وأكد الجعفري خلال الجلسة، التي قاطعتها القائمة العراقية، على ضرورة أن “تكون هناك ثقافة في الدعوة لإقامة الأقاليم”، منتقدا “الدعوة إلى إقامة الإقليم بين ليلة وضحاها من دون إجراء الندوات والاستفتاءات والحوارات لأبناء المحافظة”.ووصف رئيس التحالف الوطني مطالب إقامة الأقاليم بأنها “ممارسة لعمل صحيح في وقت سيء وبظرف أسوأ”، معتبرا الأمر “مفارقة تدحر أداء العراقيين الرائع وإنجازاتهم التي قاربت بأن تكون معجزات”.=============Iraq Sunni bloc suspends parliament participation17 Dec 2011 19:49Source: Reuters // ReutersBAGHDAD, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni-backed bloc on Saturday suspended its participation in parliament accusing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government of concentrating power, a sign of rising political tensions as U.S. troops withdraw.The move by the Iraqiya parliamentary bloc, headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, intensifies political jostling among the Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs who form Iraq's fragile power-sharing government.Iraqiya said in a statement it was "suspending its participation in parliament ... until further notice", accusing Maliki of stalling on promises to form a partnership government.Iraqiya's decision highlights the sectarian tensions always close to the surface in Iraq and shows the fragile nature of country's power-sharing balance as the last American troops withdraw before Dec. 31.The bloc complained Maliki is delaying filling key positions such as the ministries of defence and security, posts which have been empty for a year because of political squabbling.Supported strongly by minority Sunnis, Iraqiya won the largest number of seats in a 2010 national election but failed to muster a governing majority.Iraqiya joined a unity coalition headed by Maliki in December, winning powerful posts such as the parliament speakership, vice presidency, and other ministerial postions.Many Sunnis felt marginalised in the last government and by the rise of majority Shi'ites to power following the ousting of Saddam Hussein after the U.S 2003 invasion. (Reporting by Baghdad Bureau; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Sophie Hares)===============As soldiers leave, U.S. diplomats face huge Iraq challenge18 Dec 2011 11:59Source: Reuters // Reuters(Repeats with no changes to text)* Up to 16,000 involved in U.S. civilian operation in Iraq* State Dept faces unprecedented logistics challenge* Diplomatic bunkers and "getting off the X"By Andrew QuinnWASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - As the last American soldiers leave Iraq, the U.S. State Department assumes the reins of a complex and risky operation, the success or failure of which could determine whether the costly nine-year U.S. engagement with the country finally bears fruit.U.S. diplomats, shielded by thousands of security contractors, will seek to monitor Iraq's fragile political evolution and push ahead with civilian aid programs designed to demonstrate the benefits of U.S. friendship.Their aim is to secure an alliance with a nascent democracy neighboring Iran that, as a key oil producer, has seen its strategic importance to Washington increase sharply amid the political turmoil engulfing the Middle East.But analysts say that, without U.S. military protection, they may end up trapped in fortified diplomatic bunkers while bureaucrats at home struggle with the logistics of organizing and securing one of the biggest U.S. diplomatic endeavors ever undertaken."This is something clearly that the State Department has never done before," said Patrick Kennedy, who oversees the huge transition portfolio as the undersecretary of state for management."We have excellent people at the State Department with management, acquisitions, logistical, security, communications and medical skills," Kennedy said. "We are ready."Iraq analysts are less certain, pointing to the recent bomb blast within Baghdad's heavily-secured Green Zone as a sign of the perils ahead for the U.S. civilian force charged with winning the peace after Iraq's long and costly conflict."I think there is a lot of very serious concern about the department's ability to take the lead on all of this given the cuts it has faced over the years and how difficult it has been for them to operate in semi-war zones," said Brian Katulis, a security expert at the Center for American Progress.CAST OF THOUSANDSThe United States and Iraq had long sought to craft a deal that could have kept thousands of U.S. troops in the country as military trainers. But those talks collapsed in October, forcing the State Department to go forward alone.A handful of U.S. military personnel will remain in the country, working with the embassy to help with arms sales and training for Iraqi forces. Talks could resume next year on whether more U.S. troops can return for future training missions.In the meantime, U.S. officials say there will be roughly 16,000 people involved in the American diplomatic effort in Iraq.About 2,000 will be diplomats and federal workers. The remaining 14,000 will be contractors - roughly half involved with security while the rest will be doing everything from keeping the kitchens running to managing the motor pool.The operation will focus on the fortress-like U.S. Embassy in Baghdad -- the largest and most expensive U.S. diplomatic mission in the world -- as well as at consulates in Basra, Erbil and Kirkuk, each of them "hardened" to resist militant attack. The U.S. mission in Iraq has already been scaled back. Officials originally envisioned opening more consulates and expanding other operations under a plan the Senate Foreign Relations Committee estimated could end up costing as much as $30 billion over five years.Kennedy said the core diplomatic staff would be about as large as for other major U.S. embassies around the world.That core operation is budgeted for about $3.8 billion next year, with total U.S. outlay in Iraq including aid programs and military assistance, coming it at about $6.2 billion. That sounds like spare change when compared to the some $750 billion the United States has spent on the war, but it is still equivalent to more than a quarter of the State Department's global operational budget.With the State Department already facing budget cuts as lawmakers struggle to trim the huge U.S. federal budget deficit, it remains unclear whether Congress will keep pumping the money into the project.The huge security footprint brings new concerns, including both contract management and "rules of engagement" for a civilian agency more accustomed to negotiating treaties than scrambling through firefights.The State Department has awarded several five-year contracts for security, including one for $1.5 billion to Triple Canopy to protect staff movements around Baghdad, another for $974 million to SOC Inc to protect the compound itself.Other contracts have been awarded to Global Strategies Group and Dyncorp International to protect the consulates in Basra, Erbil and Kirkuk."Security is going to be the paramount issue for the State Department, and it is very hard to plan for," said Stephanie Sanok, a former State Department official in Iraq now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies."From a military perspective, Iraq is just about empty. And that means, despite the security contractors, they are going to have very limited movement.""GETTING OFF THE X"For U.S. diplomats and other federal officials working in Iraq, a day at work is likely to involve working the phones from behind blast walls and under heavy guard.Potential threats include a much-diminished, but still lethal, Sunni insurgency; Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia groups; and the possibility of resurgent ethnic conflict.Diplomatic facilities will be equipped with their own radar to detect incoming mortars and missiles, while rare movement around the country will be likely be severely restricted."They are not going to be able to move around much. That's obvious," said Dov Zakheim, a former senior Pentagon official during the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations who has specialized in looking at U.S. contracting in both Iraq and Afghanistan."Of course they are in a combat environment. As long as they deny that then there are a lot of issues they are sidestepping."Kennedy said the U.S. operation would have a handful of armed vehicles built to withstand bomb attacks and ambushes. And while protected by security contractors under the command of Diplomatic Security Service agents, they will be under orders to engage only in defensive maneuvers."My security colleagues would call it 'getting off the X'," Kennedy said. "We run. We go. We do not stand and fight. We will execute a high-speed J-turn and we will get as far away from the attackers as we possibly can."Some analysts wonder, however, if the State Department's reliance on private security contractors, who have had a checkered history in both Iraq and Afghanistan, may end up causing more problems.The issue is particularly fraught in Iraq, where public opinion was outraged in 2007 when five security guards employed by Blackwater Worldwide were accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians at a crowded Baghdad intersection.Charles Tiefer, a former member of the Commission on Wartime Contracting and a law professor at the University of Baltimore, said the State Department will essentially be depending on contractors as its front-line fighters -- something the Pentagon long resisted."The Defense Department didn't want to use private security contractors as a quick reaction force if they could avoid it because it's a kind of combat," he told Reuters."The State Department is going to have its own private army of security contractors there and they haven't dealt with things on this scale." (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart. Editing by Warren Strobel and Christopher Wilson)===================Dec. 18, 2011 6:39 AM ETElated, last US troops leave Iraq, ending warA soldier gestures from the gun turret of the last vehicle in a convoy of the US Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)1 of 5More NewsVideoYemen: 4 soldiers killed in clashes with militantsDec. 