BAD NEWS ABOUT "IRAQ POSITIVES"
That email letter "Iraq Positives" made me think. It did not sound likely that Specialist 1st Class Reynolds would have all those facts straight. I thought I noticed so many inaccuracies that it seemed like a political statement.
A Google search on "Ray Reynolds, SFC" showed that the letter is in the "Urban Legends" system at the Snopes.com site:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/reynolds.asp
Then I used Google and newspaper searches to check the information on some of the statements in the "letter". The original statements have a carrot (>) in front of them.
--------------------------------------------------------------
> * The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
"... The country's oil refineries, hit by power cuts, supply problems and downtime for repairs, are operating at an estimated two-thirds of their full capacity... even operating at full capacity, they would be unable to meet domestic fuel demand... Iraq will need to import fuel for at least three years."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3605843.stm
-------------------------------------------------------------
> * The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
"... essential work on the electricity network will not be complete before the extreme heat of the summer arrives, raising the prospect of months of power cuts similar to those that led to riots and widespread discontent last year... we are going to have massive demand and not very good provision... it is a disaster."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1204178,00.html
-----------------------------------------------------------
> * 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before the
> war.
"... Babies die of simple infections because they can't get the proper antibiotics. Surgeries are delayed because there is no oxygen... And patients in critical condition are turned away because there isn't enough equipment."
"... Health Minister Khudair Fadhil Abbas said that about 90 percent of the hospitals and clinics have been brought back to the same poor conditions as before the war but that the others will take more time to reach even that low level."
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8128112.htm
"... After... the American "liberators" came in... the medical infrastructure was subjected to looting and destruction... The American forces didn't do anything to prevent looting of hospitals... a year after the invasion, the situation has worsened..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/3711533.stm
-------------------------------------------------------------
> ... Over 1,500 schools have been renovated
"... Complaints about shoddy or undone school repairs have recently brought
high-level outside scrutiny. An internal study by U.S. Army personnel...
strongly criticized Bechtel’s attempts to renovate Iraqi schools... "The
new fans are cheap and burned out immediately upon use. All inspected were
already broken," wrote a U.S. soldier. "Lousy paint job. Major clean-up work
required. Bathrooms in poor condition," wrote another about a different
school. Much of the criticism focuses on Bechtel's Iraqi subcontractors...
"In almost every case, the paint jobs were done in a hurry, causing more
damage to the appearance of the school than in terms of providing a finish
that will protect the structure. In one case, the paint job actually damaged
critical lab equipment, making it unusable." ... we visit four Baghdad
schools...The rain leaks through the ceiling, shorting out the power. The
new paint is peeling and the floor has not been completely repaired... Most
shocking... is the price tag: “I could fix everything here for just $1,000.
... a Bechtel sub-contractor spent $20,000!”
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=2672
---------------------------------------------------------------
> * Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
> * Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
> * Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US
> soldiers.
"US Facing Opponents it Trained... the U.S. trained Iraqi military is refusing to fight... U.S. officials acknowledged that half of its Iraqi Army refused to fight... ”Forty percent walked off the job because they were intimidated, and 10 percent actually worked against us,” Maj-Gen. Martin Dempsey told reporters. Reuters reports the U.S. military has thrown 200 Iraqi servicemen in prison after they refused to participate in the attack on Fallujah."
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=23468
--------------------------------------------------------------
> * Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
These must be mostly wireless phones as the landline system is shot. Everybody has a cell or satellite phone.
"Satellite telephone usage in post-war Iraq is soaring... Much of Iraq's telephone system was severely damaged during the recent war... it may likely take years before all of these networks are fully functional again..."
http://www.globalstar.com/view_pr.jsp?id=338
--------------------------------------------------------------
> * An interim constitution has been signed.
But it might be voided after Governing Council that signed it is abolished.
"... Iraq's new constitution... had the potential to provoke civil war. The U.S. appointed Governing Council signed the transitional law... "
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0309-09.htm
"... President Bush agreed to a recommendation... to dismantle the existing Iraqi Governing Council, which was handpicked by the United States, and to replace it with a caretaker government whose makeup is to be decided next month."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/politics/23DIPL.html?hp
--------------------------------------------------------------
> Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have
> met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way.
"... the faces of US and coalition troops, those faces of our family and friends, represent to many Iraqis domination, humiliation, the hated enemy."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0423-11.htm
"... U.S. coalition workers... rarely dare to venture beyond the barricades these days..."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8477103.htm
"... Iraq is descending into chaos. In fact, the descent has been longer and steeper than most people imagine."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0423-07.htm
"Today there is hatred of the Americans like never before in the region... At the start some considered the Americans were helping them. There was no hatred of the Americans. After what has happened in Iraq, there is unprecedented hatred and the Americans know it... The despair and feeling of injustice are not going to be limited to our region alone. American and Israeli interests will not be safe, not only in our region but anywhere in the world." -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=5IOOUHEKEBJJ0CRBAEKSFEY?type=topNews&storyID=4878918
---------------------------------------------------------------
According to the Snopes site, there is a National Guardsman SFC Ray Reynolds, and he did write the letter, saying "I am passionate about our President's decision...". The Snopes site characterizes the letter as one of those items that are "impossible to categorize with a single truth value because they typically contain a mixture of fact, opinion, subjective statements, inaccuracies, and literally true but often misleading claims."
In addition to the inaccuraccies that I found, readers on the OrwellianTimes site found many more:
http://www.orwelliantimes.com/2004/04/26.html
Thursday, April 29, 2004
GOOD NEWS FROM SOLDIER IN IRAQ ("IRAQ POSITIVES")
A friend emailed me this chain letter called "Iraq Positives". Everybody is supposed to pass it on.
"This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National
Guard, serving in Iraq:
"As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to
say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a
very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I
have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home.
And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq
that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the list
of things that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with
your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing.)
* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored
there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from
ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time
ever in Iraq.
* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the
war.
* 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before
the war.
* Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in
place.
* Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
* Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
* Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
* Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US
soldiers.
* Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
* Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to
prevent the spread of germs.
* An interim constitution has been signed.
* Girls are allowed to attend school.
* Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first
time in 30 years.
"Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have
met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They
say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their
children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone,
anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John
Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa.
This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted
with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a
friend and let them know there are good things happening."
Ray Reynolds, SFC
Iowa Army National Guard
234th Signal Battalion
A friend emailed me this chain letter called "Iraq Positives". Everybody is supposed to pass it on.
"This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National
Guard, serving in Iraq:
"As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to
say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a
very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I
have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home.
And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq
that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the list
of things that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with
your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing.)
* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored
there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from
ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time
ever in Iraq.
* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the
war.
* 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before
the war.
* Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in
place.
* Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
* Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
* Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
* Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US
soldiers.
* Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
* Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to
prevent the spread of germs.
* An interim constitution has been signed.
* Girls are allowed to attend school.
* Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first
time in 30 years.
"Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have
met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They
say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their
children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone,
anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John
Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa.
This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted
with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a
friend and let them know there are good things happening."
Ray Reynolds, SFC
Iowa Army National Guard
234th Signal Battalion
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
GARNER SAYS IRAQ LIKE PHILIPPINES
"... Bremer's predecessor, General Jay Garner, has even expressed his hopes that the military presence should last for a century. Citing how the naval bases in the Philippines in the 1900s ensured "great presence in the Pacific" through to the 1990s, Garner said: "To me that's what Iraq is for, for the next few decades. We ought to have something there ... that gives us great presence in the Middle East. I think that's going to be necessary."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FD30Ak01.html
"... Bremer's predecessor, General Jay Garner, has even expressed his hopes that the military presence should last for a century. Citing how the naval bases in the Philippines in the 1900s ensured "great presence in the Pacific" through to the 1990s, Garner said: "To me that's what Iraq is for, for the next few decades. We ought to have something there ... that gives us great presence in the Middle East. I think that's going to be necessary."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FD30Ak01.html
WAR GIVES US MEANING
"... (he) look(s) at what makes war so intoxicating for soldiers, politicians and ordinary citizens. He discusses outbreaks of nationalism, the wartime silencing of intellectuals and artists, the ways in which even a supposedly skeptical press glorifies the battlefield and other universal features of war, arguing not for pacifism but for responsibility and humility on the part of those who wage war."
Book review of: "War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400034639/commondreams-20/ref%3Dnosim/104-5140642-0265564
"... (he) look(s) at what makes war so intoxicating for soldiers, politicians and ordinary citizens. He discusses outbreaks of nationalism, the wartime silencing of intellectuals and artists, the ways in which even a supposedly skeptical press glorifies the battlefield and other universal features of war, arguing not for pacifism but for responsibility and humility on the part of those who wage war."
Book review of: "War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400034639/commondreams-20/ref%3Dnosim/104-5140642-0265564
NEW FLAG
" Iraqis... expressed outrage yesterday that Iraq's United States-appointed and unelected leaders had... abolished the old Iraqi flag... and chosen a new one... many Iraqis are convinced that their new flag is modeled on the Israeli flag...
