[uruknet.info] - [daily information from occupied iraq] - [newsletter 27 Mar 2005]

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REPORT ON The current situation in the city of Fallujah
Presented to the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights For the period of 1ST January to 25th March 2005
Studies Center of Human Rights and Democracy - BRussells Tribunal
The city of Fallujah was subjected to a genocide war by the American
forces. The military machinery destroyed almost 70 per cent of the city,
from civilian houses to medical center and general services facilities
especially water, electricity. Th! is war resulted in killing thousands of
innocent civilians and sending almost a half million refugee. It is well
known that the American forces and their puppet government prevented any
medical or humanitarian relief agency to enter the city throughout its
siege to the city (...) What more tragedies that international bodies are
waiting for in order to raise their voices demanding to stop the massacres
and mass killings of the civilians. Is what happened to Fallujah and its
citizens is just an accident while the entire world is on alert if a
western citizen is killed in Iraq forgetting that all that is because of
the hated occupation...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10683&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10683


War ina Babylon: US Cultural Genocide in Iraq
William Bowles, I'n'I
Following are three articles that illustrate the real nature of the
so-called civilised world's attitude toward the developing world: the story
of the destruction of Babylon, a site identified as one of the birthplaces
of civilisation (but obviously not the Western version). Worse perhaps is
the almost total news blackout in the Western media on the story of US
imperialism using Babylon as an ammunition dump, let alone the wanton
destruction of t! his five thousand-year-old site. The Guardian calls it as
"cultural vandalism", a totally inadequate description and perhaps sums up
the Westerm media's attitude toward the occupation of Iraq, downgrading it
to the level of little more than "vandalism". A more accurate description
would be cultural genocide...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10688&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10688


SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT HEMISPHERE
Malcom Lagauche
...I find it sad that many people in the Arab world, as well as many
non-Arabs who are aware of the plight of Iraq, know little or nothing about
the politics of Latin America in general, or those of Hugo Chavez in
particular. Techniques the U.S. used in Latin America to prop up violent
regimes and deny the people any form of humanity were the same being used
today in Iraq: torture, deceit, stooge government appointees, etc. Now, the
U.S. will thrust on Latin America! the same techniques used against Iraq:
techniques taken from the U.S. 1970s and 1980s Latin America playbook. Who
is this guy Chavez? Maybe a lot of people who follow the Middle East do not
realize that he upset the U.S. administration of Clinton in 2000 by
visiting Saddam Hussein (...) After leaving Iraq, Chavez called Saddam
Hussein his "brother." Those in the Arab world who support justice and
oppose the imperialistic actions of the U.S. that have destroyed Iraq must
now become aware of the future plight of President Hugo Chavez. He is on
the same track as the one Saddam Hussein pursued years ago...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10699&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10699


DIFF'RENT STROKES FOR DIFF'RENT FOLKS
John Maxwell, The BlackCommentator
...To control Iraq and the Middle East the Americans will need to remain in
Iraq for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the Halliburton company
extracts its private tribute in unaccounted and unaccountable billions and
American oil companies wait to be let loose to exploit Iraq's massive oil
reserves in the service of American democracy. There is just one fly in the
ointment. A resistance movement which 18 months ago numbered less than five
! thousand members, today counts anywhere between 25,000 and 50,000
fighters, determined to frustrate Mr. Bush's grand design. It seems that
while they may have been shocked by Mr. Bush's display of power, they were
clearly not awed...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10702&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10702


The Iraqi Constitution .. & .. "it is not so much that the people of the
Middle East are incapable of democracy, but rather ..."
Imad Khadduri , Free Iraq
...The occupation itself is illegal and criminal in international law. The
US and the UK have also flaunted many provisions of the Geneva Conventions
in Iraq regarding the conduct of an occupier. Their 'legal' deck of cards
will be blown away by the patriots of the Iraqi people who can and should
rely on their own secular constitutional heritage to mold their f! uture
constitution...



<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10693&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10693


Iraqi doctor: US troops storm Ramadi hospital
Aljazeera.net
US soldiers stormed a women and children's hospital in the Iraqi city of
Ramadi on Friday, a hospital director said. Dr Ahmad Ibrahim, the assistant
director of the city's pediatric hospital, told Aljazeera on Saturday that
the soldiers entered the hospital after an explosion on Ramadi's main road.
The soldiers ordered medical staff and patients to leave, he said, before
destroying the hospital's doors and detaining members of staff...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10697&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10697


Fresh details emerge of Iraqis' abuse by American soldiers
David Randall and Andrew Buncombe, Independent
...The investigation was triggered by the case of Salah Salih Jassim, 20,
who had his jaw broken in detention. He was not a suspect but had been
arrested along with his father, an officer in Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen
militia. Mr Jassim was held in a room with 70 other prisoners. Deafening
heavy metal music was played and guards sounded bullhorns beside their
heads. Mr Jassim said: "All night they were throwin! g water on us and
making us stand and squat. From the night to the next day ... they were
beating us" ...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10698&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10698


Nation in a persistent torpid state
DAVID ROSSIE
"And here, in silence, are seven more." That is how Jim Lehrer has ended
many of his News Hour broadcasts during the last two years. The reference
is to American military men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan; their
names, faces, ranks, hometowns, and service branches are presented, one by
one. There is no background music or commentary. Only the mournful numbers
vary. As the war enters its third year and casualties continue, the
question will not go away:! What will it take to end the silence, to rouse
the public from its torpor?...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10696&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10696


Tony Blair. You are charged with leading Britain into an illegal war... How
do you plead?
Dan Plesch
YOU, readers, are the jury. Soon in the general election you will have to
judge whether the Prime Minister lied to us about the Iraq war, and if he
did you will be able to decide whether he and his party deserve any
punishment.
You may conclude he has no remorse, does not recognise his guilt, is
surrounded by those who tell him he is innocent, and is intent on repeating
his behaviour over Iran, Syria and who-knows-where next...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10694&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10694


Pentagon Will Not Try 17 G.I.'s Implicated in Prisoners' Deaths
DOUGLAS JEHL, New York Times
Despite recommendations by Army investigators, commanders have decided not
to prosecute 17 American soldiers implicated in the deaths of three
prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, according to a new
accounting released Friday by the Army. Investigators had recommended that
all 17 soldiers be charged in the cases, according to the accounting by the
Army Criminal Investigation Command. The charges included m! urder,
conspiracy and negligent homicide. While none of the 17 will face any
prosecution, one received a letter of reprimand and another was discharged
after the investigations...



