SECTARIANISM PLAGUES IRAQI SECURITY FORCES
Separated by regional and tribal rifts, Iraqi army and police won't cooperate, creating a stumbling block for the U.S. military's goal of transferring responsibility to local forces. Separated by tribal and regional differences, and a personality clash between top officers, the two branches of the Iraqi security forces have largely refused to coordinate their activities. For the Marines, the situation is a major stumbling block toward their goal of turning security responsibility for Anbar province over to Iraqis as quickly as possible. "This is our way out," said Col. Patrick Malay, commander of the 5th Marine Regiment. But for now, he said, the Marines are forced to serve as a bridge between two feuding sides. The area of Rawah, Falluja is home to a large number of retired Baathist government officials who have an affinity for the army but an animosity toward the police. In the era of Saddam Hussein, the army enjoyed greater status and viewed local police as unprofessional. Army Brig. Gen. Ayad Ismael complained that police units are often staffed by untrained, undisciplined youths recruited by tribal sheiks. [LA Times, 2/5/08]
DIVISIONS CONTINUE IN IRAQI PARLIAMENT CONTINUE TO STALL POLITICAL PROGRESS
Iraqi government continues to make little progress. In Parliament, representatives delayed a vote on the budget because of continued disagreement over how much the Kurdish region should receive. There was also frustration among some members who said the government had not fully explained the budget's expenditures. On the issue of Kirkuk, there is a growing dispute about the validity of the constitutional requirement, that the city must hold a referendum to determine whether it will join the Kurds' semiautonomous region. The referendum was supposed to be held by the end of 2007, but was delayed. In a meeting on Monday in Baghdad, representatives of several Turkman groups agreed that, regardless of sect, they would stand together in opposition to holding the referendum. The Kurds do not accept that view, and the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, has spent the past several days in Kirkuk trying to work out a compromise. [NY Times, 2/5/08]
REFUGEE CRISIS CONTINUES
Processing of admitting Iraqi refugees into the U.S. remains slow. State Department officials said that in the past four months, only about 1,400 Iraqis -- compared with the 7,000 that administration officials promised last year would be resettled in the United States by the end of 2007 -- have been given visas to enter since the speedup effort began. The administration promised to speed up the processing of immigrant visas and the granting of refugee status so that Iraqis who worked for the American Embassy in Baghdad, and run the risk of being targets of attacks by militias because of their association with the U.S. government, could immigrate to the U.S. However, the pace remains slow: only 375 Iraqis were resettled last month. Within the State Department, some officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say that the system is simply not set up to expedite immigration requests. [NY Times, 2/5/08]
VIOLENCE THREATENS U.S. STRATEGY IN IRAQ
Suicide bomber kills eight U.S.-allied Sunnis. A suicide bomber killed eight people as he triggered his explosive vest at a checkpoint outside a Sunni tribal sheikh's house in central Iraq on Tuesday, police said. The attack took place outside the home of Sheikh Shathr al-Obeidi, head of a tribal "Awakening" group in Awad village near Taji, 25 miles north of Baghdad. Awakening groups, made up mainly of Sunni former insurgents, have fighting Sunni Islamist extremists with the support of the US military for more than a year and have been the target of attack by various insurgent groups. [AFP, 2/5/08]
PRESIDENT'S BUDGET EXCLUDES FULL COSTS OF IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN
The $588.3 billion in Pentagon spending for 2009 includes only part of the cost of fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush asked for $70 billion as an "emergency allowance" for war costs for the first part of the budget year, which begins Oct. 1, and the White House said, without citing a specific figure, that it would request more for 2009 "once the specific needs of our troops are better known." If the current rate of war spending is a guide, the additional request for 2009 is likely to exceed $100 billion. [AP, 2/4/08]