18, 2011 6:45 AM ETKey dates in the 2003-2011 Iraq warDec. 18, 2011 1:31 AM ETIraq: A war of muddled goals, painful sacrificeDec. 17, 2011 12:40 PM ETHistoric visit to Libya by Pentagon chief PanettaDec. 17, 2011 8:47 AM ETJourney with Taliban shows militants' resilienceDec. 14, 2011 6:01 PM ETKHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait (AP) — The last U.S. soldiers rolled out of Iraq across the border into neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday, whooping, fist bumping and hugging each other in a burst of joy and relief. Their convoy's exit marked the end of a bitterly divisive war that raged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered and struggling to recover.The war cost nearly 4,500 American and well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The question of whether it was worth it all — or whether the new government the Americans leave behind will remain a steadfast U.S. ally — is yet unanswered.The 5-hour drive by the last convoy of MRAPS, heavily armored personnel carriers, took place under cover of darkness and under strict secrecy to prevent any final attacks on the withdrawing troops. The 500 soldiers didn't even tell their Iraqi partners they were leaving before they slipped out of the last American base and started down the barren desert highway to the Kuwaiti border before dawn Sunday.The atmosphere was subdued inside one of the vehicles as it streamed down the highway, with little visible in the blackness outside through the MRAP's small windows. Along the road, a small group of Iraqi soldiers waved to the departing American troops."My heart goes out to the Iraqis," said Warrant Officer John Jewell, acknowledging the challenges ahead. "The innocent always pay the bill."But after crossing the berm at the Kuwaiti border, lit with floodlights and ringed with barbed wire, the troops from the 3rd brigade of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division were elated. They cheered, pumped fists in the air and gave each other chest bumps and bear hugs. "We're on top of the world!" shouted one soldier from the turret of his vehicle."It's just an honor to be able to serve your country and say that you helped close out the war in Iraq," said Spc. Jesse Jones, a 23-year-old who volunteered to be in the last convoy. "Not a lot of people can say that they did huge things like that that will probably be in the history books."The quiet withdrawal was a stark contrast to the high-octane start of the war, which began before dawn on March 20, 2003, with an airstrike in southern Baghdad where Saddam Hussein was believed to be hiding, the opening shot in the famed "shock and awe" bombardment. U.S. and allied ground forces then stormed from Kuwait across the featureless deserts of southern Iraq toward the capital.Saddam and his regime fell within weeks, and the dictator was captured by the end of the year — to be executed by Iraq's new Shiite rulers in 2006. But Saddam's end only opened the door to years more of conflict as Iraq was plunged into a vicious sectarian war between its Shiite and Sunni communities. The near civil war devastated the country, and its legacy includes thousands of widows and orphans, a people deeply divided along sectarian lines and infrastructure that remains largely in ruins.In the past two years, violence has dropped dramatically, and Iraqi security forces that U.S. troops struggled for years to train have improved. But the sectarian wounds remain unhealed. Even as U.S. troops were leaving, the main Sunni-backed political bloc announced Sunday it was suspending its participation in parliament to protest the monopoly on government posts by Shiite allies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.President Barack Obama stopped short of calling the U.S. effort in Iraq a victory in an interview taped Thursday with ABC News' Barbara Walters."I would describe our troops as having succeeded in the mission of giving to the Iraqis their country in a way that gives them a chance for a successful future," Obama said.In the final days, U.S. officials acknowledged the cost in blood and dollars was high, but tried to paint a picture of victory — for both the troops and the Iraqi people now freed of a dictator and on a path to democracy. But gnawing questions remain: Will Iraqis be able to forge their new government amid the still stubborn sectarian clashes? And will Iraq be able to defend itself and remain independent in a region fraught with turmoil and still steeped in insurgent threats?"We are glad to see the last U.S. soldier leaving the country today. It is an important day in Iraq's history, but the most important thing now is the future of Iraq," said 25-year-old Said Hassan, the owner of money exchange shop in Baghdad."The Americans have left behind them a country that is falling apart and an Iraqi army and security forces that have a long way ahead to be able to defend the nation and the people."Some Iraqis celebrated the exit of what they called American occupiers, neither invited nor welcome in a proud country. Others said that while grateful for U.S. help ousting Saddam, the war went on too long. A majority of Americans would agree, according to opinion polls.Iraq's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Babaker Zebari said Sunday that his troops were up to the task of uprooting militant groups. Sunni militants continue to carry out bombing and shooting against police, soldiers and civilians, and Shiite militias continue to operate."There are only scattered terrorists hiding here and there and we are seeking intelligence information to eliminate them," Zebari said. "We are confident that there will be no danger."The U.S. convoys Sunday were the last of a massive operation pulling out American forces that has lasted for months to meet the end-of-the-year deadline agreed with the Iraqis during the administration of President George W. Bush.As of Thursday, there were two U.S. bases and less than 4,000 U.S. troops in Iraq — a dramatic drop from the roughly 500 military installations and as many as 170,000 troops during the surge ordered by Bush in 2007, when violence was at its worst. As of Saturday night, that was down to one base — Camp Adder — and the final 500 soldiers.On Saturday evening at Camp Adder, near Nasiriyah, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, the vehicles lined up in an open field to prepare and soldiers went through last-minute equipment checks to make sure radios, weapons and other gear were working.Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commanding general for Iraq, walked through the rows of vehicles, talking to soldiers over the low hum of the engines. He thanked them for their service and reminded them to stay vigilant on their final mission."I wanted to remind them that we have an important mission left in the country of Iraq. We want to stay focused and we want to make sure that we're doing the right things to protect ourselves," Austin said.The commander of the Special Troops Battalion, Lt. Col. Jack Vantress told his soldiers, "We are closing the book on an operation that has brought freedom to a country that was repressed. When the sun comes up, we'll be across the berm."He added a warning to watch out for any final attacks. "Laser focus. Laser focus. You've got time, hours of road to go. There are people out there who still want to hurt you."Early Saturday morning, the brigade's remaining interpreters made their routine calls to the local tribal sheiks and government leaders that the troops deal with, so that they would assume that it was just a normal day."The Iraqis are going to wake up in the morning and nobody will be there," said Spc. Joseph, an Iraqi American who emigrated from Iraq in 2009 and enlisted. He asked that his full name be withheld to protect his family.In a guard tower overlooking a now empty checkpoint at the base, Sgt. Ashley Vorhees and another soldier talked about what they looked forward to most in getting home. The 29-year-old Vorhees planned to go for Mexican food at Rosa's, a restaurant in Killeen, Texas. Another joy of home, she said: you don't have to bring your weapon when you go to the bathroom.At its height, Camp Adder boasted a Taco Bell, a KFC, an Italian restaurant and two Green Beans coffee shops. On Saturday, it felt empty, with abandoned volleyball and basketball courts and a gym called "House of Pain." Hundreds of vehicles — trucks, buses — waited in a lot to be handed over to the Iraqi military, which is taking over the site. With the Americans gone, the base reverts to its former name, Imam Ali Air Base.Despite Obama's earlier contention that all American troops would be home for Christmas, at least 4,000 forces will remain in Kuwait for some months. The troops could also be used as a quick reaction force if needed.The U.S. plans to keep a robust diplomatic presence in Iraq, hoping to foster a lasting relationship with the nation and maintain a strong military force in the region. Obama met in Washington with Prime Minister al-Maliki last week, vowing to remain committed to Iraq as the two countries struggle to define their new relationship.U.S. officials were unable to reach an agreement with the Iraqis on legal issues and troop immunity that would have allowed a small training and counterterrorism force to remain. U.S. defense officials said they expect there will be no movement on that issue until sometime next year.Capt. Mark Askew, a 28-year-old from Tampa, Florida who was among the last soldiers to leave, said the answer to the question of whether the Iraq war was worth the cost will depend on what type of country and government Iraq ends up with years from now, whether they are democratic, respect human rights and are considered an American ally."It depends on what Iraq does after we leave," he said, speaking before the final convoy departed. "I don't expect them to turn into South Korea or Japan overnight."Associated Press=======================ANALYSIS-Iraq resumes political strife in vacuum left by U.S.18 Dec 2011 20:54Source: Reuters // ReutersBy Rania El GamalBAGHDAD, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The dust had barely settled from the last column of departing U.S. armoured vehicles when Iraq's rival Sunni and Shi'ite factions resumed the kind of political infighting that threatens a lurch(To roll or pitch suddenly or erratically: ) back into turmoil.Within hours of the last U.S. troops rolling out of Iraq on Sunday, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had asked parliament to sack his Sunni deputy, and security sources said an arrest warrant was issued for the Sunni vice president.Add to this a parliamentary boycott announced on Saturday by the secular Iraqiya bloc, backed by many Sunnis, and the risk is growing of an intensified power struggle between Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish politicians that could leave Iraq vulnerable to meddling by Sunni Arab nations and Shi'ite Iran."This political dispute between the different blocs especially Iraqiya and (Maliki), needs to be resolved... to fill the security vacuum left in the country by the Americans," said political analyst Kadhim al-Meqdadi."Otherwise if it turns into a power struggle, it would open the door for foreign interference. Every party will go to a country... this is very dangerous for Iraq."Iran and Turkey, a Sunni Muslim country with a secular constitution, are both major investors and influential players in Iraqi politics. They will be watching with Sunni-led Gulf nations to see how Iraq handles its sectarian and ethnic tensions, especially as the crisis in neighbouring Syria threatens to spill over its borders.Shi'ite politicians fret unrest in Syria could oust Assad and bring to power hardline Sunnis eager to put their weight behind fellow-Sunnis in Iraq.PROBLEM LISTUneasy power-sharing with Sunni and Kurdish blocs is not the only test for Maliki as security concerns, territorial disputes and possible popular unrest loom on the horizon now U.S. troops have left Iraq nearly nine years after the 2003 invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.The country is struggling with stubborn insurgency and festering discontent over the pace of development. Plagued by daily bombings, decades-old laws, bureaucracy, and crumbling infrastructure, it must attract billions of dollars of foreign investment to rebuild its battered economy.Maliki must tread carefully over the next months and prove Iraq is able to stand alone and define its place in the Arab region despite discontent in his coalition government and public anger over lack of jobs and poor basic services."Iraq faces an endless list of challenges... There is little to suggest that Iraq's government will manage, or be willing, to get itself out of the current stalemate," said Gala Riani, an analyst at IHS Global Insight.Sunni-backed Iraqiya said it was suspending its participation in parliament over what it called Maliki's failure to deliver on promises. Maliki's office then called on parliament for a vote of no confidence in his Sunni deputy, Vice President Saleh al-Mutlaq, a prominent leader of Iraqiya, saying he lacked faith in the political process.Iraq's Sunni minority are chafing under what they see as the increasingly authoritarian control of Maliki's coalition. Some local leaders are already pushing mainly Sunni provinces such as Salahuddin and Diyala to demand autonomy from Baghdad.KURDISH DISPUTEA dispute between the semi-autonomous Kurdish region and Maliki's central government over oil and territory is also brewing, and is a potential flashpoint after the buffer of the American military presence is gone.The Kurdistan Regional Government last month stepped up pressure on Maliki's central government by signing exploration deals with Exxon Mobil, a move Baghdad said was illegal. That move is testing Maliki's resolve to centralise control over oil resources."Iraq faces a host of challenges... Maliki is moving increasingly to solidify his Shi'ite power base," said Wayne White, a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington. "This raises the potential for greater ethno-sectarian friction."Another challenge ahead is rising public anger about poor services, such as food rationing and a lack of electricity and jobs. The longer it takes to address these complaints, the more the perception may grow that democracy in Iraq does not work, raising the risk of public disturbances."The likeliest outcome in Iraq is that the government of Iraq will muddle along imperfectly and inelegantly, with continued but non-catastrophic violence and slow but non-zero economic and political development, in spite of the U.S. withdrawal," said Stephen Biddle, of the Council on Foreign Affairs, a Washington-based think-tank."The problem is that the likeliest case isn't the only possibility. And many other possible outcomes are much worse - including renewed civil warfare, a descent back to 2006-scale violence, regional intervention, and a wider war." (Writing by Rania El Gamal; additional reporting by Patrick Markey; editing by Mark Trevelyan)====================Dec. 18, 2011 9:00 PM ETLast troops exit Iraq in subdued end to 9-year warREBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press The last convoy of soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. The U.S. military announced Saturday night that the last American troops have left Iraq as the nearly nine-year war ends. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)1 of 5More NewsVideoNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Il, 69, has diedDec. 18, 2011 10:54 PM ETLast troops exit Iraq in subdued end to 9-year warDec. 18, 2011 3:05 PM ET6 soldiers among dead; Syria weighing observersDec. 18, 2011 11:55 AM ETIraqis celebrate US exit, but worry for futureDec. 18, 2011 11:47 AM ETAPNewsBreak: US aid a step toward Korea nuke talksDec. 