[uruknet.info] - [daily information from occupied iraq] - [newsletter 13 Jan 2006 - Part two]

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NSA Snoop Program: Greasing the Skids of the Police State
Kurt Nimmo, Another Day in the Empire
In Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, Big Brother only surveilled Inner and
Outer Party members. Since the proles were not considered a threat, they
did not have telescreens in their homes, although on occasion the Thought
Police would track down and eliminate a few proles who demonstrated the
capacity to think for themselves. In Bushzarro world, the state snoop
apparatus—monitoring all voice and data communication with t! he connivance
of the telecoms—indiscriminately surveils everybody and then uses
sophisticated computer algorithms (called "artificial intelligence") to
ferret thought crimes out of the massive amount of captured data...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19599&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19599


Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Friday, 13 January 2006
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board,
the Free Arab Voice. ( http://www.freearabvoice.org )
...In a dispatch posted at 1:20pm Mecca time Friday, Mafkarat al-Islam
reported that a source in Samarra’ Hospital had announced that US troops
had opened fire on a private car carrying six people on an outer road in
the Samarra’ area, some 140km north of Baghdad on Wednesday, the second day
of the 'Id al-Adha holidays. The ! correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam
reported the hospital source as saying that six members of an Iraqi family
– three men two women and a little boy of two – were killed in the American
attack. The American gunfire caused the car to burst into flame, leaving
all the bodies badly charred and unrecognizable...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19598&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19598


Iraq, the mother of all budget busters
David Isenberg
It turns out the eventual cost of the war in Iraq will not be several
hundred billion, but according to a new study at least a thousand billion
dollars - US$1 trillion, in other words. This figure dwarfs any previous
estimate by orders of magnitude. Given the projected cost of $1 trillion to
$2 trillion, one might imagine that American taxpayers are now rolling on
the floor in hysterical laughter while gasping for air. To get an idea of
the economic black hole! the Iraq war could become, it is useful to
remember some of the past estimates given by the administration of
President George W Bush. Recall, for example, when then-White House
economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey suggested in 2002, six months before the
war, that the mission could cost $100 billion to $200 billion, Bush fired
him because his estimate was up to three times the $70 billion the
administration estimated...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19600&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19600


Ending Occupation
Phyllis Bennis
...Ending occupation means complete withdrawal of ALL U.S. troops, ALL
"coalition" troops, and ALL mercenaries (known as "private military
contractors") from Iraq. Ending occupation means closing all U.S. military
bases in Iraq, including removing warplanes, offensive weapons systems,
etc. Ending occupation means ending the outside economic control of Iraq by
the United States, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), which recently imposed a privatization-driven! massive hike in
gasoline prices in Iraq...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19586&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19586


Propaganda in Iraq
khilafah.com
Last months revelation that the US military was planting "good news"
stories in the Iraqi press exposed the sham democracy the US is trying to
establish in Iraq. The Dec 1st article in the Guardian show how desperate
the US has become: "Faced with suicide bombings, claims of Iraqi death
squads, and kidnappings, the Pentagon has come up with an innovative
solution to solving the problems in Iraq: buying good news. Using defence
contractors or intermediaries posing as freelance re! porters, the military
has been paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by a military
propaganda unit lauding the US mission." Feeding disinformation to
Journalist is something that the US and the British have mastered over
years of colonial ventures into the Muslim lands...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19584&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19584


Questions Not Asked: · Torturing People's Children · War Powers · Geneva
Conventions
Institute for Public Accuracy
...Boyle said today: "...this unconstitutional argument for presidential
war powers is part of the standard Federalist Society ideology propounded
by its prominent members such as Alito, John Roberts, and John Yoo. It has
led to the abuses of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, pervasive torture,
'extraordinary renditions,' criminal NSA spying on U.S. citizens, 'enemy
combatants,' wholesale violations of the Gen! eva Conventions,
assassinations, massive religious and racial profiling of
Muslims/Arabs/Asians, an unconstitutional war against Iraq and the numerous
other constitutional atrocities perpetrated by Bush's hyper-imperial
presidency. The Democrats have not asked serious questions about most of
these issues"...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19576&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19576


