The Iraqi Olympic Team Comes Full Circle in the Quest for Gold

By Shane Clapper

           The quest for Olympic gold for many of the athletes in the Beijing games came at a great price as they tortured their bodies for the dream of a lifetime. Michael Phelps’ regiment of five hours in the pool and a daily 12,000 calorie intake is one of Superman status. The hours of commitment and sacrifice of so many Olympic athletes to look and to perform like the Greek gods is unparalleled. Or is it?     

            Rewind some eight years to the days of Uday Hussein, the head of the Iraqi Olympic Program. Many know Uday as simply being the Butcher’s son, the offspring of Saddam. Yet the Butcher’s boy learned from the master and applied it to his Olympic athletes.

            Uday demanded results and if he did not get them, the consequences were devastating. He beat, tortured, and killed athletes who failed to win against other countries. In fact one former Iraqi volleyball player claimed he could name 52 athletes who had been murdered by the Hussein family.

            Take 1999, when 50 percent of the Iraq soccer roster was assassinated: Average age 22 years, 8 months. Take another time when Iraqi soccer lost to Kazakhstan. Players were hand selected by Uday to be dragged across concrete and sand, and then ordered to jump into raw sewage with the hope of fresh infections being the end result.

            On another occasion an Iraqi wrestler vanished at a tournament. Uday decided to avenge the loss of the wrestler by beating the man’s teammates using chains and electric shock. Yet few Iraqis would think of escaping as the athletes knew that not only would their teammates pay, but also their families for their disappearance.

            The reign of terror did not stop there. The Iraqi Olympic Headquarters contained a 30-cell dungeon with an iron maiden. The devil’s layer also included suffocating steel masks and whips. Also women could not compete in Iraq’s Olympic program in fear that they would be raped by Uday, or one of his henchman.

            Fast forward eight years to the current Olympics. Four athletes qualified for Beijing, two in track and field and two rowers. Their path to the games has not been easy. Dana Abdul-Razzaq was forced to dodge bullets while running in Baghdad. Others have had death threats thrown their way. Even the International Olympic Committee kept three other Iraqi athletes from competing due to political differences between the committee and the Iraqi Olympic Committee in Baghdad.

            Yet things are looking up as the Iraqi Olympic team has come full circle. The fact that Iraqi women are now competing for their country is a miracle in itself. Also violence is down through out the entire country, which has allowed for more opportunities for athletes to train in peace. In July alone there was a 75 percent drop off in civilian deaths from a year ago. Also July marked the lowest death count for American soldiers in Iraq since the war began.

            Along with better training has come aid from other countries. The Coalition spent $10 million rebuilding the sports program from the ground up in Iraq . Countries who provided training and money to the Iraqi athletes included Canada, Kuwait, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, United States, Australia, and Japan. Some athletes have even trained in these countries to better prepare for the Olympics.

            The future looks bright for the Iraqi Olympic team. Safer conditions and better equipment to train will only increase the number of Iraqi athletes who will aim for gold in London in 2012. In fact things have come so full circle in Iraq that its National Security Advisor, Mowaffak al Rubaie, said he hopes Iraq will one day host the Summer Olympics.

         Talk about full circle, how about Baghdad 2020. One can only imagine!

Shane Clapper authored the book, Shooting Straight, How the American Led Coalition is Winning the War in Iraq.

To all Newspaper Editors, Internet Bloggers, or for those who just love to email, feel free to use the following article as public domain. I just ask that my name be accompanied when using it.

