INDEX RESEARCH

Index Research will focus on a country or an issue which is of particular interest to me. Articles have appeared on http://www.afterdowningstreet.org http://www.albasrah.net http://www.aljazeerah.info http://www.bellaciao.org http://www.brussellstribunal.org http://www.globalresearch.ca http://www.informationclearinghouse.info http://www.mediachannel.org http://www.uruknet.info http://www.williambowles.info and others.

Friday, April 20, 2007

ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORISM JOINS CORPORATE OLIGARCHY

by Sarah Meyer
Index Research



The United States has found another goldmine for corporate profit. 9/11 and 'Al Qaida' are invoked. Israel is involved. The project is under the auspices of "NATO", which is fundamentally a US government-run organisation (see Nato: the Bathtub of Unreadiness (05.09.06).

NATO to finance Technionwater terrorism research
19.04.07. Amnon Barzilai, globes.co. (© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007)

"The project has a budget of €300,000 and is due to be completed at the end of 2008. ‘NATO will finance an interdisciplinary research project by Technion - Israel Institute of Technology on protecting water supplies against biological and chemical terrorism. This is the first research project of its kind in Israel, and is in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the subsequent anthrax attacks in the US."

The article continues: "Prof. Israel Schechter of the Faculty of Chemistry said, “After al-Qaida documents and plans were discovered in Afghanistan, the FBI warned that the organization was planning to attack water sources. It turns out that water dispersal systems in the US, Israel, and other developed countries in the world are completely exposed. They are outdoors, with no guards. The systems are large and numerous, and guards cannot be placed at all of them. An expert panel examined the issue and gave its recommendations to Congress, which allocated $608 million to solve the problem.”

Schechter continues: “I tried to think like a terrorist and discovered a way to place a handful of a certain poison into water sources that could kill large numbers of people, despite the dilution factor. That’s why I started to develop a device that can detect chemical poisons in water and neutralize them.”

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I see. It is fine for a government-sponsored person to 'think like a terrorist.' But if any of us, the general public, tried 'to think like a terrorist,' or - worse - PROTESTED government actions, we would be victims of eavesdropping, stopped at airports, denied lecture giving, removed from the internet, arrested, and US-illegally-whisked away to be tortured.

Perhaps it is in the general interest of the public for the U.S. government / FBI / NATO / Technion to publish these documents? We don't wish to again be fooled into believing what we are (Niger cake;WMD;45 minutes) told by government sources about 'documents.'

Environmental terrorism has now joined the US greed guzzlers, who are also making a fortune in security companies, the arms industry and homeland security. All on behalf of the 'War on Terror.' Clever government!

Many people the world over think that the U.S. government are the real 'terrorists'; that the 'War on Terror' is a sham on behalf of the corporate oligarchy.


UPDATES

Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water
25.04.07. Tara Lohan, Alternet.

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Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in Sussex, UK

The url to Environmental Terrorsim Joins Corporate Oligarchy is: http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2007/04/environmental-terrorism-takes-bow.html
The short url is: http://tinyurl.com/39sh7c

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

INDEX ON IRAQ: A JOURNEY IN HELL

by Sarah Meyer
Index Research

Girls look through a fence at a refugee camp in Mosul April 5, 2007.
About 250 families moved from Tal Afar town to camps in Mosul since
last weeks' violence attacks. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled al-Mousuly



"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate" Dante, Inferno.


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


GENERAL

Video. Iraq street scenes before Shock and Awe.

Life in Hell: A Baghdad Diary.
06.08.06. A. Ghosh, Time / Truth Out.

In Baghdad, the American Army Erects Walls Between Communities.
16.08.06. R. Ourdan, le Monde / Truth Out.


THE CHILDREN OF IRAQ

IRAQ: Children living without limbs lack support.
04.02.07. Irin. According to Save the Children, a UK-based NGO, many children were killed or injured in the initial US-led invasion of Iraq in April and March 2003. The NGO said the injured children continue to suffer the effects of the conflict, have become more vulnerable to chronic diseases and lack assistance. … The exact number of children living without limbs in Iraq, as a result of the war and the daily violence countrywide, is not known. However, local NGOs estimate that they must be in the thousands.

"Every explosion, air strike, fighting or targeting in Iraq makes a child injured. In addition, we cannot forget the remaining UXOs [unexploded ordnance] whose victims are mostly children," Khalid Ala'a, spokesman for local NGO Keeping Children Alive (KCA), said. "If you make a summation of all these children, they are going to be thousands and we cannot forget that the number of them killed since April 2003 by diseases, explosions or bullets, has reached 260,000," Ala'a added.

IRAQ: 4.5 million children undernourished.
05.03.07. Reuters / Irin.

60,000 Marriages broken by Iraq, Including Mine.
05.03.07. Stacy Bannerman, Alternet.

Third of Iraqi children now malnourished four years after US invasion.
16.03.07. Caritas Report

70% of Iraqi schoolchildren show symptoms of trauma.
17.04.07. USA Today.


CITIES IN IRAQ

In Baghdad, the American Army Erects Walls Between Communities.
16.08.06. R. Ourdan, le Monde / Truth Out.

Insecurity prevents clean-up of Iraq pollution.
07.02.07. Reuters. "We have identified more than 350 priority polluted areas, which include amounts of hazardous chemicals and depleted uranium," Environment Minister Nermeen Othman said on the sidelines of a major U.N. environment conference in Kenya. Environmentalists and anti-nuclear activists have linked depleted uranium used in U.S. and British munitions to higher Iraqi cancer rates and birth defects after the 1991 war and called for swift clean up campaigns. … polluted "hot spots", like the Khan Dhari petrochemicals site west of Baghdad that was partly burned down by looters during the war in March 2003.

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.

Iraq: New Martial Law Powers Threaten Basic Rights
01.03.07. 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.

BAGHDAD CHAOS PLAN.
03.03.07. McClatchy. Iraqi government call it (BAGHDAD SECURITY PLAN) and we call it (BAGHDAD CHAOS PLAN) every single member in the security system taking money from the people to be released like for example I have paid in one day 30,000 Iraqi dinars to the traffic police and the peace keeping forces to be forgiven for the mistake that I did, my mistake was that I was driving my car in the street to go to my work in the time that I not suppose to be driving I mean the government have sill! y law obligate me to drive three days a week in the street in Baghdad because the numbers of the car as you know the (odds and even ) numbers my car was odd and I was driving in the even day so can you imagine he took 15,000 Iraqi dinars to him self instead giving me the 30,000 Iraqi dinars penalty recede from the government and the keeping peace forces guy did the same thing at the time that it is non of his responsibility….

Full electricity in Baghdad 6 years off.
03.03.07. Baltimore Sun. ( is that a promise?) Getting full-time electric power turned on in Baghdad, a key wartime goal toward which the United States has spent $4.2 billion dollars, won't be accomplished until the year 2013, U.S. officials said yesterday, in what others called a significant setback for the new U.S. initiatives to quell Iraq's bloody insurgency.

US asks us to pick up litter while city is in ruins, says mayor of Baghdad.
04.03.07. Damien McElroy, Telegraph.


HEALTH IN IRAQ

Four years into the occupation: No health for Iraq.
22.03.07. Dr. Bert De Belder, BRussels Tribunal. Iraq’s health status, four years into the occupation, is nothing short of disastrous. Iraq’s health index has deteriorated to a level not seen since the 1950s, says Joseph Chamie, former director of the United Nation’s Population Division and an Iraq specialist. People’s health status is determined by social, economic and environmental factors much more than by the availability of healthcare. Not surprisingly, all these factor! s have deteriorated in the course of the occupation...

Shortage of safe water risks cholera in Iraq -U.N..
22.03.07. Suleiman al-KhalidiReuters / uruknet. United Nations agencies working in Iraq warned on Thursday a chronic shortage of safe drinking water risks causing more child deaths and an outbreak of waterborne disease such as cholera during the summer.

Thousands without food and supplies due to failing distribution system.
17.04.07. Report, IRIN. "The effectiveness and efficiency of the PDS ... have declined significantly," said the report issued on 10 April by the Washington-based NGO Refugees International (RI), an advocacy group.


REFUGEES OF IRAQ


Iraqis on the Run.
04.02.07. P. Cockburn, Counterpunch / ICHBlog. Iraq is experiencing the biggest exodus in the Middle East since Palestinians were forced to flee in 1948 upon the creation of Israel. "We were forced to leave our house six months ago and since then we have moved more than eight times," said Abu Mustafa, a 56-year-old man from Baghdad. "Sectarian violence has now even reached the displacement camps but we are tired of running away. Sometimes I have asked myself if it is not better to die than to live like a Bedouin all my life."

War in Iraq Propelling A Massive Migration.
04.02.07. Washington Post. As the fourth year of war nears its end, the Middle East's largest refugee crisis since the Palestinian exodus from Israel in 1948 is unfolding in a climate of fear, persecution and tragedy.

Nearly 2 million Iraqis -- about 8 percent of the prewar population -- have embarked on a desperate migration, mostly to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The refugees include large numbers of doctors, academics and other professionals vital for Iraq's recovery. Another 1.7 million have been forced to move to safer towns and villages inside Iraq, and as many as 50,000 Iraqis a month flee their homes, the U.N. agency said in January.

The State Department's Rosy Deception on Iraq Refugees.
09.02.07. Electronic iraq. The message from the State Department paints a picture that is filled with the positivity of good works being carried out in the name of America. From Jordan the view is different.

Iraq: The facts on displaced persons and refugees">Iraq: The facts on displaced persons and refugees.
28.02.07. Relief Web. The situation currently facing Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons has very quickly become one of the most pressing humanitarian crises in the world.

