[uruknet.info - daily information from occupied iraq] newsletter 15 Oct 2004.

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An exchange with the Australian's Iraq correspondent
WSWS
...And what of your claim that the US is "in fact fully determined to leave
[the Iraqis] in eventual control of their own destiny"? The handover of
sovereignty has seen no let-up in the attacks of the US military against
the Iraqi people. Centres of resistance to the occupation, most notably in
Fallujah, Najaf and Samarra, have been repeatedly assaulted by US tanks,
artillery and fighter jets, killing and wounding thousands. The only
discernable dif! ference "sovereignty" has made is that these bloody
operations now carry the rubberstamp of the interim government...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6314&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6314


Il debito diventa un affare
il manifesto
L'ultimo conflitto d'interessi dell'amministrazione Bush è un boomerang
americano lanciato contro l'Iraq del dopo Saddam. James Baker, l'uomo a cui
il presidente Bush ha affidato la «nobile missione» di fare pressione sui
paesi creditori per ottenere l'annullamento del debito estero che Baghdad
ha contratto con mezzo mondo, fa in realtà il doppio gioco...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6318&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6318


"Saddam Hussein, the Fighter,the Thinker and the Man"
Part II. Chapter 4: Petrol-Cutting the dependence on imperialism
Dr. Amir Iskandar, Al-Moharer
...The nationalization of oil in Iraq did not only have a national effect
inside the country. It also had a far- reaching popular effect as regards
the situation outside Iraq. The achievement of economic independence and
the freeing of the national will by breaking the country's dependence on
imperialism were not the furthest-reaching of the goals desired by the!
"political brain" that entered the battle of nationalization and emerged
victorious. Saddam Hussein recalled, " Any victory achieved within the
context of one region is a step on the road of the central objectives of
the Arab Revolution (20}." Thus, the slogan " Arab oil for the Arab people"
that was first raised by Iraq was put into practice only partially, within
the Iraqi region, but continued to call upon the Arab oil states to adopt
it and to expropriate the oil as the right of the sons of the Community
that was poor, naked and backward despite its dazzling wealth, gripped in
the talons of world imperialism...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6322&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6322


Broadcast Exclusive: James Baker's double life in Iraq: The Carlyle Group
stands to make killing on Iraqi debt
Democracy Now!
In a major expose published last night on The Nation magazine's website,
columnist Naomi Klein reveals that President Bush's special envoy on Iraq's
debt, former Secretary of State James Baker, has been using his position to
benefit his corporate clients and the Carlyle Group, the powerful merchant
bank and defense contractor where Baker serves as a partner...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6317&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6317


Zarqawi - Bush's Man For All Seasons
Pepe Escobar, World Crisis Web
..."Zarqawi" is much like a movie. Fake leg or not, return of the living
dead or not, he is everywhere. American corporate media do not even bother
to examine all the holes in the story. Who cares? Without Zarqawi, the Bush
administration would have to painfully admit that the Iraqi resistance is a
national liberation struggle. With Zarqawi, the administration can parrot
to oblivion the line that Iraq is in the frontline of the "war on
terror"...! .

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6315&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6315


US Troop Levels in Iraq Drop
Xymphora
...Robert Novak (from his hospital bed!) refers to Rita Cosby of Fox News
who had asked Rumsfeld before he left on his recent trip to Iraq whether
the United States may 'start to pull out' after the Iraqi elections next
year. Rumsfeld had replied: "We've already started. We had 150,000 troops
over there originally. We're down to 137,000 right now." Think about the
numbers. 150,000. 137,000. The difference is 13,000. What does that number
represent? Of course! It's the ! American casualty rate (more or less: we
can't be sure as the Pentagon keeps the exact number a big secret). The
numbers of American troops are dropping because the Pentagon hasn't got the
troops to replace the fallen...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6313&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6313


Falluja Negotiator: Iraq Govt.'s Demand Absurd
Alistair Lyon, Reuters
Iraq's interim prime minister has threatened to attack Falluja unless it
turns in foreign militants, but a negotiator for the rebel-held city said
on Thursday its people were being asked to chase shadows (...) "We want to
know what proof there is that Zarqawi is in Falluja," Hatem Maddab, a
member of a Falluja negotiating committee, told Arabic Al Jazeera
television (...) "Zarqawi is like the weapons of mass destruction that
America invaded Ira! q for," Maddab said, alluding to Saddam Hussein's
arsenal of banned arms that proved not to exist. "We hear about that name
(Zarqawi), but he is not here. More than 20 or 30 homes have been bombarded
because of this Zarqawi and his followers but only women, children and the
elderly have been affected," the negotiator added...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6310&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6310


