US Bases in Iraq: Part I: Baghdad
| by Sarah Meyer Index Research |  Email this |
Some of this article partially updated 06/06/2008..
The deliberate obfuscation of permanent bases in Iraq by the US and UK governments illustrates the myth of "freedom of information." Many of the US bases in Iraq already have, or are now building, facilities which will keep the US government – if not the Iraqi people – happy for the foreseeable future.
US Bases in Iraq will be a researched study of the possible ‘permanent’ bases1 which have been mentioned in various articles over the last three years. All bases had/have US names, as if they were next door to Walmart in Washington, D.C. - crass insensitivity to the rest of the world’s right to existence.
Part I contains research of the US bases in and around Baghdad Airport.
1. Baghdad International Airport Complex: (Camp Sather, Camp Dublin, Camp Stryker, Camp Griffin, Log Base Seitz, Camp Thunder, Camp Cropper, Camp Nama
2. The Palace Complex: Camp Victory, Camp Slayer, Abu Ghraib Palace Complex, Camp Cobra
3. Camp Victory, FOB Justice
4. The Green Zone
5. UPDATES ;
5.1 The War on Terror;
5.2 About Iraqis;
5.3 Oil;
5.4 Contracts;
5.5 Contractors;
5.6 Trooops in Iraq (Please see US Troops)
5.7 Bases: Green Zone, Muthana;
5.8 The War Drags On (& Wolfovitz snags);
5.9 Media and More Videos;
5.10 Prisons: Camp Cropper, Abu Ghraib, Camp Nama;
5.11 Human Rights;
5.12 Some Deaths (Saddam, Matty Hull, Others); Future Deaths: DU
THE BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT COMPLEX
“Baghdad International Airport (formerly Saddam International Airport) has been refurbished and repaired as part of a $17.5 million contract from USAID to SkyLink to rebuild Iraqi airports in Baghdad, Basr and Mosul.” A new Burger King caters for American troops at the airport.
The airport has two runways. The airport terminal and ONE runway have now been handed over to the Iraqi government. The second runway is still controlled by the US for its military traffic. In 10.04, Parsons received a contract for the construction of “buildings near Baghdad airport.”2 Custer Battles was recently found to be liable for fraud concerning a $16m contract for securing Baghdad airport.
“Route Irish”, which connects Baghdad airport to central Baghdad, is considered “one of the most dangerous roads in the world.” The Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, was wounded here in 2005, whilst her security guard, Calipari, was murdered. Their case remains unresolved.
In November ’05, a video appeared on the web showing Iraqi civilian cars 'allegedly' being shot at by Aegis Defence Services members … a practice known previously by the Pentagon, it is reported. AEGIS,3 run by CEO Tim Spicer, is a “British firm responsible for a $293 million U.S. Army security contract in Iraq.” Also in November, this firm was named as ‘Small Consultancy Firm of the Year’ for its ‘Operation Matrix.’ Aegis has been under contract to the US Department of Defense since June 2004. The Aegis 2006 Terrorism and Geopolitical Instability Report costs £4,800 plus VAT, should you wish a copy.
Iraq’s Interior Minister, Bayan Jabr Solagh, said, in a report dated 12.04.06, that death squads responsible for sectarian killings in Iraq are not linked to the government but to private security forces.
Bodies of Armed Men, backed with extensive reference material, is a very interesting essay on the various security firms working in Iraq.4 Read here.
+
Around Baghdad airport, there are several US camps which will presumably be dismantled and incorporated into Camp Victory and Camp Liberty. These small camps are: Camp Sather, Camp Dublin, Camp Slayer, Camp Stryker, Camp Victory and Logistics Base Seitz. There are also two known detention facilities: Camp Nana (now said to be closed) and Camp Cropper.
Camp Sather, photo David Warner
Camp Sather
Master Sgt. Gerald Johnson, an Air Expeditionary Group fire chief said, “As long as there are aircraft and the people to keep them flying, we will be here."
13005 airmen lived / worked at this dusty ‘temporary’ base at the West side of Baghdad International Airport in 2003. The Air Force's air-conditioned tent camp lies within 300 yards of an extremely active flightline. It is inside a larger Army-controlled area. There are trained dogs here, as well as a movie theatre, washers and driers, popcorn machines, air conditioned SUVs, a broadband satellite internet service and a chapel. There is also (2004) an operating theatre in conjunction with the 447th Expeditionary Medical Squadron. Doctors sleep in flak jackets. There is a smaller EMEDS unit designed “to travel with the attacking front … Its entire operating room packs up into one pallet and five backpacks, to be carried by a five-member surgical team … The (30 member) unit’s roster included nurses and flight surgeons, an emergency room physician and specialists including a clinical psychologist, orthopedist and anesthetist… The group was responsible for the medical care of the almost 2,000 Air Force personnel based at the camp.”
According to a newly arrived soldier, Camp Sather and Camp Victory are "hardly more than a stone's throw apart, but because of a lake and road conditions, it takes about 20 minutes to get from one to the other." Service men based at Camp Sather are not allowed to leave the airport for Baghdad, or anywhere else.
“Members of the SWAT team from Karbala pull suspected “terrorists” from a commercial bus during a training exercise Monday at Camp Dublin, near the Baghdad International Airport.”
Camp Dublin
Parsons was contracted in 11/04 for the construction of training facilities and for the procurement and construction of a shooting house and staging buildings; and in 12/04 for “site preparation, road and groundwork,” as well as for a water supply system and the procurement and installation of an electrical system.
In 2004, “the U.S. military’s Civilian Police Assistance Training Team began rigorous training programs to establish specialized police teams in three areas: Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), emergency response, and dignitary protection, similar to functions carried out by the U.S. Secret service. The training team also is responsible for organizing, training, equipping and mentoring the entire Iraqi police force.” Black masks are ‘de rigour.’ Iraqi drop out rate is high.
The suicide of U.S. Army Col. Ted Westhusing was reported at Camp Dublin.
Camp Stryker, FOB Morgan is 10 miles from central Baghdad, and is a base for paratroopers. Reporter Paul McCleary wrote that it “is a place where travel plans go to die … (and said that) Fox News is the only thing carried on military televisions here.” Lindsey Hilsum of Channel 4 News said, “I feel that I have lived in limbo forever.”
“The 48th Brigade Combat Team’s headquarters here is considered the low-rent district,” wrote David Herschman. With a lighter note than the above reporters, he wrote: “There’s food provided by KBR — not Army cooks — and it’s excellent ... The tents have full-time electricity and wood-framed doors that cut down on dust and allow soldiers to walk in and out without crouching. There’s Internet access around the clock and AT&T phone service. Indian barbers charge $3 for a haircut, and that includes a neck-snapping chiropractic adjustment.”
The US frown on hiring Iraqis. “Teams of Asian men, mostly hired by Kellogg, Root and Brown, clean the latrines and showers, fix electrical problems, cook the food in the chow hall and run the laundry, recreation facility and the local PX.” For this, one day a month holiday, without pay, is allowed.
Camp Griffin, photo by “Sir Duck”
Camp Griffin is responsible for radar in the northern 2/3rds of Iraq. (UK responsible for 1/3rd S. Iraq). There is much more information on Camp Griffin in the US civil war than there is on this camp in Iraq.
Log Base Seitz, photo Z. PollonThe helicopter is hovering over Abu Ghraib prison
Log Base Seitz
N. side of BI Airport. "The Pacesetters and their subordinate units provide supplies, maintenance, fuel, water, showers, laundry, and transportation support to the thousands of soldiers in and around Baghdad, Iraq."
A woman journalist, Zellie Pollen, blogged about her experiences at Log Base Seitz. “Log Base Seitz was established when relations between Americans and Iraqis were still good enough that soldiers wandered into the town of Abu Ghraib for supplies, they ate in Iraqi restaurants and talked to Iraqis on the streets. Those days are long gone. Now the logistical base is considered by some disgruntled soldiers as a mortar magnet and a buffer zone for the much larger Camp Victory right next door … The worst times are when I stand and listen, over the generators, trucks and soldier noise, to the call to prayer outside the base walls. I can’t reach that Iraq right now, and I know that no one inside could even understand why I would want to ... They have no understanding of Iraqis or Iraqi culture outside of framing them as killers and “heathens.” And why would they?” It is a good blog, written with much integrity. Read it.
Camp Thunder, photo A/4101AvnCamp Thunder
W. Baghdad, a short distance from Abu Ghraib. No info except
- two released Abu Ghraib prisoners spoke from here, and
- Chinook and Black Hawks were fired upon at the Camp Thunder assembly area during ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ (sic).
This ‘High Value Detention (HVD) Site’ is a “holding compound surrounded by razor wire. 5 detainees were wounded here following a riot. In August 2005, a new compound was being built. “It will consist of four pads, each approximately 400 by 400 feet and will increase detainee capacity from 163 to 2,000.”
According to Robert Fisk, Amnesty International was refused permission to visit Camp Cropper, where Qais al-Salman was taken to a canvas room with up to 130 prisoners. He was beaten.
A Human Rights First October ’05 Report, 27 Detainee Homicides in US Custody, includes the death of a Camp Cropper detainee, Mohammad Munim al-Izmerly, a 65-year-old chemical scientist. The autopsy found that Izmerly died from a “sudden hit to the back of his head.” It was discovered, according to the BRussels Tribunal list of killed Iraqi academics, that US doctors had made a 20cm incision in his skull. The US Army dismissed a wrongful death claim, saying “the family had presented no evidence of wrongdoing by the US.”
Human Rights First also details the death of Dilar Dababa, an approximately 45-year-old Iraqi civilian detainee, (who) died on June 13, 2003 at Camp Cropper, after being subjected to what press accounts of unreleased Army investigation records describe as “physical and psychological stress” and restraint in a chair during interrogation. Military investigation documents cite an autopsy finding that Dababa died from a “hard, fast blow to the head.”
"The torture inside this camp leads you sometimes to wish you were dead," said an exiled ex-detainee who was fearful of speaking lest his family in Iraq were harmed.
For Saddam's execution, see Camp Justice, also in 'Updates.'
(See Barton, under Camp Slayer, below)
“Task Force 134 hopes to have some 3,600 Iraqi staff for its three jails trained and ready by the end of this year,” Maj. General Jack Gardner said. "By then Baghdad's Abu Ghraib should have closed and most of its 4,300 inmates moved to a site nearby at the high-security Camp Cropper.”
Camp Nama
The ‘Black Room’ was revealed, and reported to higher authorities as early as 08.03, as a centre for abuse. The New York Times uncovered the grim details on 20.03.06. CentCom has refused to release Brigadier Gen. Formica’s military inquiry into prisoner abuse. Camp Nama was closed in summer 2004, and Task Force 6-26, renamed, was moved to Balad.6 There are more torture rooms yet to be revealed. “Defense Department personnel briefed on the unit's operations said the harsh treatment extended beyond Camp Nama to small field outposts in Baghdad, Falluja, Balad, Ramadi and Kirkuk.”
Report of torture at Baghdad Airport detention centre.
8.4.04. Yahoo. Iraqi prisoners vanishing in 'black hole': Blair envoy
06.06. Human Rights Watch. Task Force 20/121/6-26/145 Camp Nama, Baghdad."No Blood, No Foul:" Soldiers' Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq.
The Palace Complex (airport in white, top centre)Global Security writes: “There is some considerable confusion on the part of Western intelligence concerning the most appropriate nomenclature for the palace complex that envelopes the airport to the South, East and North. In the DoD Briefing on Iraqi Denial and Deception of Oct. 8, 2002 the Radwaniyah presidential palace was said to be the extensive complex to the East and North of the Airport. Subsequently, the NIMA map of Baghdad assigns this nomenclature to the much smaller palace complex to the South of the Airport. This map assigns the name Abu Ghurayb to the palace to the East of the Airport, while the palace to the North of the Airport is termed "Presidential Palace North" -- otherwise known as the Qasr Al-Faw Palace. “
Al Faw PalaceAl - Faw Palace, with lake - once privately owned by Saddam Hussein and now privately occupied by the US - is on the grounds of the Palace Complex. It has a conference centre, pool and 62 rooms - soldiers’ socks can be seen drying in the windows. Very Important People come here and talk about “good news.”
US Camp Victory – al-Nasr, Baghdad has been named as one of the possible future permanent bases in Iraq. It is around 5km from Baghdad International Airport, and 15 minutes from central Baghdad.
Kellogg Root and Brown7 (KRB – a subsidiary of Halliburton) were contracted to supply modular buildings to house dining, living and administrative rooms and install electricity and plumbing. The Pegasus Dining Facility also has “a short-order grill, salad, pizza, sandwich and ice cream bars; … a Burger King stand, and a PX (04.04) which offers … televisions, gas grills, A/C units, microwave ovens, women's thong underwear and condoms. “ There are also “internet cafes, weight rooms and basketball courts.”
Camp Slayer
“A former Iraqi government palace and amusement complex near the Baghdad airport, featuring man-made lakes filled with carp, was transformed into a logistics and operations base for US intelligence and weapons-hunting teams. The camp has also hosted US eavesdropping and other classified operations. Most of the 1,200 or so troops that have been based here, plus CIA and FBI officials, covert Special Forces teams, civilian experts and others, camp in two dozen or so garish guest houses that line three artificial lakes … As of mid-2004, troops stationed at Camp Slayer had access to running water, functional toilets and showers … and … had access to the internet.”
Rod Barton was sent to Iraq. “At the almost daily briefings at Camp Slayer, the photographs of newly inducted Cropper inmates were regularly displayed.” Details here.
For 52 photographs, see here.
Abu Ghraib (Ghurayb) Palace Complex
Camp Cobra
East of the airport, it “is a chief meeting ground for military and civilian officials and dignitaries.” Self-sufficient medical aid station, satellite internet.
Camp Liberty – al Tahreer is another camp mentioned as a US “permanent” base.
Camp al Tahreer dining facilityThis camp was once Saddam Hussein’s hunting grounds. The wetlands, presumably home to wildlife, are now gravel. KGB was ‘awarded’ the contract here, too. The Camp is VERY large and divided into three 'cells': Camp Blackjack, West Life Support Area (LSA), and Division LSA. Each has a “new chapel, Moral Recreation and Welfare building, PX shoppette, barber shop, internet café, gym, basketball courts and volleyball arenas,” etc. The Camp can be occupied by around 14,000 troops living in an enormous Trailer Park. The largest PX (opened ’04) in Iraq is here. “As of June 2004, Gulf Catering Co. was reported to be the contractor in charge of catering the thrice-daily meals to soldiers stationed at Camp Victory North, inside a massive air-conditioned and new dining facility equipped with two wide-screen televisions.”
