[uruknet.info] - [daily information from occupied iraq] - [newsletter 15 Jan 2006]

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office: 'Who is Tareq Aziz'?
Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister is near death
Felicity Arbuthnot, GlobalResearch.ca
The lawyer of Tareq Aziz, Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister, said last week that he is near death. Badie Arif Ezzat says he
may have less than a month to live. Aziz's daughter Zeinab Aziz has begged
for the release of the seventy year old devout Christian, locked away in
isolation for nearly three years, charged with no! thing, isolated from the
world (...) Galloway cannot be reached at the Big Brother House. It takes a
real emergency, I was told. Impending death of a friend clearly falls out
of that category. Meanwhile Galloway comforts and drapes his coat around a
distressed fellow housemate and pretends to be a cat. The Press Centre at
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ( considerable experience of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office dictates such a move has to be desparation
in the extreme.) Were they to make any representation to the Americans to
release Tareq Aziz from jail in Iraq? 'Is he a British citizen?' 'No.' 'Why
would we make such representation then?' 'Because Britain and the US
spearheaded the Iraq invasion, thus the UK may have some leverage with the
US authorities on humanitarian grounds?' Long silence, then: ' Who is Tareq
Aziz?'...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19656&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19656


Dusting off the Brown-shirts and Jackboots
Mike Whitney
...With housing prices on a downward trajectory, energy going up, and the
dollar destined for life-support; we can expect to see a growing line at
the food-banks and homeless shelters. No kidding. America is marching in
lockstep towards a depression that was planned at the highest levels of
government. Deregulation has produced a trade deficit that requires an
infusion of $2 billion dollars (or 6.8% GDP) every day just to keep the
good-ship Bush afloat. When! the flow of borrowed money slows, the dollar
will crash to earth like Humpty-Dumpty leaving wreckage strew throughout
the American heartland. Why else would Bush claim the extraordinary powers
of a dictator? In just months Bush has claimed that he has the right to
torture prisoners, unilaterally declare war, spy on Americans, and
incarcerate citizens without charging them with a crime. Why? Is Bin Laden
somehow weakened by the steady erosion of civil liberties? Or, is the White
House cabal anticipating massive civil disorder from their planned economic
meltdown?...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19659&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19659


The Prosecution Rests Its Case: Verdict - Guilty
David Model, ZNet
...There is overwhelming and irrefutable evidence that President Bush and
others in his administration have violated numerous international laws and
conventions. They have violated the Hague Conventions, the Nuremburg
principles, the UN charter, the Geneva Conventions, the Convention Against
Torture, The Convention on Conventional Weapons and possibly the Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In addition,
they hav! e violated the War Crimes Act, a section of the American criminal
code, and Article VI of the constitution...-

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19653&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19653


Embedded journalism at its worst: The Ron Harris smear campaign against
Marine Sgt. Jimmy Massey
Paul Rockwell, Online Journal Contributing Writer
Who is Ron Harris? Months ago, few Americans ever heard of the embedded
reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It was not until he launched a
smear campaign against Sergeant Jimmy Massey, a Marine who publicly
confessed to killing innocent civilians on the road to Baghdad, that Harris
made a name for himself in the mainstream media, including CNN. Harris
attacked Ma! ssey for speaking out about the carnage in Iraq. He questioned
Massey’s motives and the veracity of his story. When Harris made his
accusations, however, he did not realize that Massey’s claims about
civilian killings were already corroborated by three other Marines with
whom he served. Their testimony is recorded on tape by Massey’s publisher
and a Danish journalist...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19652&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19652


No to a European McCarthyism
Against the anticommunist draft resolution at the PACE
At the end of January 2006, a draft resolution aimed at installing a
European-style McCarthyism will be submitted to the vote of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The protest motion below
has been drafted, for wide circulation and signing. A delegation of the
signatories will hand over the motion with the attached signatures to the
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr. !
René van der Linden, at the end of January, with the objective of impeding
the approval of the resolution. You can subscribe to the motion by filling
up the form below. Thank you!

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19639&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19639


Iraq's destiny still rests between God, blood and oil
Tariq Ali, The Guardian
...The US occupation is heavily dependent on the de facto support of the
Shia political parties, especially Sciri (the Supreme Council for the
Revolution in Iraq), Tehran's instrument in Iraq (...) Had the Shia parties
decided to resist the occupation, it would have been over a long time ago,
if indeed it had taken place at all. The clerics in power in Iran made
clear to Washington that they would not oppose the overthrow of the Taliba!
n or of Saddam Hussein. They did so for their own motives and in their own
interests, but theirs was a dangerous game. Had the Ba'athists and military
nationalists not resisted, instead denying Bush and Blair the glory of
which they dreamed and creating a crisis of confidence in Washington and
London, regime change in Tehran might have remained on the agenda, despite
Iranian support for the US...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19670&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19670


