US troops killed in ambush - American troops have erected barbed wire around Saddam Hussein's home village near the northern town of Tikrit. [Iraq is beginning to look a lot like Palestine. Don't be suprised if they start erecting 'security walls' there too. I think Sharon likes them. -ed.]
Your Hearts and Minds, or Else Gert Van Langendonck, October 9, 2003 - Are the Americans turning to the Israelis for pointers on how to run an occupation?
Yes, Bush lied Paul Sperry - The CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and
the other U.S. spy agencies unanimously agreed that Baghdad:
had not sponsored past terrorist attacks against America,
was not operating in concert with al-Qaida,
and was not a terrorist threat to America.
"We have no specific intelligence information that Saddam's regime has
directed attacks against U.S. territory," the report stated.
However, it added, "Saddam, if sufficiently desperate, might decide that
only an organization such as al-Qaida could perpetrate the type of terrorist
attack that he would hope to conduct."
Sufficiently desperate? If he "feared an attack that threatened the survival
of the regime," the report explained.
"In such circumstances," it added, "he might decide that the
extreme step of assisting the Islamist terrorists in conducting a CBW [chemical
and biological weapons] attack against the United States would be his last
chance to exact vengeance by taking a large number of victims with him."
In other words, only if Saddam were provoked by U.S. attack would he even
consider taking the "extreme step" of reaching out to al-Qaida,
an organization with which he had no natural or preexisting relationship.
He wasn't about to strike the U.S. or share his alleged weapons with al-Qaida
– unless the U.S. struck him first and threatened the collapse of his
regime.
Oil, War & A Growing Sense Of Panic In The US Don't Tell Me That America Would Have Invaded Iraq If Its Chief Export Was Beetroot By Robert Fisk The Independent - UK 10-2-3
Only the Cronies October 2, 2003 - Having left the Bush administration just weeks before the war in Iraq, Joe Allbaugh, Bush's former campaign manager, and director, until March, of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), set up a lobbying firm in Baghdad, called New Bridges Strategies.
DIA had no info on Iraq WMD 06/06/2003 - Instead, a new team of some 1 300 to 1 400 experts from across government, as well as Britain and Austrialia, will try to piece together a new picture of Iraq's secret pre-war programs from documents and interrogations of former officials. [And they're still looking -ed.]
Chirac: U.S. action brought crisis Tuesday, September 23, 2003 - "The war, launched without the authorization of the Security Council, shook the multilateral system," he said. "The United Nations has just been through one of the most grave crises in its history."
U.S. Soldier Kills Baghdad Tiger After Attack - Zoo Sat September 20, 2003 - The night watchman said the soldiers had arrived in military vehicles but were casually dressed and were drinking beer. At the tiger's now-empty cage, pools of blood showed that the soldier passed through a first cage intended only for keepers and was standing right up against the inner cage's narrow bars.
Saddam didn't lie; there are no WMDs, UN inspectors say Araminta Wordsworth National Post - The UN's senior weapons inspectors now say they believe Saddam Hussein was telling the truth when he claimed he had no weapons of mass destruction. [Someone was lying and if it wasn't Saddam then it must have been, guess who...]
A hail of bullets, a trail of dead, and a mystery the US is in no hurry to resolve Robert Fisk 09/13/03: - But already the cancer of rumour is beginning to turn this massacre into something far more dangerous.
The Imperial Retreat Begins Patrick J. Buchanan September 8, 2003 - We
cannot do it by ourselves in Iraq. We need help.
That is the message sent in the clear to the Mideast and the world by our
going back to the United Nations to ask for troops and aid in Iraq. Our enemies
can read that message as well as our friends.
Egyptian Government Daily Al-Ahram: The US Is Behind The Najaf Bombing Memri - "While some members of the so-called transitional Governing Council, such as Ahmad Chalabi, blamed some of those who belong to the former Iraqi regime [for the bombing], the popular demonstrations seen in the Iraqi streets following this criminal act were all in agreement that the occupation forces were responsible for this incident, as part of their effort to provoke conflict among the Shiites and between the Shiites and the Sunnis. This is a [policy] of 'divide and rule,' which occupation forces have used throughout history to rip apart the unity of peoples in countries under occupation.
Counting the Bodies Hard to Keep Track of the Dead in Iraq September 3 - 9, 2003 - Al-Obaidi told Wanniski that "hundreds of our party's cadre" spent five weeks interviewing undertakers, hospital officials, and ordinary citizens in all of Iraq (except for what's controlled by the Kurds) and came up with a total figure of 37,137 civilians killed since the beginning of the invasion, 6,103 of them in Baghdad.
U.S. Provocations Give Momentum To Falluja Resistance By Aws al-Sharqi - “But moments before landing at the battlefield, a fighter, who was hiding nearby, shot down the American helicopter with an anti-armor missile, killing all on board,” the eyewitness told IOL. [Bet you won't hear about that one on CNN -ed.]
Another 10,000 troops for Iraq are not enough for Bush By Chris Kraul in Al Diwaniya August 28, 2003 - troops from 21 countries, including Spain, Poland and four Central American nations, will begin taking over duties from marines in south-central Iraq this week.
A tally of US taxpayers' tab for Iraq By David R. Francis - Estimates of the cost of the war are rough. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told the Senate the "burn rate" runs about $3.9 billion a month.
