentary coalition with the Pakistan People's Party.

Meanwhile, Switzerland has dropped its money-laundering investigation of Asaf Ali Zardari, now a candidate for president of Pakistan.

Violence in the Northwest is continuing, and the Pakistani legal establishment continues to protest against the failure to reinstate the supreme court justices dismissed by military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

Aljazeera on the political developments.

45 Dead, 79 Wounded in Wave of Violence; Bombing in Jalawla' Raises Tensions with Baghdad

Why Iraq still matters to the presidential campaign,according to Mark Brunswick of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Violence erupted throughout central, eastern and northern Iraq on Tuesday, leaving at least 45 dead and some 79 wounded. The major single attack was a suicide bombing that struck at a police recruiting center in the mostly Kurdish town of Jalaula' northeast of Baquba in troubled Diyala Province.

The attack raised suspicions among Kurds because it comes in the wake of disputes between the Kurds of Diyala and the government of Nuri al-Maliki, who has sent Iraqi government troops into Diyala. When the troops entered Khanaqin, a potentially oil-rich city near the Iranian border that is largely Kurdish, there were tensions with the local population and with the Peshmerga Kurdish paramilitary. On Tuesday, residents of Khanaqin staged a demonstration against the presence in their city of government troops.

Jalawla' is near Khanaqin. Al-Hayat writes in Arabic that when Iraqi troops first went into the northern, Kurdish areas of Diyala, they gave the local Peshmerga 24 hours to get out of the region. The Diyala governing council resisted this ultimatum, creating tension with the central government. The Kurdistan Regional Government also disputed the decree, eliciting charges from Baghdad that the KRG was attempting to extend its authority into provinces not in its purview (Diyala is not part of the KRG). Al-Hayat says that the Peshmerga had just returned to Khanaqin and Jalawla' after the withdrawal of federal troops.

Shawn Brimley and Colin Kahl argue against al-Maliki's crackdown on the Sunni Arab Awakening Councils.

Kurdish journalists are in danger in Iraqi Kurdistan. Al-Hayat reports a new poll that shows that half of KRG residents feel that they have little freedom of speech.

Antiwar.com reviews political violence in Iraq on Tuesday.

Al-Maliki Insists US Troops be Out by 2011; Iraqi Christian Refugees at Risk

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq insisted again Monday that all foreign troops must be out of Iraq by 2011 and that US troops in Iraq must come under the authority of Iraqi courts. These demands appear to have emanated in the first instance from Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf and from Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr, now studying in Iran. They may also reflect a secret deal al-Maliki may have struck with Iran on his visit to Tehran last spring. Iran has been restraining the Mahdi Army, allowing al-Maliki to assert control in places such as Maysan Province (said to be oil-rich). You have to wonder what the quid pro quo is.

Al-Maliki implied that the US had agreed to these two demands, but a White House spokesman denied it.

My guess is that in the end Bush blinks on these two demands, or, as one wag on Reddit.com put it, "surrenders."

A young female suicide bomber was caught by police in Baquba before she could detonate her payload. She said she was fitted for the bomb by her husband's female relatives, though her own mother appears to have played a leading role, as well.

Anti-war.com says, "At least 16 Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded in the latest round of violence. One U.S. soldier was killed in a small arms attack in Baghdad." See below.

Saving Iraqi Christian refugees. PM al-Maliki wants them to return to Iraq, but most refugee NGOs and UNHCR insist that it is not safe enough for them to do that. I was just in Amman, Jordan, looking into the refugee issue. Some 10% of the Iraqis there are Christians. There is no rush to return because they just don't trust that the militias are gone or the ethnic cleansing at an end.

Likewise, al-Hayat reports in Arabic that a major reason for Iraqis to flee their country is lack of basic services such as potable water, electricity, fuel and reliable health care. The paper quotes Muhammad Laith, who took his family of five to Amman from the tony Hayy Zayounah in Baghdad. Laith, who works in the advertising and publicity sector, said, "Life in Iraq is still hard, despite the slight improvement in security. There is a big deficiency in services in all areas and even in the nice neighborhoods. This deficiency is the fault of the government and concerned circles, which cannot fulfill their duties because of endemic fraud."

