Free the Captives: Witness Against Illegal Detention and Torture

While the level of violence in Iraq was less than it hs been in the past few days, several reports today relate just how dangerous the "everyday" situation there has become. And while there were upbeat statements about the fate of captive US reporter Jill Carroll, there was no news today of the fate of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers also held captive. The Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq witnesses to nonviolence and respect for all Iraqis have now been held or more than three months. Again we cry, set asside one more day for blessed relief, – let them all go!

A letter from Iraq CPT delegate Allan Slater speaks about the curfew in Bagdhad:

From the roof we could see that our neighbours were enjoying the sun out on our street. I walked down to join in a conversation with our friend Abdul and four other neighbours. They were discussing the various points of view people had expressed about the recent violence. They must have been worried but they seemed jovial as they speculated about who might be benefiting from all the violence.

I walked on down to our main street--normally jammed with cars. I saw almost none. Most shops were closed. But the mood on the street was festive. People were strolling with babes in arms and toddlers at their sides. Groups of people were chatting. Boys playing soccer and boys careening by on their bicycles with radios blasting loud music had taken over the street. [...]

When something hands them even one day of blessed relief from the chaos and violence, they sure know how to make the most of it.

Slater's message calls to mind a reflection Tom Fox shared with us eight months ago:

Our apartment is across the street from a park. Many evenings around the time we are gathering for supper a mother and her three children walk by our living room window. The western sun illuminates her face and the faces of her young children. I don’t know her but in a way I feel I do.

She looks tired. So many, many people here in Iraq are so very tired. She looks a bit fearful. Will today be the day when the insurgents set off a car bomb near the park? Will today be the day when the young men of the Iraqi National Guard, riding like cowboys in the back of their pickup trucks, get trigger happy and start shooting with her and her children in the line of fire?

Yet day after day I see her taking her children to the park. Underneath the fatigue and the fear I can sense the hope and the courage in her heart. It reflects on her children as does the setting sun reflect on the nearby Tigris River. She gives me courage to face the overwhelming difficulties of life in this broken land. She is living in the present moment fully aware of the dangers and uncertainties and yet she has not given up hope, she has not given in to despair, she has not let herself be driven into hiding by men with guns and bombs.

She is my teacher. She teaches me how to live fully conscious of the horrors of today and still be able to envision a future of promise, peace and plenty. I would pray that we all live each day, no matter where we are, “for the sake of our children.”

From Reuters: Urgent action needed to head off civil war

"It's now up to Iraq's religious authorities to urge their followers to remain calm in the face of provocations, and up to political leaders to lower their dangerously inflammatory rhetoric," warned ICG Middle East Project Director Joost Hiltermann, "lest a low-intensity conflict turn into a full-scale sectarian war and the country disintegrate".

Another report from Reuters highlights the proliferation of militias and armed gangs in Iraq. According to the Associated Press, a new study by the Special Inspector General sites poor planning for this postwar chaos.

Bloodshed continued in Iraq Sunday, but at a lower level than earlier in the week. There was also no news Sunday Feb. 26 of the fate of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive there. Sunday likewise marked the deadline stated by the captors of US reporter Jill Carroll for her execution. However, there was no news of her fate either.

Once again, we plea for an end to violence in Iraq, and the immediate safe release of Tom Fox, the three other CPT workers, Jill Carrolll, and all other captives. Our call includes a demand for release of the many Iraqis held without cause by Coalition forces there as well.

Saturday brought no new reports regarding Jill Carroll or the Christian Peacemakers datained in Iraq for thirteen weeks. Iraq CPT delegate Peggy Gish comments on the present situation there:

An Iraqi human rights worker was interviewing members of our team for her radio show, when we heard the news. The Shi'a Al-Askari shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, had been heavily bombed early that morning. All around Iraq, groups of angry men gathered to protest or retaliate by attacking Sunni mosques and leaders.

We heard that gun-battles had erupted in many Baghdad neighborhoods. Police began to close bridges. In a neighborhood where Iraqis of Palestinian origin live, two rocket-propelled grenades exploded. We talked on the phone with a Christian priest who had been injured in his leg by shrapnel when a group of men shot into the church building. We canceled later appointments for the day. Everywhere people feared the situation would escalate into sectarian war. [...]

The news that did not get widely circulated, however, concerned the many actions to demonstrate and foster unity. On Wednesday, Sunni and Shi'a marched together from the Al Mansour neighborhood to the Khadamiya district in Baghdad calling for peace. In another Baghdad neighborhood Shi'a residents protected a Sunni mosque. Sistani urged Shi'a not to attack Sunni Muslims or their holy places. Shi'a leader Muqtada Sadr also called for an end to the sectarian violence and commissioned the Mehdi Army in Basra to go to the Sunni mosques to protect them.

Aljazeera's reports today echo Gish's message. In a crisis spiraling toward civil war, Sunni & Shia leaders in Iraq have united to stop the escalating sectarian violence.

On Saturday, representatives of the Shia figure Muqtada al-Sadr met members of the most influential Sunni religious organisation and the biggest Sunni political bloc as violence continued to rage after the bombing of a major Shia shrine on Wednesday. [...]

"There is no way we will be divided no matter what the conspiracies," said Fadil al-Sharaa, a cleric who represented al-Sadr in talks at a Sunni mosque in Baghdad.

The leaders condemned the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra north of the capital on Wednesday, which triggered reprisals against Sunnis.

also from Aljazeera: Roundup of Events in Iraq

Journalist Thomas Houlahan addresses the captors of Jill Carroll, who is facing a new deadline for her execution by a group calling for the release of all Iraqi women detained by U.S. forces:

Harming Jill Carroll won`t speed up the process, and would almost certainly slow it down.

Iraq`s Deputy Prime Minister Abed Mutlak Juburi has been critical of U.S. detention policies. He has said that 'The detention of Iraqis is not good for U.S. forces and is harming the political process in Iraq.' Juburi has also said that a plan to release prisoners in groups of 500 was in the works, with the goal of releasing 1,500 per month.

Juburi has been especially critical of the arrest of Iraqi women and their use as leverage by U.S. forces. 'I am against the detention of all women, no matter where they are from,' he said. 'Women should not be used as instruments of pressure and I am against their abduction, whatever the reason.'

He has been working toward gaining the transfer of all women currently held by U.S. forces to Iraqi custody and the release of those who are innocent. Four have already been released.

The release of the women from U.S. custody is clearly just a matter of time.

According to Stars & Stripes, a daily newspaper serving the U.S. military and DOD civilians, one hundred detainees were freed today from U.S. military prisons in Iraq. Other reports mention the looming deadline on reporter Jill Carroll, whose captors have demanded the release of all Iraqi women in U.S. custody. No new reports surfaced about the Christian Peacemakers held captive in Iraq for thirteen weeks, including Tom Fox, Harmeet Sooden, Jim Loney, and Norman Kember.