Iraqi Resistance, World Leaders Condemn Attack On U.N. HQ - In a statement
aired by Al-Jazeera TV channel, the group exonerated all Iraqi resistance
factions from attacks on the U.N. office, the Jordanian embassy and strategic
sites in the occupied country, including oil pipelines.
The statement also underlined that the above mentioned attacks were plotted
with the aim of discrediting the Iraqi resistance. [I agree with Al-Jazeera,
the perpetrator was either U.S. or Israel or both -ed.]
The Rise of an Anti-American Army in Iraq - "God willing, this army will get rid of the Americans, the Israelis and the infidels."
Bremer: U.S. Could Quit Iraq Next Summer [Tranlation: we will be invading another one of Israel's enemies by next summer to divert the American public's attention away from Iraq like we did with Afghanistan]
Cost of the War in Iraq - A running tally of the financial cost only. Not in terms of human suffering.
Death of soldier from Missouri will be investigated amid spike in pneumonia cases THE ASSOCIATED PRESS updated: 07/28/2003 - Neusche's parents said that's what happened to their son. Mark and Cynthia Neusche said they were told their son's kidneys, liver and muscles began to deteriorate after he contracted the illness.
'Dead dictators tell no tales': Margolis - "If they put him on trial Saddam Hussein will have very embarrassing revelations to make about the time when he was a close American ally during the 1980s," Eric Margolis told CBC TV's Sunday Report.
Did David Kay Engineer WMD Evidence for Bush I -and Now Bush 2? by Cheryl Seal - The company was commissioned by G. W. Bush in 2002 to construct a replica of a mobile WMD laboratory of the sort used by Saddam. This mock up, supposedly destined to be used to train teams searching for WMDs in Iraq, was designed by Stephen Hatfill, the WMD expert now being harangued into isolation and thus silence by Bush's FBI.
MURDER is the correct word - This page appears here merely to let others in the world know that there are human beings who are appalled by the descent into barbarism by the U.S. Government and the uncivilized response of its media and a majority of its citizens.
Dr Kelly confirmed dead Iraq intelligence 19-Jul-2003 By: Elinor Goodman - Even before the bleak announcement, the prime minister had appeared shocked and drawn in Japan. Rarely, if ever has he looked so shaken in public. With the Japanese prime minister looking on, he was asked directly whether Dr Kelly's death was on his conscience.
IraqGate UK: Dead body matches Iraq Expert posted by ewing2001 on Friday July 18 - In July 2002, the Carlyle Group took a 34% stake in QinetiQ.
Wolfowitz Committee Told White House to Hype Dubious Uranium Claims by Jason Leopold July 17, 2003 - The revelations by the CIA official and the senators, if true, would prove that Tenet, who last week said he erred by allowing the uranium reference to be included in the State of the Union address, took the blame for an intelligence failure that he was not responsible for.
Core of Weapons Case Crumbling By Paul Reynolds BBC News Online Sunday 13 July 2003 - President Bush and Prime Minister Blair will be meeting in Washington later this week when they will discuss their strategy to justify the claims.
All We Are Here Is Sitting Ducks by Tom Chittum July 11 2003 - They are excellent at killing, but they are lousy at fighting. They are good at bombing from 30,000 feet, because that's just killing and does not involve any fighting because the aborigines can't shoot back.
The cost of the war in Iraq [Only in terms of money, not hardships or personal losses for thousands of innocent victims of bombings and war crimes!]
Eight U.S. Soldiers Killed In Iraq/U.S. forces come under almost daily attacks in Iraq Additional Reporting By Sobhi Haddad BAGHDAD, July 8
A Sad Story by Charley Reese - According to an Iraqi witness, last week an American soldier at a propane tank got into an argument with an Iraqi woman, took her propane tank away from her and tossed it on the ground, and gave her a hard shove.
Friday | July 04, 2003 It's worse than it seems By Steve Gilliard - Viceroy Jerry has asked for 50,000 troops to maintain his rule. There's one small problem with that. There aren't 50K to give. The US military is nearly at the end of it's deployable strength and needs to withdraw the 3ID as soon as possible.
10 U.S. Soldiers Wounded In Attacks, Bremer Begs Help - two Iraqis were killed and ten U.S. soldiers wounded in three separate attacks on American troops in Baghdad.
6 U.S. Soldiers Killed, 4 Injured In Baghdad: Reports July 1 - The U.S. Humvee attacked by RPG in the al-Mustansiriya BAGHDAD
Massacre in a Lawless Land Jon Swain, Nicholas Rufford - Sunday Times June 29, 2003 - American forces have long worn out their welcome around Baghdad and the Sunni heartland, where they have carried out a series of repressive operations to root out guerrillas who have killed more than 20 US troops.
US proconsul cancels municipal election in Iraq By Peter Symonds 23 June 2003 - The cancellation of an election for the post of mayor in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf demonstrates once again that the Bush administration has no intention of allowing even the semblance of democracy in the country.
US convoy attack 'inside Syria' From correspondents in Washington 24jun03 - A US attack last week on a convoy believed to have been carrying Iraqi leaders injured several Syrians and may have occurred on Syrian territory, a US Defence Department spokesman said today.
What's being planned in Iraq isn't reconstruction M Abdul Hafiz - The Bush administration knows it can't talk openly about selling Iraq's oil resources to Exxon-Mobil and Shell -- the owner of Iraqi oil before its nationalisation. The administration leaves it to people like Fadhil Chalabi, a former Iraqi petroleum minister.
