5 U.S. SOLDIERS INVESTIGATED FOR KILLING 4 IRAQIS AFTER RAPE
(Iraqis later beheaded 2 other members of same platoon)
"Five U.S. army soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a young woman, then killing her and three members of her family in Iraq... The killings appeared to have been a "crime of opportunity"... The soldiers had not been attacked by insurgents but had noticed the woman on previous patrols.The soldiers also allegedly burned the body of the woman... at least one of the soldiers, all assigned to the 502nd Infantry Regiment, has admitted his role and been arrested..."
"Two soldiers from the same (platoon) were slain this month when they were kidnapped at a checkpoint near Youssifiyah. The military has said one and possibly both of the slain soldiers had been tortured and beheaded... (and that) the (Iraqi) killings (in March) appear to be unrelated to the (soldiers) kidnappings (in May)... "
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060630.wsoldie0630/BNStory/International/
Friday, June 30, 2006
U.S. LOSING TERROR WAR BECAUSE OF IRAQ
"The United States is losing its fight against terrorism and the Iraq war is the biggest reason why, more than eight of ten American terrorism and national security experts concluded in a poll released yesterday... Of the experts queried, 45 identified themselves as liberals, 40 said they were moderates and 31 called themselves conservatives..."
http://www.dispatch.com/national-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/29/20060629-A3-00.html
"The United States is losing its fight against terrorism and the Iraq war is the biggest reason why, more than eight of ten American terrorism and national security experts concluded in a poll released yesterday... Of the experts queried, 45 identified themselves as liberals, 40 said they were moderates and 31 called themselves conservatives..."
http://www.dispatch.com/national-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/29/20060629-A3-00.html
Thursday, June 29, 2006
EFFECTS OF DEPLETED URANIUM USED BY U.S. ON IRAQIS
"... As we “protected ourselves... from Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction, we opened our own arsenal of WMD on them... the estimated DU use on defenseless Iraq is 1,700 tons, far more of it in major population centers... We were pounding Baghdad... with low-grade nuclear weapons, raining down cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects..."
“Two strange phenomena have come about in Basra which I have never seen before. The first is double and triple cancers in one patient. For example, leukemia and cancer of the stomach. We had one patient with two cancers — one in his stomach and kidney. Months later, primary cancer was developing in his other kidney — he had three different cancer types. The second is the clustering of cancer in families. We have 58 families here with more than one person affected by cancer. . . . My wife has nine members of her family with cancer.”
Dr. Jawad Al-Ali, director of the oncology center at the largest hospital in Basra
--Common Wonders, June 29, 2006
http://www.commonwonders.com/
"... As we “protected ourselves... from Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction, we opened our own arsenal of WMD on them... the estimated DU use on defenseless Iraq is 1,700 tons, far more of it in major population centers... We were pounding Baghdad... with low-grade nuclear weapons, raining down cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects..."
“Two strange phenomena have come about in Basra which I have never seen before. The first is double and triple cancers in one patient. For example, leukemia and cancer of the stomach. We had one patient with two cancers — one in his stomach and kidney. Months later, primary cancer was developing in his other kidney — he had three different cancer types. The second is the clustering of cancer in families. We have 58 families here with more than one person affected by cancer. . . . My wife has nine members of her family with cancer.”
Dr. Jawad Al-Ali, director of the oncology center at the largest hospital in Basra
--Common Wonders, June 29, 2006
http://www.commonwonders.com/
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
MARINE SONG IN IRAQ: " HADJI GIRL "
Link to video of the song.
Excerpts:
"... Then suddenly to my surprise
I looked up and I saw her eyes
And I knew it was love at first sight.
And she said…
Dirka Dirka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
Hadji girl I can’t understand what you’re saying.
The girl says that she “wanted me to meet her family
But I, well, I couldn’t figure out how to say no.
Cause I don’t speak Arabic.”
They visit her home, a “side shanty” down “an old dirt trail,” and as soon as they arrive:
"Her brother and her father shouted…
Dirka Dirka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
They pulled out their AKs so I could see
So I grabbed her little sister and pulled her in front of me.
As the bullets began to fly
The blood sprayed from between her eyes
And then I laughed maniacally
Then I hid behind the TV
And I locked and loaded my M-16
And I blew those little fuckers to eternity.
And I said…
Dirka Dirka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
They should have known they were fucking with a Marine."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/articles/2381/The_Hatred_Behind_Hadji_Girl
STATEMENT FROM JOSH BELILE, AUTHOR AND SINGER OF "HADJI GIRL"
"... if you want to share your thoughts, good or bad, please feel free at www.myspace.com/zelph99. I am planning on recording and releasing a professionally produced and engineered version of "Hadji Girl" which will be aired on the Mike Church show, and will be available for sale through their web site within the coming weeks. I have decided to take this step to show that I am in full support of every American's right his or her own freedom of speech, military or civilian... I am within my legal rights as an American..."
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005450.htm
Link to video of the song.
Excerpts:
"... Then suddenly to my surprise
I looked up and I saw her eyes
And I knew it was love at first sight.
And she said…
Dirka Dirka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
Hadji girl I can’t understand what you’re saying.
The girl says that she “wanted me to meet her family
But I, well, I couldn’t figure out how to say no.
Cause I don’t speak Arabic.”
They visit her home, a “side shanty” down “an old dirt trail,” and as soon as they arrive:
"Her brother and her father shouted…
Dirka Dirka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
They pulled out their AKs so I could see
So I grabbed her little sister and pulled her in front of me.
As the bullets began to fly
The blood sprayed from between her eyes
And then I laughed maniacally
Then I hid behind the TV
And I locked and loaded my M-16
And I blew those little fuckers to eternity.
And I said…
Dirka Dirka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
They should have known they were fucking with a Marine."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/articles/2381/The_Hatred_Behind_Hadji_Girl
STATEMENT FROM JOSH BELILE, AUTHOR AND SINGER OF "HADJI GIRL"
"... if you want to share your thoughts, good or bad, please feel free at www.myspace.com/zelph99. I am planning on recording and releasing a professionally produced and engineered version of "Hadji Girl" which will be aired on the Mike Church show, and will be available for sale through their web site within the coming weeks. I have decided to take this step to show that I am in full support of every American's right his or her own freedom of speech, military or civilian... I am within my legal rights as an American..."
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005450.htm
3 MYTHS THAT WON'T QUIT
"The myth of sovereignty... continues to be hyped as a reality when in fact... Iraq remains very much an occupied nation where the United States... gets to call all the shots..."
