[uruknet.info] - [daily information from occupied iraq] - [newsletter 01 Feb 2005 - Part One]

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Then, They Came For Iraq's Sunni
Rebels Create No-Fly-Zone as Genocide Looms for Iraq's Sunni Muslims
Fintan Dunne, Editor, BreakForNews.com
The downing of at least two US/UK aircraft in recent days over Iraq --with
record-setting casualties-- means a de facto no fly zone has been declared
by rebels equipped with surface-to-air missiles. The military implications
are being concealed by occupation forces, who will not admit the true cause
of these "crashes." Their coyness is aided by a compliant media ready to
collude in hiding the truth...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9330&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9330


British MP George Galloway: Elections in Occupied Iraq "Flawed Beyond
Redemption"
Democracy Now!
...They're a farce. They're rigged. An election held under foreign military
occupation is always, by definition, utterly flawed. But one which is held
in the kind of conditions in which this one is being held is flawed beyond
redemption. The facts are that it is simply impossible to hold an election
when there is a full-scale war going on between the occupying armies and
the resistance forces. The Sunni Muslim populati on, which if you add the
Sunni Kurds and the Sunni Arabs together, is some 40% of the population,
are deeply anxious about the way in which the occupying forces are
deliberately trying to divide the country along confessional lines. The
Sunni Arab population has boycotted the election almost in their entirety...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9340&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9340


'Iraq's electoral fiasco'
Mike Whitney
The only way the Iraqi elections would have been interesting is if they'd
stuck Saddam's name on the ballot. Then we could've seen whether the Iraqi
people are sick enough of Bush's farce to want a return to the old order.
Instead, we're left ferreting through reams of trivia to sort out what the
voting really meant. It's easier to figure out what it doesn't mean. It
doesn't mean that the water that has been off for 8 straight days in
Baghdad will come on anytime soon (...). And it certainly doesn't mean that
the newly "elected" officials will have any real influence over borders,
air space, oil extraction, economic policy, deployment of troops or any of
the other powers we normally associate with sovereign leaders...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9348&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9348


The Phony Vote
Bob Dreyfuss , TomPaine.com
It doesn't matter how many people voted yesterday in Iraq. In the end, the
Iraqi parliament that results from yesterday's vote will be illegitimate,
having been elected under the guns of U.S. soldiers. The triumphalism of
the Bush administration aside, the new Iraqi regime will have no more
credibility than the Iraqi Governing Council, set up by the United States
in 2003, or the ersatz government of Prime Minister Allawi, appointed in
2004...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9349&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9349


Death in the wilderness: what really happened?
Kim Sengupta, Colin Brown and Terri Judd, Independet
...It looked increasingly likely that the 10 servicemen on board the
Hercules C-130 were killed by insurgents, butdetails of the crash were
shrouded in mystery as ministers faced questions about the plane's mission.
The escalation in the insurgents' threat, if confirmed by crash
investigators at the site, will cause alarm. The Hercules aircraft are the
workhorses of British and US forces...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9350&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9350


While bogged down in Iraq
White House threatens new aggression
Fred Goldstein, Workers World newspaper
The most notable aspect of President George W. Bush's inaugural speech was
the extraordinary contradiction between the high-blown imperial,
triumphalist rhetoric about bringing "freedom" to the entire world, and the
utter disaster for U.S. imperialism, mired down now for two years in a
colonial war in Iraq. This elaboration of the neoconservative Bush Doctrine
has pundits and policy makers scr atching their heads in light of the utter
failure of the first phase of the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war,
enunciated after Sept. 11, 2001...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9346&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9346


Resistance intensifies as Iraqis say: 'We need water & oil, not sham elections'
Greg Butterfield, Workers World newspaper
As President George W. Bush took the oath of office Jan. 20, a new round of
bomb attacks rocked U.S., British and collaborationist targets in Baghdad,
Basra and other Iraqi cities. Attacks have continued daily. On Jan. 24, a
bomb exploded outside the Baghdad party headquarters of Interim "Prime
Minister" Ayad Allawi. The message was loud and clear: The popular
resistance is strong, it is growin g, and it is not going away, regardless
of Bush's reelection or the outcome of the Jan. 30 sham elections organized
by the occupation forces...



