AMERICANS BRUSH OFF IRAQI WAR DEAD

"... there is solid evidence that close to a half-million people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Iraq war.... about 10 times higher than the estimates put forth by the Bush administration and Pentagon when asked about civilian casualties. But a much bigger problem than the numerical disparity... is the simple fact that so few even ask..."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/384390_iraqdead22.html

IRAQ PACT REVEALS U.S. DEBACLE

"The final draft of the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces agreement on the U.S. military presence represents an even more crushing defeat for the policy of the George W. Bush administration than previously thought... (it) not only imposes unambiguous deadlines for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by 2011 but makes it extremely unlikely that a U.S. non-combat presence will be allowed to remain in Iraq for training and support purposes beyond the 2011 deadline for withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces... (and) In the absence of an agreement approved by the Iraqi parliament, U.S. troops in Iraq will probably be confined to their bases once the United Nations mandate expires Dec. 31..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44394

AL-QAEDA SUPPORTERS ENDORSE McCAIN

"Al-Qaida supporters suggested in a Web site message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the U.S. as a way to usher in a McCain presidency. The message, posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah Web site, said if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"This requires presence of an impetuous American leader such as McCain, who pledged to continue the war till the last American soldier," the message said. "Then, al-Qaida will have to support McCain in the coming elections so that he continues the failing march of his predecessor, Bush. If al-Qaida carries out a big operation against American interests," the message said, "this act will be support of McCain because it will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaida. Al-Qaida then will succeed in exhausting America till its last year in it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/22/al-qaeda-supporters-endor_n_136779.html

RUSSIA SUPPORTS EXTENSION OF U.N. MANDATE FOR OCCUPATION

"Russia will support Iraq’s request to the U.N. Security Council for an extension of the international military presence in that country... Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said... “There are international troops in Iraq in accordance with a U.N. Security Council mandate. If the government of Iraq asks for the mandate of these troops to be extended, Russia will certainly support it... We are confident that it would be wrong to speak about a complete and immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq now. It is important to determine the timeframe for the start of such withdrawal, and this is the position of the Iraqi government.”
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13191941&PageNum=0

IRAQIS MARCH FOR FREEDOM FROM U.S.

"... tens of thousands... protested... in the streets of Baghdad... against the pact to allow US troops to stay in the country beyond 2008... members of the crowd set fire to effigies of George Bush and Condoleezza Rice as well as an American and an Israeli flag. "Yes, yes Iraq! No, no to the occupation!" the protestors chanted.."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4967683.ece

MASS RALLY AGAINST EXTENDING U.S. OCCUPATION


"Iraqis stage mass anti-US rally... Supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr have staged a mass demonstration in Baghdad in protest against plans to extend the US mandate in Iraq. An estimated 50,000 protesters chanted slogans such as "Get out occupier!".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7677551.stm

MISSILE ATTACKS ON AIRPORT AND GREEN ZONE

"While Maliki was meeting with President Jalal Talabani this week to place the final touches on a proposed long-term military treaty with the US, missiles were landing on Baghdad International Airport... believed to be ... from Sunni fundamentalists... 24 hours later, another five missiles landed on the Green Zone, where Maliki's office, and the embassies of both the US and Great Britain, are located."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JJ18Ak04.html

BA'ATHISTS PLAN "BATTLE OF BAGHDAD"

"The Ba'athist Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation (SCJL) has announced that it is preparing to launch the "Battle of Baghdad". The SCJL is a coalition of at least 22 insurgent groups headed by Izzat al-Douri, the leader of the banned Iraqi Ba'ath Party.... the SCJL looks beyond a US withdrawal from Iraq and promises a final showdown with the Iraqi government that will lead to the "liberation" of Iraq and the establishment of a new political system... While the insurgency has relied on guerrilla tactics using small arms in hit-and-run attacks, the SCJL proposes to shift to a more conventional approach with a regular army capable of launching a large-scale attack for a final "liberation" of Baghdad that will rid Iraq of the current regime and political system..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JJ18Ak01.html

RICE, PETREAUS: VICTORY NOT CERTAIN

"... the new National Intelligence Estimate ... warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year... the findings seem to cast doubts on McCain's frequent assertions that the United States is "on a path to victory" in Iraq..."

