SINCE U.S. INVASION, HALF OF CHRISTIANS HAVE FLED IRAQ

"A new wave of Iraqi Christians has fled to northern Iraq or abroad amid a campaign of violence against them and growing fear that the country’s security forces are unable or, more ominously, unwilling to protect them... It threatens to reduce further what Archdeacon Emanuel Youkhana of the Assyrian Church of the East called “a community whose roots were in Iraq even before Christ.”... More than half of Iraq’s Christian community, estimated to number 800,000 to 1.4 million before the American-led invasion in 2003, have already left the country... The message is very clear: to pluck Iraqi Christians from the roots and force them out of the country..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html?_r=2

U.S. STRATEGY WAS TO DEPLOY SHIA TO TORTURE SUNNI DETAINEES
Led to rise of al Qaeda influence

"... a U.S. military order directing U.S. forces not to investigate cases of torture of detainees by Iraqis... was part of a larger U.S. strategy of exploiting Shi'a sectarian hatred against Sunnis to help suppress the Sunni insurgency when Sunnis had rejected the U.S. war. And Gen. David Petraeus was a key figure in developing the strategy of using Shi'a and Kurdish forces to suppress Sunnis in 2004-2005. The strategy involved the deliberate deployment of Shi'a and Kurdish police commandoes in areas of Sunni insurgency in the full knowledge that they were torturing Sunni detainees...

"That strategy inflamed Sunni fears of Shi'a rule and was a major contributing factor to the rise of al Qaeda's influence in the Sunni areas..."

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53426

SUNNI TRIBES REJOINING AL-QAEDA

"Members of United States-allied Awakening Councils have quit or been dismissed from their positions in significant numbers... many of whom have gained extensive knowledge about the American military — appear to have rejoined Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. ... (and) many of the Awakening fighters still on the Iraqi government payroll, possibly thousands of them, covertly aid the insurgency... (due to) the group’s marginalization by the government and its abandonment by the American military.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/world/middleeast/17awakening.html?_r=1

THE LEGACY OF FALLUJAH

"Antietam, Okinawa and Mutla Ridge earned their infamy because they were areas of brutal fighting and unprecedented carnage.
When historians assess the Iraq war from the far side of time, the city that will fall into the latter category will be Fallujah. The name itself became a symbol... making the place a byword for war as the most brutal of blood sports... There has been too much violence... too many dead for Fallujis to ever trust the Americans... there is no chance Fallujis could bestow forgiveness for the blood and destruction wrought by American hands..."
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2024180,00.html

U.S. TRANSFERS PRISONERS TO ABUSIVE IRAQI REGIME

"The U.S. transfer of Iraqi detainees to national authorities with a long record of human rights abuses could prove illegal under international law... Recently transferred detainees face new dangers in Iraqi custody... (in a) secret Baghdad detention facility that practiced "systematic and routine torture". Of the 300 men transferred to the Al Rusafa Detention Centre from the secret facility in the Old Muthanna airport... (there was) physical evidence like scars, prisoners were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks, and sodomised. Despite... the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, some Iraqis say they would prefer U.S. detention to national prison..."
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52831

IRAQI SOLDIER KILLS 2 U.S. TROOPS, WOUNDS 9

"Two U.S. service members were killed and nine others were wounded when a Kurdish Iraqi soldier sprayed them with gunfire at an Iraqi army commando base..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706766.html

OBAMA DROPS PLEDGE TO WITHDRAW COMBAT TROOPS FROM IRAQ

"Seventeen months after President Barack Obama pledged to withdraw all combat brigades from Iraq by Sep. 1, 2010, he quietly abandoned that pledge Monday, admitting implicitly that such combat brigades would remain until the end of 2011... a "senior administration official" acknowledged that the 50,000 U.S. troops remaining in Iraq beyond the deadline will have the same combat capabilities as the combat brigades that have been withdrawn..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52366

ELECTRIC GRID FAILS IRAQIS


"... thickets of wires as dense as a jungle canopy have become as much a part of Iraq’s cityscapes as blast walls and checkpoints..."

"... the state of electricity has been one of the most closely watched benchmarks of Iraq’s progress, and of the American effort to transform a dictatorship into a democracy... Yet Baghdad, the capital, had five hours of electricity a day in July... Before Mr. Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait 20 years ago this month, Iraq had the capacity to produce 9,295 megawatts of power. By 2003, after American bombings and years of international sanctions, it was half that... Iraq does generate more electricity than it did in 2003, but nowhere near enough to match rising demand... Iraq’s electrical grid remains a patchwork of old power plants and new, supplemented with makeshift and inadequate solutions. Iraq now imports 700 megawatts from Iran..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/world/middleeast/02electricity.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&hp

U.S. CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR HOW IT SPENT $2.6 BILLION OF IRAQI FUNDS

