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The bombed-out library in Mosul, Iraq. A book drive organized by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students designed to help rebuild the library in Iraq yielded several thousand books. (ERAU/Courtesy)

In June, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Universitys Prescott Campus shipped over 200 boxes of donated books overseas to Mosul, Iraq, in a volunteer effort to help replenish what was lost when ISIS ransacked the Mosul Central Library in February of 2015.

After the destruction of what was believed to be over 100,000 books and manuscripts, Iraqi newspapers, maps and collected works from the Ottoman period, a world-wide call for aid was heard by ERAUs Honors Program and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

When the book drive began, I notified [our contacts] in Mosul that I was confident we could get a few hundred books, said recent graduate of Global Security & Intelligence, James Gulliksen. I had no clue Embry-Riddle and the surrounding Prescott community would garner up several thousand. Our final shipment was about 6,200 books in 10 different languages

As a student of Global Security & Intelligence, Gulliksen had been monitoring the advance and decline of the Islamic State organization in Iraq and Syria until late 2016, when Iraqi forces, supported by the US-led coalition, began the liberation of Mosul from Islamic State control. Mosul Eyea blog in Mosul devoted to reporting on life before and after Islamic State rulesuggested the idea of a book drive to its readers, inspiring Gulliksen to reach out to student leadership of the Honors Program and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society in hopes that they too would agree to support the library rebuilding efforts.

The idea of providing a massive collection of books to a community that has had their right to learn violently removed is an idea that embodies all of the best in the ERAU Honors Program, the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and Embry-Riddle as a whole, Gulliksen said. In a community where civilians feel the scourge of violence, malnourishment, and torture, the notion of rebuilding a library is at the core of Phi Kappa Phis motto: Let the Love of Learning Rule Humanity.

The library rebuild consists of both recovering what books could be found in the library wreckage, and retrieving books from around the worldincluding over four tons from Prescott.

The organization and management of a book drive of this scale led Gulliksen and his team to encounter the practical obstacle of how to store and ship over 6,000 books.

The librarys staff, Undergraduate Research Institute (URI), and Dr. Kelly OBrien in Study Abroad were all extremely gracious with their work space and allowed us to store books before they could be sent, Gulliksen said. Also, establishing the logistics of sending such a large shipment was a huge hurdle.

Embry-Riddle Honor students, as well as students who are accepted into the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society, are encouraged to seek out volunteer opportunities which will put the students interests, education and world view toward giving aid to a cause. For Gulliksen, understanding the need and answering Mosuls call was not just to supply their library with books; it was to help the liberated city heal its community.

A library is more than only books, said Gulliksen. I think the research is clear that people become radicalized due to several underlying causes, including illiteracy, broken social relationships, and a lost sense of community. In a city like Mosul, a library is a tool to solve all of those problems.

Information provided by Keaton Ziem with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

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From Prescott to Mosul: Book drive aids library rebuilding efforts in Iraq - The Daily Courier

Following the release of videos on social media that appear to show Iraqi troops killing and beating detained ISIS militants in Mosul, the Iraqi government said they were investigating the footage. A spokesman for Iraqs defense ministry, Mohammed al-Khudhari, told the Associated Press on Thursday that troops were given very clear instructions and guidance to turn over suspected militants, who await interrogation, followed by a court hearing. Any soldiers who violate these instructions, he said, would be tried in military court. Saad Maan, a spokesman for Iraqs interior ministry, said a number of the soldiers who appear in the videos had been suspended. Maan also admitted to reporters that there might be some misbehavior or inappropriate conduct.

While the footage has yet to be authenticated, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch condemned the videos on Thursday for their demonstrations of torture and abuse. In the final weeks of the battle for west Mosul, the pervasive attitude that I have observed among armed forces has been of momentum, the desire to get the battle wrapped up as quickly as possible, and a collapse of adherences to the laws of war, Belkis Wille, the organizations senior Iraq researcher, told the BBC. On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared Mosul recaptured from ISIS following an eight-and-a-half-month offensive in the region. In the wake of the announcement, locals reported seeing vengeance killings against suspected ISIS militants.