" The new flag is the work of an Iraqi artist resident in London... the brother of Nassir al-Chaderchi, the chairman of the IGC committee charged with choosing a new flag for Iraq. "... My brother just called me and asked me to design a flag on behalf of the IGC...."
"... problems loom where insurgents will be able to strengthen their patriotic credentials by sticking with the old and popular Iraqi flag and portraying the new one as a sign of subservience to foreign occupiers."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0428-03.htm
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=515997
" Iraqis... expressed outrage yesterday that Iraq's United States-appointed and unelected leaders had... abolished the old Iraqi flag... and chosen a new one... many Iraqis are convinced that their new flag is modeled on the Israeli flag...
" The new flag is the work of an Iraqi artist resident in London... the brother of Nassir al-Chaderchi, the chairman of the IGC committee charged with choosing a new flag for Iraq. "... My brother just called me and asked me to design a flag on behalf of the IGC...."
"... problems loom where insurgents will be able to strengthen their patriotic credentials by sticking with the old and popular Iraqi flag and portraying the new one as a sign of subservience to foreign occupiers."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0428-03.htm
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=515997
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
WHAT WOULD MY WIFE'S FATHER SAY?
"... 52 former (British) ambassadors and senior government officials signed a letter on Monday criticizing... the Bush administration's approach to occupied Iraq... "Heavy weapons unsuited to the task in hand, inflammatory language, the current confrontations in Najaf and Falluja, all these have built up rather than isolated the opposition."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/international/europe/27BLAI.html
The signers are listed at the bottom of the full text at:
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=515676
Who cares what a bunch of old British foreign service people say? Or do they remember some things from when England was running an empire?
My wife's grandfather was the British Military Attache to the Islamic Ottoman Empire (now Turkey), and Vice-Consul to Armenia between Turkey and Iraq, before WW1. Her late father was Consul-General to China before and after WW2. Consuls are senior diplomatic service, speaking the language, serving the appointed ambassadors.
If they were alive today, I think my wife's father and grandfather would have signed that letter, too. They would agree -- this is no way to win a country.
"... 52 former (British) ambassadors and senior government officials signed a letter on Monday criticizing... the Bush administration's approach to occupied Iraq... "Heavy weapons unsuited to the task in hand, inflammatory language, the current confrontations in Najaf and Falluja, all these have built up rather than isolated the opposition."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/international/europe/27BLAI.html
The signers are listed at the bottom of the full text at:
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=515676
Who cares what a bunch of old British foreign service people say? Or do they remember some things from when England was running an empire?
My wife's grandfather was the British Military Attache to the Islamic Ottoman Empire (now Turkey), and Vice-Consul to Armenia between Turkey and Iraq, before WW1. Her late father was Consul-General to China before and after WW2. Consuls are senior diplomatic service, speaking the language, serving the appointed ambassadors.
If they were alive today, I think my wife's father and grandfather would have signed that letter, too. They would agree -- this is no way to win a country.
Monday, April 26, 2004
SHORT OF ARMOR AND MEN
"... while the fighting intensified the military moved forward with plans to dramatically reduce the number of Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles in Iraq. The idea was to support the administration's goals of de-emphasizing combat operations and expanding the military's peacekeeping role as the June 30 deadline for the transfer of power approached. So Army divisions now arriving in Iraq... have left much of their heavy armored tanks and Bradleys back in the United States. More troops are riding in lightly protected Humvees, trucks and troop carriers. And nearly all of those troops are new to Iraq, meaning an inexperienced, lightly armored force is arriving as insurgent attacks have multiplied...."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0404240213apr24,1,1134525.story
"... a year ago the Pentagon had more than 400 main battle tanks in Iraq; as of recently... there was barely a brigade's worth (about 70) of operational tanks still there... 1st Cavalry Division... left five of every six of its tanks at home, and five of every six Bradleys.... The military is 1,800 armored Humvees short of its own stated requirement.... many U.S. deaths and wounds in Iraq simply did not need to occur... of 789 Coalition deaths... Almost all those soldiers were killed while in unprotected vehicles, which means that perhaps one in four of those killed in combat in Iraq might be alive if they had had stronger armor around them... Thousands more who were unprotected have suffered grievous wounds, such as the loss of limbs... Sen. John McCain says the Pentagon needs an additional division beyond the 20,000 men it is leaving in Iraq for 90-day extensions... Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska... suggested ... reviving the draft... Rumsfeld's standing "stop-loss" order... is a "silent draft"... not expected to be lifted "for the foreseeable future".... (Gen. Richard) Myers spoke of transforming old field-artillery and air-defense battalions into new units."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4825948/
"... while the fighting intensified the military moved forward with plans to dramatically reduce the number of Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles in Iraq. The idea was to support the administration's goals of de-emphasizing combat operations and expanding the military's peacekeeping role as the June 30 deadline for the transfer of power approached. So Army divisions now arriving in Iraq... have left much of their heavy armored tanks and Bradleys back in the United States. More troops are riding in lightly protected Humvees, trucks and troop carriers. And nearly all of those troops are new to Iraq, meaning an inexperienced, lightly armored force is arriving as insurgent attacks have multiplied...."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0404240213apr24,1,1134525.story
"... a year ago the Pentagon had more than 400 main battle tanks in Iraq; as of recently... there was barely a brigade's worth (about 70) of operational tanks still there... 1st Cavalry Division... left five of every six of its tanks at home, and five of every six Bradleys.... The military is 1,800 armored Humvees short of its own stated requirement.... many U.S. deaths and wounds in Iraq simply did not need to occur... of 789 Coalition deaths... Almost all those soldiers were killed while in unprotected vehicles, which means that perhaps one in four of those killed in combat in Iraq might be alive if they had had stronger armor around them... Thousands more who were unprotected have suffered grievous wounds, such as the loss of limbs... Sen. John McCain says the Pentagon needs an additional division beyond the 20,000 men it is leaving in Iraq for 90-day extensions... Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska... suggested ... reviving the draft... Rumsfeld's standing "stop-loss" order... is a "silent draft"... not expected to be lifted "for the foreseeable future".... (Gen. Richard) Myers spoke of transforming old field-artillery and air-defense battalions into new units."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4825948/
Sunday, April 25, 2004
ANOTHER MUSLIM STATE FOR U.S. TO REBUILD
"President Bush's embrace of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for unilateral Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip is going to turn out to be more than a mere gesture...
"... who's going to take over that responsibility (for Gaza)? Not the tattered Palestinian Authority... de facto responsibility for what happens in Gaza once Israel withdraws will fall to the United States. That's the hidden meaning in the president's letter of assurance to Sharon saying that the United States will lead an international effort to build the capacity and will of Palestinian institutions...
"... One wonders whether Bush really appreciates what he is getting himself and the United States into... he is now taking on responsibility for ensuring that the Gaza mini-state created by Israel's withdrawal does not turn into a failed terrorist state."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38709-2004Apr24.html
"President Bush's embrace of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for unilateral Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip is going to turn out to be more than a mere gesture...
"... who's going to take over that responsibility (for Gaza)? Not the tattered Palestinian Authority... de facto responsibility for what happens in Gaza once Israel withdraws will fall to the United States. That's the hidden meaning in the president's letter of assurance to Sharon saying that the United States will lead an international effort to build the capacity and will of Palestinian institutions...
"... One wonders whether Bush really appreciates what he is getting himself and the United States into... he is now taking on responsibility for ensuring that the Gaza mini-state created by Israel's withdrawal does not turn into a failed terrorist state."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38709-2004Apr24.html
Saturday, April 24, 2004
NO SOVEREIGNTY?
"... Since last November, when the June 30 transfer of sovereignty was approved by President Bush and decreed by Mr. Bremer in Iraq, the United States has insisted that Iraq would have a full transfer of sovereignty...
"... (Now) a new caretaker government in Iraq would place severe limits on its sovereignty, including only partial command over its armed forces and no authority to enact new laws... (it) handcuffs the new Iraq government in its authority over its own armed forces, let alone foreign forces on its soil.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/politics/23DIPL.html?hp
"... Since last November, when the June 30 transfer of sovereignty was approved by President Bush and decreed by Mr. Bremer in Iraq, the United States has insisted that Iraq would have a full transfer of sovereignty...
"... (Now) a new caretaker government in Iraq would place severe limits on its sovereignty, including only partial command over its armed forces and no authority to enact new laws... (it) handcuffs the new Iraq government in its authority over its own armed forces, let alone foreign forces on its soil.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/politics/23DIPL.html?hp
WARNING NOT TO STRIKE FALLUJAH AGAIN
"... American authorities increased the pressure on... Falluja on Friday with a series of blunt warnings that if they did not lay down their arms, United States soldiers would attack within days...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/international/middleeast/24IRAQ.html?hp
"... Make sure you do not strike Fallujah again... We will not allow the shedding of Iraqi blood. If you strike again, the whole of Iraq, from north to south, from east to west, will become Fallujah..."