Leaving Iraq: Tales from a new diaspora.
04.03.07. The Star. REFUGEES | Nearly 2 million Iraqis, about 8 per cent of the pre-war population, are fuelling a desperate migration.

UN Plans to Open Iraqi Refugee Office in Jordan.
06.03.07. Democracy Now.

Europe Struggles with Inlfux of Iraqi Refugees.
06.03.07. NPR/ICH. After four years of chaos and violence, nearly two million Iraqis remain outside their country, according to the UN agency for refugees.

Video Report.. Iraq’s growing refugee crisis. Channel 4 News (12.03.07)

No Child Left Behind? Iraqi Edition.
13.03.07. R. Palta, Mother Jones / uruknet. 'few of the estimated 172,000 to 230,000 school-aged Iraq War refugees living Jordan are enrolled in school. Those children, many of whom are from middle class Iraqi families, lack the proper residency status to qualify for public school, and their families lack the finances to enroll their children in private institutions. As a result, over a hundred thousand Iraqi children have been out of school for as many as 4 years now--and that's just counting those in Jordan. '

U.N. seeks $1.7M to feed Iraqi refugees.
15.03.07. AP. 'The World Food Program has launched an appeal for $1.7 million to help feed tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees who are continue to arrive in Syria and increasingly without the resources to sustain themselves.'

More Iraqi refugees expected in Europe.
16.03.07. AP / The State. The number of Iraqi refugees arriving in Europe is expected to double to 40,000 in 2007 based on trends from the first two months of the year, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday

World 'ignoring Iraqi refugees'.
20.03.07. BBC/legitgov. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says there has been an "abject denial" around the world of the humanitarian impact of invading Iraq. Syria says it is home to 1.2m Iraqi refugees, with up to 800,000 in Jordan.

Thousands without food and supplies due to failing distribution system.
22.03.07. REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL

Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis?.
23.03.07. CRS REPORT.

Iraq: Time to Acknowledge and Address the Displacement Crisis.
03.04.07. Kristele Younes, Refugees International /alertnet. 'The humanitarian and displacement crisis in Iraq is growing in intensity and gravity. The UN estimates that more than two million Iraqis are now refugees in neighboring countries and more than 1.9 million have fled for safer areas within Iraq. Of these internally displaced people (IDPs), more than 730,000 have fled since the Samarra Shrine bombing of February 2006, which intensified the sectarian violence that is tearing Iraq apart.'

Child Refugees from Iraq Require Targeted Assistance in Host Countries.
09.04.07. Reuters. ' As violence in Iraq continues to add to the largest refugee crisis in the Middle East in half a century, World Vision has launched a combined advocacy and relief effort to assist children and families fleeing to neighboring countries. Some 2 million Iraqis have left their volatile homeland and many are struggling to cope without access to health care, legal employment or education for their children in host countries.'

Refugees Speak of Escape from Hell.
11.04.07. Dahr Jamail, IPS / uruknet. 'Refugees from Iraq scattered around Damascus describe hellish conditions in the country they managed to leave behind.'

Iraq: New humanitarian crisis looms as more than three million Iraqis displaced by war.
16.04.07. Amnesty International Press Release.

UN Refugee Agency Turns Spotlight on Iraqis.
17.04.07. Khody Akhavi,, Electronic Iraq. Nearly four million Iraqis have been displaced in and outside their country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, making it the largest exodus of people in the Middle East since the creation of Israel in 1948. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, on Tuesday will convene a two-day conference in Geneva to address Iraq's deepening humanitarian crisis.

US and UK Bear Special Duty to Aid Refugees.
17.04.07. Statement, Human Rights Watch. Iraq's neighbors are closing off escape routes to Iraqi asylum seekers, just as the international community has begun to respond to the 2 million refugees from the war, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. ... The briefing paper focuses on new restrictive measures taken by Jordan and Egypt to prevent more refugees from coming. Syria, which is hosting about 1 million Iraqis, denied visas to Human Rights Watch researchers seeking to document their situation. Saudi Arabia is building a US$7 billion high-tech barrier on its border with Iraq to keep Iraqis out, while Kuwait is categorically rejecting Iraqi asylum seekers.


HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAQ

War Crimes Committed by the United States in Iraq and Mechanisms for Accountability
10.10.06. Report, Consumers for Peace. This report was prepared by Consumers for Peace.org with the advice of Karen Parker, noted lawyer in human rights and humanitarian law. Ms. Parker is President of the San Francisco-based Association of Humanitarian Lawyers www.humanlaw.org) and Chief Delegate to the United Nations for the Los Angeles-based International Educational Development/Humanitarian Law Project (IED/AHL), an accredited non-governmental organization on the U.N. Secretary-General’s list.
See also http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15261.htm

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.

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.

Iraq: An ever-worsening crisis.
11.04.07. International Red Cross (ICRC) news. In a report issued today in Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expresses alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Iraq and calls for urgent action to better protect civilians against the continuing violence.

FULL ICRC REPORT. IRAQ: CIVILIANS WITHOUT PROTECTION.

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.


DEATH IN IRAQ

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.
IRAQ: Violence distressing mental state of population.
31.01.07. Irin. Bullets and bombs are killing thousands of civilians every month in Iraq while the psychological impact of the ongoing violence is affecting the mental health of millions and is a major cause for concern for future generations, psychologists say. See Guardian headlines: here.

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.

For hanging of Saddam Hussein, see ‘Updates, Index on US Bases, Baghdad

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.

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.'

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).

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. For further information on academic deaths, see The Brussels Tribunal website See thoughtful article by Joshua Holland, Violence like that at Virginia Tech is commonplace in Iraq's universities . The BRussels Tribunal published (19.04.07) a statement, Despite Baghdad "Security" plan: increase in assassinations of Iraqi academics

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MEANWHILE: THE US/UK ARE ON ANOTHER PLANET
New York dinner raises $18m. for IDF (Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces). Bizarre and obscene?

One Picture Sits Over Differing Surveys.
26.03.07. Ali al-Fadhily, Inter Press Service. 'The Sunday Times of London published the results of a survey Mar. 18 carried out by the British firm Opinion Research Business that claimed that most Iraqis prefer life under the new government to life under Saddam Hussein.' Who paid for this “survey”?


RESISTANCE IN IRAQ

The Iraqi resistance only exists to end the occupation.
12.04.07. Haifa Zangana. 'It is important to recognise that the resistance was born not only of ideological, religious and patriotic convictions, but also as a response to the reality of the brutal actions of the occupation and its administration. It is a response to arbitrary break-ins, humiliating searches, arrests, detention and torture. According to the Red Cross, "the number of people arrested or interned by the multinational forces has increased by 40% since early 2006. The number of people held by the Iraqi authorities has also increased significantly ... Many of the security detainees are women who have been subjected to abuse and rape and who are often arrested as a means to force male relatives to confess to crimes they have not committed. According to the Iraqi MP Mohamed al-Dainey, there are 65 documented cases of women's rape in occupation detention centres in 2006. Four women currently face execution - the death penalty for women was outlawed in Iraq from 1965 until 2004 - for allegedly killing security force members. These are accusations they deny and Amnesty International has challenged. . There is only one solution to this disaster, and that is for the US and Britain to accept that the Iraqi resistance is fighting to end the occupation.’

Sadr's Rising Star to Eclipse Bush's Surge? .
17.04.07. Electronic Iraq writes: "The prospect of Sadr's appeal extending to a section of the
Sunni community, with the tacit support of grand ayatollah Ali Sistani, is the nightmare scenario that the Bush
administration most dreads. Yet it may come to pass." SUPERB MUST READ ARTICLE by Dilip Hiro. 'This indeed was the case with the demonstration on April 9 in Najaf. Over a million Iraqis, holding aloft thousands of national flags, marched, chanting, "Yes, yes, Iraq/No, no, America" and "No, no, American/Leave, leave occupier." Both the size of the demonstration and its composition were unprecedented. "There are people here from all different parties and sects," Hadhim al-Araji, Sadr's representative in Baghdad's Kadhimiya district, told reporters. "We are all carrying the national flag, a symbol of unity. And we are all united in calling for the withdrawal of the Americans."... Crucially, the mammoth demonstration reflected the view prevalent among Iraqi lawmakers. Last autumn, 170 of them in a 275-member Parliament, signed a motion, demanding to know the date of a future American withdrawal.' The demonstrators arrived from all over the country in response to a call by Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric, to demand an end to foreign occupation on the fourth anniversary of the end of Baathist rule in Baghdad.

Sadr raises pressure for US to withdraw
17.04.07. Damien McElroy, The Telegraph. The United States faced a fresh challenge to its presence in Iraq yesterday when supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr's radical Shia Muslim movement quit the Baghdad government to demand a deadline for withdrawal of its troops.


VIDEOS


Video. U.S. soldiers shooting Iraqi civilians (23.03.07) 2 min.

Video. US soldiers destroyed civilians houses in Baghdad (25.03.07, Roads to Iraq / uruknet)...

Expat film maker charts Baghdad's dying past.
03.04.07. reuters.

Video. Je m'appelle Baghdad

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.

Unspeakable Grief and Horror.
Thewe. Photos and stories.

Soldiers Against the War
Thewe. Photos and stories.

Fallujah, Baghdad: Devastated Cities.
Thewe. Photos and stories

More Archive, Circus.
Thewe. Photos and stories.

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Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the U.K.

The url to Index on Iraq: A Journey in Hell is: http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2007/04/index-on-iraq-journey-in-hell.html
A short url is: http://tinyurl.com/2g6x7d

This blog will also appear on The BRussels Tribunal website .