In 06.04, Camp Victory North Legal Services Center and Courthouse opened. It houses “a courtroom and enough office space for the Military Justice, Administration, Legal Assistance, and Claims sections.”
The Mother Jones report by Joshua Hammer in 2005 said this base was the size of a “small American city.”
FOB Justice
This is in the center of Kadhimiya, Baghdad. This 01.05 article said that about 2000 Iraqis worked here. They served food, interpreted, ran internet cafes, and did maintenance work. In 03.05, Global Security gave more detailed information. FOB Justice was “the headquarters of the Public Order Forces (POF), and held about 250 prisoners. …The POF has a history of torture and abuse and conditions for prisoners (who had no recourse to legal appeal) were said to be poor." In 05.05, “the administrative duties were transferred to Iraqi forces." As of 09.05, there were “4,000 Iraqi members and 250 U.S. advisors … There have been problems in electrical wiring, ammunition supplies mortar damage repair, sewage system difficulties and poor quality sleeping quarters.”
See 'Appendix" below. See also 'Camp Cropper' (above; in 'updates') where S. Hussein was kept until execution at Camp 'Justice."
The Green Zone
Parsons was contracted to build “T Walls” in 11.04. In the summer of 2005, a Kuwaiti firm was ‘awarded’ the $592m contract for the new US embassy in Baghdad, to be completed by 2007. Built to withstand attack, this Ozymandius on the Tigris, composed of a cluster of 21 buildings, will have “a gym, swimming pool, barber and beauty shops, a food court and a commissary. In addition to the main embassy buildings, there will be a large-scale US Marine barracks, a school, locker rooms, a warehouse, a vehicle maintenance garage, and six apartment buildings with a total of 619 one-bedroom units. Water, electricity and sewage treatment plants will all be independent from Baghdad's city utilities. The total site will be two-thirds the area of the National Mall in Washington, DC.” It will be the largest US embassy in the world. For that reason, I have included this US Embassy in Baghdad amongst US Bases in Iraq.
For an honest view of the Green Zone and military facilities around Baghdad airport, read the Daily Iraqi Cheese Grader
It is possible that the US might give up some of the smaller tented Forward Operating Bases surrounding the Baghdad International Airport. It seems highly probable that they will keep their grasp on the imperial palaces and expanding US bases within this area for the foreseeable future. These bases could thus be seen as “permanent.”
Baghdad Airport Signal+
Camp Falcon-al-Sarqare discussed fully in http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2006/06/usuk-bases-in-iraq-part-ii-south.html">US Bases in Iraq, II.
Source Material:
Of paramount importance in the research of US Bases in Iraq is John Pike's website, www.globalsecurity.org, which forms the bedrock of this research. Within this site, there is a treasure trove, from which one can search for further information: Military Facilities. Permission by John Pike was given for the use of his excellent site.
Other information comes from various websites by ‘embeds’ and bloggers. Bloggers tend to give a more personal approach to the US bases in Iraq.
Footnotes
[1] al-Asad; al Qayyara; al-Taji; Balad Air Base (Camp Anaconda); Bashur; Camp Falcon-Al-Sarq (Baghdad); Camp Fallujuh; Camp Marez; Mosul Airfield; Camp Renegade (Kirkuk); Camp Speicher; Camp Victory/al-Nasr & Camp Liberty / al-Tahreer (Baghdad); (Tikrit); H1, H2, H3; Post Freedom (Mosul); Tallil; Salmon North (Nasiriyah); 3 unknown, one between Irbil & Kirkuk; Al Sahra.
[2] Of interest: cost accounting standards and “foreign Proposal Insurance Questionaire” by AIG Worldsource at this url.
[3] Aegis has acquired Rubicon Int. services and will now also have offices in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and the USA. The company expects continued growth in revenues.
[4] US outsourcing Special Operations in Iran and Somalia
[5] 750 in Autumn ’05, according to Global Security.
[6] See Torture and Task Force 121
[7] KRB contract value: $4.5 billion for US base construction and maintenance.
APPENDIX TO IRAQ BASES
1. The War on Terror
See: Totalitarianism and Obedience, Index Research (13.02.07) by Sarah Meyer. Extended with articles about totalitarianism in both US and UK
Secret report: Terror threat worst since 9/11
25.02.07. S. Rayment, Sunday Telegraph.
Seven Countries In Five Years, Audio and transcript
An interview with General Wesley Clark. “This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.” I said, “Is it classified?” He said, “Yes, sir.
Bush War on Terror Draws Fire as Misguided Venture
29.03.07. D. Morgan, Reuters / Truthout. Five-and-a-half years after the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush's war on terrorism has emerged as a wasteful, misguided exercise that poses its own threat to U.S. national security, experts say. . A growing number of analysts and former U.S. officials say the global war on terrorism has undermined U.S. influence abroad, forced onerous costs in American lives and money in Iraq, and unleashed a huge government spending spree that has often funded projects unrelated to national security. . It has also produced a climate of fear in the United States that helped justify the war in Iraq and the curtailment of civil liberties at home, they said.
The War of (sic) Terror is, in itself, an obscenity. It has its own PATHETIC DEPARTMENT. Following are some Banality Bisquits
Security Chic: the anti-terror handbag
MI5 trains supermarket checkout staff.
04.03.07. Independent. Supermarket checkout staff are being trained by the security services in how to detect potential terrorists. MI5 has been secretly advising food retailers, including Asda and Tesco, on how to identify extremist shoppers. Measures include increasing CCTV in underground carparks to prevent bomb attacks and being alert to mass purchases of mobile phones, which can be used as bomb detonators. The awareness training for staff also covers bulk sales of toiletries which could be used as the basic ingredient in explosives. (Right. Time for mass buying of toiletries by the public!)
Senators Squabble Over TSA Provision.
03.03.07. L. Kellman, AP / Truthout. Senators left town Friday with little to show for a week of debate on a massive anti-terrorism bill and squabbling over whether to let federal airport screeners join unions and risk a veto of a Homeland Security bill by President Bush.
The benefits of U.S.-style democracy.
06.03.07. Imad Allo, Azzaman / uruknet. The achievements of U.S.-style democracy which the current U.S. administration has tried to apply in Iraq are numerous. The benefits Iraqis have gained from these achievements have prompted the administration to try and spread them throughout the Middle East, taking Iraq as a small experiment. And here are a few examples of these achievements and their advantages in case you have not yet heard of them or have not experienced them for the bad luck of not bein! g able to live in Iraq. The U.S. democracy has interrupted power supplies and caused chronic fuel shortages. Iraqis have given up even dreaming of going on a picnic to their once beautiful tourist spots like the Habaniya Lake or the ancient Akarkouf. Iraqis now dread to go to the cinema - if there any cinemas left in the country. Eating out is a dream of the past and taking the children for an outing is unthinkable. Under the U.S. democracy in Iraq you must be a prisoner of your own house or you risk being killed, injured or kidnapped. Even staying home is no longer safe. It is very likely for unidentified gunmen to storm your house in the middle of the night or in broad day light. Millions of Iraqis are now on holiday in Syria or Jordan, spending the extra foreign cash they have been earning due to massive U.S. reconstruction works..
Anti-War Group Banned From Parade
VIDEO.. May 07, koin.com. A group of anti-war veterans were told they cannot participate in a parade along the Oregon Coast.
Video.. Just in the Name of Democracy. 2 min.
Video.
Can you spell Impeachment?
2. About Iraqis
Please see INDEX ON IRAQ: A JOURNEY IN HELL
17.04.07. Sarah Meyer, Index Research. Reports and articles on: 1. General; 2. Children of Iraq; 3. Cities in Iraq; 4. Health in Iraq; 5. Refugees in Iraq; 6. Human Rights in Iraq; 7. Death in Iraq 8. Resistance in Iraq; 9. Videos
US officials guilty of “sociocide” in Iraq must be held accountable.
24.05.07. World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board/uruknet. T his week the World Socialist Web Site ran a three-part article, "The US war and occupation of Iraq—the murder of a society," by Bill Van Auken. The series, bringing together facts and statistics drawn from the international media and a variety of studies and surveys, painted a horrifying picture of Iraqi society after more than four years of US-led war and occupation, preceded by more than a decade of le! thal sanctions. "Taken together," the article argued, "US operations in Iraq have amounted to sociocide—the deliberate and systematic murder of an entire society."...
ACADEMICS (cont)
Iraqi Refugees Head to EU.
19.04.07. AP / Guardian. ' Professor Nazar al Kaddouri had lost his brother - beheaded with a rotary saw - and a nephew had been assassinated. So when he began receiving death threats, Kaddouri knew it was time to leave Iraq. Academics at Baghdad University were being targeted, and dozens of professors and students had already been killed. ``So I fled, I took the road of exile,'' he said. ``Iraq, as everybody knows, has become unlivable.''
Another wave of assassinations of Academics.
02.05.07. Jalili, Al Mosul.
Militias continue targeting Iraqi universities
14.05.07. HAQ agency/uruknet.
BRussels Tribunal: A - List of 315 killed, threatened or kidnapped Iraqi academics.
(updated 14 May 2007)
POLICE / SECURITY
Iraqi prime minister orders the arrest of an Iraqi army colonel.
(18?).04.07. AP, Tampa Bays.comIraq's prime minister has ordered the arrest of the Iraqi army colonel in charge of security in the area around a Baghdad market that was hard-hit today by a deadly car bombing.
Iraq PM plans for security control by end-2007.
18.04.07. Reuters / Focus Fen / ICH. Iraq plans to take security control of the whole country from foreign forces by the year end, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday, after growing pressure to say when U.S. troops would leave.
HEALTH
State Department Cuts WiRED Iraq Medical Program.
19.04.07. Truthout Report. The US State Department has so far failed to respond to requests to reawaken a highly praised medical program aimed at saving military and civilian lives in war-torn Iraq. The program used voluntary US doctors and other personnel to provide computer technology and training to medical students in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.
IRAQ: Doctors warn of summer dehydration among children and the elderly.
19.04.07. Alertnet. "The sewage and electrical systems in Iraq have completely deteriorated, worsening the situation, especially for children, as summer begins," said Dr Ibraheem Kaduri, a paediatrician at the Children Teaching Hospital in the capital, Baghdad. Iraqis get less than eight hours of electricity a day and during summer, some cities or districts of the capital get less than six hours. Kaduri said that many people, especially those in displacement camps, have no access to drinking water. Children are forced to drink less water and as the weather gets hotter, they become dehydrated."
What happened at Naaman Hospital yesterday ? .
01.05.07. Arablinks.blogspot.com.uruk. Dr Mahmoud said Iraqi troops, supported by American troops, stormed into the hospital and said there was an order from the Health Ministry to close the hospital, following which they arrested or expelled all patients in the hospital except for three who were in intensive care, and posted snipers on the roof of the hospital and on the roofs of neighboring buildings. The basrah.net writer notes that the Health Ministry has long been in the bailiwick of the Sadrists. And there were hearsay reports that many of those expelled or arrested had been executed.
43% of Iraqis live in absolute poverty – government report.
02.05.07. Kamal al-Basri, Azzaman.
Urgent: American forces occupied Al-Numaan hospital.
28.04.07. ROADS TO IRAQ/uruknet. Urgent news reported few minutes ago by iraqirabita and asking your solidarity to expose the American criminal actions against civilians. After an American convoy attacked in Ahdahmiya, occupation forces assisted by puppet Iraqi army, occupied the only functional hospital in AL-Ahdamiya neighborhood arresting every person coming to the hospital for a treatment. Indiscriminately, they arrested 20 young men from the area telling the residents that they will be soon executed in Maghrib-street...
Infant Mortality in Iraq Soars as Young Pay the Price for War.
08.05.07. A.. Buncombe, Independent Truthout. Two wars and a decade of sanctions have led to a huge rise in the mortality rate among young children in Iraq, making statistics that were once the envy of the Arab world now comparable with those of sub-Saharan Africa. A new report shows that in the years since 1990, Iraq has seen its child mortality rate soar by 125 percent, the highest increase of any country in the world.
Graveyard River.
08.05.07. Reuters/legitgov. The River Tigris has long been a symbol of prosperity in Iraq but since the US-led invasion in 2003, this amazing watercourse has turned into a graveyard of bodies. In addition, the water level is decreasing as pollution increases, say environmentalists. Pollution in the river is caused by oil derivatives and industrial waste as well as Iraqi and US military waste, they say. The river was one of the main sources of water, food, transport and recreation for the local population but after four years of war and pollution, it has been transformed into a stagnant sewer, according to environmentalists.
Save Iraq's Children : Newspaper Initiates Urgent Appeal.
15.05.07. uruknet. The Editors of Switzerland's Zeit-Fragen newspaper have initiated an imaginative humanitarian appeal for Iraq. Citing the 'disasterous situation' and 'humanitarian catastrophe' they are proposing to all Swiss hospitals and hospitals in other European countries not alone to provide medical relief, but immediately make room to treat at least one child, with additional accommodation for a close relative, ideally the mother. . They are also appealing to Swiss and European schools and the school community to host Iraq children, enabling them to continue their studies until the country returns to some sort of relative normali
Iraqi Women the Worse for War.
18.05.07. Truthdig. Remember those photos of Iraqi women triumphantly raising freshly inked fingers for Western cameras after voting in their new “democracy”? They were presented to the world by the U.S. government as an indication of a policy that would liberate Iraqi women and men. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way.
Health crisis acute in Iraqi province.
24.05.07. LA Times.
Traumatised Iraqi children lack needed care - U.N..
23.05.07. Laura MacInnis, Reuters; uruknet. Most Iraqi children have suffered trauma in the four years since U.S.-led forces invaded their country, and few are getting the help they need to cope, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
REFUGEES
Refugees Bring In Some Brittle Strength.
17.04.07. Dahr Jamail, inter press service / uruknet. 'Syria's decision to accept Iraqi refugees streaming into the country has brought the government of President Bashar Assad more power within Syria and the region, but at significant cost.' See also A Lot of Uninvited Guests (18.04.07).
EU struggling to deal with Iraq refugee problem.
19.04.07. euobserver. 'Sweden's reception facilities have been under pressure, as the Scandinavian country is the only one within the 27-nation bloc granting refugee status or other protection to almost all Iraqi asylum seekers. A total of 9,065 Iraqis applied for refugee status there in 2006, compared to 2,330 the previous year.'
The Flight From Iraq.
13.05.07. Nir Rosen, NY Times ‘ Truth out. the numbers presented confirmed what had long been suspected: the collapse of Iraq had created a refugee crisis, and that crisis was threatening to precipitate the collapse of the region. The numbers dwarfed anything that the Middle East had seen since the dislocations brought on by the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Video
Unspeakable Grief and Horror.