-- Sunni Muslim leader Sheikh Ahmed Abdel Ghafur Samarrai
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0423-10.htm
"... American authorities increased the pressure on... Falluja on Friday with a series of blunt warnings that if they did not lay down their arms, United States soldiers would attack within days...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/international/middleeast/24IRAQ.html?hp
"... Make sure you do not strike Fallujah again... We will not allow the shedding of Iraqi blood. If you strike again, the whole of Iraq, from north to south, from east to west, will become Fallujah..."
-- Sunni Muslim leader Sheikh Ahmed Abdel Ghafur Samarrai
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0423-10.htm
Friday, April 23, 2004
THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY
"... The security contractors are already involved in full-fledged battlefield operations... A few days after (its men) were killed in Fallujah, Blackwater Security Consulting engaged in full-scale battle in Najaf, with the company flying its own helicopters amidst an intense firefight to resupply its own commandos."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0423-12.htm
"... the faces of US and coalition troops, those faces of our family and friends, represent to many Iraqis domination, humiliation, the hated enemy."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0423-11.htm
"... U.S. coalition workers... rarely dare to venture beyond the barricades these days..."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8477103.htm
"... Iraq is descending into chaos. In fact, the descent has been longer and steeper than most people imagine."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0423-07.htm
"... The security contractors are already involved in full-fledged battlefield operations... A few days after (its men) were killed in Fallujah, Blackwater Security Consulting engaged in full-scale battle in Najaf, with the company flying its own helicopters amidst an intense firefight to resupply its own commandos."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0423-12.htm
"... the faces of US and coalition troops, those faces of our family and friends, represent to many Iraqis domination, humiliation, the hated enemy."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0423-11.htm
"... U.S. coalition workers... rarely dare to venture beyond the barricades these days..."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8477103.htm
"... Iraq is descending into chaos. In fact, the descent has been longer and steeper than most people imagine."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0423-07.htm
Thursday, April 22, 2004
THE NEED FOR THE U.S. TO KEEP FIGHTING
"...Why is it so difficult for Congress to admit it failed to do its job when it gave the president a blank check to wage war against a country which had not attacked us and was not planning to attack us?... How many more families will have to grieve before the mistake is corrected?"
http://www.courierpub.com/articles/2004/04/21/couriergazette/opinion/o2betts.txt
(Because)... a majority of the public still believes Iraq was closely tied to the al-Qaeda terrorist group and had WMD stocks...
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=23439
"...Why is it so difficult for Congress to admit it failed to do its job when it gave the president a blank check to wage war against a country which had not attacked us and was not planning to attack us?... How many more families will have to grieve before the mistake is corrected?"
http://www.courierpub.com/articles/2004/04/21/couriergazette/opinion/o2betts.txt
(Because)... a majority of the public still believes Iraq was closely tied to the al-Qaeda terrorist group and had WMD stocks...
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=23439
THE APPOINTED GOVERNING COUNCIL HAS TO GO
”Everything is clear. The decent men didn't want to sit on the Governing Council. They are traitors. They're only serving to personal wealth and position.” Once the occupation is over, ”history will remember who stood where... The Arab people stand for their history and we will recall where these Governing Council people stood and where the decent people were standing.”
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0422-03.htm
"... The council has been dogged by allegations of nepotism, cronyism, self-dealing and outright corruption... Questions have been raised... that council members are more interested in promoting their own agendas than working for the good of the country... "Here we have some people who see an opportunity to become rich overnight and they see it's a free-for-all," said Sam Kubba, a Virginia architect who heads the American-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce and recently returned from Baghdad. "... and the unfortunate thing is that the CPA has done nothing to quench it."
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/20/Worldandnation/Iraqi_council_mired_i.shtml
”Everything is clear. The decent men didn't want to sit on the Governing Council. They are traitors. They're only serving to personal wealth and position.” Once the occupation is over, ”history will remember who stood where... The Arab people stand for their history and we will recall where these Governing Council people stood and where the decent people were standing.”
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0422-03.htm
"... The council has been dogged by allegations of nepotism, cronyism, self-dealing and outright corruption... Questions have been raised... that council members are more interested in promoting their own agendas than working for the good of the country... "Here we have some people who see an opportunity to become rich overnight and they see it's a free-for-all," said Sam Kubba, a Virginia architect who heads the American-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce and recently returned from Baghdad. "... and the unfortunate thing is that the CPA has done nothing to quench it."
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/20/Worldandnation/Iraqi_council_mired_i.shtml
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
CPA OFFICIAL SEES CIVIL WAR
"... A leaked coalition memo reveals that even true believers see the seeds of civil war in the occupation of Iraq." Same identical articles, 4 screens each.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0416/040420_news_iraq.php
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0416/vest2.php
This CPA memo was later published as "The Boys in the Bubble" in Harpers Magazine, July 2004, page 28.
Full text of the CPA memo (4 screens of fine print):
http://aan.org/gbase/Aan/viewArticle?oid=oid%3A134346
"... A leaked coalition memo reveals that even true believers see the seeds of civil war in the occupation of Iraq." Same identical articles, 4 screens each.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0416/040420_news_iraq.php
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0416/vest2.php
This CPA memo was later published as "The Boys in the Bubble" in Harpers Magazine, July 2004, page 28.
Full text of the CPA memo (4 screens of fine print):
http://aan.org/gbase/Aan/viewArticle?oid=oid%3A134346
GREEN ZONE SHORTAGES
"... With food supplies short, military planners have been considering for days whether to unpack their cases of field rations, called MREs, for everyone from foreign service officers to soldiers securing the barricades around the compound...
"... Baghdad proper is still awash in goods that have become scarce in the Green Zone - fresh fruits and vegetables, bread baked daily, soaps and deodorants of all varieties. Restaurants are open, and imports arrive from across the Arab world and Europe through trade and smuggling routes that elude the attacks...
"... But all of this is mostly off limits to U.S. coalition workers, who rarely dare to venture beyond the barricades these days for fear of being kidnapped..."
"... (The Green Zone cannot even use water from the) Baghdad bottling plant, even though it would be cheaper for the United States than buying it abroad and trucking it here on a 350-mile journey from Kuwait..."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8477103.htm
"... With food supplies short, military planners have been considering for days whether to unpack their cases of field rations, called MREs, for everyone from foreign service officers to soldiers securing the barricades around the compound...
"... Baghdad proper is still awash in goods that have become scarce in the Green Zone - fresh fruits and vegetables, bread baked daily, soaps and deodorants of all varieties. Restaurants are open, and imports arrive from across the Arab world and Europe through trade and smuggling routes that elude the attacks...
"... But all of this is mostly off limits to U.S. coalition workers, who rarely dare to venture beyond the barricades these days for fear of being kidnapped..."
