IRAQ Developments

The latest developments in Iraq:

President Bush said Tuesday that “there are unmistakable signs” that his troop buildup in Iraq is working and blasted critics who say that the failure of Iraq’s national government to foster political reconciliation proves that the troop increase is failing. Bush painted a stark picture of what might happen if U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq, saying that would embolden Iran, al-Qaida and other extremists to spread instability throughout the Middle East and spur a regional nuclear-arms race that would endanger the world. “Iran could conclude that we are weak — and not stop them from gaining nuclear weapons,” he told the American Legion convention in Reno, Nev. “And once Iran had nuclear weapons, it could set off an arms race in the region.”

American troops raided a Baghdad hotel Tuesday night and took away a group of about 10 people that a U.S.-funded radio station said included six members of an Iranian delegation here to negotiate contracts with Iraq’s government. The Iranian Embassy did not confirm the report. But it said seven Iranians — an embassy employee and six members of a delegation from Iran’s Electricity Ministry — were staying at the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel, which was the one raided by U.S. soldiers.

Democrat Joe Biden charged Tuesday that President Bush’s policies in Iraq are designed to confuse voters and ensure that a chaotic end to the war is delayed until after he leaves office. Biden pointed to the turmoil that accompanied the end of the Vietnam War, with Americans plucked from the roof of the U.S. Embassy as enemy troops poured into Saigon. He said Bush wants to avoid such a stain on the end of his presidency.

The only military officer to be court-martialed in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal was acquitted Tuesday of any criminal responsibility for the widespread abuse of Iraqi prisoners, but he was found guilty of disobeying an order not to talk about the investigation. Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, a 51-year-old career Army soldier, was in charge of gathering military intelligence at the prison. But according to testimony at the weeklong court-martial at Ft. Meade, Md., he was not directly involved in the handling of captives at the over-crowded detention camp near Baghdad once used by Saddam Hussein to hold political prisoners.

Fighting erupted Tuesday between rival Shiite militias in Karbala during a religious festival, claiming 51 lives and forcing officials to abort the celebrations and order up to 1 million Shiite pilgrims to leave the southern city. Security officials said Mahdi Army gunmen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fired on guards around two shrines protected by the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. Residents of Karbala contacted by telephone said snipers were firing on Iraqi security forces from rooftops. Explosions and the rattle of automatic weapons fire could be heard during telephone calls to reporters in the city 50 miles south of Baghdad. In addition to the deaths, security officials said at least 247 people were wounded, including women and children.

Concern over Basra is mounting as British forces prepare to evacuate the last of their forces from the city and redeploy to the airport 12 miles to the north. On Tuesday, Hakim al-Miyahi, head of the security committee of the Basra municipal council, told The Associated Press that Iraqi forces were incapable of maintaining order in the city once the British leave and that the Baghdad government should send reinforcements.

Hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi forces backed by helicopters and jet fighters killed 33 Sunni insurgents who were holding back the water supply to the Shiite town of Khalis, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. command said. The assault began before dawn Monday when a joint force was landed by helicopter in the village of Gubbiya, 10 miles east of Khalis. The assault force killed 13 fighters and attack aircraft killed 20 others, the military said. The area is known to be controlled by al-Qaida in Iraq.

The top U.S. envoy on refugees announced Tuesday that the United States will increase its support to countries hosting Iraqi refugees with a $30 million grant for education. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey said the money will help pay for schooling in countries like Jordan, where tens of thousands of young Iraqis recently began attending government schools.

The Pentagon is sending a team of investigators to Iraq because of the growing number of cases of fraud and other irregularities in contracts involving weapons and supplies for Iraqi forces. “The [Defense] Department is concerned with the number of contracting improprieties” that have been uncovered, department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday.

Source: Combined dispatches