[uruknet.info] - [daily information from occupied iraq] - [newsletter 16 Dec 2004]

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La Vittoria di Bush, Fallujah ed il Movimento Globale Contro la Guerra
Walden Bello*, Peacelink
...L'Iraq, naturalmente, è la fonte principale del discioglimento
dell'impero. La resistenza del popolo iracheno non ha soltanto frustrato
l'occupazione coloniale americana del loro paese. Ugualmente importante, ha
mostrato una nuove generazione di anti-imperialisti in tutto il mondo, per
i quali la guerra del Vietnam è storia antica, che è possibile combattere
l'impero fino ad uno stallo e alla fine fino alla vittoria! (...) Sostenere
la lotta del popolo iracheno a creare uno spazio sovrano nel quale creare
un governo nazionale di loro scelta continua ad essere una delle due
priorità essenziali del movimento globale contro la guerra...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8155&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8155


LA NEVROSI DEL PENTAGONO
Il gulag di Fallujah
DOUGLAS LUMMIS, Comedonchisciotte.net
...Io ritengo che questo assurdo "progettto Fallujah" rimarrà, o dovrebbe
rimanere, nella storia come uno di quei perfetti, momenti cristallini nei
quali la dominazione imperiale mostra la sua vera natura. Durante la guerra
del Vietman avevamo parole immortali, "Dobbiamo distruggere il villaggio
per salvarlo". Il Progetto Fallujah esprime la stessa contraddizione. Per
salvare la "Libertà" degli abitanti, Fallujah deve essere d! istrutta come
città e trasformata in una prigione. Ma è possibile trasformare un'intera
città di persone furiose in una prigione?...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8174&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8174


Document: Intel Agents Who Saw Detainee Abuse Were Threatened
The Memory Hole.
A memo from the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency reveals that two
DIA agents who witnessed abuse of detainees in Iraq were threatened by the
interrogators. It was released as part of a Freedom of Information Act
lawsuit brought by the ACLU, which sums up the document:
* A June 25, 2004 memo from Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, Defense
Intelligence Agency chief, entitled "alleged detainee abuse by TF 62-6,"
describing how DIA personnel who complained about abuses were threatened,
had their car keys confiscated and e-mails monitored, and were ordered "not
to talk to anyone in the U.S." or leave the base "even to get a haircut"...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8194&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8194


Evildoers, here we come
Pepe Escobar
...As for the Iraqi "model", the crucial point is that the Americans
managed to turn Iraq into a replica of Palestine - the same ghastly litany
of occupation, suicide bombings, streams of refugees and death and
destruction. Not only was the Iraq war entirely based on neo-con lies:
these lies led, among other disasters, to Iraq's infrastructure being
completely destroyed and the US alienating the Muslim world. Fallujah and
Baghdad are replicas of Gaza and the West Bank...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8186&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8186


Eyewitness Interview: "Iraq Is An Absolute Disaster":
MICHAEL WARE INTERVIEW ON WNYC HOST LEONARD LOPATE
...LOPATE: Well, one of the first things we heard was that we had to win
the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. So is that the battle we're
really losing right now? WARE: I mean it would be glib to say that the
hearts of minds of the people that we haven't yet killed… but… there is an
element of…. Truth to that. I mean, honestly, I see day by day as we add to
the ranks of the insurgency… No! w, be it, I've been there… I've watched
civilians atomized before my eyes by withering US fire. And…...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8189&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8189


Sailor who refused to go to Iraq: "I don't support this war"
JUSTIN AKERS and NICOLE COLSON , Socialist Worker
THIRD CLASS Petty Officer Pablo Paredes stood on the pier of the 32nd
Streeet naval base in San Diego, Calif., as his ship the USS Bonhomme
Richard left for the Persian Gulf without him. "Like a cabinet member, I
resign," read his simple black T-shirt. Paredes, who is publicly against
the U.S. war in Iraq, sent shock waves up the military chain of command by
refusing to board his ship...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8191&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8191


