HUMAN TERRAIN WORKERS FEDERALIZED

"... Since the inception of the project in 2006... interpreters, researchers and managers, deployed overseas (in Iraq and Afghanistan) as part of the Army’s social science program, the Human Terrain System... have been generously-paid contractors, serving as cultural counselors to combat units... (Now) they’re all becoming government employees... Which means that Human Terrain pay is suddenly not all that generous. One linguist, previously pulling in an annual salary $270,000, will now make about $91,000 — if that person continues his warzone work for the Human Terrain project... The dollar amount reduction is more than 60%... the switch was ostensibly triggered by the American military’s new Status of Forces Agreement with the Iraqi government. The pact, which went into effect in January, gives Baghdad officials broad new powers to control contractors on their soil (but not U.S. civil servants)..."
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/02/more-hts-mania

ARMY AND SEX DISCIPLINE IN IRAQ

"Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo... oversees forces in northern Iraq, an area that includes the cities of Kirkuk, Tikrit and Mosul.... has added pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier under his command could be court-martialed... The new policy... would apply to both female soldiers who become pregnant on the battlefield and the male soldiers who impregnate them. Civilians reporting to Cucolo also could face criminal prosecution under the new guidelines... troops also are prohibited from "sexual contact of any kind" with Iraqi nationals. And, they cannot spend the night with a member of the opposite sex, unless married or expressly permitted to do so..."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-12-18-pregnant-soldiers_N.htm?csp=usat.me

"… Since November 4th, when the policy was first put in place, four women soldiers were redeployed because they had become pregnant "in violation of Cucolo's order." The four women and two male soldiers ostensibly responsible for two of the pregnancies received letters of reprimand… One of the pregnant soldiers refused to provide the name of her partner… this policy has exposed the lack of consistent access to contraceptive supplies on many bases, and the lack of access particularly to emergency contraception.  The army does not pay for abortion services for female soldiers facing unintended pregnancies; instead soldiers must take leave to fly home and and pay out of their own funds..."
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/12/25/us-commander-iraq-rescind-policy-punishing-pregnant-soldiers

MURDOCH IN 2003 FORSAW CHEAP OIL FROM IRAQ

"Rupert Murdoch has given his full backing to war, praising George Bush... (and) said the price of oil would be one of the war's main benefits. "The greatest thing to come out of this for the world economy... would be $20 a barrel for oil. That's bigger than any tax cut in any country..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/feb/12/uk.iraqandthemedia

IRAQ AUCTIONING RIGHTS TO DEVELOP OILFIELDS

"... (an alliance of) Shell and Malaysia's state-run oil company, Petronas... won the rights to develop the giant Majnoon oilfield... which has estimated reserves of almost 13bn barrels of oil... A group of oil companies led by China's CNPC struck a deal to develop the Halfaya field... with 4.1bn (barrels)... A total of 45 firms are vying for 20-year contracts to develop the 10 fields, spanning from northern Iraq to major fields in the Basra region in the south. Among the bidders are Britain's BP, America's Exxon Mobil and state-backed companies from Asia... Iraq... sorely needs international companies' help in boosting production and revamping its dilapidated oil sector..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/11/shell-petronas-majnoon-oilfield-iraq

"... In June (Round 1), Iraq held its first oil auction, offering foreign companies the chance to increase production at already-pumping fields... The latest auction (Round) 2 was the first time foreign firms could bid on untapped fields... After at least $2 trillion spent by Washington and arguably more than a million dead Iraqis... Instead of US Big Oil getting the lion's share, strategic competitors Russia and China turned out to be big winners... The bids, supervised by the Oil Ministry... forced 44 foreign Big Oil corporations to cut to the max the fee they collect on every barrel extracted in Iraq and submit to 20-year contracts. These multinationals were not given a share in Iraqi oil production; they will be paid a $2 fee per barrel for raising output above a mutually agreed level.."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KL16Ak02.html