18, 2011 9:55 AM ETAdvertisementAT THE IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER (AP) — Outside it was pitch dark. The six American soldiers couldn't see much of the desert landscape streaming by outside the small windows of their armored vehicle. They were hushed and exhausted from an all-night drive — part of the last convoy of U.S. troops to leave Iraq during the final moment of a nearly nine-year war.As dawn broke Sunday, a small cluster of Iraqi soldiers along the highway waved goodbye to the departing American troops."My heart goes out to the Iraqis," said Warrant Officer John Jewell. "The innocent always pay the bill."When they finally crossed the sand berm that separates Iraq from Kuwait, illuminated by floodlights and crisscrossed with barbed wire, the mood inside Jewell's vehicle was subdued. No cheers. No hugs. Mostly just relief.His comrade, Sgt. Ashley Vorhees, mustered a bit more excitement."I'm out of Iraq," she said. "It's all smooth sailing from here."The final withdrawal was the starkest of contrasts to the start of the war, which began before dawn on March 20, 2003. That morning, an airstrike in southern Baghdad, where Saddam Hussein was believed to be hiding, marked the opening shot of the famed "shock and awe" bombardment. U.S. and allied ground forces then stormed from Kuwait toward the capital, hurtling north across southern Iraq's featureless deserts.The last convoy of heavily armored personnel carriers, known as MRAPS, left the staging base at Camp Adder in southern Iraq in Sunday's early hours. They slipped out under cover of darkness and strict secrecy to prevent any final attacks. The 500 soldiers didn't even tell their Iraqi comrades on the base they were leaving.The attack never materialized. The fear, though, spoke volumes about the country they left behind — shattered, still dangerous and containing a good number of people who still see Americans not as the ally who helped them end Saddam's dictatorship, but as an enemy.About 110 vehicles made the last trip from Camp Adder to the "berm" in Kuwait, the long mound of earth over which tens of thousands of American troops charged into Iraq at the start of the war.The roughly five-hour drive was uneventful, with the exception of a few vehicle malfunctions.Once they crossed into Kuwait, there was time for a brief celebrations as the soldiers piled out of the cramped and formidable-looking MRAPs. A bear hug, some whooping, fist bumps and fist pumps.The war that began eight years and nine months earlier cost nearly 4,500 American and well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The bitterly divisive conflict left Iraq shattered and struggling to recover. For the United States, two central questions remain unanswered: whether it was all worth it, and whether the new government the Americans leave behind will remain a steadfast U.S. ally or drift into Iran's orbit.But the last soldiers out were looking ahead, mostly, and not back. They spoke eagerly of awaiting family reunions — some of them in time for Christmas — and longing for Western "civilization" and especially the meals that await them back home.The 29-year-old Vorhees was planning a Mexican dinner out at Rosa's in Killeen, Texas. Her favorite is crispy chicken tacos. Another joy of home, she said: You don't have to bring your weapon when you go to the bathroom.Spc. Jesse Jones was getting ready to make the 2 1/2 hour drive from Ft. Hood, Texas, where the brigade is based, to Dallas. His quarry: an In & Out Burger."It's just an honor to be able to serve your country and say that you helped close out the war in Iraq," said Jones, 23, who volunteered to be in the last convoy. "Not a lot of people can say that they did huge things like that that will probably be in the history books."In the last days at Camp Adder, the remaining few hundred troops tied up all the loose ends of a war, or at least those that could be tied up.The soldiers at the base spoke often of the "lasts" — the last guard duty, the last meal in Iraq, the last patrol briefing. Even the last Friday was special until it was eclipsed by the last Saturday.Spc. Brittany Hampton laid claim to one of the most memorable "lasts." She rode the last vehicle of the last convoy of American troops leaving Iraq.Hampton was thinking of her dad, also a soldier who has served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan."I can't wait to ... call my dad and tell him about this," she said. "He's not going to believe it. He's going to be so proud of me."She joked that no one was going to believe her back home when she told them she was in the very last vehicle to leave."But we really, truly were the last soldiers in Iraq. So it's pretty awesome," she said.In the final days, U.S. officials acknowledged the cost in blood and treasure was high, but tried to paint it as a victory — for both the troops and the Iraqi people now freed of a dictator and on a path to democracy. But gnawing ((Marked by severity or intensity))questions remain: Will Iraqis be able to forge their new government amid the still stubborn sectarian clashes? And will Iraq be able to defend itself and remain independent in a region fraught with turmoil and still steeped in insurgent threats?President Barack Obama stopped short of calling the U.S. effort in Iraq a victory."I would describe our troops as having succeeded in the mission of giving to the Iraqis their country in a way that gives them a chance for a successful future," Obama said in an interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, recorded Thursday.Saddam and his regime fell within weeks of the invasion, and the dictator was captured by the end of the year — to be executed by Iraq's new Shiite rulers at the end of 2006. But Saddam's end only opened the door to years more of conflict as Iraq was plunged into a vicious sectarian war between its Shiite and Sunni communities. The near civil war devastated the country, and its legacy includes thousands of widows and orphans, a people deeply divided along sectarian lines and infrastructure that remains largely in ruins.In the past two years, violence has dropped dramatically, and Iraqi security forces that U.S. troops struggled for years to train have improved. But the sectarian wounds remain unhealed. Even as U.S. troops were leaving, the main Sunni-backed political bloc announced Sunday it was suspending its participation in parliament to protest the monopoly on government posts by Shiite allies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki."We are glad to see the last U.S. soldier leaving the country today," said 25-year-old Iraqi Said Hassan, the owner of money exchange shop in Baghdad. "It is an important day in Iraq's history, but the most important thing now is the future of Iraq," he added."The Americans have left behind them a country that is falling apart and an Iraqi army and security forces that have a long way ahead to be able to defend the nation and the people."The convoys that left Sunday were the last of a massive operation pulling out American forces that has lasted for months to meet the end-of-the-year deadline agreed with the Iraqis during the administration of President George W. Bush.On Saturday evening at Camp Adder, near Nasiriyah and about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, the vehicles lined up in an open field to prepare, and soldiers went through last-minute equipment checks to make sure radios, weapons and other gear were working.Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commanding general for Iraq, walked through the rows of vehicles, talking to soldiers over the low hum of the engines. He thanked them for their service."I wanted to remind them that we have an important mission left in the country of Iraq. We want to stay focused and we want to make sure that we're doing the right things to protect ourselves," Austin said.Early Saturday morning, the brigade's remaining interpreters made their routine calls to the local tribal sheiks and government leaders that the troops deal with, so that they would assume that it was just a normal day."The Iraqis are going to wake up in the morning and nobody will be there," said Spc. Joseph, an Iraqi American who emigrated from Iraq in 2009 and enlisted. He asked that his full name be withheld to protect his family.Camp Adder is now an Iraqi air force base, although they don't have any planes yet. Many of the Americans spent their last day sweeping out the trailers that housed thousands of troops and contractors while Iraqi officers came by to inspect their future domain.Little by little, the U.S. military gave up pieces of Camp Adder. Soldiers closed down guard towers, turned over checkpoints leading into the base and left hundreds of vehicles, oil tankers and trucks in vast lots with the keys on the dashboard.The volleyball and basketball courts stood empty. And no one worked out at the gym called "House of Pain."The roughly 13-square-mile base had at one time been a major way station where troops and supplies often stopped on their way south or north.But by the time the Americans pulled out for good, their numbers had dwindled so low that the wild dogs that used to be too afraid to come near the living quarters now wandered freely through the rows of trailers and concrete blast walls.Sgt. First Class Hilda McNamee was the truck commander in the last MRAP to drive out of Iraq. The 34-year-old said when she gets back to Texas, she plans to take her son to the International House of Pancakes.For her the significance of the last convoy driving out was immediately apparent."It means I won't open a newspaper and find out that one of my