War watch - August 7 , 2013 ..... Iraq daily death dealing and the Great Abu Gharib breakout ......Taliban biding their time in Afghanistan....... Yemen instability bodes poorly for stability in neighbor Saudia Arabia , do the Saudis believe by funding Al Qaeda influenced groups in syria that that gives them immunity from insurrection at home after the syrian battles are over ? Syria in focus as a huge massacre of Kurds by Al Qaeda influenced foreign mercenaries doesn't merit media attention for some reason.... ?

Iraq......


http://www.businessinsider.com/us-selling-weapons-to-civil-war-iraq-2013-8

( Pentagon wants to sell 2.7 billion in weapons to Iraq - this despite Iraq's PM Maliki being aligned with Iran and therefore aligned with government of Syria - strange....)

The Pentagon is looking to bolster its military options for Syria's civil war by sending $2.7 billion in weapons to Iraq, despite the country being on the verge of civil war.

The weapons deal would include 681 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 40 truck-mounted launchers, as well as three Hawk anti-aircraft batteries with 216 Hawk missiles, according to Agence France Presse.

The sale is primarily viewed as a way to bolster a possible no-fly zone in Iraq, though it would also help to cut off Iranian supplies to Syria through Iraqi air space.

*****








http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-06/great-abu-ghraib-escape

The Great "Abu Ghraib" Escape

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/06/2013 23:09 -0400

• Iraq

How al Qaeda broke hundreds of bad guys out of the world’s most notorious jail -- and what it means for America.

Excerpted from Raheem Salman and Ned Parker via Foreign Policy,

On July 21, the temperature spiked to a sweltering 107 degrees in Baghdad -- brutal heat for the guards and prisoners inside Abu Ghraib's cement confines. Outside, among a patchwork of green farmland and dry brown fields, federal police and army troops -- packing AK-47s, PKC machine guns and sniper rifles -- were positioned throughout the terrain, which is dotted with Sunni farms and villages where insurgents had once launched a guerrilla war against U.S. troops. Within the walls of the infamous prison, the guards -- armed only with pepper spray and clubs -- were the last line of defense from would-be assailants.

At around 9 p.m. that night, as detainees were being counted on the way back to their cells after dinner, the mortars began to fall.

A barrage of more than 40 rounds hit the grounds in rapid succession -- some counted as many as 100 explosions. As guards and detainees scrambled for cover, two car bombs exploded outside, punching a hole in the walls of the massive prison compound.

More than 50 gunmen wearing tribal robes then entered the grounds, wielding pistols, AK-47s, and hand grenades. They had been on the road and in nearby villages, waiting to storm the facility. The power was cut, and the detainees broke out in cries of "God is great." 

The gunmen opened fire on any officer they saw. "The prisoners rioted. Some burned mattresses and clothes, others had stored homemade explosives to hurl at the guards. The infiltrators handed weapons to their jailed comrades. There was screaming and chaos," one of the guards at Abu Ghraib recalled. "We were surrounded."

When the assault ended, 71 prisoners were dead but hundreds of hardened militants had been freed in a stunning attack by al Qaeda's local subsidiary. The exact number is still unclear: The Iraqi government estimated anywhere from 300 to more than 850 detainees, including some arrested by U.S. forces years ago, had been busted out. The fact that the Iraqi security apparatus still does not know exactly how many militants escaped is a stunning admission of incompetence -- and a testament to how badly it was knocked off balance by the assault.

...

Admission after admission has come out in the local media: 200 Sunni prisoners, some of them from al Qaeda, had been transferred to Abu Ghraib just days before the escape; prisoners had easy access to cell phones, so were able to communicate with the prison break plotters in the countdown to the escape.

...

It's not just this one prison break -- there are signs that militants are gaining momentum across the country. Iraq just witnessed its deadliest month since the end of its civil war in 2008: The United Nations announced last week that 1,057 Iraqis had been killed in July.

Al Qaeda's assaults are also becoming more sophisticated.

...

The Abu Ghraib prison break was not only a counterterrorism disaster, it laid bare Iraq's political dysfunction.

...

The Abu Ghraib prison break may be over, but its effects will reverberate around Iraq and the broader region for many months to come. The men who carried it out are still on the loose, ready to carry out more bombings, stronger than ever. The guards, meanwhile, marveled at the jihadists' confidence and cool.

"They seemed not to be in a rush, they were doing what they wanted, with no confusion," one guard said. "They knew what to do."

Click here to read more

http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2013/08/06/57-killed-161-wounded-in-spate-of-iraq-bombings/

57 Killed, 161 Wounded In Spate of Iraq Bombings

by Margaret Griffis, August 06, 2013

Print This | Share This

With Ramadan winding down, Baghdad was again targeted in a series of coordinated, evening bombings. At least were 57 killed and another 161 were wounded there and across Iraq. One of the fatalities, a suicide bomber, was discovered to be a Saudi national.

