BREMER EDICTS: TROOPS IMMUNE, PARTIES DISQUALIFIED
"... Bremer's nearly 100 last-minute edicts... set Iraq's course... Bremer signed a sweeping election law on June 15, creating an election commission with the power to disqualify candidates and political parties. Militia members have also been banned from running for office for three years, a provision apparently aimed at anti-US Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr... "
"... Iraq's rulers no longer have the military capacity to put down a potent insurgency... Acknowledging this... Wolfowitz told the US Congress on June 22 that US forces could be in Iraq for years... With 160,000 troops, all immune from prosecution in Iraqi courts by Bremer decree..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FG01Ak01.html
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
REALITY OF REBUILDING
"... occupation authorities acknowledge that fewer than 140 of 2,300 promised construction projects are under way... more than a year later, supplies of electricity and water are no better for most Iraqis, and in some cases are worse, than they were before the invasion in the spring of 2003.. Repairs of three giant wastewater treatment plants in Baghdad... are weeks or months behind, while water supply systems in the south of the country are months or even years away from functioning properly. Unrepaired bridges continue to create monstrous bottlenecks in many parts of the country... sewage flooding in five poorer neighborhoods of eastern and western Baghdad was raising serious fears of disease..."
hhttp://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/30/international/middleeast/30RECO.html?hpere
"... occupation authorities acknowledge that fewer than 140 of 2,300 promised construction projects are under way... more than a year later, supplies of electricity and water are no better for most Iraqis, and in some cases are worse, than they were before the invasion in the spring of 2003.. Repairs of three giant wastewater treatment plants in Baghdad... are weeks or months behind, while water supply systems in the south of the country are months or even years away from functioning properly. Unrepaired bridges continue to create monstrous bottlenecks in many parts of the country... sewage flooding in five poorer neighborhoods of eastern and western Baghdad was raising serious fears of disease..."
hhttp://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/30/international/middleeast/30RECO.html?hpere
GAO REPORTS IRAQ WORSE OFF NOW THAN BEFORE THE WAR
"In... electricity, the judicial system and overall security... the Iraq that America handed back to its residents Monday is worse off than before the war began last year..."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/columnists/seth_borenstein/9041465.htm
"In... electricity, the judicial system and overall security... the Iraq that America handed back to its residents Monday is worse off than before the war began last year..."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/columnists/seth_borenstein/9041465.htm
UNRAVELING OF A NATION "LIBERATED" BY THE WEST
"... The infrastructure is non-existent, opium production is rocketing, warlords control large swathes of the country, and the Taliban are back. Afghanistan is unravelling piece by piece... removing a regime does not solve everything..."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=536593
"... The infrastructure is non-existent, opium production is rocketing, warlords control large swathes of the country, and the Taliban are back. Afghanistan is unravelling piece by piece... removing a regime does not solve everything..."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=536593
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
REGIME CHANGE A SHAM
"Middle East experts and political analysts dismiss the regime change in Baghdad as a "monumental fraud"... The truth is that Iraqi sovereignty is a sham... "
-- "The U.S. will keep at least 138,000 troops in Iraq..."
-- "Fourteen permanent... military bases.. are being constructed to house them..."
-- "U.S. forces have... complete immunity from Iraqi law and Iraqi courts..."
-- "The role of the new interim government... is reduced to "advice" and "consultation"...
-- "This is a direct military occupation... just short of full colonial administration..."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0629-01.htm
"... the coalition hastily and secretively handed over “full sovereignty”... without the Iraqi people even knowing about it... in a 5-minute ceremony attended by only a few selected officials and journalists, held in the fortified U.S.-controlled green zone, kept secret from even the coalition authority’s senior staff and not shown on Iraqi television..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0630-11.htm
"Middle East experts and political analysts dismiss the regime change in Baghdad as a "monumental fraud"... The truth is that Iraqi sovereignty is a sham... "
-- "The U.S. will keep at least 138,000 troops in Iraq..."
-- "Fourteen permanent... military bases.. are being constructed to house them..."
-- "U.S. forces have... complete immunity from Iraqi law and Iraqi courts..."
-- "The role of the new interim government... is reduced to "advice" and "consultation"...
-- "This is a direct military occupation... just short of full colonial administration..."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0629-01.htm
"... the coalition hastily and secretively handed over “full sovereignty”... without the Iraqi people even knowing about it... in a 5-minute ceremony attended by only a few selected officials and journalists, held in the fortified U.S.-controlled green zone, kept secret from even the coalition authority’s senior staff and not shown on Iraqi television..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0630-11.htm
Monday, June 28, 2004
CPA CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR $3.7 BILLION IN OIL REVENUE
"... For the entire year that the CPA has been in power in Iraq it has been impossible to tell with any accuracy what the CPA has been doing with Iraq's money... there is a shortfall of up to $3.7 billion between the amount of oil revenue earned and the money paid into the (Iraqi Development Fund) by the CPA..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3844425.stm
"... For the entire year that the CPA has been in power in Iraq it has been impossible to tell with any accuracy what the CPA has been doing with Iraq's money... there is a shortfall of up to $3.7 billion between the amount of oil revenue earned and the money paid into the (Iraqi Development Fund) by the CPA..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3844425.stm
IRAQ WAR CANNOT BE WON
"... jobless men sit on wooden benches talking about killing American soldiers... American commanders concede that they are far from quelling a stubborn and increasingly sophisticated insurgency... spreading to ordinary Iraqis seething at the occupation and its failures. They act at the grass-roots level.. American commanders acknowledge that military might alone cannot defeat the insurgency... "This war cannot be won militarily," said Maj. Gen. John R. S. Batiste, commander of the First Infantry Division..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/28/international/middleeast/28INSU.html
"... jobless men sit on wooden benches talking about killing American soldiers... American commanders concede that they are far from quelling a stubborn and increasingly sophisticated insurgency... spreading to ordinary Iraqis seething at the occupation and its failures. They act at the grass-roots level.. American commanders acknowledge that military might alone cannot defeat the insurgency... "This war cannot be won militarily," said Maj. Gen. John R. S. Batiste, commander of the First Infantry Division..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/28/international/middleeast/28INSU.html
Sunday, June 27, 2004
RESISTANCE MOVEMENT TO INSTALL A SECULAR DEMOCRACY
"... The Centre for Global Research recently published interviews with two Iraqi generals and a colonel who are among the main leaders of the resistance movement... "we have more than 50 million conventional weapons.” On Saddam’s instructions, an arsenal of mortars, anti-tank mines, rocket-launchers, missiles, AK-47s and ammunition was stored in secret locations across Iraq... The generals said they knew at the time of the invasion that the Iraqi army had no chance against US and UK forces –“the war was lost in advance” they said – so they fought briefly to save their honour and then dispersed. This strategy had been planned for up to a year before the invasion in March 2003. Their current plan is simple – “to liberate Iraq and expel the coalition – to recover our sovereignty and install a secular democracy, but not the one imposed by the Americans... 75% of the population supports us and helps us, directly and indirectly, volunteering information, hiding combatants or weapons..."
hhttp://www.sundayherald.com/42971ere
"... The Centre for Global Research recently published interviews with two Iraqi generals and a colonel who are among the main leaders of the resistance movement... "we have more than 50 million conventional weapons.” On Saddam’s instructions, an arsenal of mortars, anti-tank mines, rocket-launchers, missiles, AK-47s and ammunition was stored in secret locations across Iraq... The generals said they knew at the time of the invasion that the Iraqi army had no chance against US and UK forces –“the war was lost in advance” they said – so they fought briefly to save their honour and then dispersed. This strategy had been planned for up to a year before the invasion in March 2003. Their current plan is simple – “to liberate Iraq and expel the coalition – to recover our sovereignty and install a secular democracy, but not the one imposed by the Americans... 75% of the population supports us and helps us, directly and indirectly, volunteering information, hiding combatants or weapons..."
hhttp://www.sundayherald.com/42971ere
IRAQI POLICE FIGHT U.S. TROOPS WHO TRAINED THEM
A police lieutenant said: "Resistance is stronger when you are working with the occupation forces. That way you can learn their weaknesses and attack at that point."
A police colonel said: "Fallujah is the starting point of the return of the Ba'ath Party. Our comrades in Baghdad and other provinces are joining our struggle. Here already we are free. No one can touch us."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=IQB3FMNEDXEEHQFIQMGCM54AVCBQUJVC?xml=/news/2004/06/27/wirq127.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/27/ixnewstop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=62608
A police lieutenant said: "Resistance is stronger when you are working with the occupation forces. That way you can learn their weaknesses and attack at that point."
A police colonel said: "Fallujah is the starting point of the return of the Ba'ath Party. Our comrades in Baghdad and other provinces are joining our struggle. Here already we are free. No one can touch us."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=IQB3FMNEDXEEHQFIQMGCM54AVCBQUJVC?xml=/news/2004/06/27/wirq127.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/27/ixnewstop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=62608
Saturday, June 26, 2004
ZARQAWI'S AL-TAWHID IS NOT AL-QAEDA
"... The US accuses Abu Musab al-Zarqawi of leading al-Qaeda militants inside Iraq and has offered a $10m reward for his capture..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3840443.stm
"The US air force bombed Fallujah again on Friday, hitting a safehouse of the al-Tawhid... The American news media often phrased this bombing as an attack on "al-Qaeda." But these al-Tawhid fighters never pledged loyalty to Bin Laden, and most probably never fought in Afghanistan. Zarqawi, who did, was never part of al-Qaeda and when he was in Germany he refused to share al-Tawhid resources with al-Qaeda... it is downright misleading to call al-Tawhid by that name. Al-Tawhid is al-Tawhid. The Bush administration no doubt likes this shorthand because it reinforces the dubious point that the war in Iraq has something to do with the war on terror."