friends passed away," said McNamee.She welled up but didn't want to go any deeper. Some memories will always be too fresh.Going home will also bring new dangers for the troops.Col. Douglas Crissman, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, said one of his biggest concerns now was making sure that all his soldiers who survived this deployment also survive their re-entry into what is supposed to be a safer world."Quite frankly, we lost more soldiers in peacetime in the nine or ten months before this brigade deployed due to accidents and risky behavior ... than we lost here in combat," he said.His brigade, which controlled the four provinces in southern Iraq, lost three soldiers during this tour. Two were killed by roadside bombs and one was killed by a rocket, likely as he was trying to get to a bunker.But in the roughly 10 months leading up to their deployment, they lost 13 people. At least one was a confirmed suicide.The U.S. plans to keep a robust diplomatic presence in Iraq, hoping to foster a lasting relationship with the nation and maintain a strong military force in the region. Obama met in Washington with Prime Minister al-Maliki last week, vowing to remain committed to Iraq as the two countries struggle to define their new relationship.U.S. officials were unable to reach an agreement with the Iraqis on legal issues and troop immunity that would have allowed a small training and counterterrorism force to remain. U.S. defense officials said they expect there will be no movement on that issue until sometime next year.In the end, many of the departing troops wrestled with a singular question: Was it worth it?Capt. Mark Askew, a 28-year-old from Tampa, Florida, said the answer will depend on what type of country Iraq turns into years from now — whether it is democratic and respects human rights."People are asking themselves: 'Was this worth it?'" he said, speaking to his troops before they set off to Kuwait. "I can't answer that question right now."Associated Press===============Iraqi political crisis as US completes pulloutThe U.S. Army cross into Kuwait as the last convoy pulls out of Iraq Dec. 18, 2011. (SHANNON STAPLETON/Reuters)By BEN VAN HEUVELEN of Iraq Oil Report Published December 18, 2011 The American military is gone. In the dark hours of Sunday morning the last U.S. troops in Iraq left Camp Adder - now known as Imam Ali Airbase - and crossed a flood-lit berm lined with barbed wire at the Kuwait border.With the completion of the U.S. withdrawal, the rifts in Iraq's polity are widening, and the seismic tremors are coming bigger and sooner than many anticipated. Leaders are still struggling to define the basic shape of the state, and many people are reacting to the uncertainty...================Iraq slaps travel ban on Sunni vice-president19 Dec 2011 12:05Source: Reuters // Reuters* Renewed political tensions as U.S. troops withdraw* Hashemi accuses Maliki's gov't of harassment* Vice president's bodyguards arrestedBy Suadad al-SalhyBAGHDAD, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Iraq has banned Sunni Muslim Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi from leaving the country, a security source said on Monday, sharpening a sectarian-tinged political crisis just after the last U.S. troops departed.The completion of the U.S. withdrawal on Sunday ended nearly nine years of war, but left many Iraqis fearful that a shaky peace between majority Shi'ites and Sunnis might collapse and reignite sectarian violence."We received the travel ban order for Hashemi," said a senior security official, adding that the ban had been issued by five judges investigating allegations against the Sunni leader.Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, has also asked parliament for a no-confidence vote against another leading Sunni politician, Saleh al-Mutlaq, who is deputy prime minister, on the grounds that he lacked faith in the political process.Hashemi and Mutlaq are both leaders of the Iraqiya bloc, a secular group backed by minority Sunnis, which joined Maliki's unity government only reluctantly and recently boycotted parliament sessions after complaining of being marginalised, even though it is the single biggest bloc in the assembly.Security sources and lawmakers said on Sunday an arrest warrant had been issued for Hashemi, one of Iraq's two vice-presidents, but that Sunni and Shi'ite politicians had intervened to stop the arrest from being carried out.Security sources, who asked not to be named, said the arrest warrant was issued after four of Hashemi's bodyguards, who were arrested two weeks ago, accused him of links with terrorism.In a statement on Monday, Hashemi accused Maliki's government of "deliberate harassment" after his plane was delayed for three hours at Baghdad airport. He had been heading for the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya to meet the Iraqi president.Security forces arrested three of Hashemi's bodyguards on their way back from the airport, the statement said. Military forces surrounding Hashemi's house for weeks had been beefed up."The vice-president has been very patient and is waiting for a reasonable explanation from the government parties concerned," the statement said. "He is demanding the immediate release of the three officers who have been detained without judicial orders to arrest them."The renewed political infighting has overshadowed the U.S. withdrawal and dominated Iraqi newspaper headlines on Monday.Fearing a deepening crisis that could push Iraq back into sectarian turmoil, senior Iraqi politicians were holding talks with Maliki and other leaders to contain the dispute.The large-scale sectarian violence of 2006-07 has largely subsided, but tensions still simmer close to the surface, with many Sunnis feeling shunted aside by the rise of Shi'ite power after the U.S.-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003. (Writing and additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Patrick Markey and Alistair Lyon)Aswat Al Iraq / Politics , Title , BaghdadHashimi accuses parties for political escalation 12/19/2011 2:10 PM BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi vice-president Tariq al-Hashimi accused "some parties" for escalation the situation following obstructing his convoy to Baghdad airport with military encirclement to his residence and party quarter, according to a presidential statement.In the statement, issued today by his Media Office, it was said that the obstruction led to the delay of his plane for Sulaimaniya by three hours, to attend a meeting with President Jalal Talabani.It added that three officers of his bodyguards were arrested, and his car was released after three hours with its driver, but the three officers were still detained.The statement denied Baghdad Operations Command declaration that the three officers were released.Hashimi, in the statement, added that he is following "patience" and waiting "reasonable attitude by governmental organs", and hoping "to inform the public opinion the real truth".Informed sources said yesterday that a detention warrant was issued against Hashimi following accusation directed against his office director and member of his bodyguards for "terrorist" actions, as it was describedThe Supreme Judicial issue an order to prevent al-Hashemi and elements of protection of travelEditor: NQ | CC Monday, 19 k 1 2011 08:48 GMTVice President Tareq al-HashemiAlsumaria News / Baghdad Supreme Judicial Council issued, on Monday, is the prevention of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and protection from the elements to travel outside the country. The semi-official Iraqi TV that the "Supreme Judicial Council today issued an order which prevents the Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi, a number of protected individuals from traveling outside Iraq. The Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said in a statement issued on Monday, he invoked the utmost patience and waiting behavior "rational" by the government, against the backdrop of the arrest and his delegation at Baghdad International Airport yesterday and arrested seven of his companions one of them his brother in law, in carrying bodies accused escalation responsible for what gets, and demanded the release of three of the officers to protect. A source at the airport in Baghdad revealed that the security forces prevented the aircraft at the airport and seven Hashemi wanted to quit, as a political source revealed that the security forces Geert Hashemi between extradition listed in the investigations as soon as possible or the application of legal procedures. The talk about the prevention of jet-Hashimi, about 24 hours of the Interior Ministry announced its intention to offer the confessions of defendants confirm the involvement of political parties in terrorist operations, as confirmed after a few hours to wait until the completion of investigations. The announcement by the Interior