[uruknet.info] - [daily information from occupied iraq] - [newsletter 11 Mar 2005]

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Iraq Elections And The Liberal Elites: A Response To Noam Chomsky
Ghali Hassan
In a recent opinion piece, Naom Chomsky writes, "In Iraq, the January
elections were successful and praiseworthy. However, the main success is
being reported only marginally: The United States was compelled to allow
them to take place. That is a real triumph, not of the bomb-throwers, but
of non-violent resistance by the people, secular as well as Islamist, for
whom Grand Ayatollah Al Sistani is a symbol" (Khaleej Times Online, 4
March! 2005). Mr. Chomsky is either completely out of touch with reality in
Iraq, or simply ignorant of the legitimate rights of the Iraqi people to
self-determination. Firstly, the elections were a farce. The majority of
the 14 million eligible Iraqis to vote have boycotted the elections (...).
Furthermore, to allow the US to continue the Occupation and violence,
Al-Sistani backed down from his position to early elections and handover
plan, and accepted US proposition for late elections (to coincide with Bush
inauguration and his tour of Europe) on US terms and agenda. Al-Sistani is
now part of the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG). Al-Sistani list, the Iraqi
United Alliance (IUA), includes Ahmed Chelabi and his gang of criminals.
Further, there is evidence that Al-Sistani supported the US attack on and
the destruction of the vibrant city of Fallujah...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10304&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10304


Re "Terrorist Related Activity"
William Bowles
What is amazing about the Zarqawi saga is how, over time, Western
governments (with the able assistance of the media) have managed to keep
the pot boiling regarding a man whose existence is far from actually being
established as fact (although of late, he, along with Osama seems to have
fallen off the front page, pointing to the limited life span of such
archetypes)...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10311&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10311


Let`s Make a Giant Omelet!! Or Not
Jude Wanniski
...Logic should tell you that the neo-cons are not interested in Iran's
nukes any more than they were interested in Saddam Hussein's. They know
neither Iran nor Iraq has them or a program to develop them in the next
several years. What they want to do is promote a civil war in Iran. They
want Regime Change!!! The whole aim and intent is to provoke confrontation,
no matter how much it costs "in the short run." They want to remake the
entire map of the Middle East, a! nd they believe chaos works in that
direction. Over the last dozen years, a million Iraqis have gone to their
Reward because of this game plan by the neo-cons. When Secretary Madeleine
Albright was asked on CBS if it was worth the lives of 500,000 Iraqi
children to die of malnutrition and disease because of sanctions requiring
Saddam Hussein to get rid of his weapons, when he already had, she did not
pause a moment. Absolutely, she said...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10308&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10308


U.S. troops couldn't kill the truth
Uproar in Italy after attack on journalist
John Catalinotto
Will the Pentagon get away with murder again? Or will the U.S. gunfire that
killed a top Italian intelligence agent and nearly killed journalist
Giuliana Sgrena arouse a mass movement in Italy that forces the government
to pull its troops out of Iraq? That would be the most important outcome of
these criminal acts by the U.S. military in what has been a criminal war
and a criminal occupation. A look at the! background will help in following
the events as they develop...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10324&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10324


BRING OUR TROOPS HOME: SAVE THEIR LIVES AND THOSE OF IRAQIS
Sam Hamod, editor, www.todaysalternativenews.com
Lest we forget that our troops and Iraqis are dying everyday in Iraq while
Bush, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Myers, Perle, Kristol, Cheney and their lot are
sitting comfortably in Washington, DC lying to the Congress; the Congress
in turn, is polite, while in the meantime your loved ones and mine are
being killed, maimed and driven insane by the illegal Iraq occupation. It
is time for all of us to stand up, to de! mand that American troops
withdraw and allow the Iraqis to live their own lives...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10322&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10322


"That Happens to Iraqis All the Time"
Sheila Provencher, Electronic Iraq
...Listening to my friend, I remembered my reaction when I read about the
Italian journalist and her guards being shot by U.S. troops. Once the shock
passed, the first clear thought in my mind was: "That happens to Iraqis all
the time." I have a photograph of the bullet-riddled body of an Iraqi man
accidentally shot at a checkpoint a year ago. Tonight, I spoke by phone to
an Iraqi woman whose sister has been taken to the high-security airpor! t
prison. The woman and her sister were imprisoned for more than seven months
last year, during which time their detained brother's dead body was thrown
into their laps. They finally were released last July after authorities
concluded that they were not involved with the resistance. Two weeks ago,
U.S. and Iraqi soldiers raided her sister's home again and took her away...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10321&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10321