Thewe. Photos and stories. must read
CITIES
The Second Fall of Babylon.
18.04.07. Felicity Arbuthnot, uruknet. 'It must have been an article I wrote recently, "Erasing History" about Iraq's splendours: I dreamt I was in Babylon again, now destroyed by the Polish and US troops. In my dream, I stood amongst the carnage, with only memories of how it was. I awoke with my head on a tear soaked pillow. Another unique wickedness wrought in the name of two professed, profoundly "Christian" leaders, the "we pray together" Bush and Blair, by degenerate "Christian soldiers", US and Polish.'
Insecurity and lack of funds prevent cleansing of polluted sites.
20.04.07. Electronic Iraq. There are up to 400 polluted sites in Iraq that are serious health hazards to the population and urgently need to be cleaned, according to a specialist in the Iraqi government. But ongoing violence, particularly the targeting of municipal workers, and a lack of funds is hampering clean-up efforts. "The situation is very serious....
IRAQ: Decline in municipal services boosts violence and disease.
26.04.07. Irin news.
HUMAN RIGHTS
APS - The Assault on a Pregnant Woman.
18.04.07. AMSI, uruknet. AMSI issued a press release condemning the terrorist crime committed by the joint forces of the American occupation and the government at dawn today, Sunday, the attack on Ms. (Wadad Khames Wuhaib), and her son, five years old, beating and lynching her although she was pregnant, which led to the abortion of fetuses at her home in the Amiriyah district of Baghdad.
BRussels Tribunal: List of 241 Iraqi and 24 non-Iraqi media professionals killed under US occupation.
(updated 09 May 2007)
Women in Prison.
29.05.07. iraqirabita (Iraqi League)/uruknet. During the past four years more than 10.000 Iraqi women were imprisoned. Most of them have undergone rape, be it by the local police forces, or by the occupying forces.
MEANWHILE
US aims to attract business to Iraq.
04.03.07. jazeera. 45 business people touring Iraq with Pentagon under secretary ‘looking at ways to restart businesses ctippled by the US-led invasion of 2003.
3. Oil.
See: AC: Rebuilding America's Defenses - A Biopsy on Imperialism; Part II: "Special Interests" - The Persian Gulf
The Iraq Oil Crunch: Index Timeline
09.02.07. Sarah Meyer, Index Research. The US government has relentlessly followed its oil plan in Iraq. Following is an index of articles for those interested in the historical ‘progress’ of American imperialism in Iraq.
4. Contracts
Raytheon Gets $300 Million Army Contract.
22.02.07. Chron.com
Congressional auditing office recommends that military helicopter contract bids be reopened
26.02.07. AP/ IHT. Boeing was awarded a $15billion contract to build military contracts, but this shut out two other companies (Lockheed and Sikorsky).
Controversial group wins public relations contract in Iraq
26.09.06. Cnews. “Washington-based Lincoln Group won a two-year contract to monitor a number of English and Arabic media outlets and produce public relations-type products such as talking points or speeches for U.S. forces in Iraq … The contract is worth roughly US$6.2 million per year over a two-year period.”
Israel to sell armored vehicles to US troops in Iraq
28.02,.07. Middle East Times. The Golan vehicles, produced by the Rafael firm, are valued at $37 million and will be delivered within three months, it said.
BUT
How Long Can The U.S. Count On Foreign Funding?
05.03.07. Business Week. ‘Well, by the third quarter of 2006, the U.S. was dependent on foreign lending to the tune of more than $860 billion, or about 6.5% of gdp, and the need for foreign money will most likely hang above 6% through 2007. The big question: Can the U.S. continue to count on this massive amount of foreign capital to fund its overseas obligations and finance its economic growth? … there is increasing evidence that foreigners are diversifying their assets away from dollar-denominated securities toward other currencies. China, for example, recently announced it is forming a new agency to diversify $200 billion of its $1 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. Emerging-market economies are beginning to discover that U.S. investments, while relatively low risk, are also relatively low return compared with other investment opportunities around the globe.’
Lockheed Martin lands Army chopper contract
05.03.07. Baltimore biz journals. Contract valued at $311m.
EDO Awarded $11M Navy Contract
05.03.07. AP / Chroncom. 2-year, $11m contract from US Navy.
Bearing Point awared contract
05.03.07. The Global, Business, Trade and Investment in Developing Countries (GBTI II) contract has a value of up to $3 billion over its planned 2007-2012 implementation period.
BAE receives $7 million contract modification
05.03.07. Central Penn Business. BAE will remanufacture and upgrade four M88A2 Hercules recovery vehicles for the Army. The recovery vehicles are used to tow combat vehicles. … brings the total value of the contract to $265 million.
Israelis to supply vehicles for Iraq
05.03.07. AP, Boston Globe.
Harris Adds to Military Contract
06.03.07. AP/Forbes. International communications / information / technology company wins $33.5, from V||iaSat.Inc. for US military communications system.
Israelis (sic) encouraged to invest in Iraq
15.03.07. Jerusalem Post.
VA Wastes Millions on Computer Contract
28.03.07. money central. Veterans Affairs officials wasted millions on a $100 million computer security contract that became a virtual "open checkbook" because of poor oversight and sloppy management, an internal review says.
URS Receives Army Contract
28.03.07. Chron.com.
Our Tony's Last Kiss
US and Britain sign military trade pact
28.06.07. Reuters / Scotsman.
Following BAE scandal,
BAE Systems gets U.S. Navy deal29.06.07. J. Wolf, Reuters / Scotsman.
UNIVERSITY MURDERS AND IRAQ CONNECTION (McNeil):
You Caused Me To Do This
17.04.07. ABC. His (Cho's) 'older sister, Sun-Kyung, graduated from Princeton University in 2004. A source, who asked to be identified as a senior Administration official, said she works for McNeil Technologies, a firm contracted by the State Department to manage reconstruction efforts in Iraq.' Overview of MCNEIL TECHNOLOGIES services and capabilities include: Intelligence Architecture Operations in support of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) which supports the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and other government agencies. HUMINT (Human Intel) operations in support of DIA, or with federal counter Intel outsourcing effort...] See also Iraq link to campus killer Cho
5. Contractors
ALL INFORMATION ON SECURITY CONTRACTORS CAN BE SEEN AT Iraq: Security Companies and Training Camps . “Private US and UK security firms are closely allied to Mr. Bremer’s ‘Facilities Protection Service’ programme in Iraq. Newsweek (24.04.06) suggested 146,000 belong to this ‘security’ force. The Interior Minister, Bayan Jabr, associated the FPS with the endemic ‘death squads’ operating inside the police forces, which are hastening the disintegration of Iraq.” List of companies in Iraq. The number of companies expands and millions of $s / £s for corporations = continual updates on these mercenaries.
Comprehensive list of all contractors
28 Apr 2003 Legit gov. writes: "Even before the war in Iraq began March 20, the Bush administration was considering plans to help rebuild the country after fighting ceased. According to news reports in early March, the U.S. Agency for International Development secretly asked six U.S. companies to submit bids for a $900 million government contract to repair and reconstruct water systems, roads, bridges, schools and hospitals in Iraq. The six companies -- Bechtel Group Inc., Fluor Corp., Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root, Louis Berger Group Inc., Parsons Corp. and Washington Group International Inc. -- contributed a combined $3.6 million in individual, PAC and soft money donations between 1999 and 2002, the Center reported on its news site, CapitalEye.org. Sixty-six percent of that total went to Republicans.]
Watchdog group: Government awards contracts despite firms’ misconduct.
19.07.07. R. Tiron, thehill.com. Three companies — Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), DynCorp and Fluor Corp. — now will compete for LOGCAP projects in the Middle East worth up to $150 billion. Previously, costs and allegations of misconduct tainted a multibillion-dollar Pentagon contract with KBR for some of the work. According to POGO’s database, since 1995 Fluor has had 21 instances of misconduct, KBR has had five and Dyncorp, under parent company Veritas Capital Fund, has had three.
BECHTEL
As Bechtel Goes.
03.11.06. P. Krugman, NYT / ICH. Bechtel, the giant engineering company, is leaving Iraq. Its mission — to rebuild power, water and sewage plants — wasn’t accomplished: Baghdad received less than six hours a day of electricity last month, and much of Iraq’s population lives with untreated sewage and without clean water. But Bechtel, having received $2.3 billion of taxpayers’ money and having lost the lives of 52 employees, has come to the end of its last government contract.
KBR
KBR Shares Hit New Highs on New Business.
13.07.07. AP / Forbes. Already last month, KBR was one of three companies awarded respective $5 billion contracts from the Army to provide food and shelter to U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. ... On the military side of the business, the U.S. Navy on Wednesday awarded KBR an $8.5 million contract boost for additional services for personnel at two Iraqi oil platforms. The company will perform the work in waters off the coast of Iraq through November 2007.
Largest Iraq Contract Rife With Errors
17.07.07. USA Today. Matt Kelly of USA Today reports: "Government auditors discovered something odd last year when they reviewed KBR Inc.'s annual cost estimate to provide support services for US troops in Iraq. The contractor proposed charging $110 million for housing, food, water, laundry and other services on bases that had been shut down."
Largest Iraq contract rife with errors.
18,07.07. USA Today / legitgov. 'Government auditors discovered something odd last year when they reviewed KBR Inc.'s annual cost estimate to provide support services for U.S. troops in Iraq. The contractor proposed charging $110 million for housing, food, water, laundry and other services on bases that had been shut down.'
Halliburton subcontractor executive pleads guilty in Iraq fraud case .
22.07.07. The Jurist.
LOCKHEED MARTIN
Military contractors' shares fall on news of Rumsfeld resignation.
08.11.06. AP / IHT. … the largest U.S. military contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp. was one of the biggest losers The decline in defense stocks was broad, with armaments maker General Dynamics Corp., combat communications systems maker Raytheon Co., and government services company Halliburton Co. all falling into negative territory.
URS
For One California Profiteer, Iraq is Going Great.
04.11.06. S. Anderson, Alternet / Common Dreams. Focus on San Francisco-based URS Corp., a major provider of Pentagon engineering and equipment repair services. URS stock, not surprisingly, is worth nearly five times what it was before the war started. See IPS Report: New CEO/Worker Pay Gap Study.
Documentary slams corporate profits in Iraq war..
15.09.06. Reuters. Iraq for Sale, R. Greenwald.
Armaments And Investments: Stock in Niche Defense Firms Soars in Wartime.
15.07.07. Washington Post. Last year, the sector soared 27.7 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 13.6 percent. So far this year, the industry has gained 26.7 percent, compared with the S&P's 9.5 percent increase. Since 2001, defense stocks that make up the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index have climbed 181.7 percent; the broader market is up 17.6 percent. But it's the niche companies, such as the makers of armored vehicles, that are the top individual gainers this year, according to the Spade Defense Index, which tracks the sector.
OUTSOURCING INTELLIGENCE
Outsourcing Intelligence: How bush Gets National Intelligence from Private Companies.
31.07.07. R. J. Hillhouse, The Nation / alternet, Private corporations are now a major staple of national intelligence and are heavily involved in producing the most important and most sensitive national security document -- the President's Daily Brief. Mentioned are Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Booz Allen Hamilton, SAIC and others.
VIDEOS
Video Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers
Video Iraq for Sale: Banned Excerpts
6. Troops in Iraq
Please see
INDEX ON US TROOPS.
12.03.07. Sarah Meyer, Index Research. Updated.
Iraqi Troops
The US favourite and PNAC document signer Ahmed Chalabi back on the scene.
Alleged intel fixer Chalabi to assume new role as part of 'surge'
21.02.07. Brent Beutler, Raw Story. 'Mr. Chalabi will serve as an intermediary between Baghdad residents and the Iraqi and U.S. security forces mounting an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign across the city.'
Training Iraqi troops no longer driving force in U.S. policy
19.04.07. McClatchy. Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, has dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said.
Creating an Iraqi Army from Scratch
25.05.07. Col. Frederick Kienle, U.S. Army American Enterprise Institute. Lessons for the Future. (Cloud cuckoo land-spin): “Iraqi security forces are becoming a credible force. They are growing in number and capabilities, and they are accepting responsibility for their country's future. This is due in no small part to the cadre of embedded military advisors. These advisors will be essential in tomorrow's conflicts as well. We need to invest more in their training and equipping today.”
'Iraqi police cannot control crime
30.05.07. Guardian / ICH. Even the Iraqi government today admitted that it could barely trust its own interior ministry police.
7. Bases
NATO-supported Iraqi Training Command opens.
07.06. newsblaze.
U.S. troops to fan out into 100 garrisons to secure Baghdad
15.03.07. IHT.
Tomgram: How Permanent Are Those Bases?
07.06.07. Tom Dispatch. Iraq Has Always Been "South Korea" for the Bush Administration. 'Finally, the great American disconnect may be ending. Only four years after the invasion of Iraq, the crucial facts-on-the-ground might finally be coming into sight in this country -- not the carnage or the mayhem; not the suicide car bombs or the chlorine truck bombs; not the massive flight of middle-class professionals, the assassination campaign against academics, or the collapse of the best health-care service in the region; not the spiking American and Iraqi casualties, the lack of electricity, the growth of Shia militias, the crumbling of the "coalition of the willing," or the uprooting of 15% or more of Iraq's population; not even the sharp increase in fundamentalism and extremism, the rise of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the swelling of sectarian killings, or the inability of the Iraqi government to get oil out of the ground or an oil law, designed in Washington and meant to turn the clock back decades in the Middle East, passed inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone -- no, none of that. What's finally coming into view is just what George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, the top officials of their administration, the civilian leadership at the Pentagon, and their neocon followers had in mind when they invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003. ... Because of some of the worst reporting on an important topic in recent memory, most Americans have lived out these last years in remarkable ignorance of what was actually being built in Iraq. Now, perhaps, that great American disconnect is beginning to end, which may be more bad news for the Bush administration.
Tomgram: Nick Turse, The Pentagon as Global Landlord
11.07.07. Tom Dispatch.
VIDEO
Video
The Bases are Loaded Chalmers Johnson and Dahr Jamail discuss / illustrate key US bases in Iraq.
Green Zone
see: IRAQ: Green Zone Blowback: Index Timeline (Sarah Meyer, Index Research, 23.05.07). This article will be updated frequently.
Muthana Air Base
The (Iraqi) squadron moved its operations Feb. 1 from Tallil Air Base to the new Al Muthana Airbase adjacent to Baghdad International Airport. Their first training flight was on a C130E Hercules, made by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. This, and one other C130, were paid for by both the United States and Iraqi governments as part of a U.S. and foreign military sales program. Russian Mi17 helicopters, paid for by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, will also be used.
