IRAQIS PROTEST TREATY WITH U.S.
" Thousands of Sadrists Protest Security Pact With US... On both the Iraqi and American side, this agreement is being characterized as a mere understanding between two executives. It is not being categorized as a treaty and there is no plan to submit it either to the Iraqi parliament or to the US Congress. It seems that the Bush team hopes it will take on the force of law just by virtue of existing and having been signed by the two leaders..."
"... the current draft of the agreement... speaks of the establishment of 400 US military sites and bases through the country, of legal immunity for American troops and citizens, and an abrogation of any undertakings previously made, to share in the reconstruction of the country."
http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/thousands-of-sadrists-protest-security.html
Thursday, May 29, 2008
ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS
"... Marines are passing coins to Sunnis in Falluja with Christian messages on them is felt as a further humiliation, especially coming after the incident of the US soldier using the Qur'an for target practice. The coins passed in Fallujah had John 3:16 inscribed on one side, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." This verse is not a good place to begin a Christian-Muslim dialogue. The Qur'an explicitly rejects the idea that the One God can have a "son" as polytheistic... (this verse is) a clear signal that Bush's Christian Soldiers consider Iraqi Muslims to be supine and abject."
http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/sunni-arabs-pull-out-of-talks-with-al.html
"... Marines are passing coins to Sunnis in Falluja with Christian messages on them is felt as a further humiliation, especially coming after the incident of the US soldier using the Qur'an for target practice. The coins passed in Fallujah had John 3:16 inscribed on one side, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." This verse is not a good place to begin a Christian-Muslim dialogue. The Qur'an explicitly rejects the idea that the One God can have a "son" as polytheistic... (this verse is) a clear signal that Bush's Christian Soldiers consider Iraqi Muslims to be supine and abject."
http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/sunni-arabs-pull-out-of-talks-with-al.html
IRAQI REFERENDUM PROPOSED ON U.S. TROOPS
"An agreement between the United States and Iraq to allow U.S. troops to remain operating in Iraq past 2008 should be put to a popular referendum, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged... The United States and Iraq began negotiating the agreement this year but have not publicly discussed its contents except in vague terms... Some members of Congress have objected to the Bush administration's plans to handle the agreement without seeking congressional approval..."
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/27/iraq.alsadr/
"An agreement between the United States and Iraq to allow U.S. troops to remain operating in Iraq past 2008 should be put to a popular referendum, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged... The United States and Iraq began negotiating the agreement this year but have not publicly discussed its contents except in vague terms... Some members of Congress have objected to the Bush administration's plans to handle the agreement without seeking congressional approval..."
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/27/iraq.alsadr/
Monday, May 26, 2008
BUSH WAR AFFECTS THE WORLD
"... the disastrous consequences of the Bush wars go beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. They have set the whole world on fire.... by plunging the U.S. ever deeper into debt and depreciating the dollar. Oil is largely priced in U.S. dollars. And as the greenback’s value is eroded, oil-exporting countries demand more and more dollars for their product... the war is also at the heart of the global food crisis. The prices of essential foodstuffs and grains like rice and wheat have shot up because fuel prices have gone up; food production and its transport costs are critically dependent on fuel."
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=169501
"... the disastrous consequences of the Bush wars go beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. They have set the whole world on fire.... by plunging the U.S. ever deeper into debt and depreciating the dollar. Oil is largely priced in U.S. dollars. And as the greenback’s value is eroded, oil-exporting countries demand more and more dollars for their product... the war is also at the heart of the global food crisis. The prices of essential foodstuffs and grains like rice and wheat have shot up because fuel prices have gone up; food production and its transport costs are critically dependent on fuel."
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=169501
LIST OF BASES IN OCCUPIED IRAQ
".... As of mid-May 2005 it was reported that US forces occupied a total of 106 bases..."
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/iraq.htm
".... As of mid-May 2005 it was reported that US forces occupied a total of 106 bases..."