News analysis: A battle is over, but a war is not Michael R. Gordon/NYT NYT - Unlike the rush to Baghdad, this fight will not be measured in days, but in months, if not years
US Loses Two Aircraft in Iraq By George Wright The Guardian - US forces in Iraq lost an Apache helicopter to "hostile fire" and an F-16 fighter in unknown circumstances today, as they stepped up their campaign against "subversive elements".
Iraq repercussions trouble top advisers RATIONALE FOR INVASION CHALLENGED By John Walcott
BLAIR BLOWS TOP OVER WEAPONS REPORTS May 31 2003 From Oonagh Blackman, Deputy Political Editor, In Warsaw - Spin doctors were said to have told intelligence officers to put in claims that Saddam was 45 minutes away from firing chemical weapons.
CIA-backed exile was source for Times “scoops” on Iraqi arms program By David Walsh 28 May 2003 - Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress “provided most of the front page exclusives on WMD” to the Times.
Iraqis Riot, Shoot Down U.S. Helicopter Printed on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - Al Jazeera also reported that U.S. service men were seen quickly removing evidence of the downed helicopter.
Allies to Begin Seizing Weapons From Most Iraqis 21.05.2003 - Iraqi citizens will be required to turn over automatic weapons and heavy weapons under a proclamation that allied authorities plan to issue this week, allied officials said today.
A Letter to Kofi Annan The Missing Evidence by Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
The Awkward Lies that Led to War Of Blair, Hussein and Genocide By JOHN CHUCKMAN - I wonder would Blair's assessment also apply to the estimated 500 tons of depleted uranium ammunition used in Iraq, hideous stuff, really a form of dirty bomb, whose vapors and dust will continue injuring and killing children for many years? And I suppose Blair is counting the razor-like shards of the cluster bombs that have crippled and lacerated so many children? Pitching a city of 5 million into chaos with no electricity, no water, no hospitals, no security, and no jobs was justified? Has he allowed for the pillaging and destruction of those priceless archeological treasures, the entire world's heritage?
BAGHDAD DISPATCH Beirut Redux by Hassan Fattah - Some Iraqis even accuse Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader Ahmed Chalabi of turning his Pentagon-backed Free Iraqi Forces, who currently number more than 500 armed men, into a militia and claim that Chalabi's organization has in recent days attempted to recruit more fighters at Baghdad's Al Mustansiriya University.
Weapons of mass destruction: US can cry wolf only so many times By Janadas Devan - US President George W. Bush said in January that it had 30,000 warheads, 500 tonnes of chemical weapons, 25,000 litres of anthrax, 38,000 litres of botulinum toxin and a secret programme for nuclear weapons.
U-S military tells Iraqis to turn in all guns or face arrest [Sounds like they are in a hurry to turn Iraq into another Palestine -ed]
Seven Nuclear Sites Looted By Barton Gellman Washington Post Saturday 10 May 2003 - At two other looted sites, Tuwaitha's Location C and the Baghdad Nuclear Research Center nearby, there were significant quantities of partially enriched uranium, cesium, strontium and cobalt. U.S. survey teams have been unable to say whether any of those radiation sources were stolen.
Don't Lift The Sanctions Yet! May 10, 2003 by Rahul Mahajan - Or, as Richard Perle said even more openly, in an op-ed shortly after the war began titled "Thank God for the death of the U.N.," "The 'good works' part will survive, the low-risk peacekeeping bureaucracies will remain, the chatterbox on the Hudson will continue to bleat." No longer content with a system where nominally the U.N. is the ultimate authority but the United States dominates it by coercion and bribery, the Bush administration wants explicit recognition that the U.N. should play only the roles allowed to it by the United States.
Iraqi National Congress Seeks Enhanced Credibility - Hires Burson-Marsteller (B-M) to help out their image.
A Letter from Saddam Hussein to the Iraqi People and the Arab Nation May 01, 2003 Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Translated by Jihad Unspun - According to the paper, sources close to Saddam confirmed the authenticity of his handwriting and signature and noted that a written letter way the only way he could communicate for security reasons.
Slain Iraqi cleric said to be CIA ally by KNUT ROYCE - Shiite leader murdered at mosque in Najaf $50, $100 bills fluttered out of robes as he died
After a month, U.S. losing credibility in Iraq By LARRY KAPLOW - The spasm of looting that plagued the capital immediately after Saddam's statue fell has settled into a routine. Looters now work with job-like regularity, disassembling buildings often in full view of U.S. troops. Worse, crime is getting more violent each day.
DYER: Weapons of Mass Destruction Were a Fantasy From the Start By Gwynne Dyer - Putin openly mocked Blair for the failure of the "coalition" to find any of the fabled WMD even weeks after the end of the war: "Where are those arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, if indeed they ever existed? Perhaps Saddam is still hiding in an underground bunker somewhere, sitting on cases of weapons of mass destruction, and is preparing to blow the whole thing up and destroy the lives of thousands of Iraqis."
The real 'Saving Pte. Lynch' by: Toronto Star 5/5/2003 - "The most important thing to know is that the Iraqi soldiers and commanders had left the hospital almost two days earlier," Houssona said. "The night they left, a few of the senior medical staff tried to give Jessica back. We carefully moved her out of intensive care and into an ambulance and began to drive to the Americans, who were just one kilometer away. But when the ambulance got within 300 meters, they began to shoot. There wasn't even a chance to tell them `We have Jessica. Take her.'"