-- Juan Cole in "Informed Comment", June 26
http://www.juancole.com/
"... The US accuses Abu Musab al-Zarqawi of leading al-Qaeda militants inside Iraq and has offered a $10m reward for his capture..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3840443.stm
"The US air force bombed Fallujah again on Friday, hitting a safehouse of the al-Tawhid... The American news media often phrased this bombing as an attack on "al-Qaeda." But these al-Tawhid fighters never pledged loyalty to Bin Laden, and most probably never fought in Afghanistan. Zarqawi, who did, was never part of al-Qaeda and when he was in Germany he refused to share al-Tawhid resources with al-Qaeda... it is downright misleading to call al-Tawhid by that name. Al-Tawhid is al-Tawhid. The Bush administration no doubt likes this shorthand because it reinforces the dubious point that the war in Iraq has something to do with the war on terror."
-- Juan Cole in "Informed Comment", June 26
http://www.juancole.com/
Friday, June 25, 2004
25,000 MORE TROOPS NEEDED FOR IRAQ AFTER "SOVEREIGNTY"
"The U.S. Central Command has informally asked Army planners for up to five more brigades - about 25,000 troops - to augment the American force of 138,000 soldiers and Marines now in Iraq, military officers and Pentagon officials said... Adding five brigades would increase the coalition force to 185,000..."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.troops23jun23,0,2337379.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
"The U.S. Central Command has informally asked Army planners for up to five more brigades - about 25,000 troops - to augment the American force of 138,000 soldiers and Marines now in Iraq, military officers and Pentagon officials said... Adding five brigades would increase the coalition force to 185,000..."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.troops23jun23,0,2337379.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
INDEPENDENT KURDISH STATE SUPPORTED BY ISRAEL
"... Israel is actively involved in supporting the Iraqi Kurds, who are fast sowing the seeds of their independence... under the convenient guise of a new Iraqi federalism... Israel's secret service, Mossad, is engaged in covert operations among Iranian and Syrian Kurds, in addition to training Iraqi Kurd commandos and setting up the latter as a counterweight to Shi'ite militias... (there is an) economic dimension of Israel's push for a Kurdish state... in Iraq which could realize the long sought-after dream of an oil pipeline from Mosul to Haifa... such a pipeline would diversify Israel's sources of energy and lessen its dependence on expensive Russian oil..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF26Ak01.html
"... Israel is actively involved in supporting the Iraqi Kurds, who are fast sowing the seeds of their independence... under the convenient guise of a new Iraqi federalism... Israel's secret service, Mossad, is engaged in covert operations among Iranian and Syrian Kurds, in addition to training Iraqi Kurd commandos and setting up the latter as a counterweight to Shi'ite militias... (there is an) economic dimension of Israel's push for a Kurdish state... in Iraq which could realize the long sought-after dream of an oil pipeline from Mosul to Haifa... such a pipeline would diversify Israel's sources of energy and lessen its dependence on expensive Russian oil..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF26Ak01.html
NO IDEA OF WHO IS LEADING INSURGENCY
"... More than 100 people died and hundreds more were wounded in a wave of attacks in five Iraqi cities... (Prime Minister) Allawi said he expected more attacks but insisted the rebels would be confronted and defeated... "
hhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3838469.stmere
"... Iraq's national intelligence service and a second intelligence branch inside the interior ministry are the products of hard months of work by the US-led coalition... The senior Iraqi spy... is part of the cloak and dagger service, designed by the Americans to crush the insurgency terrorising Iraq... he confesses: "We have no idea who the leaders of the insurgency are."
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=10348
"... More than 100 people died and hundreds more were wounded in a wave of attacks in five Iraqi cities... (Prime Minister) Allawi said he expected more attacks but insisted the rebels would be confronted and defeated... "
hhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3838469.stmere
"... Iraq's national intelligence service and a second intelligence branch inside the interior ministry are the products of hard months of work by the US-led coalition... The senior Iraqi spy... is part of the cloak and dagger service, designed by the Americans to crush the insurgency terrorising Iraq... he confesses: "We have no idea who the leaders of the insurgency are."
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=10348
IRAQIS FLEEING THEIR COUNTRY AGAIN
"... Iraqis are now fleeing their country again. That so many had been chased out, and that so many Iraqis had been killed under the Saddam regime, were among the justifications for the war. But we seem to be back to the beginning..."
-- Juan Cole in Informed Comment, June 25
http://www.juancole.com/
"... Iraqis are now fleeing their country again. That so many had been chased out, and that so many Iraqis had been killed under the Saddam regime, were among the justifications for the war. But we seem to be back to the beginning..."
-- Juan Cole in Informed Comment, June 25
http://www.juancole.com/
Thursday, June 24, 2004
SIX BASES A CANCER
"... The American army is building six permanent bases in Iraq, three surrounding Baghdad, one in the south, on in the east and on in the north. The three surrounding Baghdad are Al-Habbanyya, which is an old Iraq military base and airport near the artificial lake of Habbania, the second is Ar-Rasheed base in the south-east of Baghdad, and the third is At-Taji base in the north of Baghdad, which is the larges base in Iraq, it looks like a small city. The other three bases are Ali base near Nasryya, Al-Walid base northern to Falluja, and another base in Al-Mosul. These six bases are the cancer in the body of the new Iraq..."
-- Raed Jarrar, the Baghdad Blogger, June 25
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
"... The American army is building six permanent bases in Iraq, three surrounding Baghdad, one in the south, on in the east and on in the north. The three surrounding Baghdad are Al-Habbanyya, which is an old Iraq military base and airport near the artificial lake of Habbania, the second is Ar-Rasheed base in the south-east of Baghdad, and the third is At-Taji base in the north of Baghdad, which is the larges base in Iraq, it looks like a small city. The other three bases are Ali base near Nasryya, Al-Walid base northern to Falluja, and another base in Al-Mosul. These six bases are the cancer in the body of the new Iraq..."
-- Raed Jarrar, the Baghdad Blogger, June 25
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
COST OF IRAQ ENUMERATED
":.. the war bill will add up to an average of at least $3,415 for every U.S. household... is likely to bring a decade of economic troubles, including an expanded trade deficit and high inflation..."-- Institute for Policy Studies report "Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War"
http://www.ips-dc.org/iraq/costsofwar/index.htm
"... $4,000 is the amount that each household will have to fork over in taxes to foot the Iraq occupation bill... the military costs in Iraq to date are about $143 billion, with the tab rising $4 billion to $5 billion a month. Reconstruction has cost about $20 billion so far, with another $50 billion to $100 billion still needed, Henwood reports. "If the occupation goes on for three years, which is what the military pundits say is likely, the total bill could come to $362 billion... Amount you owe for the war in Iraq: $4,000."
-- Doug Henwood, in book "After the New Economy"
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/edits/seang.htm
":.. the war bill will add up to an average of at least $3,415 for every U.S. household... is likely to bring a decade of economic troubles, including an expanded trade deficit and high inflation..."-- Institute for Policy Studies report "Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War"
http://www.ips-dc.org/iraq/costsofwar/index.htm
"... $4,000 is the amount that each household will have to fork over in taxes to foot the Iraq occupation bill... the military costs in Iraq to date are about $143 billion, with the tab rising $4 billion to $5 billion a month. Reconstruction has cost about $20 billion so far, with another $50 billion to $100 billion still needed, Henwood reports. "If the occupation goes on for three years, which is what the military pundits say is likely, the total bill could come to $362 billion... Amount you owe for the war in Iraq: $4,000."
-- Doug Henwood, in book "After the New Economy"
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/edits/seang.htm
HEZBOLLAH AWAITING CALL FROM IRAQIS - AND IT'S ALREADY IN THE US
"... The most dangerous possibility here is a pan-terrorist alliance between the mostly Sunni al-Qaida and the Shiite Hezbollah... Hezbollah is still the world's most formidable terrorist foe - not the least because it's able to operate on a political plane and even form alliances with Syria and Iran..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0624-11.htm
"... Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced that the struggle against Israel and America was one; he only awaited the call from his Iraqi brethren to join the latter..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1231121,00.html
"... some Pentagon officials and other government officials believe that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite extremist group, is now playing a key role in the Shiite insurgency...."
http://nytimes.com/2004/04/08/international/middleeast/08SHIA.html?hp
"... Hezbollah's main occupation in Charlotte was smuggling cigarettes... Hezbollah allegedly set up numerous businesses in the Charlotte area - such as restaurants and gas stations - to facilitate laundering the proceeds of the cigarette smuggling operation..."
http://www.alamanceind.com/newfol~4/immig_38.html
"...a total of 24 people have been named in 77 charges related to cigarette smuggling, immigration violations and aiding Hezbollah..."
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/dailynews/hezbollah010328.html
"... Attorney General John Ashcroft has asked for intelligence documents in the case to be kept secret, on the grounds of national security..."
http://www.themilitant.com/2001/6545/654559.html
"... The most dangerous possibility here is a pan-terrorist alliance between the mostly Sunni al-Qaida and the Shiite Hezbollah... Hezbollah is still the world's most formidable terrorist foe - not the least because it's able to operate on a political plane and even form alliances with Syria and Iran..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0624-11.htm
"... Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced that the struggle against Israel and America was one; he only awaited the call from his Iraqi brethren to join the latter..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1231121,00.html
"... some Pentagon officials and other government officials believe that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite extremist group, is now playing a key role in the Shiite insurgency...."
http://nytimes.com/2004/04/08/international/middleeast/08SHIA.html?hp
"... Hezbollah's main occupation in Charlotte was smuggling cigarettes... Hezbollah allegedly set up numerous businesses in the Charlotte area - such as restaurants and gas stations - to facilitate laundering the proceeds of the cigarette smuggling operation..."
http://www.alamanceind.com/newfol~4/immig_38.html
"...a total of 24 people have been named in 77 charges related to cigarette smuggling, immigration violations and aiding Hezbollah..."
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/dailynews/hezbollah010328.html
"... Attorney General John Ashcroft has asked for intelligence documents in the case to be kept secret, on the grounds of national security..."
http://www.themilitant.com/2001/6545/654559.html
LOSING RACE AGAINST TIME
"... It's a race against time... And the new Iraq appears to be losing... the spiral of conflict is outpacing the political dialogue and consensus-building required to conduct successful elections..."
