Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category

Iraq to repay $500 million to Iran for electricity debts – Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region Iraq is repaying half a billion dollars to Iran for its electricity debts, an official from Tehran said, still owing $800 million to the Islamic Republic.

Iraq will pay $500 million to Iran within the next two weeks, Iran's deputy minister Houshang Falahatian of energy told state-run IRNA news on Monday.

Falahatian also said that Baghdad still owes $800 million for debts it has accrued over the past four months, but that Iran will continue to supply electricity to the Iraqi grid.

Iran suspended power supply to Iraq in January after a contract with the Arab neighbor ran out at the end of last year, Irans Financial Tribune reported.

Iran's Energy Ministry said last year that Iraqi authorities had agreed to clear the debt by paying $100 million a month. However, after three installments, they started to procrastinate, according to the Tribune.

Last month the two neighbors finalized a gas exporting project totaling $3.7 billion anually. Per the agreement, Iran initially will send approximately 7 million cubic-meters (mcm) of natural gas to Iraq per day, eventually increasing to 35 mcm. The reported hold-up was Baghdad's inability to pay.

The average Iraqi household receives power for just 7.6 hours a day, according to recent data from a report by the Iraq Energy Expo. As a result of the shortfall, homes have to obtain half their power needs from generators.

Though Iraq is a major OPEC oil producer, the country has been incapable of meeting its residents' electricity consumption. Iraq's peak electricity demand was 21,000 megawatts in the summer and the grid is only able to supply about 13,000 megawatts, Reuters reported last year.

Iraqs electrical grid has been further weakened during the three-plus year with ISIS.

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Iraq to repay $500 million to Iran for electricity debts - Rudaw

Poland doctor testifies fatal boat crash brought back Iraq war experience – WFMJ

MAHONING COUNTY, Ohio -

The trial against a Poland doctor chargedin a deadly boat crash at Berlin Reservoir in 2015 came to a close Tuesday afternoon.

The defense and prosecution teams presented their closing arguments, after a morning of testimony from the accused, 38-year-old Dr. Joseph Yurich.

Thedoctor admitted to leaving the scene of the crash while on the witness stand Tuesday morning.

Yurich faces a felony charge of aggravated vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident and operating a vehicle while impaired.

The charges stem from allegations that Yurich killed an Akron man after crashing into his fishing boat and fleeing the scene.

Investigators say Yurich was speeding when he struck the boat around midnight on May 9, 2015.

While on the witness stand Tuesday morning, Yurich testified that he remembers an explosion, and then nothing until a short while later when he was near the "Dutch Harbor" of Berlin Lake.

Yurich stated that the explosion reminded him of time spent deployed in Iraq, in which he witnessed the fallout from enemy fire.

The doctor was enlisted and deployed in the military in 2009, immediately following his medical residency. Yurich operated as a field surgeon and assisted troops as part of the Forward Surgical Team.

"I've been deployed three times, all in combat zones. Meaning there is imminent enemy threat and danger, frequently hit by mortars, rockets. What's called indirect hits," said Yurich.

In particular, Yurich testified about an incident during his first deployment. He said he was shaken by an experience in which a blast hit the base at which he was stationed.

Yurich said that in 2009 he was in Tikrit, Iraq, walking back from the latrine when he heard a loud whistle and then an explosion about 100 yards away. He testified that he remembers being knocked to the ground and being scared.

After an emotional pause, Yurich apologized and stated that he doesn't like to talk about the experience.

He continued, "Things tend to go slow, you don't hear anything, you don't know whats going on, you just react. What we had been told to do in that scenario in pre-deployment training to do was grab our gear and head to our duty stations. I ended up operating that night on a significant number of our nurses who had been injured."

When pressed by the defense, Yurich stated that during the crash on Berlin Lake, he heard an explosion, but then couldn't remember anything else. Yurich likened it to the experience in Iraq.