Other blogs about Iraq by Sarah Meyer

Index on US Troops

UK Troops in Iraq: Timeline

US Bases in Iraq. Part I: Baghdad

Iraq: The Grateful Dead

Camp Falcon: What Really Happened?

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

PNAC: Rebuilding America's Defenses - A Biopsy on Imperialism; Part II: "Special Interests" - The Persian Gulf


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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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Monday, April 02, 2007

Index on Afghanistan: March 2007

by Sarah Meyer
Index Research

Kandahar Airfield 2002

Civilian murders define this month’s obscenities in Afghanistan but – as in Iraq - the war-mongers insist that ‘progress’ is being made. The Americans do not care about civilians dying either in Iraq or in Afghanistan. From the US perspective, perhaps every civilian killed is a future ‘terrorist.’

Canadian torture and losing prisoners in Afghanistan was under the spotlight this month. A further obscenity was the announcement of NATO racist policies in Kandahar Airbase toilets . Not surprising that Afghans, like Iraqis, don’t want occupation forces in their country?


1. Oil and Gas (Pakistan/Iran /India & Iraq)
2. Strategic Imperatives (Afghanistan, Pakistan, US, Media & Videos)
3. Contracts
4. Contractors
5. Investment and Aid
6. US/NATO (General; missile shield)
7. NATO Participating Countries (Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, UK
8. Opium
9. Human Rights (‘rendition; torture; Canadian misdemeanors; racism; Rumsfeld in German court case.)
10. Some Deaths (catalogue of civilian deaths; Pat Tillman)
11. Future Deaths
12. Meanwhile, in Iran
13. Meanwhile, in New Orleans


1. Oil / Gas


Iran, Pakistan and India plan to start laying a $7 billion gas pipeline by September 2009
10.03.07. Presstv.ir. According to Pakistan's Dawn newspaper, each country will build sections of the gas pipeline along its own territory. Iran has reportedly begun laying its 1,100 kilometer section of the pipeline to serve its eastern areas.

Afghanistan toward a new age and a future Trans-afghan pipeline
11.03.07. Turkish Weekly. ‘Afghanistan has been the first address of the global power struggle after 9/11. In the country, the security and stability problems are growing day by day as the Taliban increases its influence and the attacks ascend. The current trend foresights that the nation building targets are far away from the initial intentions.’

If the Iraqis Get Revenue Sharing, Exxon Gets Their Oil
30.03.07. R. Behan, Counterpunch / uruknet. Buried deep in the legislation and intentionally obscured is a near-guarantee of success for the Bush Administration's true objective of the war-capturing Iraq's oil-and George Bush will not casually forego that.


2. Strategic Imperatives


AFGHANISTAN

An Afghan Woman Speaks Out for Democracy and Is Threatened With Death
02.03.07. Truth Out.

Bush faces three major Afghanistan stumbling blocks
03.03.07 Amin Saikal. The Age.

Taliban destroys NATO military vehicle in S. Afghanistan
04.03.07. Pak Tribune.

Comment: civilian deaths are making Nato the enemy
05.03.07. T. Alabone, Times on Line. “People hate Nato more than the Russians.”

Afghans Demand US, NATO Withdrawal
06.03.07. Escambray.

Taliban website blocked as NATO offensive begins (Extra)
06.03.07. Monsters and Critics. However, on checking out the web site, Voice of Jihad, I found it IS available in the UK. As per usual, the US is being denied news.

Dead or alive, on his 50th birthday ghost of the Hindu Kush haunts US
10.03.07. D. Walsh, Guardian. CIA think they know where Osama bin Laden is. So do local tribesmen - hiding in the White House

Afghanistan lower house approves amnesty bill with Karzai revisions
10.03.07. The Jurist.

Speaker of Afghan Parliament to visit NATO headquarters
11.03.07. IRNA.

Kabul copes with lots of people, little water
13.03.07. M. Sappenfield, CS MONITOR. Kabul is home to 3.4 million people but has no public sewage system. Piped city water reaches only 18 percent of people. Daily power cuts last from dawn until 4 p.m. in the winter – longer in the summer. .. More than a million migrants have flooded into the capital city since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, seeking a job and a better life in the big city.

Senators to go on strike unless NATO stop killing civilians
14.03.07. Online news.The upper house of the parliament warned to stage a work-stoppage protest unless foreign forces stop killing civilians. Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, speaker of the upper house told the routine session of the House that they had several times demanded of the NATO to avoid repetition of targeting civilians in military operations, but they are still doing it, he termed NATO as failed in maintaining peace in the country.

Emerging Epicenter In the Afghan War
15.03.07. Washington Post. Caught in between are Helmand residents who say they are fed up with both sides.

Afghanistan Watch by the Numbers
16.03.07. Century Foundation. Comprehensive report.

Times: AIDS pandemic arrives in Afghanistan with refugees, drug users
18.03.07. Raw Story.

Israeli drones fly over Iraq, Afghanistan
20.03.07. presstv. Elbit Systems, one of Israel's leading defense electronics companies, said its little "Skylark" can cover an area within a range of 10 kilometers day or night.

NATO evacuates 600 in Afghanistan floods
21.03.07. SMH.

Afghans now rejecting NATO troops - for Taliban
23.03.07. Vive le Canada. Senlis Council’s Norine MacDonald QC. said: “The results from the survey are extremely alarming because they indicate that the international community is in serious trouble in Afghanistan. A return of the Taliban into power would have grave consequences for both the people of Afghanistan and for global security.”

Afghanistan: ‘Two feet and a lot of skin’
29.03.07. Asia Times. Government officials in this town in Khost province refer to the cross-border operations simply as "Suicide, Inc", a sophisticated joint venture between al-Qaeda and the Taliban.


PAKISTAN

Pakistan makes a deal with the Taliban
01.03.07. Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times. The Pakistani establishment has made a deal with the Taliban through a leading Taliban commander that will extend Islamabad's influence into southwestern Afghanistan and significantly strengthen the resistance in its push to capture Kabul.

Iran to Build Fence Along Pakistan Border: Iran-Pakistan Border Dispute
01.03.07. India-defence. Iran has started building a 700 kilometre-long concrete wall along its border with Pakistan. Pakistan's neighbour to the west has also increased patrols along the border with Pakistan and has stepped up checks on pilgrims crossing the international border.

Pakistan: U.S. Can't Target Militants Here
03.03.07. U.S. Claimed Authority To Cross Border. "There is no authorization for hot pursuit of terrorists into our territory," Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, spokesman for the Pakistan Army, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Pakistan tests nuke-capable missile

02.03.07. CNN.

US pressurizing Pak to get its support for attack on Iran: Gul
05.03.07. Pak Tribune.

Afghan, US forces target Pak post
06.03.07. THE INT. News.

US ally Musharraf in a tangle over Iran
07.03.07. M K Bhadrakumar, Asia Times. The intense pressure from Washington on President General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan to be cooperative in the "war on terror" is yielding dramatic results, although perhaps not of the kind initially anticipated.

Pakistan Under American Pressure
09.03.07. F. Chipaux, Le Monde. Rehabilitated by the September 11 attacks, will the Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, be a victim of the war against terrorism? Five years after having chosen the United States rather than the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Pakistani head of state appears ever more torn between American demands to do more against al-Qaeda and the Taliban on the one hand, and between the realities of the policy of ambiguity he has followed with respect to Islamist extremists on the other. Far from being weakened by Pakistan's turnaround after September 11, 2001, the latter have continued to prosper in an environment that is very largely favorable to them.

Pakistan threatens US alliance
09.03.07. Al jazeera. Pakistani legislators have threatened to halt counterterrorism cooperation with Washington if American military aid is made conditional on Islamabad's commitment to fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Pakistani PM: Iran gas pipeline to further cement ties
11.03.07. Iranian ws/iran

Pak not to provide military bases to US for Iran attack
12.03.07. Economic Times.

Will the peace process survive Musharraf?
12.03.07. A. Athale, rediff.

No chance of extremist government in Pakistan, says ex-CIA official
14.03.07. Daily India.

PAKISTAN’S AFGHANISTAN DILEMMA
14.03.07. Abubakar Siddique, Eurasianet. … such contradictions have always defined Pakistan, they have intensified since 9/11 when its military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraff, joined - or rather was forced to join – the Bush administration’s war on terror. The country’s geopolitical dilemma is highlighted in a well-timed and topical book, "Frontline Pakistan; the struggle with militant Islam," written by Zahid Hussain. The book is essentially a tale of the past five years, a period in which Pakistan became one of the international linchpins of global security. As the Pakistan correspondent for the Times of London, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, Hussain has had firsthand knowledge of all the important events in Pakistan during this crucial time, including: Musharraf’s U-turn against the Taliban after 9-11; Pakistan’s nuclear stand-off with arch-rival India in the summer of 2002; arrests of 9-11 masterminds Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and Ramzi bin al-Shibh; the December 2003 twin assassination attempts against Musharraf; the war in Pakistan’s western tribal borderlands; the nuclear proliferation scandal, and the ongoing saga of Islamabad’s love-hate relationship with Washington. … about Musharaff, he writes: “"Musharraf’s authoritarian rule has blocked any hopes of democratic process taking root. It is very clear that the restoration of democracy in Pakistan is not a priority for Washington, because a leader in uniform can deliver far more than a democratically elected one. Any army general ruling Pakistan does not trouble the West, so long as he happens to be an effective ally in the war against terror."

US 'gives' $750m to Pakistan
16.03.07. 7 days / legitgov.

Without a trace
16.03.07. D. Walsh. Seven-year-old Saud Bugti's father was picked up by secret police on a street corner in Karachi last November. No one has heard from him since. He has joined the ranks of Pakistan's 'disappeared' - victims of the country's brutal attempts to wage war on both al-Qaida and those who fail to support the government. But how many innocent people are being caught up in this? And what is America's connection to the barbaric torture of suspects?