Last month, Human Rights Watch released a report citing four witnesses who saw Iraqi troops beat and unlawfully kill men and boys fleeing Mosul. I have heard of countless abuses and executions in this battle, one witness said. Whats changed is that in this final phase fighters are comfortable allowing us to witness the abuses first-hand. On Thursday, the organization released another report claiming that at least 170 families of suspected ISIS militants were forcibly taken to a rehabilitation camp outside Mosulan act that could constitute a war crime. At least ten women and children died at or while traveling to the camp, the report said, with the majority of them succumbing to dehydration.

If authentic, the latest footage points to even more severe crimes carried out by Iraqi troops. According to multiple sources, the most gruesome video released on social media shows uniformed men kicking and beating several suspected militants. One of the men is then dragged outside and thrown over the edge of a cliff, before soldiers fire bullets at his motionless body. The footage also shows the bodies of other men on the ground, with soldiers shooting at them in the background. A second video shows a uniformed man shooting an unarmed detainee, who is kneeling in front of a car. Two other videos reveal soldiers beating and kicking detained suspects.

According to Human Rights Watch, the footage was released Tuesday and Wednesday by an Iraqi man who frequently reports on military activities in the Mosul area. The organization said they had verified the location of the videos using satellite imagery. Around the same time that the videos were posted online, the human rights group Amnesty International released a report claiming that Iraqi and U.S.-backed coalition forces carried out unlawful attacks on civilians in Mosul. The report specifically alleged that government and coalition forces used unnecessarily powerful weapons to target ISIS militants and failed to take effective precautions to protect civilians when planning and executing attacks. While the organization recorded nearly 430 civilian deaths during 45 government-led attacks in Mosul, they speculated that thousands of civilians had been killed by Iraqi forces.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Abadis response to the report incited concern among human rights advocates. Without directly calling out Amnesty International, Abadi urged humanitarian organizations to check and verify their sources, arguing that Iraqi soldiers are human rights defenders who sacrificed themselves for the liberation of humanity and the rescue of civilians. He added that no terrorist escapes punishment and we will not issue an amnesty for the murderous terrorists. A day later, Human Rights Watch argued that silence from the Iraqi government with regard to human rights abuses only further foster[s] the feeling of impunity among armed forces in Mosul.

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Iraq Investigates Videos of Troops Killing Mosul Detainees - The Atlantic

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Don't underestimate Iraq's historic victory against Isis though the human cost was great - The Independent

Over the next seven years, Iraq will need Iranian natural gas supplies to feed its power-generation plants, because domestic gas output will not be enough, Iraqs Minister of Electricity, Qasim Al-Fahdawi, has said.

New stations are entering into service soon, hence the countrys need for gas imports, Iraqi News quoted Al-Fahdawi as saying.

Natural gas output from Iraqs southern fields in the Basra province will not be enough to meet the demand for powering electricity generation, according to the minister.

However, Iraqs need for gas imports could lessen in the future, after planned fields for producing non-associated gas come on stream, such as Siba, Mansouriya, and Western Anbar, the Iraqi minister said.

Last month, Iran finally started exporting natural gas to its neighbor Iraq, after a four-year delay due to the challenging security situation in war-torn Iraq. The exports have started at a daily rate of 7 million cu m, according to a deputy oil minister who spoke to IRNA, as quoted byReuters, but should reach 35 million cu m at an unspecified point in the future.

The gas will be supplied under two contractsone for exports to Baghdad power plants, and the other to Basra. Iran already supplies electricity to its energy-hungry neighbor.

Iran, for its part, signed earlier this month its first Iranian Petroleum Contract (IPC) with a Western major since most sanctions on Iran were lifted. Frances energy major Total SA signed a contract to develop phase 11 of the South Pars gas field in Iranthe worlds biggest gas field. Phase 11 of the South Pars (SP11) project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day including condensate. The gas produced from the project will supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021, Total said on July 3.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Iraq Will Need Iranian Gas For Power Generation - OilPrice.com

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Posted July 14, 2017

VATICAN CITY (CNS) To understand the current situation in Iraq the evolving and complex conflicts there, and the fear and resilience of its Christians one has to understand its past, which is often ignored or unknown in the West, said a former papal representative to the country.

History is itself a victory over ignorance, marginalization and intolerance; it is a call for respect and to not repeat the mistakes of the past, said Cardinal Fernando Filoni in his book, The Church in Iraq.

(See a related video.)