"The last thing I remember was an explosion when I heard that explosion it triggered memories. I don't remember anything else until I was over by the state park on the left side of the lake," said Yurich. "The explosion sounded similar to what I experienced in Iraq. It brought back memories, and it felt like in the moment I relived that experience."

Under cross examination, Yurich later admitted that the particular blast he recounted happened during his first deployment. The prosecution asked him if he ever sought a separation front he military, or to not be sent back to Iraq: Yurich testified that he did not.

Yurich testified that when following the explosion, his next memory is at the harbor. He claimed that he remembered being scared, even embarrassed that he couldn't remember what happened. He claimed he felt that he had hit something and there was an explosion, but said he had no recollection of having hit another boat, and thought that it may have been a large rock.

While on the stand, Yurich was able to recall details from the earlier portions of the day, such as specific details as to what he ate and the times he had done things with his wife and 10-month-old child.

Yurich admitted to drinking on the evening of the crash, saying that he and a few friends had traveled to a bar. Yurich testified that he drank two beers, and two shots known as "mini-beers" while at the bar. Yurich explained that a mini-beer is a shot of Licor 43 topped with cream, made to look like a small beer. But he argued that he was not drunk.

"I felt fine. I didn't feel any different than I had at any other point of the day," said Yurich.

Authorities alleged that Yurich was intoxicated, but Judge Durkin has ruled that blood and urine samples taken from Yurich are inadmissible because they were not refrigerated before being taken to a lab for analysis.

Yurich went on to detail the portion of the evening he spent at a friend's campsite, where he claims started drinking another beer, but never finished it.

The prosecution also argues that Yurich was traveling at unsafe speeds. During his testimony, Yurich recounted leaving the campsite in his boat shortly before midnight. He testified that as he pulled out the dock he looked around, and did not see any other boats or lights.

Yurich admitted that while boating back to his house, he was not following the recommended night time speed limit of 10 miles an hour. He testified that he headed toward the route 224 bridge over Berlin Lake, to use as a guide point for his direction.

He said that that night was one of the "few times" he had been out on the lake by himself. When asked again by the prosecution Yurich redirected and testified that he had never before taken the boat out on the lake at night alone.

"I remember throttling back to a speed I felt comfortable and safe," said Yurich, "given I didn't see any other traffic"

Yurich testified he does not remember hearing any thing on the lake nearby, until the explosion.

The doctor then recounted getting to a dock and calling a friend who told him he was on a distress call. Yurich explained that when he got home he told his wife that there was an explosion, but that he couldn't remember.

The doctor said he started calling other people to try to figure out what had happened, he testified that he wanted to find out what the explosion was because he couldn't remember.

According to Yurich, it was nearly an hour later when his wife found out from someone that he had probably hit a boat, and she called 911.

However, when he was cross-examined by the prosecution Yurich admitted that there were several details that he did not initially tell officials including the number of people on another boat, that that boat was playing music, that Yurich himself had consumed two shots in addition to the beers, or that there was an explosion.

Yurich testified that he remembered telling a lieutenant that he believed it was a rock or something.

He also testified that the week after the crash he sought help from a psychiatrist.

Judge Durkin is expected to issue a verdict in the case Wednesday.

If he is convicted, Yurich could face several years in prison.

This is a developing story. Stay with 21 News for more information as it becomes available.

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Poland doctor testifies fatal boat crash brought back Iraq war experience - WFMJ

Mobile magistrates are Iraq’s new frontline fighters – IRINnews.org


IRINnews.org
Mobile magistrates are Iraq's new frontline fighters
IRINnews.org
Not only is al-Shimari a judge in exile and an internally displaced person himself, but since December he is also one of Iraq's most in-demand professionals: a mobile magistrate. Every Thursday, al-Shimari, who has worked for the provincial court for ...

