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A Dumfriesshire charity has played a key role in moves to destroy more than 1,000 landmines in Iraq.

The Thornhill-based HALO Trust has continued to send officials to battle the scourge of the deadly devices in the war-torn nation this year, despite the coronavirus crisis.

Workers from the demining charity, including Baghdad programme manager Frank Philip, have continued their bid to disarm the clandestine explosives.

The former army hero and his team have cleared 700 improvised devices and 400 unexploded grenades and mortars in the Middle Eastern state to reach a landmark tally since operations began in August 2018.

Charity workers also faced being caught up in Iranian missile strikes in Northern Iraq after the US drone strike assassination of General Qasem Soleimani last January.

Their efforts have been backed by the UK Government a key donor to the UN Mine Action Services demining efforts in Iraq, having provided 15.7million since 2018.

UK aid is supporting all three of HALOs demining projects in Anbar province in western Iraq.

Frank, from Montrose, said: 2020 has been an unusual year for us. We had a bad start with the Iranian-American tensions over the death of Major General Qasem Soleimani. Some of my guys actually drove past the burning vehicles, coming out of the airport after returning from their Christmas leave.

Wed been instructed not to go into Baghdad because the Iranians had vowed to respond so we made the decision to relocate to Erbil in the north. Of course, no sooner had we got here, than the Iranians launched their ballistic missile strikes against American bases in Anbar province and at Erbil airport, right beside where I am at the moment.

That wasnt expected and made for a fun start of the year for us. To be fair, I didnt even notice, but my daughter phoned me up in the middle of the night and told me Id been attacked.

While the threat of Iranian missile strikes and ISIS could not stop 61-year-old Franks team, coronavirus did.

He added: Covid restrictions have meant our operations have been a bit stop-start. All our operations were suspended when the Iraqi Government understandably put the country into lockdown. We kept people in place during the height of the pandemic so that when we did get the green light to go back to work in mid-June, we could do so with the minimum of delay.

He added: The standards of IED we are pulling out the ground are like a 20-litre jerry can with a fuse, a power source, and a switch, which is a pressure plate normally.

They are designed to make a big bang and if something that size detonates underneath you, theres only one result. Its not like anti-personnel mines that are designed to wound or maim.

These IEDs will remove all traces of you if they function and theres still a lot out there.

He said a high number of limbless people in Iraq is a direct result of the conflict over the last three decades.

The charity was founded in Afghanistan in 1988 and now removes mines and devices in 27 nations, while the UK Government has committed 272m in humanitarian support to Iraq since 2014.

Minister for the Middle East James Cleverly, praised the work of the charity, saying: Landmines are indiscriminate weapons of war that maim and kill innocent men, women and children. Their devastation lasts long after conflict has ended.

HALO Trust is a Scottish charity that is a world leader in demining. I am proud that the UK Government is working with it to help rid Iraq of these deadly explosives. committed to clearing landmines across the world, so no one has to live in fear of one wrong step.

Read more:
Thornhill-based HALO Trust destroys more than 1,000 landmines in Iraq since 2018 - Daily Record

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Top U.S. national security officials agreed on Wednesday on a proposed range of options to present to President Donald Trump aimed at deterring any attack on U.S. military or diplomatic personnel in Iraq, a senior administration official told Reuters.

FILE PHOTO: A man looks at the damage after the Iraqi military said rockets fell inside Baghdad's Green Zone, Iraq November 18, 2020. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo

The meeting was spurred by an attack on Sunday in which rockets landed in Baghdads heavily fortified Green Zone compound targeting the U.S. Embassy and causing some minor damage, the Iraqi military and the embassy said.

The so-called principals committee group, including acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert OBrien met at the White House, said the official, who requested anonymity.

A range of options would be presented soon to Trump, said the official, who would not describe the content of the options or say whether they included military action.

Each one is designed to be non-escalatory and to deter further attack, the official said.

After the meeting, Trump, without giving evidence, said on Twitter that the rockets on Sunday were from Iran and we hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq.

Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over, Trump said.

The Iraqi military blamed Sundays attack on an outlaw group.

U.S. Central Command said that Sundays attack was almost certainly conducted by an Iranian-backed Rogue Militia Group.