Impatient Justice Congratulations. We've just won the wrong war. By William Saletan - What about Saddam's links to terror? Bush repeated Thursday that the Iraq war had "removed an ally of al-Qaida." Really? According to the Post, U.S. officials "have not turned up anything to support Powell's claim to the Security Council that 'nearly two dozen' al Qaeda terrorists lived in and operated from Baghdad." A Los Angeles Times investigation of the al-Qaida affiliate touted by Powell found "no strong evidence of connections to Baghdad" and concluded that the group lacked "the capability to muster a serious threat beyond its mountain borders." Saddam didn't even "control the region where the [group's] camps were located."
WARS YET TO COME AIJAZ AHMAD - The fact of the matter, however, is that Baghdad fell not to that weaponry but thanks to a deal that the Baathist regime made with the Americans under which it renounced the defence of the city in exchange for a whole variety of favours
Bernard Weiner: 'U.S. Iraq policy for dummies' By Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers - In the meantime, put pressure on your local elected officials to have voting machines that guarantee ways of checking that the balloting is on the up-and-up, and that exit polls are back in operation. If the computer voting machines' software has been tampered with and there's no paper trail, or exit-polling, to measure votes cast against votes counted, all the good Democrat campaigning in the world will never gain a victory. You've been forewarned.
THOSE AMAZING MOSSAD DOCUMENTS - "The documents were found by correspondent Mitch Potter, the Star's Jerusalem bureau chief. Potter, who has been in and out of Iraq since the war began . . ." (i.e. traveling between Jerusalem and Baghdad). (Toronto Star)
Iraq victory may be opening move in U.S. strive for supremacy BY R.C. LONGWORTH Chicago Tribune - The conservative German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has accused the administration of pursuing a "hegemonic internationalism," or world dominance. In Paris, the radical Le Monde Diplomatique said that a "U.S. motive is world supremacy. ... These right-wing ideologues seek to transform the U.S. into a new military state. They have embraced the ambitions of all empires - reshaping the globe, redrawing frontiers and policing the world's people."
Revealed: How the road to war was paved with lies Intelligence agencies accuse Bush and Blair of distorting and fabricating evidence in rush to war By Raymond Whitaker - But one official said privately that "in the end, history and the American people will judge the US not by whether its officials found canisters of poison gas or vials of some biological agent [but] by whether this war marked the beginning of the end for the terrorists who hate America". [Read: the end for the sovereign nations that hate Israel -ed]
Fury as explosion at weapons dump kills 40 April 27 2003 - Later, US Army Sergeant-Major Gary Coker told Reuters at a point some three kilometres from the scene that his unit had been forced to pull back because they had been fired on.
AHMED
CHALABI'S TIES TO MOSSAD & NEOCONS Posted By: Christopher Bollyn Friday,
25 April 2003 - In the 1980s, when he was associated with the Petra Bank,
Chalabi, who was allegedly helping the Mossad, the Israeli external intelligence
agency, used to visit Israel secretly.
During those visits, he became close to the late Albert Wohlstetter, who is
reputed to be "a godfather of the neoconservative movement in the US,"
according to Raman.
Occupation Enduring Freedom by Josh Frank Dissident Voice April 25, 2003 - This is where the anti-war movement will come in - nullifying their old attempts of halting the Iraq invasion - and adhering to the new anti-occupation manifesto.
U.S. Wants to Shut Down UN Controls on Iraq's Oil Fri April 25, 2003 01:15 AM ET By Evelyn Leopold - To assuage fears that the United States and Britain are grabbing Iraq's oil, the United States plans some kind of international oversight, but not from the United Nations, diplomats said.
Pilgrims threaten jihad against American forces By Kim Sengupta in Karbala 24 April 2003 - The one million people commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohamed, were not only determined to take part in the rites banned by Saddam Hussein and his Baathist predecessors, but also to lay their claim for a Shia-led government.
Did Bush Deceive Us in His Rush to War? Robert Scheer: April 22, 2003 The 'threats' that Hussein posed to the United States are nowhere to be seen.
Diane Feinstein profits from war in Iraq by John Smyth - URS Corp., a San Francisco planning and engineering firm partially owned by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband, landed an Army contract Monday worth up to $600 million.
Anthrax, chemicals and nerve gas: who is lying? Growing evidence of deception by Washington By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles - For months, Mr Ritter has said Iraq's capability of producing or deploying chemical or biological weapons was 90-95 per cent destroyed on his watch and was very unlikely to have been built up again under international sanctions and the constant surveillance of spy satellites and US and British war planes.
Eyewitness Charges US With Encouraging Looting 4-14-3 - "I was just 300 meters away when the guards where murdered. Then they shot the building entrance to pieces, and their Arabic translators in the tanks told people to run for grabs inside the building. Rumours spread rapidly and the house was cleaned out. Moments later tanks broke down the doors to the Justice Department, residing in the neighbouring building, and looting was carried on to there.
US Implicated In Planned Theft Iraqi Antiquities By Ann Talbot WSWS.org 4-20-3 - The museum was the victim of a carefully planned assault. The thieves who took the most valuable material came prepared with equipment to lift the heaviest objects, which the staff could not move from the galleries, and had keys to the vaults where the most valuable items were stored. Not since the Nazis systematically stripped the museums of Europe has such a crime been committed.
The day of the jackals Rod Liddle - The treasurer of the group, one William Pearlstein, has said that he would support a postwar government in Iraq that would make it easier to have things ‘dispersed’ to, er, for the sake of argument, the United States.