FT. HOOD SHOOTER BOTHERED BY WAR CRIMES

"... In the weeks before the rampage, the accused gunman, Maj. Nidal M. Hassan, an Army psychiatrist, told colleagues and Army lawyers that he wanted to report soldiers who had admitted in counseling sessions that they witnessed or committed war crimes in Iraq or Afghanistan. War crimes can include acts like torture, murder, sexual assault and cruel treatment. Though Major Hasan was discouraged from filing reports on his patients, military officials say, he would have been within his rights as an Army psychiatrist to have done so. Major Hasan’s efforts to report war crimes were first reported by ABC News..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/us/07therapists.html?_r=1&sudsredirect=true

BUSH "HELL-BENT" ON INVADING IRAQ

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

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

U.S. ASCRIBES BAATH VIOLENCE TO AL QAEDA

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

AL QAEDA IN IRAQ REGAINING STRENGTH

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

UNPRECEDENTED BIRTH DEFECTS IN FALLUJAH

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

TYCOON SAYS U.S. ENTITLED TO IRAQI OIL

"Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens told Congress on Wednesday that U.S. energy companies are "entitled" to some of Iraq's crude because of the large number of American troops that lost their lives fighting in the country and the U.S. taxpayer money spent in Iraq.

Boone, speaking to the newly formed Congressional Natural Gas Caucus, complained that the Iraqi government has awarded contracts to foreign companies, particularly Chinese firms, to develop Iraq's vast reserves while American companies have mostly been shut out.

"They're opening them (oil fields) up to other companies all over the world ... We're entitled to it," Pickens said of Iraq's oil. "Heck, we even lost 5,000 of our people, 65,000 injured and a trillion, five hundred billion dollars. We leave there with the Chinese getting the oil," Pickens said..."

http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINN2149238420091021

TROOPS TAKING SALSA AND YOGA CLASSES IN IRAQ

"As the economy sputters along, trying in vein to shake off the worst recession in history and America taxpayers are forking out $12 billion dollars a month to keep 117,000 combat troops stationed in Iraq, it comes as a disturbing surprise to learn many of the troops spend their time in Iraq taking salsa dancing, yoga and martial-arts classes... there appears to be no security justification for keeping 117,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq at least another year."
http://open.salon.com/blog/christopher_di_spirito/2009/10/21/us_troops_in_iraq_bored_taking_salsa_and_yoga_classes

"... many of the 117,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq say they now have more idle time... in places such as this large military base in southern Iraq... (there are) book clubs, karaoke nights, sports and distance-learning university programs..."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-10-20-idle-troops-iraq_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

30,000 SINGLE MOTHERS DEPLOYED

"More than 30,000 single mothers have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army, the most heavily deployed branch of the military, gives women just four months to stay stateside with their newborns before deploying to the war zone, leaving them little time to bond with or nurse their infants. The divorce rate for female soldiers is nearly triple that of the men who wear the same uniform..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-glantz/report-30000-single-mothe_b_322185.html

IRAQ STANDS WITH IRAN AGAINST U.S. SANCTIONS

"Iraq's president said new sanctions against Iran won't work and warned Saturday that Iraq will never allow Israel or any other country to use its airspace to carry out an attack against Iranian nuclear facilities... President Jalal Talabani (said) "I think the Iranian leadership explained that the bomb is against Islam because it's killing innocent people," he said. "So they said openly that they are not for having the bomb but only the use of technology."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090926/ap_on_re_us/us_us_iraq_2

CONSERVATIVE GEORGE WILL: GET OUT OF IRAQ

"... If, in spite of contrary evidence, the U.S. surge permanently dampened sectarian violence, all U.S. forces can come home sooner than the end of 2011. If, however, the surge did not so succeed, U.S. forces must come home sooner."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/03/AR2009090301866_pf.html

"Will's main arguments are:
1. The past 6 1/2 years in Iraq has produced 4,327 American dead and 31,483 wounded
2. The US military is exhausted and needs a break
3. Afghanistan is spiralling down
4. It is a poor use of US troops to deploy them for a) nation-building or b) baby-sitting and correcting other peoples' politicians
5. The Iraqi government is an ingrate and makes no secret of its belief that it does not need US troops
6. It may be true that Iran will inherit Iraq as a client if the US leaves, but this outcome is unavoidable and cannot be forestalled by a longer US stay
7. An extension of the US presence in Iraq will not succeed in ensuring Iraqi democracy, which is fragile and may not survive regardless of what the US does
8. A longer US stay cannot prevent Iraq from falling back into civil war
9. Either the surge succeeded or it did not. If it did, then Iraq is secure and the US isn't needed. If it did not, then no further surge is likely to, either."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/09/great-withdrawer-george-will-repudiates.html

