NewsBling - Your Iraq News Source

Alan Nelson asked:


looking for employment opportunities and considering the Middle East, then rest assured there are plenty of jobs in Iraq. Regardless of your skill set, jobs in numerous industries from semi-skilled to experts of the trade are readily available. Some of the many fields’ currently recruiting employees are: Food service worker - Throughout the country, numerous dining facilities exist on military installations. Help of all types are needed from food preparation to facility management. These facilities are open almost around the clock. Military personnel and civilians alike eat most (if not all) of their meals at these facilities. Many of them are very large and set up in a cafeteria type setting. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of personnel to manage these facilities. IT Professionals - Information Technology professionals are always needed to maintain and engineer computer networks and systems. This is a field that is in very high demand and can be quite lucrative. These professionals manage the various computer infrastructures throughout the country. It’s a plus if you have a US Security Clearance but not always necessary depending on the type of systems that you are supporting. Mechanics - As you can imagine, there are literally thousands of military and leased vehicles throughout Iraq and they all need to be maintained. The military installations are huge and personnel need to be transported from point to point. These mechanics need to be skilled to maintain all sorts of vehicles from standard cars and trucks to armored personnel carriers. Construction - You’ve probably heard in the news of the many construction projects in Iraq. If you have the skills, construction jobs in Iraq are available. Many companies from various nations have been awarded lucrative contracts to support the reconstruction efforts. Truck drivers - Always in high demand, truck drivers are needed to haul supplies to support the thousands of personnel at numerous installations. The truckers often carry cargo within the safer areas of the country which are patrolled by the military, but are also needed in the more dangerous regions. Translators - Of course linguists’ are always needed. If you are fluent in Arabic and willing to utilize you’re highly sought after skills, you can often demand a lot of money. Often these translators go out in the field with the military troops, but at other times they work within the confines of the bases. Security - Civilian security specialists are utilized throughout the Mideast to assist the military at numerous military installations as well as provide personal protection to high level individuals and dignitaries.

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John Barell asked:


McCain on Victory in Iraq

 

            In 2002 Senator John McCain told us that the impending Iraq invasion was a “well-planned effort. . .not very difficult. . . fairly easy. . .[with] victory in a short period of time.”

            “Well planned”?  “Not very difficult?”

            It was somewhere between the invasion, the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue and his capture that the insurgency became a real problem and some like Senator McCain began to say we didn’t have enough troops and listed all of the mistakes made in the prosecution of this war.  Would that some had listened to Colin Powell and General Shinseki earlier!

            Now, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention this past Monday Senator McCain described the Iraq operation as similar to driving a bus into a ditch, “and then after five years and a trillion dollars and 4,000 lives lost, you are getting the bus halfway out of the ditch. . .” 

He went on to note that both he and Senator Obama want to bring troops home from this war.  “The great difference,” he told the veterans, “is that I intend to win it.”

            Senator McCain is often claiming that he will never put politics and voting for him ahead of winning this war. Indeed, he often claims that those who disagree with this stance on winning in Iraq are placing personal ambition ahead of doing what’s right or best for America.  He and his surrogates are often heard saying “We will put America first.”

            It seems as if those who disagree with him are un-American, unpatriotic.

            But, just two days prior to this Florida address on Saturday evening Senator McCain told Rick Warren at the Saddleback Civil Forum that  General David Petraeus is “one of the great military leaders in American history, who took us from  defeat to victory in Iraq.”

            Now, Senator McCain did not say, General Petraeus is in the process of taking us to victory.”  Nor did he claim that Petraeus “is taking us toward victory.”

            No, the claim was that Petraeus “took us from defeat to victory in Iraq.” 

            We’ve won!  We’ve achieved his goal of winning, defeating al Qaeda, and stabilizing Iraq!

            Maybe the Senator mis-spoke.  Perhaps he confused his verb tenses and meant to use the so-called “present continuous” (“is taking us”) rather than the simple past (“took”).

            This is an understandable mix-up in a complex language like English.

            So, what if he meant that Petraeus has indeed achieved victory?  What do we do now?  What is our strategy?  To continue the draw-down of Surge forces, those 30,000 troops that have helped stabilize the country—together with the Sunni Awakening and the standing down of the Shia militias controlled by Muqtada al-Sadr?  Accelerate our withdrawal along a time-table approved by Prime Minister Maliki?