"... (The Green Zone cannot even use water from the) Baghdad bottling plant, even though it would be cheaper for the United States than buying it abroad and trucking it here on a 350-mile journey from Kuwait..."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8477103.htm
AMBULANCE SHOOTING
"... Filmmaker Julia Guest who traveled to Fallujah in a convoy delivering relief supplies told IPS the clinic's ambulance was fired upon twice by U.S. snipers -- during the ceasefire. The second time it was fired on, it was carrying U.S. and British citizens who had negotiated an agreement with the marines to rescue the injured from an area under heavy U.S. sniper fire.... "It has blue sirens," Guest recalls, describing the ambulance. "It's donated by the Kingdom of Spain. It was carrying oxygen bottles, and the damage to the ambulance was such that two of the wheels were blown off, so they were left without an ambulance. And there are bullet holes all over the sides and back from the second shooting."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0420-12.htm
By British human rights activist Jo Wilding:
"... We’re crammed on the floor of the ambulance in case it’s shot at… Azzam is driving… and me by the window, the visible foreigner, the passport. Something scatters across my hand, simultaneous with the crashing of a bullet through the ambulance, some plastic part dislodged, flying through the window. We stop, turn off the siren, keep the blue light flashing, wait, eyes on the silhouettes of men in US marine uniforms on the corners of the buildings. Several shots come. We duck, get as low as possible and I can see tiny red lights whipping past the window, past my head. Some, it’s hard to tell, are hitting the ambulance I start singing. What else do you do when someone’s shooting at you? A tyre bursts with an enormous noise and a jerk of the vehicle. I’m outraged. We’re trying to get to a woman who’s giving birth without any medical attention, without electricity, in a city under siege, in a clearly marked ambulance, and you’re shooting at us. How dare you? Azzam grabs the gear stick and gets the ambulance into reverse, another tyre bursting as we go over the ridge in the centre of the road, the shots still coming as we flee around the corner. I carry on singing. The wheels are scraping, burst rubber burning on the road. The men run for a stretcher as we arrive and I shake my head. They spot the new bullet holes and run to see if we’re OK. Is there any other way to get to her, I want to know. La, maaku tarieq. There is no other way. They say we did the right thing. They say they’ve fixed the ambulance four times already and they’ll fix it again but the radiator’s gone and the wheels are buckled..."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4323.html
"... I am left with vivid memories... the dead eyes of two children, a boy and girl under 11 who were shot in the head by snipers. I volunteered to ride in ambulances evacuating the wounded... US snipers were targeting ambulances. I learned to pick out the beams of sniper rifles. I remember the medics' anger when the hospital's last working ambulance carrying British and American volunteers returned shot to pieces... after declaring their nationalities to US troops."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1205665,00.html
"... Filmmaker Julia Guest who traveled to Fallujah in a convoy delivering relief supplies told IPS the clinic's ambulance was fired upon twice by U.S. snipers -- during the ceasefire. The second time it was fired on, it was carrying U.S. and British citizens who had negotiated an agreement with the marines to rescue the injured from an area under heavy U.S. sniper fire.... "It has blue sirens," Guest recalls, describing the ambulance. "It's donated by the Kingdom of Spain. It was carrying oxygen bottles, and the damage to the ambulance was such that two of the wheels were blown off, so they were left without an ambulance. And there are bullet holes all over the sides and back from the second shooting."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0420-12.htm
By British human rights activist Jo Wilding:
"... We’re crammed on the floor of the ambulance in case it’s shot at… Azzam is driving… and me by the window, the visible foreigner, the passport. Something scatters across my hand, simultaneous with the crashing of a bullet through the ambulance, some plastic part dislodged, flying through the window. We stop, turn off the siren, keep the blue light flashing, wait, eyes on the silhouettes of men in US marine uniforms on the corners of the buildings. Several shots come. We duck, get as low as possible and I can see tiny red lights whipping past the window, past my head. Some, it’s hard to tell, are hitting the ambulance I start singing. What else do you do when someone’s shooting at you? A tyre bursts with an enormous noise and a jerk of the vehicle. I’m outraged. We’re trying to get to a woman who’s giving birth without any medical attention, without electricity, in a city under siege, in a clearly marked ambulance, and you’re shooting at us. How dare you? Azzam grabs the gear stick and gets the ambulance into reverse, another tyre bursting as we go over the ridge in the centre of the road, the shots still coming as we flee around the corner. I carry on singing. The wheels are scraping, burst rubber burning on the road. The men run for a stretcher as we arrive and I shake my head. They spot the new bullet holes and run to see if we’re OK. Is there any other way to get to her, I want to know. La, maaku tarieq. There is no other way. They say we did the right thing. They say they’ve fixed the ambulance four times already and they’ll fix it again but the radiator’s gone and the wheels are buckled..."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4323.html
"... I am left with vivid memories... the dead eyes of two children, a boy and girl under 11 who were shot in the head by snipers. I volunteered to ride in ambulances evacuating the wounded... US snipers were targeting ambulances. I learned to pick out the beams of sniper rifles. I remember the medics' anger when the hospital's last working ambulance carrying British and American volunteers returned shot to pieces... after declaring their nationalities to US troops."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1205665,00.html
USE THE DRAFT INSTEAD OF THE UN?
(Former White House adviser) Richard Perle... warned against entrusting the United Nations with the post-occupation administration of Iraq, saying "A large UN contingent in Iraq ... would do more harm than good".
(Senator Chuck Hagel R-Nebraska) said that deteriorating security in Iraq may force the United States to reintroduce the military draft. "Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0420-10.htm
(Former White House adviser) Richard Perle... warned against entrusting the United Nations with the post-occupation administration of Iraq, saying "A large UN contingent in Iraq ... would do more harm than good".
(Senator Chuck Hagel R-Nebraska) said that deteriorating security in Iraq may force the United States to reintroduce the military draft. "Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0420-10.htm
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
THE HIGHER FATHER WILL FORGIVE
"... Asked by Woodward... if he had ever consulted the former president before ordering the invasion of Iraq, (the younger) Bush replied that "he is the wrong father to appeal to in terms of strength; there is a higher father that I appeal to"... The president conceded to Woodward that he had the good sense not to "justify war based upon God" but would ask for forgiveness if he took the wrong path."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-scheer20apr20,1,7549610.column
"... Asked by Woodward... if he had ever consulted the former president before ordering the invasion of Iraq, (the younger) Bush replied that "he is the wrong father to appeal to in terms of strength; there is a higher father that I appeal to"... The president conceded to Woodward that he had the good sense not to "justify war based upon God" but would ask for forgiveness if he took the wrong path."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-scheer20apr20,1,7549610.column
FUNGIBLES
"... A reporter wanted some clarification... "why... is it necessary to keep extra troops in Iraq for 90 days?"
"Rumsfeld said, showing a little irritation. "Come on, people are fungible. You can have them here or there."
"...fungible... refers to something that can be satisfactorily replaced, either in part or in whole, with some other part or quantity of similar value."
hehttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0404180403apr18,1,7011132.column?coll=chi-news-colre
"... A reporter wanted some clarification... "why... is it necessary to keep extra troops in Iraq for 90 days?"
"Rumsfeld said, showing a little irritation. "Come on, people are fungible. You can have them here or there."
"...fungible... refers to something that can be satisfactorily replaced, either in part or in whole, with some other part or quantity of similar value."
hehttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0404180403apr18,1,7011132.column?coll=chi-news-colre
THE ANALOGY BETWEEN IRAQ AND THE PHILIPPINES
"... The U.S. Navy steamed into the Philippines and whipped the Spanish fleet. The Army marched into Manila and we "liberated" the people from the yoke of Spanish colonialism.
"But then, American corporate interests thought how nice it would be to have a strategic base and possessions in that part of the world. Sugar, rubber and oil were important resources in the region, and having the U.S. flag flying in the Philippines and the Navy in the neighborhood would protect those interests. What a marvelous idea!
"McKinley was deeply religious and he seized the nation with kindness and even paid Spain $20 million for its former territory. The American imperialism and colonial grab of the Philippines was called the "Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation" and McKinley saw a splendid opportunity to spread his faith and American values.
"Mark Twain was outraged and, in his writings and lectures, he spoke out against the occupation. "I am an anti-imperialist," he wrote. "I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land."
"Refusing "born-again" baptism and other benevolent gifts, Filipino nationalists fought for the "Almighty's gift," freedom and independence. Under the brilliant leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, who had fought Spanish rule and had wide popular support, the resistance to U.S. occupation grew.
"After the eagle landed, the fighting went on for several years and, by 1902, 10,000 American troops had died from rebel attacks and disease. It became the first conflict in which more Americans died after the formal end of hostilities than before. Iraq is now the second.
"On the Filipino side, 16,000 resistance fighters were killed and 200,000 civilians were left dead. And there were atrocities. Thousands of unarmed Filipinos -- including women and children -- were slaughtered. Torture was routine and people were executed without trial. The barbarism so offended Twain that he suggested a new flag for our Philippine colony. "Just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by skull and crossbones," Twain wrote searingly.
"The brute force being used on Fallujah may satisfy Bush's demand that "I want heads to roll," after American contractors were murdered and their bodies mutilated. But the collectivized punishment may spawn even more violence. There was a report last week that U.S. troops beat an Iraqi man who refused to remove a picture of wanted Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr from his car. Qassem Hassan later died from his wounds.
"Dr. Juan Cole, an expert on Iraq at the University of Michigan, says, "A hated occupier is powerless even with all the firepower in the world." Bush's undue reliance on force to quiet the colony just won't work.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0420-12.htm
(Blogger's note: But it DID work in the Philippines. We got the Philippines pacified, and we got mahogany and bases for a hundred years.)
"... The U.S. Navy steamed into the Philippines and whipped the Spanish fleet. The Army marched into Manila and we "liberated" the people from the yoke of Spanish colonialism.
"But then, American corporate interests thought how nice it would be to have a strategic base and possessions in that part of the world. Sugar, rubber and oil were important resources in the region, and having the U.S. flag flying in the Philippines and the Navy in the neighborhood would protect those interests. What a marvelous idea!
"McKinley was deeply religious and he seized the nation with kindness and even paid Spain $20 million for its former territory. The American imperialism and colonial grab of the Philippines was called the "Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation" and McKinley saw a splendid opportunity to spread his faith and American values.
"Mark Twain was outraged and, in his writings and lectures, he spoke out against the occupation. "I am an anti-imperialist," he wrote. "I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land."