"Supporting the troops"
Eli Stephens, Left I on the News
Liberals just don't get it. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke in San
Francisco yesterday and was confronted by antiwar activists, demanding that
Pelosi stop voting to fund the war in Iraq and call for the impeachment of
George Bush. And what was her response? On Iraq, after hiding behind the
easy claim that "this war in Iraq has been a grotesque mistake," she got to
deeds, not words. And on that point, here are the deeds she stands with:
"The money i! s for the troops,'' said Pelosi. "I'm not prepared to go
against the troops' having the equipment they need." What does she think
the troops are doing with that equipment? Doing their laundry? They are
killing people with that money, Pelosi's money, our money...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19669&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19669


Why Iran?
Stephen Gowans
...So, is alarm over Iran acquiring the means to develop nuclear weapons,
and Ahmadinejad’s reputed "violent anti-Semitism," a cover for an effort to
pry open the Iranian economy to move it up the Index of Economic Freedom?
Ask yourself this: Is the US trying to make over Iraq, its latest conquest,
into another Hong Kong, the index’s champion? Before the US installed
itself as the effective ruler of the country, Iraq had a largely
state-owned economy, imposed restrictions on foreign owner! ship of key
economic sectors, and subsidized necessities, such as fuel, cooking oil and
staples, to meet social policy objectives. Like Iran today, Iraq had all
the features of a largely closed, dirigiste economy, so richly at odds with
the expansionary requirements of US capital...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19667&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19667


Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Sunday, 15 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 7pm Mecca time Sunday night, Mafkarat al-Islam
reported from Baghdad that on the second day of the celebrations of 'Id
al-Adha (Wednesday, 11 January 2006) US occupation troops arrested a
70-year old woman in the course of a raid and search of civilian houses in
the 'Arab Jabbur area of southern Ba! ghdad. The correspondent for Mafkarat
al-Islam reported relatives of the elderly woman as saying that the
Americans arrested al-Hajjah Salimah 'Isa Zaydan al-Jabburi and threatened
her with "terrible consequences" if her grandson (her daughter’s son) does
not turn himself in to them. The American occupation forces maintain that
the grandson is a member of the Iraqi Resistance, known for carrying out
large-scale operations against the occupation in recent days...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19671&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19671


Americans Support Impeaching Bush for Wiretapping
David Swanson, AfterDowningStreet.org
By a margin of 52% to 43%, Americans want Congress to consider impeaching
President Bush if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge's
approval, according to a new poll commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a
grassroots coalition that supports a Congressional investigation of
President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003. The poll was conducted by
Zogby International, the highly-regarded non-partisan polling compan! y.
The poll interviewed 1,216 U.S. adults from January 9-12. The poll found
that 52% agreed with the statement: "If President Bush wiretapped American
citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that
Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment"...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19660&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19660


GI Special 4A8: "All Of Us Oppsed The War" - January 15, 2006
www.militaryproject.org
... Today's public thinks that every American soldier fighting in Iraq
supports the war and that his/her morale and trust in command is very high.
However, in my experience, this was simply not true. I encountered dissent
on many levels (For one example, see post Free Speech for Soldiers, Sept.
21, 2004
<http://www.ftssoldier.blogspot.com). >www.ftssoldier.blogspot.com). Even
soldiers who supported t! he army and loved their job hated being in a
conflict they could not understand. Some soldiers did understand, and were
resentful for it. The morale for the majority of our brigade was relatively
low. I rarely met anyone who wanted to fight in Iraq, and the only ones who
truly wanted to stay were the high echelon officers who seemed more
concerned about their careers than the overall mission...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19658&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19658


National Week of Campus Action
March 13-17
leading into anniversary of war and global days of action, March 18-19
Campus Antiwar Network
Join Cindy Sheehan, Camilo Mejia, Kathy Kelly, and students who've fought
repression and won at Berkeley, SFSU, CCNY, HCC, GMU, Kent State, Hampton,
and Madison, in supporting...
On March 13-17*, students will hold events at high schools and colleges
around the country demanding an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq and
money for young people's education, not military recruitment. This week of
action leads into the global days of protest on March 18-19, where students
will join many others in marking the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq
and demanding to bring the troops home now!...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19668&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19668


IRAQ: Activists call for protection of academics
IRIN
A network of human rights activists and journalists has called for the
protection of local academics and higher level educational institutions.
The appeal, launched this month by the Brussells Tribunal, a worldwide
network devoted to campaigning against the US-led invasion and occupation
of Iraq, notes the "systematic liquidation of the country's academics."
According to conservative estimates, over 250 educators have been
assassinated while hundreds more have! disappeared, the network’s website
states...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19663&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19663