Iraq CPT delegate Michele Naar wrote in today giving thanks for the support they have received from an Iraqi group call Independent Activates, a Society to
Defend Human Rights:

On Friday February 17, 2006, they held their third vigil at Firdos Square. In addition to their leaflet, they passed out our last press release regarding the kidnapping and our press release denouncing the controversial cartoon depictions of the prophet Mohammed in European papers. For security reasons and our safety, they suggested we not join them. It was hard for us not to go, but we didn't want to risk putting them in danger.

Later that afternoon, they returned to our apartment with a full report and pictures of the vigil. They said many people gave them signs of support after reading their leaflets. One picture showed backed up traffic as drivers waited to receive the literature and to read their banners printed in English and Arabic. Many media representatives came including BBC, AP, Global TV, Reuters, and local reporters.

The Activates reassured us that we have many friends in Iraq. This news came during one of our many moments of doubt about our work here. They again expressed their willingness to trade their lives for our colleagues. What greater love is there than the willingness to lay down one's life for another? With angelic faces and words to nourish the soul, they appeared in our lives like messengers from God.

Every day we pray for messengers to bring some tidings about our friend Tom Fox and his colleagues. We hope that more communities – and that we ourselves may harken to this prophetic witness for peace. The Law and Prophets, and the Good News are fulfilled by community practice.

God help the people of tormented Iraq! Their society reeled under wave after wave of violence Thursday. Casualties were well into three figures.

Amid the spreading carnage, there was no news on Thursday of Tom Fox and the other Christian Peacemakers held captive in Iraq. Ekklesia makes note of CPT's warnings of civil war that are now realized:

Two months ago, when the US president suggested that the war was being won, Christian Peacemakers living in Iraq said that they were observing a very different situation to the one the President described.

The Christians warned about an ongoing a loss of faith and trust in the United States government by both Iraqis and Americans, an absence of security, lack of basic services, and limited reconstruction. They also highlight the continuing bombing of civilians, kidnapping, torture and extra judicial deaths.

We cannot begin to do justice to the horror that has been loosed. Here are only a few glimpses:

Reuters' latest tally of military and civilian deaths in Iraq includes three U.S. soldiers who were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, bringing the total U.S. military deaths up to 2,287. Credible estimates of Iraqi civilian casualties put the total at more than 100,000. Whatever it was yesterday, it is much higher today.

also from Reuters: Iraq's main Sunni bloc pulls out of government talks

"We are suspending our participation in negotiations on the government with the Shi'ite Alliance," Tareq al-Hashemi, a top official of the Iraqi Accordance Front, told a news conference.

Reuters also posts detailed information about militias and security forces operating in Iraq.

As Iraq lurches toward civil war with bombings and retaliation, there was one report today referring to the fate of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq.

from CBC: New Canadian Foreign Minister apologizes for raising hopes of [CPT] hostages' families

MacKay was criticized for speculating publicly about their welfare in a way that could raise the hopes of relatives of the hostages, and for making comments that might further endanger the hostages.

MacKay phoned the families of James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden to apologize, saying there were no new developments.

The Loney family says it has accepted the apology.

CPT's Iraq team has worked to build civility through serving others. Now menace and terror continue to erode those civil bonds. In the fury unleashed by the recent bombing of a Shi'ite shrine, Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric calls for calm:

Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani [...] a key force for Shi'ite restraint in the face of Sunni insurgent attacks, called for protests and declared seven days of mourning.

He insisted in a statement, however, that there must be no violence and in particular no reprisals against Sunni mosques.

In the US, Human Rights First finds evidence of torture deaths

"These are detainees who were beaten, suffocated or otherwise died in circumstances that meet the definition of torture that is in the federal law that bans the practice," said Hina Shamsi, a lawyer for New York-based Human Rights First and author of the report.

Analyzing military documents and press accounts, Human Rights First examined 98 detainee deaths, and concluded that torture by U.S. military personnel caused eight deaths and may have been responsible for four others. [...]

"Critically, only half of the cases of detainees tortured to death have resulted in punishment; the steepest sentence for anyone implicated in a torture-related death has been five months in jail," the report stated. [...]

"People are dying in U.S. custody and no one's being held to account," said Deborah Pearlstein, who heads the Human Rights First U.S. law and security program.

The full report is available from Human Rights First.

New reports of military and civilian deaths in Iraq bring Reuter's tally of war casualties above 41,000 [noting that plausible estimates suggest that Iraqi civilian deaths may already exceed 100,000]

The new Canadian foreign minister backtracked from his earlier optimistic remarks about the fate of the CPT captives, reported here in a previous update. There was no news on Tuesday Feb. 21 of the fate of Tom Fox and the other CPT captives. But there was renewed violence in Baghdad and a very sacred Shi'ite shrine was destroyed.

from Reuters: Canada tones down optimism on Iraq hostages

"[The video dated January 21] is unfortunately the last information that we have," he told reporters. "Sadly, we do not have any more recent information but that is what leads us to remain optimistic about their eventual release."

from CBC: No new information on Canadian hostages: MacKay

When asked if he had gone too far with those comments, MacKay said Tuesday: "I stated what was accurate and what is the position of the government, and that we are hopeful."

Edit This report includes information that has not come up before:

MacKay had told the Canadian Press on Monday that he was "very optimistic" about the four and that "the most recent information leads us to believe they have, on a number of occasions, been moved from one location to another."

The new Canadian foreign affairs minister expressed confidence that the Christian Peacemakers held cpative in Iraq will be released safely; CPT workers still deployed there denounced the practices of abuse and torture documented in a newsly-released batch of photos from Abu Ghraib prison. All around Iraq, more terrible violence shattered lives and hopes.

from CBC: MacKay 'very optimistic' about release of Canadian hostages in Iraq

Canada's new foreign affairs minister says he believes the two Canadians, and two other Westerners taken hostage in Iraq, are still "very much" alive.

"The most up-to-date information that we have leads us to believe that there will be -- and we remain very optimistic -- a safe release of these individuals," Peter MacKay said in an interview with Canadian Press.

from Ekklesia: Christian peacemakers say abuse photos show 'moral bankruptcy' of Iraq occupation

In a statement, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) offered "its sincere condolences to the torture victims and their families."

"We are praying that one day they will find justice and healing", the statement said.

But CPT also called on the US and UK forces, "intelligence apparatus and their proxy militias to stop abusing detainees", most of whom are being held without charge.

The photographs, they said, "testify - better than any words could - to the moral bankruptcy of the military occupation of Iraq." [...]

CPT, who have maintained an almost continuous presences in Iraq since before the invasion, were one of the first groups to document prisoner abuse.

Four months before the original pictures of abuse at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison emerged, they documented and presented 72 cases of abuse to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

from Reuters: The U.S. Conference for the World Council of Churches condemned the U.S.-led war in Iraq on Saturday for "raining down terror" on helpless Iraqis.

"We lament with special anguish the war in Iraq, launched in deception and violating global norms of justice and human rights," the Conference said in an emotional letter released during the World Council of Churches Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The World Council of Churches represents Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and other Christian churches in more than 100 countries. [...]

"We confess that we have failed to raise a prophetic voice loud enough and persistent enough to deter our leaders from this path of pre-emptive war. Lord, have mercy," the letter said.