<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10690&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10690


Post Notes Raid Toll "Doubts", Omits Unhelpful Evidence
Dane Baker
The Washington Post, in a commendable decision to uphold universally held
journalistic standards, reported on the embarrassing discrepancies among
American and European press accounts of last Tuesday's "intense battle"
between U.S. military and Iraqi proxy forces (Steve Fainaru, Doubts Surface
on Iraq Raid Toll). Instead of calling all official sources into doubt, the
incident apparently changes little for Post editors, who dutifully accept!
the thin explanations given by military spokesmen as fact while working
hard to maintain the illusion of truth by repeating previous information
without comment...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10681&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10681


When occupation is more than an idea
Stephen Gowans, I'n'I
...For Iraqis that means, for some of them, entering a world of guerilla
combat and suicide bombs. For Americans that means, for some of them, going
to a peaceful demonstration every few years - and for others, voting
Democrat (...)But a resolute and effective opposition to the Anglo-American
conquest of Iraq won't arise in the US, because the costs for Americans are
too high relative to the expected gains. The best hope for thwarting the
exercise of US i! mperialism in Mesopotamia lies in the fierce and
relentless opposition of the Iraqi resistance...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10687&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10687


Hersh speech blasts Bush and war policy
Amy Feigenbaum, The Wesleyan Argus
Seymour Hersh confirmed existing worries about Bush's next four years in
office during a Tuesday night lecture in the Memorial Chapel. Hersh
forecasted a protracted war in Iraq, an obstinate president who will remain
indifferent to anti-war sentiments, and an economic collapse. In his talk
"Chain of Command: From 9/11 to Abu Ghraib," Hersh criticized both
Republicans and Democrats, stressing the need for new faces in Congress...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10691&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10691


Car bomb hits military patrol: 3 US soldiers killed in Iraq
Associated Press
A car bomb struck a U.S. military patrol Saturday in the Iraqi capital,
killing two U.S. soldiers and injuring two others. Earlier, the U.S.
military announced a Marine died in action in a restive central province.
The news came after U.S. military officials in Iraq announced they had
thwarted an attempted prison escape at Camp Bucca, discovering a 600-foot
tunnel leading out of the main prison facility for detainees in Iraq...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10680&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10680


Covering up Iraq
Zaid Al-Ali, Al-Ahram Weekly
On 12 March 2005, a study of news coverage of the war in Iraq, which
concludes that United States newspapers were broadly objective in their
reporting, was published by the Project for Excellence in Journalism(...)
The truth is that the quality of American reporting in relation to Iraq has
not improved in any way since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Three examples
relating to the elections in Iraq should serve as an illustration of this
point...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10689&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10689


Government is Manipulating Release of Torture Documents in an Attempt to
Minimize Scandal, ACLU Charges
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union today charged that the government is
attempting to bury the torture scandal involving the U.S. military by
failing to comply with a court order requiring release of documents to the
ACLU. The documents the government does release are being issued in advance
to the media in ways calculated to minimize coverage and public access, the
ACLU said. The reason for the delay in d! elivering the more than 1,200
pages of documents was evident, the ACLU said, in the contents, which
include reports of brutal beatings, "exercise until exhaustion" and sworn
statements that soldiers were told to "beat the fuck out of" detainees. One
file cites evidence that Military Intelligence personnel in Iraq "tortured"
detainees held in their custody...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10705&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10705


No Government any Time Soon in Iraq
Juan Cole
The formation of a government in Iraq has been put off yet again, possibly
until April 1 or beyond, according to AFP. The Shiites and the Kurds say
they are close to agreement. But they could remain only close to an
agreement for a long time. Parliament may meet again in the meantime...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10695&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10695


U.S. Troops Tortured Iraqis in Mosul, Documents Show
Andrew Marshall, Reuters
American soldiers tortured Iraqi prisoners at a military base in Mosul but
nobody was court martialed over the abuse, U.S. army documents say. The
documents show that mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners was not confined to the
Abu Ghraib jail, where abuse and sexual humiliation of inmates caused
worldwide outrage last year. An investigation by a U.S. officer after an
Iraqi prisoner's jaw was broken at the base in Mosul found that "detainees!
were being systematically and intentionally mistreated" in late 2003...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10685&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10685


Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Friday, 25 March 2005
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member editorial board The
Free Arab Voice.
An Iraqi Resistance sharp shooter shot and killed two US soldiers in the
al-Mu'allimin neighborhood of al-Hadithah in western Iraq on Friday
afternoon. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam in the city reported
eyewitnesses in the neighborhood as saying that American troops were
raiding houses in the neighborhood and as they were storming into one home,
the Ira! qi sharpshooter opened fire, bringing down two US troops. After
the attack, US forces launched a search of the area, this time for the
Resistance sharpshooter. They found no trace of him...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10679&s2=27>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10679




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information concerning occupied Iraq: news, analysis, documents and texts
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