"Refusing "born-again" baptism and other benevolent gifts, Filipino nationalists fought for the "Almighty's gift," freedom and independence. Under the brilliant leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, who had fought Spanish rule and had wide popular support, the resistance to U.S. occupation grew.
"After the eagle landed, the fighting went on for several years and, by 1902, 10,000 American troops had died from rebel attacks and disease. It became the first conflict in which more Americans died after the formal end of hostilities than before. Iraq is now the second.
"On the Filipino side, 16,000 resistance fighters were killed and 200,000 civilians were left dead. And there were atrocities. Thousands of unarmed Filipinos -- including women and children -- were slaughtered. Torture was routine and people were executed without trial. The barbarism so offended Twain that he suggested a new flag for our Philippine colony. "Just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by skull and crossbones," Twain wrote searingly.
"The brute force being used on Fallujah may satisfy Bush's demand that "I want heads to roll," after American contractors were murdered and their bodies mutilated. But the collectivized punishment may spawn even more violence. There was a report last week that U.S. troops beat an Iraqi man who refused to remove a picture of wanted Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr from his car. Qassem Hassan later died from his wounds.
"Dr. Juan Cole, an expert on Iraq at the University of Michigan, says, "A hated occupier is powerless even with all the firepower in the world." Bush's undue reliance on force to quiet the colony just won't work.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0420-12.htm
(Blogger's note: But it DID work in the Philippines. We got the Philippines pacified, and we got mahogany and bases for a hundred years.)
NON-COMBATANT COALITION MEMBERS
Honduras has followed Spain in announcing it will pull its troops out of Iraq, and Thailand said its 451 medical and engineering troops will be withdrawn if they are attacked... The Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said... "We do not go there to fight. If we get killed why should we stay?"
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/20/1082395859974.html
Honduras has followed Spain in announcing it will pull its troops out of Iraq, and Thailand said its 451 medical and engineering troops will be withdrawn if they are attacked... The Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said... "We do not go there to fight. If we get killed why should we stay?"
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/20/1082395859974.html
HATRED OF AMERICANS
"Today there is hatred of the Americans like never before in the region... At the start some considered the Americans were helping them. There was no hatred of the Americans. After what has happened in Iraq, there is unprecedented hatred and the Americans know it... The despair and feeling of injustice are not going to be limited to our region alone. American and Israeli interests will not be safe, not only in our region but anywhere in the world." -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=5IOOUHEKEBJJ0CRBAEKSFEY?type=topNews&storyID=4878918
"Today there is hatred of the Americans like never before in the region... At the start some considered the Americans were helping them. There was no hatred of the Americans. After what has happened in Iraq, there is unprecedented hatred and the Americans know it... The despair and feeling of injustice are not going to be limited to our region alone. American and Israeli interests will not be safe, not only in our region but anywhere in the world." -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=5IOOUHEKEBJJ0CRBAEKSFEY?type=topNews&storyID=4878918
Monday, April 19, 2004
BRITISH AND THE SHIA
"... Brig Nick Carter admitted that he would be powerless to prevent the overthrow of Coalition forces if the Shia majority in Basra rose up in rebellion... said British forces would stay in Basra with the consent of local Shia leaders, or not at all."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/04/18/wirq18.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/04/18/ixportaltop.html
"... Brig Nick Carter admitted that he would be powerless to prevent the overthrow of Coalition forces if the Shia majority in Basra rose up in rebellion... said British forces would stay in Basra with the consent of local Shia leaders, or not at all."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/04/18/wirq18.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/04/18/ixportaltop.html
VIEWS OF RESISTANCE
"... Before, the occupation might have succeeded -- not in building real democracy, which was never the goal, but in cementing U.S. control of Iraq. It cannot succeed now. The resistance in Fallujah will be beaten down... if the United States invades Najaf, it will be able to win militarily there as well. But from now on, no military victory will make Iraqis stop resisting."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0419-08.htm
"... People do not want to be ruled by an alien power from thousands of miles away whose interests are self-serving. The resistance in Iraq bears all the hallmarks of a people's war for self-determination."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0419-04.htm
"... Before, the occupation might have succeeded -- not in building real democracy, which was never the goal, but in cementing U.S. control of Iraq. It cannot succeed now. The resistance in Fallujah will be beaten down... if the United States invades Najaf, it will be able to win militarily there as well. But from now on, no military victory will make Iraqis stop resisting."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0419-08.htm
"... People do not want to be ruled by an alien power from thousands of miles away whose interests are self-serving. The resistance in Iraq bears all the hallmarks of a people's war for self-determination."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0419-04.htm
SNIPERS
"... The young American Marine is exultant. "It's a sniper's dream", he tells a Los Angeles Times reporter on the outskirts of Fallujah. "You can go anywhere and there so many ways to fire at the enemy without him knowing where you are. Sometimes a guy will go down, and I'll let him scream a bit to destroy the morale of his buddies. Then I'll use a second shot."
... the corporal... has emerged as the top sniper, with 24 confirmed kills..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sniper17apr17,1,2717166.story
"When you see a child five years old with no head, what can you say?" says a doctor in Fallujah whose name is being withheld for his safety. "When you see a child with no brain, just an open cavity, what can you say?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0420-12.htm
"... The young American Marine is exultant. "It's a sniper's dream", he tells a Los Angeles Times reporter on the outskirts of Fallujah. "You can go anywhere and there so many ways to fire at the enemy without him knowing where you are. Sometimes a guy will go down, and I'll let him scream a bit to destroy the morale of his buddies. Then I'll use a second shot."
... the corporal... has emerged as the top sniper, with 24 confirmed kills..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sniper17apr17,1,2717166.story
"When you see a child five years old with no head, what can you say?" says a doctor in Fallujah whose name is being withheld for his safety. "When you see a child with no brain, just an open cavity, what can you say?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0420-12.htm
DANGER OF BARBARISM?
"... Because of Bush’s strategic commitment... the U.S. cannot get out of Iraq; but because of the realities of colonialism, guerilla war, phony democracy, and the foundation of lies to justify it all, it will not be able to win either..."
"... if Iraq falls, Bush’s cabal... will be decisively, publicly, embarrassingly repudiated. All of this is a formula for potential catastrophe.... The danger now is that in his desperation to avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat, the repudiation of his entire presidency, and a generation-long disdain for U.S. military power, Bush will resort to apocalyptic barbarism."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0419-11.htm
"... Because of Bush’s strategic commitment... the U.S. cannot get out of Iraq; but because of the realities of colonialism, guerilla war, phony democracy, and the foundation of lies to justify it all, it will not be able to win either..."
"... if Iraq falls, Bush’s cabal... will be decisively, publicly, embarrassingly repudiated. All of this is a formula for potential catastrophe.... The danger now is that in his desperation to avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat, the repudiation of his entire presidency, and a generation-long disdain for U.S. military power, Bush will resort to apocalyptic barbarism."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0419-11.htm
Sunday, April 18, 2004
IRAQI PERCEPTION
This is the Iraqi architect who became the "Baghdad Blogger" before and during the attack, has since done some documentaries for BBC, and has seemed to a moderate Westerner. I think he is as close as we can see of the present feelings in Iraq.
"... Everyone believes that Bush is giving the green light for Sharon to kill their leaders, and everyone thinks that Iraq, Falluja, Najaf and every other city would face the same Palestinian destiny if they didn’t fight Against the American army now..."
Raed Jarrar, blog of April 18
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
This is the Iraqi architect who became the "Baghdad Blogger" before and during the attack, has since done some documentaries for BBC, and has seemed to a moderate Westerner. I think he is as close as we can see of the present feelings in Iraq.
"... Everyone believes that Bush is giving the green light for Sharon to kill their leaders, and everyone thinks that Iraq, Falluja, Najaf and every other city would face the same Palestinian destiny if they didn’t fight Against the American army now..."
Raed Jarrar, blog of April 18
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
ARAB PERCEPTION
"More than ever before it shows that the American occupation of Iraq is the other face of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The Israelis and the US are fighting on one front."
-- Sateh Noureddine, a columnist with Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=2453
"More than ever before it shows that the American occupation of Iraq is the other face of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The Israelis and the US are fighting on one front."
-- Sateh Noureddine, a columnist with Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=2453
THE GENERALS' VIEWS
"...there is light at the end of the tunnel, but our soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors are winning over the Iraqi people..."
Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, January 2004
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Stories/01_04/8.htm
"... the deadly insurgency that flared this month is a symptom of the success that we're having here in Iraq... "
Air Force General Richard Myers, April 15 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15911-2004Apr15.html
"...there is light at the end of the tunnel, but our soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors are winning over the Iraqi people..."
Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, January 2004
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Stories/01_04/8.htm
"... the deadly insurgency that flared this month is a symptom of the success that we're having here in Iraq... "
Air Force General Richard Myers, April 15 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15911-2004Apr15.html
CUT OFF AND ISOLATED
"... insurgent attacks... have severely reduced the flow of food, fuel and other supplies into the capital.... the cutoff in supplies reaching the American occupation authority's headquarters in Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace in central Baghdad were approaching a critical point. Canteens feeding 2,000 people, civilians as well as military personnel, may soon be forced to serve combat rations in plastic sleeves, known as meals ready to eat."
http://nytimes.com/2004/04/18/international/middleeast/18IRAQ.html
"... insurgency in Iraq has isolated the U.S.-appointed civilian government and stopped the American-financed reconstruction effort... Thousands of workers for private contractors have been confined to their quarters in the highly fortified Green Zone in Baghdad that also houses the headquarters of the U.S. occupation authority. Routine trips outside the compound to repair power plants, water-treatment facilities and other parts of Iraq's crumbling infrastructure have been deemed too dangerous, even with armed escorts."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20690-2004Apr17.html
"... insurgent attacks... have severely reduced the flow of food, fuel and other supplies into the capital.... the cutoff in supplies reaching the American occupation authority's headquarters in Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace in central Baghdad were approaching a critical point. Canteens feeding 2,000 people, civilians as well as military personnel, may soon be forced to serve combat rations in plastic sleeves, known as meals ready to eat."
http://nytimes.com/2004/04/18/international/middleeast/18IRAQ.html
"... insurgency in Iraq has isolated the U.S.-appointed civilian government and stopped the American-financed reconstruction effort... Thousands of workers for private contractors have been confined to their quarters in the highly fortified Green Zone in Baghdad that also houses the headquarters of the U.S. occupation authority. Routine trips outside the compound to repair power plants, water-treatment facilities and other parts of Iraq's crumbling infrastructure have been deemed too dangerous, even with armed escorts."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20690-2004Apr17.html
INSURGENT CITIZENS
"... In Baghdad, ambulances and hospitals that report to the Ministry of Health took in the wounded from Fallujah but then spirited them to smaller, private hospitals and homes amid rumors that U.S. soldiers were sweeping through major medical centers arresting the injured. "We must protect them -- we must," said Riad Mohammed Saleh, a receptionist at a public hospital in the capital's Yarmouk district. "We figure they are regular citizens."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20690-2004Apr17_2.html
"... In Baghdad, ambulances and hospitals that report to the Ministry of Health took in the wounded from Fallujah but then spirited them to smaller, private hospitals and homes amid rumors that U.S. soldiers were sweeping through major medical centers arresting the injured. "We must protect them -- we must," said Riad Mohammed Saleh, a receptionist at a public hospital in the capital's Yarmouk district. "We figure they are regular citizens."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20690-2004Apr17_2.html
BRINGING THEM ON - OVER HERE
"When the fighting is over in Fallujah, I will sell everything I have, even my home," said a resistance fighter who gave his name as Abu Taif Mashhadani. He wept as he recalled his 8-year-old daughter, who he said was killed by a U.S. sniper in Fallujah a week ago. "... I will go to America and target the civilians. Only the civilians. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20690-2004Apr17_2.html
"When the fighting is over in Fallujah, I will sell everything I have, even my home," said a resistance fighter who gave his name as Abu Taif Mashhadani. He wept as he recalled his 8-year-old daughter, who he said was killed by a U.S. sniper in Fallujah a week ago. "... I will go to America and target the civilians. Only the civilians. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20690-2004Apr17_2.html
Friday, April 16, 2004
SHOULD WE LEAVE OR STAY?
Should we leave Iraq or "stay the course"? I don't think that we will leave willingly. We did not make plans to come and go, and now that the occupation is turning out badly, I wonder if any administration just give up and leave.
1. It will appear that we lost the war and abandoned Iraq.
2. After we leave, the country might fall apart into worse chaos with a full civil war to determine the leaders(s). We would look bad for attacking and destabilizing a country and then leaving.
3. The new government(s) probably would be Islamic rather than democratic, might be anti-US, and would probably harbor Al Quaeda.
4. The failure of Iraq to select democracy might signal that it will not work in Muslim countries.
5. Our withdrawal would not protect the US from Al Quada attacks, as Bin Laden has excluded the US from a truce offer to Europe.
6. We have spent almost 700 lives, over 3,000 seriously maimed, and 10,000+ other injured, with no end in sight, and some would say we need to make that worthwhile.
7. We are spending over $150 billion, between military costs and rebuilding, with another unannounced $70 billion needed this Fall, and we did not plan that as an outright gift to the Iraqi people. Some would say we need to stay to recoup our investment.
8. The market thought it too risky to provide loans or insurance to companies investing in Iraq, so the US set up the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an agency backed by the Treasury. Taxpayers would have to pay billions more in claims by companies who lost their investment because the US failed to stay to provide security.
9. Then there is all that oil. Even with the other reasons we went into Iraq being false, in the coming decades the US might say it was wise to get control of the last 50-years supply of oil.
So "staying the course" could look better to some than getting out, assuming we know where the course will go.
I think staying the course means destroying any resistance (pacification), establishing security (monopoly on violence), installing a cooperative government (local face on the occupation), and controlling the country from more than a dozen permanent military bases now being built.
This is like what we did with the Philippines at the turn of the century. It was bloodier and longer than Iraq so far, but served us well for a hundred years. Some must hope that it works as well for us in Iraq.
Should we leave Iraq or "stay the course"? I don't think that we will leave willingly. We did not make plans to come and go, and now that the occupation is turning out badly, I wonder if any administration just give up and leave.
1. It will appear that we lost the war and abandoned Iraq.
2. After we leave, the country might fall apart into worse chaos with a full civil war to determine the leaders(s). We would look bad for attacking and destabilizing a country and then leaving.
3. The new government(s) probably would be Islamic rather than democratic, might be anti-US, and would probably harbor Al Quaeda.
4. The failure of Iraq to select democracy might signal that it will not work in Muslim countries.
5. Our withdrawal would not protect the US from Al Quada attacks, as Bin Laden has excluded the US from a truce offer to Europe.
6. We have spent almost 700 lives, over 3,000 seriously maimed, and 10,000+ other injured, with no end in sight, and some would say we need to make that worthwhile.
7. We are spending over $150 billion, between military costs and rebuilding, with another unannounced $70 billion needed this Fall, and we did not plan that as an outright gift to the Iraqi people. Some would say we need to stay to recoup our investment.
8. The market thought it too risky to provide loans or insurance to companies investing in Iraq, so the US set up the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an agency backed by the Treasury. Taxpayers would have to pay billions more in claims by companies who lost their investment because the US failed to stay to provide security.
9. Then there is all that oil. Even with the other reasons we went into Iraq being false, in the coming decades the US might say it was wise to get control of the last 50-years supply of oil.
So "staying the course" could look better to some than getting out, assuming we know where the course will go.
I think staying the course means destroying any resistance (pacification), establishing security (monopoly on violence), installing a cooperative government (local face on the occupation), and controlling the country from more than a dozen permanent military bases now being built.
This is like what we did with the Philippines at the turn of the century. It was bloodier and longer than Iraq so far, but served us well for a hundred years. Some must hope that it works as well for us in Iraq.
CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM
"...Iraq is the place, in which the enemies of the civilized world are testing the will of the civilized world. We must not waver...I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world. Freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom." -- President Bush in 9-11 press conference.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040413-20.html
"... Bush came pretty close to proclaiming the fight against radical Islam the divine mission of the United States... especially in light of his actions the next day on behalf of Israel... saying, again, to radical Islam, "Bring it on."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/561/4724856.html
"...Iraq is the place, in which the enemies of the civilized world are testing the will of the civilized world. We must not waver...I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world. Freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom." -- President Bush in 9-11 press conference.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040413-20.html
"... Bush came pretty close to proclaiming the fight against radical Islam the divine mission of the United States... especially in light of his actions the next day on behalf of Israel... saying, again, to radical Islam, "Bring it on."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/561/4724856.html
PROBLEMS WITH IRAQ
"President Bush warned the nation Tuesday night of the "unthinkable" consequences of failure in Iraq. But... Washington analysts expressed rising concern about the chances of success... The list of problems... includes:
• 20 percent of the present $18 billion in reconstruction contracts will be spent on security.
• The need for an estimated $70 billion in new funding, which Bush did not mention.
• The need for more U.S. troops...
• The U.S. public relations failure inside Iraq.
• The failure to train and equip Iraqi security forces.
• The slow progress on reconstruction and the lack of private investment to jump-start the economy and suck support from the insurgency."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/04/15/MNG4R65CRI1.DTL
"President Bush warned the nation Tuesday night of the "unthinkable" consequences of failure in Iraq. But... Washington analysts expressed rising concern about the chances of success... The list of problems... includes:
• 20 percent of the present $18 billion in reconstruction contracts will be spent on security.
• The need for an estimated $70 billion in new funding, which Bush did not mention.