"The myth of Zarqawi... never anything more than a minor player in Iraq... hyped up by a Bush administration anxious to prove that the insurgency... in Iraq was foreign-grown and linked to the perpetrators of the 9/11 terror attacks... The reality... (is that) The war against the American occupation in Iraq is being fought overwhelmingly by Iraqis..."
"The myth of WMD... some 500 artillery shells have been found in Iraq by U.S. forces since the invasion... lying about the ground... all been reported before by the Bush administration... The degraded sarin nerve agent and mustard blister agent contained in the discovered munitions had long since lost their viability, and as such represented no threat whatsoever..."
--Scott Ritter, former UN Weapons Inspector
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13764.htm
"The myth of sovereignty... continues to be hyped as a reality when in fact... Iraq remains very much an occupied nation where the United States... gets to call all the shots..."
"The myth of Zarqawi... never anything more than a minor player in Iraq... hyped up by a Bush administration anxious to prove that the insurgency... in Iraq was foreign-grown and linked to the perpetrators of the 9/11 terror attacks... The reality... (is that) The war against the American occupation in Iraq is being fought overwhelmingly by Iraqis..."
"The myth of WMD... some 500 artillery shells have been found in Iraq by U.S. forces since the invasion... lying about the ground... all been reported before by the Bush administration... The degraded sarin nerve agent and mustard blister agent contained in the discovered munitions had long since lost their viability, and as such represented no threat whatsoever..."
--Scott Ritter, former UN Weapons Inspector
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13764.htm
WAR COSTS: $500 BILLION BY 2007 AND $808 BILLION BY 2016
"The overall cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other global anti-terror operations since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will top $500 billion next year, according to congressional estimates... Even assuming an eventual troop drawdown to 74,000 by fiscal 2010, war costs between fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2016 could total another $371 billion... Adding that to the $437 billion appropriated through the end of this fiscal year, total costs would reach $808 billion by fiscal 2016..."
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=34428&dcn=e_hsw
"The overall cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other global anti-terror operations since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will top $500 billion next year, according to congressional estimates... Even assuming an eventual troop drawdown to 74,000 by fiscal 2010, war costs between fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2016 could total another $371 billion... Adding that to the $437 billion appropriated through the end of this fiscal year, total costs would reach $808 billion by fiscal 2016..."
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=34428&dcn=e_hsw
PARLIAMENT BLAMES U.S. FOR DEATHS OF 4 RUSSIANS
"... The Russian government confirmed the four men's deaths this week, after an insurgent group released a video showing two of them being killed.... the lower house of the Russian parliament approved a statement condemning the killings, and appearing to blame Iraq's "occupying powers". "The whole responsibility for the situation in Iraq, including guaranteeing the security of its citizens, and also foreign specialists, as before lies on the occupying powers," the statement said..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5125416.stm
"... The Russian government confirmed the four men's deaths this week, after an insurgent group released a video showing two of them being killed.... the lower house of the Russian parliament approved a statement condemning the killings, and appearing to blame Iraq's "occupying powers". "The whole responsibility for the situation in Iraq, including guaranteeing the security of its citizens, and also foreign specialists, as before lies on the occupying powers," the statement said..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5125416.stm
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
IRAQI TROOPS WON'T FIGHT IRAQIS
"... the Iraqi battalion commander said the 145 soldiers represented a fraction of the battalion's usual numbers. He said as many as 500 of his fellow soldiers - most of them Sunni Muslims from Al Jabouri tribe - stayed behind in Mosul rather than fight in Ramadi... He said that many of the Iraqi soldiers who stayed behind feared they would create tribal vendettas if they came to Ramadi and killed other Iraqis. "They said, 'We don't want fight our own people,' " he said.... The problem he mentioned has been a recurring theme in the effort by the American military to hand off responsibility to Iraqi soldiers. The most difficult task has been to ask Iraqis to fight other Iraqis - particularly if they are from the same ethnic or sectarian group..."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/27/africa/web.0627ramadi.php
"... the Iraqi battalion commander said the 145 soldiers represented a fraction of the battalion's usual numbers. He said as many as 500 of his fellow soldiers - most of them Sunni Muslims from Al Jabouri tribe - stayed behind in Mosul rather than fight in Ramadi... He said that many of the Iraqi soldiers who stayed behind feared they would create tribal vendettas if they came to Ramadi and killed other Iraqis. "They said, 'We don't want fight our own people,' " he said.... The problem he mentioned has been a recurring theme in the effort by the American military to hand off responsibility to Iraqi soldiers. The most difficult task has been to ask Iraqis to fight other Iraqis - particularly if they are from the same ethnic or sectarian group..."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/27/africa/web.0627ramadi.php
U.S. PROMISES TO REBUILD FALLUJAH BROKEN
June 2005
"Sen. Mitch McConnell's itinerary last week included a day in Iraq... went to Baghdad and Fallujah... Fallujah, which had been a seething center of insurgency, the city "is calm now and getting back to normal, and (the Iraqis are) reconstructing the city," McConnell said..."
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050605/NEWS0104/506050438
June 2006
"One and a half years after the US assault on Fallujah, residents tell of ongoing suffering, lack of jobs, little reconstruction and continuing violence. The US Marines Corps launched Operation Phantom Fury against the city of Fallujah in November 2004, destroying an estimated 70% of the buildings, homes and shops, and killing between 4,000 and 6,000 people...
"Despite Baghdad allocating $100 million for the city's reconstruction and $180 million for housing compensation, very little can be seen visibly on the streets of Fallujah in terms of reconstruction. There are destroyed buildings on almost every street. Local authorities say about 60% of all houses in the city were totally destroyed or seriously damaged and less than 20% of them have been repaired so far ... Power, water treatment and sewage systems are still not functioning properly and many districts of the city are without potable water... security has eaten up as much as 25% of reconstruction funding, but even more has reportedly been siphoned off by corruption and overcharging by contractors.
"The mayor of Fallujah was not available to interview - in his latest appearance on television he announced his resignation. In his statement televised on June 14, he declared firmly, "The Americans did not fulfill their promises to me and so I resign."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HF27Ak03.html
June 2005
"Sen. Mitch McConnell's itinerary last week included a day in Iraq... went to Baghdad and Fallujah... Fallujah, which had been a seething center of insurgency, the city "is calm now and getting back to normal, and (the Iraqis are) reconstructing the city," McConnell said..."
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050605/NEWS0104/506050438
June 2006
"One and a half years after the US assault on Fallujah, residents tell of ongoing suffering, lack of jobs, little reconstruction and continuing violence. The US Marines Corps launched Operation Phantom Fury against the city of Fallujah in November 2004, destroying an estimated 70% of the buildings, homes and shops, and killing between 4,000 and 6,000 people...