Mushahid urges NATO to stop behaving like an occupation army in Afghanistan
16.03.07. Pak Tribune. He was referring to ‘indiscriminately killing civilians.”

NATO chief to visit Pakistan
17.03.07. neurope. the head of the 26-member Alliance will be going to Pakistan to meet Musharraf to discuss not only military –to- military cooperation but the broader political cooperation between NATO and Pakistan.

Fingerprints Of History
25.03.07. Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed gauge the state of the world's most troubled region -- the Middle East -- with eminent author Robert Fisk. “It is Pakistan, not Iran or Iraq, that serves as a true barometer for the future of the region, according to Robert Fisk.”

Pakistan signs new peace deal with Taliban
26.03.07. AFP/dnaindia.

Musharraf warns of ‘ominous confrontation’ in Gulf
29.03.07. Daily Times.

Musharraf is losing Pakistan
29.03.07. Ahmed Rashid. Since March 9, when Musharraf suspended the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, public protests have escalated every day - as has a violent crackdown by the police and intelligence agencies on the media and the legal fraternity.


UNITED STATES

REPORT

LEGAL SUPPORT TO MILITARY OPERATIONS
01.03.07. Joint Publication JP 1-04. The missions and functions of military lawyers and legal organizations are described. "Military lawyers were true combat multipliers in Iraq," said General David H. Petraeus, who is now U.S. commander in Iraq. "I tried to get all the lawyers we could get our hands on -- and then sought more." (what is a ‘combat multiplier’?)

ARTICLES
How Cheney bombed in Afghanistan
01.03.07. Sidney Blumenthal, Salon.com.

Notes on our 'family and friends' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
01.03.07. Courier Journal

WHITE HOUSE "STRONGLY OPPOSES" INTEL BUDGET DISCLOSURE TROOPS
O2.03.07. http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/Secrecy News.
"The Administration strongly opposes the requirement in the bill to publicly disclose sensitive information about the intelligence budget." … It is hard to find a serious intelligence professional who agrees with this White House view.

US Forces Pursue Taliban into Pakistan
02.03.07. Ftimes. ‘American forces on Afghanistan's eastern border routinely fire upon and pursue Taliban enemies into Pakistan, defense officials told Congress on Thursday, offering the most detailed description to date of U.S. action in that region.’

Secret unit hunts terrorists overseas
03.04.06. Examiner. The Pentagon has turned a secret terrorist-hunting unit into a nearly self-contained command of more than 1,000 men and women who collect intelligence and track and capture America’s most–wanted enemies. The unit, code–named Task Force Orange, specializes in infiltrating foreign countries, tailing people and intercepting communications. Operatives have dug up fiber-optic telephone lines overseas and attached a listening device for the National Security Agency.

FEATURE: US Navy: aircraft carrier for Afghanistan, not Iran
03.03.07. Earthtimes.

Views on Military spending shift in U.S.
03.03.07. Angus-Reid. 43%: spend too much on military purposes, up 9 points from last year.

US pressurizing Pak to get its support for attack on Iran
05.03.07. Pak Tribune. Gul says US is ‘paving the way to use Pakistan’s territory for its expected attack on Iran … “

CIA rushing resources to Bin Laden hunt
05.03.07. ABC. Where? Into Pakistan.

Cheney treated at hospital for blood clot
05.03.07. MSNBC. Vice President experienced ‘discomfort’ following overseas trip.

US Senators Question Administration Strategy for Afghanistan
09.03.07. J. Lobe, VOA. U.S.-led coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan say they have captured a bomb-making expert with links to al-Qaida. The capture of Mullah Mahmood in Jalalabad follows an increase in attacks last year on coalition forces and civilians. A U.S. Senate committee questioned what one senator called a failure of the Bush administration's polices in Afghanistan. The VOA's Jim Fry reports …

Bush to send 3,500 more troops to Afghanistan
12.03.07. Radio nz.

Problematic alliance
12.03.07. Prof. Dr. ALI˙ L. KARAOSMANOG˘LU, Zaman. Relations between Turkey and the US have, from the very start, been characterized by their up and down nature. But despite the various crises and difficulties neither side has ever considered completely breaking off relations.

US Troops

Index on US Troops

12.03.07. S. Meyer, Index Research. A huge catalogue of contempt toward US soldiers by the US government. Many additional articles on US troops at “Updates, section 5.6 at US Bases in Iraq: Part I: Baghdad

President George Bush is to send another 3,500 American troops to Afghanistan, which would raise the number of US forces there to 27,000

12.03.07. Radio New Zealand.

Mentally damaged
13.03.07. 7days. A quarter of the Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans treated with US government-funded health care have been diagnosed with a mental disorder, a study published yesterday found.

A desperate Army is scraping the bottom
14.03.07. McClatchy.

Iraq, Afghanistan Limit Army Preparedness
21.03.07. Pak Tribune. ... Pentagon officials told the U.S. Congress.

Video. Support our Troops? Michael Parenti.


US looks at plan to oust Musharraf
14.03.07. Australian news. THE US has indicated for the first time that it might be willing to back plans by elite echelons of the military in Islamabad to oust Pervez Musharraf from power, as the Pakistani President was beset by major new difficulties over his attempts to sack the country's chief justice. .. US officials told The New York Times the plan would see the Vice-Chief of the Army, Ahsan Saleem Hyat, take over from General Musharraf as head of the military and former banker Mohammedmian Soomro installed as president, with General Hyat wielding most of the power. ( the ONLY regime change needed is that of the US government)

US Hails 'Strong Ally' Pakistan, 'Gives' New Aid
15.03.07. Reuters. announcing a $750 million 'aid' package for Pakistan's Afghan border areas.

FIRST US TROOPS TO UNDERGO TRAINING IN BULGARIA’S BASES ARRIVE IN AUTUMN 2007
15.03.07. Sofia Echo.

U.S. tries to calm anger over Afghan casualties
16.03.07. Pak Tribune.

AIR FORCE WINS 2007 ROSEMARY AWARD FOR WORST FOIA PERFORMANCE
16.03.07. National Security Archive.

US embassy officials bombed in Kabul
19.03.07. Times on line.

General says U.S. Army has lost 130 helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan
23.03.07. AP / IHT. “Not replacing them fast enough.”

Democrats pass “anti-war” bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
24.03.07. Barry Grey, WSWS / uruknet.

Afghanistan Proves It
26.03.07. David Michael Green, ICH. ‘What I often find most astonishing about the scorched earth tactics the regressive right uses to sell its policies is how utterly lame they are. ‘

US agency tests Massive Ordnance Penetrator
26.03.07. N. Hodge, Jane’s Defense Weekly. The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) announced on 15 March the successful test of a 30,000 lb (13,600 kg) conventional bomb, which is designed to destroy hardened underground facilities.

Who won the 'war on terror'?
27.03.07. Xymphora, uruknet. ‘The big pointers from September 11 directed attention to places like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, obviously not practical places for an American attack. Yet it seemed that the American government had to do something, and the main pointer to Afghanistan, Osama himself (a guy who denies having had anything to do with the attack), together with the illogic of the 'war on terror’, led directly to the attack which had been pre-planned by the Bush Administration before September 11 (along with the attack on Iraq which was intended to be prepared by the introduction to the American people of the 'war on terror’ concept in Afghanistan). … The Israeli extreme right won the 'war on terror’. Who lost? Besides the obvious victims in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine, the losers are the people who are now subjected to the regime of fear caused by the 'war on terror’, in the United States and its allies.

U.S. rejects Saudi view of Iraq as “illegally occupied”
30.03.07. aljazeera.com. "It is not accurate to say that the United States is occupying Iraq," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Thursday. … "When it comes to the coalition forces being in Iraq, we are there under the UN Security Council resolutions and at the invitation of the Iraqi people," she claimed. (The Saudi king is correct: both Iraq and Afghanistan are “occupied,” with puppet governments)

Report Faults Pentagon for Weapons Buying Problems
30.03.07. J. Wolf, Reuters / Truthout. The Defense Department has doubled its planned investment in new weapons from $750 billion in 2001 to $1.5 trillion this year, but it is not getting enough bang for its buck, congressional investigators said on Friday.


MEDIA & VIDEOS

We invariably have to be persuaded to 'support' our government's actions through the only outlet we have, one that exists in the 'Looking-glass' world of the media itself, whereby 'opinion polls' of various sorts, are used to reinforce an interpretation of the world that has already been created by the 'news' in the first place. But it's not only 'opinion' polls, it's the very nature of 'news' coverage itself. The way it works is so obvious it verges on the ludicrous, yet it works as the reams of analysis of state/corporate news coverage reveals. William Bowles

"America is a quarter of a billion people totally misinformed and disinformed by their government. This is tragic but our media is -- I wouldn't even say corrupt -- it's just beyond telling us anything that the government doesn't want us to know." Gore Vidal.

U.S. tests data sweep in bid to net 'terrorists'
01.03.07. San Francisco Chronicle. Privacy law was probably violated, GAO is reporting.

VIDEO. SOVIET AFGHAN WAR

Afghan journalists say U.S. soldiers deleted photos, video after bomb attack and shootings
04.03.07. WHDH. See also here. The USA defends decision .


As Afghanistan Wobbles, No Pictures, Please…
05.03.07. T. Zeller, NY Times.

Pentagon Denies Media Access to Guantanamo Tribunals for CIA Terror Prisoners
06.03.07. Fox News/legitgov. Reporters will be barred from hearings that begin Friday in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for 14 terror suspects transferred last year from secret CIA prisons, officials said Tuesday. Interest in the 14 is particularly high because of their alleged links to the Al Qaeda network.