-- Fund for Peace report entitled "Iraq as a Failed State"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3812503.stm
"... It's a race against time... And the new Iraq appears to be losing... the spiral of conflict is outpacing the political dialogue and consensus-building required to conduct successful elections..."
-- Fund for Peace report entitled "Iraq as a Failed State"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3812503.stm
WILL INSURGENTS ACCEPT GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED BY FOREIGN TROOPS
"... The interim government will be hard pressed to restore order... in some cities, the local police are fraternising with the rebels. Its real problem is that it will be an unelected government, so cannot claim popular legitimacy... The question is whether the insurgents will at any stage accept any (government) especially if foreign troops remain."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3836075.stm
"... The interim government will be hard pressed to restore order... in some cities, the local police are fraternising with the rebels. Its real problem is that it will be an unelected government, so cannot claim popular legitimacy... The question is whether the insurgents will at any stage accept any (government) especially if foreign troops remain."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3836075.stm
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
AL-QAIDA THUMBS UP FOR BUSH
"A new book by... a senior US intelligence official... argues that the West is losing the war against al-Qaeda and that an "avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked" war in Iraq has played into Osama bin Laden's hands. " Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror" dismisses two of the most frequent boasts of the Bush administration: that bin Laden and al-Qaeda are "on the run" and that the Iraq invasion has made America safer..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF24Ak05.html
AL-QAIDA TO REWARD BUSH
"... Al-Qaida may 'reward' American president with strike aimed at keeping him in office... "I'm very sure they can't have a better administration for them than the one they have now... One way to keep the Republicans in power is to mount an attack that would rally the country around the president... Mr Bush is taking the US in exactly the direction Bin Laden wants, towards all-out confrontation with Islam under the banner of spreading democracy. It's going to take 10,000-15,000 dead Americans before we say to ourselves: 'What is going on'?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1242561,00.html
"A new book by... a senior US intelligence official... argues that the West is losing the war against al-Qaeda and that an "avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked" war in Iraq has played into Osama bin Laden's hands. " Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror" dismisses two of the most frequent boasts of the Bush administration: that bin Laden and al-Qaeda are "on the run" and that the Iraq invasion has made America safer..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF24Ak05.html
AL-QAIDA TO REWARD BUSH
"... Al-Qaida may 'reward' American president with strike aimed at keeping him in office... "I'm very sure they can't have a better administration for them than the one they have now... One way to keep the Republicans in power is to mount an attack that would rally the country around the president... Mr Bush is taking the US in exactly the direction Bin Laden wants, towards all-out confrontation with Islam under the banner of spreading democracy. It's going to take 10,000-15,000 dead Americans before we say to ourselves: 'What is going on'?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1242561,00.html
INSURGENTS WINNING THE POPULATION
"Counter-insurgency experts are advising the Pentagon.. (that it may be) too late for the US to avert defeat, or at least a protracted and unpopular military commitment... the wider war of winning "hearts and minds" is slipping away.... the trends of the past three months show the insurgents making substantial progress on winning over the population in Iraq... the broad conclusion of a number of advisers is that the US will need to deploy large numbers of troops for several years to prevent a slide into civil war. They question whether the American public has the stomach for this..."
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373162333
"Counter-insurgency experts are advising the Pentagon.. (that it may be) too late for the US to avert defeat, or at least a protracted and unpopular military commitment... the wider war of winning "hearts and minds" is slipping away.... the trends of the past three months show the insurgents making substantial progress on winning over the population in Iraq... the broad conclusion of a number of advisers is that the US will need to deploy large numbers of troops for several years to prevent a slide into civil war. They question whether the American public has the stomach for this..."
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373162333
CONVOYS OF SAILBOAT FUEL
"Empty flatbed trucks crisscrossed Iraq more than 100 times as their drivers and the soldiers who guarded them dodged bullets, bricks and homemade bombs.... they risked their lives driving empty trucks while their employer... billed the government for hauling what they derisively called "sailboat fuel." ... a videotape that showed 15 empty trucks in one convoy... as many as a third of all the flatbed trucks in a 30-truck convoy were empty... the truckers charged that KBR is billing the Pentagon for unnecessary work..."
"... Kellogg Brown and Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, has been paid $327 million for "theater transportation" of war materiel and supplies for U.S. forces in Iraq and is earmarked to be paid $230 million more."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8726436.htm
"... In testimony submitted to members of Congress, one truck driver explained in detail how taxpayers were billed for empty trucks driven up and down Iraq and how $85,000 vehicles were abandoned for lack of spare tires. A labor foreman said dozens of workers were told to "look busy" while doing virtually no work for salaries of $80,000 a year..."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/war_on_terrorism/doc4685.html
More coverage of contracting problems in Iraq:
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/world/8286760.htm
"Empty flatbed trucks crisscrossed Iraq more than 100 times as their drivers and the soldiers who guarded them dodged bullets, bricks and homemade bombs.... they risked their lives driving empty trucks while their employer... billed the government for hauling what they derisively called "sailboat fuel." ... a videotape that showed 15 empty trucks in one convoy... as many as a third of all the flatbed trucks in a 30-truck convoy were empty... the truckers charged that KBR is billing the Pentagon for unnecessary work..."
"... Kellogg Brown and Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, has been paid $327 million for "theater transportation" of war materiel and supplies for U.S. forces in Iraq and is earmarked to be paid $230 million more."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8726436.htm
"... In testimony submitted to members of Congress, one truck driver explained in detail how taxpayers were billed for empty trucks driven up and down Iraq and how $85,000 vehicles were abandoned for lack of spare tires. A labor foreman said dozens of workers were told to "look busy" while doing virtually no work for salaries of $80,000 a year..."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/war_on_terrorism/doc4685.html
More coverage of contracting problems in Iraq:
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/world/8286760.htm
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
GIVE EACH IRAQI A SHARE IN THEIR OIL
"... in order to bring about a speedier transition toward long-term stability... the US could suggest creating an international public trust fund, which would offer each and every Iraqi a fraction of oil-revenues, drawing on the Alaska model... The other portion would be transferred to central and local governments, through institutions held accountable for the spending. This arrangement would ensure that people have an immediate stake in the new Iraqi system... and incentives to cooperate and prevent sabotage, and offer collateral to up-start small commercial entities. The act would also offer a clear signal that the US is there not as an army plundering the country's resources... It would give Iraqis collateral and something to start a new life with..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FF23Aa01.html
"... in order to bring about a speedier transition toward long-term stability... the US could suggest creating an international public trust fund, which would offer each and every Iraqi a fraction of oil-revenues, drawing on the Alaska model... The other portion would be transferred to central and local governments, through institutions held accountable for the spending. This arrangement would ensure that people have an immediate stake in the new Iraqi system... and incentives to cooperate and prevent sabotage, and offer collateral to up-start small commercial entities. The act would also offer a clear signal that the US is there not as an army plundering the country's resources... It would give Iraqis collateral and something to start a new life with..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FF23Aa01.html
DETAINEES MUST BE CHARGED WITH A CRIME
"It is unlawful for the United States to hold detainees in Iraq without charge or trial while claiming it has transferred sovereignty to an Iraqi government... (but the) U.S. military in Baghdad said that the United States will continue to detain without charge some 4,000 to 5,000 prisoners deemed a threat to the coalition even after the declared transfer of sovereignty on June 30."
"The 1949 Geneva Conventions permit the detention without charge of prisoners of war and other detainees only in the case of an international armed conflict-which by definition is between governments-or an occupation. Washington says that both will come to an end on June 30, meaning that the ongoing conflict between the Iraqi government and Iraqi insurgents would become a civil war... In the absence of an occupation or an international conflict, no one can be detained under international humanitarian law without being charged with a recognized crime. Those not charged must be released and repatriated "without delay.... If the occupation is over, so is the U.S. authority to detain Iraqis without criminal charges..."
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0618-03.htm
"It is unlawful for the United States to hold detainees in Iraq without charge or trial while claiming it has transferred sovereignty to an Iraqi government... (but the) U.S. military in Baghdad said that the United States will continue to detain without charge some 4,000 to 5,000 prisoners deemed a threat to the coalition even after the declared transfer of sovereignty on June 30."
"The 1949 Geneva Conventions permit the detention without charge of prisoners of war and other detainees only in the case of an international armed conflict-which by definition is between governments-or an occupation. Washington says that both will come to an end on June 30, meaning that the ongoing conflict between the Iraqi government and Iraqi insurgents would become a civil war... In the absence of an occupation or an international conflict, no one can be detained under international humanitarian law without being charged with a recognized crime. Those not charged must be released and repatriated "without delay.... If the occupation is over, so is the U.S. authority to detain Iraqis without criminal charges..."
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0618-03.htm
PRETENSE OF INDEPENDENT IRAQ
"... The new Iraqi government will have only limited power. The chances that it will succeed are very limited. In a situation dominated by security... the interim government does not have an effective armed force... The priority of the White House in the run-up up to the US presidential elections in November is... to pretend that an independent Iraq is being created which can fight its own wars. The problem is that this picture simply is not true..."
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=533904
"... The new Iraqi government will have only limited power. The chances that it will succeed are very limited. In a situation dominated by security... the interim government does not have an effective armed force... The priority of the White House in the run-up up to the US presidential elections in November is... to pretend that an independent Iraq is being created which can fight its own wars. The problem is that this picture simply is not true..."