"Despite Baghdad allocating $100 million for the city's reconstruction and $180 million for housing compensation, very little can be seen visibly on the streets of Fallujah in terms of reconstruction. There are destroyed buildings on almost every street. Local authorities say about 60% of all houses in the city were totally destroyed or seriously damaged and less than 20% of them have been repaired so far ... Power, water treatment and sewage systems are still not functioning properly and many districts of the city are without potable water... security has eaten up as much as 25% of reconstruction funding, but even more has reportedly been siphoned off by corruption and overcharging by contractors.
"The mayor of Fallujah was not available to interview - in his latest appearance on television he announced his resignation. In his statement televised on June 14, he declared firmly, "The Americans did not fulfill their promises to me and so I resign."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HF27Ak03.html
PENTAGON SEEKS TO OMIT GENEVA CONVENTION ON PRISONER TREATMENT
"As new reports detail further abuse by the U.S. military of its prisoners in Iraq... The Pentagon is pushing to omit from new detainee policies a central principle of the Geneva Conventions that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment"... U.S. obligations under the Conventions have been the subject of an intense debate... following reports of detainee abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33778
"As new reports detail further abuse by the U.S. military of its prisoners in Iraq... The Pentagon is pushing to omit from new detainee policies a central principle of the Geneva Conventions that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment"... U.S. obligations under the Conventions have been the subject of an intense debate... following reports of detainee abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33778
Monday, June 26, 2006
WAR EQUIPMENT COSTS TRIPLE TO $17 BILLION PER YEAR
TOTAL WAR COST TO DATE APPROACHES $500 BILLION
"The annual cost of replacing, repairing and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to more than triple next year to more than $17 billion... ... with estimates that it will cost between $12 billion and $13 billion a year for equipment repairs, upgrades and replacements from now on...Pentagon officials have estimated that such emergency bills would have to continue two years beyond.. (whenever) the U.S. pulls out of Iraq in order to fully replace, repair and rebuild all of the needed equipment... War-related costs since 2001 are approaching half a trillion dollars."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13563055
TOTAL WAR COST TO DATE APPROACHES $500 BILLION
"The annual cost of replacing, repairing and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to more than triple next year to more than $17 billion... ... with estimates that it will cost between $12 billion and $13 billion a year for equipment repairs, upgrades and replacements from now on...Pentagon officials have estimated that such emergency bills would have to continue two years beyond.. (whenever) the U.S. pulls out of Iraq in order to fully replace, repair and rebuild all of the needed equipment... War-related costs since 2001 are approaching half a trillion dollars."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13563055
U.S. MADE IRAQIS CHANGE PEACE PLAN
"The Iraqi reconciliation plan unveiled by Prime Minister Al-Maliki... had the potential to mark a turning point the in the war. But thanks to U.S. interference, instead of a road map for peace, the plan that emerged looks more like a bump in Iraq’s torturous path to continued violence and suffering... two of the most critical aspects of the reconciliation plan discussed with the insurgents—the withdrawal of U.S. troops and amnesty for Iraqis who fought soldiers but not Iraqi civilians—were abandoned under intense U.S. pressure. The result is a weak plan that will probably not entice a significant number of fighters to lay down their weapons..."
"Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s national security advisor, wrote an op-ed the Washington Post saying that Iraqis now see foreign troops as occupiers rather than the liberators, and that their removal would strengthen the fledgling government..."
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12382
"The Iraqi reconciliation plan unveiled by Prime Minister Al-Maliki... had the potential to mark a turning point the in the war. But thanks to U.S. interference, instead of a road map for peace, the plan that emerged looks more like a bump in Iraq’s torturous path to continued violence and suffering... two of the most critical aspects of the reconciliation plan discussed with the insurgents—the withdrawal of U.S. troops and amnesty for Iraqis who fought soldiers but not Iraqi civilians—were abandoned under intense U.S. pressure. The result is a weak plan that will probably not entice a significant number of fighters to lay down their weapons..."
"Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s national security advisor, wrote an op-ed the Washington Post saying that Iraqis now see foreign troops as occupiers rather than the liberators, and that their removal would strengthen the fledgling government..."
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12382
IRAQI DEATH TOLL OVER 50,000
"At least 50,000 Iraqis have died violently since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, according to statistics from the Baghdad morgue, the Iraqi Health Ministry and other agencies... Many more Iraqis are believed to have been killed but not counted because of serious lapses in recording deaths in the chaotic first year after the invasion, when there was no functioning Iraqi government, and continued spotty reporting nationwide since..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-deathtoll25jun25,1,2628703.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
"At least 50,000 Iraqis have died violently since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, according to statistics from the Baghdad morgue, the Iraqi Health Ministry and other agencies... Many more Iraqis are believed to have been killed but not counted because of serious lapses in recording deaths in the chaotic first year after the invasion, when there was no functioning Iraqi government, and continued spotty reporting nationwide since..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-deathtoll25jun25,1,2628703.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
Saturday, June 24, 2006
IRAQI TRAINEES KILLING U.S. TROOPS
"... Sergeant Patrick R. McCaffrey, Sr. and First Lieutenant Andre D. Tyson... were targeted and killed by Iraqi troops they were training.... A month before he died, Patrick told his father that Iraqi forces they were training had attacked his unit. When he filed a complaint with his chain of command, Patrick "was told to keep his mouth shut," his mother said.... "He was killed by the Iraqis that he was training.... People in this country need to know that."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0623-30.htm
"... Sergeant Patrick R. McCaffrey, Sr. and First Lieutenant Andre D. Tyson... were targeted and killed by Iraqi troops they were training.... A month before he died, Patrick told his father that Iraqi forces they were training had attacked his unit. When he filed a complaint with his chain of command, Patrick "was told to keep his mouth shut," his mother said.... "He was killed by the Iraqis that he was training.... People in this country need to know that."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0623-30.htm
THE FLYPAPER STRATEGY MEANS WAR WITH NO END
"... If Iraq is the neighborhood in which terrorists have chosen to fight America.... Are we now sending sons, daughters, husbands, wives to be the designated terrorist attractions? ... are they I.E.D. fodder?... What if the unacknowledged "mission" is to keep the terrorists over "there"?... There is no dearth of recruits to terrorism. If the Iraqi front line miraculously becomes a demilitarized zone, terrorists may indeed look for a new American target. The alternative to that worry is an Iraq war with no end in sight...."
-- Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe, June 23, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0623-20.htm
"... If Iraq is the neighborhood in which terrorists have chosen to fight America.... Are we now sending sons, daughters, husbands, wives to be the designated terrorist attractions? ... are they I.E.D. fodder?... What if the unacknowledged "mission" is to keep the terrorists over "there"?... There is no dearth of recruits to terrorism. If the Iraqi front line miraculously becomes a demilitarized zone, terrorists may indeed look for a new American target. The alternative to that worry is an Iraq war with no end in sight...."
-- Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe, June 23, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0623-20.htm
A YEAR LATER, INSURGENCY STILL IN "LAST THROES"
"... the same day that the bodies of the two kidnapped soldiers were found, Vice President Dick Cheney was asked at the National Press Club whether he still believed his remarks from a year ago that the Iraq insurgency was in "its last throes."... Mr. Cheney, ignoring the inconvenient facts that 835 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since he made his "last throes" remark; and more than 6,000 others have been wounded; and nearly 3,000 Iraqi soldiers and police officers have been killed; and nearly 15,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed, answered, "I do."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/066A7886771A94CB8625719400804B51?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22Scenes%22+AND+%22From%22+AND+%22A%22+AND+%22War%22
"... the same day that the bodies of the two kidnapped soldiers were found, Vice President Dick Cheney was asked at the National Press Club whether he still believed his remarks from a year ago that the Iraq insurgency was in "its last throes."... Mr. Cheney, ignoring the inconvenient facts that 835 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since he made his "last throes" remark; and more than 6,000 others have been wounded; and nearly 3,000 Iraqi soldiers and police officers have been killed; and nearly 15,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed, answered, "I do."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/066A7886771A94CB8625719400804B51?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22Scenes%22+AND+%22From%22+AND+%22A%22+AND+%22War%22
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
NEW EMBASSY - BUSH"S BAGHDAD PALACE
"Among the many secrets the American government cannot keep, one of its biggest (104 acres) and most expensive ($592 million) is the American Embassy being built in Baghdad. Surrounded by fifteen-foot-thick walls, almost as large as the Vatican... there will soon be twenty-one buildings, 619 apartments with very fancy digs for the big shots, restaurants, shops, gym facilities, a swimming pool, a food court, a beauty salon, a movie theater... and... a swish club for evening functions...
"(there will be)... 8,000 Americans holed up in a private city, who do not dare to leave their fortified luxury bunker for fear of being killed or kidnapped and tortured if caught outside their fortified walls, and who are trying to run the country by giving orders to the Iraqi government, which is also operating out of the Green Zone, that vast fortified place isolated from the people of the country...
"They intend to cut and run into what amounts to the world's largest bunker, a capacious rat hole where they can wait in safety until all the Iraqis have killed one another or all factions unite, march on this air-conditioned citadel and slit the throats of its irrelevant inhabitants."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060703/howl
"Among the many secrets the American government cannot keep, one of its biggest (104 acres) and most expensive ($592 million) is the American Embassy being built in Baghdad. Surrounded by fifteen-foot-thick walls, almost as large as the Vatican... there will soon be twenty-one buildings, 619 apartments with very fancy digs for the big shots, restaurants, shops, gym facilities, a swimming pool, a food court, a beauty salon, a movie theater... and... a swish club for evening functions...
"(there will be)... 8,000 Americans holed up in a private city, who do not dare to leave their fortified luxury bunker for fear of being killed or kidnapped and tortured if caught outside their fortified walls, and who are trying to run the country by giving orders to the Iraqi government, which is also operating out of the Green Zone, that vast fortified place isolated from the people of the country...
"They intend to cut and run into what amounts to the world's largest bunker, a capacious rat hole where they can wait in safety until all the Iraqis have killed one another or all factions unite, march on this air-conditioned citadel and slit the throats of its irrelevant inhabitants."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060703/howl
Monday, June 19, 2006
KHALILZAD EMBASSY MEMO PROMPTED BUSH SURPRISE VISIT TO IRAQ?
The message header says “R 121430Z Jun 06”. That means the message was sent with (R)outine priority at 1430 hours (2:30 PM) (Z)ulu time on June 12, 2006. Zulu is the designation for the Greenwich Mean Time zone. Military messages are sent referencing Zulu time rather than the sender's local time. The local time in Baghdad was 11:30 AM.
June 12 - Advisors Meeting at Camp David
"... President Bush today opened a two-day meeting on Iraq with top advisers at the Camp David presidential retreat... Bush spent three and a half hours in a teleconference this morning with top U.S. officials in Baghdad's heavily fortified "Green Zone," notably Gen. Casey, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. John P. Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061200271.html
June 12 - The "Embassy Memo"
The embassy memo is evidently Khalilzad's briefing message for the teleconference - his talking points:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/graphics/iraqdocs_061606.pdf
In the message, among other things, Khalilzad says the Iraqi embassy workers fear the US will pull out and abandon them.
The Camp David agenda was to have the advisor meeting on June 12, and then a teleconference with Baghdad on June 13 to discuss results. After hearing from Khalilzad, Bush perhaps decided that the situation was so desperate that a personal visit was needed:
June 13 - Teleconference with Baghdad Changed to Personal Visit
"... President Bush... (said) “we’ll keep our commitment” not to withdraw... During an unannounced visit to Baghdad aimed at buttressing the newly formed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush pledged his support... Maliki, who had arrived expecting a videoconference with Bush speaking from Camp David and learned the president was in Baghdad only minutes before he entered the room."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/13/AR2006061300432.html
The message header says “R 121430Z Jun 06”. That means the message was sent with (R)outine priority at 1430 hours (2:30 PM) (Z)ulu time on June 12, 2006. Zulu is the designation for the Greenwich Mean Time zone. Military messages are sent referencing Zulu time rather than the sender's local time. The local time in Baghdad was 11:30 AM.
June 12 - Advisors Meeting at Camp David
"... President Bush today opened a two-day meeting on Iraq with top advisers at the Camp David presidential retreat... Bush spent three and a half hours in a teleconference this morning with top U.S. officials in Baghdad's heavily fortified "Green Zone," notably Gen. Casey, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. John P. Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061200271.html
June 12 - The "Embassy Memo"
The embassy memo is evidently Khalilzad's briefing message for the teleconference - his talking points:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/graphics/iraqdocs_061606.pdf
In the message, among other things, Khalilzad says the Iraqi embassy workers fear the US will pull out and abandon them.