• The need for more U.S. troops...
• The U.S. public relations failure inside Iraq.
• The failure to train and equip Iraqi security forces.
• The slow progress on reconstruction and the lack of private investment to jump-start the economy and suck support from the insurgency."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/04/15/MNG4R65CRI1.DTL
Thursday, April 15, 2004
TEXT OF BIN LADEN TAPE MESSAGE
Click here, or enter:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3628069.stm
Click here, or enter:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3628069.stm
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
HOW LONG WILL WE STAY, WHERE ARE WE GOING?
"We will stay long as it takes and not a day longer."
How long is that?
"We will stay the course."
What is the course?
HOW LONG
"... U.S. military engineers are overseeing the building of an enhanced system of American bases designed to last for years... U.S. engineers are focusing on constructing 14 "enduring bases," long-term encampments for the thousands of American troops... The number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq, between 105,000 and 110,000, is expected to remain unchanged through 2006..."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0403230140mar23,1,7365265.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
THE COURSE
"... Bush strongly reiterated his commitment to transferring sovereignty in Iraq back to Iraqis..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/14/politics/14BUSH.html?hp
"Sovereign Iraq will stay under U.S. Authority"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001885099_turnover22.html
"We will stay long as it takes and not a day longer."
How long is that?
"We will stay the course."
What is the course?
HOW LONG
"... U.S. military engineers are overseeing the building of an enhanced system of American bases designed to last for years... U.S. engineers are focusing on constructing 14 "enduring bases," long-term encampments for the thousands of American troops... The number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq, between 105,000 and 110,000, is expected to remain unchanged through 2006..."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0403230140mar23,1,7365265.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
THE COURSE
"... Bush strongly reiterated his commitment to transferring sovereignty in Iraq back to Iraqis..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/14/politics/14BUSH.html?hp
"Sovereign Iraq will stay under U.S. Authority"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001885099_turnover22.html
PLANTING WMD
April 14:
"... unofficial reports that the containers held biological and bacteriological toxins in liquid form... White House... might try to immediately announce the discovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in order to overshadow the scandals and prevent a further decline of Bush’s public opinion rating as the election approaches."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0413-02.htm
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Detailview.asp?Keyword=wmd&Da=4/13/2004&Cat=4&Num=13
March 18:
"Tehran Times says "U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq."
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=3/13/2004&Cat=4&Num=011
March 14:
"... there have been reports that U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq... U.S. forces, with the help of British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made extensive efforts to conceal their actions... ordinary cargo ships were used to download the cargo, which consisted of weapons produced in the 1980s and 1990s... Most of these weapons are of Eastern European origin and some parts are from the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The U.S. obtained them through confiscations during sales of banned arms over the past two decades.”
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=58225
April 14:
"... unofficial reports that the containers held biological and bacteriological toxins in liquid form... White House... might try to immediately announce the discovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in order to overshadow the scandals and prevent a further decline of Bush’s public opinion rating as the election approaches."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0413-02.htm
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Detailview.asp?Keyword=wmd&Da=4/13/2004&Cat=4&Num=13
March 18:
"Tehran Times says "U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq."
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=3/13/2004&Cat=4&Num=011
March 14:
"... there have been reports that U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq... U.S. forces, with the help of British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made extensive efforts to conceal their actions... ordinary cargo ships were used to download the cargo, which consisted of weapons produced in the 1980s and 1990s... Most of these weapons are of Eastern European origin and some parts are from the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The U.S. obtained them through confiscations during sales of banned arms over the past two decades.”
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=58225
9-11 PRESS CONFERENCE: NOBODY COULD ENVISION FLYING PLANES INTO BUILDINGS
Bush said "there was nobody in our government... that could envision flying airplanes into buildings". But a few minutes later Bush said: "I asked for the (Bin Laden) briefing... because there had been a lot of threat intelligence from overseas... part of it had to do with Genoa, the G8 conference... that's what triggered the (Aug. 6 briefing) report."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040413-20.html
So after uttering the first statement, Bush remembered that the US had been warned about planes:
"U.S. and Italian officials were warned in July (2001) that Islamic terrorists might attempt to kill President Bush... by crashing an airliner into the Genoa summit of industrialized nations... Italian officials took the reports seriously... closing the airspace over Genoa and stationing antiaircraft guns at the city's airport.... Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said his government provided information to the United States about possible attacks on the Genoa summit by Saudi-born terrorist Osama bin Laden. "There was a question of an airplane stuffed with explosives. As a result, precautions were taken."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-092701genoa.story
Bush said "there was nobody in our government... that could envision flying airplanes into buildings". But a few minutes later Bush said: "I asked for the (Bin Laden) briefing... because there had been a lot of threat intelligence from overseas... part of it had to do with Genoa, the G8 conference... that's what triggered the (Aug. 6 briefing) report."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040413-20.html
So after uttering the first statement, Bush remembered that the US had been warned about planes:
"U.S. and Italian officials were warned in July (2001) that Islamic terrorists might attempt to kill President Bush... by crashing an airliner into the Genoa summit of industrialized nations... Italian officials took the reports seriously... closing the airspace over Genoa and stationing antiaircraft guns at the city's airport.... Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said his government provided information to the United States about possible attacks on the Genoa summit by Saudi-born terrorist Osama bin Laden. "There was a question of an airplane stuffed with explosives. As a result, precautions were taken."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-092701genoa.story
PAY 3 TIMES FOR IRAQ?
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is a US government agency that provides loans and insurance to US companies investing in Iraq. It was set up to compensate firms for loss in Iraq due to the US not providing security for their investments.
"... Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers."
http://www.opic.gov/
“... what happens if "the people of Iraq" decide to seize back their economy from the US... Who bails out OPIC? "In theory... the US Treasury... That means the US taxpayer... While the enormous profits being made in Iraq are strictly private, it turns out that the entire risk is being shouldered by the public...”
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1219-01.htm
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040105&c=1&s=klein
We paid the military billions to destroy, and we are paying the Halliburtons billions again to rebuild so we can attract US firms to privatize the Iraqi industries. But if we should walk away from Iraq, or if the new Iraq should expropriate the industries back, the fees and premiums that OPIC charged our firms cannot cover the simultaneous massive capital losses. Taxpayers would pay billions a third time to compensate those firms for their losses.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is a US government agency that provides loans and insurance to US companies investing in Iraq. It was set up to compensate firms for loss in Iraq due to the US not providing security for their investments.
"... Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers."
http://www.opic.gov/
“... what happens if "the people of Iraq" decide to seize back their economy from the US... Who bails out OPIC? "In theory... the US Treasury... That means the US taxpayer... While the enormous profits being made in Iraq are strictly private, it turns out that the entire risk is being shouldered by the public...”
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1219-01.htm
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040105&c=1&s=klein
We paid the military billions to destroy, and we are paying the Halliburtons billions again to rebuild so we can attract US firms to privatize the Iraqi industries. But if we should walk away from Iraq, or if the new Iraq should expropriate the industries back, the fees and premiums that OPIC charged our firms cannot cover the simultaneous massive capital losses. Taxpayers would pay billions a third time to compensate those firms for their losses.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
TROOP SHORTAGE, DRAFT
" Presidential candidate Ralph Nader... noted that the federal government is filling seats on local draft boards as preparation for a reinstatement of the draft... we are looking at the shortage of troops in Iraq and the calls from [Senator John] Kerry for 40,000 more troops."
"... third-party candidate, Libertarian Aaron Russo... Said the draft is a bipartisan effort between Republicans and Democrats that will start after the 2004 presidential election..."
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040412-114403-9384r.htm
http://www.russoforpresident.com/petition_draft.php
" Presidential candidate Ralph Nader... noted that the federal government is filling seats on local draft boards as preparation for a reinstatement of the draft... we are looking at the shortage of troops in Iraq and the calls from [Senator John] Kerry for 40,000 more troops."
"... third-party candidate, Libertarian Aaron Russo... Said the draft is a bipartisan effort between Republicans and Democrats that will start after the 2004 presidential election..."
