[uruknet.info] - [daily information from occupied iraq] - [newsletter 07 Jan 2006]

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Them or Us
AIPAC on Trial
JAMES PETRAS, CounterPunch
In August 2004, the FBI and the US Justice Department counter-intelligence
bureau announced that they were investigating a top Pentagon analyst
suspected of spying for Israel and handing over highly confidential
documents on US policy toward Iran to AIPAC which in turn handed them over
to the Israeli Embassy. The FBI had been covertly investigating senior
Pentagon analyst, Larry Franklin and AIPAC leaders, Steven Rosen and Keith
Weissman for several ! years prior to their indictment for spying. On
August 29, 2005 the Israeli Embassy predictably hotly denied the spy
allegation. On the same day Larry Franklin was publicly named as a spy
suspect. Franklin worked closely with Michael Ledeen and Douglas Feith,
then Undersecretary for Defense in the Pentagon, in fabricating the case
for war with Iraq. Franklin was the senior analyst on Iran, which is at the
top of AIPAC's list of targets for war...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19367&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19367


America's Covenant with Israel
A Pact with the Devil
Charles Sullivan
...With the blessings of the US, and in full view of the world, Israel is
engaged in a violent and malicious campaign of ethnic cleansing against the
people of Palestine. Like the US in Iraq, Israel is an unlawful foreign
occupier of Palestine. Few Americas can appreciate the harsh treatment,
beatings, harassment and humiliation; and the frequent killings that the
Palestinian people are routinely subjected to at the hands of the Isr! aeli
military. The violence and humiliation perpetrated upon the Palestinians in
the Gaza Strip bears a striking similarity to that imposed upon the Iraqi
people at the hands of an unlawful foreign invader—the United States (...)
Every people have the right to defend themselves. However, Israel and the
US are foreign occupiers in lands where they have no rights of ownership.
The legitimate citizens of the occupied nations have an inherent right and
moral obligation to resist foreign occupation, by any and all available
means...

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l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19357


What Were They Thinking?
Robert Dreyfuss
Former secretaries of state and defense aren’t supposed to be poodles and
patsies, but I’ve gotta wonder. What were they thinking? They all linked up
like kindergartners for the photo op with the prez in the Oval Office, a
baker’s dozen of 'em by my count: Albright, Baker, Carlucci, Cohen – line
up according to height please, and no pushing – and for their pains got a
grand total of five to ten minutes of actual dialogue time with Bush.
During that time, they were mostly p! olite and held their tongues (...)
Here’s my favorite quote from the gathering of the Next Best and Brightest.
From Mel Laird, the Vietnam-era defense chief: "He listened to us." Yes,
but did you say anything? In five minutes, with 13 people? My calculator
says that it divides up to precisely 23 second per person...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19371&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19371


Bush meets the “wise men”: A cynical charade to legitimize Iraq war
Patrick Martin, WSWS
President Bush’s meeting Thursday with most of the living former
secretaries of state and defense was a public relations spectacle aimed at
demonstrating the consensus in official Washington behind continuing the US
occupation of Iraq. By assembling a bipartisan group of former top national
security officials—five from Democratic administrations, eight from
Republican—the Bush administration sought to marginalize opposition t! o
the Iraq war. White House spokesman Scott McClellan emphasized that none of
the 13 officials supported an immediate withdrawal of US military forces in
Iraq...

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l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19372


Pentagon Study Links Fatalities to Light Armor
MICHAEL MOSS
A secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines
who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have
survived if they had had extra body armor. Such armor has been available
since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply
it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection,
according to military officials. The ceramic plates in vests now worn by
the majority of troops! in Iraq cover only some of the chest and back. In
at least 74 of the 93 fatal wounds that were analyzed in the Pentagon study
of marines from March 2003 through June 2005, bullets and shrapnel struck
the marines' shoulders, sides or areas of the torso where the plates do not
reach...

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Former Jordanian military judge to defend Saddam
Bahrain News Agency
Former Jordanian Military Judge, State Security Prosecutor General and
current Attorney , Hatim Al Ghowairi, said Saddam Hossein's defence team
discussed with him the possibility of joining them. Attorney Ghowairi added
in a statement to Al Dastour Jordanian daily that he met at his office two
days ago, with Saddam's Attorney, Khalil Al Dailami, and discussed with him
arrangements to join the team, expressing his wish to defend Saddam despite
th! e assassination threats faced by Saddam's defence team"...