The Rape of History The War on Civilization by GARY LEUPP
US-UN row brews over Iraq sanctions April 18 2003 at 07:30AM - "If the weapons are not identified and found then I think people will start to ask very, very serious questions about what the war was really all about," Richard Butler, former head of UN weapons inspections in Iraq, told NBC News.
Exiled Shiite Chief: Iraqis Should Rebel Exiled Shiite Opposition Leader Calls on Iraqis to Oppose U.S.-Led Interim Administration TEHRAN, Iran April 17
Robert Fisk: For the people on the streets, this is not liberation but a new colonial oppression - Because there is also something dangerous – and deeply disturbing – about the crowds setting light to the buildings of Baghdad, including the great libraries and state archives. For they are not looters. The looters come first. The arsonists turn up later, often in blue-and-white buses. I followed one after its passengers had set the Ministry of Trade on fire and it sped out of town.
Books in flames - As Lerner tells us, "When the Mongols swept across the Muslim lands in the 13th century, they destroyed the great cities of central Asia and, in 1258, Baghdad itself. In one week most of that city's thirty-six public libraries were destroyed.
U.S. Bombs Missed Hussein, Residents Say - Locals say that some months ago -- two by one account, seven by another -- the residents of this house sold it or rented it out. In the days and weeks afterward, people dressed in shabby clothing -- perhaps disguises -- were showing up in taxis, one neighbor said.
Propaganda Stinkers: Fresh Samples From the Field By Paul de Rooij Sunday, April 13 2003 @ 11:30 PM GMT - One of the Al Jazeera reports contained some nuggets and raised questions about the hidden player in this war – one whose name CNN or BBC don’t dare to mention, Israel. Al Jazeera showed footage of an unexploded Israeli missile, and elsewhere bits of metal with Hebrew markings. Perhaps it is too much to expect CNN to ask who fired these missiles. (After the 1991 Gulf War, an Israeli Air Force reservist engaging in a bit of R&R skiing in France, boasted to this author: “… if you only knew where I have been.” He barely could hide his glee at the outcome of that war.)
Iraq’s Liberation Front Attempts To Assassinate Chalabi Iraqi opposition leader Chalabi escaped an assassination attempt unscathed By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Cairo Staff
Media fury at Iraq anarchy - British and American forces are blamed for the breakdown of law and order and there is even a suggestion things were better under the old regime.
No Banned Arms In Iraq: Al-Saadi After Surrendering - [The reason that they coalition of the killing gave orders to shoot to kill those people that are on the playing cards is because they do not want them to issue statements like Mr. Saadi did. Mr. Saadi was smart to bring along German journalists -ed.]
"Operation Iraqi Chaos" Printed on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - The Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies have called the collapse of the Iraqi health sector a "scandal."
This
is Not a War of Liberation -
This is an Unjust War and Occupation. - the oil fields will be used to
pay for the invasion, occupation and the rebuilding of Iraq. The first contracts
for this rebuilding have gone without bidding to companies like Halliburton
and Bechtel and Stevadoring Services of America in the largest war profiteering
since World War II. [Just follow the trail of money -ed.]
Weapons
teams scour Iraq Secret units in desperate hunt for banned arsenal Nicholas
Watt, Owen Bowcott and Richard Norton-Taylor Saturday April 12, 2003 - It
is a sign of the desperation in London and Washington to find a "smoking
gun" to justify the war that the Anglo-American team has already conducted
three inspections in the past two weeks.
No banned weapons have so far been found.
Journalists quit embedded roles Jason Deans Friday April 11, 2003
US troops' anguish: Killing outmatched foes By Ann Scott Tyson - For some soldiers, trauma is already sinking in. "For lack of a better word, I feel almost guilty about the massacre," says one soldier privately. "We wasted a lot of people. It makes you wonder how many were innocent. It takes away some of the pride. We won, but at what cost?"
Hans Blix: War Planned 'Long in Advance' Wednesday 9 April 2003 - By attacking Iraq, Washington had sent the wrong message - that if a country did not possess biological, chemical or nuclear weapons, it risked being attacked. [You got that right Hans -ed]
Hizbollah urges Iraqis to choose independence By Mariam Karouny - ''Hizbollah and Syria are in one corner in their confrontation with the American-Israeli assault, because these threats aim to restrain the ability and strength of Hizbollah, Syria and Lebanon to defend themselves,'' Kassem said.
Russia helping Saddam flee: Report Moscow, April 9
Dictators' Collusion By Parviz Esmaeili - Also, it has been reported that over the past 24 hours, a plane was authorized to leave Iraq bound for Russia. Who was aboard this plane?
'US troops are the war criminals' Beijing, April 10 - "If the targets were not aimed at chosen targets, were the Americans conducting indiscriminative bombing of innocent civilians?"
War Against Iraq is Illegal - Those who wage this war will be taken before the International Criminal Court at The Hague to be tried for war crimes if there are civilian casualties and possibly, crimes against humanity, if the conditions are met. The author of this article will be the proud author of the indictment. More than this, it is hereby proved that the nation in breach of Resolution 1441 is the United States of America, not Iraq.
YOU MEAN SADDAM DIDN'T GAS HIS OWN PEOPLE? - Pelletiere writes, “…immediately after the battle [at Halabja] the United States Defense Information Agency investigated and produced a classified report, which it circulated within the intelligence community on a need-to-know basis. That study asserted that it was Iranian gas that killed the Kurds, not Iraqi gas.”
