2016 Country Review
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Iraq Body Count As a Case Study in the Use Of
Chapter 5 Iraq Body Count: A Case Study in the Uses of Incident-based Conflict Casualty Data John Sloboda, Hamit Dardagan, Michael Spagat, and Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks Introduction Iraq Body Count (IBC) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that has systematically collated media reports of Iraqi civilian deaths from incidents of armed violence since the beginning of the Iraq war on March 20, 2003 (Dardagan et al. 2005; Iraq Body Count, 2011). The IBC method integrates data extracted from media reports on civilian deaths with data on deaths reported by hospitals, morgues, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and official figures, using systematic cross-checks to eliminate double-counting, with the aim of providing as complete a record as possible of individual Iraqi civilians killed by armed violence since the beginning of the war. In this chapter, we discuss the uses, merits, and limitations of incident-based casualty data, using the IBC database as our example. We begin by describing the origins and aims of the Iraq Body Count project; the characteristics, methods, and sources of IBC’s data; and examples of how IBC’s incident- based data have been used in efforts to improve understanding of the effects of armed conflict on civilians, to commemorate individual deaths, and to advocate for civilian protection. We then discuss how IBC’s database on Iraqi civilian deaths compares against other sources of information on violent deaths in Iraq, and we discuss the strengths and limitations of using media-based data and of using incident-based data. We end by describing our view on what improvements could be made in the incident-based recording of civilian casualties in order to support the increased protection of civilians from the violence of armed conflict. -
ZIGGURAT the True Agenda in Iraq
ZIGGURAT The true agenda in Iraq By Chris Deggs Also by Chris Deggs Anunnaki: The Greatest Story Never Told books: 1, 2 and 3 Vincent: A Quantime Experience Nanofuture: The Small Things In Life 2 Foreword It was in Babylon, now Baghdad, at Balthazar’s feast, that the eclipse of this fabulous city and the empire it controlled had its future determined. Reaching out to the Mediterranean and what we know as Israel, Babylon’s future was foretold, according to the prophet Daniel. Balthazar, (descendant of the mighty Babylonian king. Nebuchadnezzar), called upon Daniel to interpret the writing on the wall that had mysteriously appeared. It read: "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it; thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and the Persians." Thus, fulfilling the prophecy, the Persian king, Cyrus II, invaded and triumphed. Resulting from this oracle the Persians and Mesopotamians - today's Iranians and Iraqis - have been squaring up to each other ever since. They last fought a bruising, inconclusive war between 1980 and 1988 that claimed the lives of 450,000 Iraqis and left 750,000 wounded. Everything changes, says history, and everything remains the same. The discovery of oil - a blessing and a curse - in 1927 made modern Iraq a target of envy for foreign powers, and the land between the rivers again became central to western interests. Britain and the US became determined to fan and whirl Saddam, a would-be Nebuchadnezzar, into the sand - as Cyrus and Alexander, the Mongols and Turks, had done to his predecessors thousands of years before. -
GAO-04-559 State Department: Issues Affecting Funding of Iraqi National Congress Support Foundation
United States General Accounting Office GAO Report to Congressional Requesters April 2004 STATE DEPARTMENT Issues Affecting Funding of Iraqi National Congress Support Foundation a GAO-04-559 April 2004 STATE DEPARTMENT Issues Affecting Funding of Iraqi National Highlights of GAO-04-559, a report to Congress Support Foundation congressional requesters As part of the efforts by the United State’s funding of INCSF programs totaled nearly $33 million for the period States to oust Saddam Hussein, a March 2000 through September 2003. This money was made available critical element of U.S. policy through 23 cooperative agreements and amendments that provided short- included funding the Iraqi National term funding at irregular intervals. The funds were provided for several Congress as the lead Iraqi purposes, including establishing new satellite television capability (Liberty opposition coalition. In 1999, the TV), newspaper publication, and information collection programs. About Iraqi National Congress Support Foundation (INCSF) was $10 million was earmarked for Liberty TV broadcasting activities, which established to provide an included hiring staff, establishing studio operations, and actual broadcasting. organizational structure for There were several periods during which State did not have an agreement to Department of State funding. From fund INCSF’s program, causing State to later fund INCSF activities March 2000 until September 2003, retroactively. State’s funding approach affected INCSF’s ability to conduct the Department of State funded television broadcast operations. Liberty TV broadcasted from August 2001 several INCSF programs, including to May 2002, when funding shortages caused by funding and policy disputes television broadcasting. INCSF’s between State and INCSF resulted in termination of broadcasting. -
