TADHAMUN تـضـامـن

Tadhamun (solidarity) is an Iraqi women organization, standing by Iraqi women's struggle against sectarian politics in Iraq. Fighting for equal citizenship across ethnicities and religions, for human rights, and gender equality.

جمعية تضامن تدعم المساواة في المواطنة بغض النظر عن الأنتماء الأثني أو الديني وتسعى من أجل العدالة الأجتماعية و حماية حقوق الأنسان في العراق

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Defence committee: British troops in Iraq face 'nightly suicide missions'

· MPs told by soldiers that role in Basra is over· US influence blamed for government strategy Richard Norton-Taylor
Wednesday July 25, 2007
The Guardian
British soldiers are going on "nightly suicide missions" in southern Iraq and they are there only at the behest of the US, Labour MPs on the Commons defence committee told the government yesterday.
In evidence that reflects deepening concern among army commanders, the MPs said they were told during a recent visit to British troops in Basra that the UK's military role in Iraq was over.
They painted a dark picture of the security situation in the city, with Iraqi forces inadequately trained, and infiltrated by Shia militia and criminal gangs. The view appeared to be shared yesterday by Bob Ainsworth, the new armed forces minister also just back from a visit to southern Iraq, and by Brigadier Chris Hughes, the Ministry of Defence's senior officer responsible for military commitments.
Kevan Jones, a Labour member of the committee, said British troops were going on "nightly suicide missions", attacked every night as they delivered supplies to the British garrison at the Basra Palace in the centre of the city. "We have a force surrounded like cowboys and Indians in the Basra Palace," he said.
He and other Labour MPs said British troops in Basra told them that the only reason they were staying in southern Iraq was "because of our relations with the US". Mr Jones questioned whether that was "a price worth paying".
Willie Rennie, a Liberal Democrat member of the committee, suggested British troops were there just because of "American domestic sensibilities". Mr Ainsworth replied that Britain was a "sovereign nation" but it was also part of a US-led coalition in Iraq.
Washington wants Britain to maintain a substantial military presence in southern Iraq to try and limit domestic pressure for cuts in the number of American troops in Iraq, as well as to protect convoys taking supplies to US troops and help police the border with Iran.
Mr Ainsworth said that neither the Iraqi police nor the Iraqi army were able to guarantee security in the region. Brig Hughes told the MPs that an Iraqi general had told him some police officers were "totally incompetent". Mr Ainsworth added: "We cannot hand over to a vacuum."
Ninety per cent of attacks in Basra were against British troops, the committee heard. The attackers, said Mr Ainsworth, included "patriotic youth", a "huge criminal element", and militias supplied with weapons by Iran.
He said: "There is clear evidence of malign influence across the border [with Iran] in the Basra area. There is little doubt, when you look at some of the munitions being used to kill our people, they are not being made in garages in downtown Basra. They are coming from outside the area."
However, ministers have said British troops will soon hand over the Basra Palace to the Iraqis. That will leave British troops with one base, beside the airport, attacked recently by rockets fired from the Basra suburbs.
The job of British troops will be to "overwatch" Iraq forces, helping them in the event of a crisis.
To do that, Mr Ainsworth said, the number "couldn't get much below" 5,000, the number they will reduced to in the next few months. He would not be drawn on when Britain would pull out of Iraq, saying only that "we are not planning to stay in the numbers we are in south-east Iraq over the long-term".
One Labour member of the committee privately expressed concern yesterday that British soldiers could get sucked in to urban guerrilla warfare.
Brig Hughes told the committee it was not appropriate to talk about a "victory" in Iraq. He said: "I think it's been quite a long time since anyone has talked about victory in Iraq." Mr Ainsworth told the MPs that it was "essential to talk to the Iranian government" about security in southern Iraq.
· The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Thursday July 26 2007. We wrongly described Willie Rennie as a Labour MP in the article above. He is a Liberal Democrat. This has been corrected.

Petition sign and circulate:

Release Iraqi women hostages, victims of terrorism themselves

بعيدا عن الوطن؛ حراك التضامن مع الوطن فنا، شعرا وكتابةً
Away from Home; Memory, Art and women solidarity: you are invited to an evening of poetry and music 22/3/2017 18:30 at P21 Gallery London click here for more details
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Public meeting at The Bolivar Hall, London Sat.14/5/2016 at 15:00 IDPs : Fragmentation of Cultural and National Identity



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Protest the suffering of Iraqi Christians: No to terrorism No to state terrorism.Hands off our minorities. Hands off our people. Shame on the human rights violators on all sides. Assemble 11:30 on 28/7/14 near Parliament Square, near Westminister tube station London. For more past events click here

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Useful links






Halt All Executions! Abolish The Death Penalty!

We women of Tadhamun condemn the persisting practice of arbitrary arrests by the Iraqi security forces. We condemn their arrests of women in lieu of their men folk. These are 'inherited' practices. We are alarmed by credible media reports of the Green Zone government’s intentions of executing hundreds of Iraqi men and women.


For more info click here
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Professor Zaineb Al Bahrani of Columbia University NY speaking at a our meeting on the destruction/damage to historical sites in Iraq

On youtube: Part1
Part 3
Part4
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Human Rights Watch: No woman is Safe

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المقالات المنشورة على هذا الموقع لا تعكس بالضرورة آراء منظمتنا أو أعضاء منظمتنا


Samarra Minrate built in 852 AD

Samarra Minrate built in 852 AD
Building of 1 500 massive police station !
From the angle of the photo, it is possible to calculate that the complex is being built at E 396388 N 3785995 (UTM Zone 38 North) or Lat. 34.209760° Long. 43.875325°, to the west of the Malwiya (Spiral Minaret), and behind the Spiral Cafe.
While the point itself may not have more than Abbasid houses under the ground, it is adjacent to the palace of Sur Isa, the remains of which can be seen in the photo. While the initial construction might or might not touch the palace, accompanying activities will certainly spread over it.Sur Isa can be identified with the palace of al-Burj, built by the
Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil, probably in 852-3 (Northedge, Historical Topography of Samarra, pp 125-127, 240). The palace is said to have cost 33 million dirhams, and was luxurious. Details are given by al-Shabushti, Kitab al-Diyarat.
Samarra was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO at the end of June. The barracks could easily have been built elsewhere, off the archaeological site.--
Alastair Northedge Professeur d'Art et d'Archeologie Islamiques UFR d'Art et d'Archeologie
Universite de Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne) 3, rue Michelet, 75006 Paris
tel. 01 53 73 71 08 telecopie : 01 53 73 71 13 Email :
Alastair.Northedge@univ-paris1.fr ou anorthedge@wanadoo.fr