World Council of Churches is a fellowship "bring[ing] together more than 340 churches, denominations and church fellowships in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world, representing some 550 million Christians."

Reuters is also tracking foreign hostages in Iraq, in addition to security incidents, and military and civilian deaths. Their tallies include up to 8,840 military casualties, and 32,041 Iraqi civilians. Of over 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqi's taken hostage in Iraq since 2003, Reuters names thirty-eight internationals still believed missing. The number of Iraqis presently held captive is unknown.

At the time of this writing, no new reports have emerged regarding the four Christian Peacemakers still missing in Iraq. In painful solidarity with the families and communities of Iraq who still await news of family members who have disappeared, we continue to pray that our friends will be released, that their witness for peace may go on. They remind us that the Peaceable Realm of God is built on serving others and fostering civility and tenderness on the fronteirs between "friend" and "enemy."

Today Iraq's Prime Minister has joined the International Red Cross in denouncing the acts exposed by new torture photos from Abu Ghraib, challenging the United States to reprehend these atrocities:

"The Iraqi government condemns the torture practices revealed through the recent pictures that show Iraqi prisoners being tortured and it [the government] takes responsibility to prevent such acts," a statement issued by Ibrahim al-Jaafari's office said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports on further kidnapping of foreigners in Iraq.

We found no new reports today with information about Tom Fox, Harmeet Sooden, Norman Kember, or James Loney, four Christian Peacemakers held captive in Iraq since November 26. We continue to pray that their commitment to justice and peace through servanthood may continue to inspire all of those who seek the Peaceable Kingdom, including all who have joined us in pleading for their release. Sustaining this witness on their behalf, and on the behalf of others being held or mistreated against international law, is a persistent priority.

Today's reports offer a scathing indictment of the war in Iraq on both strategic and legal grounds; a report released by the International Crisis Group plainly states that the U.S.-led Coalition "seem[s] to know little about the enemies they are fighting in Iraq," while the International Red Cross testifies about the gruesome images of torture from Abu Ghraib.

After these long weeks of anguish and waiting, we have found no news again today about Tom Fox or the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. To their captors we repeat our plea to release these peaceful believers unharmed, and at once!

The latest tally of military and civilian deaths in Iraq according to Reuters remains in the range of 100,000 Iraqi civilians and 2,274 U.S. military casualties.

Also from Reuters: Insurgency little understood by coalition forces

"In Iraq, the US fights an enemy it hardly knows," reads an ICG report released on 15 February. "Its descriptions have relied on gross approximations and crude categories…that bear only passing resemblance to reality." [...]

A key finding in the report is that the current military approach to stamping out the insurgency is failing. ...the US and its allies must change tactics.

"Excessive use of force by coalition troops, torture, resort to tactics that inflict widespread harm on civilians and reliance on sectarian militias simultaneously undermine US legitimacy and boost the insurgents' own," the report states.

Abu Ghraib abuse against international law

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday the latest images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison showed clear violations of international humanitarian law. [...]

"We are shocked and dismayed at the mistreatment and abuse displayed in these images," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas told Reuters in Geneva.

"The type of treatment in these images -- video or photos -- very clearly violates the rules of international humanitarian law which are designed to protect people detained in the context of armed conflict," she added.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions protecting people captured in conflict -- which the ICRC seeks to uphold -- "forbid torture as well as any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under any circumstance", according to the spokeswoman.

Two car bombs kill 7 Iraqis in Baghdad

One of the blasts ripped through a crowded Baghdad market in the Shi'ite district of Shula at about 11 a.m., killing six civilians and wounding 13, police said.

The second bomb exploded as an Iraqi police patrol drove by in Baghdad's Karrada district, killing one bystander and wounding two policemen, police said. Another civilian was hurt in that blast.

from the Associated Press: White House Readies Huge Aid Request

The Bush administration submitted a $65.3 billion war request, and Pentagon officials said the money would be sufficient to conduct the two wars at least through Sept. 30. Congress had approved $50 billion more for the war effort in December.

The war in Iraq now costs about $5.9 billion a month, while Afghanistan operations cost about $900 million per month, said Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas. That doesn't include the costs of replacing worn-out or destroyed equipment or training Iraqi and Afghan forces.

Reports on Wednesday included another horrifying display of turture photos from Abu Ghraib. Amid more civilian and military deaths, the call for reporter Jill Carroll's release continue, and an Iraqi community unites in a witness for peace. We found no new reports of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq.

from Reuters: Ruined Iraqi city promotes peace with olive trees

Residents of Falluja, the Iraqi city devastated by a U.S. offensive in 2004, have begun planting thousands of olive trees in a bid to promote peace.

The first trees were planted on Wednesday near a football pitch that became a graveyard for the victims of the U.S. military assault against insurgents holed up in the city. The aim is to plant 250,000 trees by April, organisers said.

"It is a peace message to all Iraqi cities to cast away all the sectarian and ethnic issues and hold together," said Hassan Muhammed, a member of Falluja's Cultural House group.

Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, was a stronghold of Sunni Muslim militants until the U.S. offensive, which left much of the city -- known as the "city of mosques" -- in ruins.

Tom paints an intimate portrait of Falujah in an article posted just a few weeks before he was kidnapped:

There are no words. A city that has been demonized by Americans and many Iraqis, using the words “the city of terrorists.” A city that its residents call “the city of mosques.” A city that even its residents have to enter at checkpoints, often taking up to an hour to traverse. A city that is being choked to death economically by those same checkpoints.

from the Associated Press: Televised Pleas for Journalist Jill Carroll's Release

Iraq's state television has begun broadcasting ads appealing for the release of kidnapped U.S. journalist Jill Carroll including footage of her mother and a major Sunni Arab politician describing the 28-year-old freelancer as a friend of Iraq.[...]

"The kidnapped journalist Jill Carroll loves Iraq and she now needs your help," a male narrator says. "It's time for Jill Carroll to go home safely."

Mary Beth Carroll, the journalist's mother, spoke in English with an Arabic voiceover.

"I, Jill's father and sister directly appeal to Jill's kidnappers to free her, that young woman who worked hard to publicize the suffering of Iraqis," she said.

Meanwhile, an Australian TV network broadcast a new batch of torture photos from the Abu Ghraib prison. The SBS (Special Broadcasting System) is renowned for its investigative reports. The photos can be viewed in RealPlayer video; they are gruesome and appalling, and are already evoking an outraged response in many quarters.

from the Associated Press: Bomb Kills Four Iraqi Schoolchildren

A bomb exploded in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing three girls and a boy on their way to school as violence targeted all walks of life in the capital. Nearly 20 people were killed in car bombings and shootings elsewhere.

With the bloodshed showing no sign of abating, politicians held protracted talks over formation of a new government, which the U.S. hopes will help stamp out the insurgency by encouraging Sunni Arabs and Shiites to work together. [...]