Shia-Islamist Political Actors in Iraq Who Are They and What Do They Want? Søren Schmidt DIIS REPORT 2008:3 DIIS REPORT
DIIS REPORT 2008:3 SHIA-IsLAMIST POLITICAL ACTORS IN IRAQ WHO Are THEY AND WHAT do THEY WANT? Søren Schmidt DIIS REPORT 2008:3 DIIS REPORT DIIS · DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES 1 DIIS REPORT 2008:3 © Copenhagen 2008 Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS Strandgade 56, DK -1401 Copenhagen, Denmark Ph: +45 32 69 87 87 Fax: +45 32 69 87 00 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.diis.dk Cover Design: Carsten Schiøler Layout: mgc design, Jens Landorph Printed in Denmark by Vesterkopi AS ISBN: 978-87-7605-247-8 Price: DKK 50.00 (VAT included) DIIS publications can be downloaded free of charge from www.diis.dk Hardcopies can be ordered at www.diis.dk. 2 DIIS REPORT 2008:3 Contents Abstract 4 1. Introduction 5 2. The Politicisation of Shia-Islam 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 The History of Shia-Islamism in Iraq 8 3. Contemporary Shia-Islamist political actors 15 3.1 Ali Husseini Sistani 15 3.2 The Da’wa Party 21 3.3 SCIRI 24 3.4 Moqtada al-Sadr 29 4. Conclusion: Conflict or Cooperation? 33 Bibliography 35 3 DIIS REPORT 2008:3 Abstract The demise of the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003 was an important wa- tershed in Iraqi political history. Iraq had been governed by groups which belonged to the Arab Sunni minority since the Iraqi state emerged out of the former Otto- man Empire in 1921. More recently, new political actors are in the ascendancy, rep- resenting the Kurdish minority and the Shia majority in Iraq. -
Good Strategy, Bad Tactics: Limits, Challenges and Opportunities For
LIMITS, CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR MODERN COUNTERINSURGENCY by Natasha Schlenoff A thesis submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Global Security Studies Baltimore, Maryland August 2015 © 2015 Natasha Schlenoff All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT The overall goal of this thesis is to draw some conclusions about the kinds of strategies and tactics that those engaging in irregular warfare should employ. Given the increasing number of intrastate conflicts and future U.S. involvement in counterinsurgency, it is important for policy makers and strategists to be clear-eyed about viable ways to engage in irregular war. Thus, this paper’s analysis of previous counterinsurgency and stability operations, and estimate of the U.S. military’s institutional capacity to adapt to irregular warfare could serve as a useful guide for future force planning. The first and second chapters of this thesis examine divergent strategies in counterinsurgency and stability operations. Chapter One assesses whether indiscriminate force is strategically effective in national counterinsurgency campaigns. The findings of this chapter indicate that while indiscriminate force may be tactically effective in the near-term, indiscriminate force alone does not produce long-term success. Chapter Two assesses conditions for conflict and stability in Iraq, and why, despite similarly low levels of development and proximity to violence, some areas of Iraq are more stable than others. My research found the examined Shi’a and Kurdish communities in Iraq maintained stability as a result of ethnic homogenization and a capable local security force, rather than COIN and international development efforts. -
Identities Under Construction: Iraq War, Life Writing and American National
Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of American Culture and Literature IDENTITIES UNDER CONSTRUCTION: IRAQ WAR, LIFE WRITING AND AMERICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY Merve Özman Kaya Ph. D. Dissertation Ankara, 2015 IDENTITIES UNDER CONSTRUCTION: IRAQ WAR, LIFE WRITING AND AMERICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY Merve Özman Kaya Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of American Culture and Literature Ph. D. Dissertation Ankara, 2015 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible except for the contributions of many hearts and minds over the years. First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bilge Mutluay Çetintaş for her invaluable guidance and understanding at all times. I am also largely indebted to Prof. Dr. Belgin Elbir, Prof. Dr. Meldan Tanrısal, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Uzundemir, and Assist. Prof. Dr. Barış Gümüşbaş for their critical insights in completing this project. Next, I would like to acknowledge the support of each and every member of the Department of American Culture and Literature for providing me with the necessary working conditions for writing this dissertation which I greatly appreciate. Last but not the least, I’d like to thank my beautiful little family, my loving husband, and my precious friends from the bottom of my heart for always being there for me whenever I needed their support. iv ÖZET Özman Kaya, Merve. Yapım Aşamasında Kimlik: Irak Savaşı, Yaşam Yazını ve Amerikan Milli Kimliği, Doktora Tezi, Ankara, 2015. Yaşam anlatıları, özellikle savaş yazını örnekleri, ulusların kültürel tarihinin birer parçasıdır. Bu anlatılar milli söylemi ve bu söylemin öngördüğü milli kimlik anlayışını canlandırma veya gözden düşürme potansiyeline sahiptir. -