"Army Gen. David Petraeus, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq, who has called the situation "fragile" and "reversible" and said he will never declare victory there. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed that tone on Monday during a State Department awards ceremony for Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker... (saying) "Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is certain in this life. And success in Iraq is not a sure thing."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/53605.html

BUSH DELAYS WITHDRAWAL TO MAKE McCAIN LOOK GOOD

"... as Obama wrapped up meetings with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh reiterated his government’s stance, saying “the end of 2010 is the appropriate time for the withdrawal”... (But) Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that as part of the security agreement, Bush wanted U.S. troops to stay in Iraq even longer. “It was a U.S. proposal for the date which is 2015, and an Iraqi one which is 2010, then we agreed to make it 2011,” Talabani said... the White House communications staff were concerned that Maliki’s endorsement of the 2010 time line would damage Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign."
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/23/maliki-bush-mccain-iraq/

"... The Bush administration... negotiators pushed the date from 2010 -- the year suggested by both Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki -- to 2011. According to Maliki in an interview with an Iraqi TV station, this change came from the administration's concern over the "domestic situation" in the U.S. (that is, the needs of the McCain campaign)."
http://tomdispatch.com/post/174982/chalmers_johnson_the_pentagon_bailout_fraud

BAGHDAD'S MAIN HOSPITAL

"Baghdad Medical City, built once as the centre for some of the best medical care... has over a thousand beds for patients...
- Not even the elevators work now... take the stairs, sometimes to the 18th floor.
- no air-conditioning in the building...
- not even safe to drink tap water... even to wash their hands.
- Equipment is often not sterilised...
- medicines... out of date... lack almost all basic antibiotics...
- sometimes not even basic material for intravenous treatment...
- no senior doctors... Most of them left...
- two hours of electricity a day..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43997

IRAQI RED CROSS CEASES AFTER SCANDAL

"The Iraqi Red Crescent... has been crippled by allegations of embezzlement and mismanagement... (including) the inappropriate expenditure of more than $1 million on Washington lobbying firms in an unsuccessful effort to win U.S. funding. The group's former president, Said I. Hakki, an Iraqi American urologist recruited by Bush administration officials to resuscitate Iraq's health-care system, left the country this summer after the issuance of arrest warrants for him and his deputies... The group has ceased nearly all its humanitarian work in recent months after the government froze its assets."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR2008092403938.html?hpid=topnews

$13 BILLION OF U.S. FUNDS WASTED OR STOLEN, SOME DIVERTED TO AL-QAEDA.

"... Salam Adhoob, a former chief investigator for Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee... that more than $13 billion meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq was wasted or stolen through elaborate fraud schemes... Investigations by Iraqi oversight agencies also found that some of the money sent to the Defense Ministry was diverted to al-Qaeda in Iraq, Adhoob said, and deposited into banks in Jordan and elsewhere."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202053.html

IRAQ REJECTING U.S.PLAN FOR OIL, WILL OWN THEIR OIL

"... Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain Al Shahristani... signed a $3b contract with the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)... for the development of the Ahdab field... the deal with China (may) set a precedent that will derail the American oil project in Iraq... Iraq’s oil would remain in sovereign Iraqi hands (via the Iraq National Oil Company), and foreign participants would not have any ownership rights over it... foreign companies would be... paid a fee for their services... Iraq would not sign with western companies Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) — a concept that evolved in the 60s — which allowed foreign participants to profit from the sale of oil they had been involved in extracting."
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/17/stories/2008091756161100.htm

45% OF DEATHS IN SOUTH DUE TO WAR-RELATED CANCER

"... Over the years the local population [in the south] has been exposed to the most serious radiation and chemical factors resulting from war... statistics from local morgues and hospitals, have shown... 45 percent of deaths in the southern provinces are caused by cancer..."
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/consequences/2007/0531cancer.htm

U.S. HAS LOST IRAQ TO IRAN

"... the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has made it all too clear that, in the long run, it has little inclination to remain "aligned with U.S. interests" in the region... Washington's efforts to dominate the Middle East are definitively deep-sixed... Maliki has moved strongly in the direction of a nationalist position on two key issues: the continuing American occupation of the country and the future of Iraqi oil... he has sought to distance his government from the Bush administration and to establish congenial relationships, if not an outright alliance, with... Iran."

"Iran has emerged as the country's top trading partner. Its firms are present in the Kurdish north and southern Iraq carrying out projects worth billions of dollars. Iranian goods are the most conspicuous merchandise in Iraqi shops. Iraq, though occupied and administered by America, has grown to be so dependent on Iran that some analysts see it as a satellite state of Tehran."

