Mediaboss Marketing

Mosul (Agenzia Fides) - The salvation promised by God is not reserved for particular ethnic groups, or for certain moral categories. His mercy embraces anyone who repents, and at times scandalizes those who claim to possess the gifts of grace exclusively and a priori. The reflection offered this year by the Chaldean Patriarch as an instrument to prepare for the so-called "Nineveh Fast", which the Chaldean Church is preparing to live from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 February, is strewn with liberating suggestions in order to enjoy the treasures of traditional pious practices. In the Chaldean liturgical tradition, the so-called "Nineveh Fast" (Bautha d'Ninwaye) precedes the Lenten one by three weeks. For three days, Chaldeans who observe this spiritual practice abstain from food and drink from midnight until noon the next day, and for the duration of the fast they avoid eating foods and condiments of animal origin. The practice of the "Nineveh fast" refers to the fast asked by the Prophet Jonah to the inhabitants of that corrupt city, which stood in the area of present-day Mosul, a metropolis in northern Iraq that remained in the hands of the jihadists of Islamic Caliphate (Daesh) from 2014 to 2017. That fast - so we read in the Bible - moved God (cf. Jonah 3,1) and saved the city from destruction. In recent years, Patriarch Sako has always invited the baptized of the Chaldean Church to live the Nineveh Fast, also asking the Almighty for the gifts of peace, national harmony and the end of the pandemic. This year, the reflection on the Nineveh Fast offered from the Iraqi cardinal contains precious philological, exegetical and historical notes on the Book of Jonah. But the biblical text offers the patriarch above all suggestive hints to recall the traits of gratuitousness and universality that characterize the salvation promised by Christ to all peoples.

The word "Ba'utha" - Patriarch Sako recalls in his contribution, disseminated by the official media of the Patriarchate - in Syriac indicates a request and a plea. Patriarch Ezekiel (570-581) ordered a fast of penance following the spread of the plague epidemic in Mesopotamia and the death of a large number of people, to demand an end, in a similar way to what happened with the Covid-19 pandemic".

The author of the Book of Jonah - continues the Iraqi Cardinal - wants above all to relate a new word about God, "to reveal that the salvation promised by God is for everyone and his infinite mercy embraces all those who repent". The writer of the sacred text "sees in a sublime way the inescapable truth of God's loving solidarity with sinners and the poor, and his desire to see them saved".

The word "Jonah" - continues the Patriarch - in Hebrew and Syriac means 'dove'. But the Prophet indicated by that name "is certainly not a dove of peace": he wields the "threat of punishment" and appears closed in an intolerant religious nationalism, to the point of wanting to escape the command of God, who sends him to preach the repentance and possible salvation in a city far from Israel, to a people perceived as hostile. Jonah tries to flee in the opposite direction to that indicated by God. Then, when all the people of Nineveh repent, fast and see the salvation promised by the Lord happen, Jonah gets angry at that gesture of divine mercy, almost reproaching God for having saved by grace an evil and enemy nation. The position of Jonah - the Patriarch remarks - recalls that of all the rigorisms that claim to monopolize the salvation given by God for their own merit. But Jesus "came to save the world", and the story of the Prophet Jonah shows that usually pagans are more ready to repent and convert than those who consider themselves saved "a priori", by condition given. In the end, Jonah also rejoices at the change that has also taken place thanks to his preaching. Thus - adds the Patriarch - "the Book of Jonah teaches us to trust in the mercy of the Lord, to pray for others and to rejoice in their repentance, instead of grumbling". The two positions that confront each other in the book of Jonah and throughout the history of salvation are on the one hand that of forgiveness and repentance, and on the other that of obstinacy and fanaticism. For this - Patriarch Sako points out - it is appropriate to recognize that "the message of the Book of Jonah was not addressed only to the people of ancient Nineveh, but it is a message that reaches us all, through the generations". The Iraqi Cardinal's reflection ends with an invitation to pray "for peace and stability in our country, so that the pandemic caused by Covid-19 disappears throughout the world, so that the environment is not devastated and for the unity of our Churches. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 4/2/2022)

Original post:
ASIA/IRAQ - Towards the "Nineveh Fast". Patriarch Sako: help us to rejoice in the salvation of others and to free ourselves from any...

Among olive groves that were once a front line between Daesh militants and Iraqi forces, Yunis Salman and a few fellow farmers are harnessing what they believe should be the future of Middle East agriculture: the power of the sun.