Ministry, about twenty days of the bombing, which witnessed the fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, on November 28, 2011, by a car bomb near the building of the parliament, killing and wounding five civilians, including a spokesman for the Kurdistan Alliance, a pro-Tayeb. The Office of the President of the Council Osama Najafi said the bombing was an attempt to assassinate him, while Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that he was targeted personally, stressing that the car was Tfajikhha inside the Green Zone material is preliminary and manufacture of a local, was charged with views influence security and political enemy of the political process of planning the bombing , as noted earlier the agent of the Ministry of the Interior Adnan al-Asadi, in turn, to have the information that he was trying to target the Prime Minister in the green zone has told him that it was not announced. The leader of the coalition of state law, Hussein al-Asadi, on 17 December 2011, suspended the Iraqi List and the resignations of ministers in anticipation of the announcement about the involvement of the Office of the Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, to supervise the operations of "terrorist," while the likely issuance of an arrest warrant for al-Hashemi, if proven guilty by evidence the material. The Iraqi List, announced on 16 December 2011, the suspension of its membership in the House in protest against the "systematic" Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the management of the country, stressing that its ministers placed their resignations at the disposal of its leaders. ===============وقال مستشار القائمة العراقية هاني عاشور في بيان صدر اليوم، وتلقت "السومرية نيوز"، إن "الإجراءات الأمنية والعسكرية والمواقف ضد قيادات من القائمة العراقية تزيد حدة المشكلة ولا تشكل حلا"، داعيا إلى "وقف جميع تلك الإجراءات والبدء بحوار منطقي يشارك فيه قادة الكتل لحل الأزمة".BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqiya bloc is trying to form a new government following withdrawing confidence from present Baghdad government, after failing to provide the simplest of service, as stated by MP Talal al-Zoba'i. Zoba'i informed Aswat al-Iraq that a number of MPs and blocs withdrew from today's parliamentary session in solidarity with his bloc and the national project that aims building national establishments away from sectarian and political equations. He added that the bloc is "trying to establish a government after withdrawing confidence from Premier Nouri al-Maliki's government ". "There are serious dialogues to draw Iraqi future again", he confirmed. Parliamentary session of today was adjourned to 3 January 2012 following the withdrawal of Kurdish Alliance bloc and Change Movement, in addition to incomplete membership of the session. Iraqiya bloc decided last Friday to suspend its parliamentary participation, calling Premier Maliki to change his attitude in administering the state.=================Dec. 19, 2011 4:33 PM ETIraq issues arrest warrant for Sunni VPQASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press AIM ShareThe last convoy of soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. The U.S. military announced Saturday night that the last American troops have left Iraq as the nearly nine-year war ends. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)1 of 5More NewsVideoBelarus police detain dozens of protestersDec. 19, 2011 2:36 PM ETIraqi official says arrest warrant issued against Sunni vice president on terrorism chargesDec. 19, 2011 12:33 PM ETUK crime reporter arrested in corruption inquiryDec. 15, 2011 2:56 PM ETIsraeli police arrest Jewish extremistsDec. 14, 2011 11:20 AM ET2 more years of house arrest for anti-Chavez judgeDec. 13, 2011 6:40 PM ETAdvertisementAdvertisementBAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Shiite-led government issued an arrest warrant Monday for the Sunni vice president, accusing him of running a hit squad that assassinated government and security officials — extraordinary charges a day after the last U.S. troops left the country.The vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, left Baghdad on Sunday for the semiautonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan, presumably hoping that Kurdish authorities would not turn him in. Investigative judges banned him the same day from traveling outside of Iraq.The move against the country's highest-ranking Sunni official marked a sharp escalation in sectarian tensions, raising fears of a resurgence of large-scale bloodshed. Although many Iraqis welcomed the American withdrawal, ending the nine-year U.S. war, there are also considerable fears here that violence will worsen."Iraq is slipping into its worst nightmares now, and Iraqi people will pay a high price because of the struggle among political blocs after the pullout of U.S. troops," said Baghdad-based political analyst Kadhum al-Muqdadi, a Shiite.White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration had expressed its concerns to all of the parties involved regarding the issuing of the warrant."We are urging all sides to work to resolve differences peacefully and through dialogue in a manner consistent with the rule of law and the democratic political process," Carney said.Sunnis suspected the charges against al-Hashemi were politically motivated. Al-Hashemi is an old rival of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the arrest order came two days after the main Sunni-backed political bloc, Iraqiya, suspended its participation in parliament because al-Maliki refused to give up control over key posts.Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has made a series of moves in recent months to consolidate his hold on power. Hundreds of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party have been rounded up, allegedly as security threats, although no proof has been given. In Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, arrests have become so commonplace that whenever a police car shows up, young men flee from the street.State-run television aired what it characterized as confessions by men said to be working as bodyguards for al-Hashemi. The men said they killed officials working in Health and Foreign Ministries as well as Baghdad police officers, and that they received $3,000 from al-Hashemi for each attack."An arrest warrant has been issued against Vice President al-Hashemi under the terrorism law and five judges have signed this warrant," said Interior Ministry spokesman Adil Daham said as he waved a copy of the order.Al-Hashemi, one of two vice presidents in Iraq, could not be reached for comment.Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam and his Sunni-dominated Baath party regime, the Sunni minority has constantly complained of attempts by the Shiite majority to sideline them.At first the Sunnis waged an insurgency against the Americans, then became U.S. allies against al-Qaida, but relations with the Shiite-led national government are still frosty.Everyday relations between Sunnis and Shiites are much better than they were at the height of the insurgency, when neighbors turned on neighbors and whole sections of Baghdad were expunged of one Muslim sect or the other. Sunnis and Shiites can travel throughout the country without fear of being shot at a checkpoint by a militia.Iraq is now far quieter than at the height of the war but with an uneasy peace achieved through intimidation and bloodshed. The number of Iraqi neighborhoods in which members of the two Muslim sects live side by side and intermarry has dwindled.The forced segregation, fueled by extremists from both communities, has fundamentally changed the character of the country. And it raises questions about whether the Iraqis can heal the wounds of the sectarian massacres now that the American soldiers have left.Toward the end of the U.S. occupation, many Sunnis came to feel that the American military was treating them fairly, or at least more fairly than the Shiite-led government. They fear that the U.S. departure now means the loss of a protector.The parliament boycott by Iraqiya, headed by Ayad Allawi, was in response to the government's failure to share more powers, particularly the posts that control security forces, said Sunni lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq, a member of the bloc.Iraqiya narrowly won the most seats in last year's parliamentary election, but Allawi was outmaneuvered by al-Maliki, who kept the premier's post after cobbling together key support from other Shiite parties.For more than a year now, al-Maliki has effectively controlled the Interior and Defense Ministries, which oversee the police and military, while conflicts between Sunni and Shiite politicians have delayed the appointment of permanent ministers.Al-Mutlaq warned that Iraqiya could take a further step if its demands are not met — pulling its seven ministers out of al-Maliki's coalition government.The Sunnis feel they are being penalized simply for being Sunnis like Saddam. The Shiites feel that after more than three decades of suppression by the totalitarian Baathist creed, they need to be especially vigilant in stamping it out. Al-Maliki, the Shiite prime minister, is himself a former dissident who spent 24 years in exile and was sentenced to death by Saddam.___Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad and Julie Pace in Washington contributed to this report.Associated Press=======================Iraqi tensions are challenge for Obama21 Dec 2011 00:04Source: Reuters // Reuters* U.S. officials troubled by arrest warrant against Hashemi* Washington urges Baghdad to treat Hashemi fairly* Analysts worry about revival of sectarian strife in Iraq (Adds U.S. official on allegations, Biden calls)By Arshad MohammedWASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The Iraq war may be over for the U.S. military but may not be for the Iraqis or for the U.S. government as it tries to avert sectarian strife after the departure of American troops.U.S. officials are on edge because of the Iraqi government's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, the country's highest-ranking Sunni politician.The announcement of the arrest warrant on Monday, one day after the U.S. military completed its withdrawal, has revived fears that sectarian tensions between Iraq's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish communities may erupt anew.The timing is hardly convenient for U.S. President Barack Obama as he has sought in a series of appearances to mark the end of the U.S. military involvement in Iraq nearly nine years after the invasion ordered by former President George W. Bush.In the latest such event, Obama took part in a ceremony on Tuesday at a military base near Washington at which the flag of U.S. Forces-Iraq was formally returned home.Obama's Republican opponents in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail have argued the decision to bring all U.S. troops home by the end of this year - a date originally set by Bush - had aggravated the chances of instability in Iraq.Politics aside, the stark revival of sectarian tensions at the highest level of Iraqi politics poses a fresh challenge for U.S. policymakers in a strategic oil-rich country."One of the concerns that people have had for some time is that without a large U.S. presence, the likelihood of sectarian score-settling in Iraq would increase," said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.Alterman said he did not know how much evidence there may be to support the arrest warrant against Hashemi, who has been accused of suspected ties to assassinations and bombings.The Iraqi interior ministry showed taped confessions of men it claimed were members of Hashemi's security detail and who said they were paid by his office to carry out killings.But one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the allegations against Hashemi were totally unfounded."Whether this represents sectarian score-settling or straight-forward criminal investigation is not clear at all," Alterman said."The danger is that a straight-forward investigation would be perceived as score-settling and hurtle the country toward deep spasms of violence abetted by external parties with ties to the different sectarian communities," he added, alluding to neighboring Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.WHITE HOUSE SEEKS FAIR TREATMENTThe White House called on the Iraqi government to handle the matter in line with international norms, an appeal that appeared to reflect unspoken concerns the Hashemi case could be politically motivated or conducted in a less than impartial way.U.S. Vice President Biden spoke by telephone with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi to discuss the matter, saying the United States was monitoring events closely."He emphasized the United States' commitment to a long-term strategic partnership with Iraq, our support for an inclusive partnership government and the importance of acting in a manner consistent with the rule of law and Iraq's constitution," Biden's office said in a brief statement."The Vice President also stressed the urgent need for the Prime Minister and the leaders of the other major blocs to meet and work through their differences together," it added."We're obviously concerned about this," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters earlier, noting U.S. officials had been in touch with Iraqi leaders.The arrest warrant threatens Iraq's fragile power-sharing deal among Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs who have struggled to overcome tensions just a few years after sectarian violence pushed the nation virtually into civil war."I am skeptical of the allegations," said Michael O'Hanlon, a Brookings Institution analyst who specializes in national security and defense policy, stressing he did not have detailed information on which to base a judgment.O'Hanlon said he saw a significant danger that sectarian strife could erupt if Hashemi's eventual prosecution were perceived to be politically motivated, as seems likely."I think there is a great risk, especially because the prime minister has tried to use the courts before to serve his own agenda, for example trying to get candidates disqualified two years ago before the parliamentary elections," he said.Obama's political opponents this week renewed criticism of the troop withdrawal, which the president ordered after negotiations failed with the Iraqi government on a follow-on U.S. force of several thousand troops."The risk of increasing sectarian violence following the president's decision to withdraw all U.S. forces has always been real, which is one of the reasons our commanders recommended a credible force remain in Iraq after the end of the year," said a spokesman for House of Representatives Armed Services Committee chairman Buck McKeon, a Republican."But in the end the Iraqis will have to want security and liberty for all of their citizens as much as we do, and shape their own destiny," said the spokesman, Claude Chafin. (Additional reporting by Alister Bull, Laura MacInnis and Anna Yukhananov; Editing by John O'Callaghan)===================ANALYSIS-Neighbours eye Iraq's sectarian rift with unease21 Dec 2011 18:49Source: Reuters // Reuters* US pullout removes buffer between Shi'ites and Sunnis* Iraq's Shi'ites fear Syria revolt could boost Iraqi Sunnis* Toppling of Assad would dent Iranian influence* Saudis nervous of Shi'ite power in Iraq, influence limitedBy Angus McDowall and Parisa HafeziRIYADH/TEHRAN, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah told U.S. diplomats that by toppling the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the United States had presented Iraq to Iran "on a golden platter".That assessment, recorded in a 2005 embassy cable released by WikiLeaks, was affirmed in the eyes of Saudi Arabia's Sunni Muslim rulers by the outbreak of sectarian squabbling that followed this week's departure of the last American troops from Iraq after almost nine years of occupation.The decision by the Shi'ite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, to seek the arrest of his Sunni vice president on terrorism charges has pushed Iraq's fragile coalition to the verge of collapse, raising the spectre of renewed civil war - with alarming implications for all its neighbours."The Saudi government is worried about the departure of American troops because now Iranian influence can become direct instead of indirect. There is nothing now to balance Iranian rule, so things might get worse," one Saudi official said.The chaos that followed the 2003 U.S. invasion and toppling of Saddam turned Iraq into a regional bear pit, where Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria and Turkey backed different sides in a messy struggle that pitted Shi'ites against Sunnis and Arabs against Kurds.For its part, Iraq's Shi'ite-led government fears that the uprising in neighbouring Syria may unhinge its own delicate sectarian balance, no longer protected by an American military presence.Iraq's Shi'ite leaders say they fear that a collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ruling establishment, dominated by members of the Alawite Shi'ite sect and allied with Iran, may usher in a hardline Sunni government on its doorstep, risking a spillover of violence into Iraq and encouraging Iraqi Sunni militants."Nature abhors a vacuum, and the relative power vacuum in Baghdad is going to draw in the neighbours," said Stephen Biddle at the U.S.