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=533904
DRINKING THE KOOL-AID
"... Those old enough to remember the Jonestown tragedy know this phrase... What does drinking the Kool-Aid mean today? It signifies that the person in question has given up personal integrity and has succumbed to the prevailing group-think that typifies policymaking today. This person has become "part of the problem, not part of the solution"... What was the "problem"? The sincerely held beliefs of a small group of people who think they are the "bearers" of a uniquely correct view of the world... to dominate the foreign policy of the United States... Those they could not drive from government they bullied and undermined until they, too, had drunk from the vat. What was the result? The war in Iraq..."
http://www.mepc.org/public_asp/journal_vol11/0406_lang.asp
"... Those old enough to remember the Jonestown tragedy know this phrase... What does drinking the Kool-Aid mean today? It signifies that the person in question has given up personal integrity and has succumbed to the prevailing group-think that typifies policymaking today. This person has become "part of the problem, not part of the solution"... What was the "problem"? The sincerely held beliefs of a small group of people who think they are the "bearers" of a uniquely correct view of the world... to dominate the foreign policy of the United States... Those they could not drive from government they bullied and undermined until they, too, had drunk from the vat. What was the result? The war in Iraq..."
http://www.mepc.org/public_asp/journal_vol11/0406_lang.asp
Monday, June 21, 2004
CONDITIONS IN IRAQ
"... more than a year after American promises of a new Iraq were made: Government buildings are still charred shells, clogged streets are still without traffic signals, gasoline supplies are limited, hospitals are filled with maimed Iraqis, morgues are overflowing with the dead..."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.baghdad21jun21,0,7916411.story
"... more than a year after American promises of a new Iraq were made: Government buildings are still charred shells, clogged streets are still without traffic signals, gasoline supplies are limited, hospitals are filled with maimed Iraqis, morgues are overflowing with the dead..."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.baghdad21jun21,0,7916411.story
Sunday, June 20, 2004
PUTIN SAYS SADDAM WAS PLANNING ATTACKS
"Russian President Vladimir Putin... declared Friday that Russia knew Iraq's Saddam Hussein had planned terror attacks on U.S. soil and had warned Washington..."
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5457972
"... there are several things that are suspicious about Putin's comments. First off, they come on the heels of a face-to-face meeting with Bush at the G8 summit, in which Putin lambasted Democrats for criticizing the president on Iraq. Is it crazy to propose that Putin was offered some sort of sweet deal involving Iraq's oil concessions or some other juicy enticement in exchange for his perfectly timed statements? Does anyone else find it strange that the former KGB head released this info right as the 9/11 commission came out with their statement that there was no 9/11-Saddam link? The bottom-line: If Putin's claims are true, why hasn't Bush ever mentioned them before? One could make the argument that the warnings were sensitive enough not to disclose before the invasion, but why not tell the public after? And what possibly could be the rationale for not telling the people after Saddam himself was captured? "
http://www.guerrillanews.com/bunker/east/doc4683.html
"Russian President Vladimir Putin... declared Friday that Russia knew Iraq's Saddam Hussein had planned terror attacks on U.S. soil and had warned Washington..."
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5457972
"... there are several things that are suspicious about Putin's comments. First off, they come on the heels of a face-to-face meeting with Bush at the G8 summit, in which Putin lambasted Democrats for criticizing the president on Iraq. Is it crazy to propose that Putin was offered some sort of sweet deal involving Iraq's oil concessions or some other juicy enticement in exchange for his perfectly timed statements? Does anyone else find it strange that the former KGB head released this info right as the 9/11 commission came out with their statement that there was no 9/11-Saddam link? The bottom-line: If Putin's claims are true, why hasn't Bush ever mentioned them before? One could make the argument that the warnings were sensitive enough not to disclose before the invasion, but why not tell the public after? And what possibly could be the rationale for not telling the people after Saddam himself was captured? "
http://www.guerrillanews.com/bunker/east/doc4683.html
MARTIAL LAW FOR IRAQ
"... (Prime Minister) Allawi said all the security forces were being reorganised... "In these difficult times, substantial elements of the army will have to assist in this effort against external threats to our national security... We might impose some kind of martial law..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3822925.stm
"... (Prime Minister) Allawi said all the security forces were being reorganised... "In these difficult times, substantial elements of the army will have to assist in this effort against external threats to our national security... We might impose some kind of martial law..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3822925.stm
Saturday, June 19, 2004
BISHOP ASKS FORGIVENESS FOR BEING WRONG ON IRAQ
Bishop Tom Frame supported the invasion. Now he seeks God's forgiveness.
"As the only Anglican bishop to have publicly endorsed the Australian Government's case for war, I now concede that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction. It did not pose a threat to either its nearer neighbours or the United States and its allies. It did not host or give material support to al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups... Looking back on the events of the past 18 months I continue to seek God's forgiveness for my complicity..."
http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/17/1087245036392.html?oneclick=true
Bishop Tom Frame supported the invasion. Now he seeks God's forgiveness.
"As the only Anglican bishop to have publicly endorsed the Australian Government's case for war, I now concede that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction. It did not pose a threat to either its nearer neighbours or the United States and its allies. It did not host or give material support to al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups... Looking back on the events of the past 18 months I continue to seek God's forgiveness for my complicity..."
http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/17/1087245036392.html?oneclick=true
IRAQ TO DANGEROUS FOR UN
"A UN resolution championed by the US last week foresees the return of the UN to take a "leading role" in Iraq... But Mr Annan said he was "very worried" about the security situation and said circumstances did not permit a return."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3817163.stm
"A UN resolution championed by the US last week foresees the return of the UN to take a "leading role" in Iraq... But Mr Annan said he was "very worried" about the security situation and said circumstances did not permit a return."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3817163.stm
DESTRUCTION OF KEY BRIDGE HALTS SOUTHERN RAILS
MUQTADA AIDE DECLARES EAST BAGHDAD AN AMERICAN NO-GO ZONE
"Ash-Sharq al-Awsat: Guerillas blew up a key bridge just south of Baghdad Friday, halting rail traffic to four southern provinces from the capital, including Hilla, Amara, Nasiriyah, and Basra. Meanwhile, the port of Basra was unable to export any petroleum for the third day running because of pipeline sabotage..."
"Shaikh Aws al-Khafaji, who is close to Muqtada al-Sadr, declared East Baghdad a no-go zone for the Americans..."
June 19 in Informed Comment:
http://www.juancole.com/
MUQTADA AIDE DECLARES EAST BAGHDAD AN AMERICAN NO-GO ZONE
"Ash-Sharq al-Awsat: Guerillas blew up a key bridge just south of Baghdad Friday, halting rail traffic to four southern provinces from the capital, including Hilla, Amara, Nasiriyah, and Basra. Meanwhile, the port of Basra was unable to export any petroleum for the third day running because of pipeline sabotage..."
"Shaikh Aws al-Khafaji, who is close to Muqtada al-Sadr, declared East Baghdad a no-go zone for the Americans..."
June 19 in Informed Comment:
http://www.juancole.com/
Friday, June 18, 2004
9-11 COMMISSION SAYS NO AL-QUAIDA LINK TO IRAQ
"... the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks reported... there was "no credible evidence'' that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaida target the United States."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0616-01.htm
AND BUSH SAYS NO IRAQ LINK TO 9-11
"No, we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th," the president said yesterday after a meeting at the White House with lawmakers."
-- President Bush, interview on Sept. 17, 2003
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/18/iraq/main584234.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25571-2003Sep17?language=printer
"... the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks reported... there was "no credible evidence'' that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaida target the United States."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0616-01.htm
AND BUSH SAYS NO IRAQ LINK TO 9-11
"No, we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th," the president said yesterday after a meeting at the White House with lawmakers."
-- President Bush, interview on Sept. 17, 2003
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/18/iraq/main584234.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25571-2003Sep17?language=printer
BUSH'S ATTEMPT TO LINK AL QUAEDA TO IRAQ
"... a reporter asked Bush to provide "the best evidence" for claiming that Saddam was in league with Al Qaeda. "Zarqawi is the best evidence," Bush said.
"... (But) ... Earlier this year, the Kurds intercepted a letter Zarqawi supposedly sent to Al Qaeda asking for help fomenting civil war in Iraq. According to US officials, Al Qaeda turned down the request. This exchange, if it indicates anything, is evidence of a division between the two terrorist camps. And Zarqawi has been linked in the past not to Saddam's regime but to Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist outfit that declared its opposition to Saddam..."
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040705&s=corn
"... a reporter asked Bush to provide "the best evidence" for claiming that Saddam was in league with Al Qaeda. "Zarqawi is the best evidence," Bush said.
"... (But) ... Earlier this year, the Kurds intercepted a letter Zarqawi supposedly sent to Al Qaeda asking for help fomenting civil war in Iraq. According to US officials, Al Qaeda turned down the request. This exchange, if it indicates anything, is evidence of a division between the two terrorist camps. And Zarqawi has been linked in the past not to Saddam's regime but to Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist outfit that declared its opposition to Saddam..."
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040705&s=corn
IRAQ SOVEREIGNTY IS FICTION
"... the notion of "Iraqi sovereignty" can't be anything but a fiction... For a government to have sovereignty, it needs three things:
(1) a monopoly on the legitimate means of coercion;
(2) the material capacity to sustain a country's social and economic infrastructure; and
(3) an administrative apparatus capable of overseeing and administering policy.
By these measures, the U.S. will retain sovereignty as long as the U.S. maintains its military, monetary, and administrative domination of the country..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0617-14.htm
"... So the new "Iraqi government" has been granted sovereignty in the U.S. by our media thanks to the very language chosen to describe it..."
http://www.tomdispatch.com/
"... the notion of "Iraqi sovereignty" can't be anything but a fiction... For a government to have sovereignty, it needs three things:
(1) a monopoly on the legitimate means of coercion;
(2) the material capacity to sustain a country's social and economic infrastructure; and
(3) an administrative apparatus capable of overseeing and administering policy.
By these measures, the U.S. will retain sovereignty as long as the U.S. maintains its military, monetary, and administrative domination of the country..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0617-14.htm
"... So the new "Iraqi government" has been granted sovereignty in the U.S. by our media thanks to the very language chosen to describe it..."
http://www.tomdispatch.com/
Thursday, June 17, 2004
DETAILS OF SELECTION OF HALLIBURTON FOR OIL CONTRACT
"... Testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform hearing confirmed today that Bush administration political appointees overruled career contracting officials in the Pentagon by giving Halliburton the oil-related task order months before the invasion of Iraq... Involvement by Cheney's chief of staff in the contracting process contradicts Cheney's assertion that he had no role in awarding contracts to his former company..."