Solar panels installed last year between his family's 1,500 olive trees help to power water pumping and irrigation, providing enough for production and several hours of electricity each day for their home, Reuters reports.

The solar energy has replaced the several barrels of fuel oil a day that they used to consume, Salman said.

"My brother, Omar, got the idea after researching green energy online," Salman said at the farm near the northern Iraqi village of Fadhiliya, outside Mosul. "He thought this was perfect for Iraq, where we get so much sun."

Omar Salman bought solar panels for $12,000 and then appealed to the United Nations Development Programme, which has funded and expanded the project, he said.

READ: Iraq moves to sue Iran over water access

Salman believes solar power should be the future of agriculture and energy in the Middle East, where stifling summers are getting longer and hotter.

"We suffer every summer, so why not at least use it?" Salman said.

In Iraq, a dilapidated national grid often provides only a few hours of power each day, leaving many Iraqis to swelter through temperatures that regularly surpass 50 degrees Celsius.

Iraq is trying to recover from decades of conflict, international sanctions and mismanagement. Some of the most devastating fighting took place in the battle to defeat Daesh militants, who took over around a third of the country in 2014.

Fighting around Mosul in 2016-2017 destroyed vast amounts infrastructure, including in this rich agricultural area, where buildings have been flattened by air strikes.

Iraq, one of the world's largest oil producers, relies on crude oil exports for around 95 per cent of state revenue. It is trying to improve the capture of gas released during oil production to become more energy self-sufficient, but with limited success.

Gas imports from Iran fuel the national grid and periodically halt when energy consumption increases. Baghdad owes Tehran billions of dollars for power imports, and, under US sanctions, must currently pay those debts in food and medicine supplies.

Solar power, Salman believes, could help solve all those problems for Iraq. At little cost beyond the initial solar panels set-up, his farm produces some 40 tonnes of olives a year. Some of the produce is sold in Turkey and the Gulf.

The only downside, Salman says, is the initial cost.

Most ordinary Iraqis couldn't afford to spend such a lump sum. It should come from the state.

Iraq has signed several deals for solar power plants, including with companies from United Arab Emirates, Norway, France and China.

READ: Turkey strikes Kurdish militant sites in Iraq

The Iraqi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Progress on expanding sustainable energy has been slow so far, but international aid officials hope projects like this one can help to change attitudes, especially in official circles.

"Decades of conflict and legacies of past environmental policies mean Iraq's transition to renewable energy sources will not happen overnight," said the UNDP's Iraq representative, Zena Ali Ahmad.

"Solar energy for agriculture is a relatively new concept in Iraq so, while it did take the authorities a little convincing, what we are now witnessing is a gradual culture shift, and a greater acceptance toward transitioning into clean, renewable energy sources," she said.

Excerpt from:
Iraq: olive farmers look to the sun to power their production - Middle East Monitor

In his short NFL career, Josh Allen has already shown us why he is among the bright young stars in the NFL. From throwing passes with missile-like accuracy to carving up yardage with his legs on the ground, Allen has made the longtime suffering Buffalo Bills franchise into a contender for years to come.

While Allen and the Bills came up short this year in the playoffs, losing an epic battle for the ages against the Kansas City Chiefs, Allen will still be making his presence felt in Los Angeles during the Super Bowl.

Thanks to a partnership with USAA and The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Allen has awarded a trip to the Super Bowl to SSgt Cory Geisler, who from 2005 to 2012 served in the U.S. Army. Geisler deployed to Iraq from 2007 to 2008 and currently serves as the Wisconsin State Commander of the VFW.

In a statement, Allen said, Giving up a successful career to serve our country and enlist in the U.S. Army is incredibly admirable, Allen said in a news release announcing the trip. I cant wait to shake his hand and thank him for his service.

USAA, an organization in service to military members and their families, is the official military appreciation sponsor of the NFL. Their Salute to Service initiative has made stories like Allen and Geislers possible.

Salute to Service is a year-round effort to Honor, Empower, and Connect our nations service members, veterans, and their families. USAA and the NFL encourage military appreciation through the Salute to Service effort.

This isnt the first time that USAA and Josh Allen have done nice things for military members. Allen has also done things like sending letters to service members who were deployed overseas.