How a sensational claim exploded in the face of the Government
Anne Penketh, Independent
The most astonishing thing about the 45-minute claim is that before it was
withdrawn yesterday by the Government for being wrong, it had caused one
death, at least one inquiry and the decapitation of the BBC. The Government
set out to prove in its September 2002 dossier that the weapons of mass
destruction held by Saddam Hussein posed a risk to the British people, and
to use that argument as a justification for war. So the do! ssier warned
that extended-range Iraqi Scud missiles were capable of reaching "Cyprus,
eastern Turkey, Tehran and Israel"...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6307&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6307


Republicrats Still Linking Iraq to 9/11
Stephen Zunes, Antiwar
On the eve of the third anniversary of 9/11, the U.S. House of
Representatives - by an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of 406-16 -
passed a resolution linking Iraq to the al-Qaeda attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon. This comes despite conclusions reached by the
bipartisan 9/11 Commission, a recent CIA report, and the consensus of
independent strategic analysis familiar with the region that no such links
ever existed...


<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6303&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6303


Le elezioni non metteranno fine ai combattimenti in Iraq
Patrick Cockburn, Nuovi Mondi Media
...i generali americani in Iraq hanno trionfalmente annunciato di aver
assunto il pieno controllo di Samarra e di aver ucciso 125 ribelli. Hanno
però omesso il fatto che questa è la terza volta, negli ultimi 18 mesi, che
conquistano la città sul Tigri, a nord di Baghdad. La presa di città come
questa potrebbe essere un segnale vittorioso se gli Stati Uniti
combattessero contro bande isolate di insorti, ma contro una rivol! ta
nazionale rappresenta solo un gesto sanguinoso e inutile...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6301&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6301


U.S. Considers Reopening Inquiry Into Possible Abuse Before Iraq Prison Scandal
NORIMITSU ONISHI and ERIC SCHMITT, NYTimes
Several weeks after two major reports detailed the abuse of detainees at
Abu Ghraib prison, the Pentagon is reviewing whether to reopen an inquiry
into the case of four Iraqis who said they were abused in January at an
American base in Iraq. The case of the Iraqi men, employees of Western news
organizations, was dismissed by the Pentagon months before the abuse at Abu
Ghraib was first reporte! d. The case, which involves reports of practices
similar to those carried out at Abu Ghraib, could provide evidence that
maltreatment of prisoners occurred elsewhere in Iraq...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6300&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6300


Valium...
Baghdad Burning, Girl Blog from Iraq...
...Before the war and occupation, drugs (you know- cocaine, marijuana,
etc.) weren't that big a problem in Iraq. Sure, we all heard of a certain
person or certain area where you could get hashish or marijuana or
something… but it wasn't that common. A big reason was because selling
drugs was punishable by death. Now, you can find drugs in several areas in
Baghdad and all sorts of pills have become quite common in the south.
People living in Basrah and Najaf and o! ther areas in the south complain
that Iranians are smuggling them into the country and selling them. Iran
has a large drug trade and now, we're getting some of their exports in
Iraq...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6299&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6299


Baghdad Children's Hospital Sees Alarming Rise in Admissions
Kim Sengupta, Independent
The children lie on their hospital beds. A few cry, others just stare
ahead. Their parents huddle around, trying to provide comfort. These are
not victims of the war, but of an alarming rise in disease and a shattered
health system (...) The shortage of some vital drugs and equipment is worse
than in the days of UN sanctions. "The problem of supply is particularly
acute in areas like chemotherapy, IV fluids, even antibiotics. I! t is also
worse than before the war when it comes to lab facilities," said Dr Ali
Hussein, the chief resident...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6298&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6298


The New York Times and the road to war
Joseph Kay, WSWS
On October 3, the New York Times published an extensive article detailing
the history of one of the fabrications employed by the American government
to justify the war against Iraq: the charge that aluminum tubes imported by
Saddam Hussein were intended for use in the development of a nuclear
weapons program (...) As the October 3 article revealed, the Times served
as a conduit for administration officials, uncritically reporting their
claims and lending the! m badly needed credibility.
..