"... the Department of Defense cannot account for how it spent $2.6 billion that belonged to the Iraqi government... An audit of a $9.1 billion fund of Iraqi oil proceeds showed that most American military agencies entrusted with spending the money on reconstruction projects failed to adhere to U.S. rules on how such money must be tracked and spent... (Previously) The inspector general in 2005 criticized the CPA's management of an $8.8 billion fund that belonged to the Iraqi government. A criminal probe conducted by the inspector general then led to the conviction of eight U.S. officials on bribery, fraud and money-laundering charges..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072605535.html?hpid=topnews

TOXIC LEGACY IN FALLUJAH WORSE THAN HIROSHIMA
U.S. assaulted city in 2004 using depleted uranium and white phosphorous

"Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945... a four-fold increase in all cancers and a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in under-14s... a 38-fold increase in leukaemia, a ten-fold increase in female breast cancer and significant increases in lymphoma and brain tumours in adults. Infant mortality in the city is more than four times higher than in neighbouring Jordan and eight times higher than in Kuwait... overwhelmed by the number of babies with serious birth defects, ranging from a girl born with two heads to paralysis of the lower limbs..."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/toxic-legacy-of-us-assault-on-fallujah-worse-than-hiroshima-2034065.html

TIMES SQUARE BOMBER PLEADS GUILTY 100 TIMES

"... He said he wanted "to plead guilty and 100 times more" to let the U.S. know that if it did not get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, halt drone attacks and stop meddling in Muslim lands, "we will be attacking U.S."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_times_square_car_bomb

IRAQ ELECTION CHAOS: CANDIDATES DISQUALIFIED
May affect US withdrawal

"Iraq's election results have been thrown into further doubt after 52 candidates were disqualified... The US (is) concerned that the inconclusive result and power vacuum will hold up the withdrawal of its remaining combat forces... The US is expected to withdraw its remaining troops by the end of 2011 under the terms of a status of forces agreement signed by George Bush before he left the presidency.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/26/iraq-election-candidates-disqualified

MALIKI HAS TORTURE PRISON FOR SUNNIS
Threat to forming a viable government

"Hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a secret Baghdad prison under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's military office, where many were routinely tortured... the 431 prisoners had been subjected to appalling conditions... one of them, a former colonel in President Saddam Hussein's army, had died in January as a result of torture... "More than 100 were tortured. There were a lot of marks on their bodies. They beat people, they used electricity. They suffocated them with plastic bags, and different methods... they were handcuffed for three to four hours at a time in stress positions or sodomized".... (the revelation) would likely compromise the prime minister's ability to put together a viable government coalition.."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-prison19-2010apr19,0,5706408.story

VIDEO GAME: KILLING CIVILIANS



"... US air crew falsely claiming to have encountered a firefight in Baghdad and then laughing at the dead after launching an air strike that killed a dozen people... Among the dead were a 22-year-old Reuters photographer, Namir Noor-Eldeen, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40. When Saeed is crawling, clearly unable to do anything, their response is: come on buddy, we want to kill you, just pick up a weapon ... It appears to be a desire to get a higher score, or a higher number of kills...."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack

OF 800 CLAIMS FOR KILLED CIVILIANS, MANY NOT PAID

"More than 800 complaints have been filed by families of civilians killed in US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan... many of the claims were denied under the "combat exemption" clause to the Foreign Claims Act (FCA), "which provides that harm inflicted on residents of foreign countries by US soldiers during combat cannot be compensated under the FCA, even if the victims had no involvement whatsoever in the combat"... Due to the claim denials, many innocent civilians were not compensated for their harm or were referred to the Commander's Emergency Response Program for a discretionary condolence payment that is subject to an automatic 2,500-dollar limit per death..."
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100402/twl-us-iraq-afghanistan-unrest-lawsuit-7e07afd.html

IRAQI WOMEN'S RIGHTS LOST

"Under the Personal Status Law in force since Jul. 14, 1958, when Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy, Iraqi women had most of the rights that Western women do. Now they have Article 2 of the Constitution: "Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation." Sub-head A says "No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam." Under this Article the interpretation of women's rights is left to religious leaders... The U.S. occupation has decided to let go of women's rights... women lost their right to learn and their right to a free and normal life..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50642

DEBATE OVER DEFINITION OF TERRORISM

"... confusion and doubt arose (after Joseph Stack's airplane attack on an IRS building) over whether a person who perpetrated a classic act of Terrorism should, in fact, be called a Terrorist: he's not a Muslim and isn't acting on behalf of standard Muslim grievances against the U.S. or Israel, and thus does not fit the "definition." It has really come to mean: "a Muslim who fights against or even expresses hostility towards the United States, Israel and their allies."
If an American Muslim argues that violence against the U.S. (particularly when aimed at military targets) is justified due to American violence aimed at the Muslim world, that person is a Terrorist who deserves assassination... if the U.S. military invades a Muslim country, Muslims who live in the invaded and occupied country and who fight back against the invading American army -- by attacking nothing but military targets -- are also Terrorists.... (And) large numbers of detainees at Guantanamo were accused of being Terrorists for nothing more than attacking members of an invading foreign army in their country..."
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/02/19/terrorism/index.html

