MIG 23
A defence ministry delegation (click title to entry - thank you) has gone to Belgrade to discuss bringing the MiG-21s and 23s back into service.
A spokesman said the aircraft, whose existence had recently come to light, would be an important addition to Iraq's defence capability.
Two of the MiGs were ready for immediate use, a statement said.
The statement did not specify how the discovery was made or what condition the other 17 aircraft were in.
At the moment Iraq's air force has no jet fighters, only helicopters, and it had been planning to buy 18 F-16 fighters from the US manufacturer Lockheed Martin. It is not known if the discovery of the MiGs will change that.
Sanctions and flying restrictions were imposed on Iraq following its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, after which Saddam Hussein's government was unable to repatriate military equipment located abroad.
After his government's overthrow in 2003, the Iraqi state collapsed and its army was disbanded by Iraq's US-led occupiers. Baghdad has struggled to rebuild its military capability since then.
The Iraqi defence ministry spokesman said four Iraqi navy vessels had also been discovered in Egypt and Italy, as well as "aircraft and equipment in Russia and France".
Saddam Hussein co-operated closely with the communist-ruled Yugoslav government and its Serbian successor, led by Slobodan Milosevic.
Serbia's defence minister visited Iraq earlier in August and Belgrade has recently signed deals to export hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military equipment to Iraq.
Iraq is still an unknown commodity. It has not 'track record' in regard to aggression. It doesn't recognize Israel that I know of and it is becoming somewhat of a 'state' to Iraq. I don't believe Iraq should have an Air Force at all, except, what it needs to protect its borders. The less 'fire power' there is in Iraq the most stable the region will become.
Amnesty calls for halt to executions in Iraq (click here)
Tue Sep 1, 2009 12:00pm EDT
BAGHDAD, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Rights group Amnesty International called on Iraq on Tuesday to halt executions, saying the woeful state of the justice system was unable to guarantee fair trials in capital cases.
Amnesty said more than 1,000 people were on death row in Iraq, including 12 women.
"One of these, 27-year-old Samar Saad Abdullah, facing execution for murder, has alleged that she was tortured into making a false confession, including with electric shocks and beatings with a cable," the rights group said.
"She reportedly received a trial lasting less than two days, where one of her lawyers was ordered out of the court by the trial judge."
Amnesty International UK Campaigns Director Tim Hancock said the Iraqi justice system could barely cope with normal trials, let alone death penalty cases.
In the chaotic and lawless years following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, judges have been targeted by insurgents, courts have been overwhelmed by caseloads, and the system has been seen as tainted by corruption and lacking transparency.
"Instead of sending hundreds of people to a grisly death at the end of a rope, the Iraqi authorities should halt all executions and impose an immediate moratorium," Hancock said in a statement.
Amnesty has expressed concern frequently about the use of the death penalty in Iraq....
As of Tuesday, day 2,348 of the war in Iraq… (click here)
4,337 American military service members — 2 more than last week — have died in the war since it began in 2003, according to the US Department of Defense. A total of 13,856 have suffered injuries serious enough to keep them from returning to duty.
$5 billion has been spent on improving Iraq’s oil industry since 2003, yet production is far less than the 3 million barrels a day Iraq produced before the invasion, The Wall Street Journal reported.
$444,100,000 from Pasadena taxpayers has gone toward wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, enough to fund 6,274 arts and music teachers for 1 year, according to the National Priorities Project.
51 percent of Americans in a Washington Post/ABC News poll said the war in Afghanistan is not worth the fight, according to the Associated Press. There are 62,000 troops in Afghanistan, and that number is scheduled to grow to 68,000 in the coming weeks, the Los Angeles Times reported.— Compiled by Jake Armstrong