Iraqi Red Crescent Organization
Iraqi Red Crescent Organization The Internally Displaced People in Iraq Update 30 27 January 2008 For additional information, please contact: In Iraq: 1. Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, President- Dr. Said Hakki, email: [email protected] 2. Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, Vice President- Dr. Jamal Karboli, email: [email protected] 3. International Relation Department manager [email protected]; Mobile phone: +964 7901669159; Telephone: +964 1 5372925/24/23 4. Disaster Management Department manager [email protected]; Mobile phone: +964 7703045043; Telephone: +964 1 5372925/24/23 In Jordan: Amman Coordination Office: [email protected]; Mobile phone (manager):+962 796484058; Mobile phone (deputy manager): +962 797180940 Also, visit the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization web site: iraqiredcrescent.org The Internally Displaced People in Iraq; update 30; 27 January 2008 Table of contents BACKGROUND..................................................................................................................................... 2 REFUGEES IN IRAQ................................................................................................................................ 2 RETURNEES FROM SYRIA ...................................................................................................................... 3 THE TURKISH BOMBARDMENT IN THE NORTH OF IRAQ .......................................................................... 3 THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE (IDP)........................................................................................ -
Regional Report on Out-Of-School Children
ALL IN SCHOOL MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN INITIATIVE REGIONAL REPORT ON OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN OCTOBER 2014 ALL IN SCHOOL MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN INITIATIVE REGIONAL REPORT ON OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN OCTOBER 2014 © 2015 UNICEF MENA Regional Office Cover photos, left to right © UNICEF/NYHQ2013-1418/Noorani © UNICEF/ITAL2010-0069/Lombardi © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-2520/Arfa Preface In the last decade, the countries of the Middle East and North Africa have invested considerable resources and political capital to bring more children into the classroom. Most impressively, out-of-school rates for primary school children have plummeted, often by as much as half, bringing hope and new opportunity to millions. But in recent years, progress has stalled. 4.3 million primary-aged children and 2.9 million lower secondary-aged children are still not in school. If we include one year of pre-primary education – the foundation on which a child’s future learning is built – a staggering 12.3 million children across 20 countries are being left behind. Who are these children? Broadly speaking, they are the poorest, the girls, those who live in rural areas and those from minority communities. They are the millions of children whose lives have been torn apart and whose schools have been destroyed by conflict. And they are the large number of lower secondary-aged children, mostly boys, who drop out every year. What keeps them out of school? Sometimes it’s poverty and poor infrastructure – families can’t afford to send their children to school, or the schools are too far away, or of low quality, with badly trained teachers, poor learning outcomes and miserable, even dangerous, environments. -
Change in Iraqi Politics: from Ethnic-Sectarian Lines to Centralization Question
Change in Iraqi Politics: From Ethnic-Sectarian Lines to Centralization Question Serhat ERKMEN* Abstract After the invasion of Iraq, politics in Iraq was rebuilt in accordance with ethnic and religious lines and the political alliances have been reshaped over these lines. However, the withdrawal of US troops and internal dif- ferences of Iraqi parties triggered new political balances which cannot be limited into only ethnic and sectarian bases. Today, because of the political and strategic effects of Arab Spring and internal power strug- gles among the main Iraqi political groupings Iraq has entered in a new phase in politics which centralization issue will be the focus. Keywords: Iraqi politics, centralization, Arab Spring and Iraq, With- drawal of US troops Özet *SC**4 0B- 4 * ' 0 0 - C*=*=@ * *4 * ***0*40' * C *C =S4***S*- C 0 **0 ****B' C'* **0 *=4* =@ * * Assos. Prof. Ahi Evran University, Department of International Relations, and Middle East Advisor of ORSAM Serhat Erkmen, Change in Iraqi Politics: From Ethnic-Sectarian Lines to Centralization Question, Ortadoğu Etütleri, Volume 4, No 1, July 2012, pp.143-164. Serhat Erkmen According to the author, there are two main reasons that explain the change in the political balances and policy making in Iraq. The first reason is that the United States have started to lose gradually their role both in military and political aspects in Iraq after 2010. Decrease in military power of the US in Iraq in a way that cannot be compared with previous years (even though all the combat troops have retreated, it will not be considered as a complete withdrawal since there are still American troops in Iraq under the name of military advisors) has cre- ated great impacts both in the fields of security and the fields of policy and this phenomenon has enlarged the maneuver room of the Iraqi political parties. -