DIFFICULT LOGISTICS OF WITHDRAWAL

"... the biggest logistical challenge since the Vietnam War... how to transfer out... mountains of equipment along with 143,000 troops and a similar number of civilians, amid the continuing threat of roadside bombs, ambushes, and suicide attacks from insurgents and terrorists... A recent internal Army report laid out the sheer enormity of the task: 31 million items must be moved, including 100,000 pieces of "rolling stock,'' 120,000 containers, 34,000 tons of ammunition, and 618 aircraft. The job will require an estimated 240,000 truckloads, which translates to 8,000 convoys. Much of that material will contribute to 119 shiploads. Nearly 300,000 American personnel, military and civilian, will withdraw, and 350 bases large and small across the country will be shuttered or handed over to Iraqi forces... (a) major task will be to keep track of everything in transit - a notorious failure after the 1991 Persian Gulf War when the Pentagon had thousands of containers sitting in Kuwait but had no idea what was in them."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/28-6

DECLINE OF IRAQ AGRICULTURE

"Once world's bread basket, Iraq now a farming basket case... the twin disasters of war and sanctions... have transformed the country from one of the world's premier sources of aromatic rice and nearly 500 kinds of dates 30 years ago into a net importer of food..."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/72051.html

AS WE PULL BACK FROM IRAQ

"... As we pull back... more than six years after the US invasion, Iraq is shattered. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are dead -- far more, incidentally, than even the largest estimates of the number of Iraqis who died during 35 years of Saddam Hussein's rule -- its social fabric is utterly destroyed, its economy is in ruins, and its dominant political faction is in hock to neighboring Iran.... Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki... is taking on the trappings of a dictator... and has close ties to Iran..."
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447282/little_to_celebrate_in_iraq

OIL COMPANIES STILL TRYING TO GET PSA PRODUCTION SHARING AGREEMENTS

"... major companies - including Exxon, Shell, BP and Total - will gather at Iraq's oil ministry in Baghdad for a two-day meeting to take part in the first bidding round for oil service contracts. However, what the oil companies will be entitled to if they secure a contract has become one of the most controversial elements of the bidding process.

The companies want a long-term share of the oil they produce under a Production Sharing Agreement, which allows them to book reserves in advance and tell the market exactly how much oil they expect to produce.

This is exactly the type of contract that Iraqis in the oil industry are opposed to. They argue oil companies should be awarded Technical Service Agreements, meaning they will be paid solely to develop Iraq's oil fields..."

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/06/20096288505111580.html

IRAQ TO ANNOUNCE OIL CONTRACTS
Based on fees for service, not production sharing agreements (PSA)

"Iraq will at the end of June announce which major foreign oil companies have been awarded new contracts to work in the country... The deals will be service agreements in which successful bidders are paid a fee by Baghdad and not production sharing contracts where profits are shared... The decision by Baghdad to award only service contracts to foreign companies differs from the country's autonomous Kurdish region, where numerous profit-sharing deals have been struck...."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090607/bs_afp/iraqoilcompanies

ABU GHRAIB RAPE PHOTOS ALLEGED, DENIED

"... A Defense Department official who has seen the unreleased images... said there are about 2,000 images related to detainee abuse, none of which are from Abu Ghraib, and the images do not include depictions of sexual abuse. The official said the government does not have secret images of rape buried in its files..."
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/02/suppressed_photos/?source=newsletter

"Photographs of alleged prisoner abuse which Barack Obama is attempting to censor include images of apparent rape and sexual abuse... At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee. Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube... Detail of the content emerged from Major General Antonio Taguba, the former army officer who conducted an inquiry into the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.... Maj Gen Taguba, who retired in January 2007, said he supported the President’s decision, adding: “These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency..."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5395830/Abu-Ghraib-abuse-photos-show-rape.html