"... Stratfor, an Austin-based global intelligence firm specializing in international risk management, said the rhetoric in Stack's rant clearly matches the USA Patriot Act's definition of terrorism: a criminal act that is intended to "intimidate or coerce a civilian population to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping..."
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/nation-world-news/plane-attack-prompts-debate-over-terrorism-label-558975.html

U.S. TO TRIPLE DRONES

"The U.S. military plans to more than triple its inventory of high-altitude, armed and unarmed drones... The long-range aviation plan... calls for 800 high-altitude drones, up from 220 currently... The U.S. military currently flies about 39 combat-air patrols for 24 hours each over Iraq and Afghanistan... The Pentagon has said it would increase the patrols to 50 a day in the next two years and 65 by 2013... We can’t get enough drones,” (said) General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, which includes the Afghanistan and Iraq war theaters..."
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-05/pentagon-to-increase-stock-of-high-altitude-drones-update1-.html

MALIKI GOT BUSH OUT OF IRAQ

"Maliki leveraged the Bush administration into signing a status of forces agreement (SOFA) in 2008 that included a full U.S. military withdrawal by the end of 2011. Maliki even demanded -- and received -- a promise to vacate the five massive “enduring” military bases the Pentagon had constructed -- with their elaborate facilities, populations that reach into the tens of thousands..."
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175199/tomgram%3A_michael_schwartz%2C_will_iraq%27s_oil_ever_flow___/#more

DUTCH PANEL RULES THAT IRAQ WAR WAS ILLEGAL

"The war in Iraq had "no basis in international law", a Dutch inquiry found... a seven-member panel in the Netherlands concluded that the war, which was supported by the Dutch government following intelligence from Britain and the US, had not been justified in law..."
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/12/iraq-war-illegal-dutch-tribunal

"... There are only two conditions under which war may be launched according to the United Nations Charter, which most countries have signed. One is self-defense. Iraq did not attack the US in 2003. The other is if the UN Security Council authorizes a war, as with the Gulf War where collective security was invoked to push back the aggression on Kuwait..."
http://www.juancole.com/2010/01/iraq-war-was-illegal-dutch-panel-rules.html

DUTCH PROBE FINDS IRAQ INVASION ILLEGITIMATE

"The 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq lacked legitimacy under international law, an independent commission probing Dutch political support for the still controversial war said... it said the Netherlands had wrongly interpreted UN Security Council resolution 1441, which gave Iraq a final chance to disarm, as authorising individual member states to use military force against that country..."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100112/wl_mideast_afp/netherlandsiraqpoliticsusprobe3rdlead_20100112163834

DEPLETED URANIUM BOMBS CAUSING CANCER EPIDEMIC

"... The real hazard for Iraqis these days is cancer. Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment... In Falluja, which was heavily bombarded by the US in 2004, as many as 25% of new- born infants have serious abnormalities, including congenital anomalies, brain tumors, and neural tube defects in the spinal cord... The cancer rate in the province of Babil, south of Baghdad has risen from 500 diagnosed cases in 2004 to 9,082 in 2009... In Basra there were 1885 diagnosed cases of cancer in 2005.... the number increased to 2,302 in 2006 and 3,071 in 2007... about 1,250-1,500 patients visit the Oncology Center every month now... Iraqi doctors and some Western scholars say the massive quantities of depleted uranium used in U.S. and British bombs, and the sharp increase in cancer rates are not unconnected. ... the incubation period for depleted uranium is five to six years, which is consistent with the spike in cancer rates... The water, soil and air in large areas of Iraq, including Baghdad, are contaminated with depleted uranium that has a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years..."

"There are also similar patterns of birth defects among... Afghan infants who were also born in areas that were subjected to depleted uranium bombardment... in infants in eastern and south- eastern Afghanistan... Many children are born with no eyes, no limbs, or tumors protruding from their mouths and eyes..."

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=80e260b3839daf2084fdeb0965ad31ab

IRAQ PURSUING ANY BLACKWATER EMPLOYEES LEFT IN IRAQ

"... Iraq said Friday it will file suit against five Blackwater security guards cleared of manslaughter charges in the 2007 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians, an act a government official called murder... Investigations carried out by specialized Iraqi authorities unequivocally found that the Blackwater guards committed murder... The Iraqi government is actively pursuing any former Blackwater personnel still working in the country... "
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/03/iraq.blackwater/