Sunday, 26 February, 2006
What you can do
Demonstration against the occupation in Baghdad’s Sad’r city February 22, 2006. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem
I
must say that the independent media have done a damn good job in
exposing the sham that is the 'civil war' in Iraq. However, before we
get all righteous, the corporate/state media still need to be called to
task over their distorted and misleading coverage, replete with every
stereotype; ethnic, religious, 'tribal', et al, as well their predictable 'I told you so' bullshit and predictions of doom.
Yet the reality is, that if the agent provocateurs
are allowed to continue in their murderous assault on the good people
of Iraq on behalf of their USUK paymasters, the situation could well
reach the proverbial 'point of no return'.
Therefore,
I suggest readers take it upon themselves to bombard the MSM with
stories, links, eyewitness accounts etc of what really went down at the
Askariyah shrine in Samarra.
How much longer are we to stand by, full of anger and outrage at the propaganda campaign being waged on our consciousness?
To
this end, I have compiled a list of links to accounts and I have also
included a list of email addresses to which you can forward or write
your own objections at the end of the newsletter.
It’s all in the timing
25/2/06
Many
commentators on the left have pointed to the 'fortuitous' timing of the
blast coming as it did hot on the heels of the videos of the beatings
of Iraqi youth by British troops and more horrific images of the
treatment of detainees in Abu Ghraib by US forces. As night follows
day, every time there is a 'PR disaster' for the occupiers, some
diversion is engineered to divert us from the crisis that has become
the 'liberation' of Iraq.
Undoubtedly,
the bombing bears all the hallmarks of a so-called black-ops, after all
the entire area surrounding the mosque was supposedly under occupation
control in a 'free-fire' zone, so how come a handful of men were able
to penetrate a cordon of heavily armed occupation forces?
Predicably,
Western pundits are now predicting all-out 'civil war' between Sunni
and Shiite but then they started doing that back in 2003, shortly after
the disastrous invasion and occupation. But what does the puppet
government stand to gain from triggering a civil war? Nothing:
everything points to Western, that is, USUK involvement in an effort to
Balkanise the country, which as many have pointed out, has been
intrinsic to USUK strategic doctrine in Iraq for the past six years.
"This
is a terrorist act that is aimed to fan a sectarian strife among
Iraqis", said Sheikh Ahmed Daye, member of the Sunni Association of
Muslim Scholars. The Occupation-appointed president Jalal Talabani
said: "We are facing a major conspiracy that is targeting Iraq's unity.
We should all stand hand in hand to prevent the danger of a civil war".
Others in the puppet government have pointed the finger at the U.S.
Ambassador in Baghdad for inciting the violence and for interfering in
Iraqi political and domestic affairs. Thousands of ordinary Iraqis took
to the streets throughout Iraq denouncing the U.S. and Israel.
Divide
and rule, a tactic that has been used for centuries especially by
British colonialism and every act of the occupiers since March 2003
points to this as the central strategy of the USUK.
"[W]e
have widespread evidence that the outside forces are attempting to
instigate a civil war here and Iraqis are conscious of that and have
made determined effort not to respond to it" – Dr. Saad Jawad, a
political scientist at Baghdad University.
Most
tellingly, the desecration of the mosque has had the opposite effect
than the one intended; far from dividing Sunni and Shiite, it has in
fact united them, once more revealing just how out of touch the
occupiers are with the Iraqi people.
The
Western media has, of course, played its part in spreading the myth of
'sectarian violence' with gory headlines such as the one in the Independent
on 23/2/06, "The day hell was unleashed". The body of story bylined to
Patrick Cockburn, contained the usual deceits, with talk of a "lethal
step closer to disintegration and civil war" followed by similar omens
that fit the Western pre-conceptions of a society that according to
Cockburn "has always been riven by sectarian divisions." An amazingly
inaccurate statement when you consider that modern Iraq was created by
British colonialism in the 1920s and set up along predictable 'ethnic
and religious' lines.
And
of course, the piece contains the predictable statements about the role
of Iran in fomenting the strife with reference to meddling by the
Iranian government, who are, according to Cockburn (and/or his
sub-editor) the lynchpin of any Shia reaction to the bombing. Great
minds think alike eh.
Entirely
missing from the article is any reference to the presence of occupation
forces as the primary cause of the breakdown of order from day one of
the occupation. But it's in the Independent's editorial where the ideological methodology that binds the corporate media to the capitalist state is spelled out for us,
…the
terrible events of yesterday served only to highlight the utter
impotence of outsiders [sic] (even British cabinet ministers) to save
Iraqis from themselves.
And
if this statement is not enough, even hardened unpackers of the
capitalist press to swallow, the following makes even more outrageous
reading
There
might have been a time when strings [sic] tugged sharply by the
occupiers could have had some effect …. With ever fewer vulnerable
foreign civilians to target, the insurgents have turned on other Iraqis.
Which planet do the editors of the Independent live on I wonder? The same editorial, in its usual sanctimonious way continues
Not
for the first time, we are contemplating the all too predictable
consequences of a reckless invasion and the hopelessly mismanaged
occupation that followed.
So as far as the Independent is concerned, the deaths of over 100,000 Iraqis is merely the result of recklessness and bad management style!