The Camp David agenda was to have the advisor meeting on June 12, and then a teleconference with Baghdad on June 13 to discuss results. After hearing from Khalilzad, Bush perhaps decided that the situation was so desperate that a personal visit was needed:
June 13 - Teleconference with Baghdad Changed to Personal Visit
"... President Bush... (said) “we’ll keep our commitment” not to withdraw... During an unannounced visit to Baghdad aimed at buttressing the newly formed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush pledged his support... Maliki, who had arrived expecting a videoconference with Bush speaking from Camp David and learned the president was in Baghdad only minutes before he entered the room."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/13/AR2006061300432.html
HORROR SHOW REVEALS IRAQ'S DESCENT
"... It is here that bodies from the nightly slaughter are dumped each morning. The stench of decaying flesh, mingled with disinfectant, hits you at the checkpoint 100 yards away. Each corpse tells a different story about the terrors of Iraq. Some bodies are pocked with holes inflicted by torturers with power drills... two boys aged about 12 lying in the pile on the ground... (had) round holes that were slightly inflamed in several parts of their body, a sign that they had been tortured with electric drills before being killed. Even their eyes had been drilled and only hollow sockets remained... Some show signs of strangulation; others, with hands tied behind the back, bear bullet wounds. Many are charred and dismembered... So far this year, according to health ministry figures, the mortuary has processed the bodies of about 6,000 people, most of whom died violently..."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2230672,00.html
"... It is here that bodies from the nightly slaughter are dumped each morning. The stench of decaying flesh, mingled with disinfectant, hits you at the checkpoint 100 yards away. Each corpse tells a different story about the terrors of Iraq. Some bodies are pocked with holes inflicted by torturers with power drills... two boys aged about 12 lying in the pile on the ground... (had) round holes that were slightly inflamed in several parts of their body, a sign that they had been tortured with electric drills before being killed. Even their eyes had been drilled and only hollow sockets remained... Some show signs of strangulation; others, with hands tied behind the back, bear bullet wounds. Many are charred and dismembered... So far this year, according to health ministry figures, the mortuary has processed the bodies of about 6,000 people, most of whom died violently..."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2230672,00.html
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
BUSH MEETS IRAQI CABINET
"... Bush said he made the surprise trip to Baghdad to size up al-Maliki and members of his cabinet... Bush listened to individual cabinet members describe the challenges they face. He referred to them by their jobs — "oil guy," "reconciliation person," "defense minister," "the electricity man," a "lady member of the cabinet" who talked about human rights concerns about coalition forces."
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=5298
"... Bush said he made the surprise trip to Baghdad to size up al-Maliki and members of his cabinet... Bush listened to individual cabinet members describe the challenges they face. He referred to them by their jobs — "oil guy," "reconciliation person," "defense minister," "the electricity man," a "lady member of the cabinet" who talked about human rights concerns about coalition forces."
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=5298
U.S. PRESENCE IN IRAQ THE BIGGEST THREAT TO MID EAST STABILITY
"... a Pew Research Center poll of 17,000 people in 15 countries... (showed that) people worldwide think the U.S. presence in Iraq is an even bigger threat (than Iran)... to Middle East stability..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/13/AR2006061300939.html
"... a Pew Research Center poll of 17,000 people in 15 countries... (showed that) people worldwide think the U.S. presence in Iraq is an even bigger threat (than Iran)... to Middle East stability..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/13/AR2006061300939.html
MARINE SONG
"The US marines have launched a probe into a video posted on the internet that apparently shows a serving marine singing about killing Iraqi civilians... Posted on the YouTube website, the video shows a man in uniform strumming a guitar while singing about killing Iraqis, as others laugh and cheer....The four-minute song refers to Iraqis as "hajis" (and) includes graphic descriptions of killings, real or imagined. Dressed in a green T-shirt and military style trousers and boots, a man sings: "I grabbed her little sister and put her in front of me."As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5077858.stm
"... the four-minute video posted anonymously in March on a Web site, www.youtube.com, but recently removed... On the video, titled "hadji girl," a man dressed in an olive-colored T-shirt and long pants sings into a microphone in what seems to be a large room with numerous unseen spectators, with the obscenity-laced lyrics describing encountering an Iraqi woman and her family. At one point, the man sings, "I grabbed her little sister and put her in front of me. As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally." In the background, laughing, clapping and cheers can be heard."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-06-13T202534Z_01_N13423235_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-VIDEO.xml
"The US marines have launched a probe into a video posted on the internet that apparently shows a serving marine singing about killing Iraqi civilians... Posted on the YouTube website, the video shows a man in uniform strumming a guitar while singing about killing Iraqis, as others laugh and cheer....The four-minute song refers to Iraqis as "hajis" (and) includes graphic descriptions of killings, real or imagined. Dressed in a green T-shirt and military style trousers and boots, a man sings: "I grabbed her little sister and put her in front of me."As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5077858.stm
"... the four-minute video posted anonymously in March on a Web site, www.youtube.com, but recently removed... On the video, titled "hadji girl," a man dressed in an olive-colored T-shirt and long pants sings into a microphone in what seems to be a large room with numerous unseen spectators, with the obscenity-laced lyrics describing encountering an Iraqi woman and her family. At one point, the man sings, "I grabbed her little sister and put her in front of me. As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally." In the background, laughing, clapping and cheers can be heard."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-06-13T202534Z_01_N13423235_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-VIDEO.xml
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
COVER UP: PREGNANT WOMAN AND COUSIN KILLED BY SNIPER
"U.S. troops killed two women in Samarra, and then attempted to hide evidence of their responsibility... According to an earlier account, Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, a 35-year-old mother of two, was killed in firing along with her 57-year-old cousin Saliha Mohammed Hassan on May 30 when they were being transported to Samarra General Hospital for Nabiha to give birth. What was not reported, according to an Iraqi human rights investigator who spoke with IPS on condition of anonymity, was that both women were shot in the back of the head by U.S. snipers. "I investigated this incident myself, and both of these women were shot from behind," said the investigator. "Nabiha's brains were splattered on her brother who was driving the car, since she was in the back seat."... The U.S. military said in a statement that "shots were fired to disable the vehicle." ... The U.S. military claims the incident is being investigated."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33581
"U.S. troops killed two women in Samarra, and then attempted to hide evidence of their responsibility... According to an earlier account, Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, a 35-year-old mother of two, was killed in firing along with her 57-year-old cousin Saliha Mohammed Hassan on May 30 when they were being transported to Samarra General Hospital for Nabiha to give birth. What was not reported, according to an Iraqi human rights investigator who spoke with IPS on condition of anonymity, was that both women were shot in the back of the head by U.S. snipers. "I investigated this incident myself, and both of these women were shot from behind," said the investigator. "Nabiha's brains were splattered on her brother who was driving the car, since she was in the back seat."... The U.S. military said in a statement that "shots were fired to disable the vehicle." ... The U.S. military claims the incident is being investigated."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33581
A DUNKIRK IN THE DESERT
"... Is the badly outnumbered American expeditionary force in Iraq in trouble? Is it in danger of being trapped? With all our firepower... We could be moving toward an American Dunkirk... The Defense Department is not telling what it knows but no wartime government ever, ever tells the truth... In the south of Iraq, in the Basra region, the British who occupy that sector have all but given up aggressive patrol. They are holed up in their encampments on the defensive... The situation for American troops may be even more precarious. While our forces are still able to carry out aggressive patrolling, it nets little except to increase popular hostility... (making) it yet easier for the various insurgents and guerrilla groups to operate against us. It appears that in many places our people may have simply hunkered down to stay out of trouble. The vast construction projects of a few years ago are all but closed down, too, as the American forces appear to be doing less and less of anything but holding on and holding out... Air evacuation would mean abandoning billions of dollars of equipment. There is no seaport troops could get to, so the only way out of Iraq would be that same desert highway to Kuwait where fifteen years ago the American Air Force destroyed Saddam Hussein's army. Dunkirk in the desert."