Allen is scheduled to meet with Geisler and other military members at the USAAs Salute to Service Lounge during Super Bowl weekend. Cory is a Chicago Bears fan, but we think he now has a new favorite player in Buffalo.

Super Bowl LVI will take place February 13 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The hometown LA Rams will be playing the upstart Cincinnati Bengals.

Excerpt from:
Buffalo Bills' superstar Josh Allen gifts Super Bowl tickets to Iraq War veteran - We Are The Mighty

Kuwait has suspended flights to Iraq for a week citing security fears after a rocket attack targeted Baghdad international airport

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press

January 30, 2022, 1:17 PM

2 min read

BAGHDAD -- Kuwait suspended flights to Iraq for a week starting Sunday citing security fears after a rocket attack targeted Baghdad international airport. Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, announced an attacker had been apprehended.

Kuwait Airways, the country's main carrier, said in a statement Saturday that flights to Iraq were temporarily suspended based on instructions from the Kuwaiti Civil Aviation Authority due to current conditions."

Six rockets struck the Baghdad airport last week damaging two commercial planes belonging to Iraqi Airways, the main national airline. The incident marked an escalation in rocket and drone attacks often targeting the U.S. and it's allies, as well as Iraqi government institutions. The attacks have been blamed on Iran-backed militia groups.

Iraqi authorities said in a statement late Saturday they had apprehended a person allegedly behind the airport attack. The individual was arrested at a checkpoint near the northern province of Kirkuk en route to Irbil in the Kurdish-run semi-autonomous region. The statement provided no further details.

Following the attack, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi urged the international community not to impose restrictions on travel to Iraq, while Iraqi Airways said the attack didn't caused any disruptions and flights would continue.

Separately, Iraq's military said late Saturday it had killed nine Islamic State group militants suspected of staging a deadly ambush in the northern province of Diyala. The gunmen stormed an army barracks before dawn while the soldiers slept inside and killed 11.

The militants were killed with three F-16 airstrikes, with more operations planned to root out sleeper cells, Iraq's military said.

Iraq is witnessing an uptick in IS-related attacks. Militants have long exploited the security vacuum across a band of disputed territory in northern Iraq.

Read this article:
Kuwait suspends Iraq flights after Baghdad airport attack ...

JALAWLA, Iraq, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Yousif Ibrahim no longer travels by night along the roads around his hometown of Jalawla in northeastern Iraq. He fears getting caught up in attacks by Islamic State.

"The police and army don't come into our area much anymore. If they do, they get shot at by militants," said the 25-year-old, who sells fish for a living in a nearby market.

Nearly three years after the group lost its final enclave, Islamic State fighters are re-emerging as a deadly threat, aided by the lack of central control in many areas, according to a dozen security officials, local leaders and residents in northern Iraq.

Register

Islamic State is far from the formidable force it once was, but militant cells often operating independently have survived across a swathe of northern Iraq and northeastern Syria, and in recent months they have launched increasingly brazen attacks.

"Daesh (Islamic State) isn't as powerful as it was in 2014," said Jabar Yawar, a senior official in the Peshmerga forces of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan region.

"Its resources are limited and there's no strong joint leadership," he told Reuters in the city of Sulaimaniya. "But as long as political disputes aren't solved, Daesh will come back."

Some fear that could be starting to happen.

In late January, Islamic State carried out one of its deadliest attacks against the Iraqi army for years, killing 11 soldiers in a town near Jalawla, according to security sources.

The same day, its militants stormed a prison in Syria under the control of U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in an attempt to free inmates loyal to the group.

It was the biggest attack by Islamic State since the collapse of its self-declared caliphate in 2019. At least 200 prison inmates and militants were killed, as well as 40 Kurdish troops, 77 prison guards and four civilians.

Officials and residents in northern Iraq and eastern Syria lay much of the blame on rivalries between armed groups. When Iraqi, Syrian, Iranian and U.S.-led forces declared Islamic State beaten, they faced off against each other across the territory it had ruled.

Now Iran-backed militias attack U.S. forces. Turkish forces bomb Kurdish separatist militants. A territorial dispute rumbles on between Baghdad and Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

The tensions are undermining security and good governance, causing confusion that Islamic State once thrived on.

For Ibrahim, that means crossing checkpoints manned variously by Iraqi soldiers and Shi'ite Muslim paramilitaries to get to work in a town controlled until a few years ago by Kurds.