"The inevitable controversy over "who lost Iraq" -- an echo of those earlier controversies over "who lost China" and "who lost Vietnam" -- is bound to be on the way."

http://tomdispatch.com/post/174973/michael_schwartz_is_american_success_a_failure_in_iraq_

MALIKI: ALL U.S. TROOPS OUT BY 2011 - OR BEFORE

"Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signaled last week that that all U.S. troops -- including those with non-combat functions -- must be out of the country by the end of 2011 under the agreement he is negotiating with the George W. Bush administration... Al-Maliki declared Aug. 25 that the U.S. had agreed that "no foreign soldiers will be in Iraq after 2011"... He added that the Iraqi government "could ask the Americans to withdraw before 2011 if we wish."
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43753

SHIITES TAKE BLOOD OATHS TO FIGHT U.S. OCCUPATION

"... Shiite radicals scrambled on Friday to sign blood oaths to continue their fight against US forces in Iraq... to create a special unit of fighters who would continue the armed resistance against coalition forces..."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gM8XiW7sV5geqmUzh-bIVdGyOVuA

IRAQ MAKES $3 BILLION OIL DEAL WITH CHINA
(A fee for service deal. US companies are losing out by insisting on unacceptable production sharing deals, i.e. the proposed "Iraqi Oil Law".)

"China and Iraq have signed a $3 billion deal... for China's biggest oil company to help develop the Ahdab oil field..."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08241/907686-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml

"... the Chinese company will provide technical advisers, oil workers and equipment to help develop the Ahdab oil field southeast of Baghdad... Iraq had agreed to provide security for Chinese workers... China will be paid for its services but will not share in profits..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/world/middleeast/29iraq.html?ref=world

McCAIN TO END VA CARE FOR SOME IRAQ VETS

"... If I'm driving a Humvee in Iraq and a roadside bomb explodes and I veer off the road and crush my arm and end up losing it and needing a prosthetic, is that a combat wound according to Sen. McCain?... Official Pentagon policy calls such an incident a non-combat injury. Technically speaking, the only soldiers "wounded" in combat are those hit by direct enemy fire... McCain has never spelled out what he means by a "combat injury"... (but McCain has) argued that veterans with non-combat medical problems should be given vouchers to receive care at private, for-profit hospitals -- in other words, an end to the kind of universal (VA) health care the government has guaranteed veterans for generations..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43626

GREEN ZONE MORTARED
(This happens frequently but is not reported in the US unless there are casualties.)

"Baghdad - Mortars hit the International Zone (Green Zone) in downtown Baghdad. No casualties reported..."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/212/story/50618.html

IRAQ SEEKS PULLOUT BY 2011

"Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has spoken in detail about a deal to bring an end to the foreign combat troop presence in the country. He said the agreement would lead to the withdrawal of the troops by 2011, but he added that no specific timetable had been agreed with the US... Any agreement will have to be approved by the Iraqi parliament and presidency...."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7580968.stm

One-Fifth of Iraq Funding Paid to Contractors

"... a new report forecasts that the 190,000 private contractors in Iraq and neighbouring countries will cost U.S. taxpayers more than 100 billion dollars by the end of 2008... 6-10 billion dollars has been spent on security contactors thus far in 2008 and estimated that about 25,000-30,000 employees of security firms were in Iraq as of early this year. It estimates that, if spending for contractors continues at about the current rate, 100 billion dollars will have been paid to military contractors for operations in Iraq... about 20 percent of funding for operations in Iraq has gone to contractors... there are at least 190,000 contractors in Iraq and neighbouring countries -- a ratio of about one contractor per U.S. service member..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43565

COST OF VICTORY FOR U.S. AND IRAQ

"... About 5,000 Americans have been killed, including military personnel, contractors, and aid workers. Another 30,000 or more are wounded, and estimates of those with post-traumatic stress disorder are as high as 300,000. The financial costs are estimated to reach $3 trillion eventually..."

"For Iraqis... the numbers (of war dead) range from 200,000 to one million, and very likely a mid-range estimate is correct. The Iraqi government reports one million or more war widows. About 3.5 million Iraqis have been displaced by the war, most of them living in difficult circumstances in Jordan and Syria... a "looming crisis" for the entire region. More than half the school-age children in Iraq cannot attend school, due to a lack of security, and 40 percent have no access to safe water. A survey conducted in 2006 by the Ministry of Health found a doubling of mortality, much of it due to violence but about an equal amount to disease and accidents, indicating a gradual collapse of the healthcare system... The actual political results for Iraqis remain doubtful.. (and) the war is not over... To a dispassionate observer, this does not look like "victory."