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0615-07.htm
"... Testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform hearing confirmed today that Bush administration political appointees overruled career contracting officials in the Pentagon by giving Halliburton the oil-related task order months before the invasion of Iraq... Involvement by Cheney's chief of staff in the contracting process contradicts Cheney's assertion that he had no role in awarding contracts to his former company..."
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0615-07.htm
THE POWER TO TORTURE - AND MORE
"... Bush is asserting presidential authority that in theory covers the lives and liberties of everyone, everywhere, U.S. citizens and foreigners alike, a claim of power so sweeping that it permits him to imprison, torture and kill at his choice without legal constraint anywhere in the world... to order the torturing of anyone in U.S. government custody and the power to kill his international enemies whenever he judges that necessary, even if civilian bystanders also must die.... (the) unlimited authority is implicit in a series of administration legal opinions... Bush is saying that he... is the law.... as commander in chief..."
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/061504.html
"... Bush is asserting presidential authority that in theory covers the lives and liberties of everyone, everywhere, U.S. citizens and foreigners alike, a claim of power so sweeping that it permits him to imprison, torture and kill at his choice without legal constraint anywhere in the world... to order the torturing of anyone in U.S. government custody and the power to kill his international enemies whenever he judges that necessary, even if civilian bystanders also must die.... (the) unlimited authority is implicit in a series of administration legal opinions... Bush is saying that he... is the law.... as commander in chief..."
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/061504.html
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
IRAQ CURRENCY DEVALUED
"Speculators who stashed away "Bremer dinars" earlier this year in the hope their value would skyrocket are suffering enormous losses as the official Iraqi currency plummets... Speculators believed the value of the "Bremer dinar" would rise as the economy of war-devastated Iraq recovered. But that recovery has yet to take place, with daily reports of further violence, deaths and insurgency making the headlines...
"... speculators should perhaps heed the advice of (an) anlayst: "The only thing the Iraqi dinar is likely to hit is a wall." Perhaps he was thinking of Iraq's huge whopping $120 billion foreign debt, which few countries are interested in writing off."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF17Ak01.html
"Speculators who stashed away "Bremer dinars" earlier this year in the hope their value would skyrocket are suffering enormous losses as the official Iraqi currency plummets... Speculators believed the value of the "Bremer dinar" would rise as the economy of war-devastated Iraq recovered. But that recovery has yet to take place, with daily reports of further violence, deaths and insurgency making the headlines...
"... speculators should perhaps heed the advice of (an) anlayst: "The only thing the Iraqi dinar is likely to hit is a wall." Perhaps he was thinking of Iraq's huge whopping $120 billion foreign debt, which few countries are interested in writing off."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF17Ak01.html
OIL EXPORTS LOWER THAN BEFORE WAR, PRICES SOAR
"... Sabotage attacks on a southern Iraqi oil pipeline... severing the flow to the Basra oil terminal.. have sharply reduced oil exports... Iraqi oil exports are still below the pre-war level... there is now no chance of meeting a target of pumping two million barrels a day in time for the transfer of sovereignty at the end of June...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3809587.stm
"...World oil prices rose after the killing of northern oil fields security chief Ghazi Talabani, which followed pipeline blasts on Tuesday... Benchmark prices rose in both New York and London following the latest in a series of attacks on pipelines aimed at crippling the economy.."
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=10321
"... Sabotage attacks on a southern Iraqi oil pipeline... severing the flow to the Basra oil terminal.. have sharply reduced oil exports... Iraqi oil exports are still below the pre-war level... there is now no chance of meeting a target of pumping two million barrels a day in time for the transfer of sovereignty at the end of June...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3809587.stm
"...World oil prices rose after the killing of northern oil fields security chief Ghazi Talabani, which followed pipeline blasts on Tuesday... Benchmark prices rose in both New York and London following the latest in a series of attacks on pipelines aimed at crippling the economy.."
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=10321
IRAQI ANGER TOWARD U.S.
"A poll of Iraqis commissioned by the U.S.-governing authority has provided the Bush administration a stark picture of anti-American sentiment — more than half of Iraqis believe they would be safer if U.S. troops simply left. The poll, commissioned by the Coalition Provisional Authority last month but not released to the American public, also found radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is surging in popularity, 92 percent of Iraqis consider the United States an occupying force and more than half believe all Americans behave like those portrayed in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse photos..."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0615-08.htm
http://wid.ap.org/documents/iraq/cpapoll_files/v3_document.htm
"A poll of Iraqis commissioned by the U.S.-governing authority has provided the Bush administration a stark picture of anti-American sentiment — more than half of Iraqis believe they would be safer if U.S. troops simply left. The poll, commissioned by the Coalition Provisional Authority last month but not released to the American public, also found radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is surging in popularity, 92 percent of Iraqis consider the United States an occupying force and more than half believe all Americans behave like those portrayed in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse photos..."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0615-08.htm
http://wid.ap.org/documents/iraq/cpapoll_files/v3_document.htm
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
EFFECT OF WAR ON MILITARY
"The Iraq war is a vortex that is ripping apart the American armed forces and it is ripping up the ground forces..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-troops15jun15,1,6613763.story?coll=la-home-headlines
"The Iraq war is a vortex that is ripping apart the American armed forces and it is ripping up the ground forces..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-troops15jun15,1,6613763.story?coll=la-home-headlines
IRAQI CIVILIAN WAR CASUALTY SITE
A volunteer effort that has collected names, occupations, and ages, with description of wounds or cause of death. Documented as of this date: 2,081 dead, 5,535 wounded.
http://www.civilians.info/iraq/
A volunteer effort that has collected names, occupations, and ages, with description of wounds or cause of death. Documented as of this date: 2,081 dead, 5,535 wounded.
http://www.civilians.info/iraq/
RE-BAATHIFICATION
"When US overseer Paul Bremer arrived in Iraq one year ago, he issued a decree expelling all senior Baathists from the administration... Some 6,000 teachers were among the 30,000 civil servants fired... (now) More than 12,000 former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party are in the process of reintegration into public service a year after losing their jobs under (the) now abandoned policy of punishing loyalists of the ousted regime... "
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=10246
"When US overseer Paul Bremer arrived in Iraq one year ago, he issued a decree expelling all senior Baathists from the administration... Some 6,000 teachers were among the 30,000 civil servants fired... (now) More than 12,000 former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party are in the process of reintegration into public service a year after losing their jobs under (the) now abandoned policy of punishing loyalists of the ousted regime... "
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=10246
BIG U.S. SECURITY CONTRACT CREATES WORLD'S LARGEST PRIVATE ARMY
Needed more than ever after "turnover of sovereignty"
"Last month the Pentagon awarded a $293 million contract for coordination of security support to a British firm called Aegis Defense Services... (for) coordination and management... (of) more than 50 other private security companies in Iraq... (and providing) up to 75 "close protection teams"... of eight armed civilians who are to protect staff members of the United States Project Management Office....
"The contract is a case study in what not to do... Aegis has been in existence for little more than a year, has (not worked on ) ... security coordination, and has never before had a major contract in Iraq... Aegis is not even on the State Department's list of recommended security companies in Iraq...
"The chief executive of Aegis... in 1998... shipped 30 tons of arms to Sierra Leone in contravention of a United Nations arms embargo... was described... as "an Indian businessman, traveling on the passport of a dead Serb, awaiting extradition from Canada for alleged embezzlement from a bank in Thailand"... The Aegis deal was awarded by the Army transportation command in Fort Eustis, Va., an office with no apparent experience in dealing with the private military industry."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/15/opinion/15SING.html
"Occupation authorities in Iraq have awarded a $293 million contract effectively creating the world's largest private army to a company headed by... Tim Spicer... who has been investigated for illegally smuggling arms and planning military offensives to support mining, oil, and gas operations around the world... Aegis has no history in this business... and there's speculation that the contract was given for political reasons... some groups are questioning the contracting process. "It's not evident why they they would run a rent-a-cop contract through an Army transportation division in Virginia except that maybe the staff there are more experienced and can write a professional contract that can withstand a bid protest better than the Heritage foundation interns that run contracting in Baghdad..."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4644.html
Needed more than ever after "turnover of sovereignty"
"Last month the Pentagon awarded a $293 million contract for coordination of security support to a British firm called Aegis Defense Services... (for) coordination and management... (of) more than 50 other private security companies in Iraq... (and providing) up to 75 "close protection teams"... of eight armed civilians who are to protect staff members of the United States Project Management Office....
"The contract is a case study in what not to do... Aegis has been in existence for little more than a year, has (not worked on ) ... security coordination, and has never before had a major contract in Iraq... Aegis is not even on the State Department's list of recommended security companies in Iraq...
"The chief executive of Aegis... in 1998... shipped 30 tons of arms to Sierra Leone in contravention of a United Nations arms embargo... was described... as "an Indian businessman, traveling on the passport of a dead Serb, awaiting extradition from Canada for alleged embezzlement from a bank in Thailand"... The Aegis deal was awarded by the Army transportation command in Fort Eustis, Va., an office with no apparent experience in dealing with the private military industry."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/15/opinion/15SING.html
"Occupation authorities in Iraq have awarded a $293 million contract effectively creating the world's largest private army to a company headed by... Tim Spicer... who has been investigated for illegally smuggling arms and planning military offensives to support mining, oil, and gas operations around the world... Aegis has no history in this business... and there's speculation that the contract was given for political reasons... some groups are questioning the contracting process. "It's not evident why they they would run a rent-a-cop contract through an Army transportation division in Virginia except that maybe the staff there are more experienced and can write a professional contract that can withstand a bid protest better than the Heritage foundation interns that run contracting in Baghdad..."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4644.html
Monday, June 14, 2004
IRAQ SPENDING HAS MADE U.S. MORE VULNERABLE
"America is "massively vulnerable" to another big terrorist attack because of... Bush's insistence on diverting resources from internal security to the war in Iraq... the billions of dollars that had been spent in Iraq had used money that could have been spent on security within the US.... The administration denies the invasion of Iraq diverted resources and attention from the hunt for al-Qa'ida."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=531338
"America is "massively vulnerable" to another big terrorist attack because of... Bush's insistence on diverting resources from internal security to the war in Iraq... the billions of dollars that had been spent in Iraq had used money that could have been spent on security within the US.... The administration denies the invasion of Iraq diverted resources and attention from the hunt for al-Qa'ida."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=531338
BUSH NEGLECTED WAR ON TERRORISM FOR WAR ON IRAQ
"Retired Officials Say Bush Must Go... A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November... Several served under... Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush... The group (contends) that the administration has weakened American security by straining traditional alliances and shifting resources from the war against Al Qaeda to the invasion of Iraq.... (Bush) has taken have made us less secure. He has neglected the war on terrorism for the war in Iraq."