--from the Guardian, England
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0613-24.htm
"... Is the badly outnumbered American expeditionary force in Iraq in trouble? Is it in danger of being trapped? With all our firepower... We could be moving toward an American Dunkirk... The Defense Department is not telling what it knows but no wartime government ever, ever tells the truth... In the south of Iraq, in the Basra region, the British who occupy that sector have all but given up aggressive patrol. They are holed up in their encampments on the defensive... The situation for American troops may be even more precarious. While our forces are still able to carry out aggressive patrolling, it nets little except to increase popular hostility... (making) it yet easier for the various insurgents and guerrilla groups to operate against us. It appears that in many places our people may have simply hunkered down to stay out of trouble. The vast construction projects of a few years ago are all but closed down, too, as the American forces appear to be doing less and less of anything but holding on and holding out... Air evacuation would mean abandoning billions of dollars of equipment. There is no seaport troops could get to, so the only way out of Iraq would be that same desert highway to Kuwait where fifteen years ago the American Air Force destroyed Saddam Hussein's army. Dunkirk in the desert."
--from the Guardian, England
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0613-24.htm
Sunday, June 11, 2006
U.S. DENIES ABUSE OF ZARQAWI
"The two 230-kilogram bombs that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi pulverized the brick house where he spent his final minutes, vaporizing walls and the foundation, hurling concrete blocks 90 metres into the weeds and blasting a crater 12 metres wide and deep... given the extraordinary destruction evident at the house, a number of questions lingered, including how anyone could have survived such an attack... rumours circulating in the Iraqi media (said) that al-Zarqawi had begun to run from the house as the first bomb struck... One Iraqi witness has come forward and told reporters a man resembling al-Zarqawi was pulled from an ambulance by U.S. troops and beaten before he died."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1149976210315
“... We found the body of a big man, middle-aged. There was life in him still.... an ambulance and Iraqi forces turned up, taking the total number of people at the scene to about 14. The men had barely finished placing him in the ambulance when seven US helicopters landed by the house and four Humvees rumbled through the dust... The soldiers then took the wounded man from the back of the ambulance, placing his stretcher on the ground... they started to kick him in the chest, said Abbas and an Iraqi policeman also there. “They kept kicking him, shouting, ‘What’s your name?’, but the man only moaned and said nothing,” said Abbas. As the small crowd of Iraqis looked on, the wounded man grew paler and blood oozed from his mouth and nose. It took about a quarter of an hour for him to die.."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2220222,00.html
"... U.S. officials denied several news reports that Zarqawi was abused by U.S. troops before he died. An Iraqi police lieutenant who said he was among the first people at the scene told The Times on Saturday that after Iraqi police had carried Zarqawi to the ambulance on the stretcher, U.S. troops took him off the stretcher and placed him on the ground. One of the Americans tried to question Zarqawi and repeatedly stepped on his chest, causing blood to flow from his mouth and nose, said the lieutenant, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A man identified only as Mohammed, who said he lived near the Zarqawi hide-out, told Associated Press Television News that he had witnessed Americans beating Zarqawi. "They stomped on his stomach and his chest until he died and blood came out of his nose," he said..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-zarqawi11jun11,0,4847758.story?coll=la-home-headlines
"The two 230-kilogram bombs that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi pulverized the brick house where he spent his final minutes, vaporizing walls and the foundation, hurling concrete blocks 90 metres into the weeds and blasting a crater 12 metres wide and deep... given the extraordinary destruction evident at the house, a number of questions lingered, including how anyone could have survived such an attack... rumours circulating in the Iraqi media (said) that al-Zarqawi had begun to run from the house as the first bomb struck... One Iraqi witness has come forward and told reporters a man resembling al-Zarqawi was pulled from an ambulance by U.S. troops and beaten before he died."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1149976210315
“... We found the body of a big man, middle-aged. There was life in him still.... an ambulance and Iraqi forces turned up, taking the total number of people at the scene to about 14. The men had barely finished placing him in the ambulance when seven US helicopters landed by the house and four Humvees rumbled through the dust... The soldiers then took the wounded man from the back of the ambulance, placing his stretcher on the ground... they started to kick him in the chest, said Abbas and an Iraqi policeman also there. “They kept kicking him, shouting, ‘What’s your name?’, but the man only moaned and said nothing,” said Abbas. As the small crowd of Iraqis looked on, the wounded man grew paler and blood oozed from his mouth and nose. It took about a quarter of an hour for him to die.."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2220222,00.html
"... U.S. officials denied several news reports that Zarqawi was abused by U.S. troops before he died. An Iraqi police lieutenant who said he was among the first people at the scene told The Times on Saturday that after Iraqi police had carried Zarqawi to the ambulance on the stretcher, U.S. troops took him off the stretcher and placed him on the ground. One of the Americans tried to question Zarqawi and repeatedly stepped on his chest, causing blood to flow from his mouth and nose, said the lieutenant, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A man identified only as Mohammed, who said he lived near the Zarqawi hide-out, told Associated Press Television News that he had witnessed Americans beating Zarqawi. "They stomped on his stomach and his chest until he died and blood came out of his nose," he said..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-zarqawi11jun11,0,4847758.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Friday, June 09, 2006
FATHER OF BEHEADED MAN BLAMES BUSH NOT ZARQAWI
"Michael Berg, whose son Nick was beheaded in Iraq in 2004, said on Thursday he felt no sense of relief at the killing of the al Qaeda leader in Iraq and blamed President Bush for his son's death. Asked what would give him satisfaction, Berg, an anti-war activist and candidate for U.S. Congress, said, "The end of the war and getting rid of George Bush."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-06-08T122308Z_01_N08295664_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-ZARQAWI-BERG.xml