"We are poor people who have nothing to do with politics," the father sobbed at the police station. "We only wanted to live a decent life. What is the guilt of my dead children? They were only heading to school. Now I am left with only two children. This is a disaster for my family." [ more ]

from Reuters: Military and civilian deaths in Iraq

A roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine in western Baghdad on Tuesday near Abu Ghraib, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. military also reported on Tuesday that a sailor was killed by a roadside bomb in western al-Anbar province.

United States casualties as of Tuesday were 2,269

Civilian iraqi deaths are plausibly estimated at over 100,000.

Today's dispatches bring news of defiant celebrations amid continuing violence in Iraq, further calls for the release of detained journalists, and analysis of the present turmoil. We found no new reports of Tom Fox or the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. Once again, we call on their captors to free them, unharmed, now!

from Reuters: War-weary Iraqis say it with Valentine's Day flowers

Defying almost daily car bombs, shootings and kidnappings, some Baghdad lovers ventured out of their homes to say it with flowers on Valentine's Day.

"The security situation has affected all sides of life, but it did not stop us from coming to buy a flower to prove that life goes on in Iraq," said Saif, who went with his fiancee Bayan to a busy flower shop in central Baghdad to buy roses.

To lure amorous couples, the shop's owners carpeted the sidewalk outside the store with red petals and put up a banner that read: "We all celebrate Valentine's Day for all the world and for the Iraqis."

Bayan said celebrating Valentine's Day in Iraq was a way to defy violence.

from the Associated Press: Roadside Bomb Kills U.S. Marine

A roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine in western Baghdad on Tuesday in one of two attacks that also wounded six coalition military personnel, the military said.

The attack that killed the Marine happened at about 10:30 a.m. near Abu Ghraib, the military said in statement. Two other coalition personnel were wounded in the attack that also damaged their vehicle.

About an hour later, another coalition convoy was attacked by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire in the Baghdad's Salaam area, wounding four soldiers.

The death took the number of U.S. military personnel to have died in Iraq to at least 2,270 since the since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

from Reuters: Gunmen kill 11 farmers north of Baghdad

Masked gunmen shot dead 11 members of the same family, including a 5-year-old boy, after rounding up a group of farmers in Iraq, police and survivors said.

Among the dead was Sheik Hussein Sarhan al-Hiyali, a tribal leader who owned the farm in the Shi'ite town of Balad, some 50 miles north of Baghdad. [...]

The motive of the killings was not immediately clear, but sectarian violence has become a common element in Iraq's conflict in recent months. Balad is mostly Shi'ite but it borders several Sunni areas.

from Aljazeera: US urged to free Aljazeera journalist

An international media watchdog has urged the United States to free Sami al-Hajj, an Aljazeera cameraman, and another journalist, saying they had been unfairly detained.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (known by its French acronym, RSF) said in a statement on Tuesday: "These journalists have been denied justice and not allowed to see family or lawyers."

Al-Hajj is being held at a military base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and Abdel Amir Yunes Hussein, 26, who works for US network CBS News, is being held at a US prison in Iraq. [...]

Al-Hajj, 36, has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 after being arrested in Afghanistan in 2001, it said.

He has been accused of making videos of Osama bin Laden.

RSF said he had told a human rights lawyer who visited him in Guantanamo that he had been interrogated more than 130 times and tortured, including sexually. [ more ]

from the Associated Press: 2006 Make-Or-Break Year in Iraq

Intersecting factors in Iraq and at home make this year pivotal. The first permanent post-invasion government offers hope for Iraqi political stability even in the face of unabated sectarian violence. At the same time, the Bush administration faces growing domestic pressure to reduce the U.S. troop presence.

Within the administration, there is an urgency to get it right this time, after the stumbles and false starts of the U.S.-run Coalition Provisional Authority and more than a year of Iraqi-led caretaker governments.

There was no news on Monday February 13 of the condition of Tom Fox and three other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. As described below, plans were announced for Baghdad protests calling for their release; threats of death were made against two Germans also held captive, and a newly-released study forecast high casualties if an attack is made on Iran.

from Canada Press: Iraqi rights group plans Baghdad protest for release of Christian Peacemakers

A local Iraqi human-rights group is planning a demonstration in Baghdad this week to press for the release of four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams taken hostage in the fall, a Canadian colleague of the captives said Monday.

The protest will take place Friday in the same square where the statue of ousted president Saddam Hussein was toppled almost three years ago following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, fellow team member Allan Slater said from Baghdad. [...]

The group staging Friday's event has asked the Christian Peacemakers in Baghdad to stay away from the protest for security reasons. [...]

Despite security concerns, the group is still moving around Baghdad, although in a significantly restricted fashion, he added.

"One of the best things we can do for ourselves and for our detained friends is to keep doing our work," Slater said.

from Aljazeera: Hostages in Iraq threatened with death

Al-Arabiya TV has aired footage of two German hostages surrounded by their kidnappers, threatening to kill them unless the German government meets their demands.

No deadline was set, but the station said the kidnappers warned this was the last chance to save the hostages.

The previously unknown Tawhid and Sunnah Brigade abducted Thomas Nitschke and Rene Braeunlich on 24 January in Beiji, north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Al-Arabiya cited the kidnappers as saying: "This is the last warning to fulfill the demands of the group."

In January, Aljazeera aired the last tape showing the hostages, where the group called on Germany to close its embassy in Baghdad and stop co-operating with the Iraqi government or it would kill the hostages within 72 hours.

from Reuters: Blast outside Baghdad bank kills 15

Fifteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded in Baghdad on Monday when a blast ripped through a crowd of people queuing up outside a bank, the Iraqi police and U.S. military said.

The police said Iraqis were waiting to collect compensation for food rations the government had failed to distribute last year when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt.

The U.S. military said the blast was caused by a roadside bomb planted near the busy bank.

Thousands would die if U.S. attacked Iran

The report by the independent Oxford Research Group said any bombing of Iran by U.S. forces, or by their Israeli allies, would have to be part of a surprise attack on a range of facilities including urban areas that would catch many Iranians unprotected.

"I think there is at least a 50:50 risk of some sort of real crisis, probably with military action, before the end of next year," said the report's author, Professor Paul Rogers of the University of Bradford. [...]

An attack could eventually lead to a lengthy confrontation involving many other countries in the region, could mean the closure of the Gulf, and would probably have a "formidable" impact on oil prices, as well as spurring new attacks by Muslim radicals on Western interests, the report said. [...]

"Civilian deaths would be in the many hundreds at least," it added. "If the war evolved into a wider conflict, primarily to pre-empt or counter Iranian responses, the casualties would eventually be much higher."

There was no news on Sunday February 12 of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. In addition to the escalating death toll and specific clashes, today's reports refer to the ongoing struggle for electricity, something Tom mentioned frequently in private eMails as well as his blog.

from the Associated Press: Iraqis Remain Starved of Electricity

For many Iraqis, chronic power problems have become a litmus test of American promises of a better life without Saddam's tyranny.

Iraqis often ask why a superpower that can send thousands of soldiers, tanks and Humvees to fight a war half a world away cannot guarantee that the lights work. [...]