MP Ghufran al-Sa'edi said that there was no difference between failure of government to deliver basic services and militias' ethnic cleansing campaigns, in their effect on emigration of refugees.

Reuters reports political violence in Iraq on Monday:

'BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier died after being shot during a patrol in northern Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. . .

TIKRIT - A roadside bomb exploded near a convoy carrying Major-General Hamad Namis Yasin, the police chief of Salahuddin province, wounding six of his guards in central Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

SHIRQAT - A roadside bomb killed two bystanders in the town of Shirqat, 300 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

MUSSAYAB - A roadside bomb was planted near the house of Basim Mohammed, a Lieutenant-Colonel of the government facilities guard force, killing his daughter and wounding two sons on Sunday in Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said . . .

MOSUL - Gunmen killed a man working as a guard for the dean of Mosul University in a drive-by shooting in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.'

McClatchy gives more detail on events in Baghdad:

' Baghdad

- Mortars hit the International Zone(IZ) in downtown Baghdad. No casualties reported.

- Around 7 am an IED detonated near an Iraqi army check point near Mr.Milk supermarket in Mansour neighborhood (west Baghdad). One officer was injured.

- Around 8 am a bomb planted in a car detonated in Jamia’a neighborhood. Three family members were injured in that incident.

- Around 11 am a bomb left inside a mini bus detonated in Adhemiyah neighborhood(north Baghdad). Only the driver was injured in that incident.

- A roadside bomb detonated in Adel neighborhood(west Baghdad). One person was injured.

- Mortars hit Ghazaliyah neighborhood. A petrol station got fire by one of the mortar shells.

- Gunmen opened fire on an army patrol. 2 soldiers were killed and another one was wounded.

- Police found 2 dead bodies in Baghdad. 1was in Sleikh(north Baghdad) and 1 was found in Mansour(west Baghdad)'

International Reaction to Biden

Iraqi politicians greeted the the selection of Joe Biden as the Democratic vice presidential candidate with dismay because they oppose his soft partition plan for Iraq, an affront to Iraqi conceptions of national unity.

In contrast, the Sulaymaniya newspaper Kirkuk ran an article by Zana Galali, that, according to BBC Monitoring, "Says that the US senator, Joseph Biden, has reasonable visions toward Iraq and Kurdistan; nominating him to the vice president position of the US has its significant on Kurds; and Iraqi issues." A lot of Iraqi Kurds are separationists and so welcomed the Biden plan, whatever Kurdish leaders said in public.

Sudan's ruling party has reason to be alarmed by the selection of Joe Biden as the Democratic vice presidential candidate, according to the Sudan Tribune. Biden has said of the Darfur conflict, "it’s time to put force on the table and use it” and seems to propose inserting 2500 US or NATO troops into the vast, politically fractious African nation.



On the other hand, there was a sigh of relief in Iran:

BBC World Monitoring translates an item from Etemad from Aug. 24:

' E'TEMAD (from hardcopy)

1. Report by the international desk, entitled: "Joseph Biden, Obama's vice-president - Biden and Iran". The report believes that following the selection of the democrat senator, Joseph Biden, as Barack Obama's vice-president, it is anticipated that Biden's experience as the head of Senate's foreign relations committee would be of great help to Obama's victory in electoral competitions; an election in which foreign issues like Iran, Iraq, Iraq and Russia are more decisive than domestic American policies. It also adds that despite having directed numerous verbal attacks at Mahmud Ahmadinezhad, Biden is generally considered to be a moderate politician towards issues related to Iran.'

Biden appeared on Iran's Press TV applauding the Bush administration's direct diplomacy with Tehran last month.

Haaretz says Biden may help Obama with the American Jewish vote and reassure Israelis.