Sistani Rejects Iraqi Citizenship!
Middle East Forum
al-Quds al-Arabiya [Ar.] reports that Ayatollah Sistani, an Iraqi based
Shi'a jurist, rejected an offer from the Iraqi government to issue him and
close family members with an Iraqi citizenship. Mr. Sistani, an Iranian,
has lived in Iraq's holy city of Najaf for over 50 years (...). Iraqis may
begin to wonder why a zealous Iranian cleric continues to exert his
authority in the political arena, whilst maintaining that Iraq is for the
Iraqis!! This is the second ! offer as such made by the Iraqi government;
the last offer was made over 2 years ago...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19601&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19601


Bush says spying legal, Legal Scholars say he’s lying again
Ben Frank
Just because Bush says his domestic spying program is legal and justified
does not make it so. While the Constitutional scholars didn’t say, "he’s
lying", they did say that his program is "blatantly unlawful" - which is
basically calling him a liar, diplomatically that Mr. Bush’s warrantless
domestic wiretapping program is legal, as contended by his lawyers - simply
cannot be taken seriously...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19603&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19603


Daughter urges Tareq Aziz's release
Aljazeera.net
The daughter of Tareq Aziz, former Iraqi deputy prime minister, has
demanded his release from prison, saying he is very ill. "My father is
losing weight. He suffers from pains in the heart and has blood pressure
problems. He has had two strokes already," said Zainab Aziz after visiting
him on Friday. Aziz, 70, once the public face of Saddam Hussein's
government abroad, was jailed after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. No
formal charges have been brought agains! t him and he remains in US
custody...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19596&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19596


The Flame Wars – What Kinda Nation is This?
Jeff Blankfort, peacepalestine
For many years, that darling of the left liberals, The Nation, has been
publishing ads by FLAME which deny the existence of the Palestinian people,
their expulsion by the Israelis, the fact of continuing Israeli occupation
and the oppression that has accompanied it. I long ago gave up subscribing
to the magazine because it defended their running of the ad along the lines
that we see below, although they would refuse to run an ad that deni! ed
the Jewish holocaust which is equivalent to what FLAME does with the
Palestinian experience...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19595&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19595


Bush Authorized Domestic Spying before 9/11
Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t
The National Security Agency advised President Bush in early 2001 that it
had been eavesdropping on Americans during the course of its work
monitoring suspected terrorists and foreigners believed to have ties to
terrorist groups, according to a declassified document. The NSA's vast
data-mining activities began shortly after Bush was sworn in as president
and the document contradicts his assertion that the 9/11 attacks prompted
him to take ! the unprecedented step of signing a secret executive order
authorizing the NSA to monitor a select number of American citizens thought
to have ties to terrorist groups...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19593&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19593


The disgrace of the Mehlis Commission
Talaat Ramih, Voltairenet.org
The mission of judicial assistance for Lebanese justice, which the UN
Security Council had entrusted to Detlev Mehlis, turned into an
international investigating commission and later, into an international
prosecuting entity. It also became an instrument used by the
neoconservatives to blame Syria for the assassination of Prime Minister
Rafic Hariri. However, as Talaat Ramih tells us, Mehlis’s maneuvers have
been uncovered and he has been forced ! to present his resignation.
Although it was proved that the accusations against Syria were baseless,
Washington has assumed an attitude similar to the one it had towards the
reports presented by Hans Blix, which showed that there were no weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19590&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19590


Pentagon to Families: Go Ahead, Laugh
Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
When the stress of the war in Iraq becomes too severe, the Pentagon has a
suggestion for military families: Learn how to laugh. With help from the
Pentagon's chief laughter instructor, families of National Guard members
are learning to walk like a penguin, laugh like a lion and blurt "ha, ha,
hee, hee and ho, ho." No joke. "I laugh every chance I get," says the
instructor, retired Army colonel James "Scotty" Scott. "That's why I'm
blessed to be at the ! Pentagon, where we definitely need a lot of laughter
in our lives."

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19588&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19588


U.S. seeking Arab peacekeepers in Iraq
UPI
The U.S. is reportedly seeking to convince Arab countries to send troops to
Iraq to replace U.S. forces after the formation of a new Iraqi government.
Cairo-based Arab diplomatic sources said U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
who will start a Middle East tour on Sunday including Egypt, Saudi Arabia
and Oman, will discuss the matter with Arab leaders.