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Mobile magistrates are Iraq's new frontline fighters - IRINnews.org

Situation Report: How Iran Won Iraq War; Secret Service Vs. Trump Team – Foreign Policy (blog)

With Adam Rawnsley

Gulf hack. The hack of Qatari government Web sites earlier this year was carried out by the United Arab Emirates, and not Russia, as had initially been suspected. The revelation which will likely only deepen the diplomatic row between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors comes after Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other countries slapped an economic blockade on the tiny Gulf monarchy.

U.S. officials who described the latest twist to the Washington Post said theyre unsure whether the UAE carried out the hacks itself or contracted the job out. The hacks took place on May 24, just after President Trump sat down with Persian Gulf leaders in neighboring Saudi Arabia and declared them unified. The UAE on Monday officially denied responsibility.

Iran won the Iraq war. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Tehran saw an opportunity to use the chaos that resulted to increase its own influence in the region. And their plan appears to have worked, the New York Times reports. Iran has for years planted friendly ministers inside the Iraqi parliament and government agencies, and is training Iraqi Shiite militias to fight ISIS in Iraq, and for the Syrian government over the border.

Consider this: At some border posts in the south, Iraqi sovereignty is an afterthought. Busloads of young militia recruits cross into Iran without so much as a document check. They receive military training and are then flown to Syria, where they fight under the command of Iranian officers in defense of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Iran is also training thousands of Afghan fighters to battle in Syria.

Secret Service pushes back on Trump lawyer. This is awkward. The U.S. Secret Service on Sunday firmly denied a statement from President Donald Trumps personal lawyer that its agents vetted a meeting between the presidents son and Russian nationals during the 2016 campaign, in which the Russians claiming to represent the Kremlin promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Secret Service spokesman Mason Brayman said later in the day that Trump Jr. was not under Secret Service protection at the time of the meeting, which included Trumps son and two senior campaign officials. Whelp.

Elsewhere, the New York Times profiled one of the Russians who were in the room with Trump Jr., campaign head Paul Manafort, and son in law and advisor Jared Kushner. They did the same with another Russian tied to the burgeoning scandal.

Civilian casualties spike under Trump. A new report from a researcher with independent watchdog Airwars claims that civilian casualties in Iraq have risen to an average of 12 per day since January, or 360 a month. Under the Obama administration, the average was about 80 a month.

More bad news in Syria. Turkish-backed rebels battled with Kurdish fighters from the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in northwestern Syria on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Things had been somewhat quiet in the area around Aleppo for the past several weeks, where an uneasy calm has prevailed.

Strikes. The U.S. killed the leader of the Islamic States Afghan affiliate in a drone strike early last week, the Pentagon announced on Friday. Defense Secretary James Mattis described the death of ISIS-K leader Abu Sayed as obviously a victory on our side in terms of setting them back. The U.S. had killed the groups two previous leaders, Hafiz Sayed Khan and Abdul Hasib, in strikes carried out over the past year.

Welcome to SitRep. Send any tips, thoughts or national security events to paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or via Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley.

American intelligence officials tell the Washington Post that the United Arab Emirates was behind the hack of a Qatari state news agency that posted fake quotes from Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani praising Hamas and Iran. Americans spies picked up information on Emirati officials discussing the plan to plant the fake quotes in the website on May 23, shortly before the hack.

Art of the deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Syrian ceasefire that President Trumps agreed to with Russia is a bad deal in a rare public break with the Trump administration, according to Haarertz. Israel had insisted that any ceasefire deal include provisions to keep Iranian-backed forces away from the Israeli border, prevent Iran from fortifying its position in Syria, and not allow Russian troops to produce buffer zones.

Human rights. Locals along the banks of the Tigris are seeing a steady stream of bound human bodies of military-age men floating outside Mosul, raising fears of summary executions by Iraqi forces in the wake of Mosuls liberation. Freelance reporter Fazel Hawramy has been monitoring Iraqi social media pages and highlighted video showing Iraqi forces torturing and abusing alleged Islamic State members in Mosul.