Letters From A Baghdad High School - My name is Rasha. I’m 18 years old. I want to say that I love the world and I love peace. I don’t want war. Why do you want to kill the smiles on our faces? We want to learn and live in peace. I want to be a dentist, so how could I make that if the war happened? We are a peaceful people. We love peace. We love American people, so why do you want to kill us? I pray for the God to avoid us the war, and I hope for whole the world the peace and love. I want to be friends and keep in touch with you. Let us spread love among us.
Here are 3 good reasons that the US wants to wage war on Iraq. First - to enlarge Israel's borders. Secondly - To secure Israel as the predominant military force in the middle east. Thirdly -To bring more water to Israel. Other reasons include: To secure the second largest supply of oil. The worlds production of oil has already peaked several years ago. It is now declining. Meanwhile the thirst for oil increases. Iraq switched to the Euro standard in the year 2000. The forces that control the Bush regime want to end Saddam's life for the same reason that they ended JFK's. They both were changing the money system of their respective countries. In JFK's case he was dumping Federal Reserve Notes and in Saddams's case he was dumping the dollar. And in both cases we have the same people behind it.
Iraq War Quiz by Stephen R. Shalom
We said it would be a nightmare And yes, that's exactly what it is by Alexander Cockburn - Assessing the surprising extent of resistance, the U.S. ultra-hawks are now circulating the idea that Iraq is a "deeply sick" society, not yet ready for "western-style democracy," which will require purgation through lengthy occupation, with all appropriate theft or exploitation of Iraq's assets
Collection of videos on the war by Bolivia.com
U.S. accused of pre-empting UN resolution against war By Saeed Shabazz Staff Writer Apr 7, 2003 - The Global Policy Forum said the U.S. has embarked on a well-orchestrated program to stop any resolution against the war in Iraq from coming to the Security Council. It includes a "pre-emptive letter writing attack" to all nations that "demands" member states avoid "calls for an emergency session of the General Assembly" and anti-war Resolution 377, United For Peace.
Exclusive: 3 CIA assets killed in Baghdad By Richard Sale UPI Intelligence Correspondent - One former long-time CIA operative said it was the Delta men, already in country, who made the breakthrough for the U.S. attack by infiltrating a key Baghdad telecommunications center and tapping a fiber optic telephone line.
Robert Fisk: In Baghdad, blood and bandages for the innocent
By Robert Fisk in the Baghdad suburb of Shu'ale 30 March 2003 - But the missile
was guided by computers and that vital shard of fuselage was computer-coded.
It can be easily verified and checked by the Americans – if they choose
to do so. It reads: 30003-704ASB 7492. The letter "B" is scratched
and could be an "H". This is believed to be the serial number. It
is followed by a further code which arms manufacturers usually refer to as
the weapon's "Lot" number. It reads: MFR 96214 09. [Its gonna be
pretty hard to deny this one is from the US]
THE WAR FOR TRUTH Apr 5 2003 By John Pilger - The truth they don't tell is that the British siege of Basra is strangling the civilian population, causing great suffering to innocent, men, women and children in their homeland.
British MP Sees Catastrophe Ahead by Sanjay Suri - The blunder has happened because ”people like U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld's deputy Paul Wolfowitz have hijacked the U.S. government.”
Moran ran secret crusade against Saddam, claims friend 06.04.2003 - The Adelaide Advertiser yesterday quoted Rob Buchan, a friend of Mr Moran, who said that throughout the 1990s Mr Moran worked for Washington-based public relations company, the Rendon Group, which was contracted by the US Central Intelligence Agency to run propaganda campaigns against the dictatorship.
Small bombs look like rations to Iraqi kids: UN - [If the US military cared they would have stopped using them in Afghanistan when the UN complained about the same thing, no I think that it is part of the plan]
BOMBS FALL ON BABYLON Apr 3 2003 - These are the survivors of what are
claimed to be cluster bomb attacks on villages in Babylon and its capital
Al Hillah, some 70 miles south of Baghdad.
The attacks, which happened around lunchtime on Monday, are said to have killed
at least 60 people and injured a further 250. But no one has completed the
tally.
Iraq: U.S. jets hit human shields, buses By GHASSAN al-KADI - He said
"those miserable in the White House" do not represent the U.S. people
and "we are fighting those miserable war criminals and aggressive invaders
and not the U.S. and British people."[True, but the coalition
of the killing IS fighting the people of Iraq, despite the propaganda that
says otherwise]
"We have nothing against the U.S. and British people. We are fighting
against the invaders. I have full confidence we will defeat them," he
said.
Troops kill women and children at checkpoint LORNA MARTIN and MICHAEL SETTLE - US troops shot dead seven women and children last night when their van failed to stop at a military checkpoint.
Uranium Warheads May Leave Both Sides a Legacy of Death for Decades by Susanna Hecht - Of the 504,047 eligible veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, about 29% are now considered disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the highest rate of disability for any modern war. And most are not disabled because of wounds.
Our Servicemen's Health in Danger by David Weintraub - Based on his research, Rokke discovered that when DU is inhaled, it ravages the lungs and wreaks havoc in the body, destroying vital organs and immune systems. Rokke called for an immediate ban on DU, costing him his career. His exposure to DU may cost him his life. Of the 100 men Rokke had working under him, 30 have died and the rest suffer from cancers and immune-deficiency symptoms similar to many Gulf War veterans.
