IRAQ IMPLODES - SHIA AGAINST SHIA
"... American-backed Iraqi government forces fight Shia militiamen for control of Basra and parts of Baghdad... The gun battles between soldiers and militiamen, who are all Shia Muslims, show that Iraq's majority Shia community – which replaced Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime – is splitting apart for the first time..."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-implodes-as-shia-fights-shia-801214.html
Thursday, March 27, 2008
BUSH: NORMALCY RETURNING TO IRAQ
"... Speaking at a US Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio, Mr Bush said "normalcy" was returning to Iraq..."
"A curfew has been imposed on Baghdad amid continuing clashes between Shia militias and Iraqi security forces."
"... several Americans (were) injured this week in rocket attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone died, amid fresh missiles attacks on the fortified area. US embassy staff in Baghdad have been told not to leave reinforced structures, following the attacks. The state department has instructed embassy personnel to wear helmets and other protective gear if they leave the building, even if they stay within the Green Zone..."
"... one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines from Basra was blown up in a bomb attack, sending oil prices above $107 a barrel. And Basra's police chief survived a bomb attack that killed three of his bodyguards... residents in the city said they were beginning to run out of food and water."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7317614.stm
"... Speaking at a US Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio, Mr Bush said "normalcy" was returning to Iraq..."
"A curfew has been imposed on Baghdad amid continuing clashes between Shia militias and Iraqi security forces."
"... several Americans (were) injured this week in rocket attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone died, amid fresh missiles attacks on the fortified area. US embassy staff in Baghdad have been told not to leave reinforced structures, following the attacks. The state department has instructed embassy personnel to wear helmets and other protective gear if they leave the building, even if they stay within the Green Zone..."
"... one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines from Basra was blown up in a bomb attack, sending oil prices above $107 a barrel. And Basra's police chief survived a bomb attack that killed three of his bodyguards... residents in the city said they were beginning to run out of food and water."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7317614.stm
Friday, March 21, 2008
BLACKWATER DEATH COMPENSATIONS REFUSED BY IRAQIS
"At least two Iraqi families of victims killed by Blackwater security guards in September... have refused compensation offered by the company... Blackwater offered... $20,000... Blackwater had resisted U.S. government demands that the company pay at least $100,000 per death, claiming the U.S. government itself hasn't paid that much in similar situations... Several of the Iraqi families have already filed lawsuits against Blackwater in U.S. courts, alleging the security guards were guilty of "war crimes."
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4489251&page=1
"At least two Iraqi families of victims killed by Blackwater security guards in September... have refused compensation offered by the company... Blackwater offered... $20,000... Blackwater had resisted U.S. government demands that the company pay at least $100,000 per death, claiming the U.S. government itself hasn't paid that much in similar situations... Several of the Iraqi families have already filed lawsuits against Blackwater in U.S. courts, alleging the security guards were guilty of "war crimes."
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4489251&page=1
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
BUSH'S 5 YEARS OF IRAQ LIES
"Here are five big lies from the Bush administration that have shaped perceptions of the Iraq war...
Year 1's big lie was that the rising violence in Iraq was nothing out of the ordinary...
In Year 2 the falsehood was that Iraq was becoming a shining model of democracy...
In Year 3 the Bush administration blamed almost everything that was going wrong on one shadowy figure: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...
In Year 4 Bush's big lie consisted of denying that the country had fallen into civil war...
Year 5 has been one of troop escalation... The big lie is that Iraq is now calm, that the surge has worked, and that victory is within reach..."
Year 6... Bush's five big lies about Iraq... kept the mess there going long enough to turn it over to the next president... John McCain, Bush's heir apparent in the Iraq propaganda department, has been signaling that "complete victory" in Iraq will be his talking point..."
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/03/19/iraq_five/?source=newsletter
"Here are five big lies from the Bush administration that have shaped perceptions of the Iraq war...
Year 1's big lie was that the rising violence in Iraq was nothing out of the ordinary...
In Year 2 the falsehood was that Iraq was becoming a shining model of democracy...
In Year 3 the Bush administration blamed almost everything that was going wrong on one shadowy figure: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...
In Year 4 Bush's big lie consisted of denying that the country had fallen into civil war...
Year 5 has been one of troop escalation... The big lie is that Iraq is now calm, that the surge has worked, and that victory is within reach..."
Year 6... Bush's five big lies about Iraq... kept the mess there going long enough to turn it over to the next president... John McCain, Bush's heir apparent in the Iraq propaganda department, has been signaling that "complete victory" in Iraq will be his talking point..."