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/08/15/what_counts_as_success_in_iraq/

IRAN SUPPLYING POWER TO IRAQ

"The Bush administration and western companies like Bechtel have failed to deliver on promises to improve infrastructure... "Now, the (Diyala) province gets power from Iran under a contract signed about two years ago between the Iraqi government and Iran," Naseer Milmy, an employee with the directorate-general of electricity told IPS... Through the difficulties, people look now to Iran, not the U.S., for a better life."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43477

U.S. LET IRAN INTO IRAQ

"... Badr (is) the armed wing of the Dawa Party of U.S.-backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Badr militia was based in Iran for 20 years during the rule of Saddam Hussein. It comprises largely Iraqi exiles, refugees and defectors who fought alongside Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. The U.S. allowed the militia to return to Iraq after the invasion of 2003... "The Badr militia and all their political and religious leaders entered Iraq on the backs of the American tanks," said (a) teacher. "Until the Americans came, there was no way they (Badr and Iranian-backed politicians and religious leaders) could set one foot in this country."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43537

$100 BILLION FOR 190,000 CONTRACTORS WITH NO OVERSIGHT

"... by the end of 2008, spending is likely to top $100bn, a review by the Congressional Budget Office found... According to CBO estimates, the US currently employs 190,000 contractors in Iraq and neighbouring countries, a ratio of one contractor per member of the US armed forces.

"... Senator Byron Dorgan... wants a panel similar to one set up by Senator Harry Truman in 1941 during the build-up to WWII. "The Truman Committee held 60 hearings on waste, fraud and abuse," Mr Dorgan said. "It's unfathomable to me that we don't have a bipartisan investigative committee on contracting in Iraq."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7557995.stm

U.S. ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN IRAQ

"... the US has:
* weakened and misdirected its security assets — since 2004 the Army has been at an unsustainable operational tempo with accumulating harm to that service;
* severely damaged its reputation, especially in the Muslim world;
* damaged its alliances;
* created a catalyst for communal conflict and provided a recruiting gift to Iraqi extremists;
* provided a motivator for jihadism and for terrorist tactics worldwide;
* handed Iran strategic and economic benefits which accrue every day US troops remain in Iraq;
* tarnished the meaning and the promise of democracy — and undermined efforts to promote it..."
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/11/10931/

1/3 OF IRAQI WORKERS IN GOVERNMENT

"Iraq’s private sector... has so far failed to flourish... In its absence... the number of government employees has nearly doubled, to 2.3 million from 1.2 million... In 2006, 31 percent of Iraq’s labor force was working in the public sector... that figure to reach 35 percent this year..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/world/middleeast/11baghdad.html?hp

BUSH PRESSURES IRAQ FOR PERMANENT U.S. OCCUPATION, IS REBUFFED

"... the Bush administration's response to the al-Maliki withdrawal demand has been to treat it as a mere aspiration that the United States need not accept... that the security objectives of Iraq must include continued dependence on U.S. troops for an indefinite period... that the United States is still in control, and that it -- not the Iraqi government -- will make the final decision..."

"... (then) the White House found it necessary to cover up the fact that al-Maliki had refused to back down in the face of Bush's pressure. It issued a statement claiming that the two leaders had agreed to... the 'further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq' -- but not a complete withdrawal. But that was quickly revealed to be a blatant misrepresentation of al-Maliki's position..."

http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=1604

U.S. TROOPS KILL GOVERNOR'S SON

"U.S. forces shot dead the 17-year-old son and another relative of the governor of northern Iraq's Salahuddin province in a raid... Governor Hamad al-Qaisi's brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Saad al-Qaisi, said American troops stormed a family house in the town of Beiji, where the governor's son Hussam and his cousin were staying... A statement from the U.S. military said its forces had wounded and captured an al Qaeda financer in the house..."
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2008-07-20T135821Z_01_L20716114_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-VIOLENCE.xml

IRAQ: BUSH'S HUGE GIFT TO AL-QAEDA

"... the Iraq War was a huge gift from the Bush administration to al-Qaeda. Not only did it take the pressure off bin Laden and other leaders when they were reeling in 2002, but it helped the terrorist organization portray itself as the defender of Muslim lands, instead of mass murderers of the innocent. On the military side, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq shifted crucial U.S. resources – such as Predator drones and Arabic-speaking intelligence operatives – away from the hunt for bin Laden and other leaders while simultaneously attracting thousands of young Muslims to the cause of violent jihad. In other words, Iraq became al-Qaeda’s “grand diversion,” not a “central front.”
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/071408.html

DOGS WELCOME - BUT NOT IRAQI COLLABORATORS

"... The treatment of Iraqis seeking international protection has failed to improve... translators and those who have worked with the Americans... are victims of death squads and targeted assassinations... the most effective way of getting out of Iraq and into America may be by not being human. Since the war began, there have been numerous stories about US servicemen taking home dogs they met in Iraq... That more attention has been given to dogs than to people is a sad reminder of how, instead of liberating the Iraqis, the war has further dehumanised them..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/10/iraq.usa

