U. S. PLAN FOR IRAQ
"... The Pentagon's strategic plan for Iraq calls for four major air bases from which U.S. mobile, rapid-reaction units and air power will permanently control Iraq and the entire oil-rich Mideast. Imperial Britain once followed the same strategy in Iraq. Some 200,000 U.S.-led Iraqi "sepoys" (native troops) and police will keep order in urban areas, backed by a powerful secret police force..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0731-24.htm
Thursday, July 28, 2005
BRITISH INTELLIGENCE LINKS IRAQ WAR AND SUBWAY BOMBS
"... a team of MI5 analysts concludes: “Though they have a range of aspirations and ‘causes’, Iraq is a dominant issue for a range of extremist groups and individuals in the UK and Europe"... The latest MI5 assessment sticks to the view that there is a link between Iraq and terrorist activities.."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0728-02.htm
"... a team of MI5 analysts concludes: “Though they have a range of aspirations and ‘causes’, Iraq is a dominant issue for a range of extremist groups and individuals in the UK and Europe"... The latest MI5 assessment sticks to the view that there is a link between Iraq and terrorist activities.."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0728-02.htm
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
IRAQI PRISON POPULATION GROWTH IS DIVERTING U.S. SOLDIERS
"... the United States is now overseeing 15,000 detainees, a number that has climbed sharply in recent months as more insurgents are captured in operations but a smaller percentage are released because they are considered higher risk.
American forces currently run detention centers at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, Camp Bucca near Basra, and Camp Cropper, a site for high-value detainees including Mr. Hussein, near Baghdad International Airport. But the prison population is growing so quickly that the United States will soon open a fourth major prison in northern Iraq. The prison operations are requiring increasing numbers of American military police and prison guards, who are being diverted from other jobs in Iraq..."
http://nytimes.com/2005/07/27/international/middleeast/27cnd-rumsfeld.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=6388bf45be90413b&hp&ex=1122523200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1122498471-ZoZW7D2gRl6j+62ulgbuRA
"... the United States is now overseeing 15,000 detainees, a number that has climbed sharply in recent months as more insurgents are captured in operations but a smaller percentage are released because they are considered higher risk.
American forces currently run detention centers at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, Camp Bucca near Basra, and Camp Cropper, a site for high-value detainees including Mr. Hussein, near Baghdad International Airport. But the prison population is growing so quickly that the United States will soon open a fourth major prison in northern Iraq. The prison operations are requiring increasing numbers of American military police and prison guards, who are being diverted from other jobs in Iraq..."
http://nytimes.com/2005/07/27/international/middleeast/27cnd-rumsfeld.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=6388bf45be90413b&hp&ex=1122523200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1122498471-ZoZW7D2gRl6j+62ulgbuRA
INSURGENTS INFILTRATE IRAQI POLICE
"Iraq's police force is recruiting insurgents and former criminals to its ranks, according to a report released by the US defence department.... many new recruits are illiterate, have criminal records or are physically disabled... (but) Even more troubling is infiltration by intending terrorists or insurgents..."
--96-page report, based on a study by the Pentagon and State Department Inspector Generals' offices
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4716531.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/07/25/iraq.police/
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-07-26-voa14.cfm
"Iraq's police force is recruiting insurgents and former criminals to its ranks, according to a report released by the US defence department.... many new recruits are illiterate, have criminal records or are physically disabled... (but) Even more troubling is infiltration by intending terrorists or insurgents..."