Media dragged into Afghan conflict
11.03.07. BBC. Propaganda has always played an important part in war, but in Afghanistan the battles between Nato forces and the Taleban are being fought not just in the deserts and valleys but in the media.

Afghanwire launches new site, podcasts
23.03.07. Afghanistan Watch. See afghanwire.com

Tightening grip on press puts Afghanistan's fledgling democracy at risk
27.03.07. IHT.

Military beefs up Internet arsenal
28-9.03.07. usa today. The U.S. military is quietly expanding capabilities to attack ‘terrorist’ computer networks, including websites that glorify insurgent attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, military officials and experts say.

Video
The Holocaust of the Americans in the Land of Khorasan (Afghanistan as Sahab, 24 min.
The AP story says that this video 'Exposes ‘al Qaeda’ Misinformation Campaign. How much of the AP story is ‘misinformation’? Notice that in the video the people refer to themselves as 'Mujahaddeen' and the 'Students'; There is no reference to 'al Qu-eda'.


3. Contracts


Paralysis Beam From Peak Beam Systems
21.02.07. A paralysis beam based on a 7.5 million candlepower strobe light from Peak Beam Systems is under development by the US Army.

New Hawk Support Contract For BAE Systems
01.03.07. pcb007. A new £74 million support contract awarded to BAE Systems will boost maintenance and technical support for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy’s fleet of 131 Hawk TMK1 aircraft

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 awarded contract
05.03.07. The . Northrop Grumman Corp received this contract from the U.S. Air Force for the next production lot of Global Hawk unmanned systems. 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.

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.

White House trades new weapons to support troops
12.03.07. Reuters / ICH. The White House plans to shift $3.2 billion in defense spending -- partly from new weapons like the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter -- to support troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, a trade publication reported on Monday.

Northrup gets $287M unmanned aerial systems contract
16.03.07. L.A. biz journals. . Northrop Grumman Corp received this contract from the U.S. Air Force for the next production lot of Global Hawk unmanned systems.

$376 Million PAC-3 Missile Contract
20.03.07.Technology news. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), has awarded Lockheed Martin a $376 million contract, for hardware and services associated with the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile program.

URS Receives Army Contract
28.03.07. Chron.com.

GAO Backs L-3 Military Contract Protest
29.03.07. Business Week. The New York-based company filed the complaint Dec. 22 after the five-year deal went to Global Linguistics Solutions , a joint venture formed by DynCorp International Inc. and McNeil Technologies .


4. Contractors

Making a Killing: America's Private Army and the Business of War
25.03.07. D. Zlutnick, Area Intermedia / uruknet. These private companies are part of a huge surge in the outsourcing of war, which is extremely evident in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, Colombia, Haiti, and numerous other countries. Private contractors are the second-largest con- tingent of the "Coalition of the Willing" with a ratio of about one armed con- tractor for every two American soldiers.

Soldiers, contractors clash over fuzzy rules
27.03.07. examiner. The Afghanistan command had issued an alert for suicide car bombers that day last September. But the driver of the SUV heading for Brown was not a Taliban or an al-Qaida terrorist. He was an American private security contractor, one of over 50,000 who find well-paying jobs in dangerous Iraq and Afghanistan. … Blackwater USA spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the company has 2,300 security guards in nine countries. She declined to discuss Bergeron's status. He was not charged in the incident.


5. Investment and Aid

Jawad: Frustration that political participation has not led to results
01.03.07. Century foundation / CFR interview. "From the entire financial assistance that's been given to Afghanistan, only 5 percent has been given to the Afghan government. Twelve percent of the funds have been given to the Afghan reconstruction trust fund established for Afghanistan. And we can withdraw money under certain conditions. The remaining 82 or 83 percent of the assistance has been spent outside the budget and control of the Afghan government.

BearingPoint wins $218m contract to aid Afghan rebuilding
13.03.07. bizjournals

EC contributes 4.75 million to assist Afghans in Afghanistan, Pakistan
23.03.07. Pak Tribune. Money to support the UN Refugee Agency’s work.


6. US/NATO – General

EU, NATO to reduce troops in Bosnia
02.03.07. CCTV

NATO 1,000 Troops Short in Afghanistan
04.03.07. Taipei Times. HELP WANTED: US General John Craddock said in addition to increasing its forces, NATO could not succeed without cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan

Nato allies 'must help pay costs'
04.04.07. BBC. The shadow defence secretary said that NATO allies must share financial cost of war in Afghanistan ‘even if they have not sent troops.’

NATO, Pakistan blamed for growing Taliban presence in Afghanistan
05.03.07. Online News.

Hungary settles on location for disputed NATO radar station
07.03.07. Pravda.

Nato chief warns of split over US missiles
11.03.07. D. Dombey, FT.

NATO Battles Rising Hostility in Afghanistan
13.03.07. Spiegel. As the number of civilian casualties rises, support for Western troops is dropping.

NATO delegation holds terror talks in Pakistan
15.03.07. zee news.

US Missile Shield Plan

This plan was mentioned in the now infamous PNAC document, Rebuilding America’s Defenses . This plan is “complementary” to NATO in that both NATO and the Missile Shield programme are run and controlled by the US government. As such, all supporting countries are ‘poodles’ of the United States.

EU wants US anti-missile defence integrated in NATO
03.03.07. Neurope. German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung on March 2 said US plans for a European-based anti-missile defence system should become part of a wider NATO framework, a move which could ease current Russia’s security concerns over the initiative.

U.S. open to NATO solution for missile shield
16.03.07. China post. The United States is open to suggestions by some Europeans that a missile shield it plans to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic be made available to NATO, the top U.S. missile defense official said on Thursday. "What this could do from a NATO context is it could provide the long-range ... protection (sic) of a more extensive NATO missile defense capability, and we would welcome that," U.S. Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told reporters in Berlin. His comments appeared aimed at reassuring countries such as Germany that have expressed concern the plan could splinter NATO and urged more consultations with Moscow, which sees the shield as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence.

Germany suggests NATO use U.S. missile shield
02.03.07. Reuters / IHT.

Merkel: NATO should defuse missile tension
06.03.07. Gopusa. Merkel made the remarks to the Financial Times Monday after the head of Russia's strategic bomber force said Russian bombers could easily knock out the installations, which the Bush administration is so far planning to build in Poland and Czech Republic.

Russia to Take Military Steps on U.S. Missile Shield (Update1)
15.03.07. J. Brooke, Bloomberg. Russia will take ``military measures'' to counter the U.S. plan to install a missile- defense system in Central Europe and the Caucasus, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said.

US says missile shield complementary to NATO
16.03.07. English People. Seeking to allay European fears over the planned missile shield, Director Henry A. Obering of the US Missile Defense Agency is briefing the German government and parliament in Berlin. The system is needed to counter the threat from Iran's nuclear program, he told reporters, reaffirming that it is not aimed at Moscow.’

Merkel, in Poland, Stresses NATO Missile-Shield Role (Update1)
16.03.07. K. Andrusz, Bloomberg. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, beginning a two-day visit to Poland today, will stress that talks on erecting a U.S. missile-defense shield in Europe should be conducted through NATO (ie. US), a government spokesman said.

EU split on US missile shield sites in Europe
30.03.07. Peninsula Qatar.com.

A New Era Of Nuclear Fear May Loom In Shadown Of Missile Shield
30.03.07. spacewar.com. Media reports from the last few weeks increasingly resemble Hollywood horror movies. The United States is reportedly developing a new-generation hydrogen warhead for its Trident II, (D-5) strategic submarines. (Have there BEEN any UK mainstream media reports on this subject?)

Czech Republic plans to consult NATO, Russia on U.S. missile shield: PM
31.03.07. English people

Turkey's share to increase in NATO defense project
19.03.07. New Anatolian.

NATO chief praises Israel
(?)03.07. JTA Breaking News. And. Craddock said that Israel will receive 93% of EUCOM area military aid this year. Craddock called Israel a “critical military partner” in “this entangled seam of the Middle East.”

MEMBERSHIP TO US – NATO

It is very obvious from the following articles that the US controls NATO. So why do participating countries accept this ownership of a global force? "Aid"?

Croatia in NATO soon?
(no date – 03.07. Javno. The accepted “NATO Freedom Consolidation Act” also confirms that those five countries have the right to American aid for entering the North Atlantic Treaty ...

House endorses further NATO expansion
06.03.07. Reuters free market news. The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to endorse further enlargement of the NATO alliance, after a brief debate in which no one mentioned Moscow's nervousness about such an expansion. . On a voice vote, the House backed a resolution calling for the "timely admission" to the alliance of Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, and two former republics of the old Soviet Union, Georgia and Ukraine. Identical legislation was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

U.S. Congress backs Macedonia's NATO bid
08.03.07. B/92.

Ukraine to join Lithuania-led international NATO group in Afghanistan
13.03.07. Itar-tass.

Georgia woos NATO, angers Russia
15.03.07. Monsters and Critics.

Partnership With NATO Does Not Suppose Obligatory Membership, Representative Of Armenia In NATO Considers
15.03.07. Armenia diaspsora.

US Senate Calls for Further NATO Expansion
16.03.07. VOA News. In a resolution approved Thursday, the senators called for timely admission of five new members - Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia and Ukraine - to the alliance.

U.S. Senate approves NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine
22.03.07. English Pravda. The bill also supports future NATO membership for the three Balkan states, namely Albania, Croatia and Macedonia. In 2008, the U.S. would allocate $10 million for Georgia; $3.6 million for Macedonia; $3.2 million for Albania; and $3million for Croatia to prepare the countries for NATO accession. Russia not happy.