While this 21 rocket attack caused no U.S. injuries or casualties, the attack did damage buildings in the U.S. Embassy compound, and was clearly NOT intended to avoid casualties, it said in a statement.

Another U.S. official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that after the meeting of senior leaders, the strategy was to be vocal about Sundays attack but there was not a move towards using military force. The official added that the calculus could change if there were future attacks, especially if they harmed Americans.

In recent days there has been increased concern and vigilance about what Iranian-backed forces might do in the lead up to the anniversary of a Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike in Iraq that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the official said.

Washington blames Iran-backed militia for regular rocket attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq, including near the embassy. No known Iran-backed groups have claimed responsibility.

The senior administration official said the aim of the White House meeting was to develop the right set of options that we could present to the president to make sure that we deter the Iranians and Shia militias in Iraq from conducting attacks on our personnel.

An array of militia groups announced in October that they had suspended rocket attacks on U.S. forces on condition that Iraqs government present a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops.

But a rocket strike on the U.S. Embassy on Nov. 18 was a clear sign that Iranian-backed militias had decided to resume attacks on U.S. bases, according to Iraqi security officials.

Washington, which is slowly reducing its 5,000 troops in Iraq, threatened to shut its embassy unless the Iraqi government reins in Iran-aligned militias.

Reporting By Steve Holland. Additional reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Grant McCool

More here:
Top U.S. officials agree options to give Trump for any attacks on Americans in Iraq - Reuters

Iraq is banning air travel to or from eight countries to guard against the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus, and is ordering public venues like shopping malls and restaurants to close, a cabinet statement said on Tuesday.

The two-week travel prohibition comes into effect on Dec. 24 and covers Britain, South Africa, Australia, Denmark, Iran, Japan, Belgium and the Netherlands. It could be extended depending on the spread of the virus variant in those nations.

Iraqi citizens in those countries will be allowed to return, subject to a two-week quarantine on arrival.

All land borders with neighbouring nations will also be closed to travellers for two weeks, though the transport of commodities will be permitted, authorities said.

The government ordered malls, restaurants, clubs and other social venues to close for two weeks from Dec. 24.

Iraq has recorded 586,503 cases of Covid-19, including 12,725 deaths, according to the health ministry.

The ministry said it had reached an agreement with Pfizer to import 1.5 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, which would arrive in the country early next year.

Read more:
Iraq bans air travel with eight nations over new variant of virus - Hindustan Times

Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi delivers a speech during the vote on the new government at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad, May 7, 2020. (Iraqi Parliament Media Office/Handout via Reuters)

On October 15, 2003, Iraq began to distribute new dinar bills, graced with the likeness of an ancient Babylonian ruler and a tenth-century mathematician. By January 15, 2004, new dinars replaced the two types of notes that were in circulation. Old Saddam dinars were swapped for new dinars at a one-to-one rate, and each so-called Swiss dinar fetched 150 new dinars. Bank accounts and contracts were converted at the same rates, and Iraqi salaries began to be paid in crisp new notes. The new currency became convertible into foreign currencies at market rates.

Iraqs currency swap was heralded with great fanfare in Baghdad and Washington. As President George W. Bush put it: The new currency symbolizes Iraqs reviving economy.

Not so fast. Iraq has lacked law and order, let alone the rule of law. Without these, we should never have expected the new notes to ignite an Iraqi Wirtschaftswunder. They most certainly have not.

Indeed, the neoconservative Paul Wolfowitz, the former Deputy Secretary of Defense and engineer of the Iraq War infamously predicted on March 27, 2003, in front of the U.S House Appropriations Committee that Theres a lot of money to pay for this . . . the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three years . . . Were dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon. Anyone who believed in this nonsense must put great faith in the Tooth Fairy.

Just look what has happened to Iraqs junk currency, the Iraqi dinar. On Saturday, the Central Bank of Iraq announced a whopping 20 percent devaluation of the dinar. So, next weeks Hankes Currency Watchlist, which is nothing more than a rogues gallery of junk currencies, will include the Iraqi dinar:

This brings me back to September 2003, when I recommended that Iraq replace the dinar with the U.S. dollar. If dollarized, Iraq would then have returned to a regime that it used from 1916-31, when the Indian rupee was its legal tender. The adoption of a stable international currency would have avoided the pitfalls of Iraqi central banking and would have immediately provide Iraqis with stable money. And, while stable money might not be everything without it, everything is nothing.