--96-page report, based on a study by the Pentagon and State Department Inspector Generals' offices
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4716531.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/07/25/iraq.police/
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-07-26-voa14.cfm
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
REBUILDING BAGHDAD WATER, SEWERS, ELECTRICITY
"Talib Abu Younes put his lips to a glass of tap water recently and watched worms swimming in the bottom. Electricity flickers on and off for two hours in Muthana Naim's south Baghdad home then shuts off for four in boiling July heat that shoots above 120 degrees. Fadhel Hussein boils buckets of sewage-contaminated water from the Tigris River to wash the family's clothes. The capital is crumbling around angry Baghdadis. Narrow concrete sewage pipes decay underground and water pipes leak out more than half the drinking water before it ever reaches a home.."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12219341.htm
"Talib Abu Younes put his lips to a glass of tap water recently and watched worms swimming in the bottom. Electricity flickers on and off for two hours in Muthana Naim's south Baghdad home then shuts off for four in boiling July heat that shoots above 120 degrees. Fadhel Hussein boils buckets of sewage-contaminated water from the Tigris River to wash the family's clothes. The capital is crumbling around angry Baghdadis. Narrow concrete sewage pipes decay underground and water pipes leak out more than half the drinking water before it ever reaches a home.."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12219341.htm
Sunday, July 24, 2005
MIRED IN AN UNWINNALBLE CONFLICT
",... This is now an unwinnable conflict... an investigation,... into 300 young Saudis... on their way to Iraq to fight or blow themselves up, shows that very few had any previous contact with al-Qa'ida... It was the invasion of Iraq which prompted their decision to die... The US and Britain pretended in 2003 that Saddam ruled a powerful state capable of menacing his neighbours. Secretly they believed this was untrue and expected an easy victory. Now in 2005 they find to their horror that there are people in Iraq more truly dangerous than Saddam, and they are mired in an un-winnable conflict."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article301250.ece
",... This is now an unwinnable conflict... an investigation,... into 300 young Saudis... on their way to Iraq to fight or blow themselves up, shows that very few had any previous contact with al-Qa'ida... It was the invasion of Iraq which prompted their decision to die... The US and Britain pretended in 2003 that Saddam ruled a powerful state capable of menacing his neighbours. Secretly they believed this was untrue and expected an easy victory. Now in 2005 they find to their horror that there are people in Iraq more truly dangerous than Saddam, and they are mired in an un-winnable conflict."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article301250.ece
U.S. DOES NOT UNDERSTAND INSURGENCY
"... the guerrillas and terrorists battling the American-backed enterprise here appear to be growing more violent, more resilient and more sophisticated than ever... the Americans acknowledge that they are no closer to understanding the inner workings of the insurgency or stemming the flow of foreign fighters, who are believed to be conducting a vast majority of suicide attacks. The insurgency... has largely eluded the understanding of American intelligence officers since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government 27 months ago..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/international/middleeast/24insurgents.html?hp
"... the guerrillas and terrorists battling the American-backed enterprise here appear to be growing more violent, more resilient and more sophisticated than ever... the Americans acknowledge that they are no closer to understanding the inner workings of the insurgency or stemming the flow of foreign fighters, who are believed to be conducting a vast majority of suicide attacks. The insurgency... has largely eluded the understanding of American intelligence officers since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government 27 months ago..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/international/middleeast/24insurgents.html?hp
Saturday, July 23, 2005
CIVIL WAR
"... I visit Baghdad at least four times a year, to see how things are developing. Since the fall of Saddam in May 2003... I have been here eleven times. Each time the security situation has been markedly worse than the time before... as many people are now dying here every day as were killed in the London bombings... It has become a civil war fought out with car bombs and shots to the head, while the foreign forces, US and British and the rest, look on, incapable of stopping it. This isn't how things were supposed to turn out here."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4692881.stm
"... I visit Baghdad at least four times a year, to see how things are developing. Since the fall of Saddam in May 2003... I have been here eleven times. Each time the security situation has been markedly worse than the time before... as many people are now dying here every day as were killed in the London bombings... It has become a civil war fought out with car bombs and shots to the head, while the foreign forces, US and British and the rest, look on, incapable of stopping it. This isn't how things were supposed to turn out here."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4692881.stm
ASSAULT ON IRAQ COULD JEOPARDIZE LONDON
"An assault on Iraq will inflame world opinion and jeopardize security and peace everywhere. London, as one of the major world cities, has a great deal to lose from war and a lot to gain from peace, international cooperation and global security."
--Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, September 2002
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0723-23.htm
"An assault on Iraq will inflame world opinion and jeopardize security and peace everywhere. London, as one of the major world cities, has a great deal to lose from war and a lot to gain from peace, international cooperation and global security."
--Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, September 2002
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0723-23.htm
Thursday, July 21, 2005
IRAQI FORCES FAR FROM READY
"... half of Iraq's new police battalions (are) still in the process of being constituted and (are) not in any condition to conduct independent operations, while the other half of the police/security forces and no less than two-thirds of the new Iraqi army (are) not yet capable of "planning executing and sustaining" counter-insurgency operations, even with U.S. and allied support."
--Gen. Peter Pace, the incoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050722-111510-5409r
"About half of Iraq's new police battalions are still being established and cannot conduct operations, while the other half of the police units and two-thirds of the new army battalions are only "partially capable" of carrying out counterinsurgency missions, and only with American help..."
"Only "a small number" of Iraqi security forces are capable of fighting the insurgency without American assistance, while about one-third of the army is capable of "planning, executing and sustaining counterinsurgency operations" with allied support..."
"Iraqi battalions are graded on a scale of one (strongest) to four (weakest)... Level 1 units are able to plan, execute and sustain independent counterinsurgency operations. By late last month, American commanders said, only 3 of the 107 military and paramilitary battalions had achieved that standard. At the lower end, Level 4 units are just forming and cannot conduct operations. Units graded at levels in between need some form of allied support..."
http://nytimes.com/2005/07/21/international/middleeast/21military.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=69e2bcb219102a20&hp&ex=1122004800&partner=homepage
"... half of Iraq's new police battalions (are) still in the process of being constituted and (are) not in any condition to conduct independent operations, while the other half of the police/security forces and no less than two-thirds of the new Iraqi army (are) not yet capable of "planning executing and sustaining" counter-insurgency operations, even with U.S. and allied support."