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/03/19/iraq_five/?source=newsletter
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
CHENEY SAYS SECURITY PROGRESS PHENOMENAL
"... Cheney on Monday made a surprise visit to Baghdad... in a tightly choreographed hopscotch, moving at least six times for high-level meetings... in the fortress-like Green Zone compound... (then) Traveling under military guard along roads that had been swept for bombs and were lined with security forces, Cheney ventured a mile or so outside the Green Zone to call on Iraqi President Jalal Talabani... and said that a massive troop buildup had achieved "phenomenal" improvements in security..."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/30645.html
"... Cheney on Monday made a surprise visit to Baghdad... in a tightly choreographed hopscotch, moving at least six times for high-level meetings... in the fortress-like Green Zone compound... (then) Traveling under military guard along roads that had been swept for bombs and were lined with security forces, Cheney ventured a mile or so outside the Green Zone to call on Iraqi President Jalal Talabani... and said that a massive troop buildup had achieved "phenomenal" improvements in security..."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/30645.html
Sunday, March 16, 2008
IRAQ NO LONGER A COUNTRY
"... Five years of occupation have destroyed Iraq as a country. Baghdad is today a collection of hostile Sunni and Shia ghettoes divided by high concrete walls. Different districts even have different national flags. Sunni areas use the old Iraqi flag with the three stars of the Baath party, and the Shia wave a newer version, adopted by the Shia-Kurdish government. The Kurds have their own flag... (and) There is now an 80,000 strong Sunni militia, paid for and allied to the US but hostile to the Iraqi government.... Iraq is a country no more... Five years after the American and British armies crossed into Iraq, the country has become a geographical expression."
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/patrick-cockburn-iraq-is-a-country-no-more-like-much-else-that-was-not-the-plan-796499.html
"... Five years of occupation have destroyed Iraq as a country. Baghdad is today a collection of hostile Sunni and Shia ghettoes divided by high concrete walls. Different districts even have different national flags. Sunni areas use the old Iraqi flag with the three stars of the Baath party, and the Shia wave a newer version, adopted by the Shia-Kurdish government. The Kurds have their own flag... (and) There is now an 80,000 strong Sunni militia, paid for and allied to the US but hostile to the Iraqi government.... Iraq is a country no more... Five years after the American and British armies crossed into Iraq, the country has become a geographical expression."
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/patrick-cockburn-iraq-is-a-country-no-more-like-much-else-that-was-not-the-plan-796499.html
Thursday, March 13, 2008
PENTAGON CANCELS RELEASE OF STUDY
"The Pentagon on Wednesday canceled plans for broad public release of a study that found no pre-Iraq war link between late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al Qaida terrorist network... the U.S. Joint Forces Command said it would mail copies of the document to reporters — if they asked for it. The report won't be posted on the Internet..."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/30172.html
"The Pentagon on Wednesday canceled plans for broad public release of a study that found no pre-Iraq war link between late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al Qaida terrorist network... the U.S. Joint Forces Command said it would mail copies of the document to reporters — if they asked for it. The report won't be posted on the Internet..."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/30172.html
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
PENTAGON STUDY FINDS NO LINK BETWEEN SADDAM AND AL QAEDA
"An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.... The new study, entitled "Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents", was essentially completed last year and has been undergoing what one U.S. intelligence official described as a "painful" declassification review. It was produced by a federally-funded think tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses, under contract to the Norfolk, Va.-based U.S. Joint Forces Command."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/29959.html
"An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.... The new study, entitled "Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents", was essentially completed last year and has been undergoing what one U.S. intelligence official described as a "painful" declassification review. It was produced by a federally-funded think tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses, under contract to the Norfolk, Va.-based U.S. Joint Forces Command."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/29959.html
Saturday, March 01, 2008
COST OF WAR @ $10,000 PER PERSON, AFFECTS ECONOMY
"... the price tag for (Iraq) and Afghanistan is rapidly rising to $3 trillion to $5 trillion over the long term, or $10,000 for each man, woman and child in America. For a family of four, that is $40,000 or a whole year's salary... Not to mention the nearly 4,000 killed in action and the thousands seriously wounded, with brain trauma, spinal injuries, confined to wheel chairs or forever impaired, who will need to be taken care of the rest of their lives. Is the war really unrelated to the growing bad times in the US economy?"
http://www.juancole.com/2008/02/fact-check-on-mccain-and-political.html
"... the price tag for (Iraq) and Afghanistan is rapidly rising to $3 trillion to $5 trillion over the long term, or $10,000 for each man, woman and child in America. For a family of four, that is $40,000 or a whole year's salary... Not to mention the nearly 4,000 killed in action and the thousands seriously wounded, with brain trauma, spinal injuries, confined to wheel chairs or forever impaired, who will need to be taken care of the rest of their lives. Is the war really unrelated to the growing bad times in the US economy?"
http://www.juancole.com/2008/02/fact-check-on-mccain-and-political.html