"Down there" in the dark, dark, Chamber...
Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman BluesSome of you may have noticed, I have not written about Torture per se. I simply could not. I have said it before and will repeat it again. I am someone who needs to digest things and find that inner place of partial acceptance. And Torture is that thing where I have not managed to find that inner place, to digest. It is simply indigestible...No use trying to force acceptance. I will NEVER accept it. For the sake of this post, I have watched tens of videos of Abu Ghraib torture. And this has been going on for two weeks already. And every single time, the emotion is so strong, it paralyzes me... I had seen them in the past and I have even met a couple of "survivors" and I was unable to conjure up that necessary "lieu" of objective detachment so I can write about it. Even today, I am not capable of it. So what you will be getting in the following lines is graphic and crude. As graphic and as crude as the reality of Abu Ghraib brought about by your own hands. I have deliberately opted not to post any images from Abu Ghraib. Not because I care about your sensitivities. I, in fact, don't give a fuck about them. But because I respect the bodies of those who were tortured. And being true to them, I have not posted pictures of their naked bodies parading in front of you. Their bodies are as sacred as the land that gave birth to me...
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IRAQ: 4.5 million children undernourished
IRINA part from dodging bombs and bullets in their schools and neighbourhoods, children in Iraq are suffering from worryingly high levels of malnourishment, according to specialists. Poverty and insecurity are said to be the main causes of the children’s deteriorating diets (...) "We are displaced and have to change our place [because of spreading sectarian violence] every month, making it difficult for us to get our food rations. As a result, our children are constantly ill and are malnourished because we don’t have enough money to afford good food," said Samira Abdel-Kareem, a mother-of-three who was forced to flee her Yarmouk neighbourhood of Baghdad to the outskirts of the city. "I lost a child three months ago because of malnutrition. He was only two years old. I don’t want to lose my other three children and hope someone can help us overcome this problem," she added. According to the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF), about one in 10 children under five in Iraq are underweight and one in five are short for their age. This means that some 4.5 million children in the country are under-nourished...
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If We Just Don't Call It Colonial Exploitation...
Arthur Silber, Once Upon a Time...I could alternatively title this, "The Lies That Never End." Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, writes in the Washington Post: Under the national hydrocarbon law approved this week by Iraq's Council of Ministers, oil will serve as a vehicle to unify Iraq and will give all Iraqis a shared stake in their country's future. This is a significant achievement for Iraqis' national reconciliation. It demonstrates that the leaders of Iraq's principal communities can pull together to peacefully resolve difficult issues of national importance (...) The lies in this piece are beyond counting...
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Progressive Principles
Israel and the Duty to Obey Conscience
Kim Petersen, www.dissidentvoice.org... Progressivism is a movement that incorporates various -- generally leftist -- ideologies and activism under one umbrella. The cornerstone of progressivism is the principles that underlie it. Speaking out against evil can carry a price. People who side with evil, intentionally or unwittingly, tend to have minimal argumentation in defense of their position and instead seek to defame others through slurs and innuendo. Zionists typically engage in the seemly ad hominem tactic of labeling critics of Israel as being anti-semitic, hatemongers, and anti-Israel. At one discussion forum a participant stated, "I’d have a hard time finding a current nation that she wouldn’t call ethnically cleansed." This was a silly comment as Iceland, Korea, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark, etc. clearly demonstrate. Even if all countries were ethnically cleansed, that still wouldn’t legitimate the nefarious act. Another participant maintains "the right of the State of Israel to exist even within its pre-1967 borders." Some take exception to any criticism of Israel or questioning of its legitimacy. I have previously described Israel as "a terrorist entity spawned in hatred and disregard of other humans." Is not the uprooting of almost 800,000 people and the destruction of 531 villages terrorism? Can terrorism be an act of love? Can it be a demonstration of compassion for other humans?..
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Iraq's Mandaeans 'face extinction'
Angus Crawford, BBC NewsThe Sabian Mandaeans - one of the oldest religious groups in the world - are facing extinction, according to its leaders. They claim that Islamic extremists in Iraq are trying to wipe them out through forced conversions, rape and murder. The Mandaeans are pacifists, followers of Adam, Noah and John the Baptist. They have lived in what is now Iraq since before Islam and Christianity. More than 80% have been forced to flee the country and now live as refugees in Syria and Jordan. Even there they do not feel safe - but they say western governments are unwilling to take them in. There are thought to be fewer than 70,000 of the Sabian Mandaeans spread across the world - only 5,000 are left in Iraq...