--Gen. Peter Pace, the incoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050722-111510-5409r
"About half of Iraq's new police battalions are still being established and cannot conduct operations, while the other half of the police units and two-thirds of the new army battalions are only "partially capable" of carrying out counterinsurgency missions, and only with American help..."
"Only "a small number" of Iraqi security forces are capable of fighting the insurgency without American assistance, while about one-third of the army is capable of "planning, executing and sustaining counterinsurgency operations" with allied support..."
"Iraqi battalions are graded on a scale of one (strongest) to four (weakest)... Level 1 units are able to plan, execute and sustain independent counterinsurgency operations. By late last month, American commanders said, only 3 of the 107 military and paramilitary battalions had achieved that standard. At the lower end, Level 4 units are just forming and cannot conduct operations. Units graded at levels in between need some form of allied support..."
http://nytimes.com/2005/07/21/international/middleeast/21military.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=69e2bcb219102a20&hp&ex=1122004800&partner=homepage
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
BUSH HAS FULFILLED BIN LADEN'S EVERY HOPE
"... Bush has fulfilled Bin Laden's every hope. Through the invasion of secular Ba'athist Iraq, the abuses in Abu Ghraib, the mass murders in Falluja, America - with Britain's obedient assistance - has turned Iraq into a jihadist playground while alienating all moderate Muslim opinion in the Islamic heartlands and, crucially, in the west..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1532004,00.html
"... Bush has fulfilled Bin Laden's every hope. Through the invasion of secular Ba'athist Iraq, the abuses in Abu Ghraib, the mass murders in Falluja, America - with Britain's obedient assistance - has turned Iraq into a jihadist playground while alienating all moderate Muslim opinion in the Islamic heartlands and, crucially, in the west..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1532004,00.html
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
WHO IS KILLING THE IRAQIS?
"... Iraq Body Count IBC has been collecting media information concerning Iraqis killed and injured in the last 28 months...
• U.S.-led forces killed 37% of civilian victims.
• Anti-occupation forces/insurgents killed 9% of civilian victims.
• Post-invasion criminal violence accounted for 36% of all deaths.
I think these numbers are more than enough to shut the mouths of the war supporters who accuse Iraqis of targeting each other."
--Raed Jarrar, the Bagdad Blogger, Tuesday, July 19, 2005
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
"... Iraq Body Count IBC has been collecting media information concerning Iraqis killed and injured in the last 28 months...
• U.S.-led forces killed 37% of civilian victims.
• Anti-occupation forces/insurgents killed 9% of civilian victims.
• Post-invasion criminal violence accounted for 36% of all deaths.
I think these numbers are more than enough to shut the mouths of the war supporters who accuse Iraqis of targeting each other."
--Raed Jarrar, the Bagdad Blogger, Tuesday, July 19, 2005
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
CREATION OF DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ
"... And Bush created Democracy"
--Raed Jarrar, the Bagdad Blogger, Tuesday, July 19, 2005
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
"... And Bush created Democracy"
--Raed Jarrar, the Bagdad Blogger, Tuesday, July 19, 2005
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
IRAQ AND IRAN FORM WORKING COMMITTEES
"Iran, Iraq form five working committees... the committees' focus will include economic, political, and security issues and other affairs of mutual interests... a new chapter has been opened in bilateral relations... supporting the Iraqi nation is top on the agenda of the Islamic Republic's (Iran's) foreign policy..."
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=33451&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
"Iran, Iraq form five working committees... the committees' focus will include economic, political, and security issues and other affairs of mutual interests... a new chapter has been opened in bilateral relations... supporting the Iraqi nation is top on the agenda of the Islamic Republic's (Iran's) foreign policy..."