Ukraine’s membership in NATO will ruin Russia’s economy
29.03.07. en.for-ua.

U.S. pledges to help Macedonia's NATO bid
30.03.07. English people.

NATO's potty rules shut out Afghans

26.03.07. JOE FRIESEN, Globe and Mail. Under a bizarre policy that echoes the days of segregation in the United States, Afghans who work at the NATO base at Kandahar Airfield must use separate toilets marked "local nationals only."

NATO forces launch house to house operation in Kandahar, Helmand
26.03,07. Pak Tribune. Just like in Iraq ?

NATO troops earn resentment of frustrated Afghans
28.03.07. Reuters / English sabah.com. Foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan are beginning to draw the resentment of Afghans fed up with growing civilian casualties and the lack of material progress in their lives (Just like in Iraq?). ‘Ahmed, who is based in Pakistan and travels frequently to Afghanistan, cited bombing raids based on faulty intelligence that have killed innocent villagers and shootings of innocent civilians by panicky troops as especially damaging to Afghan support for Western forces.’

U.S. sees west in Afghanistan for many years
28.03.07. Pak Tribune. ‘The United States urged European countries .. to provide more troops and aid for Afghanistan, forecasting an international presence in the war-shattered country for “many, many years to come.”

NATO F-16 fighters to arrive at Lithuania
29.03.07. f-16 net. On March 27th, a C-130 Hercules transporter delivered supporting personnel and essential facilities to Siauliai.

NATO radar facility in S. Hungary to be completed by next summer
31.03.07. English people.

NATO WAR CRIMES
THEWE.


7. NATO – Participating Countries

AUSTRALIA

Australia: the new 51st state
05.03.07. John Pilger. ‘John Howard's servility to the US is even greater than Tony Blair's and has earned him the nickname Bush's deputy sheriff. The conspiracy between Washington, the media and politicians is eroding the country's freedoms.’

Troops may go to Afghanistan
16.03.07. D. Crowe, SMH. AUSTRALIA appears likely to send more troops to Afghanistan after John Howard yesterday made a surprise trip to Kabul for a crucial meeting with President Karzai ahead of an expected Taliban offensive in the next few months. … The Government is considering sending as many as 450 troops, including a Special Air Service group and possibly an air defence radar team

Troops decision on hold
26.03.07.The Age. The decision to return Australian special forces to Afghanistan has been delayed because the ADF has insisted they operate under clear Australian command and have strong backup. A 450-strong Australian reconstruction force now in southern Afghanistan operates under Dutch control and under a NATO umbrella. BUT, a Reuters report says “Australia to boost troops to Afghanistan”


BULGARIA
Bulgaria to increase peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan: DM
06.03.07. English People.


CANADA

Canadian Soldier Killed By "Friendly Fire" In Afghanistan
06.03.07. All headline news.

Canadian Troops May Be Deployed in Afghanistan Past 2009
07.03.07. YAHOO / my anti-war.org

Afghanistan`s "Hard Mission" slips away
11.03.07.Pak Tribune. Canadian lawmakers have written an Afghanistan version of the Iraq Study report, reaching a conclusion that the conditions on that original battlefront in the “war on terror” are grave and deteriorating. See Report .

Canada's Defense Leaders In Afghanistan
12.03.07.Playfuls.

NATO must change role in Afghanistan
03.07. Ring. A new report released March 1 by UVic’s Dr. Gordon Smith says NATO must change its course in Afghanistan in order to achieve sustainable peace and a representative government in the country. Smith, executive director of UVic’s Centre for Global Studies and former deputy minister of foreign affairs and ambassador to NATO, completed the report over six months with the help of a team of experts from across Canada. … The report, prepared for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI), a think tank pursuing authoritative research to ensure Canada has an influential voice in the international arena, provides a pessimistic look at NATO’s role in Afghanistan. … “If you look at the resources given to the Balkans compared to the resources given to Afghanistan, 25 to 50 per cent more was devoted to the number of military and the amount of development assistance for the Balkans. That’s a major problem.”

Canada: Cancel the Afghan "Mission" - Get the troops out now
21.03.07. Political Affairs. Canadian troops are just as heavy-handed as those of other NATO countries when it comes to intimidating Afghan civilians, and recently reports have come to light of abuse of captured insurgents by Canadian forces.

Afghan experts contradict Hillier’s optimistic claims
29.03.07. A. Mayeda, Canada com. Two leading experts on Afghanistan painted a sobering picture of the conditions there Thursday, arguing support among Afghans for NATO forces is plummeting, the U.S.-driven policy of poppy eradication is wrongheaded, and the war might not be winnable in its present form. U.S. scholar Barnett Rubin and Gordon Smith, Canada's former ambassador to NATO, delivered their withering comments to a parliamentary committee only days after Canada's top military commander, Gen. Rick Hillier, touted the progress being made in Afghanistan.


CZECH REPUBLIC

Poll: Czech support for NATO waning 8 years after joining
13.03.07. Radio cz. While 56% of Czechs trusted NATO in 2004, three years later it is only 45%.


ESTONIA

President Ilves sees Estonia in core of EU and NATO
21.03.07. hs.fl.


GEORGIA

Georgia to double troops in Iraq
09.03.07. BBC.


GERMANY

Iraqi kidnappers demand that Germany withdraw from Afghanistan
11.03.07. LA Times.

German Officers protest Afghan Mission
16.03.07, Washington Times.

Germans want troops back home from Afghanistan
15.03.07. Press tv. According to a new poll published Saturday by the German Der Spiegel magazine, the majority of Germans want their troops out of Afghanistan.

German Court Rejects Bid to Stop Afghanistan Plane Deployment
30.03.07. dw-world.de. The move removes the last hurdle for sending spy jets to Afghanistan.


ITALY

Italian Prime Minister Survives Key Confidence Vote in Senate
02.03.07. Moscow Times.

Italian Parliament Votes to Keep Troops in Afghanistan
08.03.07. VOA.

No easy way out for Prodi on Afghanistan
16.03.07. Gulf Times. Italy is paying a higher political price than other Nato partners for keeping troops in Afghanistan, but analysts say the cost of withdrawal would be even greater for Rome and its closest allies.
Prime Minister Romano Prodi, already forced to resign briefly last month over foreign policy, including the Afghan mission, still faces major tests on the peacekeeping issue.

Italian government wins Senate vote to keep troops in Afghanistan
27.03.07. Cnews. 180 – 2 vote with 132 abstentions.


NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Troops in Afghanistan for Another Year
12.03.07. AP / IHT.


POLAND

Poland Doubts NATO’s Military Capability
12.03.07. KOMMERSANT. Poland needs extra security guarantees as NATO has lost its military capability, a Polish official said late last week. Warsaw seeks a bilateral agreement with the United States, saying that in case of a threat from Russia it can rely only on America. … Obering said it could be complementary to NATO's missile defense system. "This could be viewed as a U.S., a Polish and a Czech Republic contribution to a missile defense capability for NATO in general, and it certainly compplements what could be coming out of a NATO missile defense program on its own." … The US plans to deploy about 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar tracking system in the Czech Republic. The Polish and Czech leaders have indicated that they would allow the deployment. … However, Russia said that such a move would damage the relations between Washington and Moscow, believing it threatens its security.’

U.S. ally fears price for loyalty
16.03.07. J. Fleishman, LA TIMES. A U.S. proposal to build an antimissile shield in Poland has forced a close ally to reassess Bush administration policies that many officials here say could make their country a target for Russian rockets and Islamic terrorists. Poland has been a steadfast friend to the United States, sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and emerging as one of the few pro-American voices in Europe. But interviews with Polish officials suggest that Warsaw is skeptical about the idea of playing host to a missile defense shield to protect the U.S. from possible strikes by Iran and North Korea. The plan would include 10 interceptor missiles based in Poland and a radar center in the Czech Republic. … The debate comes as Poles have grown disillusioned over the Iraq war and with Bush administration policies that many believe have isolated the U.S. and its allies. Poland is maturing as a nation and is less effusive these days about an America it had idealized for decades from the other side of the Berlin Wall, politicians and analysts say.


SOUTH AFRICA

Pulling the South Africans Out
30.03.07. Channel 4 video report. South Africans soldiers in the British Army are facing a tough choice: Stay in their jobs and be labelled as 'mercenaries' or quit and go home?


SWEDEN

Sweden May Join NATO Anti-terror Group
11.03.07. Playfuls


UK

Britain to Send 1,400 More Troops to Afghanistan
01.03.07. BLACK ANTHEM

Rocket attack kills two British soldiers in Afghanistan
05.03.07. R. Norton-Taylor, Guardian. · Casualties bring UK death toll to 50 since 2002· Street protests after US forces fire on civilians

Army prepares new 'smart bomb' as two soldiers die in Afghanistan
05.03.07. M. Evans, Times on Line. The rocket can go through front door of targeted ‘Taliban’ leader.

British forces 'very stretched'
06.03.07. BBC.

MoD's new £2.4bn radio is too heavy for most soldiers
08.03.07. M. Evans, Times on Line. The soldiers also cannot talk to other communication systems deployed with allies.

Blair refuses to apologize for Iraq war
16.03.07. English people. In an exclusive live interview at the Sky News television, five days before the fourth anniversary of the outbreak of the Iraq war on March 20, Blair said, "We're not making it worse, they (terrorists) are making it worse... Until the Western world stops apologizing for its values, stops apologizing for the work its troops are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, we're never going to defeat this."