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/iraq.htm
Sunday, May 25, 2008
REASONS FOR GROWING RESISTANCE
"The resistance of the American occupation of Iraq is mounting due to many reasons such as:
1. The long time since this occupation started with no signs of withdrawal
2. The worsening of every thing in Iraq as if this is planned by the occupiers
3. Leaving the country weak without strong army deliberately so as they continue to dominate and strike a deal to keep themselves bases in Iraq and to keep it under their thumbs
4. The barbaric treatment of the Iraqi civilians by the American occupiers and treating the Iraqis less than the animals
5. The killing of thousands of the Iraqis by the occupiers and their security companies
6. The support that the terrorist groups are enjoying under the occupiers who indeed support such groups direct and indirect
7. Stealing of the oil
8. Encouraging all kind of corruption to flourish
9. Allowing all kinds of spying agents to enter Iraq under different shapes and names
10. Keeping Iraq until this moment under the care of charter 7 of the UN as if Iraq is still a threat to its neighbors
11. Trying to do a deal for long time with a weak Iraqi government to convert Iraq into a state without sovereignty at all
12. Many other issues related to obvious lies of reconstructions of the country and in fact the reverse was noticed over the last 5 years
The American plan became so obvious which is to weaken Iraq and keep it so just to implement its own imperialistic agenda."
-- Hammorabi, Iraqi blogger, 5/23/2008
http://hammorabi.blogspot.com/2008/05/armed-resistance-against-american.html
"The resistance of the American occupation of Iraq is mounting due to many reasons such as:
1. The long time since this occupation started with no signs of withdrawal
2. The worsening of every thing in Iraq as if this is planned by the occupiers
3. Leaving the country weak without strong army deliberately so as they continue to dominate and strike a deal to keep themselves bases in Iraq and to keep it under their thumbs
4. The barbaric treatment of the Iraqi civilians by the American occupiers and treating the Iraqis less than the animals
5. The killing of thousands of the Iraqis by the occupiers and their security companies
6. The support that the terrorist groups are enjoying under the occupiers who indeed support such groups direct and indirect
7. Stealing of the oil
8. Encouraging all kind of corruption to flourish
9. Allowing all kinds of spying agents to enter Iraq under different shapes and names
10. Keeping Iraq until this moment under the care of charter 7 of the UN as if Iraq is still a threat to its neighbors
11. Trying to do a deal for long time with a weak Iraqi government to convert Iraq into a state without sovereignty at all
12. Many other issues related to obvious lies of reconstructions of the country and in fact the reverse was noticed over the last 5 years
The American plan became so obvious which is to weaken Iraq and keep it so just to implement its own imperialistic agenda."
-- Hammorabi, Iraqi blogger, 5/23/2008
http://hammorabi.blogspot.com/2008/05/armed-resistance-against-american.html
EFFECT OF IRAQ WAR ON OIL PRICE
"... Iraq had offered the United States a deal, three years before the war, that would have opened up 10 new giant oil fields on "generous" terms in return for the lifting of sanctions. This would certainly have prevented the steep rise of the oil price. But the US had a different idea. It planned to occupy Iraq and annex its oil."
"(Now) The invasion of Iraq by Britain and the US has trebled the price of oil... the price of oil would now be no more than $40 a barrel, less than a third of the record $135 a barrel reached last week, if it had not been for the Iraq war.... (and) Goldman Sachs predicted last week that the price could rise to an unprecedented $200 a barrel over the next year...
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/oil-a-global-crisis-834023.html
"... Iraq had offered the United States a deal, three years before the war, that would have opened up 10 new giant oil fields on "generous" terms in return for the lifting of sanctions. This would certainly have prevented the steep rise of the oil price. But the US had a different idea. It planned to occupy Iraq and annex its oil."
"(Now) The invasion of Iraq by Britain and the US has trebled the price of oil... the price of oil would now be no more than $40 a barrel, less than a third of the record $135 a barrel reached last week, if it had not been for the Iraq war.... (and) Goldman Sachs predicted last week that the price could rise to an unprecedented $200 a barrel over the next year...