Iraq's National Guard No People's Army
Omar Anwar, Reuters
..."Are the National Guards wearing the same uniform as the occupiers?"
Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Ghafoor al-Sammerai, a preacher at Baghdad's Um al-Qura
mosque, asked the faithful recently. "They fire randomly at people," said
Sammerai, who also accused a National Guard trooper of shooting dead one of
his bodyguards while he was queueing for petrol. "Is the blood of Iraqis
that cheap? Who is responsible for this bloodshed? Many children, young
men, old men, and! women have died from random shooting for no reason," he
said...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8184&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8184


UN report shows effects of poverty, war on children
Jennifer Barnett, People's Weekly World Newspaper
...Without making a direct comment on the U.S.-initiated wars since 2001,
something UNICEF director Carol Bellamy has come under criticism for, the
report cites a Human Rights Watch study that found that the cluster
munitions used by coalition forces in Iraq were a major cause of civilian
casualties in 2003. Additionally, the report notes that more than 100
children were recently killed in Fallujah, some o! n their way to school,
in the conflict between Iraqis and coalition forces....

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8190&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8190


A Flood of Troubled Soldiers Is in the Offing, Experts Predict
SCOTT SHANE, NYTimes
The nation's hard-pressed health care system for veterans is facing a
potential deluge of tens of thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq with
serious mental health problems brought on by the stress and carnage of war,
veterans' advocates and military doctors say. An Army study shows that
about one in six soldiers in Iraq report symptoms of major depression,
serious anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, a proportion that so! me
experts believe could eventually climb to one in three, the rate ultimately
found in Vietnam veterans...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8183&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8183


Iraqi Shiites fight on the side of insurgents in Falluja
Mustafa Amara, Azzaman.com, Iraqwar
Fighters from the Shiite holy city of Najaf have joined in the fight in
Falluja against U.S. troops, according to the head of an influential
non-governmental organization. Murhiz al-Dulaimi of the League for the
Defense of the Rights of Iraqi people said the inhabitants of Kufa, another
Shiite holy site, helped in evacuating civilians from Falluja before the
start of fighting.

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8181&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8181


The pattern of discontent in US ranks
Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Griping among the troops is as old as armed conflict, illustrated most
memorably by cartoonist Bill Mauldin's "Willie and Joe" characters during
World War II. But something more than that is happening now in Iraq with
what appears to be growing resistance from the troops. Evidence includes
numbers of deserters (reportedly in the thousands), resignations of reserve
officers, lawsuits by those whose duty period ! has been involuntarily
extended, and a refusal to go on dangerous missions without proper
equipment...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8177&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8177


Who Killed Baha Mousa?
Robert Fisk, The Independent U.K.
Baha Mousa, 26, was working as a hotel receptionist in Basra 14 months ago
when British troops surrounded the building and arrested seven men. They
were taken to a British base and were reportedly hooded and beaten. Two
days later, Mousa was dead. His family was given $3,000 in compensation and
rejected a further $5,000. What they wanted was justice. Yesterday, after
more than a year of official stonewalling, his relatives won a 'historic'
ruling to force t! he MoD to hold an independent inquiry. Will the truth
now be known?...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8178&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8178


Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Wednesday, 15 December 2004.
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member editorial board The
Free Arab Voice.
US occupation forces issued strong warnings to members of their puppet
so-called "Iraqi national guard" and the puppet police, demanding that they
get ready to enter al-Fallujah. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent
reported eyewitnesses as saying that puppet Iraqi security forces had
refused to respond to US requests, forcing them to send an emissary to S!
abir al-Jannabi the former commander of the al-Fallujah local police...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8180&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8180


THE USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM (DU) WEAPONS
www.albasrah.net
The US and UK troops in the attacks on Iraq that started on 21 March 2003
used DU weapons during the battles at various places in Iraq. The truth of
the use of DU weapons by US troop was verified and admitted by Brigadier
General Brooks in a press briefing on 26 March of the same year when he
said, "DU bombs had been used"...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8173&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8173