            But what if Senator McCain did in fact get his verb tenses confused? What if he meant Petraeus is taking us toward victory?

            What is our definition of this term victory?  Some have said, “A stable Iraq that can defend itself.”  But what does this look like?

 What would be the conditions on the ground that would indicate such a status? 

                        Reduction in violence for all.

                        Sustainable political agreements amongst the Sunni, Shia and Kurds about elections, oil revenues and who serves in the government.

                        The full “standing up” of the Iraqi forces to defend their country and its borders.

                        Functioning civic processes and organizations: a free press; an equitable legal system; schools open continuously.

                        Resources available to all citizens; fuel oil, electricity, sewage, goods and services in open, risk-free markets.

                        Support from neighbors in the region

            And a government that supports the United States?

            Victory involves some or all of these, but if we never define our goal, we will work toward it indefinitely.

And if we are still striving toward victory, what is our strategy for achieving it? 

Just doing more of the same is an unreflective way of never achieving our goals.

            Any strategy should keep in mind that General Petraeus has also told members of Congress earlier this year that our success in Iraq will not be primarily military.  We will have to use a combination of military force and skilled diplomacy—more the latter than the former.

            Let’s hear more straight talk about how to achieve stability amongst all the factions in Iraq and with neighbors in the region , not just about “winning.”

            In an era of terrorism the terms “victory” and “defeat” are  outdated and mislead  us toward over-reliance on military means of attaining our goals. There will be no surrender ceremony on the decks of the USS Missouri or anywhere in this world.

We need other ways of achieving the desired goal of stability, and new concepts of what security means and looks like within an age of constant threats to our safety.

We are in  a continuous, arduous struggle to maintain our freedom, one requiring that we maintain a vigilant inquisitiveness about all policies, performances and philosophies.

 

 

John Barell

Author of Quest for Antarctica—A Journey of Wonder and Discovery (2007)

www.morecuriousminds.com

           

           

           

            



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Alb90 asked:


I’m italian, and my country is present in Iraq for a “peaceful mission”, but our presence in there is really important for US?

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Randy L. Garsee asked:


SECNAV Delivers Message to Service Members in Iraq: Stay Focused

Story by Randy Garsee

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq -Going green on the deep blue seas, hi-tech weapons systems, and a message to finish the job in Iraq.  During his stopover aboard Al Asad Air Base in the Al Anbar Province this week, the secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), the Honorable Ray Mabus, talked about those subjects, as well as what impressed him most in his first trip outside the U.S. since becoming the Navy’s top civilian.

“The Marines and sailors: the confidence, the skill, the patriotism, the dedication, the devotion of the people that serve our country,” Mabus said.

The secretary wanted to see, first hand, the job Marines and sailors are doing today in Iraq. “I learn better when I see and experience than I do from a Power Point presentation at the Pentagon.  But I also wanted to let the Marines, sailors, soldiers here know how important their work is.”

The military is familiar territory for the former Mississippi governor.  He served as a surface warfare officer aboard the USS Little Rock (CG-4) from 1971-72.  He illustrated a major difference between his service then and the service now.

“When we went into port it was almost guaranteed that a whole bunch of folks would get in trouble, that there’d be arrests, that there’d be this, that there’d be that, there’d be a big captain’s mast when we left,” he explained.  “You could put a whole carrier strike group in today with five, six-thousand people and you won’t have a single incident.  Sailors, Marines see it as part of the mission now.  They are professional.”

Mabus was sworn into office two and a half months ago as the 75th secretary of the Navy.  He believes it’s important for the Navy and Marines to be global.

“We have 284 ships in the fleet right now and those 284 ships are far more capable than the almost 600 ships that we had in the 1980’s,” he said.  “But, at some point, quantity becomes quality and one ship can’t be two places at the same time.  So you’ve got to make sure that you have enough, that you have enough surface combatants, that you have enough amphibian transport for our Marines, that you have enough submarines, that you have enough of the type ships that you need to project the force that you need and to do all the missions that the country calls on the Navy to do.”

During his visit, he also addressed Congressional bill, H.R. 24, which proposes to change the name of his department to “The Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.”

“Whenever I’m asked that, I quote the Commandant of the Marine Corps, who says he’s got a lot of things on his plate and that’s not one of them,” Mabus said, “What I say is that regardless of what the name is, I want to be the secretary.”