Fear flies high at new Iraq air force's first base
08.03.06. Reuters. Muthana Air Base, Baghdad. Iraqis now have their own base.
8. The War Drags On
REPORTS
Human Intelligence Collector Operations.
09.06. DoD Report: Field Manual FM2-22.3
Defense Contracting in Iraq: Issues and Options for Congress.
January 26, 2007
Congressional Authority To Limit U.S. Military Operations
in Iraq.
29.01.07
"The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: An Overview of the
Statutory Framework and U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and U.S..
15.02.07. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review Decisions.
Accepting Realities in Iraq - new briefing paper.
May 2007. Chatham House Report . A new briefing paper assesses the political, security and economic prospects for Iraq in the coming year. The author, Gareth Stansfield, claims that there is not 'one' civil war, but many civil wars and insurgencies in the country and current realities have to be accepted if new strategies for solutions are to be found. See Consortium News story by Robert Parry. “Although more and more Americans have come to see through these arguments, a large portion of the U.S. public – the Republican “base” – still buys into the neocon worldview. As this chasm grows between the real world and their faux reality, the Bush cult seems to have set up permanent residence in what might be called an ideological Jonestown.
In that context, the Chatham House report, entitled “Accepting Realities in Iraq,” marks a direct challenge to Bush’s Iraqi dreamscape. The report amounts to an update to the December 2006 findings of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which concluded that conditions in Iraq were “grave and deteriorating.”
ARTICLES
Middle East: An end to US primacy?.
04.02.07. BBC.
Bombs over Baghdad.
07.02.07. Nick Turse, Tom Gram. The Pentagon's Secret Air War in Iraq
Vulnerable helicopters should accelerate Iraq exit.
09.02.07. S. Pizzo, alternet. “Flying coffins” for US soldiers.
Iraqi insurgents offer peace in return for US concessions.
09.02.07. Fisk, Independent. The demands include the cancellation of the entire Iraqi constitution - almost certainly because the document, in effect, awards oil-bearing areas of Iraq to Shia and Kurds, but not to the minority Sunni community. Yet the Sunnis remain Washington's principal enemies in the Iraqi war. … "Should the Americans wish to negotiate their withdrawal from our country and leave our people to live in peace, then we will negotiate subject to specific conditions and circumstances." … Al-Jeelani suggests the United Nations, the Arab League or the Islamic Conference might lead such negotiations and would have to guarantee the security of the participants…. Conditions given.
The project.
20.02.07. Rajiv Chandrasekara, G2, The Guardian. Part II of III. President Bush wanted the 'right' people in charge of the reconstruction of Iraq. Unfortunately for the country, that meant loyalty to the president rather than expertise - including a 24-year-old estate agent put in charge of the stock exchange, writes Rajiv Chandrasekaran in the second exclusive extract from his new book' (See 'Updates', Green Zone for Part I)
PAUL WOLFOVITZ Bad news day: Wolfie back on the scene Wolfowitz May Bring Bank Back to Iraq. 23.02.07. Electronic Iraq. 'World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz may appoint a new resident director for Iraq soon, a move that sources inside the Bank say could contradict the institution's policies on engagement in conflict-stricken areas and put his role in the 2003 U.S. invasion back into the limelight. The move by Wolfowitz, the former number two official at the Pentagon and a main architect of the U.S.-led war, likely means the Bank would release new loans to the occupied Arab nation, despite the deteriorating security situation and recent disclosures of massive corruption in reconstruction efforts.' Making Love, Money and War. 14.04.07. Abu Spinoza, uruknet. Wolfowitz's Real Crimes. ' The flak that the World Bank's President Paul Wolfowtiz is getting currently really misses his main crimes: The invasion and occupation of Iraq and for waging the endless war of state terror. As Rumsfeld's second-in-command Mr. Wolfowitz bears direct personal and official responsibility for the illegal war of aggression on Iraq and for posing threats to international peace.' Top Wolfowitz Postings Went to Iraq War Backers. 15.04.07. Emad MeKay, anti=war.com. 'Of the top five outside international appointments made by embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz during his nearly two-year tenure, three were senior political appointees of right-wing governments that provided strong backing for U.S. policy in Iraq.' Angry Wolfowitz in four-letter tirade. 15.05.07. R. Adams, Guardian. 8.30am Sounding more like a cast member of the Sopranos than an international leader, in testimony by one key witness Mr Wolfowitz declares: "If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too." Wolfowitz Negotiating Terms Of Resignation. 16.05.07. CBS. His departure would include an acknowledgment from the bank that he doesn't bear sole responsibility for the controversy surrounding a generous pay package for his girlfriend, the official said. (If he doesn’t bear ‘sole responsibility,’ who does?) Wolfowitz to Resign From World Bank. 17.05.07. NY TIMES. Statement of Paul Wolfowitz. 17.05.07. Washington Post. Yadda yadda … COMMENT: Getting rid of Wolfovitz is great ... but it is like impeaching Bush/Cheney because their feet smell raher than because they are WAR CRIMINALS. |
Catholic, Other Religious Leaders Call Bush's Iraq War Policies 'Morally Bankrupt'.
23.02.07. Catholic.org.
| BAD CHOICES DEPARTMENT Chalabi Surges Back to Prominence. 24.02.07. Elizabeth Sullivan, Plain Dealer. Yet there's one bad penny who just keeps coming up, and up and up: Ahmad Chalabi, the wily Iraqi exile banker who cozied up to Iranian intelligence under the very nose of the CIA and then helped land us in war with Iraq through intelligence misinformation. Incredibly, Chalabi now is in charge of the Iraqi government's civilian liaison Rice Picks Neo-Con Champion of Iraq War as Counselor. 03.03.07. J. Lobe, Electronic iraq. Eliot A. Cohen … close friend and protege of former Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and advisory board member of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Cohen most recently led the harsh neo-conservative attack on the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG), co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton. Meet Eliot Cohen, Condi's New Deputy. 06.03.07. G. Leupp, Counterpunch. “As Extremist a Neocon and Warmonger as It Gets.” |
Updated: the White House's latest bald-faced lie: 'The UN authorised our invasion of Iraq.'.
27.02.07. Alternet Peek.
Murphy's view from Mideast: 'Frustrated'.
28.02.07. Phillyburbs.
The Iraq Effect: War Has Increased Terrorism Sevenfold Worldwide
Mar-April 07. Mother Jones / Truth Out.
Even Doonesbury plays U.S. blame game
28.02.07. G. Dyer, Hamilton Spectator / uruknet. As the people who talked the United States into the Iraq war try to talk their way out of the blame for the mess they made, one dominant theme has emerged: Blame the Iraqis.
Highlights of Iraq Spending Bill Add-Ons
01.03.07. AP / Guardian. List given. Highlights of Iraq Spending Bill Add-Ons
US commanders admit: we face a Vietnam-style collapse.
01.03.07. S. Tisdall, Guardian.
Highlights of Iraq Spending Bill Add-Ons.
01.03.07. AP / Guardian. List given. Highlights of Iraq Spending Bill Add-Ons
AP / Guardian. List given.
SECTARIAN VIOLENCE Middle East is plagued by covert operations. 01.03.07. Linda heard, Online Journal / uruknet. Iraqis have long suspected the finger of the occupying forces has stirred the pot of sectarian violence with the ultimate aim of splitting their country into three separate provinces. How Easy it is to Put Hatred on a Map. 03.03.07. Robert Fisk (Independent / ICH. In Baghdad, sectarian lines too deadly to cross. 03.04.07. D. Cave, IHT / uruknet. After centuries full of vibrant interaction, of marrying, sharing and selling across sects and classes, Baghdad has become a capital of corrosive and violent borderlines. Streets never crossed. Conversations never started. Doors never entered. Sunnis and Shiites in many professions now interact almost exclusively with colleagues of the same sect. Sunnis say they are afraid to visit hospitals because Shiites loyal to the cle! ric Moktada al-Sadr run the Health Ministry, while Shiite laborers who used to climb into the back of pickup trucks for work across the Tigris River in Sunni western Baghdad now take jobs only near home... Sects slice up Iraq as US troops 'surge' misfires. 04.03.07. P. Beaumont, Observer. Marriages Between Sects Come Under Siege in Iraq. 04.03.07. S. Raghavan, Washington Post / uruknet. Once a Sign of Tolerance, Unions Now Seen as Perilous Betrayals. Sects slice up Iraq as US troops 'surge' misfires. 04.03.07. P Beaumont, Guardian. .The Iraqi government wants tens of thousands of families to return as part of the Baghdad Security Plan, but only a few hundred have done so, many of them to hide behind locked doors. So the cycle continues. Displaced Sunnis push out Shias, who in turn push out the Sunnis in the areas they relocate to. While more than a million have left Iraq, three million have been internally displaced. The displacement has been conducted with rut! hless efficiency. A mosque will be attacked, a grenade thrown at a house, men kidnapped and killed, a few houses burnt - delivering the message to get out... Sectarian Violence Forces 1 in 8 Iraqis to Flee Home. 06.03.07. Irin / uruknet. IRAQ: Another million people could flee homes this year. he United Nations and international agencies have warned that if sectarian violence in Iraq does not abate, up to a million new people could become displaced in 2007, putting an increasing burden on the country's infrastructure and resources. |
No US Backup Strategy for Iraq.
05.03.06. de Young, Ricks, Washington Post. Outside experts, not White House, discuss options. What would the administration do if its new strategy didn't work? The conclusion they took away, the governors later said, was that there is no Plan B. "I'm a Marine," Pace told them, "and Marines don't talk about failure. They talk about victory."
BAGHDAD-GATED
Robert Fisk: America's plan for Baghdad.
11.04.07. Robert Fisk, Independent. A new counter-insurgency strategy to carve up the city into sealed areas. The tactic failed in Vietnam. So what chance does it have in Iraq?
......
FAILURE ON THE HILL
Democrats scale back plans to challenge Bush's Iraq 'surge'.
04.03.07. AFP /anti-war.com
Levin: Senate Won't Withhold Iraq Funds.
08.04.07. AP.
Senate rejects legislation to cut off funds for Iraq
16.05.07. SignonSanDiego. war :
The Senate on Wednesday rejected legislation that would cut off money for combat operations in Iraq after March 31, 2008.
House Passes $646 Billion Defense Bill
17.05.07. AP/SF Gate.
.....
Construction begins on Sadr City's New Joint Security Station.
06.03.07. Sgt. Mike Pryor, 2nd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. Public Affairs, Black Anthem.
George Tenet Cashes In On Iraq.
Tim Shorrock, Salon / ICH. The former CIA chief is earning big money from corporations profiting off the war -- a fact not mentioned in his combative new book or heard on his publicity blitz. Tenet sits on the board of directors of L-1 Identity Solutions , a major supplier of biometric identification software used by the U.S. to monitor terrorists and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. The company recently acquired two of the CIA's hottest contractors for its growing intelligence outsourcing business. At the Analysis Corp. (TAC) , a government contractor run by one of Tenet's closest former advisors at the CIA, Tenet is a member of an advisory board that is helping TAC expand its thriving business designing the problematic terrorist watch lists used by the National Counterterrorism Center and the State Department.
Tenet is also a director of Guidance Software , which makes forensic software used by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence to search computer hard drives and laptops for evidence used in the prosecution and tracking of suspected terrorists. And Tenet is the only American director on the board of QinetiQ , the British defense research firm that was privatized in 2003 and was, until recently, controlled by the Carlyle Group , the powerful Washington-based private equity fund. Fueled with Carlyle money, QinetiQ acquired four U.S. companies in recent years, including an intelligence contractor, Analex Inc. … Last fall, as part of its push into intelligence outsourcing, L-1 acquired SpecTal , a Reston, Va., intelligence contractor with at least 300 employees with security clearances, gaining instant access to several agencies where SpecTal had contracts, including the CIA, the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency. … Just recently, L-1 picked up another intelligence contractor, Advanced Concepts Inc. More!
Looking at Bush's Iraq policy minus spin
16.04.07. Canberra your guide. 'GENERAL Barry R. McCaffrey, US Army (retired), now an adjunct professor at West Point, visited Iraq last month on a fact-finding visit. His visit report is noteworthy because he is a respected senior officer who was given top-level access and briefings. He provides some stark findings and and conclusions': 3000 civilians a month are murdered; 29000 ied explosions against the U.S.; 3 million Iraqis displaced; US has arrested 120,000 "insurgents", detained 27,000 and killed another 20,000-plus. US losses in Iraq now exceed 27,000 killed and wounded; with Iraqi Security Force losses of 49,000 in the past 14 months; 128,000 civilian contractors in Iraq; US recruitment = former drug addicts and criminals; "... by January 2008 we will be largely on our own".
Insurgents Unveil Alternative Cabinet and First Minister for Iraq
20.04.07. Maamoun Youssef, The Scotsman.
Just how many terrorists are there in Iraq?
20.04.07. Maylaysia Sun / legitgov. The president's statements imply most of the violence being carried out in Iraq is at the hands of terrorists, and more specifically by al-Qaeda, or at least by foreign fighters. This is simply not true. The bulk of insurgents in Iraq are Iraqi. Al-Qaeda, it is common ground (with the exception of the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney), had no presence in Iraq prior to the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Baghdad security operation has failed
25.04.07. Irish examiner. Sectarian violence continued to claim the lives of a large number of Iraqi civilians in Sunni Arab and Shiite neighbourhoods of Iraq's capital, despite the coalition's new Baghdad security plan, the UN said today.
U.N. report and Times data paint grim Iraq picture
25.04.07. LA Times / Fair Use/anti-war.com. Academics are being assassinated, prisoners are being tortured, women are being murdered by their own families in so-called "honor killings," and civilians continue to be cut down by rampant violence, the United Nations said today in a report painting a grim picture of life in Iraq. . The report, which covers from Jan. 1, 2007 through March 31, was most notable for what it did not include: the number of civilian deaths. . That's because the Iraqi government refused to release those numbers, the U.N. spokesman, Said Arikat, said as he presented the organization's 10th such summary of the human rights situation in Iraq. . However, numbers obtained from various ministries by the Times indicated that already this year, 5,509 civilians had died viollently in Baghdad province alone , which includes the capital.' the report draws US denunciation
Majority of Iraqi Lawmakers Now Reject Occupation
09.05.07. R. Jarrar / J. Holland, Alternet. The US media ignored the story.
Iraq MPs gather votes to force US withdrawal
11.05.05. Raw Story. Baha al-Aaraji, a supporter of radical anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, told AFP that 144 members of the 275-seat national assembly had signed a draft law that would set a departure timetable for US troops.