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/oil-a-global-crisis-834023.html
Friday, May 23, 2008
IRAQI RESISTANCE HALTS U.S. MIDDLE EAST DOMINATION
"... Because of the Iraqis, the glorious sounding "war on terror" has been transformed into an endless, hopeless actual war. But the Iraqis have paid a terrible price for resisting. The invasion and the social and economic policies that accompanied it have destroyed Iraq, leaving its people essentially destitute. In the first five years of this endless war, Iraqis have suffered more for resisting than if they had accepted and endured American military and economic dominance. Whether consciously or not, they have sacrificed themselves to halt Washington's projected military and economic march through the oil-rich Middle East on the path to a new American century that now will never be...."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE24Ak03.html
"... Because of the Iraqis, the glorious sounding "war on terror" has been transformed into an endless, hopeless actual war. But the Iraqis have paid a terrible price for resisting. The invasion and the social and economic policies that accompanied it have destroyed Iraq, leaving its people essentially destitute. In the first five years of this endless war, Iraqis have suffered more for resisting than if they had accepted and endured American military and economic dominance. Whether consciously or not, they have sacrificed themselves to halt Washington's projected military and economic march through the oil-rich Middle East on the path to a new American century that now will never be...."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE24Ak03.html
U.S. FAILS TO FIND ANY IRANIAN ARMS IN IRAQ
"The United States military command in Iraq continues to talk about an alleged pipeline of Iranian weapons to Iraqi Shi'ites opposing the US occupation... But US officials have failed thus far to provide evidence that would support that claim... General David Petraeus insisted last October that there is "absolutely no question" that Iran is providing RPG-29 rocket-propelled grenade launchers to Iraqi Shi'ite groups. But RPG-29s are manufactured by Russia, not Iran... "
"In weapons caches reported from Shi'ite locations, not a single RPG-29 has been identified. Of the 160 RPG launchers reported in Mahdi Army caches, along with 800 RPG missiles, none were identified as Iranian, although some were identified as being Soviet-made. Only 11 were reported to be RPG-7s - a type of launcher that is made by Russia and China as well as Iran and used by 40 countries around the world."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE24Ak02.html
"The United States military command in Iraq continues to talk about an alleged pipeline of Iranian weapons to Iraqi Shi'ites opposing the US occupation... But US officials have failed thus far to provide evidence that would support that claim... General David Petraeus insisted last October that there is "absolutely no question" that Iran is providing RPG-29 rocket-propelled grenade launchers to Iraqi Shi'ite groups. But RPG-29s are manufactured by Russia, not Iran... "
"In weapons caches reported from Shi'ite locations, not a single RPG-29 has been identified. Of the 160 RPG launchers reported in Mahdi Army caches, along with 800 RPG missiles, none were identified as Iranian, although some were identified as being Soviet-made. Only 11 were reported to be RPG-7s - a type of launcher that is made by Russia and China as well as Iran and used by 40 countries around the world."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE24Ak02.html
Thursday, May 22, 2008
U.S. AIRSTRIKE KILLS 8 IRAQI CIVILIANS
"Iraqi police said on Thursday a U.S. helicopter airstrike killed eight civilians, including two children... Colonel Mudhher al-Qaisi, police chief in the town of Baiji, north of the capital, said "This is a criminal act. It will make the relations between Iraqi citizens and the U.S. forces tense. This will negatively affect security improvements." The U.S. military said the incident happened when American soldiers, hunting members of a bombing network, tried to detain the occupants of a vehicle..."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080522/ts_nm/iraq_dc
"... (the) eight people, including two children, were killed when a U.S. helicopter opened fire on a group of Iraqis traveling to a U.S. detention center to greet a man who was being released from custody, Iraqi officials said..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/22/AR2008052203869_pf.html
"Iraqi police said on Thursday a U.S. helicopter airstrike killed eight civilians, including two children... Colonel Mudhher al-Qaisi, police chief in the town of Baiji, north of the capital, said "This is a criminal act. It will make the relations between Iraqi citizens and the U.S. forces tense. This will negatively affect security improvements." The U.S. military said the incident happened when American soldiers, hunting members of a bombing network, tried to detain the occupants of a vehicle..."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080522/ts_nm/iraq_dc