Baghdad, a city of nearly 7 million people, is a city starved for energy. Most streets are not lit at night, when the din of power generators fills the air. Wires connecting neighborhood generators to private homes hang over narrow alleys in poor residential areas. [...]

"Everyone dreamed of a better life after Saddam went. We wanted more electricity and a generally higher standard of living," Mutlaq said. "We are still shocked that none of our dreams came true. Nothing happened and some people even think life under Saddam was better."

The problem of electricity becomes more unbearable in summer, when temperatures soar to 120 for months. That forces many residents to sleep on their rooftops.

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006, at least 2,269 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes six military civilians. At least 1,779 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. [...]

Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 2,130 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,670 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

from: Reuters: Security incidents in Iraq, Feb 12

U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad.

RAMADI - Six insurgents were killed and another wounded on Saturday when U.S forces conducted an air strike in the city of Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, the U.S military said on Sunday.

MUQDADIYA - Clashes between insurgents and Iraqi army soldiers conducting a raid killed one rebel in Muqdadiya, 90 km (50 miles) north east of Baghdad. The army arrested 40 suspected insurgents in the same operation.

BAGHDAD - A 53-year-old male detainee at Abu Ghraib prison died on Saturday as a result of complications from an assault by an unknown number of detainees, the U.S military said in a statement. [ more ]

There was no news on Saturday February 11 of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. Other reports from the area suggest a lull in violence, but it is not clear whether that reflects actual "facts on the ground," or a weekend cutback in news coverage.

One trend that did not show any lull was the escalating cost of the war. The total as of Saturday night was US$240 billion, 304 million, and counting. The US casualty total is now at 2267. Iraqi casualties, including civilians, are plausibly estimated as in excess of 100,000.

Our hearts go out to friends and family of captive reporter Jill Carroll, kidnaped on January 7, whose captors have set a deadline of February 26, threatening execution if their demands are not met. We call on her captors to abandon this plan, and release her unharmed.

from Reuters: Security incidents in Iraq, Feb 11

U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad.

BASRA - A spokesman for the Iraqi Army was assassinated in central Basra by gunmen, an Iraqi army official said. Captain Makram al-Abbasi was shot in his car on his way to work.

BAQUBA - Gunmen killed two policemen in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles north of Baghdad, police said. The attackers approached their car and shot them in the head.

BALAD - Six civilians were kidnapped by gunmen near Balad, north of Baghdad, police said.

BALAD - A roadside bomb killed a civilian in Balad, police said.

DUJAIL - An army officer was killed by a roadside bomb in Dujail, north of Baghdad, police said.

At the time of this writing, I have found no reports with new information about Tom Fox and the other Christian Peacemakers being held captive in Iraq. As our vigil on their behalf goes into its eleventh week, many people have asked me if "no news is good news."

I have read a lot of informed speculation on all sides of this question, and several friends with hands closer to the pulse have shared their insight, experience, and oppinions. We hope that their captors have heard the message. We hope that they have been moved by the serene presence of their captives. We hope that somehow, in spite of the threats and the bleak outlook, "by the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, giving light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:78-79)

We hope, and we do not know.

The practical implications of "no news" is that we continue our vigil. We continue to plead for their release. We continue to seek ways that we can support their work, serving the families and communities torn apart by war. We continue to be challenged by their readiness to endure isolation, sacrifice, and suffering to serve others. And we pray for the dawn from on high to guide our feet into the way of peace, covenanting with all people – to free the captives, bind up the wounded of heart, and to comfort all who mourn.

We do not know, but as we sit in darkness our hope is nourished by the Light.

There was no news on Thursday February 9 of the fate of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. As reported below, a new video of captive reporter Jill Carroll was released. Also, US forces are said to be planning release of several hundred prisoners; problems with Iraq's new "free" press abound; and experts acknowledge that US involvement in Iraq is likely to be long-term.

We call on her captors, and those holding our CPT friends, to release them at once! No religion, no good cause is served by holding or harming them.

from Reuters: U.S. hostage Carroll appeals for help in new video

"I'm here with the mujahideen. I sent you a letter written by hand. I'm here, I'm fine. Please just do whatever they want," she said. "Give them whatever they want as quickly as possible. There is very short time. Please move fast." [ more ]

from the Associated Press: Official: U.S. to Free Iraqi Detainees

U.S. forces are expected to release about 450 male Iraqi detainees next week, Iraq's deputy justice minister said Thursday. [...]

The kidnappers of American journalist Jill Carroll, who was abducted Jan. 7, have demanded the release of all female detainees or else they would kill their captive.

from Reuters: Iraqi journalists caught in political crossfire

Under Saddam Hussein, Iraqi journalists were threatened, detained, tortured and killed -- victims of a system that tightly controlled what was written about the country's Baathist leader.

The destruction of the Information Ministry -- one of the main instruments of Saddam-era censorship -- during the U.S.-led invasion to oust the Iraqi leader in March 2003 symbolically ended decades of zero press freedom.

But journalists' initial optimism that they would finally be able to report freely has been eroded. In today's democratic Iraq, they face many of the same dangers, as well as new threats. [ more ]

from the Associated Press: Experts Say U.S. in Iraq for Long Haul

All signs point to a major drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq in 2006 - perhaps to fewer than 100,000 by year's end. But it is far from certain when there will be further reductions, or a total pullout, after that.

In fact, it now looks as if the United States may have a long-term and substantial military presence in Iraq, military experts say. [...]

Some analysts believe the process is only just beginning. Despite gains against the insurgents in areas such as Mosul and Saleheddin province, U.S. deaths have been running steady for the past two years at about 50 to 75 a month with 500 wounded each month.

"I hardly know of any counterinsurgency that lasted less than a decade," said Bruce Hoffman, a counterinsurgency expert with the Rand Corp. "I don't see any sign over the past year that this will end anytime soon. ... I don't see any development that would indicate `light at the end of the tunnel.'"

Ahmed S. Hashim, a counterinsurgency expert at the U.S. Naval War College, predicted the U.S. is in for a "protracted stay" in Iraq, guiding the Iraqis in their struggle against the insurgents for years. [ more ]

There was no news on Wednesday February 8 of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. Other reports from the area concern the Shi'ite Muslim holiday of Ashura, the spread of bird flu, and more US casualties.

from Reuters: What is the Islamic event of Ashura?

Ashura is the 10th day of the lunar month of Muharram when according to Islamic tradition Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, was killed in battle in AD 680.

Ashura, the biggest event in the Shi'ite religious calendar, is observed in Iraq and in other countries with sizeable Shi'ite communities, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Sunni Muslims also mourn Hussein's death, but less fervently, and Ashura is a reminder of Sunni-Shi'ite rifts dating from disputes over the Prophet Mohammad's succession. [ more ]

Iraqis urged to kill birds amid new bird flu fears

Police cars and ambulances drove through the streets of Amara on Wednesday using loudspeakers to warn residents of the southern city to kill their birds amid fears that bird flu was spreading in Iraq.

The avian virus, which has already claimed the life of an Iraqi teenager, was previously thought to have been confined to the girl's village in the country's largely autonomous northern region of Kurdistan.