<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9347&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9347


The Jordanian Government attacks the Union of Professional Associations
(UPA) over its anti-Zionist anti-Occupation Positions
A report by: Dr. Hisham Bustani - Member of the Liberties Committee and the
anti-Normalization Committee of the UPA - Al-Moharer
The Union of Professional Associations (UPA) is a coordination body between
14 Jordanian professional associations (...) The UPA is well-known for its
principled positions regarding promoting Liberties and Human Rights
locally, and against the US aggression in Ira q, against the Zionist
Occupation in Palestine, and against the Imperialist Globalization. These
positions seem to be in contradiction with the government in Jordan which
has been trying to undermine the UPA for about 5 years by banning some of
its activities, arresting many of its activists, outlawing its central
committees, outlawing its Council of Presidents, threatening continuously
to dissolve its elected executive committees and replacing them with
governmentally-appointed ones, and last but not least threatening to change
the laws of the UPA Associations...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9351&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9351


Iraq elections set stage for deeper crisis of US occupation regime
Patrick Martin, WSWS
The election January 30 in Iraq marks a further intensification of the
contradictions confronting American imperialism, both in Iraq and at home.
It will neither resolve the crisis of the American stooge regime in
Baghdad, hated and despised by the vast majority of the Iraqi people, nor
legitimize the US occupation in the eyes of world and among large sections
of the American public...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9344&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9344


Iraq: One 'Election',Two Different Stories
William Bowles
BBC coverage of the 'election' in Iraq is nothing short of amazing, with so
much 'spin' I'm left feeling dizzy. Aside from the fact that throughout the
entire week's coverage by the BBC in the run-up to the 'election', we were
not told how a fair election could be held in a country under military
occupation and marshal law, we have the following outrageous statements by
BBC reporters 'on the spot', Iraq may have democracy but it still doesn't
have much e lectricity. ([T]he taste of democracy today is particularly
sweet - Ben Brown, Basra, 30 January) (...) Over the past week, we have not
heard a single dissenting voice on the issue of the legitimacy of the
'election'...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9343&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9343


Mr. Frank's Fatwah
New Republic Calls for Death and Torture of Arundhati Roy and Stan Goff
DAVE ZIRIN, CounterPunch
The words "libelous" and 'the New Republic" have a proud history of walking
arm-in-arm. Now, in the esteemed tradition of [former TNR writer who
peddled fiction as fact] Stephen Glass, The New Republic has stooped to a
new low, publishing a piece that calls for violence, torture, and even
death for leading leftists who dare oppose Bush's war on terror and the
slaughter in Iraq...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9342&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9342


Voter Turnout in the Iraqi Elections Follows Washington's Script
Critical Montages
...I'd also ask where the Independent [sic] Election Commission of Iraq got
the figure of 8 million voters. The answer is that's exactly the same
number the commission predicted before the elections (...) What precision!
A sign that elections in Iraq have been raised to the level of science, far
superior to the 4-billion-dollar election industry in the United States
that showed disturbing discrepancies between e xit polls and vote tallies?
Not! A safer hypothesis is that it's a sign of how scripted Iraqi elections
were.