BUSH OCCUPATION DEFEATED BY IRAQIS

"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's demand for a timetable for complete U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, confirmed Tuesday by his national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, has signaled the almost certain defeat of the George W. Bush administration's aim of establishing a long-term military presence in the country.... the Iraqi regime has decided to shed its military dependence on the United States... the Iraqi demand for withdrawal makes it clear that the Bush administration was not really in control of events in Iraq, and that Shiite political opposition and Iranian diplomacy could trump U.S. military power."
http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=1578

IRAQ INSISTS ON U.S. WITHDRAWAL

"Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces... (this was) a day after Iraq's prime minister first said publicly that he expects the pending troop deal with the United States to have some type of timetable for withdrawal. President Bush has said he opposes a timetable..."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=FLMYR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

IRAQ SAYS TERRORISM IS DEFEATED

"Iraq's prime minister said yesterday that the government has defeated terrorism in the country... (saying) "thanks to the will of the tribes, security forces, army and all Iraqis, we defeated them."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,376821,00.html

IRAQ FORBIDS USE BY U.S. FOR IRAN ATTACK

"Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has cautioned the United States against using Iraqi territory to carry out attacks on Iran... adding he would not permit U.S. forces to use Iraqi land, airspace and waterways as a means for attacking states in the region..."
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/07/05/Maliki_cautions_US_against_Iran_attack/UPI-47341215306714/

OIL: IRAQ USING FEES INSTEAD OF PRODUCTION SHARING AGREEMENTS

"... officials were hoping to announce short-term service agreements - an interim measure pending political agreement over a national oil law... Iraqi officials were unwilling to share revenue from oil sales with the firms (production sharing agreements or PSAs)... preferring instead to pay them consultancy fees..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7480674.stm

"... PSAs are bad because they give private companies a ridiculously huge share of profit, they’re not transparent enough, they prevent Iraq from being a part of OPEC, and they are not used around the region at all..."
--Raed Jarrar, Director, the Iraqi Project of the human rights group Global Exchange, Tuesday 30 Jan 2007.
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/

IRAQ TO SUE OIL FOR FOOD EMBEZZLERS

"The Iraqi government... intends to file suit in United States courts to recover funds allegedly embezzled from the United Nations oil-for-food program during Saddam Hussein's rule... the lawsuits would target companies and individuals that conspired to corrupt the U.N. program... a 2005 U.N. inquiry into the program.... headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker, concluded that 2,400 companies and individuals participated in fraud that included $1.8 billion in kickbacks to Hussein... several of those named were prosecuted in the U.S. and Europe, resulting in prison sentences for two Texas oilmen and restitution from several companies totaling 10 of millions of dollars..."

"But little has been done to recover larger sums from (other companies and individuals) named in the Volcker report in countries including Russia, China, Yemen, Egypt, Vietnam, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq30-2008jun30,0,4879658.story

U.S. KILLS RELATIVE OF PRIME MINISTER, MAY DOOM "FREE ATTACK" PROVISION OF AGREEMENT

"... The US had been negotiating a Status of Forces Agreement with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and arguing for the US military to retain the prerogative of launching operations at will and without coordinating with the Iraqi government."

"... (But on Friday) U.S. forces killed an unarmed civilian... in (a) raid in the southern town of Janaja.... the Iraqi killed in the operation was a relative of the U.S.-backed prime minister (Nuri al-Maliki).... (the) unarmed civilian named Ali Abdulhussein was killed in his home... Not one Iraqi soldier took part in the airdrop, and the operation was not coordinated with any Iraqi authority..."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/42503.html

CHANGE OF PRESIDENT WILL NOT CHANGE POLICY

"... most U.S. citizens... are not familiar with U.S. foreign policy. While Obama, the Democratic presidential hopeful, calls for a shift in the U.S. policy in Iraq, neither he nor his Republican rival, John McCain, talk about changing the National Security Strategy of the U.S., or the military document Joint Vision 2020, which calls for "full spectrum dominance" of the world by the U.S. military by the year 2020.

"Full spectrum dominance" means not just total control of land, air, and sea, but also of information and of space. The U.S. strategy is firm and unchanging... It makes no difference (in Iraq) whether one wins or the other. The general strategy is well established, and is never affected by the changing of the president."

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42937

THE IGNORANCE OF AMERICANS

"... the thought of planting a largely Christian army in the middle of the Muslim Middle East over the opposition of most countries in the region sounds daft. Why did it not ring bells of alarm to Americans in 2003 and after, especially as it became clear that our troops would be staying a long time and that no quick victory was possible? It did not because the administration saw to it that the issue was framed differently. We weren’t planting an army. We were spreading God’s miraculous gift of freedom to a benighted people very much in need of America’s missionary help. It was the triumph of myth over logic..."