The Iraq War: Going, Going, ...
17.05.07. R. Parry, Consortium news. How should the American people interpret the extraordinary fact that George W. Bush couldn’t convince a single retired four-star general to sign up as the new “war czar” for coordinating the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – and finally had to settle for an active-duty three-star general who had opposed Bush’s “surge” in Iraq?
Carter Criticizes Bush and Blair on War in Iraq
20.05.07. Reuters / Truthout. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," … In an interview on BBC radio, he criticized Mr. Blair for his close relations with the president, particularly concerning the Iraq war.
"Abominable," he said when asked how he would characterize Mr. Blair's relationship with Mr. Bush. "Loyal, blind, apparently subservient."… "I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world," he said. … Mr. Carter told the BBC that the combined
Bush could double force by Christmas
22.05.07. SF Gate. The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed Monday. The little-noticed second surge, designed to reinforce U.S. troops in Iraq, is being executed by sending more combat brigades and extending tours of duty for troops already there. The actions could boost the number of combat soldiers from 52,500 in early January to as many as 98,000 by the end of this year if the Pentagon overlaps arriving and departing combat brigades.
support of Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair for the war "has prolonged the war and increased the tragedy that has resulted."
More outposts being built to accommodate troops for ‘surge’
22.05.07. Stars and Stripes/anti-war.com. ( Which ‘surge’ – the first, or the second? )
Iraq constitution reform committee admits failure to agree
22.05.07. The Jurist.
White House says bin Laden ordered Iraq plots
23.05.07. alternet / legitgov: Osama bin Laden ordered al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to form a cell in 2005 to plot attacks outside of Iraq and make the United States his main target, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday. Citing newly declassified intelligence [LOL!] , Fran Townsend, President [sic] George W. Bush's adviser for homeland security, said the information backs the administration's assertion that U.S. troops must stay in Iraq for now to prevent it from becoming a "terrorist sanctuary." Mindful of its trouble selling its war strategy to the American public , the [lying sack of sh*t occupying the White House is trying to put the spotlight on bin Laden's connections to Zarqawi, the head of Iraq's 'al Qaeda' wing who was killed in a U.S. air strike in June 2006.
U.S. Imperial Ambitions Thwart Iraqis' Peace Plans
21.05.07. Joshua Holland and Raed Jarrar, Alternet. Iraq's resistance groups have offered a series of peace plans that might put an end to the country's sectarian violence, but they've been ignored by the U.S.-led coalition because they're opposed to foreign occupation and privatization of oil.
Deadly Illusions, Rest in Peace
25.05.07. Norman Solomon, anti—war.com. ‘This week's cave-in on Capitol Hill – supplying a huge new jolt of funds for the horrific war effort in Iraq – is surprising only to those who haven't grasped our current circumstances.
Permanent Bases: A Recipe for Permanent Terrorism
25.05.07. Thomas Gale Moore, anti-war.com. ‘it turns out that the Pentagon has thought about what to do if Plan A, the "surge" doesn’t work. According to Steve Inskeep and Guy Raz of National Public Radio, plan B would involve maintaining a series of military bases around Iraq with some 30,000 to 40,000 U.S. troops. That plan would have them stay for decades, under the excuse that they could train the Iraqi troops and deter neighboring countries, such as Iran and Turkey, from sending their own troops into the country. Already the U.S. has built military compounds that look permanent, supplied with air-conditioning, movie theatres, Starbucks coffee houses, and fast food outlets.
Congress Approves War-Funding Bill
24.05.07. AP, ABC/legitgov. Congress Approves Money for War Troops As Democrats Back Off on Withdrawal Timeline
Video . Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich: "Privatizing Iraq's Oil is Theft!" 7 Min. Rep. Kucinich explained how the proposed Bill, now pending before the U.S. Congress, via its benchmarks, will provide for the privatization of Iraqi oil. It requires the regime in Iraq to pass a law called, "The Hydrocarbon Act." If they refuse to do so over a billion dollars in reconstruction funds will be blocked by the Bush-Cheney administration, he claimed. - Unless the scheme is stopped, Rep. Kucinich predicted, we will be looking at an Iraqi War "going on forever!"
The Air War in Iraq Uncovered
24.05.07. Tom Engelhardt & Nick Turse. ‘Did the U.S. military use cluster bombs in Iraq in 2006 and then lie about it? Does the U.S. military keep the numbers of rockets and cannon rounds fired from its planes and helicopters secret because more Iraqi civilians have died due to their use than any other type of weaponry? These are just two of the many unanswered questions related to the largely uncovered air war the U.S. military has been waging in Iraq.
Al-Sadr Makes Public Appearance in Iraq
25.05.07. SINAN SALAHEDDIN, AP / uruknet.
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appeared in public for the first time in months on Friday and delivered a fiery anti-American sermon in the holy Shiite city of Kufa. ``No, no for the devil. No, no for America. No, no for the occupation. No, no for Israel,'' he chanted at the start of his speech. The roughly 6,000 worshippers in the mosque repeated after him. Al-Sadr told the worshippers that ``the occupation forces should lea! ve Iraq,'' and condemned fighting between his Mahdi Army militia and Iraqi security forces, saying it ``served the interests of the occupiers.'' Al-Sadr had gone into hiding in Iran four months ago at the start of the Baghdad security crackdown, but U.S. military officials said early Friday that he had returned to the holy city of Najaf, where he has a house.
11. Media and More Videos
MEDIA
Hang Times: A Whitewash of White House Complicity
30.12.06. C. Floyd, Empire Burlesque. "People often write to Empire Burlesque in search of an answer to one of the great conundrums of these modern times, namely: "Why are the American people such suckers? How could they -- or, to be more exact, how could a significant number of them -- ever have fallen for the transparent bullshit of such third-rate goobers as Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and all the rest? How could the American people be so ignorant and misinformed about what goes on in the world? How can they be so ignorant and misinformed of their own history, of the dirty deals done in their names for years on end? How can this be?"
Good folk, look no further, for we do indeed have the answer here. If you want to know precisely how the American people are kept deliberately ignorant, simply click on the link to this story in the nation's "newspaper of record," the journal which sets the standard for and largely determines the news agenda of the American press..."
Another U.S. Military Assault on Media
23.02.07. Dahr Jamail. 'Iraqi journalists are outraged over yet another U.S. military raid on the media. U.S. soldiers raided and ransacked the offices of the Iraq Syndicate of Journalists (ISJ) in central Baghdad Tuesday this week. Ten armed guards were arrested, and 10 computers and 15 small electricity generators kept for donation to families of killed journalists were seized. This is not the first time U.S. troops have attacked the media in Iraq, but this time the raid was against the very symbol of it. Many Iraqis believe the U.S. soldiers did all they could to deliver the message of their leadership to Iraqi journalists to keep their mouth shut about anything going wrong with the U.S.-led occupation.'
Wash.Post parroted White House claim that Iraq war was authorised by U.N. Security Council
26.02.07. Media Matters.
US CONSTITUTION: First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances FAILURE BY PRESENT US GOVERNMENT TO PRESERVE US CONSTITUTION From, and thanks to, Entropic Memes “Blocking Websites Today’s announcement by the military that they’re blocking a dozen popular websites from Department of Defense computer networks says the actions were done not for productivity reasons, or with network security in mind, but to conserve bandwidth. I have to wonder just how honest they’re really being. Read the rest of this entry .” ..... New Army Rules Could Kill G.I. Blogs (Maybe E-mail, Too) 02.05.08. Wired. IRAQ: 'Pentagon Moved to Fix Iraqi Media Before Invasion' 09.05.07. Jim Lobe, Interpress / Corpwatch. In the run-up to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon planned to create a 'Rapid Reaction Media Team' (RRMT) designed to ensure control over major Iraqi media while providing an Iraqi 'face' for its efforts, according to a ‘White Paper' obtained by the independent National Security Archive (NSA) which released it Tuesday. … ‘'The RRMT concept focuses on USG-UK pre-and post hostilities efforts to develop programming, train talent, and rapidly deploy a team of U.S./UK media experts with a team of ‘hand selected' Iraqi media experts to communicate immediately with the Iraqi public opinion upon liberation of Iraq,'' according to the paper. … The ‘'hand-picked'' Iraqi experts, according to the paper, would provide planning and programme guidance for the U.S. experts and help ‘'select and train the Iraqi broadcasters and publishers (‘the face') for the USG/coalition sponsored information effort.'' USG is an abbreviation for U.S. government. … The contractors included the Rendon Group and Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (aka Wolfovitz’s hired ‘friend’)which received a 25 million-dollar contract to create an Iraqi Media Network whose aims appear to be roughly consistent with those laid out in the White Paper, but which largely fell apart after about six months as a result of alleged incompetence and infighting. … The third company covered by the audit is the five-year-old Lincoln Group. Lists of plans, including “Re-starting the Oil.” … ‘al-Jazeera was not part of ‘the media infrastructure that we need left intact.'' Iraq to bar press from blast scenes 13.05.07. Agence France-Presse/Raw Story. Iraq's [puppet] interior ministry has decided to bar news photographers and cameramen from the scenes of bomb attacks, operations director Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf said Sunday. His announcement was the latest in a series of attempts to curtail press coverage of the ongoing conflict, which has already attracted criticism from international human rights bodies. No More YouTube, MySpace for U.S. Troops 13.05.08. Wired. See also BBC story . See also:Combat Troops already blocked from You Tube (16.05.07. Washington Times) (puppet) Iraqi Interior Ministry bans cameras from sites of bomb attacks 14.05.07. The Jurist. Iraq veteran wins blog prize as US military cuts web access 15.05.07. Ed Pilkington, Guardian. · Literary award for former soldier's online dispatches · Critics brand Pentagon's new rules 'self-defeating' No photos allowed after Iraqi blasts 15.05.07. AP, ADN/ICH. The Iraqi government (sic) said it decided last weekend to keep photographers and camera crews away from blast sites to prevent them from damaging forensic evidence. Media groups feared the order was aimed at preventing scenes of horrific carnage from being broadcast around the world. The ban got its first test Tuesday, when a pair of bombs hidden in plastic bags exploded in two shops selling CDs and cigarettes in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad. YouTube Wants to Meet With U.S. Military Over Web Ban 15.05.07. Salem news. Feedback from soldiers indicates that they are anything but happy about losing access to the sites, and the list may be longer than the government is admitting. ‘It looks like at least one video service that is being banned from U.S. government computers is going to fight back. … views from several soldiers … ‘But Jack Idema, a Special Forces soldier, says it isn't even the Department of Defense that is pressing this issue; it comes from an even higher source, "All of which emanate from State Department's actual control of how this war is waged. The last thing they want is a SGT in the 82nd Airborne putting up videos of what really happened and contradicting Rene Boucher on the 6 O'Clock News. And that's just the tip of the iceberg." … The majority of soldiers were not in support of the government ban, they see it as an attempt to reduce the flow of information they receive. One soldier who did not seek to be identified, says the government has even clamped down on a popular site that soldiers use to purchase equipment that helps them stay alive in the war, "you can't go onto eBay anymore at some sites across Afghanistan." … They treat you like a mushroom- feed you a lot of sh*t and keep you in the dark ." ‘ ‘ |
From ‘al-Qu’eda’ to ‘Abductions’-the deceptions continue
17.05.07. William Bowles.
Latest from McClatchey’s Iraqi staffers: Please, America, Just Go
17.05.07. Editor and Publisher.
The new Aljazeera, an American
17.05.07. Roads to Iraq. ‘The rumors are that this change has been under U.S. pressure, to remove the station from Arab governments and international isolation and as a beginning for establishing new relations with the US.’ (If true, this is disGUSTing. Jazeera was (?) the ONLY news channel I actually appreciated as it always presented many different and interesting points of view; and also showed war as it is and not us-style-sanitised.)
US media group urges Iraq not to hinder reporters
22.05.07. Reuters. A leading U.S. media watchdog has urged Iraq's government to lift restrictions on reporters' access to the scene of bombings, saying the move appeared to be an attempt to limit press coverage of unwelcome
McClatchey’s D.C, bureau claims it’s barred from Defense Secretary plane.
23.05.07. Editor and Publisher.
US probe of Iraq shooting incomplete - media group
24.05.07. Reuters / ICH. The U.S. military cleared its soldiers in Iraq over the deaths of two (Al-Arabiya) journalists in 2004 without considering contradictory witness accounts, a media rights group said on Thursday.
2 Iraqi Journalists Killed – Including 1 Who Was Slain Along With 7 Relatives
30.05.07. AP/NBC.
Gunmen intensify attacks on Iraqi journalists
31.05.07. Agence France Presse (AFP). Three journalists, including one killed with six members of his family, have been shot dead over the past threes day in Iraq, their colleagues said Wednesday.
CHRONOLOGY-Journalists killed in Iraq
01.06.07. ALERTNET.
Media watchdog wants action after record Iraq toll
01.06.07. ALERTNET. Media advocate Reporters Without Borders has called for the establishment of a special police unit to investigate media killings in Iraq after a record 12 journalists were slain in May.
Have We Just Seen The Last U.S. Combat Injury In Iraq?
06.06.07. ***Michael Shaw, Huffington Post / ICH. This photo -- taken by embedded photojournalist Michael Kamber two weeks ago during a fateful patrol in search of missing U.S soldiers -- could well become the last visual evidence of U.S. casualties in the Iraq war. The comments to this article MUST be read.
CHRONOLOGY-Journalists killed in Iraq
17.06.07. Reuters. 184 journalists and media assistants have been killed since 2003. This report includes those reported killed in the last three months.
VIDEOS
Video.. Stop the Escalation. 30 sec.
Videos.. Why They Hate Us. 3 short videos.
Video. A Shame on our Nation.
Service members rally against the war in Iraq
15.01.07. McMicchale, Navy Times / Truth out. Video.Appeal for Redress.
Videos show Iraq war through troops' eyes.
20.02.06. L. Pulkkinen. Videos / urls for: may God have mercy on our soul; Kauder's video that he made for his fallen squad mate; G. Algozzini videos; iron pony express; Others. Good story.!!!
Video..Sacrifice. Keith Oberman. The “new” Bush policy of ‘sacifice,’ is the work of neo-conservatives Jack Keane and Frederic W. Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute – another Israeli lobby. An American senator called the plan “Alice in Wonderland,” according to an article by Paul Craigh Roberts in Counterpunch. added 04.01.07.
Video. Support our Troops? Michael Parenti.
The One Video Clip Explaining Everything Wrong With Iraq, The Media, And The Right
18.03.07. ICH. On Meet the Press, they expressed their commitment to "fair and balanced" debate by having on disgraced war supporter Richard Perle and indicted, deposed ex-congressman Tom DeLay against Admiral and Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak and Former Democratic Rep. Tom Andrews of Win Without War
Video
Can you spell Impeachment?