The remote farmland between each military outpost is where Islamic State militants hide out, according to local officials.

A similar pattern plays out across the 400-mile corridor of mountains and desert through northern Iraq and into Syria where Islamic State once dominated.

Towns like Jalawla bear the scars of fierce fighting five or so years ago - buildings reduced to rubble and scarred with bullet holes. Banners honouring slain commanders from different armed groups jostle for space in town squares.

IRAQI DISPUTES

In some parts of Iraq where Islamic State operates, the main dispute is between the government in Baghdad and the autonomous northern Kurdish region, home to huge deposits of oil and strategic territory that both sides claim.

The jihadists' deadliest attacks in Iraq in recent months have taken place in those areas. Dozens of soldiers, Kurdish fighters and residents have been killed in violence that local officials blamed on militants loyal to the group.

According to Yawar, Islamic State fighters use the no-man's-land between Iraqi army, Kurdish and Shi'ite militia checkpoints to regroup.

"The gaps between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga are sometimes 40 km (25 miles) wide," he said.

Mohammed Jabouri, an Iraqi army commander in the province of Salahuddin, said the militants tended to operate in groups of 10-15 people.

A girl walks near a building destroyed during past fighting with Islamic State militants, in the old city of Mosul, Iraq February 1, 2022. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

Read More

Because of the lack of agreement over territorial control, there are areas where neither the Iraqi army nor Kurdish forces can enter to pursue them, he added.

"That's where Daesh is active," he told Reuters by telephone.

Iraqi state paramilitary forces aligned with Iran in theory coordinate with the Iraqi army, but some local officials say that does not always happen.

"The problem is that local commanders, the army and the paramilitaries ... sometimes don't recognise each other's authority," said Ahmed Zargosh, mayor of Saadia, a town in a disputed area.

"It means Islamic State militants can operate in the gaps."

Zargosh lives outside the town he administers, saying he fears assassination by Islamic State militants if he stays there at night.

SYRIA AND THE BORDERS

Islamic State militants at the other end of the corridor of contested territory, in Syria, are taking advantage of the confusion to operate in sparsely populated areas, according to some officials and analysts.

"Fighters (are) entering villages and towns at night and having complete free rein to operate, raid for food, intimidate businesses and extort 'taxes' from the local population," said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute think-tank.

"They've got many more local fissures, be they ethnic, political, sectarian, to exploit to their advantage."

Syrian government forces and Iran-backed militias hold territory to the west of the Euphrates river and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces are stationed to its east, including where the prison attack occurred.

The picture on the Iraqi side of the frontier area is no less complex.

Soldiers and fighters aligned with Iran, Turkey, Syria and the West control different segments of land, with separate checkpoints sometimes just a few hundred feet apart.

Iran and its proxy militias seek to maintain control of Iraqi-Syrian border crossings that are Tehran's gateway to Syria and Lebanon, according to Western and Iraqi officials.

U.S. officials blame those militias for attacking the 2,000 or so American troops stationed in Iraq and Syria fighting Islamic State. Tehran has not commented on whether Iran is involved.

Turkey, meanwhile, launches drone strikes from bases in northern Iraq against Kurdish separatist militants operating on either side of the border.

COLLAPSE OF THE CALIPHATE

At the peak of its power from 2014-2017, Islamic State ruled over millions of people and claimed responsibility for or inspired attacks in dozens of cities around the world.

Its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his caliphate over a quarter of Iraq and Syria in 2014 before he was killed in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria in 2019 as the group collapsed. read more

Armed forces in northern Iraq and northeast Syria say that the sheer number of groups, all enemies of Islamic State, would squash any resurgence.

In the wake of the prison assault, the U.S.-led military coalition fighting Islamic State said in a statement that recent attacks had ultimately made it weaker.

Not all local communities are convinced.

"After the Syria prison attack, we're scared Daesh could come back," said Hussein Suleiman, a government worker in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, which Islamic State overran in 2014 and where it slaughtered thousands of members of the Yazidi minority.

"Islamic State came from Syria last time. Iraqi troops and Kurdish forces were here then too, but they fled."

Register

Reporting by John Davison, additional reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman, Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad, Ali Sultan in Jalawla and Sulaimaniya, Iraq, Dominic Evans in Istanbul; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Samia Nakhoul

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

See original here:
Islamic State hits back, aided by power vacuum in Iraq and Syria - Reuters