But the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday, the Iraqi Health Ministry had reported a new suspected human case in the southern city of Amara.

from the Associated Press: A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

... at least 2,264 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes six military civilians. At least 1,772 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. [...]

The British military has reported 100 deaths; Italy, 27; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, one death each.

Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 2,125 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,666 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

[NOTE: Iraqi casualties, including civilians, have been plausibly estimated as in excess of 100,000.]

The latest deaths reported by the military:

• A Marine died Monday when his vehicle hit by an explosive near Baghdad.
• A soldier died Wednesday of wounds from a roadside bombing three days earlier in Anbar province.

There was no news on Tuesday February 7, of Tom Fox or the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq since November 26. We miss them. We keep apprehensive vigil for them. We call on their captors, once again, to end their captivity and privation and free them.

from: Reuters: IRAQ: Children's mental health affected by insecurity, say specialists

"Children in Iraq are seriously suffering psychologically with all the insecurity, especially with the fear of kidnapping and explosions," said API spokesman Maruan Abdullah. "In some cases, they're found to be suffering extreme stress."

More than 1,000 children were interviewed countrywide over the past four months for the study, the findings of which were released on 5 February.

According to Abdullah, the survey was undertaken after a noticeable increase in the number of children seeking psychological counselling, many of whom were found to have learning difficulties.

"It was incredible how strong the results were," said Abdullah. "The only things they have on their minds are guns, bullets, death and a fear of the US occupation."

Of the children examined, 92 percent were found to have learning impediments, largely attributable to the current climate of fear and insecurity.

"The fear of kidnapping has been the main reason for learning deficiencies, especially among children whose parents are government employees or high-ranking professionals like doctors and teachers," Abdullah noted.

from the Associated Press: Iraqi Gunmen Kill Sunni Community Leader

Gunmen assassinated a Sunni community leader Tuesday in the former extremist stronghold of Fallujah - part of an insurgent campaign to prevent prominent Sunni Arabs from joining the U.S.-backed political process.

Bombs and bullets killed at least 11 other people, including four Marines who died in a pair of bombings in western Anbar province.

Sheik Kamal Nazal, a Sunni preacher and chairman of the Fallujah city council, was gunned down in a hail of bullets from two passing cars as he walked to work, police Chief Brig. Hudairi al-Janabi said.

No group claimed responsibility for the killing, which occurred in one of the most tightly controlled cities in Iraq. However, it appeared part of a campaign of intimidation by Sunni insurgents against Sunni Arabs interested in promoting a political settlement to stem the violence.

Reuters posts the latest figures for U.S. military deaths in Iraq at 2,256.

from the Associated Press: US Lawmakers Fear Lack of Progress on Iraq

The Bush administration is falling short in its efforts to rebuild Iraq, increase oil production and spawn a new government that is representative of all factions there, lawmakers of both parties said Tuesday.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld heard from critics including panel Chairman John Warner, R-Va. The comments marked a continuation of bipartisan criticism the administration has received in recent months from members of Congress over its Iraq policies.

There was no news Monday February 6 of Tom Fox or the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq since November 26, 2006. Today in Iraq, Muslim & Christian leaders have united in calling for an end to all detentions without trial there. We repeat our plea for their immediate release. No good purpose is served by holding or harming them.

from Ekklesia: Christian peacemakers told to keep low profile following anti-muslim cartoons

Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) whose colleagues in Iraq were kidnapped at the end of November, say they have experienced a variety of angry reactions to the caricatures of the Prophet which first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September.

CPT has recently issued a statement condemning the anti-Muslim cartoons published by Denmark's daily paper the Jyllands-Posten, as spreading 'hate and bigotry'.

Last week CPT learned that two Swedish members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) team in Tel Rumeida had been advised by their leadership to leave Hebron, which they did briefly. They came back when they received assurances from Palestinian leadership that the presence of peace workers was welcome and appreciated.

from Reuters: Severe water shortage hits Baghdad suburbs

Residents of Baghdad's suburbs have been experiencing serious water shortages for a month due to poor infrastructure, leaking pipes and wastage, according to experts. [...]

Nearly half a million people have been affected by the scarcity. In some areas, water is available for only a few hours at night and for less than two hours during the day in other areas. [...]

Water shortages have traditionally occurred in Baghdad during the summer months, due to the intensive use of air conditioning, public swimming pools and increased washing activity. This year, however, marks the first time shortages have been recorded in the winter months.

"It's the first time we don't have water during winter," said Jawad Hakeem, resident of a Baghdad suburb. "They say it's a problem with the pipes, but I believe that careless maintenance and corruption are the main factors behind the shortage."

The problem has been compounded by dramatic increases in the urban population in recent decades due to countrywide poverty.

from the Associated Press: Attacks Across Iraq Kill At Least 11

Drive-by gunmen and roadside bombs killed at least 11 people across Iraq on Monday, while police uncovered the bullet-riddled bodies of two men in Baghdad, police said.

One Iraqi policeman was killed and his brother, also a policemen, was wounded in an attack by armed men firing from a speeding car in the northern city of Kirkuk, said police Capt. Firhad Talabani.

In Baghdad's southern Abu Dashir neighborhood, police found the bodies of two more brothers seized from their home late Sunday by men claiming to be Interior Ministry commandos, said Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq.

The two brothers, both Sunni Arabs, were shot repeatedly and found with their hands and legs bound.

Sunni Arabs accuse Shiite-backed security forces and militias of targeting their community in a campaign of sectarian killings.

Sectarian tensions are high ahead of the feast of Ashoura this week, which marks the seventh century death in battle of the revered Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Sunni extremists have targeted the past two Ashoura festivals. Eight suicide bombers killed 55 Shiites last year.

from Reuters: Military and civilian deaths in Iraq

Two U.S. soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Iraq on Friday, the U.S. military said.

One was killed in an attack near Ramadi and the other in a roadside bomb attack in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported.

Britain reported that one of its soldiers was killed late on Thursday and another hurt in a traffic accident south of Basra in southern Iraq.

The following are the latest figures for military deaths in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, in line with the most recent information from the U.S. military:

U.S.-LED COALITION FORCES:

United States 2,252 Britain 101 Other nations 94

IRAQIS: MILITARY Between 4,895 and 6,370

CIVILIANS Between 28,293 and 31,900 [Other plausible estimates put the civilian death toll above 100,000.]

At the time of this writing, I haven't found any new reports about the CPT captives, including my friend and mentor Tom Fox. As we continue our vigil, there is so much we don't know. Over the past few weeks I have been reflecting on Tom's serene, watchful, caring spirit, and looking for some way to convey his presence here in these updates.

The best I can do is find comparisons, while wrestling with the social, moral, and theological challenges escalated in this ordeal. Tonight I'm thinking of another fellow who worked to foster love and justice in a country torn apart by war, and the implications of that commitment.