10. Prisons (Camp Cropper, Abu Ghraib, Camp Nama)
REPORTS
The Department of Defense Detainee Program.
05.09.06. DoD Directive.
War Crimes Report Advertised In The Military Times Newspaper.
ARTICLES
Red Cross visits new U.S. prison in Iraq
Dr. Qais Kadhim Al Janaby arrested by US and detained at notorious US airport prison.
07.08.06. naba.
U.S. wartime prison network grows into legal vacuum for 14,000
17.09.06. P, Quinn, AP / ICH. In Iraq, Army jailers are a step ahead. Last month they opened a $60-million, state-of-the-art detention center at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad's airport. The Army oversees about 13,000 prisoners in Iraq at Camp Cropper, Camp Bucca in the southern desert, and Fort Suse in the Kurdish north
Lost in a Bermuda Triangle of Injustice
22.09.06. T. Englehardt, ICH. The Facts on the Ground: Mini-Gulags, Hired Guns, Lobbyists, and a Reality Built on Fear.
War Crimes Trial in Germany
“Along with Rumsfeld, Gonzales and Tenet, the other defendants in the case are Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone; former assistant attorney general Jay Bybee; former deputy assisant attorney general John Yoo; General Counsel for the Department of Defense William James Haynes II; and David S. Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Senior military officers named in the filing are General Ricardo Sanchez, the former top Army official in Iraq; Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of Guantanamo; senior Iraq commander, Major General Walter Wojdakowski; and Col. Thomas Pappas, the one-time head of military intelligence at Abu Ghraib.”
Time. 10.11.06.
Rumsfeld okayed abuses says former U.S. general
25.11.06. Reuters / uruknet.
‘Many women’ languish in U.S., Iraqi jails
06.12.06. Azzaman, uruknet. Stories abound in Baghdad and other cities of U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops arresting wives of suspected rebels or insurgents.
So far both the U.S. and the government have denied the existence of women prisoners in Iraq, fearing a backlash from the country’s traditionally conservative society.
U.S. unsure when, if can hand over prisons to Iraq
02.02.07. Reuters. U.S. forces are taking longer than expected to train Iraqis to run their prisons and have no clear view of when, if ever, they can entrust security suspects they hold to the overall control of the Iraqi authorities. … "The biggest challenge is legal authority to hold detainees," Major General Jack Gardner told Reuters in an interview, saying Iraq first needed appropriate facilities and to show it could meet international "standards of care” (sic). Washington is training Iraqis to run its military prisons at Camp Bucca in the south and at Camp Cropper … It is also offering training to guards in Iraq's own prisons, while local U.S. units are expected to check on Iraqi jails in their areas.
Camp Cropper
03.10.06. AP / Guardian. A team of 16 delegates visited the new $60m. Camp Cropper holding about 3,550 detainees.
Former U.S. Detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment
18.12.06. NY Times. Camp Cropper.
Army warden charged with ‘aiding the enemy’
25.04.07. NBC. Lieutenant colonel faces multiple charges for alleged misconduct in Iraq. the commander of Camp Cropper (Lt. Comm. William H.. Steele) has been charged with aiding the enemy. He is being held at a detention center in Kuwait.
Abu Ghraib
Failures of Imagination.
9-10.06. E. Umansky, Columbia Journalism Review. The occasional triumphs and frequent defects of media coverage of the detention and treatment of enemy combatants were reviewed at length. Includes discussion of Abu Ghraib.
Abu Ghraib no longer houses any prisoners, Iraqi officials say.
26.08.06.Youseff, Real Cities. Most went to one of two U.S.-run detention centers - Camp Cropper, near Baghdad International Airport, and Camp Bucca near Umm Qasr in southern Iraq.
BUT
Tortured screams ring out as Iraqis take over Abu Ghraib.
10.09.06. Saber / Chamberlain, Telegraph. The notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad is at the centre of fresh abuse allegations just a week after it was handed over to Iraqi authorities, with claims that inmates are being tortured by their new captors. ( who trained them?)
IRAQ: Corporate Torture in Iraq
11.10.06. A. Eteraz, Corp Watch. Horrific torture at Abu Ghraib reported in a 67-page doc. which was basis for civil suit against CACI and Titan. … A number of such companies are involved in supervising, maintaining, and providing support for the numerous prisons in Iraq in the areas of interrogation, interpretation, and translation. At the current time the litigation is in the "discovery" stages in Federal Court in the District of Columbia . There are two major hurdles for the lawyers representing the torture victims. First is that Iraqi plaintiffs are seeking redress not in Iraqi court but in an American venue and therefore the American courts do not have jurisdiction over the matter. Second is that defendants were acting under the authority of the American government and therefore can set forth the argument that governmental immunity from civil damages should be extended to them.
US Army officer to be court-martialed for role in Abu Ghraib abuses
27.01.07. The Jurist.
Abu Ghraib's horrific images drove artist Fernando Botero into action
29.01.07. San Francisco Gate.
Israelis at Abu Ghraib?
28.02.07. Trustme / uruknet.
The American Ghosts of AbuGhraib
27.03.07. Sam Provance, consortium news. For those of you who have not heard of me, I am Sam Provance. My career as an Army sergeant came to a premature end at age 32 after eight years of decorated service, because I refused to remain silent about Abu Ghraib, where I served for five months in 2004 at the height of the abuses.
Abu Ghraib court-martial postponed until August as charges reduced
15.05.07. The Jurist. A military judge Tuesday postponed to August 20 the court-martial [JURIST report] of the only officer charged with abuse in the Abu Ghraib [JURIST news archive] prison scandal. ( Why are those responsible for Abu Ghraib not being tried – from the top down? )
The General's Report
25.06.07. *** Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, Truthout. How Antonio Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal, became one of its casualties. "From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service," Taguba said. "And yet when we get to the senior-officer level we forget those values. I know that my peers in the Army will be mad at me for speaking out, but the fact is that we violated the laws of land warfare in Abu Ghraib. We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values. The stress of combat is not an excuse, and I believe, even today, that those civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable." ?
Camp Nama
The General's Report
25.06.07. *** Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, Truthout. 'The official inquiries consistently provided the public with less information about abuses than outside studies conducted by human-rights groups. In one case, in November, 2004, an Army investigation, by Brigadier General Richard Formica, into the treatment of detainees at Camp Nama , a Special Forces detention center at Baghdad International Airport, concluded that detainees who reported being sodomized or beaten were seeking sympathy and better treatment, and thus were not credible. For example, Army doctors had initially noted that a complaining detainee's wounds were "consistent with the history [of abuse] he provided... . The doctor did find scars on his wrists and noted what he believed to be an anal fissure." Formica had the detainee reëxamined two days later, by another doctor, who found "no fissure, and no scarring... . As a result, I did not find medical evidence of the sodomy." In the case of a detainee who died in custody, Formica noted that there had been bruising to the "shoulders, chest, hip, and knees" but added, "It is not unusual for detainees to have minor bruising, cuts and scrapes." In July, 2006, however, Human Rights Watch issued a fifty-three-page report on the "serious mistreatment" of detainees at Camp Nama and two other sites, largely based on witness accounts from Special Forces interrogators and others who served there.'
11. Human Rights
REPORT
Review of DoD-Directed Investigations of Detainee Abuse
DoD Inspector General. From Secrecy News: The Department of Defense did a poor job of investigating andaddressing reports of detainee abuse committed in Iraq by U.S. military personnel, according to a newly declassified report of the DoD Inspector.’
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2007 (05.07)
∑ ‘War on terror’
05.07. Amnesty International. In its international campaign against abuses in the “war on terror”, AI exposed and denounced hundreds of cases of torture and other grave violations of human rights claimed by states to be a necessary response to security threats. AI also strongly condemned deliberate attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks by armed groups.
∑ Freedom from Fear
∑ AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2007: IRAQ
05.07. General Discussion; Background; Sectarian violence and attacks by armed groups; Violations by Iraqi security forces; Violations by US-led Multinational Force; Targeting of professionals and human rights defenders; Violence against women; Trial of Saddam Hussain and others; Death penalty; Northern Iraq; AI country reports/visits.
∑ Amnesty International Regional Report on the United States of America
∑ Facts and comments on detainees; Military Commissions Act; Renditions and secret detention; Guantánamo; Detentions in Afghanistan and Iraq; Unlawful killings by US forces outside the USA; Detention of 'enemy combatants' in the USA; Torture and other ill-treatment; Ill-treatment in jails and police custody; 'Supermax' prisons; Women in prison; Prisoners of conscience; Death penalty; Other concerns; UN Committee against Torture and UN Human Rights Committee; AI country reports/visits.
STORIES
WATADA Lt WatadaWar Criminals ‘R’ US 29.01.07. Richard Curtis. Common Dreams. ‘But there is a reason. Watada’s challenge is that the Iraq War is illegal. This fact seems beyond question. A legal war cannot logically be premised on lies, and we all know the Iraq War was premised on a series of well coordinated lies (the “Downing Street Memo” being the proof any rational person needs). The judge cannot allow Watada to argue the War is illegal because it is obviously illegal, and as such constitutes a War Crime, so the judge disregards the law – much to the shame of us all. If the war is acknowledged as illegal that means admitting that everyone who participates in it, plans it, or orders it is a war criminal. … Watada properly and legally refused an illegal order and we must now admit the truth of his position and recognize that we as a society stand condemned in the light of this truth’ CITIZENS’ HEARING ON THE LEGALITY OF U.S. ACTIONS IN IRAQ 20 – 21.01.07. The Case of Lt. Ehren Watada Video 05.02.07. Watada Interview, Truth Out. Resistance to War Cannot be Jailed Amy Goodman, ICHblog. You can jail the resisters, but you can't jail the resistance. George W. Bush, take notice as U.S. Army Lt. Ehren Watada is court-martialed next week. Congress, take heed. Young people in harm's way are leading the way out of Iraq. It is time you followed. Officer Who Wouldn't Serve Goes on Trial 05.02.07. A. Glanz. "If more officers like Lt. Watada come forward and said they wouldn't order their troops into a war that's morally wrong that means fewer enlisted people like myself will come back injured or killed," former Marine Corp medic Chanan Suarez-Diaz told a packed house of activists Sunday evening in the basement auditorium of the First Congregational Church in nearby Tacoma. .. Suarez-Diaz's back was injured by a rocket-propelled grenade in Ramadi in 2005. Officer Who Refused Iraq Tour Goes on Trial 06.02.07. Aaron Glantz, anti-war. "If more officers like Lt. Watada come forward and said they wouldn't order their troops into a war that's morally wrong that means fewer enlisted people like myself will come back injured or killed," former Marine Corps medic Chanan Suarez-Diaz told a packed house of activists Sunday evening in the basement auditorium of the First Congregational Church in nearby Tacoma. Watada Lawyer Rebukes Judge 06.02.07. Truth Out. Bill Simpich writes: "'Special security precautions do not erode the presumption of innocence.' Judge John Head's observation captured his style of jurisprudence. Mindful of public relations as several security officers monitored the proceedings in the small courtroom, but vigilant in making sure that every one of First Lt. Watada's witnesses would be deemed 'irrelevant.' Absent a stroke of luck, the lieutenant's defense against the charges of missing movement to Iraq, and 'disgraceful' conduct unbecoming an officer, have been whittled down to his own testimony and that of his commanding officer as a character witness. When Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz, excoriated the proceedings as an 'atrocity' and accused the judge of judicial misconduct, the court's response was almost sheepish." Video. Judge bans war testimony 06.02.07. Washington Times. Watada Court-Martial Ends in Mistrial 07.02.07. Gallindez / Millard, Truth Out. In a stunning defeat for military prosecutors, Lt. Col. John Head, the military judge presiding over Watada's court-martial, said he had no choice but to declare a mistrial because military prosecutors and Watada's defense attorney could not reach an agreement regarding the characterization of a stipulation agreement Watada signed before the start of his court-martial. The judge characterized the stipulation agreement as an admission of guilt by Watada for "missing movement" and making statements against the Iraq war. Eric Seitz, Watada's attorney, said the stipulation Watada signed, however, was by no means an admission of guilt by his client. Rather, it was a statement of fact that his client believed the Iraq war was illegal, and that he refused to deploy to the region with his unit because of his beliefs. Reprieve for Officer Who Denounced "Immoral War" 08.02.07. A. Glanz. Lt. Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz, blamed the suppression of what he called his client's "legitimate defence" for the mistrial. "Every time the government has tried to prevent political speech, which they are attempting to punish, from infusing the trial proceedings it has created a major mess and many of those cases resulted in mistrials," Seitz said, mentioning a few famous cases he has handled over the years, such as the 1969 Chicago conspiracy trial where seven peace activists, including Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale, were charged with crossing state lines with the intent to incite antiwar riots and disrupt the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (See also press conferences on this same website.) Army Files New Charges in Watada Court-Martial 24.02.07. Christian Hill, The Olympian/ Truth Out. Lt. Watada Is Not Alone 28.02.07, Sarah Olsen, anti-war.com |
Google blots out Iraq bases on internet
21.01.07. T. Harding, Telegraph.
US Army sued for spying on weblogs
06.02.07. pcadvisor/legitgov.
The People vs. Richard Cheney
Wil Hylton, Truth Out. 'Resolved, that Richard B. Cheney, vice president of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that these articles of impeachment be submitted to the American people.
Routine Practices of Torture by US Forces in Iraq: Testimony of Abbas Z. Abid to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission
23.02.07. Global Research.ca.
Justice Department Fires Eighth US Attorney
24.02.07. D. Eggen, Washington Post/Truth Out. ' An eighth U.S. attorney announced her resignation yesterday, the latest in a wave of forced departures of federal prosecutors who have clashed with the Justice Department over the death penalty and other issues.'
Why Have So Many US Attorneys Been Fired? It Looks a Lot Like Politics
26.02.07. A. Cohen, NY Times / Truth Out.
The Locusts
26.02.07. Felicity Arbuthnot, Global Research. Killing Civilization in Mesopotamia. After the illegal invasion, the US military did the unthinkable. They made a camp in the great turquoise memorial to the half million lost souls of the Iran-Iraq warThe locusts in uniform, who have destroyed Iraq, humanity, sustenance, its history, predating the time of Christ and the Prophet Mohammed, are never, it seems, satiated or satisfied. From the early defiling (ongoing) of Mosques, cemeteries (Muslim, Christian, Yazidi ...) even the sacred tributes to the memory of the martyrs are being destroyed and defiled.
