US troops must leave Iraq on schedule

Any extension of the US occupation of Iraq would be a mistake, writes an Arabic-language editorialist. Other topics today: the prisoner exchange is good for Palestinian unity but will mean moire kidnappings, and a look at UAE real estate.

Longer US presence would harm Iraq

Iraqis look forward to seeing their country free from occupation next year, noted the Emirati newspaper Al Khaleej in its editorial.

They no longer accept any form of occupation presence, whether for training purposes or anything else. They are fully aware that those who have not served Iraq's interests during the last decade are not likely to do so in one more year or more.

Past experience in other places suggests that extending the occupation would be likely to happen gradually, under one or another pretext.

For some time, there have been debates on the possibility of retaining occupation troops for training purposes. Washington has been in discussion with Iraqi authorities about legal immunity for US forces that would stay.

This would mean they could do anything and avoid accountability. They could repeat the crimes they have committed since the invasion in 2003. All that time, the occupation benefited from immunity to carry out crimes against millions of Iraqis.

Extending occupation in any form is not in the interest of Iraq. Priority must be given to Iraqis. "They are the ones, who deserve immunity in their homeland … and are the most keen to take care of the country at present and in the future."

For Iraqis to enjoy full control of the their country, they should reclaim full sovereignty over the land.

Real estate companies to blame for crisis

"As a result of inconsistent policies and conflicting economic and commercial goals in the country, the economic process during the last two decades has been in many ways unsystematic," economist Najib Al Shamsi said in a commentary in the business section of the UAE daily Emarat Al Youm.

This can be seen in the dual character of projects, including the creation of firms that can be described as phantom companies. The latter were behind crises in stock markets in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

During this period, many real estate companies emerged and entered into competition and speculation, siphoning a lot of liquidity from the financial market and using a large chunk of bank credit. This has affected other economic sectors, especially productive ones.

These companies, together with their manufacturing counterparts as well as banks, financing the real estate industry, directly affected the economic situation, especially in light of increasing competition in attracting foreign investment.

The real estate projects achieved were irrelevant, and did not reflect the actual needs of the community and the economy.

"It was natural then that the real estate sector would plunge into recession, as speculators escaped with local liquidity, engineers with their plans, marketers with their visions, and developers with their harvest."

Prisoner exchange will lead to more captures

Following the landmark 1,000-to-one prisoner swap on Tuesday, Al Qassam Brigades vowed to carry on the fight to secure the release of all Palestinians in Israeli prisons, which means renewed attempts to capture Israeli soldiers can be expected in the near future, the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi said in its editorial.

It is an understandable quest, for the liberation of more than 1,000 Palestinians in exchange for one Israeli is an alluring deal that Al Qassam Brigades wouldn't want to pass on.

"We believe that the Palestinian resistance brigades have gained the operational expertise required to repeat such an operation, not only when it comes to digging tunnels and gaining access to Israeli military bases, but also in successfully holding prisoners in secret hideouts undetected by Israel's watchful eyes."

To retain Gilad Shalit in captivity for five years in a 150 square- mile territory is by all means a miraculous feat under the eye of one of the most advanced intelligence and security apparatuses in the region.

This last prisoner swap deal proves that the imprisonment of Israeli soldiers is the surest and shortest way to liberate Palestinian prisoners. Swap deals with the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance forces have so far returned 7,000 Arab prisoners to freedom in exchange for six Israeli soldiers and the remains of three others.

Palestinians united by Hamas through swap

Palestinians saw the prisoner- swap deal as a victory for the resistance and a step towards the liberation of the occupied land, opined Daoud Al Sharyan in the pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat.

"What the swap deal has really done was bring about a forced mutual recognition between Hamas and Israel," said the writer. "More importantly, the delivery of the prisoners was done on Palestinian soil, which is a first and indicated that the Israeli government was forced to recognise Hamas' control over Gaza."

The deal uncovered a substantial failure within the Mossad, which, for five years was unable to detect Gilad Shalit's whereabouts despite millions of dollars spent on surveying the Gaza Strip.

"Once the jubilation fades away, Shalit will go from being "every Jewish citizen's son" to becoming only his parent's son. The symbolic aura that surrounded him in captivity will vanish and only then will the Netanyahu government face the fact that it made no substantial gain from the deal."

Hamas, on the other hand, proved the extent of its power and its negotiation ability.

But its greatest achievement is that it united the Palestinians on this humanitarian issue that touches the lives of Palestinians from every side.

* Digest compiled by The Translation Desk