Iraq Beyond the Headlines- Believe It or Not

By Shane Clapper

     Can you name this country? Reality television is the talk of the town. Cell phones are an important part of every day life, and internet blogs run wild. In the downtown capital, there’s a fitness center called the Arnold Classic Gym after Mr. Schwarzenegger. Up north there’s construction to match that of early New York with skyscrapers and a mall with 6,000 stores. Even baseball and basketball are big along with Gatorade and Coca-Cola. From boy scouts, to Beanie Babies, to Harry Potter and more, all are making a big impact in shaping this country’s future.
     So what’s the answer, Canada, the United States, maybe Great Britain? The answer might surprise you. If you chose Iraq, you would be right, believe it or not.
     The facts are undeniable that Iraq is not the mess it once was. American casualties are down 83% from December 2006. Civilian murders are down 75% from a year ago and overall violence is down an astonishing 60%. Iraqi security forces now number around half a million and that does not include 70,000 Iraqi volunteers. Even in the world’s largest cemetery, in Najaf, the workers are complaining of loosing money since the reduction in violence.
     With improved security there has been amazing results that extend beyond schools and hospitals. Take the growth of baseball. A league was started in Baghdad, and another in the Kurdish north. Basketball is even picking up steam with their own version of the NBA with 16 teams, 75 games, over a 10 month period.
     In Fallujah, a city wide volleyball tournament has begun. In Baghdad a billboard shines the picture of one Arnold Schwarzenegger. Here a gym has opened for Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds alike to lift amongst pictures of the Terminator. Lastly, sports talk has even become popular with Radio Dijla. 
     Along with American sports, many popular American brands have hit the shelves. Duracell batteries, Dove soap, Marlboro cigarettes, Kellogg’s Froot Loops, Beanie Babies, Maxwell House, Coca-Cola, and even Gatorade are Iraqi favorites.
     Possibly the greatest “American” phenomenon to hit Iraq is reality television. One of the favorites is Caricatures, Iraq’s version of Saturday Night Live. Labor of Love is another and is comparable to ABC’s Extreme Make Over. The popular Blessed July pays for a couples’ wedding as they are filmed from the engagement to the wedding. Lastly, an American funded Iraqi television station, Al-Iraqiya, is home to the popular Terror in the Hands of Justice, a Cops times ten. The show highlights the efficiency and success of Iraqi security as they apprehend terror suspects.
     With reality television, there has become a need for better technology. That is why 50 new television stations have sprung up throughout the country. Also satellite dishes are everywhere. To quote a doctor serving in Iraq, Gary Morsch, “Even the most remote villages have a portable generator and a satellite dish.”
     The technological boom does not stop there. Take the 7.4 million cell phones that have been purchased as an example. Thousands have also gained internet access, and those who can’t afford it can visit the 2,000 private Internet cafes based throughout the country.
     Success in Iraq can be seen everywhere even in the former “Triangle of Death” known as Anbar. In Anbar, Ramadi to be specific, a parade was held to celebrate their new found peace. General Dave Phillips said, “When you say there is an awakening, I think that’s almost an understatement. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think Ramadi would host a parade which would be led with a band playing and young Iraqi boy scouts…Never dreamed I would see something like that”
     From Ramadi you can travel north to the Kurdish areas and see the mall with 6,000 stores/offices in Irbil, and the American University of Iraq in Sulaimani. Travel south and visit the Baghdad book stores where one can find Harry Potter and other interesting reads. Travel south and climb aboard a thrill ride at the amusement park in Kut. It all shows how Iraq is bursting at the seams with success in all parts of the nation, believe it or not.

Shane Clapper is the author of the book, Shooting Straight, How the American Led Coalition is Winning the War in Iraq. Visit shaneclapper.com or obtain it online at Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.

To all Newspaper Editors, Internet Bloggers, or for those who just love to email, feel free to use the following article as public domain. I just ask that my name be accompanied when using it.
 

Tom Osborne Excelled at More than Just X’s and O’s

By Shane Clapper

     Everybody likes to speak of the “Good Old Days,” when life was simpler. Maybe it was drive-in movies, your first kiss, or watching football with family and friends. For many of us Nebraskans, the “Good Old Days” weren’t that long ago.
     It was a stretch from 1993 to 1997 when Tom Osborne and the Cornhuskers ruled college football with an iron fist. Three national championships with every season ending with more than 11 victories. He was the first coach to retire after winning a national championship and still holds the record for the most consecutive bowl trips with 25. Yet Osborne excelled at more than just X’s and O’s.
      As most know, Osborne was a Congressman before becoming Nebraska’s Athletic Director. Still what many Nebraskans do not realize was the commitment to excellence Osborne provided while not only on the playing field at Memorial Stadium, but also in the halls of Congress.
     Osborne truly looked out for Nebraska’s third district. He spoke with thousands of farmers and ranchers. While many fault him for voting on trade that hurt the Nebraska farmer, he still worked more times than not for his fellow ‘Cornhuskers,’ pardon the pun.
     He also attempted to eliminate collegiate gambling, stood for moral virtues in a corrupt environment, and stood firm in the war on terror, including Iraq. Not only did Osborne support the Iraq war, but he also co-chaired the Congressional Iraqi Women’s Caucus. The Women’s Caucus provides opportunities for Iraqi women through professional and educational advancements. The caucus helped fund various projects in Iraq such as the Center for Women in Mosul. The center provides counseling and assists in health, social services, family services, business, employment, and politics. Such centers are going up everywhere in Iraq, yet more are needed.
     Under Saddam 50% of women were illiterate. Many could not attend college due to quotas. Many of Saddam’s Iraqi Baathist’s would rape girls in state run orphanages. In various parts of Iraq honor killing was acceptable. The act involved killing a woman for losing her innocence. If a girl, or widow was raped, she could be killed with the act being perfectly legal. Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse was common place during Saddam’s reign of terror.
     Today much has changed. Women can not only vote, but made up 60% of the vote in the January 2005 elections. Women make up 31% of the parliamentary seats, and many head up ministries within the executive branch.
     Want more? How about the 50 nongovernmental women’s organizations that have sprung up. Also 1.5 million Iraqi women have received employment training from 45 employment centers . Iraqi women have also broke down the barriers in obtaining jobs that solely belonged to men before the war. Take the 300 women who now serve on the Baghdad police force as an example.
     As one looks at comparing the past to the present in Iraq, the facts are clear. First such a transition would of never taken place without people like Tom Osborne. Yet it bears to ask the coach one question, is the situation improving for women in Iraq? Osborne once answered the question by quoting an Iraqi women. She simply told Osborne, “Things are better now.” Indeed they are!
      Shane Clapper is a Nebraska author of the book, Shooting Straight, How the American Led Coalition is Winning the War in Iraq. Visit shaneclapper.com or obtain it online at Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.