"Michael Berg, whose son Nick was beheaded in Iraq in 2004, said on Thursday he felt no sense of relief at the killing of the al Qaeda leader in Iraq and blamed President Bush for his son's death. Asked what would give him satisfaction, Berg, an anti-war activist and candidate for U.S. Congress, said, "The end of the war and getting rid of George Bush."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-06-08T122308Z_01_N08295664_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-ZARQAWI-BERG.xml
IRAQI WOMEN OPPRESSED AND MURDERED
"The women of Basra have disappeared. Three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, women's secular freedoms - once the envy of women across the Middle East - have been snatched away because militant Islam is rising across the country.... Across Iraq, a bloody and relentless oppression of women has taken hold... women insist the situation (in Basra) is at its worst. Here they are forced to live behind closed doors only to emerge, concealed behind scarves, hidden behind husbands and fathers. Even wearing a pair of trousers is considered an act of defiance, punishable by death.... Under Saddam... businesswomen and academics travelled the country unchallenged while their daughters mixed freely with male students at university."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0608-02.htm
"The women of Basra have disappeared. Three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, women's secular freedoms - once the envy of women across the Middle East - have been snatched away because militant Islam is rising across the country.... Across Iraq, a bloody and relentless oppression of women has taken hold... women insist the situation (in Basra) is at its worst. Here they are forced to live behind closed doors only to emerge, concealed behind scarves, hidden behind husbands and fathers. Even wearing a pair of trousers is considered an act of defiance, punishable by death.... Under Saddam... businesswomen and academics travelled the country unchallenged while their daughters mixed freely with male students at university."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0608-02.htm
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
U.S. SNIPERS MAKE RAMADI ANOTHER FALLUJAH
"... stories describe death happening any moment, without signals or warning... (U.S.) snipers will kill anyone who moves... "The American snipers don't make any distinction between civilians or fighters, anything that moves, he shoots immediately. This is a very dirty thing, they are killing lots of civilians who are not fighters... Anyone who goes ahead in the street will be killed. There's no sign that it's not allowed... Many people came to visit us from Baghdad. They didn't know this and they went ahead a few metres and were killed."
"... The Iraqi friend witnessed the killing of a young boy. "He was going to his school at about eight in the morning, carrying his books and crossing the street. Suddenly he fell down. I thought he just had a problem in his leg and fell, but he stayed for a long time like this. ... one of the brothers of this kid, tried to find a way and took two steps to take the boy away. Snipers shot and missed him. So he didn't try again. The boy remained there four hours, bleeding. He had been shot in the head."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33489
"... stories describe death happening any moment, without signals or warning... (U.S.) snipers will kill anyone who moves... "The American snipers don't make any distinction between civilians or fighters, anything that moves, he shoots immediately. This is a very dirty thing, they are killing lots of civilians who are not fighters... Anyone who goes ahead in the street will be killed. There's no sign that it's not allowed... Many people came to visit us from Baghdad. They didn't know this and they went ahead a few metres and were killed."
"... The Iraqi friend witnessed the killing of a young boy. "He was going to his school at about eight in the morning, carrying his books and crossing the street. Suddenly he fell down. I thought he just had a problem in his leg and fell, but he stayed for a long time like this. ... one of the brothers of this kid, tried to find a way and took two steps to take the boy away. Snipers shot and missed him. So he didn't try again. The boy remained there four hours, bleeding. He had been shot in the head."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33489
ETHICS TRAINING FOR TROOPS
"... Specialist Jody Casey, a scout sniper in Baquba who witnessed civilians being killed by soldiers, said recently bombs "go off and you just zap any farmer that is close to you". Soldiers were told to carry shovels in vehicles so they could plant them on civilian victims, he said, to make it look like they were digging to set up roadside bombs. Specialist Michael Blake, who served in Balad, said it was common practice to "shoot up the landscape or anything that moved" after an explosion.
"... The reality is that the occupation is detested by most Iraqis. US-led forces are surrounded by popular hostility, and are operating completely outside Iraqi "sovereign" jurisdiction. No Pentagon courses in the ethics of how and how not to kill Iraqis will change this."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1791752,00.html
"... Specialist Jody Casey, a scout sniper in Baquba who witnessed civilians being killed by soldiers, said recently bombs "go off and you just zap any farmer that is close to you". Soldiers were told to carry shovels in vehicles so they could plant them on civilian victims, he said, to make it look like they were digging to set up roadside bombs. Specialist Michael Blake, who served in Balad, said it was common practice to "shoot up the landscape or anything that moved" after an explosion.
"... The reality is that the occupation is detested by most Iraqis. US-led forces are surrounded by popular hostility, and are operating completely outside Iraqi "sovereign" jurisdiction. No Pentagon courses in the ethics of how and how not to kill Iraqis will change this."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1791752,00.html
U.S. TROOPS ACCUSED OF NEW MURDERS IN IRAQ
"US troops faced fresh accusations of unlawful killings of civilians in Iraq as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the release of 2,500 detainees in a gesture to promote national reconciliation... the main Sunni Arab political party, accused American forces of murdering more than two dozen Iraqis in a series of incidents across the country in May."
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060606/1/41c7l.html
"US troops faced fresh accusations of unlawful killings of civilians in Iraq as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the release of 2,500 detainees in a gesture to promote national reconciliation... the main Sunni Arab political party, accused American forces of murdering more than two dozen Iraqis in a series of incidents across the country in May."