Ministers finally admit full scale of war casualties
23.03.07. Independent. Casualty figures show that more British soldiers have been seriously hurt fighting insurgents than during the initial invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. … In Afghanistan, the figures reveal that the casualty rate rose last year to 30 seriously hurt, compared to two for the previous year. The rise was caused by a Taliban offensive last summer, and raised fears that it could rise sharply again when the next, expected, offensive gets underway. … The number killed in Afghanistan since 2001 rose to 52 after the death on 8 March of Warrant Officer Michael Smith in Helmand province.

Behind enemy lines with the Taliban of Helmand
25.03.07. C. Sands, Independent. In this exclusive report for the 'IoS', three members of the Taliban waging war on British troops in Afghanistan tell Chris Sands why they feel they have no choice but to take up arms against the 'foreign invaders'

New tactic for British troops in Afghanistan
29.03.07. Pak Tribune. The new tactic mimics the Americans new plan in Iraq, moving forces away from expensively-built permanent bases.

Gordon Brown Surprises Troops in Afghanistan
30.03.07. Guardian. Mr Brown confirmed that six new Merlin helicopters are being bought from the Danish government and eight Chinook helicopters would be refitted at a total cost of around £230m. The Chinooks have been mothballed since 2001. … After arriving this morning in Kandahar, Afghanistan's second city, the chancellor travelled to Camp Bastion. He said the UK was in the area because it was "one of the frontlines against the Taliban and international terrorism." ( the ‘frontline’ of international terrorism is in The White House).


8.Opium


NATO stepping up aid to Afghan drug war
02.03.07.T. Shanker, IHT.

Afghan opium 'hits record output'
01.03.07. BBC

An ink blot strategy. . .for poppies?
06.03.07. Afghanistan Watch.

NATO enters Afghan drug region
11.03.07. USA today.

Afghan opium crop booms
16.03.07.The Washington Times

27kg of opium in a kitchen - just another day in the Afghan war on drugs
21.03.07. J. Borger, Guardian. · Poppy production increased by 25% last year · British switch focus from farmers to traffickers

Afghanistan: UN Issues Sharp Warning On Poppy Cultivation
22.03.07. Radio Free Afghanistan.

Ninety per cent of British heroin is from Afghanistan, says U.K. attorney general

25.03.07. Canada com.

NATO to Legalize Afghanistan's Opium?
27.03.07.der Spiegel.

House GOP protests drug czar for Afghanistan
27.03.07. UPI. ‘"The open and public dispute with our British allies on opium eradiation methods, along with the many different and often conflicting views of NATO, our Department of Defense, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and other U.S. agencies on how best to handle the narcotics challenge does not bode well for success," the letter said.’


9. Human Rights

“Until the United States changes its own policies of holding detainees indefinitely, in secret prisons and without basic rights, it cannot credibly be viewed as a world human rights leader.”- Amnesty International USA executive director Larry Cox, on the release of the State Department human rights report.


U.S. Blasted for Treatment of Detainees
01.03.07. E. Lederer, AP / Guardian

U professor investigates U.S.-led torture
01.03.07. The Minnesota Daily. ‘After researching declassified documents from U.S. Detainment centres, he discovered that medical professionals were roped in to the system of torture.

The Pentagon’s Power to Arrest, Torture, and Execute Americans
02.03.07. J. Hornberger, ICH. The U.S. military’s power to arrest, torture, and execute Americans is now reality. It is impossible to reconcile such power with the principles of a free society. As long as it exists, even if only as a standby power in the event of a “crisis” or “emergency, ” Americans cannot be considered a free people.

Canada loses track of Afghan detainees
02.03.07. Globe and Mail. Military investigators unable to locate three men allegedly abused by troops.

CIA torture victim denied his day in US court
03.03.07. Khaled Al-Masri. Al-Masri, 43, says he was detained by the CIA for several months in 2004 on suspicion of links to terrorism. He filed suit in December 2005 saying he had been snatched while on a trip in Macedonia, taken to Afghanistan, jailed, beaten and harassed before being set free without charge after five months. P He demanded an explanation and an apology from the United States for his detention, as well as 75,000 dollars in damages. P American Civil Liberties Union director Anthony Romero said the court's decision meant impunity for CIA officials.

Independent Reporting Drew Army Coverup, Secrecy, Delays
02.03.07. Nieman Foundation / Truthout. Officials in the US military, from the Pentagon on down, tried to thwart reporters for the LA Times who uncovered deaths and possible torture of detainees in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: US Should Investigate Civilian Deaths
06.03.07. Human Rights Watch News. ‘Suicide bombers in Afghanistan regularly pose as civilians, but that doesn’t give coalition forces carte blanche to respond with indiscriminate fire.’


U.S. Criticizes U.N. Human Rights Body
07.03.07. AP/legitgov. For the second year in a row, the United States has decided not to seek a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, the State Department said Tuesday, accusing the panel of an anti-Israeli bias. Meanwhile, on cue, Human Rights Group Criticizes Israel (07.03.07, AP, Guardian / legitgov.)

Report Claims U.S. And U.K. Asked Poland To Keep CIA Prison A Secret
08.03.07. All Headline News / legitgov. A new report alleges that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated a detention facility for terror suspects in Poland, with the approval of the United Kingdom.

Prisons rife with torture, U.S. Rights report
11.03.07, Z net. prisons where Canada consigns detainees captured by its troops are rife with torture, abuse and corruption, according to the latest ...

Afghanistan: No Gender Equality Under Occupation
12.03.07. R. da Silva, Socialist Voice. Supporters of the occupation of Afghanistan often argue that the NATO force is liberating women from the oppression they suffered under the Taliban. The Harper government, no supporter of women’s rights in Canada, recently promoted that view by sending Governor General Michaëlle Jean on a well-publicized visit to Afghanistan on International Women’s Day. . In following report from Kabul. originally published in Green Left Weekly, Ramani Desilva argues that the liberation of Afghan women can only be accomplished by the women themselves. An important step towards that goal will be complete withdrawal of the occupying army.

Be More Than You Can Be
N. Shachtman, Wired. Heat-resistant. Cold-proof. Tireless. Tomorrow’s soldiers are just like today’s — only better. Inside the Pentagon’s human enhancement project. Read about Darpa: the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.


Paul Workman in Afghanistan
15.03,07,. CTV,. The story of Abdul Norzai, regional director of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, and Canada’s Defense Minister, Gordon O’Conner at Canada’s detention centre. The minister wants the help of Noorzai because the ‘handling of prisoners in Afghanistan is in a troubling state. Besides accusations of abuse or mistreatment, some prisoners handed over to the Afghans have simply disappeared.

Defence wants to stop Afghan torture investigation
15.03.07. The Star. The (Canadian) Defence Department says it may go to court to block a military watchdog from investigating a complaint about Canada's handling of prisoners in Afghanistan. If it goes to court, lawyers might still be arguing long after Canadian soldiers have left Afghanistan.

Canadians work for change inside Afghanistan's prisons
24.03.07. Canada com. SARPOZA PRISON, Afghanistan - To step inside the Kandahar penitentiary that holds Taliban prisoners is to stumble backwards into the Middle Ages.

Rights group urges better legal framework for US military actions in Afghanistan
19.03.07. The Jurist.

Guantanamo illegal despite guilty plea – critics
28.03.07. NZ Herald. A guilty plea by Australian David Hicks to terrorism charges should not be seen as legitimising US military tribunals taking place at Guantanamo Bay, human rights groups said today.


Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld

27.03.07. Sfgate. U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan threw out a lawsuit brought on behalf of nine former prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said Rumsfeld cannot be held personally responsible for actions taken in connection with his government job. . The lawsuit contends the prisoners were beaten, suspended upside down from the ceiling by chains, urinated on, shocked, sexually humiliated, burned, locked inside boxes and subjected to mock executions.

Rumsfeld Lawsuit Embarrasses German Authorities
26.03.07. AFP . der Spiegel.

Hicks to return from Guantanamo
31.03.07. Channel 4 news.

Torture
THEWE.


10. Some Deaths

Military deaths in Afghanistan, region
02.03.07. Mlive. As of Friday, March 2, 2007, at least 307 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The Defense Department last updated its figures Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007.

Gems, al-Qaida and murder. Mystery over killing of Osama Bin Laden's friend
02.03.07. N. Fielding, Guardian. Saudi man's death was political, say his family. US secret service was monitoring his activities

PHOTO AP/Musadeq Sadeq

Nato air strike 'kills nine civilians'
05.03.07. Guardian. Two incidents involving US forces have left around 19 Afghan civilians dead since yesterday, prompting furious protests against the US and Nato. . In the first incident, up to 10 civilians were killed as a convoy of US marines fled after being attacked by a suicide bomber in a minivan in eastern Nangarhar province yesterday. … Then today Afghan officials said nine civilians had been killed after a Nato air strike hit a house during a firefight between US forces and militants, killing nine Afghans who lived there. … A count by the Associated Press, based on reports from Afghan, Nato and coalition officials, puts the overall civilian death toll in 2006 at 834, most from militant attacks. See also NASDAQ. story .

Investigation Into Afghan Deaths
05.03.07. BBC / Truthout. Afghan authorities have launched an investigation into the circumstances of a militant attack on a US Marine convoy in which eight civilians died. Thousands of local people took to the streets on Sunday to protest against the incident, accusing the Americans of deliberately firing on the civilians.

16 Civilians Killed as U.S. Troops Fire on Afghan Road
05.03.07. C. Gall, NY Times. American troops opened fire on a highway filled with civilian cars and bystanders on Sunday, American and Afghan officials said, in an incident that the Americans said left 16 civilians dead and 24 wounded after a suicide car bombing in eastern Afghanistan. One American was also wounded.