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=33451&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
IRAQ IN CIVIL WAR
"... Prince Hassan of Jordan called for a broad-based Middle East conference on Iraq to be held, to prevent the fragmentation of the country. He told the BBC that Iraq was now in a state of civil war."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4696869.stm
"... Prince Hassan of Jordan called for a broad-based Middle East conference on Iraq to be held, to prevent the fragmentation of the country. He told the BBC that Iraq was now in a state of civil war."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4696869.stm
Monday, July 18, 2005
IRAQI SECURITY A FAILURE, LOCAL MILTIAS FORMED
"Frustrated Iraqis ready to take law into own hands... Iraqis have begun barricading themselves in their homes and forming neighbourhood militias in an effort to fend off relentless suicide attacks... A senior member of Iraq's parliament on Sunday called for popular militias to be created as an extra line of defence against the militants, and criticised the government for failing to stop the bombs. "The plans of the interior and defence ministries to impose security in Iraq have failed. We need to bring back popular militias."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=127507+18-Jul-2005+RTRS&srch=Luke+Baker
"Frustrated Iraqis ready to take law into own hands... Iraqis have begun barricading themselves in their homes and forming neighbourhood militias in an effort to fend off relentless suicide attacks... A senior member of Iraq's parliament on Sunday called for popular militias to be created as an extra line of defence against the militants, and criticised the government for failing to stop the bombs. "The plans of the interior and defence ministries to impose security in Iraq have failed. We need to bring back popular militias."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=127507+18-Jul-2005+RTRS&srch=Luke+Baker
MISPLACED RESOURCES IN WAR ON TERROR
"... police believe that the mastermind behind the London bombings is linked to a senior al-Qaeda figure “. . . who took part in an al-Qaeda terror summit held in Pakistan 16 months ago”. Did we miss a meeting? Apparently so. In March 2004, while this was taking place, 137,000 Coalition troops were present in Iraq..."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,21131-1699123,00.html
"... police believe that the mastermind behind the London bombings is linked to a senior al-Qaeda figure “. . . who took part in an al-Qaeda terror summit held in Pakistan 16 months ago”. Did we miss a meeting? Apparently so. In March 2004, while this was taking place, 137,000 Coalition troops were present in Iraq..."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,21131-1699123,00.html
Sunday, July 17, 2005
BIN LADEN IS BLEEDING THE U.S. TO DEATH
"... The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have already cost taxpayers $314 billion, and the Congressional Budget Office projects additional expenses of perhaps $450 billion over the next 10 years... The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a nonpartisan Washington think tank, has estimated that the Korean War cost about $430 billion and the Vietnam War cost about $600 billion, in current dollars. According to the latest estimates, the cost of the war in Iraq could exceed $700 billion..."
"Osama (bin Laden) doesn't have to win; he will just bleed us to death."
-- Michael Scheuer, a former counterterrorism official at the CIA who led the pursuit of bin Laden
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/07/17/MNG5GDPEK31.DTL&type=printable
"... The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have already cost taxpayers $314 billion, and the Congressional Budget Office projects additional expenses of perhaps $450 billion over the next 10 years... The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a nonpartisan Washington think tank, has estimated that the Korean War cost about $430 billion and the Vietnam War cost about $600 billion, in current dollars. According to the latest estimates, the cost of the war in Iraq could exceed $700 billion..."
"Osama (bin Laden) doesn't have to win; he will just bleed us to death."
-- Michael Scheuer, a former counterterrorism official at the CIA who led the pursuit of bin Laden
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/07/17/MNG5GDPEK31.DTL&type=printable
BUSH ADMINISTRATION PLANNED TO INFLUENCE IRAQ ELECTIONS
"... Bush's national security advisers recommended that he sign a secret, formal authorization for covert action to influence the election, called a finding. They said that Bush either had already signed it or was about to when objections were raised in Congress. Ultimately, he rescinded the decision, the officials said... Bush's precise reasons for rescinding the plan are not clear. Among those ... cited as raising objections was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco..."
-- Common Dreams quoting forthcoming New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0717-04.htm
"... Bush's national security advisers recommended that he sign a secret, formal authorization for covert action to influence the election, called a finding. They said that Bush either had already signed it or was about to when objections were raised in Congress. Ultimately, he rescinded the decision, the officials said... Bush's precise reasons for rescinding the plan are not clear. Among those ... cited as raising objections was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco..."
-- Common Dreams quoting forthcoming New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0717-04.htm
Saturday, July 16, 2005
FALLUJAH INSURGENTS RISE AGAIN
"... Somewhere in the bowels of Falluja... insurgents are building suicide car bombs again... At least four have exploded in recent weeks, one of them killing six American troops, including four women. Two of five police forts being erected have been firebombed..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/international/middleeast/15falluja.html?
"... Somewhere in the bowels of Falluja... insurgents are building suicide car bombs again... At least four have exploded in recent weeks, one of them killing six American troops, including four women. Two of five police forts being erected have been firebombed..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/international/middleeast/15falluja.html?
CONSERVATIVE VS LIBERAL APPROACH
"Iraq attack targets young"
Headline for front page story in a midwestern newspaper.
"Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 27 in Iraq"
Headline for article in LA Times:
"The dead are mostly children gathering candy from U.S. troops; one American soldier is also killed. U.S. soldiers attached to the army's 3rd Infantry Division descended on the neighborhood this morning as part of a "cordon-and-search" operation meant to ferret out a bomb reportedly in the neighborhood... Iraqi children, fascinated by helmet and flak-jacket clad soldiers in armored Humvees, approached a group at a checkpoint on the edge of the neighborhood and began pleading for candy... At first, the soldiers shooed them away, but eventually relented, handing out sweets and drawing a crowd of children. Witnesses said the suicide bomber drove an SUV near the crowd and detonated."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-071305iraq_lat,0,5496102.story?coll=la-home-headlines
"Iraq attack targets young"
Headline for front page story in a midwestern newspaper.
"Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 27 in Iraq"
Headline for article in LA Times:
"The dead are mostly children gathering candy from U.S. troops; one American soldier is also killed. U.S. soldiers attached to the army's 3rd Infantry Division descended on the neighborhood this morning as part of a "cordon-and-search" operation meant to ferret out a bomb reportedly in the neighborhood... Iraqi children, fascinated by helmet and flak-jacket clad soldiers in armored Humvees, approached a group at a checkpoint on the edge of the neighborhood and began pleading for candy... At first, the soldiers shooed them away, but eventually relented, handing out sweets and drawing a crowd of children. Witnesses said the suicide bomber drove an SUV near the crowd and detonated."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-071305iraq_lat,0,5496102.story?coll=la-home-headlines
CHILDREN AS HUMAN SHIELDS
"Who is more to blame? The Iraqi resistance targeting occupation military soldiers or the coward US army hiding behind Iraqi kids?"
-- Raed Jarrar, the Baghdad Blogger, Wednesday, July 13, 2005
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
"I'm going to probably buy alot of candy when I goto the PX in the camp. That way, I can hand it out to the kids. They'll be more likely to help us avoid things we wouldn't otherwise be able to avoid."
-- Kevin, a U. S. soldier, Boots on the Ground blog, Sunday, February 27, 2005
http://bootsonground.blogspot.com/2005/02/combat-patrol.html
"Who is more to blame? The Iraqi resistance targeting occupation military soldiers or the coward US army hiding behind Iraqi kids?"
-- Raed Jarrar, the Baghdad Blogger, Wednesday, July 13, 2005
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
"I'm going to probably buy alot of candy when I goto the PX in the camp. That way, I can hand it out to the kids. They'll be more likely to help us avoid things we wouldn't otherwise be able to avoid."
-- Kevin, a U. S. soldier, Boots on the Ground blog, Sunday, February 27, 2005
http://bootsonground.blogspot.com/2005/02/combat-patrol.html
IRAN TO TRAIN IRAQ ARMY, TRADE OIL, GIVE $1 BILLION FOR RECONSTRUCTION
"... Iran promised last week to contribute $1 billion to Iraqi reconstruction effort... the countries agreed to build a pipeline between the two southern cities of Basra in Iraq and Abadan in Iran to trade oil..."
http://nytimes.com/2005/07/17/international/middleeast/17baghdad.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=32639bb8e839d1bd&hp&ex=1121572800&partner=homepage
"Iranians to train Iraq's military... Iran and Iraq say they will launch broad military co-operation including training Iraqi armed forces....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4659287.stm
"... Iraq is now led by Ibrahim al-Jaafari... al-Jafaari said "Let me add that the party that will leave Iraq is the United States, because it will eventually withdraw. But the party that will live with the Iraqis is Iran, because it is a neighbor to Iraq."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF28Ak01.html
"... Iran promised last week to contribute $1 billion to Iraqi reconstruction effort... the countries agreed to build a pipeline between the two southern cities of Basra in Iraq and Abadan in Iran to trade oil..."
http://nytimes.com/2005/07/17/international/middleeast/17baghdad.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=32639bb8e839d1bd&hp&ex=1121572800&partner=homepage
"Iranians to train Iraq's military... Iran and Iraq say they will launch broad military co-operation including training Iraqi armed forces....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4659287.stm
"... Iraq is now led by Ibrahim al-Jaafari... al-Jafaari said "Let me add that the party that will leave Iraq is the United States, because it will eventually withdraw. But the party that will live with the Iraqis is Iran, because it is a neighbor to Iraq."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF28Ak01.html
U.S. SOLDIERS CHARGED IN BEATING SUSPECTS
"Eleven US soldiers have been charged with beating suspected Iraqi insurgents in custody... the 11 soldiers have been charged with "violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice". The US military statement said "The unit involved (assigned to Task Force Baghdad) has been pulled off line to complete the inquiry and retraining."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4688499.stm
http://nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq.html?hp&ex=1121572800&en=163cdddfd9b064f4&ei=5094&partner=homepage
"Eleven US soldiers have been charged with beating suspected Iraqi insurgents in custody... the 11 soldiers have been charged with "violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice". The US military statement said "The unit involved (assigned to Task Force Baghdad) has been pulled off line to complete the inquiry and retraining."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4688499.stm
http://nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq.html?hp&ex=1121572800&en=163cdddfd9b064f4&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
LONDON ATTACKERS INFLAMED BY BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION IN WAR
"... Four young British citizens of Pakistani origin appear to have carried out last week's bombings of the London transit system... the profile of the suspects... fit long-standing warnings by security experts that the greatest potential threat to Britain could come from second-generation Muslims... inflamed by Britain's participation in the Iraq war..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/12/AR2005071200527_2.html
"... Four young British citizens of Pakistani origin appear to have carried out last week's bombings of the London transit system... the profile of the suspects... fit long-standing warnings by security experts that the greatest potential threat to Britain could come from second-generation Muslims... inflamed by Britain's participation in the Iraq war..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/12/AR2005071200527_2.html