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-diplo13jun13,1,6235854.story
"Retired Officials Say Bush Must Go... A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November... Several served under... Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush... The group (contends) that the administration has weakened American security by straining traditional alliances and shifting resources from the war against Al Qaeda to the invasion of Iraq.... (Bush) has taken have made us less secure. He has neglected the war on terrorism for the war in Iraq."
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-diplo13jun13,1,6235854.story
Sunday, June 13, 2004
DEMOCRACY CANNOT BE IMPOSED
"The industrial allies of the US are meeting under the auspices of the G8 in ... Georgia to discuss... the US-sponsored Middle East initiative of democratizing the region. However, only a few Arab sycophants of America are present at that summit in order to create a semblance of dialogue... the administration... does not understand that, given its record of invasion of Iraq, any attempt to democratize the Middle East will be viewed as just another "ploy" by Washington to subjugate the Arab Middle East... Democratic change in the Middle East must come from within, or through dialogue among friends, as the Europeans have been insisting, but definitely not through gunboat diplomacy or preemption of any sort."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF11Ak03.html
"The industrial allies of the US are meeting under the auspices of the G8 in ... Georgia to discuss... the US-sponsored Middle East initiative of democratizing the region. However, only a few Arab sycophants of America are present at that summit in order to create a semblance of dialogue... the administration... does not understand that, given its record of invasion of Iraq, any attempt to democratize the Middle East will be viewed as just another "ploy" by Washington to subjugate the Arab Middle East... Democratic change in the Middle East must come from within, or through dialogue among friends, as the Europeans have been insisting, but definitely not through gunboat diplomacy or preemption of any sort."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF11Ak03.html
UN TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE
"... the UN's backing for the blueprint for Iraq could backfire if the situation deteriorates further... The UN Security Council is now seen as having endorsed the new government and mandated the American led forces to maintain security... If the violence increases and elections can not be held as scheduled at the end of the year, the Council may be held responsible. However officials here said that one of the functions of the UN was to be blamed for what everyone else does, so that would not be anything new..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3792853.stm
"... the UN's backing for the blueprint for Iraq could backfire if the situation deteriorates further... The UN Security Council is now seen as having endorsed the new government and mandated the American led forces to maintain security... If the violence increases and elections can not be held as scheduled at the end of the year, the Council may be held responsible. However officials here said that one of the functions of the UN was to be blamed for what everyone else does, so that would not be anything new..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3792853.stm
Saturday, June 12, 2004
FORTS RESENTED
"The US army is paralysing the heart of Baghdad as it builds ever more elaborate fortifications to protect its bases against suicide bombers.... the ever-expanding US bases and the increasing difficulties and dangers of their daily lives... make ordinary Iraqis dismiss declarations... about transferring power to a sovereign Iraqi government as meaningless... American officials and soldiers in central Baghdad (are)... cut off... from real Iraqi life, they probably do not know and may not care about the sea of resentment that surrounds them."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=530692
"The US army is paralysing the heart of Baghdad as it builds ever more elaborate fortifications to protect its bases against suicide bombers.... the ever-expanding US bases and the increasing difficulties and dangers of their daily lives... make ordinary Iraqis dismiss declarations... about transferring power to a sovereign Iraqi government as meaningless... American officials and soldiers in central Baghdad (are)... cut off... from real Iraqi life, they probably do not know and may not care about the sea of resentment that surrounds them."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=530692
REBUILDING OF IRAQ
I wrote the following letter to the Louisville Courier-Journal on June 9, in reply to a previous letter from a reader that had quoted the USAID website on Iraq . It was not used.
"A June 8 letter said that the newspaper and TV should "show the whole picture" of the rebuilding in Iraq, and should do some stories of the people involved. While it is true that both the USAID web site and the "Ray Reynolds, SFC" letter on the Snopes.com site paint a rosy picture of the rebuilding, the local press is probably not encouraged to cover the true situation which has been extensively reported by foreign news sites. Iraq will be importing fuel for years. Power blackouts continue and may be worse this summer. Hospitals are little better than before the war. The schools were rebuilt by Bechtel's Iraqi subcontractors with little oversight, shockingly poor workmanship and inflated cost. Rebuilding has been greatly hampered by the resistance, with contractors unable to work, and 25% of the funds allocated for rebuilding are now being diverted into security measures. And many Iraqis say they are unhappier now, due the violence, insecurity and high unemployment then they were before the war. While there is coverage of these difficulties in US magazines and foreign news sites, for a local paper and TV to report objectively on any of these problems would probably be considered unpatriotic. However, more human interest stories of the people involved in the rebuilding would be a good idea."
I wrote the following letter to the Louisville Courier-Journal on June 9, in reply to a previous letter from a reader that had quoted the USAID website on Iraq . It was not used.
"A June 8 letter said that the newspaper and TV should "show the whole picture" of the rebuilding in Iraq, and should do some stories of the people involved. While it is true that both the USAID web site and the "Ray Reynolds, SFC" letter on the Snopes.com site paint a rosy picture of the rebuilding, the local press is probably not encouraged to cover the true situation which has been extensively reported by foreign news sites. Iraq will be importing fuel for years. Power blackouts continue and may be worse this summer. Hospitals are little better than before the war. The schools were rebuilt by Bechtel's Iraqi subcontractors with little oversight, shockingly poor workmanship and inflated cost. Rebuilding has been greatly hampered by the resistance, with contractors unable to work, and 25% of the funds allocated for rebuilding are now being diverted into security measures. And many Iraqis say they are unhappier now, due the violence, insecurity and high unemployment then they were before the war. While there is coverage of these difficulties in US magazines and foreign news sites, for a local paper and TV to report objectively on any of these problems would probably be considered unpatriotic. However, more human interest stories of the people involved in the rebuilding would be a good idea."
Friday, June 11, 2004
NEW GOVERNMENT DOES NOT REPRESENT IRAQ
Many Iraqis see the new government as composed of American puppets and collaborators... a spokesman for the al Da'waa Party, a powerful Shiite Muslim group in Iraq, said the new government hasn't been well received... a political professor at Baghdad University said "It does not represent Iraq; it does not have much power. (Prime Minister) Allawi has to know that the people do not accept the presence of these troops on Iraqi land. Most of the Iraqi people look at this government as a puppet for the Americans ... more than 90 percent of the people here agree with the resistance."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8891610.htm
Many Iraqis see the new government as composed of American puppets and collaborators... a spokesman for the al Da'waa Party, a powerful Shiite Muslim group in Iraq, said the new government hasn't been well received... a political professor at Baghdad University said "It does not represent Iraq; it does not have much power. (Prime Minister) Allawi has to know that the people do not accept the presence of these troops on Iraqi land. Most of the Iraqi people look at this government as a puppet for the Americans ... more than 90 percent of the people here agree with the resistance."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8891610.htm
LOST IN ABU GHRAIB
"Dozens of missing Iraqis believed to be lost in Abu Ghraib prison... There's no way to tell how many have slipped into obscurity after being arrested by U.S. forces, said a coalition human-rights official... "The whole system is desperately overloaded, so the names get gobbled up and disappear."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8891610.htm
"Dozens of missing Iraqis believed to be lost in Abu Ghraib prison... There's no way to tell how many have slipped into obscurity after being arrested by U.S. forces, said a coalition human-rights official... "The whole system is desperately overloaded, so the names get gobbled up and disappear."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8891610.htm
RATIONALE FOR WAR
The other week a friend and I were discussing the war. I listed the false reasons for going to war, and the cost in lives and money. She then posed the question: "Would it not be worth it if the war established a friendly democracy in the Middle East?" She assumed that any reasonable person would answer "yes" to that question.
But a "yes" answer has several problems:
1. It says the false reasons for the war were justified because the real goal was OK.
2. It says that it was OK to change the regime of a country by attacking it.
3. It assumes that war will establish democracy in Iraq, when the same approach failed 80 years ago.
4. It assumes that a truly free and democratic Iraq will want continued US control politically, militarily and economically.
It seemed that this person, like others, now feels that it was OK to attack Iraq under any pretenses, if there was a chance of converting it to a cooperative democracy. This in fact was the goal of the Bush administration's Neo-Conservative group, as described in their paper entitled "Project For A New American Century" almost ten years ago.
The other week a friend and I were discussing the war. I listed the false reasons for going to war, and the cost in lives and money. She then posed the question: "Would it not be worth it if the war established a friendly democracy in the Middle East?" She assumed that any reasonable person would answer "yes" to that question.
But a "yes" answer has several problems:
1. It says the false reasons for the war were justified because the real goal was OK.
2. It says that it was OK to change the regime of a country by attacking it.
3. It assumes that war will establish democracy in Iraq, when the same approach failed 80 years ago.
4. It assumes that a truly free and democratic Iraq will want continued US control politically, militarily and economically.
It seemed that this person, like others, now feels that it was OK to attack Iraq under any pretenses, if there was a chance of converting it to a cooperative democracy. This in fact was the goal of the Bush administration's Neo-Conservative group, as described in their paper entitled "Project For A New American Century" almost ten years ago.