The Oppressive Occupier?
Steven Vincent, National Review Online
... Anticipating a flood of anti-American invective in this ancient
smugglers den thirty-five miles west of Baghdad, I identified myself as a
Yugoslavian journalist, gambling on Iraqi ignorance of southeast Europe to
see the deception through (...) Another crowd gathered, everyone eager to
tell the inquisitive Yugoslav why they despise the U.S.: no electricity, no
gas; GIs break into houses, arrest people, and "touch" women. Life was
better under Sad! dam. I asked nine small boys gawking at me if the former
dictator was a "good man." All nine said yes...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8171&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8171


Iraq Insurgency Growing 'More Effective'-US General
Reuters
A bold, innovative insurgency has become more effective against U.S. supply
lines in Iraq and explosive attacks have slowed military operations there,
a senior American general has said. "They have had a growing understanding
that where they can affect us is in the logistics flow," Air Force Lt. Gen.
Lance Smith, deputy chief of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8169&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8169


Army Guard count wrong
Comparison of Iraq death tolls is inaccurate
USA Today
The Army National Guard yesterday said it had given USA TODAY an inaccurate
count of the total number of Guard troops in Iraq since the beginning of
the war in March 2003, but it still could not provide a precise count. USA
TODAY used the inaccurate Guard numbers to construct an analysis that
showed part-time troops from the Army National Guard were more likely to
die in Iraq than their counterparts in the active-duty Army...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8166&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8166


We are losing the Iraq War militarily: Part One
Kevin Thomson
...No, Iraq is unlike Vietnam. It is much worse than Vietnam militarily.
During the Vietnam War, American facilities in the capital of Saigon were
usually safe and rarely attacked. In contrast, the Green Zone in Baghdad,
the symbol of American occupation, is mortared almost daily. Along the
6-mile-long highway from Baghdad International Airport to the Green Zone,
numerous military personnel and civilian contractors were killed or
wounded. The Green Zon! e is like a prison for Americans and Iraqi puppets,
hiding behind layers of blast walls and other fortifications...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8165&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8165


Balance in the Service of Falsehood
The Media's Failure to Challenge Official Deception Over Iraq was the
Product of a Journalism with Built-in Bias
David Edwards and David Cromwell, The Guardian
...To his credit, George Monbiot argued on these pages earlier this year
that "the falsehoods reproduced by the media before the invasion of Iraq
were massive and consequential: it is hard to see how Britain could have
gone to war if the press had done its job." But an examination of this
failure, and i! ts roots in a mass media with a long history of protecting
and promoting the powerful, is conspicuous by its absence...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8162&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8162


Thousands of Iraqis Have No Votes
Samir Haddad, IOL Correspondent
Tens, and may be hundreds of thousands, of Iraqi voters will most likely be
unable to cast their ballots in the general elections slated for January
30, 2005, either for being homeless or detained by the US-led forces. Over
300.000 Iraqis, mostly Sunnis, have been forced to leave their homes in
Fallujah, west of Baghdad, due to the continuous shelling that climaxed in
a blistering air and ground sweep by US and Iraqi forces in November...


<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8163&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8163


U.S. Marines Engaged in Mock Executions of Iraqi Juveniles and Other Forms
of Abuse, Documents Obtained by ACLU Reveal
ACLU
U.S. Navy documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union
reveal that abuse and even torture of detainees by U.S. Marines in Iraq was
widespread. One Navy criminal investigator sent an e-mail in June 2004
describing his Iraq caseload "exploding" with "high visibility cases." "Day
after day, new stories of torture are coming to light, and we need to know
how these abuses were a! llowed to happen," said ACLU Executive Director
Anthony D. Romero. "This kind of widespread abuse could not have taken
place without a leadership failure of the highest order"...

<http://uruknet.info?s1=1&p=8161&s2=17>Read the full article / Leggi
l'articolo completo: www.uruknet.info?p=8161




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information concerning occupied Iraq: news, analysis, documents and texts
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