As a pastor in a French village during the Holocaust, André Trocmé is best known for his role in providing sanctuary for thousands fleeing genocide. But his devotion and defiance did not come out of nowhere. Like Tom, Trocmé's convictions were rooted in his dynamic experience of the Peaceable Kingdom. Here is an excerpt from his book Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution:

Jesus’ new commandment demands that we translate the rulership of God into everyday language through our bodies: Love your neighbor, serve him, heal him, even if this means breaking traditions or laws. Give in to him rather than offend him and turn him away from God. Whatever you do, don’t make yourself an obstacle on his way to God. One’s neighbor’s physical well-being is as important as his spiritual life; the healing of the body and the healing of the soul are joined in a single operation. Christ’s revolution is total, or it is nothing.

The immediacy and simplicity of this new commandment liberate us from fears, from plans, from complicated orders issued by the state, whether in peacetime or in wartime, and from all that divides people from one another. Freed from all casuistry, one can joyfully serve others as well as refuse with the same joy any attempt on humanity’s existence. We no longer need to be impressed by great principles quoted to us, or with great historical moments that call for bloodshed. It is so simple. Any endeavor to serve the needs of others, especially those that benefit children, the persecuted, prisoners, the exploited, the aged, the infirm, will advance God’s kingdom, even if only minutely.

The Christian objector to war or military service is thus not a purist who, on the day he receives orders to kill his neighbor, wakes from his dream to say no. He is a servant with experienced hands, who is so busy helping his neighbor that to interrupt his activity to undertake the task of killing is unthinkable to him.

Perhaps it is true that certain violent remedies employed against tyrants have put an end to certain forms of evil, but they have not eliminated evil. Evil itself will take root elsewhere, as we have seen through history. The fertilizer that stimulates its growth is yesterday’s violence. Even “just wars” and “legitimate defense” bring vengeance in their train. Fresh crimes invariably ensue.

But the future of the person who turns to God is not determined by the past, and therefore neither is the future of humanity. God’s forgiveness creates the possibility of an entirely new future. The cross breaks the cycle of violence. The sacrifice of Jesus opens an un-expected way to possibilities that are constantly renewed.

In a world threatened by war and terror, we are all held hostage by the power of menace, mistrust and uncertainty. Loving, serving, and healing are the practical means to unhinge the grip of these dehumanizing forces and reawaken the human being. Tom's work in Iraq provides us with a stark example of faithfulness to this covenant of love, service, and healing.

The effort continues to develop dynamic ways to support Tom's service at home and abroad. We continue our public and private vigils. We commence with disciplined and focused study. We share our concerns and suffering, and we come together frequently to be sharpened by each other in the Spirit.

You can help: Remember the Christian Peacemaker captives in your prayers, along with the ongoing turmoil in Iraq. Remember them in your prayer groups and in your meetings. Ask for support in carrying this concern. Bring together four or more friends for focused prayer, study, and support – get started using our prayer & action reference, and meet as frequently as you can! Link to this site, and spread the word. Share your progress and ideas with us!

Based on his experience in the Sanctuary Movement, Jim Corbett writes: "Civil initiative is community-centered. ... Our exercise of civil initiative must be socially sustained and congregationally coherent; it must integrate, outlast and outreach individual acts of conscience." The same is true with this continuing witness on behalf of the peacemaker captives. Loving, serving, and healing the victims of violence and the families torn apart by war is important work, and every pair of "boots on the ground" requires an undetermined number of "support personnel" – to provide spiritual, moral, or social support, to help discern the big picture, and to love, serve, and heal the peacemakers in the field. The task of integrating, outlasting, and outreaching the devotion of Tom and the other captives has scarcely begun.

There was no news on Saturday February 4 of the fate of Tom Fox and the other three CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iaq. Other reports from Iraq include rumors of civil war and more military and civilian deaths:

from the Associated Press: Sunni Chiefs Raise Warnings of Civil War

Sunni politicians warned of civil war Saturday after the bullet-riddled bodies of 14 Sunni Arab men were found in Baghdad - apparently the latest victims of sectarian death squads.

One person was killed and 12 injured when a mortar shell exploded near a Shiite mosque north of the capital.

Sunni leaders claimed the 14 men were seized last week by Shiite-led security forces. There was no confirmation from the Shiite-led Interior Ministry that government troops were responsible.

A top ministry official, Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, said the bodies were shot multiple times and dumped in the back of a truck in northern Baghdad late Friday. He denounced the killings as a "criminal" act and said "we have nothing so far" to indicate government forces were to blame.

Leaders of several major Sunni Arab political organizations insisted the Interior Ministry was responsible for the killings.

The 14 bodies were taken to a morgue to be collected by their families, the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni clerical group, said in a statement. The bodies of a father and son were taken to the headquarters of the National Dialogue Council, another Sunni political group, and displayed to reporters.

Shiites, an estimated 60 percent of Iraq's 27 million people, also have been the victims of sectarian killings and often have been targeted in suicide bombings.

Long oppressed under Saddam Hussein, Shiites insist they must maintain control of the security forces to defend themselves and to prevent the return of Saddam-style dictatorship.

U.S. and United Nations diplomats have also called for control of the key security ministries to taken out of the hands of sectarian groups. The issue is expected to hinder quick agreement on a new government when talks among Iraq's parties begin in earnest this month.

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006, at least 2,249 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes six military civilians. At least 1,759 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is one higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EST.

The British military has reported 100 deaths; Italy, 27; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, one death each.

Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 2,110 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,645 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 16,606 U.S. service members have been wounded, according to a Defense Department tally Tuesday.

[NOTE: By contrast, Iraqi casualty figures are very imprescise. The total number of civilians killed durng the occupation has plausibly been estiamnted as in excess of 100,000.]

There was no news on Friday February 3 of Tom Fox and the other CPT peacworkers, held captive in Iraq.

from Reuters: Security incidents in Iraq, Feb. 3

U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier was killed when a roadside bomb struck his patrol north of Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. military said.

KIRKUK - A translator working with the U.S. army was shot dead by gunmen in Hawijah, 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police colonel Sarhan Khadir said.

KIRKUK - A policeman and a civilian were kidnapped by gunmen in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles), north of Baghdad, said Khadir.

from the Associate Press: Iraqis Forces Conduct Security Crackdown

Iraqi police and soldiers rounded up nearly 60 people Friday in security crackdowns in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, and the U.S. military reported the death of an American soldier in a bombing.

At least 22 people were detained and weapons were seized in raids launched before dawn Friday in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, the Iraqi army said.

An additional 37 people - including five Palestinians and a Syrian - were arrested in pre-dawn raids in Baghdad's Dora district, the Interior Ministry said. The neighborhood is a mostly Sunni Arab area and has been the scene of frequent bombings, ambushes and assassinations.

Sunni Arab politicians have complained that raids by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry have enflamed sectarian tensions as politicians seek to form a new government that will include all communities and calm the Sunni-led insurgency. Shiite officials counter that Sunni militants have killed many police and soldiers.

from Reuters: $439.3 billion sought for next U.S. "defense" budget

President George W. Bush will ask Congress for $439.3 billion in defense spending for fiscal 2007, a 4.8 per cent increase over the current U.S. military budget, defense and administration officials said on Thursday.