TORTURE FOR PROFIT
"... US firms hired to help interrogate Iraqi prisoners have been sued for allegedly conspiring to abuse detainees in order to boost profits... employees conspired to torture prisoners in order to obtain more information from them, thereby increasing their chances of winning more government contracts... The lawsuit, filed in San Diego, details fresh allegations of grave abuse, with one plaintiff claiming that he was forced to watch while his father was tortured so badly that he later died..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3793663.stm
"... US firms hired to help interrogate Iraqi prisoners have been sued for allegedly conspiring to abuse detainees in order to boost profits... employees conspired to torture prisoners in order to obtain more information from them, thereby increasing their chances of winning more government contracts... The lawsuit, filed in San Diego, details fresh allegations of grave abuse, with one plaintiff claiming that he was forced to watch while his father was tortured so badly that he later died..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3793663.stm
Thursday, June 10, 2004
IRAQIS' CONTACT WITH MILITARY
"... Despite endless hypocrisy about how we have brought freedom to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, we know that almost all the citizens of those countries who have come in contact with our armed forces and survived have nonetheless had their lives ruined..."
"... The courageous, anonymous Iraqi woman who edits the blog "Baghdad Burning"... writes (on May 7), "Don't rape, don't torture, don't kill, and get out while you can -- while it still looks like you have a choice. . . . Chaos? Civil war? We'll take our chances -- just take your puppets, your tanks, your smart weapons, your dumb politicians, your lies, your empty promises, your rapists, your sadistic torturers and go."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0610-09.htm
"... Despite endless hypocrisy about how we have brought freedom to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, we know that almost all the citizens of those countries who have come in contact with our armed forces and survived have nonetheless had their lives ruined..."
"... The courageous, anonymous Iraqi woman who edits the blog "Baghdad Burning"... writes (on May 7), "Don't rape, don't torture, don't kill, and get out while you can -- while it still looks like you have a choice. . . . Chaos? Civil war? We'll take our chances -- just take your puppets, your tanks, your smart weapons, your dumb politicians, your lies, your empty promises, your rapists, your sadistic torturers and go."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0610-09.htm
OUR BLUEPRINT FOR THE MIDDLE EAST
The main reason for the invasion of Iraq... was to occupy the country, exploit its oil and control the Middle East in collusion with Israel. In this scenario, the US would have permanent military bases on the borders of Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.... US engineers in Iraq have begun work on the construction of 14 permanent military bases, which US Brigadier-General Mark Kimmitt calls "a blueprint for how we could operate in the Middle East".
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF10Ak01.html
THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF IRAQ'S DUAL GOVERNMENT
(In 1922, as now, Iraq came to be governed by dually by a foreign mandate and by a provisional Iraqi government.) The impossibility of government by the dual authority of the mandate and the so-called government was called "a perplexing predicament" (al-wad' ash-shadh).... Soon the impossibility of government by dual authority will be repeated, and create once again al-wad' ash-shadh. Except that now, it will most likely be more brutal and deadly.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF10Ak01.html
The main reason for the invasion of Iraq... was to occupy the country, exploit its oil and control the Middle East in collusion with Israel. In this scenario, the US would have permanent military bases on the borders of Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.... US engineers in Iraq have begun work on the construction of 14 permanent military bases, which US Brigadier-General Mark Kimmitt calls "a blueprint for how we could operate in the Middle East".
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF10Ak01.html
THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF IRAQ'S DUAL GOVERNMENT
(In 1922, as now, Iraq came to be governed by dually by a foreign mandate and by a provisional Iraqi government.) The impossibility of government by the dual authority of the mandate and the so-called government was called "a perplexing predicament" (al-wad' ash-shadh).... Soon the impossibility of government by dual authority will be repeated, and create once again al-wad' ash-shadh. Except that now, it will most likely be more brutal and deadly.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF10Ak01.html
Q & A: THE HANDOVER IN IRAQ
Power in Iraq is to be formally handed over to an interim Iraqi government by the coalition or occupation forces on 30 June. But what will this mean in practice? BBC News Online looks at the key issues.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3742383.stm
Power in Iraq is to be formally handed over to an interim Iraqi government by the coalition or occupation forces on 30 June. But what will this mean in practice? BBC News Online looks at the key issues.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3742383.stm
REAGAN BUILD-UP OF SADDAM HUSSEIN
"... almost forgotten is the decisive part (Reagan's) administration played in the survival of Iraq's president Saddam Hussein... in February 1982, the State Department dropped Baghdad from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, clearing the way for aid and trade... Soon thereafter, Washington began passing high-value military intelligence to Iraq... Economic aid poured into Iraq in the form of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of loan guarantees... Sales of UH-1H helicopters and Hughes MD-500 Defender helicopters were approved by Washington. Though sold as civilian aircraft, nobody objected when they were quickly converted for military use... A May 9, 1984 memo... noted that US policy for the sale of dual-use equipment to Iraq's nuclear program also was reviewed. The memo said its "preliminary results favor expanding such trade to include Iraqi nuclear entities." By March 1985, the United States was issuing Baghdad export permits for high tech equipment crucial for its weapons of mass destruction programs..."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0609-01.htm
"... almost forgotten is the decisive part (Reagan's) administration played in the survival of Iraq's president Saddam Hussein... in February 1982, the State Department dropped Baghdad from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, clearing the way for aid and trade... Soon thereafter, Washington began passing high-value military intelligence to Iraq... Economic aid poured into Iraq in the form of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of loan guarantees... Sales of UH-1H helicopters and Hughes MD-500 Defender helicopters were approved by Washington. Though sold as civilian aircraft, nobody objected when they were quickly converted for military use... A May 9, 1984 memo... noted that US policy for the sale of dual-use equipment to Iraq's nuclear program also was reviewed. The memo said its "preliminary results favor expanding such trade to include Iraqi nuclear entities." By March 1985, the United States was issuing Baghdad export permits for high tech equipment crucial for its weapons of mass destruction programs..."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0609-01.htm
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
WE TRAINED HIM WELL
"... When he was in his early 20s, Saddam was integral to an American plot to overthrow Iraq's then-dictator, General Abdel Karim Kassem. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) installed him in an apartment on al-Rashid Street in Baghdad to observe the ruler's movements. But after a botched assassination attempt in 1959, the Americans whisked Saddam away to Cairo, Egypt. The 1963 coup against Kassem was a redux of the anti-Mosaddeq coup in Iran, planned to perfection by the CIA. American agents then provided Saddam with lists of "communists" who were subjected to mass summary executions. The CIA station chief of the time regarded it as "a great victory".
--An excerpt from review of the book:
"The End of Saddam Hussein: History Through the Eyes of the Victims", by Prem Shankar Jha
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FE06Ak03.html
"... Hussein had been recruited as a CIA operative, assisted and sustained by the US in his rise to power in Iraq, and given money, weapons and technical assistance—even the ingredients for the poisonous gasses he used on the Kurds and Iranians—by the Reagan-Bush administration represented by a smiling Donald Rumsfeld..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0609-11.htm
"... When he was in his early 20s, Saddam was integral to an American plot to overthrow Iraq's then-dictator, General Abdel Karim Kassem. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) installed him in an apartment on al-Rashid Street in Baghdad to observe the ruler's movements. But after a botched assassination attempt in 1959, the Americans whisked Saddam away to Cairo, Egypt. The 1963 coup against Kassem was a redux of the anti-Mosaddeq coup in Iran, planned to perfection by the CIA. American agents then provided Saddam with lists of "communists" who were subjected to mass summary executions. The CIA station chief of the time regarded it as "a great victory".
--An excerpt from review of the book:
"The End of Saddam Hussein: History Through the Eyes of the Victims", by Prem Shankar Jha
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FE06Ak03.html
"... Hussein had been recruited as a CIA operative, assisted and sustained by the US in his rise to power in Iraq, and given money, weapons and technical assistance—even the ingredients for the poisonous gasses he used on the Kurds and Iranians—by the Reagan-Bush administration represented by a smiling Donald Rumsfeld..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0609-11.htm
KURDS WANT INDEPENDENCE
"Sensing no change in their status under the new government, Kurdish leaders suggest their entity may break away... warning.. is made in a letter... sent to the American president over the weekend..."
http://www.oneworld.net/external/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwpr.net%2Findex.pl%3Farchive%2Firq%2Firq_66_1_eng.txt
"Sensing no change in their status under the new government, Kurdish leaders suggest their entity may break away... warning.. is made in a letter... sent to the American president over the weekend..."
http://www.oneworld.net/external/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwpr.net%2Findex.pl%3Farchive%2Firq%2Firq_66_1_eng.txt
REASON FOR DISSENT
"... If the world’s most powerful force invades a country, kills over 11,000 people, quashes dissent, makes mass arrests without charges, violates the Geneva Conventions, allows the systemic abuse of prisoners, and imposes a constitution that will allow multiple permanent foreign bases and continued foreign corporate control of the country’s natural resources, then that country—any country—will become a hotbed of dissent..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0609-11.htm
"... If the world’s most powerful force invades a country, kills over 11,000 people, quashes dissent, makes mass arrests without charges, violates the Geneva Conventions, allows the systemic abuse of prisoners, and imposes a constitution that will allow multiple permanent foreign bases and continued foreign corporate control of the country’s natural resources, then that country—any country—will become a hotbed of dissent..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0609-11.htm
IRAQI PRIME MINISTER WAS TERRORIST FOR USA
"Iyad Allawi, now the designated prime minister of Iraq, ran an exile organization intent on deposing Saddam Hussein that sent agents into Baghdad in the early 1990's to plant bombs and sabotage government facilities under the direction of the C.I.A... The Iraqi government at the time claimed that the bombs, including one it said exploded in a movie theater, resulted in many civilian casualties.... An American intelligence officer who worked with Dr. Allawi in the early 1990's noted that "no one had any problem with sabotage in Baghdad back then..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/09/politics/09ALLA.html
"Iyad Allawi, now the designated prime minister of Iraq, ran an exile organization intent on deposing Saddam Hussein that sent agents into Baghdad in the early 1990's to plant bombs and sabotage government facilities under the direction of the C.I.A... The Iraqi government at the time claimed that the bombs, including one it said exploded in a movie theater, resulted in many civilian casualties.... An American intelligence officer who worked with Dr. Allawi in the early 1990's noted that "no one had any problem with sabotage in Baghdad back then..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/09/politics/09ALLA.html
IRAQI MISSILE PARTS IN HOLLAND
"... Iraqi missile motors and other weapons-related equipment have been smuggled to Europe for recycling in scrapyards after they were left unguarded following the U.S. invasion last year... according to the report to the U.N. Security Council... Several sites in Iraq that once contained equipment that could have been used for biological or chemical weapons, have been emptied and dismantled since May 2003... the U.S.-led occupation force had not protected sites or items that inspectors tagged before the war because of their potential use in weapons of mass destruction..."