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9339&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9339


Four US Marines killed as Iraqi detainees shot dead by American guards
Ap-Bawaba
Four US Marines have been killed in action, it was reported Monday. Three
were killed and two others were wounded Monday while conducting "security
and stability operations" in northern Babil province. US military officials
in Baghdad also reported Monday that a Marine was killed on Sunday in Anbar
province. Meanwhile, American guards opened fire Monday on prisoners during
a riot at the main detention facility for security detainees, killing four
of them, the U.S. command said...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9341&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9341


Much at Stake for Anti-War Movement
Paul Vitello, Newsday
..."Whatever happens in this election, the administration is going to
declare it a 'success,'" said Michael McConnell, regional director of the
American Friends Service Committee, the Quaker peace organization. "But do
these elections really signal self-determination for the Iraqi people? It
is doubtful. There cannot be a democratic process under an occupation with
no basic security or stability, with large parts of the country cut off. A
more legitimate vo te would have been to have a referendum on the
occupation itself: Do you want American troops here?"...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9337&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9337


US to spend $1.5bn on new Iraq embassy
The DAWN Group of Newspapers
The United States has selected a spot in Baghdad's top security Green zone
and will spend more than $1.5 billion to build a new, fortress like embassy
in the Iraqi capital, the State Department said. The present embassy is
located in temporary facilities and was not intended for a long-term use.
The $1.5 billion will come out of the $80 billion supplemental budget that
President Bush sought for Iraq last week...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9336&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9336


Statue Of Bush In Baghdad?
JOSH WILLIAMS
The man replacing the mayor of Baghdad — who was assassinated for his
pro-American loyalties — says he is not worried about his ties to
Washington. In fact, he'd like to erect a monument to honor President Bush
in the middle of the city. "We will build a statue for Bush," said Ali
Fadel, the former provincial council chairman. "He is the symbol of
freedom"...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9335&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9335


Iraq Veterans Against the War Kicked Off Their Amazing Tour in Boston today
Les Blough, Editor, Axis of Logic
Today, January 30, 2005, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) kicked off
their Iraq Veterans Tour in Massachusetts with a powerful, moving and
inspiring presentation to a packed house at historic Fanueil Hall in
Downtown Boston. We were there to learn more and to cover the story.
Throughout the 2 hour presentation, I noted that there were few dry eyes
among about 800 members who attended...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9334&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9334


Some Just Voted for Food
Dahr Jamail, IPS
Voting in Baghdad was linked with receipt of food rations, several voters
said after the Sunday poll. Many Iraqis said Monday that their names were
marked on a list provided by the government agency that provides monthly
food rations before they were allowed to vote. "I went to the voting centre
and gave my name and district where I lived to a man," said Wassif Hamsa, a
32-year-old journalist who lives in the predominantly Shia area Janila in
Baghdad. "This man then sent m e to the person who distributed my monthly
food ration"...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9332&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9332


Video allegedly shows missile fired at U.K. plane
The Associated Press
Arabic television channel al-Jazeera aired a videotape on Monday purporting
to show an Iraqi insurgent group firing a missile that downed a British
transport plane in Iraq. The video, issued by the military wing of the 1920
Revolution Brigades, showed footage of a finger pressing a button followed
by an explosion at a distance and what appeared to be the debris of a plane
on the ground...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9333&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9333


While the neocons are consumed with plotting war after war, the American
ecomony continues to deteriorate
Xymphora
...If Iraq hadn't proven to be such a quagmire, there is no doubt that new
wars would have started already. While the neocons are consumed with
plotting war after war, the American ecomony continues to deteriorate (...)
When it comes to responsible economic policies, no one in the Bush
Administration is at home. Americans find themselves in the odd position
that their only hope is that their economy tanks sufficiently quickly to
save them from the warmongering stupidities of their own government.
Unfortunately, they'll probably get both the wars and the ruined economy...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9328&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9328


Let the Israelis Do It?
Gordon Prather, AntiWar.com
Hours before his "ratification" inaugural, Vice President Dick Cheney was
chatting with Don Imus on MSNBC about Iraqi and Iranian "nuclear programs."
Now, Cheney appears to know the difference between a "nuclear program" and
a "nuclear weapons program." Bush may not. In any case, both Cheney and
Bush want you to hear "nuclear weapons" when they say "nuclear"...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=9329&s2=01>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=9329




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