Observers. The Defense Department tested a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery last week in order to demonstrate to North Korea that the system, currently deployed in South Korea, can knock down ballistic missiles. But the THAAD test had another observer, according to CNN. North American Aerospace Defense Command tells the cable news channel that a Chinese spy ship showed up in international waters off the coast of Alaska.

Retaliation. Russia is raising the temperature over its diplomatic feud with the U.S. over the Obama administration expulsion of alleged Russian spies. If the U.S. doesnt return a seized Russian diplomatic compound and allow an increase in the number of Russian diplomats in America, Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitry Kiselev recently said, U.S. diplomats will be expelled, and those who remain behind will be harassed.

Trouble in the alliance. NATO is trying to nudge Germany and Turkey to cooperate after Germany began pulling its troops from Incirlik Air Base following a diplomatic dispute with Ankara. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the two countries should have their foreign ministers meet for a sit down to resolve their differences following Germanys refusal to extradite Turkish asylum seekers that Turkey accuses of participating in last year coup attempt and Turkeys refusal to allow German members of parliament to visit troops at Incirlik.

Heatwave. Summer heat got you down? It could be worse. American U-2 spy planes supporting the anti-Islamic State fight are watching their tail wheels melt on the runway because temperatures in the Middle East are so high right now.

Afghanistan. Army Maj. Gen. Robin Fontes is now commander of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, giving her the highest position of any American female officer.

Iran. Iran jails Chinese-American Xiyue Wan, accusing the Princeton University academic of espionage charges. The U.S. State Department calls the charges fabricated.

Shes a rainbow. Chinas Cai Hong (rainbow) series of armed drones has taken the export market by storm, with the CH-4 model proving especially popular among customers in the Middle East. This week, the newest member of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporations Cai Hong drone family, the CH-5, underwent flight trials in Hebei Province and might soon be showing up in the skies over Middle Eastern conflicts.

Turkey. Turkey has carried out its first drone strike in combat, using its domestically-built Anka drone to fire a missile at members of the PKK terrorist group in eastern Anatolia, reportedly killing five.

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Situation Report: How Iran Won Iraq War; Secret Service Vs. Trump Team - Foreign Policy (blog)

1st Armored Division takes command in Iraq – El Paso Inc.

Fort Blisss 1st Armored Division took command of land operations in Iraq last week as part of an effort to combat the Islamic State extremist group and train Iraqi security forces.

The Army has deployed 400 soldiers from the 1st Armored Division headquarters at Fort Bliss to join more than 5,000 U.S. troops and an international coalition to train, equip and advise Iraqi security forces. Pockets of ISIS remain in Iraq days after the defeat of the militants in Mosul, a major city in Iraq.

Our soldiers are trained and ready for this mission. (Islamic State) is a desperate enemy, said Lt. Col. Crystal Boring, a public affairs officer with the 1st Armored Division. She spoke to El Paso Inc. by phone from Baghdad.

Fort Bliss commander Maj. Gen. Robert P. White will oversee operations in Iraq for nine months and will lead the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command.

White replaces Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division in Fort Riley, Kansas.

The division has trained for months in anticipation of deploying to Iraq. Their mission is part of Operation Inherent Resolve, which started in 2014 when the U.S. military formally launched its efforts to combat the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL and ISIS.

As part of their efforts, the U.S. and international forces have provided weapons and trained more than 60,000 Iraqis.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a total victory in the city of Mosul, which has been a stronghold for ISIS. According to news reports, half of the citys population has been displaced and thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed.

Lt. Col. Boring said citizens are happy, having been freed by the U.S. led coalition. She said Islamic State continues to disrupt efforts to stabilize the country.

According to news accounts, U.S. and coalition forces have reportedly continued to launch airstrikes against the remnants of Islamic State fighters south of Mosul.

Email El Paso Inc. reporter Aaron Montes at amontes@elpasoinc.com or call (915) 534-4422, ext. 105. Twitter: @aaronmontes91

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1st Armored Division takes command in Iraq - El Paso Inc.