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Life Inside the Entombment Wall
William A. Cook, MWCNewsTerrorists struck once again in Jenin this past week killing four, wounding twenty-eight civilians, including two journalists and four children and women. Fifty five civilians were kid napped including six children. Three buildings used for agriculture were destroyed and 199 donums of agricultural land confiscated. Other attacks occurred in Far’oun village where six homes were demolished that stood too close to the Wall. Terrorists beat civilians in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah who were protesting the demolitions and the extension of the Wall. The attacks continue, unreported in the United States since they are carried out by our allies, the Israeli Defense Forces...
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Decadence, Waste, Corruption in the New American Empire
America's "dance of the billions"
Prof. Rodrigue Tremblay, Global Research...It is reasonable to think that some of this cash served to buy the famous December 15, 2005 Iraqi elections heralded by the Bush-Cheney regime as a model of democracy for the Middle East. If the $12 billion unaccounted for had been spread equally among 12 million eligible Iraqi voters, each one of them in that impoverished country would have received $1,000 in freshly minted $100 dollar bills. We have to remember that the December 15, 2005 election handed over power, until 2009, to a coalition of fanatical fundamentalist and theocratic Shiite parties backed by Iran, and led by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Of course, the first and greatest cost of the Iraq War is the human cost and the destruction of a country by immoral foreign invaders. But the money corruption comes a close second. In peaceful times, corruption is a constant menace in a democracy. In times of war, if no special steps are taken, it becomes endemic...
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Solidarity Chat Room
Iraq Solidarity News (Al-Thawra)The Iraq Solidarity Campaign’s Chat Room, aims to provide both members and the wider community an opportunity to discuss the important and controversial issues which effect Iraq and the wider Middle East, in an interactive dialogue through the use of the MSN discussion. The goal is to reveal the wider issues and complexities involved with the Iraqi conflict, with the effort of also drawing on the personal experiences. The aim is to provide a unique opportunity for personal and direct contact, with those living and working on issues in the heart of a region, which is the focus of international interest. We hope the Chat Room will allow participants to gain a valuable insight into what is actually happening...
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Talabani's house catches fire in Baghdad
KUNAIraqi "President" Jalal Talabani's house in Baghdad caught fire Sunday, Iraqi security source said. The security source did not give details on the incident nor the cause of fire, adding that ambulances and civil defense people rushed to the scene. Last month, Talabani suffered a health setback but his condition was stable, and later improved when he was sent immediately to hospital in the Jordanian capital...
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GI Special 5C4: Butchers Demand Thousands More - March 4, 2007
Thomas F. BartonPresident Bush's planned escalation of U.S. forces in Iraq will require as many as 28,500 troops, Pentagon officials told a Senate committee Thursday. England also told the Senate Budget Committee that it will be clear within months whether the so-called surge in forces has succeeded in helping secure Iraq. In January, Bush said he would send 21,500 more combat troops to Iraq. [Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon] England said 6,000 to 7,000 support troops will be needed to back up the larger combat force...
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Palestinians in Gaza are Deprived of a Vital Food Source
Rami Almeghari, Al-Jazeerah.infoSince the abduction by Palestinian resistance groups of an Israeli soldier Gila’d Shalit in June25, 2006, the Israeli gun ships have prevented Palestinians from fishing off the coast. This has severely affected both fishermen and food security for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Gaza fishing is a source of living for thirty thousand people, but since last June, the Israeli naval forces have harassed Palestinian fishing boats that dare leave the dock. In the main fishing site of Gaza city, called Almina, there are dozens of fishermen, trying to feed their children under harsh economic conditions. Abdurrahman Abu Riyala approached us speaking out about his daily suffering...
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Sy Hersh: Neolib Disinfo Operative?
Kurt Nimmo, Another Day in the EmpireLast week, New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh, supposedly citing insider sources, told us the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia are working together to fan the flames of sectarian violence in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran by unleashing reactionary Sunni terrorists to go up against the Shi’a, namely Hezbollah (...) if we are to believe Hersh, spreading "strife between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims" is precisely what the Saudis, working with Israel and the United States, is interested in accomplishing. Andrew Sullivan, writing for the Atlantic Online, believes all of this is "very confusing" and not "so long ago, we were told that Cheney favored a pro-Shiite solution in Iraq and the region. Now, we’re told he’s decided to vest American interests and young American lives into supporting the Sunni side of a growing regional war, even if that means that the Saudis are funding terror groups that have close ties to al Qaeda. Blowback, anyone? I have no idea if Hersh is reporting the truth…" As Dennis Hans, writing for Scoop, noted back in 2003 when Hersh was pedaling asides on the Niger-uranium story, the esteemed journalist would do us all a favor if he bought "a new pair of reading glasses" and spent the time required to vet "dubious sources who tell stories that they think their listener would love to hear," or rather stories designed to mix things up and create confusion, as Sullivan notes above...