ACLU says Ramadi video harsh, but not among worst of abuses
David Ho, Palm Beach Post-Cox News Service
...The hundreds of pages of Army records about Abu Ghraib also show: •
Children held at the prison included one boy who appeared to be only about
8 years old, the former commander of the prison told investigators. • Six
witnesses who said three interrogators and a civilian interpreter got drunk
one night and took a 17-year-old female prisoner from her cell. The four
men forced the girl to expose her breasts and ! kissed her, the reports
said...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10325&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10325


Sadr officials admit their militia is chasing down insurgents
Ned Parker, Agence France-Presse
...Malik, who likes to point out his remarkable resemblance to actor Sean
Connery, makes no bones about the fact local groups like the Mehdi Army,
are now actively pursuing resistance fighters. "They help," he says. Malik
wants a formal agreement with the Americans that would set up neighbourhood
watches in Dura to kill insurgents plotting attacks. Meanwhile, Sadr
officials also admit their militia is now chasing down ! insurgents. Sheikh
Jassim Al Saaidie, head of the Sadr organisation's cultural wing, said the
Mehdi Army had killed four "terrorists" and arrested "three others" in the
past 10 days. "It is clear now that people from Sadr organisation are
publicly hunting down the terrorists"...



<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10327&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10327


The Splendid Failure of Occupation
Part 29: Iraq Occupation, anatomy of pretext
B. J. Sabri, Online Journal Contributing Writer
Etymological research is an exacting method for finding appropriate
meanings. When I was deciding on a title for this article, I wanted to name
it, "anatomy of a ruse." But, "ruse" (from the French, "ruser: to
deceive,") I thought to myself, is mild. It is equivalent to a trick;
therefore, it is inadequate to describe an intricate purpose. For instance,
to execute its project for wa! r on Iraq, the U.S. of Cheney and Wolfowitz
did not trick the world — trick implies that people subjected to it should
be unaware of what the trickster is plotting. But the world was fully aware
of the schemes and hoaxes of the Bush administration, so how did the U.S.
do it?...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10320&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10320


Iraq allies accused of failing to investigate civilian deaths
Sarah Boseley, The Guardian
Experts in public health from six countries, including the UK, today
castigate the British and American governments for failing to investigate
the deaths of civilians caught up in the conflict in Iraq. Twenty-four
experts from the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, Spain and Italy say the
attitude of the governments is "wholly irresponsible". They say the UK
government's reliance on "extremely limited data" from the Iraqi minist! ry
of health is "unacceptable" because it is likely to seriously underestimate
the casualties...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10318&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10318


Newly Released Army Documents Point to Agreement Between Defense Department
and CIA on "Ghost" Detainees, ACLU Says
ACLU
The latest chapter in the torture and abuse of detainees held in U.S.
custody includes a report of a formal agreement between the Army and the
CIA to hide "ghost detainees" and an atmosphere of "releaseaphobia" that
prevented innocent detainees from being freed. The American Civil Liberties
Union released the 800-plus pages of documents today as a Senate Committee
convened this morning to hear! a report from Vice Admiral Albert T. Church
III on detainee abuses that is largely expected to absolve top officials of
responsibility. "It seems the military can only look down the chain of
command, not up, when it comes to holding people accountable," said ACLU
Executive Director Anthony D. Romero...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10317&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10317


Iraq war revelation: There was no full legal advice
Marie Woolf, Independent
Britain went to war on the basis of a single piece of paper setting out the
legality of invading Iraq, the country's most senior civil servant has
revealed. The Government's case for war appeared to be in tatters last
night after the Cabinet Secretary admitted that a parliamentary answer from
Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, was the final legal opinion on the
case for war. In an astonishing admission, Sir Andrew Turnbull disc! losed
that no "full" legal advice on an invasion of Iraq has ever existed...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10323&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10323


The Spoils of War
MICHAEL SHNAYERSON, VANITY FAIR
Halliburton subsidiary KBR got $12 billion worth of exclusive contracts for
work in Iraq. But even more shocking is how KBR spent some of the money.
Former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official Bunnatine Greenhouse is
blowing the whistle on the Dick Cheney-linked company's profits of war...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10316&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10316


US military detains Iraqi journalist
Arabic News.com
Reporters sans frontieres (RSF), Paris has called for the immediate release
of Iraqi journalist Majed Fadhil Zaboun, of the independent daily
"Al-Fourat." Zaboun has been held by US military forces since he was
arrested on the Syrian border, on 28 February 2005, as he was returning
from a conference in Damascus. "This is not the first time that US forces
have arbitrarily detained a journalist in Iraq," RSF said"...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10314&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10314


