Hundreds out of 1.5 million (in Syria). And it's not clear whether it's a desire to return home, or choosing between a rock and a hard place. It would also be extremely interesting to see whether they are (and can) return to their original homes. I'll cross my fingers, but I'm not hopeful.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraqi refugees begin journey home

Iraqi refugees begin journey home

Syria has had problems coping with 1.5 million refugees from Iraq Hundreds of Iraqi refugees have left temporary shelter in Syria to return to their homes in Iraq. About 800 people are travelling in a convoy of buses provided by the Iraqi government following two months of security improvements in Iraq. But there are also reports that life has become increasingly hard for some of the 1.5 million refugees in Syria. The Iraqi government hopes that if the convoy is successful, many more people will be encouraged to return to Iraq.

Archbishop thrown into row over US Middle East policy | Guardian Unlimited

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, found himself plunged into political controversy yesterday after remarks made during the course of a wide-ranging interview for a Muslim magazine were translated into an all-out attack on American policy in the Middle East.

The archbishop told Emel magazine in what it described as "a series of profound views expressed in serene tranquillity" that the US had lost the moral high ground since the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, and that Washington's attempts to accumulate influence and control in the region were not working.

He was quoted as saying: "It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that's what the British empire did - in India, for example. It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put things back together - Iraq, for example."

"Interpreted as"? I'm not sure I would call it an attack, but "very strong critique" would work. He's right. We lost the moral high ground a long time ago. Ironically, General Petraeus was one of the few on the scene who understood this, but his appointment to handle the Iraq fiasco happened far too late for him to do anything about it.

Petraeus oversaw a program of public works and political reinvigoration in Mosul,^[27][28] launching 4,500 reconstruction projects.^[29] The New York Times has stated that "from the first day they arrived in Mosul, Bravo Company and the rest of the 101st Airborne Division were saddled with dozens of other missions, all of them distinctly nonmilitary, and most of them made necessary by the failure of civilian leaders in Washington and Baghdad to prepare for the occupation of Iraq."^[30] Some Iraqis gave Petraeus the nickname 'King David',^[31][32] which was later adopted by some of his colleagues.^[33][34][35] Newsweek has stated that "It's widely accepted that no force worked harder to win Iraqi hearts and minds than the 101st Air Assault Division led by Petraeus."^[36]

Wikipedia

Under the best of circumstances this kind of pressure to nail the blame on a particular cause is dangerous. With this administration, it's particularly of concern. In addition, even if the interrogators do their job properly, and the informants don't decide to gain favor by creating evidence, and the administration doesn't cherry-pick–it's clear that by focusing all of this attention on one particular branch of inquiry, other information is going to be missed. You can't gain a true picture of what's going if you're spending all your time trying to prove one single theory.

Iraqi fighters 'grilled for evidence on Iran' | World | The Observer

David Smith in Baghdad

Sunday November 11, 2007
The Observer

US military officials are putting huge pressure on interrogators who question Iraqi insurgents to find incriminating evidence pointing to Iran, it was claimed last night.

…

Brose, 30, who extracts information from detainees in Iraq, said: 'They push a lot for us to establish a link with Iran. They have pre-categories for us to go through, and by the sheer volume of categories there's clearly a lot more for Iran than there is for other stuff. Of all the recent requests I've had, I'd say 60 to 70 per cent are about Iran.

'It feels a lot like, if you get something and Iran's not involved, it's a let down.' He added: 'I've had people say to me, "They're really pushing the Iran thing. It's like, shit, you know." '

…

'It now really depends on who gets elected President in the US. If nothing changes in the current course, I'd say military action is inevitable. But we have to hope there will be a change of course.'

He denied ever being asked to fabricate evidence, adding: 'We're not asked to manufacture information, we're asked to find it. But if a detainee wants to tell me what I want to hear so he can get out of jail... you know what I'm saying.'

Other military intelligence officials in Iraq refused to comment, but one said: 'The message is, "Got to find a link with Iran, got to find a link with Iran." It's sickening.'

I know, I say I'm blogging about Iran, and then the next thing I post is about Iraq. But the fact is, the future of Iraq is critical to the future of Iran. That's true from a political standpoint (Iran needs a stable neighbor in Kurdish Iraq if nowhere else) and an economic one. A successful and growing Iraq would be a great trading partner for Iran, which is one of the largest producer of consumer goods in the Middle East. A wealthy middle class in both countries would do a lot for the stability of the region. Nothing limits extremism as much as people who have something to lose. Unfortunately, we've pretty much ensured that that won't happen.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Sunni group attacks al-Qaeda base

A Sunni faction has killed 18 al-Qaeda militants in an attack on a compound near the Iraqi city of Samarra, police have said.

Another 16 al-Qaeda members were said to have been captured in the attack.

…

The faction is one of several Sunni former insurgent groups that have now turned against al-Qaeda.

On Friday, five Sunni Arab tribal leaders had been killed in a suicide attack in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad.

Safe havens

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says the Islamic Army of Iraq is apparently planning to use those captured in an exchange of prisoners.

Samarra has been the scene of factional violence

…

Analysts say that while the Islamic Army shares with the US military a common enemy in al-Qaeda, it does not support the coalition forces or their continued presence in Iraq.

No US or Iraqi security forces are thought to have been involved in the fighting.

Our correspondent says many of the Sunni tribes that used to provide safe havens for the militants are actively combating al-Qaeda.

The enemy of our enemy is not necessarily our friend. That's true of the Iraqi Sunni's and al-Qaeda, but also of course of the Iraqi Sunni's and ourselves. Now if we could just wrap our head around that concept in a more global context.