"Why were Americans so susceptible to myth?... Myths count more than facts... because Americans don't know many facts and don't care to take the time to learn them... The extent of Americans' ignorance is underestimated... five years into the war in Iraq only one in seven can find Iraq on a map."

http://www.amazon.com/Just-How-Stupid-Are-We/dp/0465077714/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213994191&sr=8-1

1 MILLION EXCESS DEATHS, 300,000 KILLED BY U.S.

"By now, summer of 2008, excess deaths from violence in Iraq since March of 2003 must be at least a million.... The one million number includes not just war-related deaths but all killings beyond what you would have expected from the 2000-2002 baseline. That is, if tribal feuds got out of hand and killed a lot of people because the Baath police were demobilized or disarmed and so no longer intervened, those deaths go into the mix. All the Sunnis killed in the north of Hilla Province (the 'triangle of death') when Shiite clans displaced from the area by Saddam came back up to reclaim their farms would be included. The kidnap victims killed when the ransom did not arrive in time would be included. And, of course, the sectarian, ethnic and militia violence, even if Iraqi on Iraqi, would count..."

"Some 310,000 of those were probably killed by US troops or by the US Air Force, with the bulk dying in bombing raids by US fighter jets and helicopter gunships on densely populated city and town quarters. In absolute numbers, that would be like bombing to death everyone in Pittsburgh, Pa. Or Cincinnati, Oh. Only, the US is 11 times more populous than Iraq, so 310,000 Iraqi corpses would equal 3.4 million dead Americans. So proportionally it would be like firebombing to death everyone in Chicago..."

"As for the Iraqis killed by Americans... the survivors are not going to be pro-American any time soon. The US can always find politicians to come out and say nice things on a visit to the Rose Garden. But the people. I don't think the people are saying nice things in Arabic behind our backs."

--Juan Cole, Informed Comment, June 22, 2008
http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/real-state-of-iraq.html

SITUATIONS IN 3 CITIES

"Moises Saman, a photographer with The New York Times, visited Basra, Mosul and the Sadr City district of Baghdad in May, visually recording the security and social situation in each of Iraq’s three largest cities... none of the three cities is stable enough for a westerner to stroll around the streets unguarded for hours at a time chatting to people, as reporters would do in normal circumstances..."

In Basra the scores of government checkpoints around the city mean that the Shiite death and kidnap squads are no longer everywhere. But they are somewhere, just waiting to come back.
In Sadr City the Americans and Iraqi army fought with tank shells and helicopter missiles in densely crowded streets against Shiite militias firing Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades. Flying metal could come from anywhere, often leaving the unfortunate residents with no idea who had just shot them.
In Mosul the omnipresent danger from Sunni insurgents means it is all but impossible to report from the city without embedding with American or Iraqi soldiers..."

http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/a-tale-of-three-cities/index.html?hp

BUSH ADMINISTRATION TORTURED AND LIED

"Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba who probed Abu Ghraib says Bush officials committed war crimes... found that U.S. personnel tortured and abused detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, using beatings, electrical shocks, sexual humiliation and other cruel practices... Doctors and mental health experts examined 11 detainees held for long periods in the prison system that President Bush established after the 9-11 terrorist attacks... the men had been subject to cruelties that ranged from isolation, sleep deprivation and hooding to electric shocks, beating and, in one case, being forced to drink urine... a horrific stew of pain, degradation and ... suffering. All of them eventually were released without charges."

"Bush has said repeatedly that the United States doesn't condone torture."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/41514.html

ARMY FIRES WHISTLEBLOWER, AWARDS 10-YEAR $150 BILLION CONTRACT IN IRAQ

"The Army official who managed the Pentagon’s largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR... Army auditors had determined that KBR lacked credible data or records for more than $1 billion in spending, so Mr. Smith refused to sign off on the payments to the company... Army officials... confirmed that they had reversed his decision... just as the Pentagon has recently awarded KBR part of a 10-year, $150 billion contract in Iraq..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/washington/17contractor.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

BASES: INVISIBLE FORTRESS TOWNS IN IRAQ

"... what an epic of construction this has been, as the Pentagon built a series of fortified American towns, each some 15 to 20 miles around, with many of the amenities of home, including big name fast-food franchises, PXes, and the like, in a hostile land in the midst of war and occupation... giant bases... meant to be key garrisons of a Pax Americana in the Middle East for generations to come."