In Baghdad, five people were killed and 18 more were wounded in a blast near Hurriya Square in Karrada. Eight people were killed and 21 more were wounded inNahrawan when a bomb exploded. A bomb killed five and wounded 17 in Doura. InThaalibh, a bomb killed four people and wounded 13 others. Three people were killed and 23 more were wounded during another blast in Zaafaraniya. Five people were killed and 15 more were wounded in a blast at a cafe in Husseiniya; a second bombkilled three and wounded 10 more. A bomb in Shabb left six wounded. Five people were killed and 16 more were wounded last night at an ice cream shop in Abu Dsheer.

Ten people were killed and 15 more were wounded in a blast in Anbakiya.

In Tuz Khormato, three al-Qaeda suspects were killed during a raid.

Two people were killed and four more were wounded in Saidiya when a bomb exploded near a home.

Gunmen killed a policeman at his sister’s home near Mosul. Another policeman was wounded in a bombing.

A policeman was shot dead in Falluja.

Security forces in Muqdadiya killed a Saudi suicide truck bomber.

Near Baquba, gunmen critically wounded a civilian.

A civilian was shot dead in Samarra.

In Shirqat, gunmen wounded a Sahwa member.

After Bloody July, Iraq Bombings Usher in August Afghanistan...... Taliban Won’t Contest 2014 Afghan Election, Will Fight NATO Instead Mullah Omar: Election a 'Waste of Time' by Jason Ditz, August 06, 2013 Print This | Share This In a message released today by their leader Mullah Omar, the Taliban has announced that they don’t intend to field candidates or take part in the 2014 Afghan Presidential Election, saying it wasn’t worth the effort. Calling it a “deceiving drama,” Mullah Omar insisted that the election was a “waste of time” and that instead the Talibanwill focus on fighting foreign occupation forces until they leave the country. This is in keeping with the Taliban’s position on previous elections since the US occupation began in 2001, as they have long insisted that the Afghan government holds no real power so long as it depends on foreign troops to stay in power. With NATO hyping its post-2014 drawdown there was some hope the Taliban might enter a power-sharing agreement to end the ongoing war, but it seems that won’t come by way of the next election, and will still have to be negotiated at some future date. Yemen....... http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/07/al-qaeda-conference-call-intercepted-by-u-s-officials-sparked-alerts.html ( so now it was a 20 participant conference call - which Al Qaeda reps believed was secure ? Next we will hear the call was set up with an ATT conference center service ... And if this was even plausible , why are we exposing we possess intel community  trade craft to access these calls ? ) The crucial intercept that prompted the U.S. government to close embassies in 22 countries was a conference call between al Qaeda’s senior leaders and representatives of several of the group’s affiliates throughout the region. This file image from video the AP obtained Feb. 12, 2012, from the SITE Intel Group, an American private terrorist threat analysis company, shows al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a web posting by al-Qaeda's media arm, as-Sahab. The intercept provided the U.S. intelligence community with a rare glimpse into how al Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, manages a global organization that includes affiliates in Africa, the Middle East, and southwest and southeast Asia. Several news outlets reported Monday on an intercepted communication last week between Zawahiri and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda’s affiliate based in Yemen. But The Daily Beast has learned that the discussion between the two al Qaeda leaders happened in a conference call that included the leaders or representatives of the top leadership of al Qaeda and its affiliates calling in from different locations, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. All told, said one U.S. intelligence official, more than 20 al Qaeda operatives were on the call. To be sure, the CIA had been tracking the threat posed by Wuhayshi for months. An earlier communication between Zawahiri and Wuhayshi delivered through a courier was picked up last month, according to three U.S. intelligence officials. But the conference call provided a new sense of urgency for the U.S. government, the sources said. Al Qaeda members included representatives or leaders from Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda in Iraq, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and more obscure al Qaeda affiliates such as the Uzbekistan branch. Also on the call were representatives of aspiring al Qaeda affiliates such as al Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula, according to a U.S. intelligence official. The presence of aspiring al Qaeda affiliates operating in the Sinai was one reason the State Department closed the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, according to one U.S. intelligence official. “These guys already proved they could hit Eilat. It’s not out of the range of possibilities that they could hit us in Tel Aviv,” the official said. Al Qaeda leaders had assumed the conference calls, which give Zawahiri the ability to manage his organization from a remote location, were secure. But leaks about the original intercepts have likely exposed the operation that allowed the U.S. intelligence community to listen in on the al Qaeda board meetings. “This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom.” “This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom,” one U.S. intelligence officer told The Daily Beast, referring to the coalition of villains featured in the Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends. The official said Zawahiri announced to the broader organization during the meeting that Wuhayshi had been promoted to “Ma’sul al-Amm,” an Arabic term that roughly translates as “general manager.” The promotion effectively gave the leader of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen operational control of al Qaeda’s many affiliates throughout the Muslim world, the official said, a key factor that led the State Department to close embassies, missions, and consulates throughout the region. “All you need to do is look at that list of places we shut down to get a sense of who was on the phone call,” the official said. *****  US Intervention Could Fuel Multiple Conflicts in Yemen Unstable Nation's Rivalries Extend Far Beyond al-Qaeda by Jason Ditz, August 06, 2013 Print This | Share This As the US turns its focus on Yemen, the nation is presented as a hotbed for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). And while that is AQAP’s home territory, Yemen is a nation of myriad instabilities, and multiple incipient conflicts that US intervention could bring America directly into. The attempts to establish an independent Islamist emirate with AQAP ties in Abyan Province is the US focus, but is comparatively small among Yemen’s problems. Yemen as a whole is rarely particularly united, with the central government based in Sanaa and mostly controlling the area between there and the coasts. Everything else is tribal areas, where heavily-armed tribal militias have shown themselves capable of standing up to the Yemeni military when the situation requires. It was one of these conflicts that saw a Yemeni military helicopter shot down, killing eight earlier today. Tribal disputes with the government are almost entirely distinct from the AQAP conflict, and while AQAP at time takes advantage of such clashes to establish a foothold in certain areas, the notoriously independent tribes aren’t likely to happily greet a US intervention. And these on-again, off-again tribal wars are just one concern for the US as it moves into Yemen. Two distinct secessionist movements are also ongoing on opposite sides of the country. In the north around Sadaa, the Shi’ite Houthis are hoping to carve out independence while being hotly contested by Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni military. The Yemeni government is eager to blame Iran for this movement, though the Houthis’ ambition for autonomy is a long-standing issue. Meanwhile, the lack of stability in Saleh and now Hadi-ruled Yemen has many people thinking South Yemen should reemerge as an independent entity. The Yemeni military is often cracking down on this entirely non-religious secessionist movement, and it will be yet another one that the US could rapidly get sucked into. and..... Yemen’s Capital Militarizes as US Attention Focuses on AQAP After Years of Strikes, US 'Terror War' Set to Escalate in Yemen by Jason Ditz, August 06, 2013 Print This | Share This Yemeni military officials say that the nation is on “high alert” and taking an unprecedented amount of security measures as US officials warn of a “specific and immediate threat” of terrorism in the country. Right now the operation is focusing on the capital of Sanaa, where a huge influx of Yemeni troops and armored vehicles are militarizing life in a way not seenin years. The indications are that US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is preparing “preemptive strikes” in the region, and likely Yemen will be the focus of such strikes. US military operations have been a reality in Yemen for years, as missile strikes have turned into a constant drone war over the nation’s southern provinces, and despite repeated promises from former Defense Secretaries Gates and Panetta not to deploy in Yemen, the US is known to have at least some boots on the ground in the area already. Drones have been the focus in recent months, however, with today’s strike the fourth in the last week and a half. The strikes have fueled resentment toward the US in the region, bolstering recruitment for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as a foil to US influence in the nation and suggesting that as the US escalates in the nation, they will find themselves most unwelcome. Perhaps the only faction in the country likely to welcome the US is the central government, as Major General Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the de facto ruler of Yemen, came to power after a US-backed vote in which he was the only candidate. Hadi has loudly endorsed the US drone strikes, even as locals complain that most of the victims are innocent bystanders. Yemen Security Crackdown as UK and US Withdraw Staff Syria...... http://rt.com/news/syria-kurds-massacre-lavrov-132/ Unconfirmed reports have emerged detailing a new massacre in which 450 Kurds - including 120 children - were allegedly slaughtered by al-Qaeda-linked rebels fighting against the Syrian government. The report has sparked international concern. According to Iranian TV channel Al-Alam, militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra Front attacked the town of Tal Abyad on Monday, killing 120 children and 330 women and elderly near the Turkish border.   The channel also ran horrific uncensored footage from the scene - the authenticity of which can’t be independently verified at this moment. For ethical reasons, RT will refrain from airing the video.  Neither the Syrian government nor the opposition has confirmed the report. RT contacted a number of sources, including several Kurdish interviewees, who testified that increased fighting has been taking place in their areas.  “The al-Nusra militants and other rebel forces surrounded the village,” Yasin Tarbush, the relative of one of the Kurdish attack victims, told RT. “They started going door to door, entering every house. If there were any men, they killed them and took the women and children hostage.”  Commenting on the reports, the UN Human Rights office in Geneva said they are investigating and if it confirms them, would consider it a war crime and seek that perpetrators are brought to justice.  “Armed groups also have responsibilities under international law and should not think that they are immune from prosecution,” Navi Pillay said in a statement. Russia called on the UN Security Council to condemn acts of terrorism in Syria in unambiguous terms. “We saw before some Security Council members reluctant to condemn terror attacks in Syria on the grounds that – as cynical as it sounds – those attacks are being carried out by people fighting against an obsolete regime,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. “This position is absolutely unacceptable. No double standards can be applied to terrorism.” Islamists on offensive RT’s Irina Galushko spoke to Kurdish journalist Barzan Iso, who confirmed that “Al-Qaeda started attacking Kurdish villages on the 19th of July. After these attacks they kidnapped many Kurds. We don’t have a specific statistic,” he said, alluding to the fact that many of the areas are dominated by Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda-linked militants who do not allow Kurds to gain access and investigate.  Iso explained the Kurds’ non-allegiance to either side of the Syrian conflict: “Since the beginning of the events in Syria, the Kurds tried not to be a part of the civil conflict…there are non-Muslim Kurds, as well as Alawite Kurds – that’s why they tried to be away from [it]. But now, some of the opposition groups are using al-Qaeda and al-Nusra to attack Kurds. The main cause is that they have the mentality of radical nationalists. That’s why they are using al-Qaeda as an umbrella to attack the Kurdish people.”   Iso claims that when he spoke to members of the Syrian National Coalition, the political component of the West-backed opposition forces, they readily blamed the Islamist attacks against Kurds on the Kurdish drive for independence. Al-Nusra Front, an offshoot of an Iraq-based Al-Qaeda branch, is seeking to claim Kurdish territories for an Islamist state encompassing parts of Iraq and Syria, which the group wants to create. Syrian Kurdish refugees.(AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic) The report follows other instances of heavy strife between ethnic Kurds and al-Qaeda-linked militants in historically Kurdish-settled northern and north-eastern Syria. Kurdish neutrality stance strained The Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without a state of their own. They currently live in the bordering territories of Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. The idea of carving an independent Kurdish state has numerous supporters among Kurds, with host countries trying for years to oppose secessionism. In pre-war Syria, the Kurdish population was denied some of the rights that other ethnic groups enjoyed. However in the early months of the conflict the government of President Bashar Assad gave a number of concessions to the Kurds, including granting citizenship to thousands of them. Since then, Kurds have been trying to distance themselves from the focus of the civil war, forming militias to defend their territory, but otherwise not supporting any side. In recent months radical anti-Assad groups have been increasingly attacking Kurdish towns, which, according to some reports, has given Kurds an incentive to side more with the Syrian government. On July 30, a Kurdish militia has announced its mobilization against al-Qaeda-linked militants in north-eastern Syria after the assassination of Kurdish opposition leader Isa Huso.  “We call on the Kurdish people…to step forward…anyone fit to bear arms should join the ranks of the Committees for the Protection of the Kurdish People (YPG) and to face the assaults of these armed groups,” the YPG statement reads. The Suriya al-Ain news portal claims that the terrorists are executing Kurdish prisoners as “revenge on the Kurds, for defeats inflicted on them.” One week ago, al-Nusra militants attacked two Syrian towns, taking around 200 civilians hostage. It was reported that all of those abducted came from the families of soldiers of the Kurdish Brigades who were previously part of the opposition Free Syrian Army, but later defected to the Kurdish Self-Defense forces.  The Syrian Civil War – in which rebels are trying to topple the Assad regime – has been raging since 2011, with more than 100,000 people killed and nearly 8 million displaced, according to UN estimates. Arming Al-Qaeda Many Western countries and their regional allies, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, voiced their support for the less-radical anti-Assad forces. But the reality on the ground is that Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists, including Al-Nusra Front, are dominating the rebels. The latest example is the takeover of a crucial military airport in northern Syria on Tuesday by Islamists-spearheaded forces. The airport, which had been locked down since October, was taken in a two-day assault by a coalition of nine rebel groups, including some supported by the West, according to a McClatchy report. “The victory again underlines the leading strategic impact being played by militant Islamists, particularly in northern Syria,” Charles Lister, who is monitoring the fight for the London-based military analysis group IHS Janes, said. “Every major offensive in northern Syria this year has been announced, led and coordinated by Islamists.” On numerous occasions, Western politicians have emphasized that they do not want extremists running rampant across the Middle East and gaining access to foreign arms supplies as they did in Libya and other recent conflicts. However, this is what is happening in Syria, Colin Cavell, a political science academic at Bluefield State College in West Virginia, told RT. “Right now most of the American people are very unclear about exactly what is going on. Our media kind of keeps it down low on one end, and on the other end it says we are supporting moderate democratic opposition, which is hilarious to anybody who is following this. We are supporting Al-Qaeda-linked Jihadists, who are massacring people,” he stated. Despite calls by the West to arm Syrian rebels in their fight against Assad’s government, there is still no accurate way of distinguishing non-radicalized opposition forces from Islamist militants determined to create their own sovereign state in the Middle East.