MLK Day: Dreams and nightmares
Robert Jensen
In Martin Luther King Jr’s most famous speech, he had a dream. But in
another of King’s important addresses, he faced the depth of our nightmare
(...) On April 4, 1967, at the Riverside Church in New York City, in a
speech titled "Beyond Vietnam," King spoke just as eloquently of the
nightmare that lies underneath that dream. In that speech to Clergy and
Laymen Concerned about Vietnam, King not only made a compelling case for
ending the U.S. attack on Vietnam, but went! beyond that to diagnose a
failed society...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19666&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19666


Dinner Guest Ayman al-Zawahri Escapes Death
Kurt Nimmo, Another Day in the Empire
For the sake of argument, let’s say a Canadian terrorist, set loose on the
world by the Canadian Foreign Intelligence Service (I don’t know if the
CFIS creates terrorists, but in this instance let’s say they do), escaped
over the Canada-United States border and took refuge in International
Falls, Minnesota. Canada and CFIS discover this terrorist—who they want to
kill for political and propaganda purposes—is hiding out in a house, w!
hich they later describe as a "compound," and send a CFIS drone bristling
with missiles streaking over the border and bomb the house situated in a
quiet neighborhood in International Falls, killing eighteen people,
including women and children. Imagine the reaction. Millions of Americans,
rightfully outraged by this murderous attack, would demand the United
States immediately attack Canada, maybe nuke Ottawa...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19649&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19649


Fear Overshadows Eid Festival
Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed, Inter Press Service
What should have been a joyous four-day Islamic holiday for Eid al-Adha
which Iraqis began to celebrate Jan. 10, has only highlighted the suffering
under U.S. occupation. The feast of sacrifice which begins on the tenth day
of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijja is celebrated as a commemoration of
Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son for God. Eid festivities
in Baghdad used to be an occasion for family reunions, where everyon! e
turned up in their best. But sky-rocketing fuel costs have driven up the
price of food, clothing and everything else, and Eid could no longer be the
same. The frightening lack of security did much to dampen the holiday
mood...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19661&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19661


The Iran ‘crisis’ – the bullshit continues
William Bowles, I'n'I
A story in the London Independent (14/1/06) is typical of the kind of
propaganda war being waged by the UK and the US over Iran’s alleged
programme to acquire nuclear weapons. In fact, the story is a model piece,
worthy of dissection for the various messages it carries to a public which
has been deliberately misled over the real nature of the 'crisis’, a
'crisis’ deliberately engineered by the West and for a number of reasons...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19648&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19648


U.S. occupation’s problems increase in Iraq
G. Dunkel
...Besides the helicopter crash indicating that the U.S. forces in Iraq
don’t have the command of communications that is vital to crush an
insurgency, the up-tick in casualties and wounded that the U.S. has
suffered since the election Dec. 15 indicates that the decline of these
rates in December was due to a decision by a large part of the Iraqi
resistance to calm down the conflict while the vote was taking place. And
now the resistance has stepped up its atta! cks on U.S. and puppet troops.
While the U.S. is not facing imminent military defeat—far from that—it is
clear that a decisive military victory is unattainable and the political
and economic costs of its war in Iraq are growing...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19647&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19647


Bush to criminalize protesters under Patriot Act as "disruptors"
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
Bush wants to create the new criminal of "disruptor" who can be jailed for
the crime of "disruptive behavior." A "little-noticed provision" in the
latest version of the Patriot Act will empower Secret Service to charge
protesters with a new crime of "disrupting major events including political
conventions and the Olympics." Secret Service would also be empowered to
charge persons with "breaching security" and to char! ge for "entering a
restricted area" which is "where the President or other person protected by
the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting." In short, be sure
to stay in those wired, fenced containments or free speech zones...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19657&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19657


Tomgram: Ariel Dorfman on How Bush Makes Fiction of Us All
Tom Engelhardt & Ariel Dorfman
...The lesson is simple enough: The Bush administration's actions since
9/11 have outstripped anyone's ability to parody them; or, put another way,
nothing in our world now is too absurd, too far-fetched to seem plausible.
This, of course, is why one of the more popular news programs of recent
years is Jon Stewart's Daily Show where the silliest parodies often come
closer to our reality than anything you might see on the net! work
prime-time news...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19654&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19654


Would Sumate stand by and allow their fellow citizens to be contaminated?
Mary MacElveen
US Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton called the lack of body armor provided to
our military personnel as being "unforgivable" this past week and wants an
investigation into this matter. While our troops do need that body armor,
it is like placing a band-aid on a gaping wound especially when it comes to
the use of depleted uranium in Iraq...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=19655&s2=16>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19655




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