"... billions have evidently gone into single massive mega-bases like the U.S. air base at Balad, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. It's a "16-square-mile fortress," housing perhaps 40,000 U.S. troops, contractors, special ops types, and Defense Department employees... it's essentially "a small American town smack in the middle of the most hostile part of Iraq... air traffic at the base was already being compared to Chicago's O'Hare International or London's Heathrow...

" Imagine if just about no one knew that the pyramids had been built. Ditto the Great Wall of China. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Coliseum. The Eiffel Tower. The Statue of Liberty. Or any other architectural wonder of the world you'd care to mention... Someday, before this is over, all of us may actually see what was built in our names with our dollars. That will be a shock, especially when you consider what the Bush administration has proved incapable of building, or rebuilding, in New Orleans and elsewhere in this country."

http://tomdispatch.com/post/174944/why_we_can_t_see_america_s_ziggurats_in_iraq

FALLUJAH BIRTH DEFECTS FROM U.S. WEAPONS

"Babies born in Fallujah are showing illnesses and deformities on a scale never seen before, doctors and residents say. The new cases, and the number of deaths among children, have risen after "special weaponry" was used in the two massive bombing campaigns in Fallujah in 2004... the Pentagon admitted in November 2005 that white phosphorous, a restricted incendiary weapon, was used a year earlier in Fallujah. In addition, depleted uranium (DU) munitions, which contain low-level radioactive waste, were used heavily in Fallujah..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42762

U.S. LOST $23 BILLION IN IRAQ

"A BBC investigation estimates that around $23 billion may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq... A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations. The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies. While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted. To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq..."

" (Rep.) Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said: "The money that's gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous... It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7444083.stm

U.S. TREATY DEMANDS EXPANSION FROM 30 BASES TO 58

"Iraqi lawmakers say the United States is demanding 58 bases as part of a proposed "status of forces" agreement that will allow U.S. troops to remain in the country indefinitely... The 58 bases would represent an expansion of the U.S. presence here. Currently, the United States operates out of about 30 major bases..."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/40372.html

IRAQ REFUSES TO LET U.S. ATTACK IRAN FROM IRAQ

"Iraq will not allow its territory to be used to attack Iran, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said during a visit to Tehran... "We will not allow Iraq to become a platform for harming the security of Iran and neighbours."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7441329.stm

SUNNI LEADER SAYS OCCUPATION TREATY SHOULD WAIT FOR OBAMA AND NEW GOVERNMENT

"... Sunni Iraqi lawmaker, Khalaf Al-Ulayyan, founder of the National Dialogue Council, said bilateral talks on a long-term security deal should be shelved until American troops leave -- and until there is a new government in Washington. "We prefer to delay until there is a new administration in the United States. The United States elects a new president in November; Democrat Barack Obama, who clinched his party's nomination this week, is among senators sponsoring a bill requiring any long-term pact with Iraq be submitted to Congress for approval."
http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSN04304912

U.S. HOLDS IRAQ'S $50 BILLION HOSTAGE TO OCCUPATION TREATY

"The US is holding hostage some $50 billion of Iraq's money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement... prolonging the US occupation indefinitely... US negotiators say the price of Iraq escaping (bankruptcy) is to sign up to a new "strategic alliance" with the United States... the agreement... means Iraq will be a client state in which the US will keep more than 50 military bases. American forces will be able to carry out arrests of Iraqi citizens and conduct military campaigns without consultation with the Iraqi government. American soldiers and contractors will enjoy legal immunity."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/us-issues-threat-to-iraqs-50bn-foreign-reserves-in-military-deal-841407.html

SENATE FINDS BUSH WAR CLAIMS FALSE

"Claims by... Bush and other top administration officials before the 2003 invasion of Iraq regarding Baghdad's ties to al Qaeda and its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programmes were generally not supported by the evidence that the U.S. intelligence community had at the time... The president and his advisors undertook a relentless public campaign in the aftermath of the (9/11) attacks to use the war against al Qaeda as a justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein... Representing to the American people that the two had an operational partnership and posed a single, indistinguishable threat was fundamentally misleading and led the nation to war on false premises."
--Referencing report by U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, June 5, 2008.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42680

SECRET PLAN TO KEEP IRAQ UNDER U.S. CONTROL

"Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors... (the security) deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November... US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country..."

"... The precise nature of the American demands has been kept secret until now. ... Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated.... the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq..."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-secret-plan-to-keep-iraq-under-us-control-840512.html

REASON FOR U.S. TROOP HIGH SUICIDE RATE

"... The war in Iraq is now primarily about murder. There is very little killing. The savagery and brutality of the occupation is tearing apart those who have been deployed to Iraq. As news reports have just informed us, 115 American soldiers committed suicide in 2007. This is a 13% increase in suicides over 2006. And the suicides, as they did in the Vietnam War years, will only rise as distraught veterans come home, unwrap the self-protective layers of cotton wool that keep them from feeling, and face the awful reality of what they did to innocents in Iraq... This is a profound crisis of faith. It shatters the myths, national and religious, that these young men and women were fed before they left for Iraq. In short, they uncover the lie they have been told..."