OFFENSE AND DEFENSE by SEYMOUR M. HERSH The battle between Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon. - A Middle East businessman who has long-standing ties in Jordan and Syria—and whose information I have always found reliable—told me that the religious government in Tehran “is now backing Iraq in the war. There isn’t any Arab fighting group on the ground in Iraq who is with the United States,” he said.
Once more into the swamp Saddam learned a lesson in 1991, the U.S. and Britain did not ... now their forces are tied down fighting a guerrilla war in Iraq By ERIC MARGOLIS -- Contributing Foreign Editor - Any 18th century general worth his snuff would tell you never leave enemy garrisons athwart your communications (supply lines). Napoleon said lines of communications were the most important factor in war, a lesson U.S. forces are painfully relearning in Iraq.
So 100,000 more American troops are being rushed to Iraq, meaning almost half of the U.S. Army will be stuck in Mesopotamia at a time when North Korea is threatening war. And this before U.S. forces have even clashed with Iraq's Republican Guards.
'The Yank opened up. He had absolutely no regard for human life. He was a cowboy out on a jolly' Patrick Barkham meets the "friendly fire" victims March 31, 2003 - THREE wounded British soldiers described yesterday how they survived a terrifying attack by an American anti-tank aircraft that killed one of their troop and destroyed two armoured vehicles.
I'LL SHOOT YANKS TO SAVE IRAQ Mar 30 2003 From Stephen Martin in Baghdad - Even when confronted with a litany of Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses, torture chambers and secret police, he holds firm. "You say Saddam Hussein has killed many people - I say the UN sanctions have killed our children. Does Saddam Hussein kill children? No."
Iraq: Coalition may use WMD - Al-Sahaf said U.S. forces could use weapons of mass destruction "because of frustrations and their defeat and the resistance that will increase day by day."
What Is Really Happening in Iraq?
Funeral In Baghdad 03/29/03 A real media clip
Search for smoking gun draws a blank by Nicholas Watt - US and Britain's case for war undermined by special forces' failure to find illegal arms at 10 suspected sites
War in Iraq - preparing for battle UPDATE March 27, 2003 www.iraqwar.ru - Intercepted radio communications indicate that tomorrow we should expect a powerful attack by the coalition
Le Figaro: Coalition Troops Have Committed Hitler’s Mistake
From "Plain Sailing" to "Where the Hell Are We?" to "Up the Creek" By ALEXANDER COCKBURN - We are, remember, just past the anniversary of the My Lai massacre, March 16, 1968, when American Gis, part of Operation Phoenix, machine-gunned hundreds upon hundreds of women and babies and old men in a trench in Vietnam, where US forces tried to suppression resistance in an area far smaller than what they propose to control in the Fertile Crescent today. [And who was there, none other than General My Lai, Colin Powll]
Iraq statement to Security Council March 28 2003 - Yesterday, he continued, United States forces had destroyed 200 houses and continued to destroy residential areas. The Iraqi people would defend the principles of the United Nations and those of peace and security. He warned the Council that the United States and the United Kingdom were about to start a war of extermination against the Iraqi people. Halting the war was most important. He called on the Council to adopt a resolution to halt the war and restore peace. He added that Iraq was committed to the Geneva Conventions, and the world would see nothing from Iraq but what it did in self-defence.
Jubilation turns to hate as aid arrives Burhan Wazir in Az Zubayr, Iraq Thursday March 27, 2003
A List of Bush LIES on Iraq by Kelley Kramer - No where near complete!
Iraq Diaries - View from the Iraqi peace team
British manufacturer's weapons linked to hidden cache of missiles - Check out their poll which shows over 50% oppose the war in Iraq. No media manipulation there
American Alchemists at Work in Iraq Transmuting Silkworms into Scuds
Joe Vialls, 23 March 2003 - Numbering no more than 100 men, for nearly three
days these defenders withstood a terrifying barrage of nearly 5,000 American
“cluster” artillery shells [like cluster bombs only smaller],
and still they fought to defend little Umm Qasr. Then the US Marines fired
massive artillery rockets at them from close range, but still they would not
give up
At the end of day three, US Command Headquarters was growing tired of these
brave men and their wives and children in Umm Qasr holding up “the advance”.
Having pinpointed what they believed to be the main building where the defenders
were housed, the American generals ordered in two bombers to blow the lot
of them off the face of the earth, and within hours a pair of laser-guided
1,000# fragmentation bombs scored direct hits on the building.
It would be reasonable to assume that these obscene weapons would probably
kill all of the Iraqi men, women and children inside the small building, but
miraculously, a few managed to survive. As I write this report, sporadic fire
has started again, and the US Marines are being held at bay by what remains
of the ragtag defenders. It is beyond any doubt whatever that these simple
Iraqi men, women and children, have shown tremendous valor, well above and
beyond the call of duty.
War in Iraq - no progress for coalition - Radio communications intercepted during the last five days suggest that the coalition is using Israeli airfield for conducting night air strikes against Iraq. Combat aircraft are taking off regularly from the [Israeli] Hatzerim and the Navatim airbases do not return to the same bases but fly toward the border with Jordan while maintaining complete radio silence.
Possibly these are just Israeli Air Force exercises, However, [Russian] radio intercept and radar units observe increased intensity of radio communications coming from the Jordanian air force and air defense communication centers during such overflights, as well as changes in the operating modes of the US Army "Patriot" tracking radars deployed in Jordan. This indicates the Israeli airbases as used as forward airfield or that some of the coalition air force units are based there. Normally the IAF F-15I fighter-bombers and A-4N strike aircraft operate from the Hatzerim airbase and the F-16 fighter-bombers operate from the Nevatim base.
