Further evidence of the humbling of the neocons comes in George Bush's hailing of the new Iraqi law allowing former Baath Party members into public life. The party was declared illegal by the US-led administration after the invasion of 2003 when the noecons were riding high, and thousands of its members lost their jobs—contributing to the rise of the insurgency and the collapse of law and order. Now Bush says of the law reversing this policy: "It's an important step towards reconciliation. It's an important sign that the leaders of that country understand that they must work together to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people." (BBC, Jan. 13) However, high-level Baathists are still barred under the new law. (NYT, Jan. 13) From clandestinity, Baath Party spokesman Abu Mohammad issued a statement dismissing the new law as just "changing the name of the first law" and "an attempt to beautify the nature of fascism... This will not change the objective of the Baath Party of continuing the resistance hand in hand with other resistance factions." (Uruknet, Jan. 12)

A woman carried out a suicide bombing near a Shi'ite mosque in Iraq's Diyala province Jan. 16, killing at least eight people. The attack provoked local Shi'ite militia fighters to use mortars against a nearby Sunni village in retaliation. Shi'ite worshipers in the village of Khan Bani Saad were preparing for Ashura festivities. (NYT, Jan. 17) On Jan. 17, a suicide bomber killed eight and wounded 14 near a Shi'ite mosque in Baquba, Diyala's capital. (Reuters, Jan. 17)

A petition from the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), Jan. 5:

The southern cities of Iraq which are totally under the grip of Islamist parties have turned into no-woman zones. Female physical appearance is not acceptable in the streets, educational institutions, or at work places. Although veiled and passive, death awaits women around street corners, in the market, and visits them inside their homes daily in the city of Basra.

Two suicide attacks in Iraq killed at least 56 and wounded at least 42 this week—days after the US military delivered an upbeat report on security in the country, boasting that levels of violence had dropped over the past year. A female suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint of US-backed anti-al-Qaeda neighborhood patrol volunteers Jan. 2 in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province. The attack killed 10 and wounded eight. On Jan. 3, a suicide bombing killed 36 and wounded at least 35 in Baghdad's Zayouna neighborhood—the deadliest in the capital since August. The target was a crowd that had gathered to mourn a teacher killed with six others in a car bombing four days earlier in the crowded intersection at Tayaran Square (CSM, Jan. 2)

The Secular Left Opposition Stands Up

by Bill Weinberg, WW4 Report

Turkish military authorities announced Dec. 26 that fighter jets again hit bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, in a third confirmed cross-border air raid in the past 10 days. Ankara called the raids an "effective pinpoint operation" targeting eight caves and other hideouts being used by the PKK in the Zap Valley near the Turkish border.

Workers march in Baghdad
Striking teachers rally
Iraq's teachers and healthcare workers are uniting with other public-sector employees to demand the government take action on improving working conditions, and pledge to begin a campaign of public sit-ins in Baghdad Dec. 26. The teachers union representing education workers in 15 provinces marched in Baghdad Dec. 16 in a one-day strike, pledging to escalate actions if the government doesn't deal next month. The teachers are demanding the same pay as colleagues in the safer Kurdistan region, and for greater investment in deteriorating schools. Security is also a key demand, following the slaying of a Baghdad school director last month. Speaking to the Baghdad newspaper al-Mada, the deputy head of the Teachers' Syndicate, Burhan Nema, said "Iraqi teachers will stage a sit-in as part of a protest campaign that calls for improving the living standards of 500,000 families living in poverty."

From the Iraq Freedom Congress, Dec. 12:

We Must Stand Together Against the Women-Killing Gangs
Unidentified gangs began to commit a series of organized crimes and killing many women in various cities in Iraq, particularly in Basra where more than 40 women are said to have been killed in the last 5 months. In addition to those crimes, these gangs threatened unveiled women to follow Islamic law and start wearing head scarf otherwise facing the severe consequences.