The new military budget does not include $120 billion in planned new U.S. funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pentagon plans new arms to meet rivals like China

The United States will build new long-range weapons in a hedge against potential rivals like China, the major power best-placed to challenge U.S. supremacy, the Pentagon said in a new strategic blueprint on Friday.

The Defense Department also plans to boost U.S. special forces to fight terrorism, strengthen homeland defense and step up efforts to thwart transfers of the deadliest weapons, the 92-page document said.

The Pentagon released the congressionally mandated Quadrennial Defense Review to outline its strategy for meeting anticipated security threats over the next 20 years. [...]

"Of the major and emerging powers, China has the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military technologies that could over time off set traditional U.S. military advantages absent U.S. counter strategies," the survey said. [...]

The document said that "to strengthen forces to defeat terrorist networks," the Pentagon starting in fiscal 2007 will increase special-operations forces 15 percent from the current approximately 52,000 and boost the number of special forces battalions by a third.

Special-operations forces, already a favorite of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and used heavily in Iraq and Afghanistan, are more highly trained and capable of taking on more sensitive missions than regular forces.

The document anticipates an evolution of threats posed by the most dangerous weapons, including electro-magnetic pulse weapons, portable nuclear devices, genetically engineered biological pathogens, and new chemical agents.

It also calls for an increase in psychological warfare units.

There was no news Thursday February 2 of the fate of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq.

We appeal once more to those holding them – release these innocent men, who are peaceful friends of God and the Iraqi people!

Elsewhere in the area, most reports reflected continuing violence.

from Reuters:

Two car bombs explode in Baghdad, 16 killedTwo car bombs killed at least 16 people and wounded 65 others in Baghdad on Thursday, police sources said.

The sources said one car bomb exploded in a market and the other in a petrol station. Hospital sources said they expected the number of casualties to rise.

Sunni insurgents are waging a campaign of suicide and car bombings, shootings and assassinations in a bid to topple the Shi'ite-led government.

from Aljazeera: Two journalists kidnapped in Iraq

Two Iraqi correspondents working for a satellite television channel have been kidnapped in Baghdad.

Police and station officials said on Thursday that Reem Zaid, 23, and her colleague Marwan Khaza'al, 25, were returning to the offices of Sumariya TV in Baghdad on Wednesday after attending a press conference when they were kidnapped by gunmen.
 
Many Iraqi media outlets are also controlled by various political factions inside and outside the government, but the Sumariya official said that the station was privately owned by Iraqis and had no links to any political group.

from Reuters:

A roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers south of Baghdad on Wednesday and another died of his wounds in a separate shooting attack in the Iraqi capital, the U.S. military said on Thursday. The military also reported that a Marine died of his wounds from small arms fire near Falluja.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military said that a soldier died in a vehicle accident in Falluja on January 28.

The following are the latest figures for military deaths in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, in line with the most recent information from the U.S. military:

U.S.-LED COALITION FORCES:

United States 2,248 Britain 100 Other nations 94

IRAQIS: MILITARY Between 4,895 and 6,370

CIVILIANS Between 28,287 and 31,891 [Other plausible estimates put the civilian toll above 100,000.]

Bush to seek $70 Billion for Iraq, Afghanistan wars-sources

President George W. Bush will ask Congress for another $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, congressional sources said on Thursday.

The sources said that money, which would come on top of about $330 billion for the wars so far, would be for this fiscal year. The White House likely will seek another $50 billion in emergency money in the fiscal 2007 defense spending bill for the wars, the sources said.

Iraq police find 14 bodies, bound and blindfolded

Police discovered 14 bodies showing signs of torture in Baghdad on Thursday, an Interior Ministry source said.

The corpses were blindfolded, with hands tied behind their backs, he said.

Some of the victims had been beheaded or repeatedly stabbed, said the source.

Many bodies showing signs of abuse have been found in Iraq in recent months as sectarian tensions have risen against the backdrop of a Sunni Arab insurgency that has killed thousands of people.

Mothers plead for lives of German hostages in Iraq

The mothers of two German engineers kidnapped in Iraq pleaded for their sons' lives on Thursday as their government said it was still trying to make contact with the captors.

The mothers of Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke were filmed by ARD television making an appeal which was due to be shown later by Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera.

"We have seen our sons on television. We are very afraid for their lives," said one of the women, whose names and location were not given.

"Thomas and Rene travelled to Iraq with no political motive. They never intended to harm your country. We appeal to your charity and mercy and ask you with all our hearts to spare our innocent sons. Please, let Thomas and Rene go free," said the other mother, her voice almost breaking.

The two engineers were abducted on Jan. 24 outside their workplace in the Iraqi industrial town of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad.

In a video dated Jan. 29 and broadcast by Al Jazeera on Tuesday, the kidnappers set a 72-hour deadline for Germany to end its cooperation with Iraq and close its embassy in Baghdad.

There was no news on Wednesday Feb 1 ot the fate of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. Vigils continue around the world for focused prayer on their behalf; one vigil hosted by Eastern Mennonite University on Monday evening reminds us that the scope of this ordeal is far larger than the fate of four men:

Lawrence Yoder, a seminary professor at EMU, urged everyone there to pray not just for Fox but for everyone in Iraq. That includes the other hostages, the people holding them, the American military, the people working to rebuild the country, the ministers newly elected to office and those who opposed them.

"For all who are concerned about and involved in Iraq, we pray for a transforming vision of who God is, and how God wants to make things right," he said. [...]

Earl Martin, 61, of Harrisonburg, said he felt for Fox. When he was much younger, he himself was a prisoner – in Vietnam. He was treated well, but doesn't know if Fox's captors are showing him the same courtesy.

He also noted that the Iraq war bears some parallels with Vietnam. In each case, the prevailing mindset was to stay the course, Martin said.

"The tragedy of warfare when there would be many other ways we could solve these problems. In that way, it all becomes so tragic and senseless," he said.

Other prayers and notes of support have been left in the comments of Tom's blog:

You are loved so dearlly, dearly loved.

We were so impressed by you. Randomly showing up, braving the world of the intellectual search for peace. We were self rightous grad students, but your coming journey to Iraq humbled us. We admired you so much. You weren't going to sit semester after semester making plans, you were going. We all knew you were our "warrior," the brave one.

I know that, even now, your bravery and compassion have not failed.

Meanwhile, the turmoil in Iraq goes on.

from the Associated Press: Insurgents Thwarting Iraq Reconstruction

Guerrilla attacks in Iraq have forced the cancellation of more than 60 percent of water and sanitation projects, in part because American intelligence failed to predict the brutal insurgency, a U.S. government audit said. [...]

The rise of Iraq's insurgency was never envisioned by U.S. officials, who originally budgeted about 9 percent of reconstruction aid for project security, the audit said. [...]

Pre-invasion U.S. intelligence reports said guerrilla attacks were likely, White said.

"But nobody predicted anything of this magnitude in terms of resistance," said White, now an analyst with the Middle East Institute in Washington. "And in part, the magnitude of the resistance was spurred by our failures in reconstruction."