Cultural Awareness Mistakes
During my visit to Fort Bragg NC August 5-25, 2007, I participated in the pre-deployment mission rehearsal exercise (MRX) for XVIII Airborne Corps and had the chance to meet with three contractors in charge of Iraqi cultural awareness for the Corps.  The contract manager is of Iranian/Armenian origin and the other two are Coptic Egyptian-Americans... READ MORE

A Critical Look at Iraqi Shia Affairs
Two months after the fall Saddam's regime, Muqtada Sadr became popular for his anti-US stance.  He formed the Mahdi Army (Jaysh al-Mahdi, or JAM) to gain more popularity by fighting against the "occupiers" and compete with SICI (then SCIRI) for control of the south and guardianship of the Shia holy places... READ MORE

Blackwater and its Sisters
For every step forward made by the US military/embassy in Iraq, PSD contractors can bring the US presence five steps back by random shootings of Iraqi civilians... READ MORE

Non Iraqi-Americans
This statement is based on facts: USG officials in Iraq prefer non-Iraqi- Americans to advise them on Iraq... READ MORE

PRT Construction vs Iranian Reconstruction
Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) were created as a construction revival of the provincial teams of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the people who failed to bring peace and improve Iraqi life after the fall ... READ MORE

Lessons Learned
This is the journey of one man, who spent his adolescence as part of the Shia underground battling Saddam's Ba'thist henchmen following the Gulf War. Eventually commanding a 30 man cell in Najaf and Diwaniya, Kadhim's education as a war fighter was forged in the blood soaked streets and alleyways of Iraq at a time when Saddam's regime seemed almost certain to crumble in the face of a popular mass uprising... READ MORE

Organizations, politicians and religious leaders of Iraq...
Are they ready for reconciliation?(PowerPoint presentation) READ MORE