"... (the) eight people, including two children, were killed when a U.S. helicopter opened fire on a group of Iraqis traveling to a U.S. detention center to greet a man who was being released from custody, Iraqi officials said..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/22/AR2008052203869_pf.html
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
LIFE FOR IRAQIS IS BLEAK
"With pools of open sewage in the streets and little electricity, life for most Iraqis remains bleak... garbage chokes the capital's streets and clogs the sewage pipes and canals, which overflow and burst. The sewage that leaks out of broken pipes seeps through the dirt of roads that were once paved, but now have mostly turned to dirt because the tracks of American tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles have destroyed the asphalt over five years of war. Above the roads, low-slung electric wires hang like an enormous web woven by some apocalyptic spider, strung from street generators to poles to homes, from one street to the next. Yet, most Baghdadis receive less than four hours of electricity a day. Running water, too, is a rare commodity..."
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/05/21/services/index.html?source=newsletter
"With pools of open sewage in the streets and little electricity, life for most Iraqis remains bleak... garbage chokes the capital's streets and clogs the sewage pipes and canals, which overflow and burst. The sewage that leaks out of broken pipes seeps through the dirt of roads that were once paved, but now have mostly turned to dirt because the tracks of American tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles have destroyed the asphalt over five years of war. Above the roads, low-slung electric wires hang like an enormous web woven by some apocalyptic spider, strung from street generators to poles to homes, from one street to the next. Yet, most Baghdadis receive less than four hours of electricity a day. Running water, too, is a rare commodity..."
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/05/21/services/index.html?source=newsletter
Friday, May 16, 2008
BUSH PLOT ABOUT IRANIAN ARMS FAILS
"... The Bush administration and top Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus had plotted a sequence of events that would build domestic U.S. political support for a possible strike against Iran over its "meddling" in Iraq and especially its alleged export of arms to Shiite militias.... (but) The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refused to endorse U.S. charges of Iranian involvement in arms smuggling to the Mahdi Army, and a plan to show off a huge collection of Iranian arms captured in and around Karbala had to be called off after it was discovered that none of the arms were of Iranian origin..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42373
"... The Bush administration and top Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus had plotted a sequence of events that would build domestic U.S. political support for a possible strike against Iran over its "meddling" in Iraq and especially its alleged export of arms to Shiite militias.... (but) The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refused to endorse U.S. charges of Iranian involvement in arms smuggling to the Mahdi Army, and a plan to show off a huge collection of Iranian arms captured in and around Karbala had to be called off after it was discovered that none of the arms were of Iranian origin..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42373
Saturday, May 10, 2008
SHIITE WEAPONS IN IRAQ NOT IRANIAN
"Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner... announced the extraordinary list of weapons and munitions that have been uncovered in recent weeks since fighting erupted between Iraqi and U.S. security forces and Shiite militiamen..."
"Bergner cited 20,000 "items of ammunition, explosives and weapons" reported by Iraqi forces in the central city of Karbala; an additional Karbala cache containing 570 explosive devices, nine mortars, four anti-aircraft missiles, and 45 RPGs; and in the southern city of Basra alone, 39 mortar tubes, 1,800 mortars and artillery rounds, 600 rockets, and 387 roadside bombs..."
"Not once did Bergner point the finger at Iran for any of these weapons and munitions... (and) A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was canceled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran. When U.S. explosives experts went to investigate, they discovered they were not Iranian after all..."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/iraq-the-elusiv.html
"Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner... announced the extraordinary list of weapons and munitions that have been uncovered in recent weeks since fighting erupted between Iraqi and U.S. security forces and Shiite militiamen..."