"We laud their gallant deeds and give them uniforms with colored ribbons on their chests for the acts of violence they committed or endured. They are our false repositories of glory and honor, ofpower, of self-righteousness, of patriotism and self-worship, all that we want to believe about ourselves. They are our plaster saints of war, the icons we cheer to defend us and make us and our nation great. They are the props of our civic religion, our love of power and force, our belief in our right as a chosen nation to wield this force against the weak, and rule. This is our nation's idolatry of itself. And this idolatry has corrupted religious institutions, not only here but in most nations, making it impossible for us to separate the will of God from the will of the state..."

"... the battered wrecks of men and women who return from Iraq and speak the halting words we do not want to hear... tell us war is a soulless void... (that) plunges us into perversion, trauma, and an unchecked orgy of death. And it is their testimonies that have the redemptive power to save us from ourselves. "

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174939/chris_hedges_war_and_occupation_american_style

U.S. AND IRAQ DIFFER ON OCCUPATION TREATY

"... US wants its troops to have complete freedom of movement in the country, whereas the Iraqis want it to be limited. The Americans are said to be seeking to retain the right to dominate Iraqi air space up to 29,000 feet, and to gain open access to the land, air and water of Iraq. The US wants to retain the right to arrest and detain any Iraqi whom the US believes represents a security threat. Washington desires the right to launch military operations to chase terrorists without seeking Iraqi government permission. The US wants immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts for American troops, contractors and corporations in Iraq.
The US also wants to retain the right to define terrorism against Iraq. It does not want to give any undertaking that it will defend Iraq from any outside attack unless it is convinced about the nature of that attack. Likewise it is not offering to safeguard the democratic regime in Iraq.
Iraqis for their part are demanding a recognition of Iraqi sovereignty..."
http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/us-iraq-security-talks-hit-snag-mosul.html

AUSTRALIAN P.M. ADMITS IRAQ WAR WAS WRONG

"Going to war with Iraq was wrong, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd admits... His comments came a day after Australia's 550-strong combat force began leaving its base at Tallil, 185 miles south of Baghdad..."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/2064720/Going-to-war-with-Iraq-was-wrong%2C-Australian-Prime-Minister-Kevin-Rudd-admits.html

IRAQI DEATHS FAR HIGHER THAN REPORTED

"The real number of the dead is far higher than even the highest declared in death tolls... A study by doctors from the Johns Hopkins School of Health in conjunction with Iraqi doctors from al-Mustanceriya University in Baghdad, published in the British medical journal The Lancet in October 2006, estimated the number of excess deaths as a result of the occupation at above 655,000. Just Foreign Policy, an independent organisation "dedicated to reforming U.S. foreign policy" offered an updated total of 1,213,716 at the time of this writing. On Sep. 14, 2007, Opinion Research Business (ORB), an independent polling agency located in London, produced a figure of 1,220,580 deaths as a result of the invasion... Iraqis believe that the authorities are hiding these figures."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42618

AL QAEDA DEFEATED?

"So al-Qa'ida is "almost defeated", is it? ... we've bought ourselves some time in Iraq by paying half of the insurgents to fight for us and to murder their al-Qa'ida cousins... (but) al-Qa'ida is a way of thinking, not an army. It feeds on pain and fear and cruelty – our cruelty and oppression – and as long as we continue to dominate the Muslim world with our Apache helicopters and our tanks and our Humvees and our artillery and bombs and our "friendly" dictators, so will al-Qa'ida continue... as long as we have stretched this iron curtain across the Middle East, we will be at war and al-Qa'ida will be at war with us..."
"For the kind of freedom they want – the kind of freedom that allows outfits like al-Qa'ida to flourish – is freedom from "us". And this, I fear, we do not intend to give them... al-Qa'ida is growing stronger... are they defeated in London? And Bali? And in New York and Washington?"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fisk/robert-fisk-so-alqaidas-defeated-eh-go-tell-it-to-the-marines-837843.html

"Michael Chertoff, the US secretary for homeland security... warned that al-Qaeda and associated groups were still intent on carrying out attacks on the US, Europe and elsewhere..train(ing) operatives who don't fit what perhaps the public believes is the normal profile of a terrorist..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7429699.stm

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

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

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/

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

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

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

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

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

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