The book is also a testimonial to the victims of the Islamic terrorism of ISIS, he told the Christians and non-Christians he met when Pope Francis sent him as his personal representative to encounter and pray with these shaken communities that fled the Islamic State.

That brief visit in 2014 was a homecoming of sorts.

The Italian cardinal, now 71, lived in Iraq during a time of great tension and turmoil. St. John Paul II made him the apostolic nuncio the popes diplomatic representative to Iraq and Jordan in January 2001. Several months later, after 9/11, the United States administration started building pressure against Iraq, pushing for military action.

St. John Paul firmly opposed military intervention and, despite the fact that he sent peace-seeking missions to Washington and Baghdad, the United States attacked.

Not even the stern warning of the saint-pope could deter President George W. Bush from his purpose, the cardinal wrote. He said the day of the invasion, March 19, 2003, became a very sad day for Iraq and for the whole world.

The nunciature never shut down, not even during the airstrikes and occupation or the ensuing chaos of looting and revenge.

It was during his tenure there in Baghdad, which ended in 2006, that Cardinal Filoni went through the nunciatures archives, which housed a rich history of documentation and letters, detailing the history of the Vaticans diplomatic relations with Iraq and the establishment of an episcopal see in Baghdad in the 16th century.

Naturally, this caught my eye, he said, and the idea for a book emerged there in the wealth of material buried in an archive.

The books chapters take a historical overview of the churchs long presence in Mesopotamia, dating back to the time of St. Thomas the Apostle, and looks at how the expanding early Christian communities there evolved, faced internal divisions and challenges, and still shared their unique gifts.

Looking at the churchs journey in the past also made him realize: This is unknown to us. And so I thought, writing a book that traced, especially for us in the West, the birth, the evolution of this history up to present day could be of service to Christianity in the Middle East, particularly in Mesopotamia, which is suffering because of expulsions, persecution or discrimination.

Published first in Italian in 2015, The Catholic University of America Press is releasing the English edition toward the end of July in the United States and in mid-August in the United Kingdom.

The cardinal spoke to Catholic News Service in Rome during an interview at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, where he has served as prefect since 2011.

The book looks particularly at how minorities and the country as a whole suffered invasions, despots and Western hegemony, and yet tenaciously held on to its cultures and religious identities.

In order to defend their identity within this great sea of Islam, Christians had to withdraw into themselves, keeping their own language, which dates back to the time of Jesus, that is, Aramaic, he said. While, over the centuries, the everyday spoken language developed into different dialects, the liturgy still maintained the original form of ancient Aramaic, he added.

Even though Christians held on to their traditions and culture, they were truly open and didnt ignore the world around them, learning and speaking Arabic, for example, he said.

This kind of everyday contact between Christians and their Muslim neighbors also led to a sharing of ideas, influence and mutual respect on the local level, Cardinal Filoni said.

For example, he recalled when he lived in Baghdad, he visited a church dedicated to Mary in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood.

I was astounded by the fact that the walls of this church were dirty with what looked like handprints smudged everywhere, he said.

When he asked church members, Why dont you clean this? They said No! Because these are the signs of the Muslim women who come to pray to Mary, mother of Jesus, and as a sign of their prayer, they leave an imprint of their hand.'

Since Mary is revered by Muslims, he said many expectant mothers visit this church to pray to her for protection.

This influence, for example of Mary, in peoples daily lives and similar devotions to prayer, fasting and charity, fostered closer relationships, mutual respect and understanding between Christians and Muslims, he said.

A modern Iraq, full of history, of possibility and responsibility not least because of its huge oil resources, which continue to be a source of discord, jealousy, envy, and oppression should be defended, helped, and supported more than ever, the cardinal concludes in his book.

While the primary responsibility for allowing Muslim, Christian and other minorities to return to their country and help build its future belongs to Iraqs three largest communities Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds the rest of the world is also in some way responsible for this crisis, he told CNS.

We all have to assume responsibility to rebuild, which is very difficult, because once people emigrate, they very rarely go back, he said. But if we can still preserve the coexistence of these even small communities (that remain), this will benefit peace, which is essential so that Christians dont keep leaving behind this ancient land so rich in culture, tradition and history.

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Cardinal hopes church's history of survival in Iraq will help its future - CatholicPhilly.com