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A Peace Movement Demanding the Rule of Law
David Swanson
President Nixon famously said that if the President does it, it's legal.
And he didn't think that up on his own – that's a way of thinking that has
long had currency in America. Today there are over 150 Out of Iraq events
like this one happening around the country. A dozen members of Congress are
taking part. Numerous candidates for Congress, local elected officials, and
national leaders of the peace movement are speaking. Large crowds are
gathering. We'll ! see what sort of job the media does of noticing. Thus
far, progressive and rightwing radio have provided the most coverage. The
event in New York will be broadcast on Air America / Nation Radio at 7 p.m.
ET, as soon as this event is over. When I spoke on a rightwing radio show
yesterday, I heard from callers who would paraphrase Nixon thus: If the
U.S. military does it, it's legal. I tried to communicate that by all
standards of international law, and of US laws that incorporate those
standards, the attack on Iraq was illegal...

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l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19366


Number of badly wounded soldiers on rise in Iraq
Reuters
Military medical advances are keeping more soldiers alive in the Iraq War
but also creating a growing pool of badly wounded veterans who will need
expensive, long-term medical care, the U.S. secretary of Veteran Affairs
said on Friday. "We have cut fatalities a great deal and as a result of
that we have people who are now seriously wounded who in previous wars
would have been dead," Secretary Jim Nicholson in a visit with wounded
soldiers at San Antonio's B! rooke Army Medical Center...

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More evidence on Iraq’s election fraud
Baghdad Dweller
I didn’t posted this before because I thought fraud and forgery are basics
of every Iraqi election, everybody knows it and don’t need to say it. But
from the reactions I am surprised that so many people still doubt that
there was any forgery. On the 12th of December the Dutch newspaper
"VolksKrant" published an article called "With a little bit of Chloride the
ink is gone", reveal that using washing detergents on the ink you can clean
your fingers in a matter! of minutes and then you can again...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19364&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19364


Insurgents clash with US troops in Fallujah
Xinhua
Fierce clashes broke out between insurgents and US forces in the flashpoint
city of Fallujah on Saturday, witnesses said. "A sniper opened fire at a
group of US soldiers, shooting four of them in al-Wahda district in central
Fallujah," a local journalist told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19362&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19362


‘Absolute Despotism’
Jack D. Douglas
George Bush and his Party have asserted absolutely that they have total
power granted by the Constitution to them to do whatever they decide is
necessary to protect the American people. They have seized these
totalitarian powers to spy massively upon the American people in total
secrecy for totally secret reasons and in totally secret ways, to abrogate
domestic laws and precedents and procedures to protect the rights of the
American people, to abrogate Constitutionally legisla! ted foreign treaties
and agreements, to carry out massive kidnappings and transportations of
citizens to foreign lands to be tortured and murdered in obvious violation
of the laws of America under the Declaration of Independence and The
Constitution, to carry out imperialist invasions and annihilations of
foreign nations under the pretenses of Lies that they were threats to our
existence, to carry out massive other war crimes of every conceivable form,
to terrorize ("Shock and Awe") the world by veiled threats of nuclear
attacks and conventional annihilations from the skies, to carry out a
secret war against science to distort and eviscerate its findings and
conclusions of fact, and to launch a Permanent World War Against undefined
"terrorists" and "Evil Ones" which in turn is used in false justification
of the overturning of the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and
the laws and treaties of the American people in all of these and many other
ways...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19361&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
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YOU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN..
Sheila Samples
January 5th was the bloodiest day in Iraq since Bush's illegal invasion. As
many as 140 were killed, including 11 US servicemen, and many more injured.
Bush responded by suddenly summoning all living secretaries of state and
defense to the White House for a skull session and photo op on what to do
in the Middle East before he is completely overtaken by even more
catastrophic success. He's willing to share the glory, and said he would
"listen and take to heart" any suggesti! ons offered, even from Democrats.
Except an exit plan, of course, and any suggestions of how to better equip
or protect the "troops" who are thrown into an exploding nightmare where
it's every man for himself. Good luck, soldier. Get out there and make us
proud that you died for a noble cause...

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The Madness of Michael Medved
David Swanson
Masochist that I am, I'm going to spend an hour today doing something I've
done once before: trying to talk some sense into right-wing radio nutjob
Michael Medved – or at least reach some of his listeners (...) Back in
August, Michael wrote a column with the headline "Iraq and Vietnam: Nine
Big Differences- And One Crucial Similarity." It's still the most prominent
column on his website. Below is his column, in full, plus some comments
from me enclosed in these [[ ]]...!