To all Newspaper Editors, Internet Bloggers, or for those who just love to email, feel free to use the following article as public domain. I just ask that my name be accompanied when using it.

Voter confidence in the War on Terror is at the highest level ever recorded since Rasmussen Reports began regular tracking in January 2004. Fifty-four percent (54%) of American voters now think the

Optimism about the situation in

Looking longer term, voters are evenly divided as to whether history will judge the mission in

These numbers also reflect an amazing turnaround over the past year. In August a year ago, 57% thought history would judge the U.S. mission in

President Bush isn’t getting any credit from the changing political environment. Just 30% rate President George W. Bush’s handling of the situation in

Voters remain divided on whether or not the country is safer today than it was before September 11, 2001. While 41% of voters believe it is safer today, 40% disagree.  

As always, there are substantial gender and partisan differences on all questions dealing with

While 46% of women say the

On a partisan basis, 82% of Republican voters say

Fifty-one percent (51%) of unaffiliated voters say the

Baghdad, Iraq — It was easy to be skeptical when Brig. Gen. Raheem, a Shia police chief in Baghdad, declared that his district was welcoming back Sunnis driven from their homes during the previous sectarian strife. Reconciliation between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq was supposedly nonexistent. When I pointed out to the general that it seemed easier to maintain security in one-sect districts, he dismissed the suggestion. If the original residents again lived in the neighborhood, he explained, they could identify any strangers and terrorists entering the area.

Critics have sought to minimize Iraq’s dramatic improvement in security, saying that it has failed to produce political accommodation among the country’s sects. These pundits would benefit from talking to Raheem: Security is not divorced from politics in counterinsurgency. The success of Coalition forces in protecting the people is laying the foundation for political progress.

When the government cannot provide security, people look elsewhere for help, often falling back on ethnic, sectarian, or tribal loyalties. From the chaos emerge militants, who offer protection to vulnerable communities and exploit them in return. Since these armed groups depend on violence for power, they have no incentive to reach a peaceful solution. This dynamic helps explain the success of the new counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq. Securing the people breaks this cycle of violence, permitting political movement.

The strategy is working. U.S. and Iraqi forces have a round-the-clock presence in towns and cities, reducing support for militants. As a result, the public could reject the Sunni al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Shiite Mahdi Army, which brought the country to the brink of civil war in 2006.

Reconciliation among ordinary Iraqis is occurring. An ABC News poll in March found that 92 percent of Iraqis felt that forced separation was bad for Iraq. Even though Baathist Sunnis ruled over the majority Shia population under Saddam, 63 percent of Shias favored government jobs for former mid- to low-level Baathists. Moreover, 89 percent of all Iraqis supported Sunni participation in elections.

Visiting mixed neighborhoods in Baghdad that saw some of the worst violence, one is struck by a resurgent wave of Iraqi nationalism. People are again identifying themselves as Iraqis, not as members of sects. Shias welcomed a mainly Sunni Iraqi army brigade when it arrived in Basra to drive out the Mahdi army. With increasingly mixed Iraqi Security Forces, hundreds of thousands of Sunnis and Shias now put their lives in each others’ hands during operations.

It is important not to exaggerate the significance of this grassroots reconciliation. Saddam’s rule played on ethnic and sectarian identities for decades, and the recent strife reinforced his legacy. As the ABC News poll also revealed, Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds have different views on how their lives are going. At the same time, it is critical not to dismiss the improved relations among ordinary Iraqis.

Today, the main issue is whether political accommodation can occur at the national level. The Iraqi government is finally taking action. Earlier this year, the parliament passed legislation aimed at addressing Sunni grievances concerning de-Baathification reform, amnesty for detainees, and provincial powers. The parliament has still not passed a law to distribute oil proceeds, but at least de facto revenue sharing is taking place. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has taken on both Sunni and Shia extremists, improving the government’s legitimacy.