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19587&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19587


Thank You for the Music...
Riverbend, Baghdad burning
When I first heard about the abduction of Christian Science Monitor
journalist Jill Carroll a week ago, I remember feeling regret. It was the
same heavy feeling I get every time I hear of another journalist killed or
abducted. The same heavy feeling that settles upon most Iraqis, I imagine,
when they hear of acquaintances suffering under the current situation. I
read the news as a subtitle on tv. We haven't had an internet connection
for several days so I coul! dn't really read about the details. All I knew
was that a journalist had been abducted and that her Iraqi interpreter had
been killed. He was shot in cold blood in Al Adil district earlier this
month, when they took Jill Carroll... Theysay he didn't die immediately. It
is said he lived long enough to talk to police and then he died. I found
out very recently that the interpreter killed was a good friend- Alan, of
Alan's Melody, and I've spent the last two days crying...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19589&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19589


After Handover, Hussein Palaces Looted
November Transfer Ceremony Was Hailed as Symbol of Progress in Iraq
Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post Foreign Service
On Nov. 22, the top U.S. military and civilian leaders in Iraq handed over
Saddam Hussein's most lavish palace compound to the safekeeping and control
of the new Iraqi army and government, in a ceremony whose intended
symbolism was as impossible to ignore as the military brass band. "The
passing of this facility is a simple ceremony that vi! vidly demonstrates
the continuing progress being made by the Iraqi government and their
people," said Col. Mark McKnight, commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd
Infantry Division, who handed the keys to the palaces to the governor of
Salahuddin province. But in the days after American forces and the Iraqi
brass band pulled out of the circular palace drive on a bluff overlooking
the Tigris River, local officials now say, looters moved in, ripping out
doors, air conditioners, ceiling fans and light-switch plates from some of
the compound's 136 palaces, leaving little more than plaster and dangling
electric wires...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19582&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19582


Two killed in U.S. helicopter shot down in Iraq
Nabeel Norddin, Reuters
Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter near the northern Iraqi
city of Mosul on Friday, killing its two pilots, witnesses and U.S.
officials said. Witnesses reported seeing gunmen armed with heavy
machineguns open fire on the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, a two-seat,
single-engine helicopter, in al-Sukar district north of Mosul, about 240
miles (390 km) north of Baghdad. "The indicators are that it was due to
hostile fire," army Lieutenant-G! eneral John Vines, the No. 2 U.S.
commander in Iraq, confirmed to reporters at the Pentagon from Baghdad...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19581&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19581


Report: Army stopped Iraq abuse inquiry without questioning anyone
Associated Press
The Army closed a criminal investigation of abuse allegations by an Iraqi
detainee last year, finding no reason to believe his claims, even though no
Americans involved in the case were questioned, according to Pentagon
records made public Thursday. Internal Army documents about the Iraqi's
capture on Jan. 4, 2004, and his subsequent interrogation at an unspecified
facility at or near Baghdad International Airport were not reviewe! d, the
records show, because investigators were told they had been lost in a
computer malfunction.

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19580&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19580


Tomgram: The Year of Living Dangerously
Bush v. Reality
Tom Engelhardt
...However complicated the situation in Iraq may be, here's an
uncomplicated formula for considering administration policy there in the
coming year. After every "milestone" from the killing of Saddam Hussein's
sons and the capture of Saddam himself through the "handing over" of
sovereignty and various elections, things have only gotten worse. Remind me
why it should be different this time? In fact, while the President warned
endlessl! y about violence before the recent election, the violence since
has been far worse with 28 Americans and hundreds of Iraqis dying in just a
single tumultuous four-day period. Or put another way, whatever government
may be formed in Baghdad's Green Zone, it will preside over a
Bush-installed failed state, utterly corrupt (billions of dollars have
already been stolen from it) and thoroughly inept, incapable of providing
its people with anything like security...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19577&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19577


GI Special 4A6: Out Of Control - January 13, 2006
www.militaryproject.org
..."The message is clear," says one reservist who is home for the holidays
but has to return and asked not to be identified. "If you want to get out
of this man's Army with an honorable (discharge) and full benefits you
better not tell the truth about what is happening in-country." But Sgt.
Johnathan Wilson, a reservist, got his honorable discharge after he
returned home earlier this month and he's not afraid to talk on the record.
"Iraq is! a classic FUBAR," he says. "The country is out of control and we
can't stop it. Anybody who tries to sell a good news story about the war is
blowing it out his ass. We don't win and eventually we will leave the
country in a worse shape than it was when we invaded"...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19597&s2=14>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19597




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