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19359&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
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Letter from Al Jazeera Cameraman imprisoned in Guantanamo
peacepalestine
Dear Clive:
Let me make a confession: I cannot stop asking myself this question, why do
they punish me? It is becoming an obsession, but I cannot get it out of my
head. All these punishments began when they put me in prison in Bagram,
Afghanistan. They only allowed us to go to the athroom twice a day, the
first time just after dawn and then just before dusk. We could only go when
it was our turn. I remember that once I was very desperate and I whispered
to the man in front of me in the queue, to let me get in front of him. The
soldier, guarding us, bellowed with fury, "Do not speak!" and then ordered
me to get out. He tied my hands to a wire and left me there all day on my
feet and shivering with the cold weather. Eventually, I soiled my trousers,
to the enjoyment of the soldiers and the whores present...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19374&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
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An Imperial President? Bush Claims Right To Ignore New Law Banning Torture
Democracy Now!
Five years after President Bush joked, "If this were a dictatorship, it’d
be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator," we look at
the growing controversy over presidential power and how it relates to many
of today’s biggest stories: the Senate ban on torture, the nomination of
Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, domestic surveillance and the jailing of
U.S. citizens as enemy combatants. Earlier this week thre! e influential
Republicans Senators condemned Bush for claiming he has the authority to
ignore a new law banning the torture of prisoners during interrogations

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19373&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
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Not only the US but IMF occupy Iraq too
Baghdad Dweller
In response to recent Iraq’s loan $685Million from IMF (International
Monetary Fund), Iraqi government raised fuel price about three-fold than
the normal price which caused deadly clashes between Iraqis and the police,
which is also caused the resign of the Oil Minister Bahr al-Ulom (...)
Raising fuel prices and cutting subsidies is part of the deal between
Iraq’s Jaffri’s government and IMF...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19356&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19356


CITIZENS' TRIBUNAL TO INDICT PRESIDENT ON ALLEGED WAR CRIMES AND OTHER
VIOLATIONS
http://www.bushcommission.org/iraq.htm
A bill of indictment will be delivered to the White House in Washington, DC
on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006 at 1:30PM charging the President of the United
States and other named individuals in his administration with war crimes
and crimes against humanity. A press conference will take place in
Lafayette Park following delivery of the indictments to the White House.
Present to answer questions will be! Retired CIA Analyst Ray McGovern and
others Commission participants. The indictments will also be delivered to
the Department of Justice.

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19355&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19355


Scary SCIRI
Robert Dreyfuss
I’m waiting to see whether or not the supposedly peaceful Ayatollah Sistani
says anything about Abdel Aziz Hakim’s increasingly threatening comments.
Hakim, of course, is the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq. Here is Hakim yesterday, threatening to unleash the
dogs of war under the control of the Ministry of the Interior and the army,
including (obviously) units made up largely of Badr Brigade,
Iranian-trained fanatics...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19353&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19353


Bush announces radical shift in foreign policy; No U.S. media report it
David Sirota
In case you thought the Bush administration's dangerous, and
national-security-weakening unilateralism was just a one-time deal in Iraq,
think again. Buried in the UK's Financial Times - and as far as I can tell,
not reported anywhere else - are the details of a State Department briefing
this week in which the Bush administration very publicly said it is
essentially scrapping U.S. support for NATO and the United Nations. No
joke.! ..

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19352&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
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UNDERSTANDING THE BUSH IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY
Questions & Answers for the confused and bewildered
Allen L Roland, Ph.D
...Perhaps you have been unable to follow the intricacies of the logic used
by John Yoo, the UC Berkeley law professor who has emerged as the
president's foremost legal apologist for all the stuff he has to apologize
for. I have therefore prepared a brief, informal summary of the relevant
arguments. Why does the president have the power to unilaterally authorize
wiretaps of American citizens?! Because he is the president. Does the
president always have that power? No. Only when he is fighting the war on
terror does he have that power. When will the war on terror be over? The
fight against terror is eternal. Terror is not a nation; it is a tactic. As
long as the president is fighting a tactic, he can use any means he deems
appropriate...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19351&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19351


Iraq Facing Hurdles, U.S. General Warns
Eric Schmitt, New York Times
CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Jan. 4 - The top American operational commander in Iraq
has offered a sober assessment of the hurdles facing a new Iraqi
government, voicing concerns that sectarian rivalries and incompetence
could cripple major ministries and turn newly American-trained Iraqi
security forces into militias for hire.

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19350&s2=07>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19350




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