Monday, July 11, 2005
LONDONERS PAID PRICE FOR IRAQ
"Londoners have paid the price for Iraq... it was the US-led coalition's actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo which had inflamed hatred of the West in the Muslim world."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4661633.stm
"Londoners have paid the price for Iraq... it was the US-led coalition's actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo which had inflamed hatred of the West in the Muslim world."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4661633.stm
Sunday, July 10, 2005
SECRET PLAN TO QUIT IRAQ
"Britain And America are secretly preparing to withdraw most of their troops from Iraq... many of the 8,500 British troops in Iraq are set to be brought home within three months, with most of the rest returning six months later... Emerging US plans assume 14 out of 18 provinces could be handed over to Iraqi control by early 2006, allowing a reduction in [Allied troops] from 176,000 down to 66,000..."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=355291&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=&ct=5
"Britain And America are secretly preparing to withdraw most of their troops from Iraq... many of the 8,500 British troops in Iraq are set to be brought home within three months, with most of the rest returning six months later... Emerging US plans assume 14 out of 18 provinces could be handed over to Iraqi control by early 2006, allowing a reduction in [Allied troops] from 176,000 down to 66,000..."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=355291&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=&ct=5
Saturday, July 09, 2005
LONDON ATTACKS WERE IN RETALIATION FOR IRAQ
Message from the bombers...
"... it is time to take revenge... in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq... We continue to warn... all the crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_London_transport_explosions#Translated_statement
Message from the bombers...
"... it is time to take revenge... in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq... We continue to warn... all the crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_London_transport_explosions#Translated_statement
CAUSES OF TERRORISM
Occupation of Iraq not mentioned as a factor...
"... after terrorist attacks killed at least 50 people in London... Blair... spoke of tackling the causes of terrorism, including poverty, lack of democracy and conflict in the Middle East..."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162002,00.html
Occupation of Iraq not mentioned as a factor...
"... after terrorist attacks killed at least 50 people in London... Blair... spoke of tackling the causes of terrorism, including poverty, lack of democracy and conflict in the Middle East..."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162002,00.html
Friday, July 08, 2005
THE GENERALS' VIEWS
NOW
"Iraq slowly gets better every day."
Gen. George Casey, commander in Iraq, briefing a Senate committee
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2005/06/iraq-050627-usia01.htm
PREVIOUSLY
"... In interviews and briefings... One officer suggested Wednesday that American military involvement could last "many years"... In Baghdad, a senior officer said... the success of American goals in Iraq was not assured. "I think that this could still fail," the officer said at the briefing. It's much more likely to succeed, but it could still fail."
"Generals Offer a Sober Outlook on Iraqi War", late May 2005
http://nytimes.com/2005/05/19/international/middleeast/19cnd-iraq.html?hp&ex=1116561600&en=03fb911eac4e06e0&ei=5094&partner=homepage
"By almost any indicator you look at, the trends are up, so we're definitely winning..."
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, April 26, 2005
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=ah37484IdIOc&refer=top_world_news
"We feel right now that we have, as I mentioned, broken the back of the insurgency."
Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler, Nov. 18, 2004, after the U.S.-led offensive against Fallujah
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0523-22.htm
"... I don't think we're on the brink of failure; I think we're on the brink of success here. I think that as the new transitional government stands up, that there will be traction there with the Iraqi people that will be very important to them..."
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, late May 2004
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-iraqassess23may23,1,3465741.story?coll=la-home-headlines
"... the deadly insurgency that flared this month is a symptom of the success that we're having here in Iraq... "
Air Force General Richard Myers, April 15 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15911-2004Apr15.html
"...there is light at the end of the tunnel... our soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors are winning over the Iraqi people..."
Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, January 2004
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Stories/01_04/8.htm
NOW
"Iraq slowly gets better every day."
Gen. George Casey, commander in Iraq, briefing a Senate committee
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2005/06/iraq-050627-usia01.htm
PREVIOUSLY
"... In interviews and briefings... One officer suggested Wednesday that American military involvement could last "many years"... In Baghdad, a senior officer said... the success of American goals in Iraq was not assured. "I think that this could still fail," the officer said at the briefing. It's much more likely to succeed, but it could still fail."