Systematic Abuse of Prisoners in US "War on Terror"
28.02.07. Nicole Colson, CounterPunch / uruk.net. License to Torture.
Iraq: New Martial Law Powers Threaten Basic Rights
01.03.04. uruknet. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's new security plan for Baghdad grants military commanders sweeping powers to arrest people and restrict their basic freedoms of speech and association, Human Rights Watch said today.
Rape Cases emerge From the Shadows
01.03.07. Dahr Jamail. Reports of the gang-rape of 20-year-old Sabrine al-Janabi by three policemen has set off new demands for justice from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
Outrage over Imminent Execution of Iraqi Women
02.03.07. Dahr Jamail. Three young women accused of joining the Iraqi insurgency movement and engaging in "terrorism" have been sentenced to death, provoking protest from rights organisations fearing that this could be the start of more executions of women in post-Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
War is Terror
06.04.07. William Blum, ICH. 'Like so many other "terrorists" held by the United States in recent years, Hicks had been "sold" to the American military for a bounty offered by the US, a phenomenon repeated frequently in Afghanistan and Pakistan. US officials had to know that once they offered payments to a very poor area to turn in bodies that almost anyone was fair game.
Other "terrorists" have been turned in as reprisals for all sorts of personal hatreds and feuds. Many others -- abroad and in the United States -- have been incarcerated by the United States simply for working for, or merely contributing money to, charitable organizations with alleged or real ties to a "terrorist organization", as determined by a list kept by the State Department, a list conspicuously political.
No Saddam Aal-Qaida Link: Full Pentagon Report
A PDF of the Pentagon inspector general report. See also: Pentagon Officer Created Phony Intel on Iraq/al-Qaeda Link and Report outlines Pentagon effort to link Iraq, al Qaeda . BUT. DICK CHENEY IS STILL LYING
My Name Used to Be 200343
07.04.07. David Phinney, IPS / Alternet. An American former Navy soldier and private contractor imprisoned and tortured in Iraq by the US military and falsely accused of "aiding terrorists" warns that our worst fears about Iraq have come true.' (also our worst fears about the USA).
US TAXES US Tax season 16.04.07. Sabbah's Blog, uruknet. Tax deadline in the US is traditionally on April 15, however, this year it was extended to April 17th because April 15th was a Sunday and Monday is public holidays. Anyway, here are relevant facts and figures for US taxpayers: * Percentage of US discretionary budget spent on education and other social services: 8% * Percentage of US discretionary budget spent for military: 57% (but the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan are funded in supplementary budget requests so must be add to that!) * US Military Budget as a percent of World total military expenditures: 49% * Number of Americans classified as "food insecure" in 2004: 38 million * Number of Americans without health insurance: 45 million * Total direct aid to Israel 1948-2006: $255 billion * Total Cost of US Support for Israel: $1.688 trillion (not counting money and lives lost in Israel propelled wars like Iraq, not counting loss of $trillions in business with the rest of the world because of US support for Israel etc) * Federal aid for each resident in Louisiana in 2002 (from their taxes): $1,500 * Direct U.S. aid for each Israeli citizen in 2003 (per capita income in Israel-$16,710; they do not pay taxes to the US): $581 * Direct U.S. aid for each Ethiopian citizen in 2004 (per capita income in Ethiopia - $110): $2.50 * Percentage of U.S. foreign aid that goes to Israel: 27% * Population of Israel as percentage of total world population: 0.1%... |
SPANISH JUDGE: BUSH GUILTY WAR CRIMES
18.04.07. Free Market News. A Spanish judge is calling for President Bush and his allies to be tried for war crimes over Iraq.
UN criticises Iraq human rights
25.04.07. BBC / ICH. The UN has sharply criticised the Iraqi government's human rights record, in the two months since a security plan was launched in the capital, Baghdad. The report describes the situation in Iraq as a "rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis".
Iraq not respecting rights of security detainees: UNAMI
25.04.07. The Jurist.
FULL TEXT: Articles of Impeachment of Dick Cheney
26.04.07. Atlantic Free Press / anti-war.com.
Judge indicts 3 U.S. soldiers over journalist's killing in Iraq
27.04.07. Chron.com.
Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death
05.07. Wired / Media Channel. The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops’ online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say.
Only 55 percent of U.S. soldiers would report killing innocent civilian
04.05.07. PAULINE JELINEK, AP / ICH.
One in Ten US Occupation Troops Admit Mistreating Civilians
05.07. AFP / ICH. A survey of US combat troops deployed in Iraq has found that one in 10 said they mistreated civilians and more than a third condoned torture to save the life of a comrade, a report said Friday.
THE WALL Latest US solution to Iraq's civil war: a three-mile wall 21.04.07. MacAskill, Guardian / legitgov. Concrete barrier to encircle Sunni district · Construction under cover of night. IRAQ: Walls will increase violence, specialists say 23.04.07. Reuters / ANTI-WAR.COM Iraq "Security" Wall Compared to Israel's Controversial Apartheid 23.04.07. BBS. Frustration Over Wall Unites Sunni and Shiite 23.04.07.A. Rubin, NY Times. The unexpected outcry about the proposed construction of a wall around a Sunni Arab neighborhood has revealed the depths of Iraqi frustration with the petty humiliations created by the new security plan intended to protect them. … The strong reaction underscores the sense of powerlessness Iraqis feel in the face of the American military, whose presence is all the more pervasive as an increasing number of troops move on to the city’s streets. Israelis with Ahmed Chalabi are building the walls in Iraq ... ÂÊ Í»ÊÍ «‰Õ«∆◊ø 24.04.07. Imad Khadduri, Free Iraq/uruknet. ' Dar Babel for Studies & Information (Mosul) has issued a report (above, in Arabic, April 24, 2007) indicating that work on the "walls" that are now being put up in Iraq have been in preparation for over three months. This project is being headed by Ahmad Al-Chalabi in conjunction with the Israeli company of Zeef Belinsky who has a long track record in ghetto construction, and with Al-Mahdi Army's financing and labor. The document provides sufficient details on the six work locations producing these concrete blocks, for easier targeting.' Iraq says modifying Baghdad neighbourhood wall 25.04.07. Reuters. Iraq has modified a U.S. military plan to protect a Sunni enclave in Baghdad with high concrete walls, and is using barbed wire and smaller cement barriers instead, an Iraqi military spokesman said on Wednesday. … Residents have complained bitterly that the walls, up to 12 feet (3.5 metres) tall, would isolate them from other communities and sharpen sectarian tensions. Ghettoizing Baghdad 25.04.07. Felicity Arbuthnot,uruknet. ‘The world has seen America's little President declaring 'Mission accomplished' staged on a warship, geared up in a dinky flying suit (which did some strange things to his lower organs) 'milestones', the 'surge' and now the ghettoization of Baghdad. As the Nazis in Warsaw, the US in Vietnam, the Israelis in Palestine. America also plans a wall between itself and Mexico and Iraq and Saudia Arabia, reportedly to be built by the Israeli company, Zeef Belinsky, who have pioneered the new Berlin Wall between Israel and Palestine.’ The Great Wall of Segregation 26.04.07. Riverbend, Baghdad Burning. Anger in Baghdad as Americans finish wall 03.05.07. Telegraph. |
Disappeared without a trace: more than 10,000 Iraqis
13.05.07. McClatchy.
Iraq: A New Age Of Genocide?
15.05.07. Bill Weinberg, Tom Paine. ‘Amid daily media body counts and analyses of whether the “surge” is “working,” there is an even more horrific reality in Iraq, almost universally overlooked. The latest annual report by the London-based Minority Rights Group International, released earlier this year, places Iraq second as the country where minorities are most under threat—after Somalia. Sudan is third.
Occupation forces arrested 900 civilians
18.05.07. Roads to Iraq/uruknet. Occupation forces in their disparate attempt to find any information about their missing soldiers arrested 900 citizens from Al-yousfioya city, reported on Nahrainnet.
One-Third of Troops in Iraq Support Torture, Majority Condone Mistreating Innocent Civilians
24.05.07. Winslow Wheeler, AlterNet. A recent study shows startling findings about the widespread abuse of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops.
* "Only 47 percent of soldiers and only 38 percent of Marines agreed that noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect."
* "Well over a third of soldiers and Marines reported torture should be allowed, whether to save the life of a fellow soldier or Marine … or to obtain important information about insurgents…."
* 28 percent of soldiers and 30 percent of Marines reported they had cursed and/or insulted Iraqi noncombatants in their presence.
* 9 percent and 12 percent, respectively, reported damaging or destroying Iraqi property "when it was not necessary."
* 4 percent and 7 percent, respectively, reported hitting or kicking a noncombatant "when it was not necessary.
* The study also reports that only 55 percent of soldiers and just 40 percent of Marines would report a unit member injuring or killing "an innocent noncombatant," and just 43 percent and 30 percent, respectively, would report a unit member destroying or damaging private property.
Fairford Two strike blow for anti-war protesters after jury decide they were acting to stop crime
26.05.07. Addley, Norton-Taylor, Guardian. Ruling seen as 'judicial endorsement' of attempts to stop B52 bombers. The result, according to their lawyer, is the closest an English court has come to accepting that war crimes were committed by Britain and America in Iraq. As a jury verdict in a crown court, the ruling does not set a direct legal precedent, but its implications may be significant for future protesters.
12. Some Deaths
REPORTS
The Human Cost of the War in Iraq: A Mortality Study, 2002-2006
09.10.06. Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; School of Medicine, Al Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq; in cooperation with the Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. See also related Appendix
ACLU Releases Files on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq
12.04.07. ACLU. Americans Have a Right to Unfiltered Information About the Human Costs of War, ACLU Says. NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today made public hundreds of claims for damages by family members of civilians killed or injured by Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACLU received the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request it filed in June 2006.
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today made public hundreds of claims for damages by family members of civilians killed or injured by Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACLU received the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request it filed in June 2006.
ARTICLES
Almost 2,000 bodies taken to Baghdad morgue (July).
09.08.06. Reuters.
U.S. count of Baghdad deaths excludes car bombs, mortar attacks
08.09.06. M Brunswick / Z. Obeid, McClatchy.
4,000 Iraq Police Killed in Past 2 Years
06.10.06. AP / Forbes.
Medics Beg For Help As Iraqis Die Needlessly
20.10.06. J. Laurance, Independent. Medical facts for Iraq.
Another US crime in Ashaqi Photographic evidence
08.12.06. Roads to Iraq, uruknet.
Baath Party Statement: To the American Administration: A warning to anyone who harms President Saddam Hussein and his comrades
26.12.06. The Arab Baath Socialist Party.
U.S.: Saddam Likely To Die By Sunday
28.12.06. CBS / AP / URUK.
| Saddam's Death Saddam hanged at dawn 30.12.06. Al Jalzeera.net. Video Saddam Hanging Video Leak. 2 min. Who stands where on the death penalty 30.12.06. BBC. Storm Rages Over Trial, Sentence 30.12.06. Toronto Star / Common Dreams. Human rights advocates say process that saw three lawyers murdered amounted to a travesty of justice Bush Lies Again After Saddam Executed: Bush Doesn’t Know What a Fair Trial, or Justice, Is 30.12.06. M/ Rothschild, Progressive / Common Dreams. ‘Saddam Hussein had barely stopped dangling when George W. Bush revved up the lie machine. Saddam's last words. 31.12.06. Channel 4 news. Did Saddam Die For Our Sins? 09.01.07. B. Lando, Tom Paine. The disappearance of Saddam Hussein means that a lot of current and former top officials in the United States and other Western governments can breathe easier. The story of the West’s complicity in many of the tyrant’s most horrific crimes will remain untold, at least by the one man who could have spelled it out most clearly. What the Media has Deliberately Concealed 31.01.07. Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, ICHBlog. The barbaric lynching of Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, was a choreographed event, a carefully staged U.S. sponsored PSYOP, with a view to triggering social divisions and fomenting sectarian violence within Iraq and the broader Middle East. |
The Forgotten American Dead
27.01.07. T. Englehardt, Tom Dispatch. Rural America Pays the President's Price in Iraq. “Take the Pentagon announcements for Iraq "casualties" from January 11th through January 23 -- 21 dead in all, 17 from the Army, 2 from the Marines, and 2 from the Navy (one in a "non-combat related incident" in Iraq, the other in Bahrain). (P) Then just check out their hometowns. Remove a few obvious large metropolitan areas, or parts thereof -- Boston, El Paso, Jacksonville, Irving (home of the Dallas Cowboys), and Irvine (California) -- and here's the parade of names you're left with … “
Injury count in Iraq disputed.
28.01.07. S. Koff, Plain Dealer.
Story, photo of sergeant's death threatens embed status of 'Times' journalists
01.02.07AP, USA TODAY. The intimate portrayal of a sergeant's death during Army efforts to clear a Baghdad neighborhood has caused friction between the military and The New York Times, while sparking larger questions about war coverage and media-military relations.
Iraqi Civilian Deaths Up in March
01.04.07. BBC. Iraqi figures estimate civilian deaths in violence across the country rose by 13% last month, despite the security crackdown in Baghdad. Data compiled by several ministries put civilian deaths in March at 1,861 - compared with 1,645 for February.
| MATTY HULL
(Matty Hull, theworldlink.com)
|
US Reconfigures the way casualty totals are given
02.02.07. DENISE GRADY, NY Times. ‘Statistics on a Pentagon Web site have been reorganized in a way that lowers the published totals of American nonfatal casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Number of US troops killed in Iraq breaks record
08.02.07. The Int. News. ‘More US troops were killed in combat in Iraq over the past four months, at least 334 through Jan 31, than in any comparable stretch since the war began, according to an Associated Press analysis of casualty records. Not since the bloody battle for Fallujah in 2004 has the death toll spiked so high. It is not possible to fully track the trend in bomb-caused deaths by month. The US military considers such information secret because it is considered potentially useful to the insurgents and their backers.… Now, under a new approach announced by Bush on Jan 10, US troops will be paired up with Iraqi brigades in each of nine districts across Baghdad, rather than operating mainly from large US bases.’ some further interesting details given.
Video. US_Soldiers_Run_an_Iraqi_Off_the_Road. It would probably be nice to check on the guy that you just caused to roll his truck. To see if he's, you know, dead or something.
Italy Orders Trial for US Soldier in Calipari Shooting
27.02.07. Current Concerns.
Unacceptable death toll in Iraq, say Americans
28.02,07. Angus Reid. 77% of respondents believe the number of U.S. military casualties and Iraqi civilian casualties has been unacceptable.
Occupation killed a family of seven members in Iraq
25.02.07. Roads to Iraq. - Residents in Aana city in Anbar-province reported that US occupation forces destroyed the Communication and Post Center building. ... An eyewitness said that US soldiers put explosives in the building and destroy it, no one injured in the process but part of the city hospital which is close to the building was damaged.