Nevertheless, failure to make critical reforms could plunge Iraq back into chaos. Provincial elections, which were supposed to restore more power to Sunnis, were delayed, possibly to early 2009. The Maliki government’s slow integration of former Sunni insurgents into the ISF is preventing them from having a stake in the new Iraqi state. There are also signs that ruling parties are blocking nonviolent elements of the Mahdi army from participating in politics.

Due to this complicated picture, it is too early to say if the increased security will produce lasting political accommodation and stability. But the answer to this question will likely become apparent in the next year, as the Iraqi government reveals whether it will improve ISF integration and conduct fair provincial elections. If these events do not happen, those shut out of power might resort to violence.

However, unless this occurs, the present focus on security should not be altered. It has laid the groundwork for political progress. No other strategy, including the 2006 approach of withdrawing U.S. troops regardless of conditions in Iraq, has advanced either grassroots or national accommodation.

MND-B Soldiers find weapons cache in southwestern Baghdad (Rashid)
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized a weapons cache in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad Aug. 26.

At approximately 8 p.m., engineer Soldiers of Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, reported finding 100 blasting caps, 20 rocket-propelled grenades, two 120 mm mortar rounds, a 60 mm mortar round, two anti-tank rounds and 35 parachute grenades in the Shurta community.

An explosive ordnance disposal team was called in to remove the munitions suspected to be used as improvised explosive device-making materials.

“Our Soldiers are working every day, conducting security operations to locate criminals and haul in caches, to reinforce the enduring stability and security in the Rashid district,” said Maj. Dave Olson, spokesman for the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div..

Iraq PM: U.S. agrees to withdraw troops by 2011

Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:05pm EDT

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq and the United States have agreed that all U.S. troops will leave by the end of 2011, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday, but Washington said no final deal had been reached.

“There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date, which is the end of 2011, to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil,” Maliki said in a speech to tribal leaders in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

“An open time limit is not acceptable in any security deal that governs the presence of the international forces,” he said.

Maliki’s remarks were the most explicit statement yet that the increasingly assertive Iraqi government expects the U.S. presence to end in three years as part of a deal between Washington and Baghdad to allow them to stay beyond this year.

Previously, Iraqi officials have said they want U.S. troops to end patrols of Iraqi towns and villages by the middle of next year and combat troops to leave Iraq by 2011, but Washington has been reluctant to embrace a firm deadline for all troops to go.

A bilateral pact is needed to replace a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, which has formed the legal basis for the American troop presence ever since but expires at the end of this year.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said a draft agreement had been prepared but it needed to “go through a number of levers in the Iraqi political system before we actually have an agreement from the Iraqi side.”

“Until we have a deal, we don’t have a deal,” he said. U.S. officials declined to comment on Maliki’s 2011 withdrawal date.

Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government has been increasingly assertive in pushing for a deadline for the roughly 144,000 U.S. troops to leave Iraq, especially since an Iraqi-led crackdown on Shi’ite militias this year proved a success.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on a visit to Baghdad last week that a deal was close, but not yet final.

VIOLENCE DOWN

Iraqi officials say a draft agreement was completed last week and must now be circulated to political leaders for approval before it can be submitted to parliament next month.

The talks come as violence has dropped to levels not seen in Iraq since 2004, a welcome change that U.S. officials attribute to the 30,000 extra troops President George W. Bush sent to Iraq last year and to Sunni tribal leaders’ decision to back security efforts.

Maliki said any deal would need to include a “specific date, not an open one” for withdrawal.

He also said the pact would not grant anyone absolute immunity from Iraqi law. Washington wants to protect its soldiers from being tried in Iraqi courts, terms it also requires in many other countries where it has bases.

“We will not accept to put the lives of our sons on the line by guaranteeing absolute immunity for anybody, whether Iraqis or foreigners,” Maliki said. “The sanctity of Iraqi blood should be respected.”

He said U.S. military operations would be prohibited “without the approval of the Iraqi government and American forces,” a sign Iraq wants more say over U.S. operations.

Speaking in Texas, where Bush is vacationing, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Washington was optimistic it could agree with Baghdad on “flexible goals” for U.S. troops to return “based on conditions on the ground.”

A commitment to withdraw all troops would resemble the plan offered by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who proposes withdrawing combat troops by mid-2010.

“Success in Iraq depends on an Iraqi government that is reconciling its differences and taking responsibility for its future and a timetable is the best way to press the Iraqis to do just that,” Obama said. “I welcome the growing convergence around this pragmatic and responsible position.”

Republican contender John McCain said he also believes withdrawals are likely in coming years but that it would be dangerous to commit in advance to a firm timetable.

“Whenever you win wars, your troops come home. And our troops will be coming home but it will be dictated by the conditions on the ground and the success or the lack of success,” McCain said at a fundraising lunch in California.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell in Washington, Jeremy Pelofsky in Texas and Andrew Gray in California; Writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Peter Graff and Bill Trott)

© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.