"That Happens to Iraqis All the Time"
Sheila Provencher, Electronic Iraq
...Listening to my friend, I remembered my reaction when I read about the
Italian journalist and her guards being shot by U.S. troops. Once the shock
passed, the first clear thought in my mind was: "That happens to Iraqis all
the time." I have a photograph of the bullet-riddled body of an Iraqi man
accidentally shot at a checkpoint a year ago. Tonight, I spoke by phone to
an Iraqi woman whose sister has been taken to the high-security airpor! t
prison. The woman and her sister were imprisoned for more than seven months
last year, during which time their detained brother's dead body was thrown
into their laps. They finally were released last July after authorities
concluded that they were not involved with the resistance. Two weeks ago,
U.S. and Iraqi soldiers raided her sister's home again and took her away...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10321&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10321


Former Intel Officer: The US Considered Her a Military Target
Targeting Guiliana
JERRY FRESIA, Former US Air Force Intelligence officer
The top U.S. general in Iraq, Army gen. George Casey, has stated that the
US had no indication that Italian officials gave advance notice of the
route of the vehicle in which Giuliana Sgrena and slain officer Nicola
Calipari were riding. As a former Air Force intelligence officer, I would
argue that this statement is absolutely ludicrous. Based upon intelligence
colle! ction capabilities of even 3 decades ago, it is reasonable to assume
that the US intercepted all phone communication between Italian agents in
Iraq and Rome, monitored such traffic in real time and knew precisely where
Sgrena's vehicle was at all times, without advanced notice being provided
by Italian officials...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10315&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10315


Update on 'Terror Debate' - the BBC version
William Bowles
...The same piece quotes our glorious leader Blair: "There is no greater
civil liberty than to live free from terrorist attack."[5] Except of
course, a law that locks people up to prevent them from possibly doing
something a single individual, namely the home secretary, thinks they might
do on the basis of secret information (but not enough to actually charge
them with an offence) obtained from who knows where (and some of it through
! the use of torture in far-off lands eg, Uzbekistan, where it's the
practice to boil people alive). Spare me a 'civil liberty' that calls
itself a civil liberty by taking away my civil liberties!...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10313&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10313


Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Thursday, 10 March 2005
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board,
the Free Arab Voice.
...The American Associated press reported late Thursday that
representatives of the collaborator parties that won the sham "election"
farce staged at the end of January by the US occupation have agreed on
polices that will pave the way to the formation of a new puppet regime to
replace that of Iyyan 'Allawi. Sources with the Shi'i collaborationists and
Kurdis! h collaborationists announced that an agreement had been reached on
how they will divide responsibilities in the next US run theatrical
"government" which is to be announced after a meeting of the puppet
"national assembly" next week...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10309&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10309


An appeal to students who oppose the war in Iraq
WSWS
March 19 marks the second anniversary of one of the most shameful events in
the history of the United States: the launching of a war of aggression
against Iraq, based on lies and in violation of the most fundamental
precepts of international law. What have been the consequences of this
criminal action? More than 1,500 American soldiers have been killed. More
than 10,000 soldiers have suffered serious injuries. Countless thousands of
American soldiers bear the ! psychological scars that arise from having
witnessed and participated in brutal and inhuman acts that will haunt them
for the rest of their lives. At least 100,000 Iraqis have perished as the
direct result of the US invasion of their country. The number of Iraqis who
have been wounded and maimed has not even been calculated...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10307&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10307


Just Another Bush Lie?
Saddam's Capture
MIKE WHITNEY, CounterPunch
The account of American troops capturing Saddam and pulling him from his
subterranean hovel has turned out to be just another Bush lie. Sergeant
Nadim Abou Rabeh, who participated in the operation that netted Saddam, was
quoted in the Saudi newspaper "Al-Medina" saying that the Iraqi leader was
actually captured the day before and that "the public version of his
capture was fabricated." The entire event was apparently choreographed by !
a Pentagon public relations team...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10305&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10305


The Resort to Torture
Ghali Hassan
...The new documents and other documents received by the ACLU revealed that
the illegal practice of abuse and torture of Iraqi men, women and children
took place immediately after the US-led invasion of Iraq. Iraqi POW and
Iraqi detainees not only at Abu Ghraib, the West's convenient propaganda,
but also throughout Iraq were imprisoned, abused, tortured and murdered by
British and US soldiers (...) In today's Iraq, the Occupation forces and
their surrogates imprison more than a! million Iraqi men, women and
children...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10224&s2=12>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=10224




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information concerning occupied Iraq: news, analysis, documents and texts
of iraqi resistance available in Italian and English.





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