[UrukNet] - [Daily Information from Occupied Iraq] - [newsletter 24 Mar 2006 - Part One]

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Militants of Jafaari commit massacre in Al-Fursan village. US sponsored
death squads in action.
Haythem Khatab, Abdul Wahab Al Obeidi, Dirk Adriaensens (BRussells Tribunal)
Immediately after the blast in Samarra targeting the shrines of Ali Al-Hadi
and Hassan Al-Askari, men dressed in black, and in large number, attacked
Sunni mosques and areas (...) Black-clad militias and police commandos also
attacked Al-Fursan (bani ziyad), a little Sunni village located in
Nahrawan, south east of Baghdad. I decided to go the! re to film when I
heard that some from the Iraqi Red Crescent would visit the village and
bring aid 03 March 2006 (...)"Around 50 Chevrolet of the commandos of the
police attacked our village; they were wearing black, they killed 8 people
and kidnapped 22. We may find their bodies somewhere." The man said that
the militants came from different areas, confirming that they were Mahdi
Army and Badr Brigades" (...) I asked the men to go deeper in the village.
The cameraman was afraid and returned to our ambulances. I was afraid also.
The scene was horrible. The village was deserted, and destroyed. All the
houses were burnt — both clay and concrete houses were burnt. Black soot
was everywhere, over windows and doors. Cars were burnt; trucks were burnt.
Animal carcasses were everywhere. The people who had come killed everything
alive. They raided the villages many times, so they might raid it while we
were there...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21870&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21870


60 Minutes joins the propaganda war
Mike Whitney
Two weeks ago, CBS 60 Minutes ran a segment called "Tal Afar: Al Qaida’s
Town". The story focused on an Iraqi city on the Syrian border that was
allegedly "taken over by Al Qaida" and turned into a terrorist "base to
train insurgents and launch attacks around Iraq". (60 Minute’s transcript)
According to"America’s most popular news magazine", the city of 200,000 was
controlled by a few hundred "terrorists" who kept the townspeople
imprisoned in their own homes until! American forces invaded the city and
set them free. 60 Minute’s anchor, Lara Logan, interviewed Colonel H.R.
McMaster for the piece; quizzing him on the situation before and after the
American siege...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21882&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21882


Children Continue To Be Main Victims Of U.S. Occupation
Dr. César Chelala
One of the most tragic consequenes of the Iraq war has been its effect on
children. The war continues to claim them among its main victims, while the
health of the majority of the population also continues to deteriorate. In
the 1980s, Iraq had one of the best health care systems in the region.
Following the 2003 invasion by the coalition forces, an ongoing cycle of
insurgent violence and occupation forces’ counter-attacks have
significantl! y damaged the basic health infrastructure in the country. As
a result, Iraq’s health system cannot respond to the most basic health
needs of the population...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21892&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21892


Bush Launches Massive Shock & Awe Offensive... Against U.S. Media
Peter Daou, Huffington Post
As the Bush administration's Iraq fiasco spirals further out of control, a
new phase of the war has begun: an all-out assault on the American media
for simply reporting the news. The scope and audacity of this attack is
breathtaking; on cue, a bevy of administration officials and rightwing
talking heads has begun taking direct aim at the press, accusing reporters
of fabricating the Iraq crisis...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21890&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21890


Shia Death Squads Target Iraqi Gays -- U.S. Indifferent
Doug Ireland, www.dissidentvoice.org
... "The Badr Corps is committed to the 'sexual cleansing’ of Iraq," says
Ali Hili, a 33-year-old gay Iraqi exile in London who, with some 30 other
gay Iraqis who have fled to the United Kingdom, five months ago founded the
Abu Nawas Group there to support persecuted gay Iraqis. Said Hili, "We
believe that the Badr Corps is receiving advice from Iran on how to target
gay people." In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the regi! me of President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been carrying out a lethal anti-gay pogrom against
Iranian gays, notably through entrapment by Internet -- and this tactic has
recently begun to be used by the Badr Corps in Iraq to identify and hunt
down Iraqi gays (...) "We desperately need protection!" pleaded Tahseen.
"But, when we go to the Americans, they laugh at us and don’t do anything.
The Americans are the problem!"...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21889&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21889


News Release
Death Squads in Iraq
Institute for Public Accuracy
In early 2005, Parry wrote the article "Bush's 'Death Squads,'" which
examined the "Salvador Option" in Iraq, referring to the 1980s U.S.
government's "supporting El Salvador's right-wing security forces, which
operated clandestine 'death squads' to eliminate both leftist guerrillas
and their civilian sympathizers." (...) A member of the Christian
Peacemaker Teams, Beth Pyles has spent four of the last eight months in
Iraq. She just return! ed from her latest trip on Tuesday and was
particularly involved in working with Palestinians whom she reports are
being targeted by death squads in Iraq.