See also:
Protests Planned Against Media War Coverage
Danny Schechter
…America’s largest anti-war coalition, United For Peace and Justice, is
broadening its anti-war protest to include targeting a US media system
that has largely substituted jingoism for journalism and backed the war
– often in the name of supporting the troops. UFPJ Coordinator Leslie
Cagan announced that her organization is partnering with
MediaChannel.org and other media groups to organize a Media Day of War
Coverage Protest on March 21, 2006. It takes part during a week of
organizing and activism marking the third anniversary of the war. Plans
are also underway for forums and film screenings on March 20th…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=20989
Eyewitness Accounts
Witness 1:
I live in a district very near to the mosque and I will tell you exactly what I saw hours before the bombing.
There
is a daily curfew in our city (Samarra) starts from 8,00 in the evening
until 6,00 in the morning, in the night before the bombing and just
when it’s getting dark there was unusual activities by the ING in the
area around the mosque, I heard their cars the whole night until next
day in the morning.
The Mosque Guards testimony says: Four people with ING uniforms blind folded them and set the bombs.
The
witness continues, so ask I you how could the terrorists enter the area
which is usually surrounded by the ING and enter the mosque then runway
without being got by the police?.
www.iraqirabita.org/index.php?do=article&id=3065
Witness 2:
Witness
2 gives more detailed information and the Americans connection to the
events before the bombing, so I made it as timeline of the events.
My
name is Muhammad Al-Samarrai, I own an internet-cafe near the mosque, I
sleep in my shop because I am worry about my computers from thieves.
8,30 (evening) joint forces of Iraqi ING and Americans asked me to stay in the shop and don’t leave the area.
9,00 (evening) they left the area.
11,00 (evening) they came back and started to patrol the area until the morning.
6,00 (next day morning) ING leave the area .
6,30 Americans leave the area .
6,40 first explosion.
6,41 second explosion.
He
confirmed again that the curfew starts at 8,00 (evening) until next day
6,00 (morning), INGs and the Americans will surround and patrol the
city all that time.
www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=20924&s2=24
Minister Says Iraq Shrine Bombing Was Specialist Job:
Took 12 Hours To Plant Explosives
2/24/2006 Agence France Presse, BAGHDAD
The
bombing of a revered Shiite shrine which sparked a wave of violence in
Iraq was the work of specialists, Construction Minister Jassem Mohammed
Jaafar said Friday, adding that the placing of the explosives must have
taken at least 12 hours.
"According
to initial reports, the bombing was technically well conceived and
could only have been carried out by specialists," the minister told
Iraqia state television.
Jaafar,
who toured the devastated thousand-year-old shrine on Thursday a day
after the bombing which brought down its golden dome, said "holes were
dug into the mausoleum’s four main pillars and packed with explosives."
"Then
the charges were connected together and linked to another charge placed
just under the dome. The wires were then linked to a detonator
which was triggered at a distance," the minister added.
To drill into the pillars would have taken at least four hours per pillar, he also estimated.
Some links to articles
Exit without a strategy Sami Ramadani 24/2/06
Occupation and Sectarianism by Ghali Hassan 23/2/06
Civil War in Iraq: Who are the Winners and Who are the Losers by Yamin Zakaria 23/2/06
Mosque Outrage Also Brings Solidarity Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed 25/2/06
Update: Samarra Catastrophe Salam Adil
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=21004
CNN Pundit: Mosque Bombing Shows Bush Strategy Is Working In Iraq
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=2099
The Caricatures in Middle East Politics James Petras and Robin Eastman-Abaya – peacepalestine
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=20992
Iraq shrine bombing was specialist job: minister AFP
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=20998
Samarra Felicity Arbuthnot
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=21001
The neo-con plan for Iraq civil war
valleycat, Daily Kos
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=20975
Is western media complicit in the murder of Iraqis? Truth About Iraqis
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=20974
Mission Accomplished in Iraq! an iraqi tear
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=20986
This
is by now means a complete list, I know there are some that I've
missed, so all who have contributed and who are not included here,
apologies all round.
Some Media Contacts
Helen Boaden
Email: HelenBoaden.Complaints@bbc.co.uk
Write to Paul Reynolds
Email: Paul.Reynolds-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
Write to Jeremy Bowen
Email: jeremy.bowen@bbc.co.uk
Nicholas Witchell
Email: nicholas.witchell@bbc.co.uk
Mary Riddell
Email: mary.riddell@observer.co.uk
Write to Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger
Email: alan.rusbridger@guardian.co.uk
Write to the Guardian’s Timothy Garton Ash
Email: tga@timothygartonash.com
Write to the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee
Email: polly.toynbee@guardian.co.uk
Write to the Times’ Gerard Baker
Email: gerard.baker@thetimes.co.uk
Write to Simon Kelner, editor of the Independent:
Email: s.kelner@independent.co.uk
Write to Leonard Doyle, foreign editor of the Independent:
Email: l.doyle@independent.co.uk
Write to Bruce Anderson
Email: b.anderson@independent.co.uk
news@itv.com
Alex.Thomson@itn.co.uk
JonSnow@itn.co.uk