"Bergner cited 20,000 "items of ammunition, explosives and weapons" reported by Iraqi forces in the central city of Karbala; an additional Karbala cache containing 570 explosive devices, nine mortars, four anti-aircraft missiles, and 45 RPGs; and in the southern city of Basra alone, 39 mortar tubes, 1,800 mortars and artillery rounds, 600 rockets, and 387 roadside bombs..."
"Not once did Bergner point the finger at Iran for any of these weapons and munitions... (and) A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was canceled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran. When U.S. explosives experts went to investigate, they discovered they were not Iranian after all..."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/iraq-the-elusiv.html
Friday, May 09, 2008
CONGRESS TO PROBE "MEDIA GENERALS" SELLING IRAQ WAR
"... As U.S. television networks continue their silence about their use of retired military officers to 'sell' progress in Iraq, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on the Defense Department Inspector General to investigate the Pentagon-sponsored public relations effort... to investigate how high-ranking officials within the defense Department were allowed to operate a program 'aimed at deceiving the American people'... The operation was abruptly halted after it was reported by The New York Times... (which) revealed that some 75 retired military officers, prepped by the Pentagon, served as paid television commentators since the run-up to the Iraq war -- and many also have conflicting ties to defense contractors..."
http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=1455
"... As U.S. television networks continue their silence about their use of retired military officers to 'sell' progress in Iraq, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on the Defense Department Inspector General to investigate the Pentagon-sponsored public relations effort... to investigate how high-ranking officials within the defense Department were allowed to operate a program 'aimed at deceiving the American people'... The operation was abruptly halted after it was reported by The New York Times... (which) revealed that some 75 retired military officers, prepped by the Pentagon, served as paid television commentators since the run-up to the Iraq war -- and many also have conflicting ties to defense contractors..."
http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=1455
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
TIGRIS WOODS GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB
A plan by US military planners for the "Tigris Woods Golf and Country Club" in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. Photograph: US Army/AP
"Pentagon airs plan to turn Baghdad military redoubt into a chic urban oasis... this is how some imaginative types in the US military are envisaging the future of Baghdad's Green Zone, the much-pummelled redoubt of the Iraqi capital where a bunker shot has until now had very different connotations. A $5 billion tourism and development scheme for the Green Zone being hatched by the Pentagon and an international investment consortium would give the heavily fortified area on the banks of the Tigris a "dream" makeover."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/06/iraq
A plan by US military planners for the "Tigris Woods Golf and Country Club" in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. Photograph: US Army/AP"Pentagon airs plan to turn Baghdad military redoubt into a chic urban oasis... this is how some imaginative types in the US military are envisaging the future of Baghdad's Green Zone, the much-pummelled redoubt of the Iraqi capital where a bunker shot has until now had very different connotations. A $5 billion tourism and development scheme for the Green Zone being hatched by the Pentagon and an international investment consortium would give the heavily fortified area on the banks of the Tigris a "dream" makeover."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/06/iraq
Saturday, May 03, 2008
U.S. ATTACK HITS HOSPITAL
"A US rocket damaged a hospital in the Iraqi capital's violent Shiite stronghold of Sadr City on Saturday, wounding 28 people... the district's main Al-Sadr hospital was badly damaged and a fleet of ambulances was destroyed. Just outside the hospital, a shack which appeared to have been the target was reduced to a pile of rubble..."
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080503/twl-iraq-unrest-us-sadrcity-7e07afd.html
"A US rocket damaged a hospital in the Iraqi capital's violent Shiite stronghold of Sadr City on Saturday, wounding 28 people... the district's main Al-Sadr hospital was badly damaged and a fleet of ambulances was destroyed. Just outside the hospital, a shack which appeared to have been the target was reduced to a pile of rubble..."
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080503/twl-iraq-unrest-us-sadrcity-7e07afd.html