Experts believe that these airbases may be used by the F-117 stealth bombers "officially" based at the Al-Udaid airbase in Qatar. Using these two locations minimizes the risk to the F-117s by allowing them to fly along the left bank of the Euphrates (in the direction of Turkey) and to avoid the dangerous maneuvering over Iraq. [The why isn't Israel listed in the members of the coalition, unless they are trying to cover up the fact that this war is being fought for Israel]
Rockets Hit Iran; US, UK Jets Enter Airspace - IRNA By Reuters
Israeli-made missile found in Baghdad: Iraq state TV - and I thought that Israel was trying to stay out of this war.... silly me.
Israel taking part in war: Iraq March 24, 2003 - Sabri, arriving in Egypt after a stop in Syria, also charged that Israel was involved in the war.
Israeli special forces join 'secret front' in Jordan By Ian Cobain and Stephen Farrell - Intriguingly, members of Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s commando force, are also said by Western military experts to have carried out covert reconnaissance operations inside the Western Iraqi desert.
Syria Says U.S.-Led Forces Killed Five Syrians Updated 7:16 AM ET March 24, 2003The Real
But Unspoken Reasons For The Iraq War From Independent Media Center www.indymedia.org:8081
2-3-3
"The real reason the Bush administration wants a puppet government in Iraq
- or more importantly, the reason why the corporate-military-industrial network
conglomerate wants a puppet government in Iraq - is so that it will revert
back to a dollar standard and stay that way."
Russia Vows to Stop US Move to Legitimize Iraq War - Thanks for that
MURDERERS!! - Rumsfeld is a terrorist, a murderer and a war criminal. [So tell me something I didn't already know]
Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11 WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2002 - CBS News has learned that barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq — even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.
Hell Rains Down on Iraqis Naseer Al-Nahr, Arab News War Correspondent
U.S. Battles Calls for Emergency UN Session on Iraq Fri March 21, 2003 12:51 PM ET By Irwin Arieff - The United States has launched a worldwide diplomatic drive to head off the calling of an emergency session of the U.N. General Assembly to condemn the U.S.-led war on Iraq, diplomats said on Friday.
Killers On The Payroll By Paris, March 21, 2003 - Ten Thing You Can Do To Stop The War On Iraq
Bubbles of fire tore into the sky above Baghdad Robert Fisk in Baghdad
US wants Security Council to help pick up the pieces - The U.S. kills em, and they want the U.N. to gather up the body parts and pay for the hospital bills.
Jazeera shows grisly pictures of dead Iraqis - Jazeera quoted hospital
sources as saying a total of 50 people were killed -- including one entire
family and a Russian citizen --
when U.S. F-16 warplanes planes bombed the city.
Missile Attack ‘Came From Jordan’ Mohammed Alkhereiji, Arab News War Correspondent
Revealed: US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war - Text of the memo above. From the Observer in the U. K.
Report: Israeli forces operating inside Iraq, hunting missiles By Ha'aretz Service
America's $400bn war bill - Mr Bush's strategy is risky, if not reckless. A $1.5 trillion dollar tax cut over a decade is by anyone's estimation a large sum even before the cost of a war against Iraq and its aftermath are added onto it.
UN Nuclear Team: US Sabotaged Inspections Nuclear inspectors reportedly angry CHECKING FALSE U.S. LEADS WASTED TIME, SOURCE SAYS By Dan Stober Mercury News - Some of the inspectors leave with a deep suspicion of U.S. motives. Some believe, for example, that recent flights of U.S. U-2 spy planes were intended to help the military draw up target lists, not to aid the inspectors in their search for weapons of mass destruction.
Russia and France angered by end of diplomacy France rejects blame as Putin warns of gravest consequences - [Sounds like Russia may be willing to fight for the U.N. instead of brushing it off as irrelevant]
Putin Says He Regrets Ultimatum By Simon Saradzhyan - President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday that he regretted the decision to issue an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, while the Foreign Ministry warned that an attack on Iraq without UN approval could lead to "a confrontation of civilizations."
Israeli special forces join 'secret front' in Jordan By Ian Cobain and Stephen Farrell
Lets Not Forget: Bush Planned Iraq 'Regime Change' Before Becoming President - The blueprint, uncovered by the Sunday Herald, for the creation of a 'global Pax Americana' was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice- president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), George W Bush's younger brother Jeb and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defences: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century, was written in September 2000 by the neo-conservative think-tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC).
Moscow warns US on Iraq strike Sunday 9 March 2003
Over 1 Million Iraqi Children Might Die in War - Secret UN Document
Robert Fisk: The forgotten power of the General Assembly 14 March 2003 - UN resolution 377 allows the General Assembly to recommend collective action "if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security".
PM may face war crime charges By James Madden March 18, 2003 - JOHN Howard stands to lose more than the next election if he commits Australian troops to Iraq. He could also find himself facing charges of war crimes, according to international law expert Gillian Triggs.
`It's my duty to fight for Iraq' ... Fellow Arabs head to Baghdad to battle Americans 7,000 from Africa, Middle East offer to help Saddam - "It is my duty to fight for Iraq because Iraqis have bled for Palestine — in 1948, in the '70s, even today. In the Gulf war, they bombed Israel and we were glad for that. The Iraqis have always helped all the Arabs in this region. Now, it is our turn to help them."
Just War -- or a Just War? By Jimmy Carter