Thursday, March 21, 2013

War watch March 21 , 2013 - Iraq , Syria and Afghanistan in focus

http://news.antiwar.com/2013/03/20/huge-drop-in-workers-at-city-sized-us-embassy-in-baghdad/


Huge Drop in Workers at City-Sized US Embassy in Baghdad

Cost-Cutting to See 10,000 Withdraw This Year

by Jason Ditz, March 20, 2013
A Vatican-sized fortress along the Tigris River, the US Embassy to Iraq is the stuff of legends, a $730 million testament to the runaway overspending of the occupation era.
Ten years after the US invasion and four years after the embassy actually opened, the 16,000 personnel that were supposed to be deployed there more or less forever are shrinking fast, with 10,500 there now.
The number is going to drop a lot more, according to Ambassador Beecroft, who says that the goal is to get down to 5,500 employees by year’s end, and with cost-cutting at a premium the number will drop even more next year.
The ambition for the “post-war” era appears to have dramatically exceeded the reality, with the US State Department envisioning a huge private army still fighting the war for them and huge public works projects in the coming decades. The money just isn’t there, and neither is the appetite to put that sort of effort into Iraq after years of waste. Instead, the enormous embassy will be a mostly empty reminder of the disastrous adventure into Iraq.


Syria news of note.....

'Top pro-regime cleric killed' in Syria blast

Suicide attack inside Damascus mosque kills Sunni cleric Dr Mohammed al-Bouti, leaving at least 42 dead and 84 wounded.
Last Modified: 21 Mar 2013 21:21
A senior pro-government Sunnia cleric is among dozens of people killed in a suicide attack in the Syrian capital after a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque.

Dr Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti, a longtime supporter of President Bashar al-Assad and Imam of Damascus' historic Ummayyad Mosque, was killed in the explosion in the Iman Mosque in the central Mezzeh district.
"The number of those martyred in the terrorist suicide attack in the Iman Mosque rises to 42 martyrs with 84 injured," a bulletin on state television said, citing the country's health ministry.

Syrian TV said among those killed were Bouti's grandson.
Television footage showed wounded people and bodies with severed limbs on the bloodstained floor of the mosque.
Ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion, which was sealed off by the military.

'A crime'
Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, president of the opposition National Coalition, condemned the blast, saying he suspected the regime was behind the attack.

"This is a crime by any measure that is completely rejected," he told the AFP news agency in Cairo by telephone.

Bouti's death is a major blow to Syria's embattled leader, who is fighting mainly Sunni rebels seeking his overthrow.
The cleric, believed to be in his 90s, has been a vocal supporter of his regime since the early days of Assad's father and predecessor, the late President Hafez Assad.
In recent months, Syrian TV has carried Bouti's sermon from mosques in Damascus live every week. He also hosts a regular religious television programme.
Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, said: "We know that in the past years, he's [Bouti] been a prominent cleric against the Muslim Brotherhood movement, so for the regime, his death is a loss."


UN to probe use of chemical weapons in Syria

UN chief says probe will examine "specific incident" brought to his attention by Syrian government and other claims.
Last Modified: 21 Mar 2013 19:08
Ban said 'full cooperation from all parties will be essential. I stress that this includes unfettered access [Reuters]
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has announced that the global body will launch an investigation into allegations that chemical weapons were used near the northern city of Aleppo.

The UN chief said on Thursday the investigation would look into "the specific incident brought to my attention by the Syrian government".

"I have decided to conduct a United Nations investigation into the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria," Ban told reporters.
Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from New York, said: "It will take some time for the UN to get investigators on the ground.
"They need to get assurances from the government and the opposition that their investigation team will be safe when they are on the ground carrying out their work."

Syria's government and rebels on Wednesday demanded an international inquiry into the deadly attack which both sides cite as an evidence that the other has used chemical weapons.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition said it also wanted an investigation into another incident of alleged chemical attack in Otaiba, a town near the capital city of Damascus.

Ban said he was aware of other allegations of the reported use of chemical weapons, but did not make clear whether those would be part of the investigation.
"Full cooperation from all parties will be essential. I stress that this includes unfettered access," the UN chief said.
'Difficult mission'
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and World Health Organisation are helping to set up what the UN chief predicted would be "a difficult mission".

Bays said: "Some countries, notably Britain and France, wanted a wide-ranging investigation into all the allegations.
"Russia though said they were asking into investigations into some incidents which were merely, in the words of the Russian UN ambassador, 'rumours'."

The attack, which killed at least 26 people on Tuesday, if confirmed, would be the first use of chemical weapons in the nearly two-year-old conflict.

Washington has disputed the regime's claim and said there was no evidence that the rebels had fired chemical weapons.
"So far we have no evidence to substantiate the reports that chemical weapons were used [on Tuesday]," said Robert Ford, the US ambassador to Syria, adding that the administration was extremely concerned and trying to verify reports of such weapons being used.



http://news.antiwar.com/2013/03/20/major-clashes-along-syrias-border-with-israel/


Major Clashes Along Syria’s Border with Israel

Rebels Predict They Will Soon Have Total Control of Border Area

by Jason Ditz, March 20, 2013
Syrian rebels are reporting that the Assad government’s forces are on the brink of collapse in the area around the armistice line between Syria and Israeli-occupied Golan, saying they believe they will soon have total control of the region.
The military has been shelling several rebel-held villages recently in an attempt to unseat the fighters who have flocked to the area, just the latest in a series of efforts to gain control over all borders.
Rebels initially had claimed the push into Golan was about forcing the Syrian military to stretch itself thinner, but the military has mostly declined to add ground troops to the area and is instead trying to use artillery to keep the rebels off balance.
While the rebels have used control over the Turkish border to import weapons, and control over parts of the Lebanese and Iraqi borders to reduce supply lines for government forces, the control over the Israel border region appears to be of little practical value, and with Israeli officials reportedly eying this region as a new “buffer zone” to occupy, it could bring the rebels into direct conflict with Israel.

http://news.antiwar.com/2013/03/20/afghan-govt-backs-off-demand-for-us-to-leave-wardak-province/


Afghan Govt Backs Off Demand for US to Leave Wardak Province

NATO General: New 'Deal' Means 'Business as Usual' in Wardak

by Jason Ditz, March 20, 2013
In what Afghan officials are laughably calling a “deal” on their demand for US special forces to withdraw from the Wardak Province, a statement of agreement has been released which will underscore the presence of such troops across virtually the whole province for the foreseeable future.
British Lt. Gen. Nick Carter, the second-in-command for the NATO occupation, said the agreement means NATO forces would be reduced in a single district of Wardak, and that “elsewhere in Wardak, it’s business as usual.” The agreement states a withdrawal will happen “eventually,” with no dates set at all.
This won’t set well with locals, who have been complaining for months that US and NATO troops have been committing human rights abuses, kidnapping civilians, torturing detainees and even murdering people in detention.
The announcement reflects the reluctance of the Karzai government, despite its willingness to criticize US abuses, to actually stand firm on the demands when NATO pushes back and refuses.



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