BUSH "HELL-BENT" ON INVADING IRAQ

"U.S. leaders were "hell-bent" on invading Iraq in 2003, and President Bush had no real interest in getting U.N. approval for it, according to Jeremy Greenstock, the British U.N. ambassador from 1998 to 2003. Greenstock testified to a U.K. inquiry.
He said that serious preparations for the invasion began in early 2002, nearly a year before the war began, and that Bush and his inner circle paid little attention to U.S. allies' requests to take more time to find evidence of Iraqi WMDs.
Greenstock said the war was... of "questionable legitimacy" adding that he, like former British ambassador to the U.S. Christopher Meyer, believes Bush and Tony Blair met in Crawford, Texas to "sign in blood" a secret agreement to invade Iraq..."
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=81878

"The United States was "hell bent" on a 2003 military invasion of Iraq and actively undermined efforts by Britain to win international authorization for the war... serious preparations for the war had begun in early 2002 and took on an unstoppable momentum... As diplomats frantically attempted in early 2003 to agree upon a U.N. resolution approving a military offensive, Bush's key aides grew impatient — criticizing the process as an unnecessary distraction... Several nations had hoped to stall the invasion of Iraq to allow U.N. weapons inspectors more time to search for evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction — the key justification for the war. No such weapons were ever found..."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3md2ReGxE9CkpczxPehN4pM-z7gD9C7VRD01

U.S. ASCRIBES BAATH VIOLENCE TO AL QAEDA

"The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki... aired the confessions of three men, members of the Baath Party, that it captured after the October 25 bombings that killed 125 persons and destroyed several government buildings.. US politicians and military men seem reluctant to acknowledge the underground Baath Party as a source of some of Iraq's continued violence, choosing instead to attribute virtually all major violence to "al-Qaeda," by which they appear to mean the Islamic State of Iraq or similar Salafi organizations not in fact directly connected to Usama Bin Laden. This discourse seems to me to have elements of propaganda in it, and began with Bush's and Cheney's attempts to link their war on Iraq with 9/11..."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/11/iraq-accuses-baathists-election-law.html

AL QAEDA IN IRAQ REGAINING STRENGTH

"The Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq has rebounded in strength in recent months and appears to be launching a concerted effort to cripple the Iraqi government as U.S. troops withdraw... al-Qaeda in Iraq intends to carry out additional high-profile attacks in the months ahead and is attempting to regain its foothold in former strongholds just outside the capital... it stands to gain from a deeply split political establishment, growing Sunni resentment toward the Shiite-led government, disjointed Iraqi security agencies and the diminishing ability of U.S. forces to engage in combat operations in Iraq..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/21/AR2009112102009.html?wprss=rss_world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wp-dyn%2Frss%2Fworld%2Findex_xml+(washingtonpost.com+-+World)

UNPRECEDENTED BIRTH DEFECTS IN FALLUJAH

"Doctors are calling for an investigation into an unprecedented number of birth defects in Fallujah, Iraq... The war-ravaged population center has seen an increase of up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants since pre-war levels... Most are in the head and spinal cord, but there are also many deficiencies in lower limbs. There is also a very marked increase in the number of cases of less than two years with brain tumors. This is now a focus area of multiple tumors... The Raw Story reporter mentions white phosphorus bombs as a possibility also, but my money is on depleted uranium, or maybe the combination of both..."
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/11/15/91532/126