"Generals Offer a Sober Outlook on Iraqi War", late May 2005
http://nytimes.com/2005/05/19/international/middleeast/19cnd-iraq.html?hp&ex=1116561600&en=03fb911eac4e06e0&ei=5094&partner=homepage
"By almost any indicator you look at, the trends are up, so we're definitely winning..."
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, April 26, 2005
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=ah37484IdIOc&refer=top_world_news
"We feel right now that we have, as I mentioned, broken the back of the insurgency."
Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler, Nov. 18, 2004, after the U.S.-led offensive against Fallujah
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0523-22.htm
"... I don't think we're on the brink of failure; I think we're on the brink of success here. I think that as the new transitional government stands up, that there will be traction there with the Iraqi people that will be very important to them..."
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, late May 2004
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-iraqassess23may23,1,3465741.story?coll=la-home-headlines
"... the deadly insurgency that flared this month is a symptom of the success that we're having here in Iraq... "
Air Force General Richard Myers, April 15 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15911-2004Apr15.html
"...there is light at the end of the tunnel... our soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors are winning over the Iraqi people..."
Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, January 2004
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Stories/01_04/8.htm
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
DOES ZARQAWI EXIST OR IS HE A MYTH?
November 2004
"... I didn't know of Al-Zarkawi, didn't even think that such person exists!! Dad suggests that he's just an imaginary person made by the Americans to make the resistance look worse! ... Believe me, faking someone exists is so easy nowadays, especially with the technology we have!
- Blogger in Mosul, "A Star From Mosul", Wednesday, November 24, 2004
http://astarfrommosul.blogspot.com/
"... not a single source, anywhere, claims to have actually seen "Zarqawi" since late 2001 in Afghanistan. Ask the Pentagon. Ask the CIA. Ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No one, on the record, is able to independently verify that "Zarqawi" actually exists. There are no photos - only that same CIA-owned black and white. The CIA doesn't even know how tall or how fat "Zarqawi" is. All the literature on "Zarqawi" since late 2001 springs from dubious "confessions" by prisoners and "statements" by all sorts of people claiming to be "Zarqawi"... he may have been created by US military intelligence..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FJ15Ak02.html
"... American counter-terrorism officials are ignoring a wide array of fundamentalist groups at work in Iraq and surrounding countries in their effort to portray all terrorist activity in Iraq as the handiwork of a single mastermind... America needs to create a serious public enemy who is not Iraqi so they can claim Iraqis aren't responsible for the resistance..."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/11/01/zarqawis_role_in_iraq_overstated_analysts_say?mode=PF
July 2005
"... he and his organization were reputed to be headquartered in Fallujah, prior to the American assault that flattened the city... He has since turned up, according to American intelligence reports and the U.S. press, in Ramadi, Baghdad, Samarra, and Mosul among other places, along with side trips to Jordan, Iran, Pakistan and/or Syria. His closest "lieutenants" have been captured by the busload, according to American military reports... when you try to track down Zarqawi, a man with a $25 million American bounty on his head, or simply try to track him back to the beginnings of his life's journey, whether you look for him in the tunnels of Tora Bora, the ruined city of Fallujah, the Syrian borderlands, or Ramadi, you're likely to run up against a kind of eerie blankness. Whatever the real Zarqawi may or may not be capable of doing today in Iraq or elsewhere, he is dwarfed by the Zarqawi of legend... Even dead, he is unlikely to die; even alive, he is unlikely to be able to live up to anybody's Zarqawi myth."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0706-03.htm
November 2004
"... I didn't know of Al-Zarkawi, didn't even think that such person exists!! Dad suggests that he's just an imaginary person made by the Americans to make the resistance look worse! ... Believe me, faking someone exists is so easy nowadays, especially with the technology we have!