The Turkish press says Biden has consistently voted against Turkish interests but that at least he knows Turkish affairs well and that could be an advantage.

The Delhi papers spoke of the VP pick as "India Friend Joe Biden".

The German press had mixed reactions, which track with those in the US press.

The Irish Times seems happiest of all.

54 Killed in Bombings, attacks; Water Crisis; Fixing the Intelligence Around the Policy

A suicide bomber attacked a celebration in Abu Ghraib late Sunday, killing at least 30 and wounding 42. The gathering was in honor of a former prisoner in a US prison who had just been released and was attended by police and by members of the local Awakening Council that has fought radical Muslim vigilantes on behalf of the US.

A rash of attacks in Baghdad, Diyala and Mosul, left at least 54 people killed and 70 injured on Sunday.



Meanwhile, Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that the six million Baghdad residents are facing a severe shortage of clean water during the hellishly hot summer. Sadiq al-Shammari, the general director of Water Utility in the capital, said that residents of the capital only have access to half the clean water they need at a time when the temperature can reach 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 C). Al-Shammari also said that every time the electricity goes out, it knocks out water production for 3 hours. He said 2.8 million cubic meters (roughly, yards) of water is produced for Baghdad, but that the demand is 4 million.

AFP has more on the water crisis.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the spiritual leader of millions of Shiites in Iraq and around the world, dispelled rumors he is in poor health by holding a small press conference. See also the LAT blog. One of Sistani's followers, resident in Qom but visiting the southern port city of Basra was assassinated on Sunday.

More evidence that the Bush administration decided to go to war against Iraq and then fixed the intelligence around the policy. The National Security Archive electronic briefing book edited by John Prados shows that a white paper arguing for war was produced before the relevant National Intelligence Estimate. (That NIE was anyway deeply flawed, produced in a hellish rush, and then apparently doctored by the White House in the aftermath).

Michael Collins observes:

'The seemingly endless war in Iraq has become a total disaster on multiple levels for all involved. The awful toll in human deaths and casualties is largely ignored but real nevertheless. Over 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been lost in battle and tens of thousands injured. In excess of one million Iraqi civilians are dead due to civil strife unleashed by the invasion. The U.S. Treasury is drained and the steep decline in respect for the United States around the world is just beginning to manifest.The United States political establishment responds with collective denial on a scale that's incomprehensible. In the presidential campaign, the only sustained public commentary on the war comes from the Republican presidential candidate John McCain who makes the bizarre claim that U.S. is "surrendering" with victory in clear sight. McCain touts the surge without noting that 4.0 million Iraqis are "displaced from their homes." Nearly ten percent of Iraq's population is either dead or injured and there are 5.0 million Iraqi orphans. This pathological view of victory claims the "surge' is a success in the context of a devastated population in an obliterated nation lacking in the most essential supplies and services; a nation where death continues on a shopping spree. '

A class by Chalmers Johnson reprinted at Tomdispatch.com reminds us of another sort of destruction of Iraq.

Andrew Mack argues that "Security role of US surge 'modest' "

McClatchy reports other political violence in Iraq on Sunday:

' Baghdad

Four people including a policeman were killed and 15 others including two policemen were injured by successive bombing of two IEDs near Nahdha bus station in east Baghdad around 9:00 a.m.

Three civilians were killed and five others were wounded by a roadside bomb that targeted a civilian car in al Dyna area northeast Baghdad around 12:00 p.m.

Two civilians were injured by a roadside bomb in Doura neighborhood around 1:30 p.m.

Around 7:00 p.m. an IED exploded near Shaab Stadium in east Baghdad. No casualties were reported.

Police found one unidentified body in Palestine Street in east Baghdad. . .

Diyala

A civilian and a policeman were killed and four other people were wounded when gunmen opened fire inside a bus station in downtown Baquba city northeast of Baghdad around 11:15 a.m.

Three civilians were killed and five others were wounded by a roadside bomb in Dayniyah village east of Baquba city around 2:00 p.m.

Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and eight others were injured by an IED that targeted a patrol of the Iraqi army in Dayniyah village east of Baquba city around 2:30 p.m.

Nineveh

Three policemen and a civilian were injured when a suicide car bomb targeted a US army convoy in al Maliyah intersection in east Mosul on Sunday morning.

Two insurgents were killed while they were trying to plant an IED in al Zohoor neighborhood in downtown Mosul city on Sunday morning. '

FBI to Open Cases via Profiling; MI5: Don't Bother

Bush is trying to permanently widen FBI prerogatives in opening investigations of US citizens before leaving office. His new guidelines would allow an investigation to begin on the basis of data-mining and profiling, with no evidence of suspected wrong-doing.

See my Salon.com article on this issue.

This, at a time when the British MI-5 is finding that profiling is useless for identifying potential terrorists there. Those who turn to terror are not usually religious, or well-trained religiously, are not necessarily young or single, and don't belong to particular ethnic groups.

How profiling can turn bad is illustrated by this pilot who is on a watch list, with his livelihood threatened, for no reason.

Given how pusillanimous most telecom companies have been in the face of demands that they cooperate with illegal surveillance requests on their clients that privacy mode in browsers may become important.

From Reddit.com:

Dear CNN: Please stop calling evangelicals 'values voters.' I have values, too.

Buchanan accuses 'McCain's neocon warmonger' of treason (rawstory.com)

The view from 2016 at Tomdispatch.com.

OSC: Collective Punishment in Baghdad

The USG Open Source Center translates an article from the Arabic online press complaining about Iraqi government collective punishment of Baghdad city quarters that witness poor security.

US, Iraqi Forces Accused of Dividing Baghdad Neighborhoods on 'Sectarian' Basis
Report by Kalshan al-Bayyati "Residents of Baghdad: 'The Government Imposes Collective Punishment on us"
Al-Arab Online
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Document Type: OSC Translated Text

Baghdad Residents Gathering has condemned the collective punishment that has been imposed by the Iraqi forces on a number of neighborhoods in Baghdad that witness security turmoil. The punishments include limiting the movements of the citizens, imposing curfews for long hours, in addition to building walls and fences around neighborhoods and isolating them from each other.

The gathering stated in a statement it released that "in a new development of the methods of the wanton occupation and its agent government, the forces called the (Iraqi) army and the police backed by the occupying troops impose collective punishments on the residents of the Baghdadi neighborhoods and on the rest of the Iraqi areas. These punishments include isolating those neighborhoods, limiting the movement of citizens after those neighborhoods turned into detention centers. This happened through constructing sectarian segregation walls that caused a lot of hardship especially, for children, elderly people, and women who stand in queues under the stifling sun heat, noting the presence of many sick people among them.
The application of this method comes after the targeting of their beasts (troops) by the national resistance and that is exactly what happened recently in Al-Amiriyah and Al-Saydiyah neighborhoods in Baghdad, in a way that is similar to what happened before in Al-Fallujah and Samaraa."

The statement says also that "as we in Baghdad Residents Gathering condemn the application of these inhuman methods by the occupying forces and their agents, we call on all international and popular organizations in the Arab world to raise their voices to demand a stop to those practices which are considered as a continuation of the massive killing operations that commenced against the Iraqi people by the occupation and as an outcome of it.

The Gathering urges the residents of Baghdad and the rest of the governorates to show more patience and resistance, pointing out that these punishments are conducted against them as a response to their embrace of the national resistance and the support they extend to it.

The US Army announced last Saturday that "it chose in coordination with the Iraqi military commands a number of areas that are experiencing an escalation of violence in order to protect them from terrorists and not to divide the city (Baghdad) on a sectarian basis" adding that "a number of areas will be subjected to the same method."

(Description of Source: Doha Al-Arab Online in Arabic -- Website of independent newspaper, focuses on pan-Arab affairs; http://www.alarab.com.qa/)