50th British soldier dies in Afghanistan
06.03.07. Harding, Telegraph.

Afghan children die as US drops one-tonne bombs
06.03.07. J. Huggler, Independent. Nine civilians, including four children, were killed in Afghanistan when US planes dropped two 2,000lb bombs on their mud home. Their deaths came after at least eight civilians were killed by US Marines a day earlier. It has been a disastrous two days for the Americans in Afghanistan.

Over 1,100 journalists killed in decade-report
06.03.07. AlertNet. the annual toll has jumped since 2003, the year of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a report said on Tuesday. … Worldwide, last year was the worst for media workers with 167 killed worldwide, up from 149 in 2005 and 131 in 2004. That compares with 94 in 2003, 70 in 2002 and 103 in 2001.

NATO airstrike kills 5 Afghan civilians: tribal leader
12.03.07.English People. NATO troops disputed the accusation, saying two insurgents were killed. A NATO airstrike killed five civilians in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan on Monday, a local tribal leader said, while NATO troops disputed the accusation, saying two insurgents were killed. (four civilians were wounded)

Three civilians killed in Afghanistan
14.03.07.India enews. At least three civilians were killed and eight injured in a suicide attack in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar, southern Afghanistan Tuesday.

U.S. pays kin in deaths of Afghan boys
14.03.07. Yahoo. The American colonel bowed his head at the fresh dirt graves of three young boys marked by brightly colored martyrs' flags Wednesday. Then he sat down next to the boys' fathers, expressed his condolences and handed them an envelope full of cash.

'Self-immolation by oppressed Afghan women is rising
15.03.07. Daily Mail.

NATO Kills More Civilians; Police Targets Of Taliban Attacks As Journalist Pleads
15.03.07. Ahmad Al-Marid, jihadspun. Fresh reports of battle in war torn Afghanistan are in following the deaths of five more civilians who were martyred by NATO bombing raids as the Taliban targeted policeman in two attacks and Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo pleaded for his life. … a tribal elder Mehra Jan told the reporters that coalation forces bombed Heneri area of Garshak district resulting in martyrdom of four innocent civilians however NATO and US forces denied such reports.

Afghanistan implicates U.S.-led troops in police deaths
16.03.07. FISNIK ABRASHI, AP / Chroncom. "Coalition forces mistakenly (sic) opened fire on police," Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said. "Unfortunately five policemen were killed."A coalition spokesman said Americans were not involved in the incident.

1 child killed, 3 wounded in clash between U.S. troops, ‘militants’ in western Afghanistan
21.03.07. IHT / ICH. The children were caught in the crossfire, and it was not immediately clear who was responsible for the death and injuries, Khan said.

Afghanistan: Britain accused in death of child
23.03.07.ww4 report. Under investigation.

Marine Unit Ordered Out Of Afghanistan After Civilians Killed
23.03.07.KWTX.



Report: Officers withheld Tillman death details
23.03.07. nfl. A Pentagon investigation will recommend that nine officers, including up to four generals, be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, senior defense officials said.

Statement on the Pentagon Briefing on Investigations of Pat Tillman's Death By Friendly Fire
27.03.07.Tillman family statement, Counterpunch.

Congressman Requests Hearing Into Tillman's Death
27.03.07.WCSH.

Tillman case could bring punishments
28.03.07. AP / local news watch. Two generals singled out for blame in the Pat Tillman case have retired since the Army Ranger was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan , but they remain within reach of the military justice system.

Top general tried to warn Bush on Tillman
31.03.07. AP / USA Today/legitgov. General Sought to Warn Bush Not to Say Tillman Died in an Enemy Ambush. Just seven days after Pat Tillman's death, a top general warned there were strong indications that it was friendly fire and President [sic] Bush might embarrass himself if he said the NFL star-turned-soldier died in an ambush, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. It was not until a month afterward that the Pentagon told the public and grieving family members the truth that Tillman was mistakenly killed in Afghanistan by his comrades. The memo reinforces suspicions that the Pentagon was more concerned with sparing officials from embarrassment than with leveling with Tillman's family.

Tillman Probe: No Criminal Negligence
01.04.07. CBS. Army and Defense Department investigators said that officers looking into the incident passed along misleading and inaccurate information and delayed reporting their belief that Tillman was killed by fellow Rangers. The investigators recommended the Army take action against the officers. Among those blamed were the three-star general in charge of Army special operations as well as Tillman's regimental commander.

NATO forces shoot Afghan child, run over another
23.03.07. Turkish press/ich. A distraught Afghan father buried his 12-year-old son Friday after the boy was shot in the head by NATO troops in the latest in a series of civilian deaths involving international forces.

Almost 100 people killed in Afghanistan
24.03.07. Zaman. At least 89 people, including 69 Taliban rebels, were killed in two days of fighting in Afghanistan, officials said on Friday, as violence soared with the onset of spring.

9/11 and the Evidence
27.03.07. P. C. Roberts, ICH. The 9/11 attack has been used to start wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to plan an attack...

Second annual report on the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 by Lord Carlile

The REAL Face of War: The images that the media won't show you
30.03.07. Tom Paine's Corner.


11. Future Deaths

Tests To Reveal Levels Of Depleted Uranium In Army Personnel
06.03.07. Science Daily. A test recently used by the UK government's Independent Depleted Uranium Oversight Board to detect exposure to UK troops by depleted uranium (DU) during the 1991 Gulf Conflict was developed by a team led by a University of Leicester geologist.

Belgium Bans Uranium Weapons and Armour

23.03,.07. Willem Van den Panhuysen, Global Research.ca. 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.

Iraq ‘diggers’ contaminated with radiation
27.03.07. au/daily telegraph. TWO Australian soldiers who served in the first Iraq war have tested positive to depleted uranium (DU) contamination despite assurances from the Federal Government they had not been exposed, an anti-nuclear group said today.

Why George Bush is Insane
Harold Pinter, Assassination Press. "The US is at this moment developing advanced systems of "weapons of mass destruction" and it prepared to use them where it sees fit. It has more of them than the rest of the world put together. It has walked away from international agreements on biological and chemical weapons, refusing to allow inspection of its own factories. The hypocrisy behind its public declarations and its own actions is almost a joke."

A New Era Of Nuclear Fear May Loom In Shadown Of Missile Shield
30.03.07. spacewar.com. Media reports from the last few weeks increasingly resemble Hollywood horror movies. The United States is reportedly developing a new-generation hydrogen warhead for its Trident II, (D-5) strategic submarines.


12. Meanwhile, in Iran …

Media flavour of the week: films of captured sailors and marines eating, smoking and writing letters in Iran. The media distracted the public by discussing “UK Fury” while PM Blair cited a fake map. Oil prices 'surged'. Behind the scenes, 6 April was designated as the day the US will go to war in Iran. Heather Wokusch wrote about an “Easter Surprise”.

See also:
Brinkmanship Unwise in Uncharted Waters
20.03.07. MEMORANDUM FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). 'The frenzy in America’s corporate media over Iran’s detainment of 15 British Marines who may, or may not, have violated Iranian-claimed territorial waters is a flashback to the unrestrained support given the administration’s war-mongering against Iraq shortly before the attack.

Fate of Five Detained Iranians Unknown
29.03.07. Khody Akhavi, ipsnews. 'As the Western media turns its attention to the fate of 15 Britons detained for allegedly trespassing into Iranian waters over the weekend, the status of five Iranian officials captured in a U.S. military raid on a liaison office in northern Iraq on Jan. 11 remains a mystery.'

Iran — How To Start A War
30.03.07. G. Dyer, Jordan Times / ICH.

Where is the fury about prisoners held in Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Iraq, many of whom are CIA - hooded and kidnapped and tortured ?

Call that humiliation?
31.03.07. T. Jones, Guardian / ICH. Our new Jonathan Swift. " I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this - allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills."

13. Meanwhile, in New Orleans …

New Orleans Asks Whopping $77 Billion in Claim to Corps
02.03.07. Times Picayne / Truthout. Seymour Hersh reports that the Bush administration is funding anti-Shiite Sunnis linked to al Qaeda without Congressional approval and without appropriate appropriation. Hersh speculates that the money is coming from the pallet-loads of cash floating around Iraq and has already reached "three Sunni jihadist groups." He says, flatly, that the president is "supporting groups indirectly that are involved with the same people that did 9/11."

Tomgram: Rebecca Solnit on Not Forgetting New Orleans
15.04.07. Tom Dispatch. "During my trips to the still half-ruined city, some inhabitants have told me that they, in turn, were told by white vigilantes of widespread murders of black men in the chaos of the storm and flood. One local journalist assured me that he tried to investigate the story, but found it impossible to crack. Reporters, he said, were not allowed to inspect recovered bodies before they were disposed of. These accounts suggest that, someday, an intrepid investigative journalist may stand on its head the media hysteria of the time (later quietly recanted) about African-American violence and menace in flooded New Orleans. Certainly, the most brutal response to the catastrophe was on the part of institutional authority at almost every level down to the most local."

House panel: Why did Google 'airbrush history?'
31.03.07. CNN. Google's replacement of post-Hurricane Katrina satellite imagery on its map portal with images of the region before the storm does a "great injustice" to the storm's victims, a congressional subcommittee said.

+

Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK.

The url to this article is: Index on Afghanistan: March 2007

Please also see other source material on Afghanistan:

Index on Afganistan to end 08.06.

Index on Afghanistan September 2006

Index on Afghanistan October 2006

Index on Afghanistan November 2006

Index on Afghanistan December 2006

http://Index-on-Afghanistan-January-2007.html

Index on Afghanistan: February 2007

Nato: The Bathtub of Unreadiness

Afghanistan: NATO is now US-ATO

+


Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.


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