-based Council of Foreign Relations.HIGH STAKESIran arguably now has more to lose from renewed fighting than the other regional heavyweights, particularly in light of the spiralling bloodshed in Syria, an ally that allowed Tehran to extend its influence as far as the Mediterranean.Tehran's clerical rulers were widely seen to have come out as the biggest winners after the fall of Saddam, with the emergence of their old ally Maliki and his Dawa party as the strongest political force in Iraq.However, despite the risk that renewed unrest might alter this favourable political equation, Iran pushed for U.S. troops to withdraw, regarding their presence on its western flank as a constant threat."The U.S. withdrawal has created a power vacuum in Iraq, provoking Iran and Saudi Arabia to fill it in order to increase their influence in the region," said Iranian analyst Gholamhossein Mirvarzi."By increasing its influence in Iraq, Iran aims to challenge the regional Sunni rivals, particularly after (potentially) losing its close ally in Syria," he added.Iranian officials say they want a calm and stable Iraq and are not seeking a Shi'ite monopoly on power.But as international sanctions have started to bite into the Iranian economy, inflating the prices of imported goods in Tehran's warren-like bazaar, the rising tensions with Saudi Arabia have deepened its political isolation.Meanwhile, feuding between factions loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become increasingly open."Considering Iran's domestic problems and the developments in Syria, Iran will not be able to play a central security role in Iraq after the U.S. withdrawal," said Iranian analyst Hossein Farshchian.SECTARIAN DIVIDEAcross the Gulf, Saudi Arabia has long seen Iraq as the fulcrum of a sectarian divide that could stir unrest among its own Shi'ite minority, concentrated in its oil-producing Eastern Province.In recent months, those concerns seemed to become more urgent, as the Arab Spring inspired a revolt among the Shi'ite majority in Bahrain, whose Sunni ruling family is one of Saudi Arabia's closest allies.Small protests erupted among Saudi Shi'ites, and persisted throughout the year. Riyadh accusing an unnamed foreign power of instigating violence, hinting that Iran was to blame.These tensions go some way towards explaining why King Abdullah, whose mother's Shammar tribe includes thousands of Sunni Iraqis, has kept the Shi'ite Maliki at arm's length.In 2008, Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin told American diplomats that Abdullah viewed the Iraqi prime minister as untrustworthy and "Iranian 100 percent", according to a cable released by WikiLeaks.In recent weeks, some Iraqi officials have seen a foreign hand behind the push for more autonomy by mainly Sunni provinces bordering Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan.Yet for all that, the influence of Saudi Arabia, which has still not reopened the Baghdad embassy that it closed when Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1991, remains limited."What can be worse than what has already happened? The Americans leaving will affect Iran more than Saudi Arabia because Saudi Arabia does not have a heavy presence in Iraq," said Jamal Khashoggi, a former Saudi newspaper editor with ties to the royal family."It had its friends there, but it kept its distance." (Additional reporting by Patrick Markey; Editing by Kevin Liffey)============By SAM DAGHER and MUNAF AMMARBAGHDAD—Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned that a challenge to his government by Sunni politicians could destroy the ethnic and sectarian power-sharing system that underpins Iraq's democracy—and take more power into the hands of the Shiite majority.The threat signals the most dire political crisis Iraq has faced since an agreement on a governing coalition one year ago smoothed over a long-running conflict that has re-emerged with the official pullout this month of U.S. forces from Iraq.Enlarge ImageAssociated PressIraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaking to reporters in Baghdad early this month.The latest faceoff was triggered when a judicial panel issued a warrant for the arrest of Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on Monday, as the Ministry of Interior aired televised confessions by members of his security detail allegedly implicating him in ordering and funding attacks against Shiites.Iraq's security forces, both the army and police, report directly to Mr. Maliki in his capacity as commander-in-chief. In a sign the political crisis could affect the security situation, there was a visibly stepped-up presence of police and army patrols on the streets of Baghdad Wednesday night.Mr. Hashemi, hiding out from arrest in the semiautonomous Kurdistan region, accused Mr. Maliki of fabricating the charges against him and launching a sectarian political vendetta.Mr. Hashemi's political bloc, Iraqiya, though facing its own internal divisions, has suspended its participation in Mr. Maliki's government and in Parliament. On Wednesday, some members of Iraqiya said they would pursue a no-confidence motion in Parliament to oust Mr. Maliki. It was unclear if all members of the bloc were in agreement. Parliament is in recess until Jan. 3.A spokesman for Iraqiya said Mr. Maliki's "divisive actions were threatening security and civil peace."Mr. Maliki invited all political factions for an urgent meeting to salvage the political process. He said a collapse of the government would lead to a "political majority" government of Shiite Arabs—the community that constitutes the largest share of Iraq's estimated population of 30 million—with the participation of Sunnis, Kurds and others."Today we say it, either we resort to the constitution as referee [to resolve our differences] or we go to a government of political majority so that we can launch ourselves, build and construct; we are tired of being patient," he said in a Baghdad news conference."There is a desire to rid ourselves of this gridlock because the state's hands are tied behind its back with this partnership, this understanding and these intentionally disruptive practices," Mr. Maliki said.Mr. Maliki also asked Kurdistan to hand over Mr. Hashemi, upping the ante with his hesitant Kurdish partners in his coalition government. "Not handing him over and facilitating his escape could cause problems," Mr. Maliki warned Kurdish leaders.There was no reaction from the Kurds, but a spokesman for the regional government's president told a local TV station that Mr. Hashemi was "a dear guest" under their protection.Mr. Maliki would need Kurdish support to form a government without Sunni participation. Yet in a direct swipe at the Kurds, Mr. Maliki said on Wednesday that he met with top executives of oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. during his visit to Washington last week, and warned them that their contract with the Kurdistan region for six exploration blocks in the north could cause war."Contracts in disputed areas is a difficult thing; this is a problem that leads to war," said Mr. Maliki.Exxon, which has a major contract in the south of the country, has declined to say anything publicly about its deal with Kurdistan, which it signed in October.The current government, which emerged in December 2010 after over eight months of acrimonious negotiations, was an unwieldy coalition of feuding political factions.For many, the collapse of this government is now inevitable. "American withdrawal in this manner, given that Iraq is unstable, opens Pandora's box," said Ghassan al-Atiyyah, a London-based Iraqi analyst.In another development that could fan Sunni-Shiite tensions, Mr. Maliki said he had assembled a file three years ago that covers more alleged violations by Mr. Hashemi during the height of the sectarian warfare between 2005 and 2007 that he has held off on revealing it "for the sake of the political process."He told political rivals engaged in "sabotage and killing" to stop doing so or "all files will be exposed and put in front of the judiciary."Write to Sam Dagher at sam.dagher@wsj.com
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Thousands of foreigners in Iraq without proper documents
By Adel Kadhem
Azzaman, March 4, 2012
There are about 5,000 foreigners in the country without residence permits, the Justice Ministry says.
In a statement faxed to the newspaper, the ministry said it has instructed the Interior Ministry and its security organs to apprehend individuals staying in Iraq illegally.
“The authorities will pursue foreigners who entered Iraq through foreign security firms,” the statement said.
There were several security firms in Iraq providing security services mainly for U.S. troops who left the country by the end of 2011.
Euphemistically called ‘security guards,’ the firms had raised their own special forces said to include up to 80,000 heavily armed individuals.
They worked as mercenaries, helping U.S. troops and even taking part in combat actions.
While foreign ‘security guards’ have left, many of the laborers from south east Asia who were brought along to serve U.S. troops have stayed behind.
The ministry wants all these laborers arrested and sent to special camps before their repatriation.
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