Some images of Iraq...

...courtesy of the Iraqi Press Monitor.

September 8: Al-Taakhi, the daily of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, reports that

[t]he Imam of Mosul's Resala Mosque Mulla Kasim has issued an edict of Jihad, or "holy war", against Kurds, Americans and Israelis whom he described as similar to each other. He has offered a reward of $100 for each one killed. He considered Kurds as infidels.

September 9: Interestingly, the daily paper of the Al-Mada institution for Media, Culture, and Arts said that the insurgents in Sadr City are a breakaway faction of the Mahdi Army called the al-Hussein Army. It's lead by Sheikh Abdul Hadi al-Darragi, who used to head up Sadr's office there but has broken away because, he claimed,

Muqtada had not kept the agreements the two made. Darragi has the support of his large and powerful tribe. He has vowed to keep resisting the Americans until martyrdom.

The idea of factionalism within Sadr's movement is something I haven't seen mentioned in any US media - but which I have speculated about more than once. (Without, admittedly, suggesting an actual breakup.)

September 13: All of the attempts at good news spin by the White House can't conceal the fact that Iraq's economy is a disaster area.

Unemployment stands at 53% according to a survey taken in July, said an official source in the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation. The source added that the ministry was now conducting a third survey to determine the change in the rate of unemployment during the period surveyed. Meanwhile, a committee from the International Monetary Fund confirmed that unemployment stands at more than 50% of the workforce.

That from Al-Bayan, issued four times a week by the Islamic Dawa Party, chaired by Vice-President Ibrahim al-Jafari.

September 16: Even as Interim President Ghazi al-Yawar acknowledged that it might not be possible to hold elections in January as planned because of rising violence and dropping stability, the independent daily Al-Sabah al-Jadeed was talking about politicking.

Parties and political groups plan to ally with each other to enhance their positions in the election. Dawa party leader Ismail al-Hilli said Ibrahim al-Jafari will be nominated for the election and has a good chance of winning. Ibraheem Bahrul Uloom said the candidates for the elections are those who led struggle against dictatorship.

By the way, the most interesting note in that article was that

[t]he Shia supreme council is to nominate and support Ahmed al-Chalabi for the election.

Iraq's own Comeback Kid.