- Reported on Qudspress, an Iraqi ambulance man, reported that US military killed a family of seven people with their taxi driver, in their way to leave Iraq for Jordan. ... The eyewitness Ahmed Khalaf Aljoaani said: American forces opened fire on the car "GMC" with a family in it, a father, the mother and five children and the taxi driver in their way to Jordan to escape the deteriorating situation, all killed. The American forces blocked the area of the incident, which was on the international highway, near Al-Qaim city for an hour, re-opening after the removal of the bodies, and prevented two photo-journalists from photographing the accident.
U.S. military deaths in Iraq at 3,230
22.03.07. AP.
Video. U.S. soldiers shooting Iraqi civilians (23.03.07) 2 min. WAR CRIME
Another Casualty: Coverage of the Iraq War
24.03.07. Dahr Jamail. 'Iraq is the most dangerous place in the world for journalists. Along with names and dates, the Brussels Tribunal has listed the circumstances under which Iraqi media personnel have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. This extremely credible report cites 195 as dead. If non-Iraqi media representatives are included, the figure goes beyond 200. Both figures are well in excess of the media fatalities suffered in Vietnam or during World War II"
(from Foreign Policy in Focus). 'The primary reason why reporting from Iraq is dangerous for all journalists is the horrific security situation. Iraqi journalists reporting from the streets are in perpetual danger. If any of the countless militias does not want a certain story made public, it will make sure that the journalist has filed his or her last story. Not to mention the scores of reporter deaths which have been the combined handiwork of the Iraqi government, occupation forces and/or criminal gangs. . Despite President Bush’s assertion that life in Iraq is improving, a senior Iraqi journalist was found dead in the capital on March 3, 2007. On the same day the body of the managing editor of Baghdad’s al-Safir newspaper, Jamal al-Zubaidi, was found shot in the head.'
America's Hidden War Dead
26.03.07. Howard Witt, The Chicago Tribune/ Truth Out. 'Like thousands of other Americans who have served in Iraq since the U.S. intervention began four years ago, Walter Zbryski came home in a coffin. Only his coffin was not draped in an American flag or accompanied by a military honor guard. Instead, the mangled body of the 56-year-old retired firefighter from New York City was shipped back to his family in June 2004 in the bloodied clothes in which he died, with half of his head blown away, according to Zbryski's brother Richard. "I viewed the body," Richard Zbryski said. "What really upset me was that he was laying there floating in at least 6 inches of his own body fluids. They didn't even clean him up for us."
Counting the cost
27.03.07. R. Horton, Guardian. Richard Horton. It's time we held our leaders to account for the 650,000 Iraqi dead. 'Our collective failure has been to take our political leaders at their word. This week, the BBC reported that the government's own scientists advised ministers that the Johns Hopkins study on Iraq civilian mortality was accurate and reliable. This paper was published in the Lancet last October. It estimated that 650,000 Iraqi civilians had died since the American- and British-led invasion in March 2003.'
Fallujah Fears a 'Genocidal Strategy'
30.03.07. Ali al-Fadhily, Dahr Jamail website, Interpress. Iraqis in the volatile al-Anbar province west of Baghdad are reporting regular killings carried out by U.S. forces that many believe are part of a 'genocidal' strategy.
US compensation files for Iraqi, Afghan civilian deaths released under FOIA
12.04.07. The Jurist. A searchable database documenting civilian casualties. There are 479 files from Iraq and 17 from Afghanistan. 'While some claims were denied because the incidents arose from enemy action or occurred during combat situations, other incidents resulted in cash payments. When the military admits fault, the payments are labeled as "compensation." "Condolence" payments, which the military offers as expressions of sympathy, can be awarded without military admission of fault and are capped at $2500.'
Iraq: US Data on Civilian Casualties Raises Serious Concerns
12.04.07. Human Rights Watch. US government documents made public by court order raise serious concerns about the number of civilian casualties caused by American soldiers and contractors in Iraq and the standards under which it pays compensation to Iraqi victims, Human Rights Watch said today. The records, which document compensation claims made by the families of Iraqis killed by US troops, were revealed today by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
US Troop Deaths Up 21 Percent in Iraq
14.04.07. AP / Truthout. The article also says 'Iraqi civilian deaths have fallen in last two months' - but that doesn't ring true any more than Iraq Body Count rings true. -
The assassination of two professors from Mosul University
04.07. Al mosul. Another wave of assassination of Academics in Mosul. Dr Talal Al-Jalili and Dr Jaffer
Iraqis Hunt for Dead Relatives After Bombs Kill 190
19.04.07. Salam Faraj, Agence France-Presse/Truthout. Devastated Iraqis hunted for dead relatives in city morgues on Thursday after brutal car bombings killed 190 people in Baghdad and raised questions about the US-led security plan for the capital.
Iraq concealing casualty figures: UN
25.04.07. INT. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq criticised Baghdad on Wednesday for concealing the casualty figures from its sectarian war and charged that many detainees have "disappeared". In a report on January 16, UNAMI said more than 34 400 people had died in the daily acts of violence across the country in 2006.
Car bombs kill nearly 200 in Baghdad 18 Apr 2007 Car bombs killed nearly 200 people in Baghdad on Wednesday in the deadliest attacks in the city since US and Iraqi forces launched a 'security crackdown'
Bomb blasts mock Iraq's security plan 19 Apr 2007 Car bombs killed 140 people in Baghdad yesterday in the deadliest attacks in the city since US and Iraqi forces launched a security crackdown aim ...
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq criticised Baghdad on Wednesday for concealing the casualty figures from its sectarian war and charged that many detainees have "disappeared".
U.S. officials exclude car bombs in touting drop in Iraq violence
25.04.07. McClatchy / anti-war.com. 'U.S. officials who say there has been a dramatic drop in sectarian violence in Iraq since President Bush began sending more American troops into Baghdad aren't counting one of the main killers of Iraqi civilians.'
Iraq refuses to provide civilian casualty figures to U.N.
26.04.07. LA Times / fairuse / anti-war.com. ... 'but numbers from various ministries indicate that more than 5,500 people died in the Baghdad area alone in the first three months of this year.'
Iraqi civilians believed dead in US strike-military
26.04.07. Reuters/anti-war.com. 'Two Iraqi women and two children were believed to have been killed in a U.S. air strike aimed at al Qaeda militants north of Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. military said.'
US Troops April Death Toll in Iraq Passes 100
30.04.07. AP /Truth out.
Memorial honoring fallen soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan runs out of room
04.05.07. Fort Wayne.com. According to the Defense Department, 3,736 U.S. service members died in the two wars by the end of April. New names are added to the display every few months, but none have been added since November. The last name listed is Lance Cpl. Luke Holler, 21-year-old Marine reservist from Bulverde, Texas, killed by an explosive device on Nov. 2.
All the children dying in Iraq aren't dying of disease
08.05.07. Eli Stephens, Left I on the News/uruk. Some are simply being killed: A US helicopter gunship attacked a public school in Diyala Province, killing seven children and wounding another three, police said.
Collateral Genocide
13.04.07. Mike Ferner, ICH. This summer will be one year since researchers from Johns Hopkins University collected data for a study which concluded 655,000 additional deaths were caused by the military war, and things have only gotten worse since then. Then consider that the economic war killed an additional 500,000 Iraqi kids under the age of five during only the first seven years of sanctions which were in force for a dozen years, according to a 1999 U.N. report.
Two elements are necessary to commit the crime of genocide: 1) the mental element, meaning intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, and 2) the physical element, which includes any of the following: killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births; or forcibly transferring children to another group.
Andrew Bacevich’s son killed in Iraq
Writer for Post suffers ultimate sacrifice
14.05.07. Greg Mitchell, Editor and Publisher. His father, Andrew Bacevich, is author of the superb book, The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War
Murder After the 'Surge'from anti-war.com (headlines/dates only)
Deaths from anti-war.com
Wednesday: 312 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 302 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 2 Britons, 82 Iraqis Killed; 70 Iraqis Injured
Friday: 1 GI, 63 Iraqis Killed; 58 Iraqis Wounded; 130 Iraqi Soldiers Poisoned
Sunday (22.04.07): Sunday: 3 GIs, 102 Iraqis Killed; 166 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 1 GI, UK Soldier, 52 Iraqis Killed; 80 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 90 Iraqis Killed, 158 Wounded
Friday: 3 GIs, 47 Iraqis Killed, 37 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 81 Iraqis Killed, 61 Wounded
Bloody Sunday: 12 GIs, 118 Iraqis Killed
Monday: 2 GIs, 128 Iraqis Killed; 90 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: (08.05.07) 2 GIs, 114 Iraqis Killed, 127 Wounded, 30 Kidnapped
Wednesday: 1 GI, 80 Iraqis Killed; 137 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 62 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 2 GIs, 77 Iraqis Killed; 87 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 6 GIs Killed, More Captured; 40 Iraqis Killed
Sunday: 2 GIs, 146 Iraqis Killed, 201 Iraqis Injured
Monday (14.05) : 6 GIs, 1 Dane, 95 Iraqis Killed
Tuesday: 78 Iraqis Killed, 114 Wounded
Wednesday: 147 Iraqis Killed, 243 Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 78 Iraqis Killed; 36 Iraqis Wounded, 12 Kidnapped
Friday: 5 GIs, 89 Iraqis Killed; 42 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 6 GIs, 95 Iraqis Killed; 65 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday 20.05.07. : 7 GIs, 1 Korean Soldier, 97 Iraqis Killed; 94 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 1 Briton, 50 Iraqis Killed; 69 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 105 Iraqis Killed, 121 Wounded
Wednesday: 10 GIs, 127 Iraqis Killed, 98 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 6 GIs, 101 Iraqis Killed; 81 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 6 GIs, 37 Iraqis Killed; 38 Iraqis Wounded
FUTURE DEATHS AND DU
REPORT
UK's Depleted Uranium Oversight Board Release Final Report
12.04.07. ICBUW. The Depleted Uranium Oversight Board (DUOB) was established in 2001 to oversee a testing programme for British veterans (military and civilian) who wished to know whether they had been significantly exposed to depleted uranium (DU) in the 1990/91 Gulf War or during later military operations in the Balkans. … in all 464 veterans were tested - out of a possible 50,000 who served in the Gulf and Balkan wars.
ICBUW's Uranium Weapons Briefing
01.03.07. ICBUW. An eight page (PDF) briefing covering all the main aspects of the DU issue
ARTICLES
Bill should've passed
18.03.07. Aberdeen News. This bill was to ensure our most recently separated veterans were notified of possible exposure to and screening for depleted uranium. The Veterans Affairs is testing free of charge for our South Dakota troops. This bill would have made sure that every South Dakota man and woman who served this country in the Armed Forces was notified of the right to a medical evaluation for exposure to depleted uranium.
Belgium Bans Uranium Weapons and Armour
23.03.07. Willem Van den Panhuysen, Global Research. Belgium has become the first country in the world to ban uranium weapons! ICBUW praises the hard work and commitment of the Belgian Coalition Stop Uranium Weapons.
US accused of using neutron bombs
08.04.07. aljazeera.net / uruknet. Saifeddin Fulayh Hassan Taha al-Rawi told Al Jazeera that US forces used neutron and phosphorus bombs during their assault on Baghdad airport before the April 9 capture of the Iraqi capital. ... A neutron bomb is a thermonuclear weapon that produces minimal blast and heat but releases large amounts of lethal radiation that can penetrate armour and is especially destructive to human tissue. In a further story entitled The US used neutron weapons in the battle of the airport, the video has been removed from view. ??
480 US nuclear warheads in Europe
10.04.07. presstv.ir. A documentary aired on Italian TV channel, RAI 24, has claimed that the U.S. military is keeping 480 nuclear warheads across Europe, 90 in Italy.
Thwarted Warrior: Depleted uranium and the mystery of sick and dying Gulf War vets
13.04.07. Robert C. Koehler, The Smirking Chimp/uruknet. We know about the VA scandal, the great betrayal, but what almost no one talks about are the numbers. According to Veterans Administration figures from last November, 205,000 GIs who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, a third of the total, have sought medical care, for such problems as malignant tumors (1,584), endocrinal and metabolic diseases (36,409), nervous system diseases (61,524), digestive system diseases (63,002), musculoskeletal diseases (87,590), and mental disorders (73,157), among many other conditions. One of the largest categories is "ill defined," a.k.a. mystery conditions (67,743). In comparison, a relatively small number (35,765) have sought VA care for injuries. … let's not forget to ask a more basic question: Why are all these GIs getting sick? And with even more urgent moral imperative, especially in the context of the invasion's justification, we must also ask: What about the Iraqis? Count on it, if our vets are sick, so are the Iraqis' children, their elderly, and they're making do with a shattered health-care infrastructure that makes our own look positively First World. Interesting life story about DU expert, (ex) Major Rokke.
Tomgram: Nick Turse, The Air War in Iraq Uncovered
15.05.07. Nick Turse, Tom Dispatch. The Shape of a Shadowy Air War. Did the U.S. Lie about Cluster Bomb Use in Iraq? At a time when many nations are moving toward banning the use of cluster munitions, which pose a more serious threat to civilians than any other type of weaponry, the U.S other type of weaponry, the U.S. opposes new limits of any kind.
Update 05.06.08
Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control
05.06.08. Patrick Cockburn, Independent. Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors. A secret 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.
+
The url to US Bases in Iraq. Part I: Baghdad is: http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2006/04/us-bases-in-iraq-part-i-baghdad.html
See other Index Research articles on Iraq:
US/UK Bases in Iraq. Part II. The South: Falcon-al-Sarq, Tallil, Shaibah
Iraqs US/UK Permanent Bases: Intentional Obfuscation
Iraq: The Occupation is the Disease
Iraq: Assassination of Academics: The Jalili Report
Prisons and Torture in Iraq
Victims of Violence
07.04.06. (Updated regularly) S. Meyer, Index Research. The results of ‘post-traumatic-stress on soldiers
Iraq: Security Companies and Training Camps
Totalitarianism and Obedience
13.02.07. Sarah Meyer, Index Research.
Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in Sussex, UK.
http://indexresearch.blogspot.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, US Bases, oil,Camp Cropper, Camp Nama, Camp Victory, Abu Ghraib, Camp Liberty, torture, Green Zone, Human Rights,
Labels: Amnesty aireport2007, Baghdad Bases, Bremer, Contractors, map oilfields, Media and Videos, refugees, Saddam, Troops in Iraq, Watada, Wolfovitz
posted by Sarah Meyer @ 4/17/2006 07:34:00 pm
Naomi Klein 
<< Home