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040412-114403-9384r.htm
http://www.russoforpresident.com/petition_draft.php
HAMBURGER HILLS
"... What exactly happens once we take Fallujah, or Kut, or Najaf, or Karbala?... Like the Hamburger Hills of Vietnam, we don't actually want Fallujah, or Kut, or Kufa, or for that matter the holy city of Najaf."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0412-02.htm
"... What exactly happens once we take Fallujah, or Kut, or Najaf, or Karbala?... Like the Hamburger Hills of Vietnam, we don't actually want Fallujah, or Kut, or Kufa, or for that matter the holy city of Najaf."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0412-02.htm
PRECISION
"... ambulances being hit by snipers, women and children being shot... An ambulance with two neat, precise bullet-holes in the windshield on the driver's side... over 600 Iraqis have been killed, with an estimated 200 women and over 100 children I saw for myself."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0412-01.htm
"... United States (said) most of those who died were militants picked off with precision by US marines... General Mark Kimmitt... repeated that marines were tremendously precise..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1190288,00.html
"... ambulances being hit by snipers, women and children being shot... An ambulance with two neat, precise bullet-holes in the windshield on the driver's side... over 600 Iraqis have been killed, with an estimated 200 women and over 100 children I saw for myself."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0412-01.htm
"... United States (said) most of those who died were militants picked off with precision by US marines... General Mark Kimmitt... repeated that marines were tremendously precise..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1190288,00.html
THE BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS
Reuters television footage from Falluja showed corpses of children, women and old men lying in the street... (A resident said) "When the Americans arrived there were only about 50 guerrillas... By the end of the week there were a few thousand." A New York Times report... says that many people - perhaps tens of thousands - who did not consider themselves full-time resistance fighters were now prepared to join the insurgency... Khalif Juma, a 26-year-old vegetable seller, told the newspaper... He and his cousins have bought a crate of Kalashnikov rifles..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3619661.stm
"... young men are leaving Baghdad to join a fight... a cluster of men... joined a spirited discussion about the need to take the fight to the enemy. They included a dentist, a prayer leader, a law student, a lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi police and a man who until 10 days earlier had traveled with U.S. troops as a member of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6462-2004Apr12_2.html
Reuters television footage from Falluja showed corpses of children, women and old men lying in the street... (A resident said) "When the Americans arrived there were only about 50 guerrillas... By the end of the week there were a few thousand." A New York Times report... says that many people - perhaps tens of thousands - who did not consider themselves full-time resistance fighters were now prepared to join the insurgency... Khalif Juma, a 26-year-old vegetable seller, told the newspaper... He and his cousins have bought a crate of Kalashnikov rifles..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3619661.stm
"... young men are leaving Baghdad to join a fight... a cluster of men... joined a spirited discussion about the need to take the fight to the enemy. They included a dentist, a prayer leader, a law student, a lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi police and a man who until 10 days earlier had traveled with U.S. troops as a member of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6462-2004Apr12_2.html
Monday, April 12, 2004
WHICH IS IT?
"... a transcript of President Bush's weekly radio address: ...As the June 30th date for Iraqi sovereignty draws near, a small faction is attempting to derail Iraqi democracy and seize power..."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,116754,00.html
"...(British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw) broke a lengthy official silence to admit... that the "vast majority" of Iraqis were opposed to the allied occupation.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9244337^401,00.html
"... a transcript of President Bush's weekly radio address: ...As the June 30th date for Iraqi sovereignty draws near, a small faction is attempting to derail Iraqi democracy and seize power..."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,116754,00.html
"...(British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw) broke a lengthy official silence to admit... that the "vast majority" of Iraqis were opposed to the allied occupation.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9244337^401,00.html
PACIFICATION WORKING AS A DETERRENT
" On television, the children are unmoving, dead in the streets, blood pooling and spreading underneath them."
"... a doctor, said: "I was in my home for days... for fear of being shot. One morning, I decided I had to make it to the hospital, but just before I left, I saw my neighbor walk from his house. An American sniper shot him, once in the head."
"... (an) Iraqi journalist (said) Iraqis are looking at the images of Fallujah, and wondering if they're looking at the future of the rest of Iraq, should we ever anger the United States."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8403432.htm
" On television, the children are unmoving, dead in the streets, blood pooling and spreading underneath them."
"... a doctor, said: "I was in my home for days... for fear of being shot. One morning, I decided I had to make it to the hospital, but just before I left, I saw my neighbor walk from his house. An American sniper shot him, once in the head."
"... (an) Iraqi journalist (said) Iraqis are looking at the images of Fallujah, and wondering if they're looking at the future of the rest of Iraq, should we ever anger the United States."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8403432.htm
Sunday, April 11, 2004
KNOWING THE ENEMY
"... Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon that the fighting in Iraq was just the work of thugs, gangs and terrorists..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/08/international/middleeast/08SHIA.html
"... people said they did not consider themselves full-time freedom fighters or mujahedeen; they have jobs in vegetable shops, offices, garages and schools."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/11/international/middleeast/11RESI.html
"... Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon that the fighting in Iraq was just the work of thugs, gangs and terrorists..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/08/international/middleeast/08SHIA.html
"... people said they did not consider themselves full-time freedom fighters or mujahedeen; they have jobs in vegetable shops, offices, garages and schools."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/11/international/middleeast/11RESI.html
Saturday, April 10, 2004
EASTER IN FALLUJAH
Easter in Fallujah, a city the size of Newark. The resistance has simple weapons and cars against nightscopes, snipers, artillery, tanks, gunships, helicopters and airplanes. No body armor or helmets. 500 killed, dogs eating bodies too dangerous to get off the streets. 1000 wounded, and the bridge to the hospital on one side of the city is sealed off. No blood from Red Crescent allowed into the city, anyway. Women and children allowed to leave, but no men, the better to see if they either want to be detained or fight. After a year, can so many Saddamites and dead-enders and thugs still be willing to die rather than live the vision that we offer? Could they be patriots and heroes in their people's eyes? Know thy enemy.
Easter in Fallujah, a city the size of Newark. The resistance has simple weapons and cars against nightscopes, snipers, artillery, tanks, gunships, helicopters and airplanes. No body armor or helmets. 500 killed, dogs eating bodies too dangerous to get off the streets. 1000 wounded, and the bridge to the hospital on one side of the city is sealed off. No blood from Red Crescent allowed into the city, anyway. Women and children allowed to leave, but no men, the better to see if they either want to be detained or fight. After a year, can so many Saddamites and dead-enders and thugs still be willing to die rather than live the vision that we offer? Could they be patriots and heroes in their people's eyes? Know thy enemy.
RETREATS
"... Bush spent the morning watching... Condoleezza Rice's televised testimony ...then toured his ranch with... chief executive of the National Rifle Association, and other leaders of hunting groups and gave an interview to Ladies' Home Journal."
"... Bush was on his ranch on Aug. 6, 2001, when he received a crucial intelligence briefing that was prominent in Rice's testimony yesterday. .."
"... This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency."
From article "Powell Calls U.S. Casualties Disquieting"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62524-2004Apr8.html
"... Bush spent the morning watching... Condoleezza Rice's televised testimony ...then toured his ranch with... chief executive of the National Rifle Association, and other leaders of hunting groups and gave an interview to Ladies' Home Journal."
"... Bush was on his ranch on Aug. 6, 2001, when he received a crucial intelligence briefing that was prominent in Rice's testimony yesterday. .."
"... This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency."
From article "Powell Calls U.S. Casualties Disquieting"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62524-2004Apr8.html
Thursday, April 08, 2004
GENERALS IN MARBLE PALACE
"First, we are going to win," General Abizaid said, seated at a table in a marbled palace hall alongside Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the American field commander in Iraq. "Secondly, everyone needs to understand that there is no more powerful force assembled on earth than this military force in this country that's backed up with our naval and air forces in near proximity."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/09/international/middleeast/09IRAQ.html?hp
"First, we are going to win," General Abizaid said, seated at a table in a marbled palace hall alongside Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the American field commander in Iraq. "Secondly, everyone needs to understand that there is no more powerful force assembled on earth than this military force in this country that's backed up with our naval and air forces in near proximity."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/09/international/middleeast/09IRAQ.html?hp
Friday, April 02, 2004
FALLUJAH - WHICH IS IT?
"...(Fallujah's) Sunni Muslims were among Saddam Hussein's favored. A military base, now occupied by Americans, is at the edge of town. Fallujah was home to top officers, spies and many low-level enforcers of Saddam's regime."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-01-military-usat_x.htm
"... Contrary to most reports, the Sunni town of Fallujah has never been a stronghold of Saddam Hussein... The town was deprived under the ousted regime. Fallujah and the rest of Al-Anbar province are ruled by Sunni conservative tribes who have traditionally resisted submission to foreign occupiers or government forces seeking to control the area by force.
Under Saddam, imams across the town refused to abide by his orders to praise him personally during daily prayers."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0401-01.htm
"...(Fallujah's) Sunni Muslims were among Saddam Hussein's favored. A military base, now occupied by Americans, is at the edge of town. Fallujah was home to top officers, spies and many low-level enforcers of Saddam's regime."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-01-military-usat_x.htm
"... Contrary to most reports, the Sunni town of Fallujah has never been a stronghold of Saddam Hussein... The town was deprived under the ousted regime. Fallujah and the rest of Al-Anbar province are ruled by Sunni conservative tribes who have traditionally resisted submission to foreign occupiers or government forces seeking to control the area by force.
Under Saddam, imams across the town refused to abide by his orders to praise him personally during daily prayers."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0401-01.htm