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6297&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6297


Why Iraq isn't a "diversion" from the "real war". The bipartisan war on the
world
Socialist Worker
...IN AN effort to emphasize the few differences between his campaign and
George Bush's, John Kerry is arguing that Bush's invasion of Iraq was a
mistake. Not because of the terrible human cost of the war, though. Kerry
claims that the attack on Iraq was a diversion from the so-called "war on
terrorism." (...) The idea that Iraq was the "wrong war" and a diversion
from the real "war on terrorism" misses the point. W! ashington's "war on
terrorism" has nothing at all to do with making the world safer. It is
about furthering U.S. dominance in the world--and that necessarily means
making the world a more dangerous place for millions of people...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6295&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6295


LIFE IN IRAQ: Joblessness and bloodshed
CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent
The blood of Fallujah, the thunder of Baghdad and the daily struggles of
life have been distilled in columns of numbers and pages of dry prose. The
experts have taken a hard look at Iraq and they don't like what they see
(...) With Iraq so unstable, "there are questions about what options and
contingency plans are being developed to address these ongoing and future
challenges," the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) obser! ves in
a report to Congress. Anthony H. Cordesman is more blunt. In many ways the
U.S. occupation has been "a dismal failure," this veteran national security
analyst says...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6294&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6294


The Hidden War
Juan Cole
...The bombing raids are mentioned only in passing in the U.S. press, and
U.S. television viewers seldom see footage of the strikes or of the
civilian casualties they produce. In contrast, Arab satellite television
channels frequently show wounded children in hospital beds after the
bombardment. The Bush administration has represented itself as fighting a
handful of foreign terrorists and local criminals or dead-enders. Arab
viewers know that most of the guerrilla opposition to the US is ! Iraqi,
and that many of the victims of U.S. attempts to destroy it are civilians...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6316&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6316


Saddam's Illegal Dream
Kamyar Arasteh, www.dissidentvoice.org
...Next, when the weight of evidence forces the public not to be swayed by
the charge of possession of weapons of mass destruction, replace the claim
with intent, since no one can prove the absence of intent. So, now, even
the sham argument of possession is, imperceptibly, switched. This time the
replacement is the claim that Saddam had dreams of possessing weapons of
mass destruction. In Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi writes about a
terrifie! d young Iranian boy who wakes up his parents, telling them he has
been having an illegal dream, because in it men and women were kissing each
other—the public display of which is outlawed in Iran. Who is to say that
Saddam didn't have illegal dreams? This is how, finally, even the experts
(that is, the scientists, the inspectors, etc.) are taken out and the
debate ceases to exist...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6291&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6291


Double Standards and Curious Silences. Amnesty International: A False Beacon?
PAUL de ROOIJ
Given the current escalation of Israeli depredations in Gaza and the daily
US bombings of Falluja, it is interesting to examine Amnesty
International's (AI) statements on the situation. AI is widely viewed as an
authority on human rights issues, and thus it is of interest to analyze its
output on these recent events. Careful scrutiny of AI's record reveals
that, its typical response to the daily obscene deeds by either Isr! aeli
or US armies is a few barely audible ruminations with an occasional lame
rebuke. The impotence of these responses raises many questions...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6289&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6289


Maimed for Oil and Empire
Nicole Colson
...Col. Earl Hecker, a critical care doctor at Landstuhl, says that the
casualty situation for U.S. troops is far worse than most people in the
U.S. can imagine. "The public has no idea what's going on here, none
whatsoever," he told New York Newsday. Then he blurted out, "Bush is an
idiot." Hecker has every right to feel angry. On an average day, he sees 35
young men and women transported to Landstuhl, mainly from Iraq. Doctors and
nurses at the hospital say it is like som! ething out of a nightmare--where
"the cost of the Iraq war is measured in amputated limbs, burst eyeballs,
shrapnel-torn bodies and shattered lives," wrote Toronto Star reporter
Sandro Contenta...

<http://www.uruknet.info?s1=1&p=6290&s2=15>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=6290




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