Iraq's Displacement Crisis
CEASEFIRE centre for civilian rights Lahib Higel Iraq’s Displacement Crisis: Security and protection © Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights and Minority Rights Group International March 2016 Cover photo: This report has been produced as part of the Ceasefire project, a multi-year pro- gramme supported by the European Union to implement a system of civilian-led An Iraqi boy watches as internally- displaced Iraq families return to their monitoring of human rights abuses in Iraq, focusing in particular on the rights of homes in the western Melhaniyeh vulnerable civilians including vulnerable women, internally-displaced persons (IDPs), neighbourhood of Baghdad in stateless persons, and ethnic or religious minorities, and to assess the feasibility of September 2008. Some 150 Shi’a and Sunni families returned after an extending civilian-led monitoring to other country situations. earlier wave of displacement some two years before when sectarian This report has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union violence escalated and families fled and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. The con- to neighbourhoods where their sect was in the majority. tents of this report are the sole responsibility of the publishers and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. © Ahmad Al-Rubaye /AFP / Getty Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights The Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights is a new initiative to develop ‘civilian-led monitoring’ of violations of international humanitarian law or human rights, to pursue legal and political accountability for those responsible for such violations, and to develop the practice of civilian rights. -
International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing the Republic of Iraq
International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing the Republic of Iraq HCR/PC/ May 2019 HCR/PC/IRQ/2019/05 _Rev.2. INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION CONSIDERATIONS WITH REGARD TO PEOPLE FLEEING THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ Table of Contents I. Executive Summary .......................................................................................... 6 1) Refugee Protection under the 1951 Convention Criteria and Main Categories of Claim .... 6 2) Broader UNHCR Mandate Criteria, Regional Instruments and Complementary Forms of Protection ............................................................................................................................. 7 3) Internal Flight or Relocation Alternative (IFA/IRA) .............................................................. 7 4) Exclusion Considerations .................................................................................................... 8 5) Position on Forced Returns ................................................................................................. 9 II. Main Developments in Iraq since 2017 ............................................................. 9 A. Political Developments ........................................................................................................... 9 1) May 2018 Parliamentary Elections ...................................................................................... 9 2) September 2018 Kurdistan Parliamentary Elections ......................................................... 10 3) October 2017 Independence -
Iraq: Falluja’S Faustian Bargain
Iraq: Falluja’s Faustian Bargain Middle East Report N°150 | 28 April 2014 International Crisis Group Headquarters Avenue Louise 149 1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 502 90 38 Fax: +32 2 502 50 38 [email protected] Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... i Recommendations..................................................................................................................... iii I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 II. Round Two in Falluja: Sectarian Polarisation ................................................................. 5 III. The View from Falluja ...................................................................................................... 9 A. Past as Prologue ......................................................................................................... 9 B. A Tenuous Unity ........................................................................................................ 10 C. Catch-22 ..................................................................................................................... 13 IV. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 16 APPENDICES A. Map of Iraq ......................................................................................................................