And as secretary, he makes his priorities clear.  “Take care of the sailors and Marines who take care of us,” he said.  “Make sure they have, first, what they need to do their mission: the training, the equipment, the leadership.  Second, to make sure that we take care of them in terms of health care and education.  Third, make sure that we take care of their families while they’re deployed, because oftentimes the families have the harder job.”

Mabus also explained how the Navy needs to change some old ways of doing business.  “I think we need to drive the cost of our equipment down, ships and airplanes.  We can not afford any longer to have ever more exotic, ever more expensive, ever longer-to-get ships, for example, or we’re going to unilaterally disarm ourselves.  Next, I think we need to move away from petroleum as a source of energy for the Navy and the Marine Corps both ashore and afloat.  Petroleum, oil, comes from, sometimes, dangerous parts of the world and I don’t want our military strength to be dependent on that or those supplies could be interrupted.”

The secretary would like to see another hi-tech area expand under his leadership.  “I think we need to take a much more detailed look, and move faster, in terms of unmanned vehicles, whether in the air, on the ground or the sea, or under the sea.”

Mabus also has previous experience in the middle east.  He was ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Clinton administration.  His knowledge gave weight to the message he delivered to those serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“The job that’s being done here in Iraq remains a critical job, remains a job that is demanding and exacting and that we have to stay focused on,” he said.  “One of the primary purposes of my trip was to tell Marines and sailors that the job they’re doing is not going unnoticed.  We’re proud of them.  Stay focused on this job until the very last Marine or sailor comes home.”



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John Parks asked:


capital city of Baghdad is located on the Tigris River. With a population touching 7 million, it is the nation’s most important metropolis, and the one of the largest of its kind in southwest Asia. With its history dating back to the 8th century, when it was renowned as a hub of learning and knowledge, it was the home of the House of Wisdom created solely for Greek, Middle Persian, and Syriac works’ translations. With problems brewing with the ancient Caliphate rule of the region during the period between the 10th and 16th centuries, during which the Mongols destroyed a great part of the heart and body of the city, Baghdad fell to further despair under the Ottoman empire’s reign till the 19th century. Then with the formation of a British kingdom in Iraq in the early 20th century, the nation finally took over the reins of its own governance in 1958. A couple of decades on, Baghdad rose to enormous power and prosperity with the steep upward climb of the price of oil, which happens to be the nation’s largest export tem. Post the Gulf War and Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, the United States military’s bombing of Baghdad began in mid 2003, which is when a lot of looting and rioting took place all over the city, resulting in loss of invaluable human and national treasures. The political upheaval of the country lies intricately woven into every aspect of its existence. Various priceless artifacts of the National Museum of Iraq were stolen during random disturbances. A Similar fate was in store for the hundreds of ancient documents lying in the city’s National Library, when the entire building fell due to arson. This continued till the end of the war, when Hussein was deposed, and Baghdad was taken over by the United States military. A Green Zone was created in the heart of Baghdad, for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to govern the nation, while the people of the country formed their own government. The CPA began the procedure for creating new political functions for the city’s 89 official neighborhoods within nine districts. With neighborhood councils in place, the members voted for their own representatives to take a place on the city’s nine district councils, which was followed by the district councils electing their people for representation at the 37 member Baghdad City Council. With various other areas just out of Baghdad but lying within its provincial jurisdiction, a similar method was employed to form local councils from a total of 20 neighborhoods, which in turn chose their representatives for the six district councils. These in turn sent their chosen few to represent them in the 35 member Baghdad Regional Council. The last step of creation of the Baghdad province local government was done by election of people from the lower councils by their peers, for representation in the new Baghdad Provincial Council. This happened in 2005. Though this complicated hierarchy of 127 distinct councils might seem bulky, one must always remember that even at the lowest level, the groups serve a population of close to a 100,000 people each. For more information on Baghdad, Iraq visit http://baghdadmicroblog.com and http://iraqmicroblog.com

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Natasha N asked:


We were going to grow potatoes (since this year is the international year of the spud) but we just found out that there are a whole bunch of potatoes in Iraq already, so cultivating them would be kind of silly. I mean, doable, but silly.

What other kinds of edible plants can be cultivated easily in a climate like Iraq? The pot-in-pot system of cooling could probably be incorporated into this. Probably.

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rog asked:


Not sure if I ran out of allowable letters above. I would like to know how much our government is paying to Blackwater per month or year or whatever for its services in Iraq.

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