- Blogger in Mosul, "A Star From Mosul", Wednesday, November 24, 2004
http://astarfrommosul.blogspot.com/
"... not a single source, anywhere, claims to have actually seen "Zarqawi" since late 2001 in Afghanistan. Ask the Pentagon. Ask the CIA. Ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No one, on the record, is able to independently verify that "Zarqawi" actually exists. There are no photos - only that same CIA-owned black and white. The CIA doesn't even know how tall or how fat "Zarqawi" is. All the literature on "Zarqawi" since late 2001 springs from dubious "confessions" by prisoners and "statements" by all sorts of people claiming to be "Zarqawi"... he may have been created by US military intelligence..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FJ15Ak02.html
"... American counter-terrorism officials are ignoring a wide array of fundamentalist groups at work in Iraq and surrounding countries in their effort to portray all terrorist activity in Iraq as the handiwork of a single mastermind... America needs to create a serious public enemy who is not Iraqi so they can claim Iraqis aren't responsible for the resistance..."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/11/01/zarqawis_role_in_iraq_overstated_analysts_say?mode=PF
July 2005
"... he and his organization were reputed to be headquartered in Fallujah, prior to the American assault that flattened the city... He has since turned up, according to American intelligence reports and the U.S. press, in Ramadi, Baghdad, Samarra, and Mosul among other places, along with side trips to Jordan, Iran, Pakistan and/or Syria. His closest "lieutenants" have been captured by the busload, according to American military reports... when you try to track down Zarqawi, a man with a $25 million American bounty on his head, or simply try to track him back to the beginnings of his life's journey, whether you look for him in the tunnels of Tora Bora, the ruined city of Fallujah, the Syrian borderlands, or Ramadi, you're likely to run up against a kind of eerie blankness. Whatever the real Zarqawi may or may not be capable of doing today in Iraq or elsewhere, he is dwarfed by the Zarqawi of legend... Even dead, he is unlikely to die; even alive, he is unlikely to be able to live up to anybody's Zarqawi myth."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0706-03.htm
Sunday, July 03, 2005
CITY OF HIT ASKS TROOPS. TO LEAVE
"An Iraqi army battalion backed by U.S. Marines will be stationed in Hit... Troops have commandeered houses and schools to sleep in and park tanks on major roads... When Marines could not break the locks on houses, they often used explosives to blow holes through front doors and gates... (at) a city council meeting... the councilors directed one final question to military commanders: ``Could you please leave?''
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5115090,00.html
"An Iraqi army battalion backed by U.S. Marines will be stationed in Hit... Troops have commandeered houses and schools to sleep in and park tanks on major roads... When Marines could not break the locks on houses, they often used explosives to blow holes through front doors and gates... (at) a city council meeting... the councilors directed one final question to military commanders: ``Could you please leave?''
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5115090,00.html
Saturday, July 02, 2005
IMPACT OF U.S. OFFENSIVES IN WESTERN DESERT (ANBAR)
"... The Iraqi Red Crescent Society says 6,000 families have been displaced across Anbar province in the fighting and are suffering in heat that regularly exceeds 110 degrees... According to... a US organization that coordinates civilian and military humanitarian operations... 7,000 Karabileh residents were displaced in recent operations... The US military did not respond to questions about the humanitarian situation. It has maintained in news releases that displaced families have begun to return home..."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/07/01/humanitarian_concerns_rise_as_iraq_offensives_continue/
"... The Iraqi Red Crescent Society says 6,000 families have been displaced across Anbar province in the fighting and are suffering in heat that regularly exceeds 110 degrees... According to... a US organization that coordinates civilian and military humanitarian operations... 7,000 Karabileh residents were displaced in recent operations... The US military did not respond to questions about the humanitarian situation. It has maintained in news releases that displaced families have begun to return home..."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/07/01/humanitarian_concerns_rise_as_iraq_offensives_continue/
Friday, July 01, 2005
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO TROOPS AT FT. BRAGG
"... the president of the United States said, ''Terrorists can strike and can kill without warning before the forces of order can throw them back. And now he has struck again. At this very hour, a second wave of terrorists is striking the cities. Our forces are ready. I know they will acquit themselves, as they always have, however tough the battle becomes. There has never been a finer fighting force wearing the American uniform than you... The enemy's answer is clear... Our answer, your answer, must be just as clear: unswerving resolution to resist these ruthless attacks..."
-- President Johnson, address to troops at Ft Bragg, Feb. 17, 1968 on the Tet offensve.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/07/01/deja_vu_in_iraq/
"... Iraq was complicit in 9/11 and thus, in effect, attacked the US; that the US had no choice but to defend itself against Iraq’s aggression; and, finally, that if America does not fight terrorists in Iraq, they will swarm across the ocean to attack America..."
-- Summary of President Bush's address to troops at Ft Bragg, June 28, 2005, former National Security Advisor, in Financial Times, June 30, 2005.
http://news.ft.com/home/us
"... the president of the United States said, ''Terrorists can strike and can kill without warning before the forces of order can throw them back. And now he has struck again. At this very hour, a second wave of terrorists is striking the cities. Our forces are ready. I know they will acquit themselves, as they always have, however tough the battle becomes. There has never been a finer fighting force wearing the American uniform than you... The enemy's answer is clear... Our answer, your answer, must be just as clear: unswerving resolution to resist these ruthless attacks..."
-- President Johnson, address to troops at Ft Bragg, Feb. 17, 1968 on the Tet offensve.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/07/01/deja_vu_in_iraq/
"... Iraq was complicit in 9/11 and thus, in effect, attacked the US; that the US had no choice but to defend itself against Iraq’s aggression; and, finally, that if America does not fight terrorists in Iraq, they will swarm across the ocean to attack America..."
-- Summary of President Bush's address to troops at Ft Bragg, June 28, 2005, former National Security Advisor, in Financial Times, June 30, 2005.
http://news.ft.com/home/us