Link:
Another Junk Currency, the Iraqi Dinar, Bites the Dust - National Review

If I would have never met Luke, CreatiVets would have never existed," said Richard Casper. "I know Luke has saved lives. We know it."

HOUSTON Music can help to heal even the deepest wounds of war. With the help of some famous songwriters, military veterans are sharing their pain through song.

CreatiVets, the non-profit organization that makes it all happen, started offering music therapy to veterans in honor of Kingwood native Luke Yepsen.

The U.S. Marine Corps. Lance Cpl. was killed in Iraq 14 years ago this week.

He 100 percent saved my life, said CreatiVets Co-Founder Richard Casper of Yepsen.

Every Dec. 14, Casper flies to Houston and visits Yepsens grave at the Houston National Cemetery.

I talk to Luke, and I say, heres whats happened this year," Casper said.

USMC Lance Cpl. Yepsen was the gunner for Caspers Humvee squad in Fallujah, Iraq in 2006. The Marines patrolled a stretch of road looking for improvised explosive devices.

On Dec.14, 2006, we saw an IED on the road and we blocked it off to protect everyone around. And then I say, Luke get down in the truck, Casper said.

He remembers seeing Yepsens legs fold down into the Humvee, which signaled that the 20-year old gunner was in a sitting position.

And then I see him scoot back up, but thats because they keep coming forward to us, and he keeps doing his job, and I was like, man, Luke. Just get down. And he got down and he got back up one last time, and thats when we heard the shot, and then he just fell into the truck," Casper said. "And that was it. I mean, we did what we could do, but he ended up dying that day.

Casper said Yepsen was shot once in the lungs by a sniper.

I recall thinking, like, was this my fault? Thats a big reason why I was afraid to come at first, said Casper of his initial visit to Houston. Because I didnt know his family. I was in charge of him when he died. So who knows what they thought about me?

Casper, an Illinois native, said he suffered from survivors guilt. Its common among military veterans. The overwhelming and painful memories triggered anxiety and pushed Casper into depression.

I didnt want to talk about that with anybody. I didnt want to talk about Luke with anybody. Im 6-foot-5. Combat Marine. Went to war. I rode Harleys. Have tattoos. I did not want to cry in front of people. I was not vulnerable," Casper said.

Yet. Years after Yepsens death, Casper connected with a country music songwriter. The two agreed theyd try to find the words for Caspers unbearable pain.

And I was like this happened to me. This happened to me. This is Luke. And we put together a song and a half, and I said, you did in three hours what I couldnt do in an entire year," Casper said.

Thats how Casper formed the idea for CreatiVets. He got veterans to Nashville, Tenn., to share their stories -- stories veterans may not know how to tell or process.

And we have these songwriters that do it for a living that can tell a love story a thousand different ways. Why cant they tell my story? Casper said.

The nonprofit is at the mercy of donations. CreatiVets covers all expenses for veterans who agree to allow a songwriter to tell their story. The process is done backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. So far, more than 100 stories are now songs. You can listen to them on just about every music platform, including through Alexa devices. All you have to say is, "Alexa, play music by veterans."

Youre getting a look into our world which nobody gets into. So we have family members and people who were like, I didnt know my husband felt that way. But theyre having conversations because now theres a song that connects them," Casper said.

CreatiVets is expanding its reach and hopes to connect with depressed or suicidal veterans in the comfort of their own home.

Yeah. It just kind of worked out, said Kyle Yepsen. Lukes older brother now works for CreatiVets as development director. I hope he would be proud. I think he would. I think he would see that I finally found my true calling.

So many lives helped, healed and saved, all because Luke Yepsen lived.

If I would have never met Luke, if he would have never died beside me, CreatiVets would have never existed. I would have never had the troubles I had. So I just want the world to know that your life is so important. I know Luke has saved lives. We know it," Casper said.

More than 100 veterans are waiting for their turn at the music therapy. CreatiVets relies on donations. If you can help a veteran heal, consider making a donation.

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Kingwood Marine killed in Iraq inspires nonprofit that saves vets through music therapy - KHOU.com