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060606/1/41c7l.html
OTHER HADITHA STORIES YET UNTOLD
"An Iraqi doctor who was in Haditha during a deadly U.S. raid last year says there are many more stories like that in Haditha that are yet untold.... in Haditha itself, he said, the U.S. military cut electricity and water to the entire city, attacked the hospital and burned the pharmacy. "The hospital has been attacked three times. In November 2005 the hospital was occupied by the American and Iraqi Army for seven days, which is a severe breach of the Geneva Conventions," he said. "In one of these attacks, the U.S. soldiers used live ammunition inside the hospital. They handcuffed all the doctors and destroyed the entire contents of the medical storage. It ended with the killing of one of the patients in his bed."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0607-02.htm
"An Iraqi doctor who was in Haditha during a deadly U.S. raid last year says there are many more stories like that in Haditha that are yet untold.... in Haditha itself, he said, the U.S. military cut electricity and water to the entire city, attacked the hospital and burned the pharmacy. "The hospital has been attacked three times. In November 2005 the hospital was occupied by the American and Iraqi Army for seven days, which is a severe breach of the Geneva Conventions," he said. "In one of these attacks, the U.S. soldiers used live ammunition inside the hospital. They handcuffed all the doctors and destroyed the entire contents of the medical storage. It ended with the killing of one of the patients in his bed."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0607-02.htm
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
VIOLENT BAGHDAD DEATHS IN 2006 TOP 6,000 BY JUNE
"The bodies of 6,000 people, most of whom died violently, have been received by Baghdad's main mortuary so far this year... The number has risen every month, to 1,400 in May. The majority are believed to be victims of sectarian killing... observers say the real death toll could be much higher... as many bodies are not taken to the morgue, or are never found."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5053134.stm
"The bodies of 6,000 people, most of whom died violently, have been received by Baghdad's main mortuary so far this year... The number has risen every month, to 1,400 in May. The majority are believed to be victims of sectarian killing... observers say the real death toll could be much higher... as many bodies are not taken to the morgue, or are never found."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5053134.stm
Sunday, June 04, 2006
AMERICANS WEARY OF IRAQ NEWS
"... audiences and producers in America (have) grown weary of much of the coverage from Iraq.... the public feels like it knows what is going on here, and doesn't want to hear anymore about it."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-iraqtv3jun03,1,2620683.story?coll=la-news-a_section
"... audiences and producers in America (have) grown weary of much of the coverage from Iraq.... the public feels like it knows what is going on here, and doesn't want to hear anymore about it."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-iraqtv3jun03,1,2620683.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Friday, June 02, 2006
ISHAQI MASSACRE OF IRAQI CIVILIANS - IRAQ REJECTS U.S. PROBE CLEARING MILITARY
"The U.S. military said last night it would investigate allegations of a second massacre of Iraqi civilians by American troops after being presented with a video of what appeared to be the bodies of 11 people killed by gunfire in (Ishaqi) north of Baghdad..."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1149198613018&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724
"... a report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people in the house, including five children and four women, before blowing up the building. The video tape obtained by the BBC shows a number of dead adults and children at the site (inside a standing house) with what our world affairs editor John Simpson says were clearly gunshot wounds..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5042036.stm
"... Local Iraqis said there were 11 total dead, and contended that they were killed by U.S. troops before the house was leveled... A military investigation... concluded that the U.S. troops followed normal procedures,,, (and) cleared the troops of misconduct..."
hhttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198029,00.htmlere
"... Iraq vowed... to press on with its own probe into the deaths of civilians in a U.S. raid on the town of Ishaqi, rejecting the U.S. military's exoneration of its forces... Police in Ishaqi say five children, four women and two men were shot in the head, and that the bodies, with hands bound, were dumped in one room before the house was blown up."
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L03694020
and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5044244.stm
"The U.S. military said last night it would investigate allegations of a second massacre of Iraqi civilians by American troops after being presented with a video of what appeared to be the bodies of 11 people killed by gunfire in (Ishaqi) north of Baghdad..."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1149198613018&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724
"... a report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people in the house, including five children and four women, before blowing up the building. The video tape obtained by the BBC shows a number of dead adults and children at the site (inside a standing house) with what our world affairs editor John Simpson says were clearly gunshot wounds..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5042036.stm
"... Local Iraqis said there were 11 total dead, and contended that they were killed by U.S. troops before the house was leveled... A military investigation... concluded that the U.S. troops followed normal procedures,,, (and) cleared the troops of misconduct..."
hhttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198029,00.htmlere
"... Iraq vowed... to press on with its own probe into the deaths of civilians in a U.S. raid on the town of Ishaqi, rejecting the U.S. military's exoneration of its forces... Police in Ishaqi say five children, four women and two men were shot in the head, and that the bodies, with hands bound, were dumped in one room before the house was blown up."
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L03694020
and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5044244.stm
BUSH ADMINISTRATION SILENT ON IRAQI ISLAMIC REPUBLIC
"... Iraq's elected representatives have adopted a constitution that, for all practical purposes, has turned the country into an Islamic republic. An article in the constitution states that Sharia is the fundamental source of Iraqi legislation. Another article says that no Iraqi law shall violate the undisputed principles of Islam. Both Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki and his predecessor, Ibrahim Jaafari, are leaders of the Islamic Daawa Party, committed to establishing an Islamic regime in Iraq. These salient facts go unmentioned by officials of the Bush administration..."
http://www.washingtonspectator.com/articles/20060601democracy_1.cfm
"... Iraq's elected representatives have adopted a constitution that, for all practical purposes, has turned the country into an Islamic republic. An article in the constitution states that Sharia is the fundamental source of Iraqi legislation. Another article says that no Iraqi law shall violate the undisputed principles of Islam. Both Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki and his predecessor, Ibrahim Jaafari, are leaders of the Islamic Daawa Party, committed to establishing an Islamic regime in Iraq. These salient facts go unmentioned by officials of the Bush administration..."
http://www.washingtonspectator.com/articles/20060601democracy_1.cfm
U.S. HABITUAL ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS
"Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has criticised the US military for what he described as habitual attacks against civilians... as his government launched an investigation into an alleged massacre by US marines of up to 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha.... Meanwhile the BBC has broadcast footage appearing to challenge US accounts of a second incident, in the town of Ishaqi... a report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people in the house, including five children and four women, before blowing up the building."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5040258.stm
"Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has criticised the US military for what he described as habitual attacks against civilians... as his government launched an investigation into an alleged massacre by US marines of up to 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha.... Meanwhile the BBC has broadcast footage appearing to challenge US accounts of a second incident, in the town of Ishaqi... a report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people in the house, including five children and four women, before blowing up the building."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5040258.stm
Thursday, June 01, 2006
BASRA DETERIORATION
"... There was a genuine sense of optimism when British tanks rolled into Iraq's second largest city more than three years ago... (but now) The people live in fear of the local militia, divided between Sadr's people and the Badr Brigade, as well as the British trained police force... a largely moderate population is now afraid to speak out. Women in particular have seen their rights disappear since the invasion.To go out without a scarf, a regular sight three years ago, is tantamount to suicide... As Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared a state of emergency in the British-controlled area yesterday, anyone with any money or hope of escape is trying to emigrate."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0601-04.htm
"... There was a genuine sense of optimism when British tanks rolled into Iraq's second largest city more than three years ago... (but now) The people live in fear of the local militia, divided between Sadr's people and the Badr Brigade, as well as the British trained police force... a largely moderate population is now afraid to speak out. Women in particular have seen their rights disappear since the invasion.To go out without a scarf, a regular sight three years ago, is tantamount to suicide... As Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared a state of emergency in the British-controlled area yesterday, anyone with any money or hope of escape is trying to emigrate."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0601-04.htm