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/25434/story.htm
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=525050§ion=news
"... Iraqi missile motors and other weapons-related equipment have been smuggled to Europe for recycling in scrapyards after they were left unguarded following the U.S. invasion last year... according to the report to the U.N. Security Council... Several sites in Iraq that once contained equipment that could have been used for biological or chemical weapons, have been emptied and dismantled since May 2003... the U.S.-led occupation force had not protected sites or items that inspectors tagged before the war because of their potential use in weapons of mass destruction..."
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/25434/story.htm
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=525050§ion=news
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
LOSING THE WAR
"... The US military evidently feels that it has achieved all that it could in Iraq. It wants to declare victory and lower its level of engagement. It does not want to be left fighting a war of attrition, long after the appeal of its protean justifications have worn off. Major-General Charles Swannack was quoted in the Washington Post as saying: "I think strategically, we are [losing the war]."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FF09Aa01.html
"... The US military evidently feels that it has achieved all that it could in Iraq. It wants to declare victory and lower its level of engagement. It does not want to be left fighting a war of attrition, long after the appeal of its protean justifications have worn off. Major-General Charles Swannack was quoted in the Washington Post as saying: "I think strategically, we are [losing the war]."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FF09Aa01.html
KURDISH MONSTER LOOSED
"... the Kurds and north Iraq, where there has been relative calm until now, are looking more and more ominous.... military mobilization of Kurdish forces, in an attempt to secure its own interests as the June 30 date for the handover of sovereignty to Iraq nears, appears to be under way.... the United States now has little use for the Kurds, who see clearly that once again they are being abandoned by the US... The United States has let loose a Kurdish "monster", not only on Iraq itself, but also on the region at large, a "monster" which cannot easily be put back into the box..."
"... the handover of sovereignty on June 30 may... accelerate Iraq's descent into sectarian violence, with Turkey and Syria cooperating militarily to secure their interests in northern Iraq by taking control of that region, and the southern regions of Iraq moving significantly closer into cooperation with Iran, with the US military caught in the middle. The relative calmness of northern Iraq is very likely to be much like the calmness of a large bomb - its calmness very deceptively masks the huge explosion which is likely imminent. "
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF09Ak03.html
"... the Kurds and north Iraq, where there has been relative calm until now, are looking more and more ominous.... military mobilization of Kurdish forces, in an attempt to secure its own interests as the June 30 date for the handover of sovereignty to Iraq nears, appears to be under way.... the United States now has little use for the Kurds, who see clearly that once again they are being abandoned by the US... The United States has let loose a Kurdish "monster", not only on Iraq itself, but also on the region at large, a "monster" which cannot easily be put back into the box..."
"... the handover of sovereignty on June 30 may... accelerate Iraq's descent into sectarian violence, with Turkey and Syria cooperating militarily to secure their interests in northern Iraq by taking control of that region, and the southern regions of Iraq moving significantly closer into cooperation with Iran, with the US military caught in the middle. The relative calmness of northern Iraq is very likely to be much like the calmness of a large bomb - its calmness very deceptively masks the huge explosion which is likely imminent. "
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF09Ak03.html
KEY POINTS OF UN RESOLUTION 1546 ON SOVEREIGNTY
BBC News Online summarises the key points of the US and British resolution on the future of Iraq, adopted by the UN Security Council on Tuesday 8 June 2004.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3787027.stm
BBC News Online summarises the key points of the US and British resolution on the future of Iraq, adopted by the UN Security Council on Tuesday 8 June 2004.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3787027.stm
Monday, June 07, 2004
GAS IS 5 CENTS A GALLON - SUBSIDIZED BY U.S.
"... Iraqis pay only about 5 cents a gallon for gasoline - a benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars subsidies bankrolled by American taxpayers... Although Iraq is a major petroleum producer, the country has little capacity to refine its own gasoline. So the U.S. government pays about $1.50 a gallon to buy fuel in neighboring countries and deliver it to Iraqi stations. A three-month supply costs American taxpayers more than $500 million, not including the cost of military escorts to fend off attacks by Iraqi insurgents. The arrangement keeps a fleet of 4,200 tank trucks constantly on the move, ferrying fuel to Iraq..."
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/business/8850265.htm
"... Iraqis pay only about 5 cents a gallon for gasoline - a benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars subsidies bankrolled by American taxpayers... Although Iraq is a major petroleum producer, the country has little capacity to refine its own gasoline. So the U.S. government pays about $1.50 a gallon to buy fuel in neighboring countries and deliver it to Iraqi stations. A three-month supply costs American taxpayers more than $500 million, not including the cost of military escorts to fend off attacks by Iraqi insurgents. The arrangement keeps a fleet of 4,200 tank trucks constantly on the move, ferrying fuel to Iraq..."
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/business/8850265.htm
Sunday, June 06, 2004
THE WAR'S EFFECT ON THE WHITE HOUSE
“We’re at war, there’s no doubt about it. What I don’t know anymore is just who the enemy might be,” says one troubled White House aide. “We seem to spend more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies list just keeps growing and growing ... “This is what is killing us on Iraq,” one aide says. “We lost focus. The President got hung up on the weapons of mass destruction and an unproven link to al Qaeda" .... “In this administration, you don’t have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President" ... The President's abrupt dismissal of CIA Directory George Tenet Wednesday night is, aides say, an example of how he works."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4636.shtml
“We’re at war, there’s no doubt about it. What I don’t know anymore is just who the enemy might be,” says one troubled White House aide. “We seem to spend more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies list just keeps growing and growing ... “This is what is killing us on Iraq,” one aide says. “We lost focus. The President got hung up on the weapons of mass destruction and an unproven link to al Qaeda" .... “In this administration, you don’t have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President" ... The President's abrupt dismissal of CIA Directory George Tenet Wednesday night is, aides say, an example of how he works."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4636.shtml
Friday, June 04, 2004
BRAHIMI OUTMANUEVERED IN SELECTION OF NEW GOVERNMENT
"... according to UN sources, Brahimi was outmanoeuvred by the Iraqis on the governing council seeking to perpetuate their power. Paul Bremer, the head of the coalition provisional authority, announced the new prime minister before Brahimi had been informed, an extension of the doctrine of pre-emption. Then Brahimi was sidelined again on the selection of the president. Presented with this fait accompli, the UN sources say, he had to accept it or else destroy any remnant of legality. "Once it was done, it was done," said a UN source.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1230140,00.html
"... according to UN sources, Brahimi was outmanoeuvred by the Iraqis on the governing council seeking to perpetuate their power. Paul Bremer, the head of the coalition provisional authority, announced the new prime minister before Brahimi had been informed, an extension of the doctrine of pre-emption. Then Brahimi was sidelined again on the selection of the president. Presented with this fait accompli, the UN sources say, he had to accept it or else destroy any remnant of legality. "Once it was done, it was done," said a UN source.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1230140,00.html
TRANSFER OF POWER A BLUEWASHED SHAM
"... the UN envoy's collapse under U.S. pressure, giving in to the U.S.-selected and U.S.-controlled Governing Council's choice in selecting the prime minister and other top officials of the interim government, shocked even those observers accustomed to U.S. domination of the global body. If Brahimi was ultimately unable to impose the UN's will on the U.S. and the recalcitrant Governing Council to appoint non-political technocrats to run the country and prepare for elections in 2005, he could have acknowledged that failure and withdrawn. The result would almost certainly have been a U.S. 'transfer of power' to the Governing Council itself, which would have been widely and appropriately recognized as undemocratic, illegal, and illegitimate. Instead, there are now Governing Council members and their minions in all the top positions of the interim government, but with the illusion of international credibility providing a United Nations 'bluewashing' of the process...."
"... The appointment of CIA-linked Allawi as prime minister, along with the virtual renaming of the IGC as the 'new interim government,' confirms that 'transfer of sovereignty' is a sham. Allawi is a British citizen and the head of the Iraqi National Accord, responsible for providing the sensational pre-invasion claim that Saddam Hussein was able to deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of the order."
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0601-07.htm
"... the UN envoy's collapse under U.S. pressure, giving in to the U.S.-selected and U.S.-controlled Governing Council's choice in selecting the prime minister and other top officials of the interim government, shocked even those observers accustomed to U.S. domination of the global body. If Brahimi was ultimately unable to impose the UN's will on the U.S. and the recalcitrant Governing Council to appoint non-political technocrats to run the country and prepare for elections in 2005, he could have acknowledged that failure and withdrawn. The result would almost certainly have been a U.S. 'transfer of power' to the Governing Council itself, which would have been widely and appropriately recognized as undemocratic, illegal, and illegitimate. Instead, there are now Governing Council members and their minions in all the top positions of the interim government, but with the illusion of international credibility providing a United Nations 'bluewashing' of the process...."
"... The appointment of CIA-linked Allawi as prime minister, along with the virtual renaming of the IGC as the 'new interim government,' confirms that 'transfer of sovereignty' is a sham. Allawi is a British citizen and the head of the Iraqi National Accord, responsible for providing the sensational pre-invasion claim that Saddam Hussein was able to deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of the order."
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0601-07.htm