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21888&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21888


Update on Pace - No Expulsion, but students threatened with discipline if
organize
Brian Kelly, Pace University student
First, I must to apologize for getting this letter out so late, after
having our disciplinary hearing with the Dean of Students (Pace University)
Friday afternoon, Lauren had to begin packing for a relief trip to New
Orleans and we were both stuck trying to make sense of the outcome. I have
spent most of my spring break trying to digest the hearing, the student
handbook, and the events of the p! ast several weeks. The hearing was
shrouded with the same methods of intimidation and deception that Pace has
been using against us the last few weeks. We entered Dean O’Grady’s office
with one of our attorneys, Gideon Oliver, and then the Dean informed us we
would have two separate hearings. Lauren and I were forced to sit next to
the University Attorney. Lauren and I elected to pursue an "informal
resolution" as outlined in Pace University’s student handbook...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21886&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21886


Schools in Iraq
Isam Rasheed Abdul-Rahman, Isam Rasheed Abdul-Rahman
Today we write about schools in Iraq, and how occupation affects them. I
tried to get close to teachers, to find out how they work now, and what
kind of problems they face in schools at present. The first teacher I spoke
to was Mohammed Akram, 36 years old, who works in Al-Karama primary school.
"I’ve been teaching for eight years," he said, "and I regret to say the
schools in Iraq have deteriorated. The situation inside the schools became
very ! bad, due to bribery, and there is not enough control from the Iraqi
government on schools (...) "Some teachers are sectarian and treat students
badly according to name (some names, like Omar, are used mainly by Sunnis,
while others, like Abdul Hussain, are mainly use by Shias). We have low
education levels and the educational materials are not enough; the Ministry
of Education didn’t print enough books for students"...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21871&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21871


Bush Shuns Patriot Act Requirement
Charlie Savage, The Boston Globe
When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this
month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey
requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's
expanded police powers. The bill contained several oversight provisions
intended to make sure the FBI did not abuse the special terrorism-related
powers to search homes and secretly seize papers. The provisions require
Justic! e Department officials to keep closer track of how often the FBI
uses the new powers and in what type of situations. Under the law, the
administration would have to provide the information to Congress by certain
dates...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21884&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21884


THE WRONG SIDE WON (AGAIN)
Malcom Lagauche
The recent elections in Belarus have been condemned by the U.S. and the
European Union (EU). Both sides state they will impose sanctions and travel
restrictions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Sound familiar?
It should because this is yet another hypocritical action taken by the U.S.
in its quest to democratize the world. Unfortunately, the EU came on board
with the U.S. in this case. I thought the Europeans would have had more
dignity and not mimicked Uncl! e Sam. There are a few puzzling aspects to
this case...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21883&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21883


Iraq: Was rescue of CPT members staged?; New evidence of US atrocities in Iraq
Truth about Iraqis
There are troubling signs that it was staged. First consider that when
British, US and Canadian forces broke into the house where the CPT members
were being held captive, not one shot was fired. Not one kidnapper was to
be found. The house was empty save for the three hostages. No weapons were
found. Were the kidnappers on a lunch break?...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21880&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21880


"President Bush was beyond pathetic.."
Imad Khadduri
"President Bush was beyond pathetic on the issue of Iraq during his press
conference this week... Bush has lost the American public on the war, and
why he deserved to lose it was illustrated in spades by the press
conference. He was confused and confusing; he made blatant misstatements of
fact; he used phony arguments against critics of the war; he offered a
false picture of progress in Iraq, then blamed the media for not telling
that story. We will succeed in ! Iraq ultimately, he said, because he
"believes" it. And, by the way, U.S. troops will be there at least until
2009...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21879&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21879


Islamophobia at Downing Street
Tony Blair's Bipolarity
MICHAEL CARMICHAEL
This week, Tony Blair launched a scathing ideological attack on Islamism.
Describing the conflict between Islamism and the world as a, "battle for
modernity," he quoted the conservative American historian, Samuel
Huntington, in order to refute him. Contrasting his interpretation of a
"conflict about civilisation" in a historical chiaroscuro with Huntington's
"conflict of civilisations," Blair blasted Islamism as the fountainhead !
of the world's escalating level of ultra-violence (...)
To date, let it be noted that Blair has not called out in public for the
genocidal extermination of the entire Islamic population of the world. Let
it also be noted that Adolf Hitler did not publicise his plan for the final
solution to what he perceived as the problem posed by the Jews he hated and
feared. Hitler's tirades against the Jews led to the public acceptance of
anti-Semitism. Will Blair's frontal assault on Islamists lead Britain in
the same direction?...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21876&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21876


On orders from prime minister’s department and police: Australian web site
shut down
Richard Phillips, WSWS
One week before the third anniversary of the criminal invasion and
occupation of Iraq, the Australian government forced the closure of a
satirical web site that powerfully exposed several key lies told by Prime
Minister John Howard to justify participation in the US-led war. Authored
by Richard Neville, former editor of Oz magazine—a well-known satirical
publication that challenged British censorship laws i! n the 1960s—the
site—johnhowardpm.org—was suspended after a high-level intervention by the
prime minister’s department and the federal police...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21875&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21875


Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools
THE MISSION WAS INDEED ACCOMPLISHED
Greg Palast
...And what did the USA want Iraq to do with Iraq's oil? The answer will
surprise many of you: and it is uglier, more twisted, devilish and devious
than anything imagined by the most conspiracy-addicted blogger. The answer
can be found in a 323-page plan for Iraq's oil secretly drafted by the
State Department. Our team got a hold of a copy; how, doesn't matter. The
key thing is what's inside this thick Bush diktat: a directive! to Iraqis
to maintain a state oil company that will "enhance its relationship with
OPEC." Enhance its relationship with OPEC??? How strange: the government of
the United States ordering Iraq to support the very OPEC oil cartel which
is strangling our nation with outrageously high prices for crude.
Specifically, the system ordered up by the Bush cabal would keep a lid on
Iraq's oil production -- limiting Iraq's oil pumping to the tight quota set
by Saudi Arabia and the OPEC cartel. There you have it. Yes, Bush went in
for the oil -- not to get more of Iraq's oil, but to prevent Iraq producing
too much of it...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21887&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21887


Iraq on its own to rebuild, U.S. says
Thomas Frank, USA Today
The head of the U.S.-led program to rebuild Iraq said Thursday that the
Iraqi government can no longer count on U.S. funds and must rely on its own
revenues and other foreign aid, particularly from Persian Gulf nations.
"The Iraqi government needs to build up its capability to do its own
capital budget investment," Daniel Speckhard, director of the U.S. Iraq
Reconstruction Management Office, said...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21873&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21873


Appeal For Help Sectarian Cleansing and Coercive Displacement
Abdul Wahab Al Obeidi
...On February 27, 2006, Al-Fursan village was attacked by hordes of men in
black, who were driving cars of the ministry of interior and state-backed
militias. A large number of the villagers fled their homes. Eight people,
including the Imam of the village mosque, whose name is Abu Aisha, and a
ten year-old boy called Adnan Midab, were executed (...) The village mosque
was sabotaged and burned down like almost all the houses in t! he village
(...) The above is but the tip of the iceberg. These practices are
organized and carried out on a regular basis within towns, rural villages
and suburbs. Civilians are asking for international forces to protect them
(...) The tragedy is mounting. People are deprived of basic needs. The aid
workers are helpless. The UN and humanitarian NGOs must act...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21885&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21885


The next popular war
Xymphora
Since September 11 there has been ongoing speculation that the Bush
Administration would counter one crisis or another by triggering another
terrorist attack on American soil. The Republicans are in a particular funk
at the moment, and with elections coming up, the idea that another attack
might occur is difficult to resist. On the other hand, Bush now bases his
entire Presidency on the illusion that he is the guy to protect Americans
from terrorism. It will be difficult to blame t! he next attack on
Clinton...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21872&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21872


At least 51 more die in Iraq violence
Talabani issues optimistic assessment on cabinet
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iraq's president issued a highly optimistic report Friday on progress among
politicians trying to hammer out the shape of a new unity government.
Meanwhile, at least 51 more people, including two U.S. soldiers, were
reported dead in rampant violence. President Jalal Talabani said the
government could be in place for parliamentary approval by the end of the
month, but acknowledged, "I am usually a very! optimistic person." He spoke
to reporters after a fifth round of multi-party talks among the country's
highly polarized political factions...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21893&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21893


Hired guns unaccountable
Pentagon releases 400 'serious incident reports' voluntarily filed by
security contractors in Iraq
Jay Price
About 6,000 non-Iraqi security contractors are operating in Iraq. During
nine months in 2004-05, contractors reported firing into 61 civilian
vehicles; no one was ever prosecuted. Security analysts say it is likely
that such incidents are vastly underreported. Security contractors
supporting the U.S. effort in Iraq regularly shoot into civilian cars with
little a! ccountability, according to a News & Observer analysis of more
than 400 reports contractors filed with the government...

<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21895&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21895


In Falluja, Iraqi forces riven by sectarianism
Fadel al-Badrani, Reuters
If all goes to plan, U.S.-trained Iraqi troops and police will work
together, gain the trust of volatile cities like Falluja and battle
insurgents on their own as the Americans gradually withdraw troops. But,
judging by the mood of this former rebel stronghold west of Baghdad, that
is wishful thinking (...) This week, the mostly Arab Sunni police staged a
strike to protest what they said were abuses committed by Shi'ite Muslim
soldiers. The! police have returned to their posts, but the mistrust
remains. "The soldiers attacked a 17-year-old grocer and took him away to
an area where he was found dead two hours later," said a police major, who
asked not to be named. He said the youth had been shot in the eye and his
stomach ripped open...


<http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=21894&s2=25>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=21894




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