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GI Special 5C3: "Soldiers Deriding Our Government" - March 3, 2007
Thomas F. BartonLetters To The Editor, Army Times, 3.5.07: I took leave over the holidays and passed through Chicago, Atlanta and Raleigh, N.C. During my travels, I was struck by the lack of uniform and military bearing on the part of my fellow soldiers. Marines, airmen and sailors looked crisp while traveling in uniform, maintained military bearing at all times and represented their services well. Traveling soldiers, however, looked like third-world refugees. I saw numerous examples of poor uniform discipline and poor conduct: drinking in uniform, whooping and hollering in a drunken manner at TVs tuned to football games, engaging in loud conversations deriding our government and the Army...
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Afghan journalists say U.S. soldiers deleted photos, video after bomb attack and shootings
"Delete them, or we will delete you,"
Associated PressAfghan journalists covering the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack and shooting in eastern Afghanistan Sunday said U.S. troops deleted their photos and video and warned them not to publish or air any images of U.S. troops or a car where three Afghans were shot to death. Afghan witnesses and gunshot victims said U.S. forces fired on civilians in cars and on foot along at least a six-mile stretch of road in Nangarhar province following a suicide attack against the Marine convoy. The U.S. military said militants also fired on American forces during the attack (...) "The same soldier who took my camera came again and deleted my photos," Gul said. "The soldier was very angry ... I told him, 'They gave us permission,' but he didn't listen." Khanwali Kamran, a reporter for the Afghan channel Ariana Television, was in a small group of journalists working alongside Gul. Kamran said the American soldiers also deleted his footage. "They warned me that if it is aired ... then, 'You will face problems,"' Kamran said. Taqiullah Taqi, a reporter for Afghanistan's largest television station, Tolo TV, said Americans were using abusive language. "According to the translator, they said, 'Delete them, or we will delete you,"' Taqi said.
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Iraq: Silence of the Sadrists
So far the Mahdi Army is lying low. But for how long?
Rod Nordland, Newsweek...The threat of American action certainly had something to do with Sadr's silence, too. Even before Feb. 14, U.S. and Iraqi troops had begun targeting top and middle-level officials in Sadr's organization, arresting several key ones and killing at least two who resisted. Even more critical may have been the intervention of Shia elders. Alarmed at the U.S. crackdown, Sadr had an 11 p.m. meeting with Sistani about a month ago, according to an aide to the grand ayatollah, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with practice in the cleric's office. "He asked the sayyid what he should do about the attacks against him, and [Sistani] told him, 'You have two options: bear the consequences, on you and Shias in general, or withdraw into a corner'." The corner Sadr chose was likely somewhere in Iran. U.S. and Iraqi officials say he left for Iran two weeks ago. "As far as I know, he's still there," says Sami al-Askari, an adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. "He's a secretive man." Both Tehran and Sadr's spokesmen vehemently deny he's hiding in Iran, but it's notable that he has been absent from his usual Friday sermons at the Kufah mosque for three weeks now, and hasn't appeared elsewhere in public. A former Mahdi Army commander in Baghdad, Abu Hazim, says, "Sadr is following a strategy called 'bending before the wind' because he's lost part of his control over the Mahdi Army"...
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Maliki to punish Iraqi army members who raided the police compound in Basra
Roads to IraqAfter the media reported that the British occupation Army together with the so called Iraqi army raided the National Iraqi Intelligence Agency compound in Basra and saved 37 prisoners: We believe there were about 30 people found imprisoned in the building and there was evidence of torture. News came right now that Maliki condemned the raid, called it illegal and irresponsible and ordered to punish the people who participated in the raid...
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Basra raid finds dozens detained by Iraq spy unit
By Kirk SempleIraqi special forces and British troops stormed the offices of an Iraqi government intelligence agency in the southern city of Basra on Sunday, and British officials said they discovered about 30 prisoners, some showing signs of torture. The raid appeared to catch Iraq's central government by surprise and raised new questions about the rule of law in the Shiite-dominated south, where less than two weeks ago Britain announced plans for a significant reduction in its forces because of improved stability...
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US troops kill Afghan civilians
Aljazeera.netUS troops have killed 16 Afghan civilians after they opened fire following a car bomb attack on their convoy, US military officials have admitted. At least 24 civilians were also wounded in the incident in the eastern province of Nangarhar. A suicide bomber in a minivan packed with explosives rammed the convoy and armed men opened fire from different points in a "complex" attack, US officials said. But Afghans at the scene say US troops opened fire on them indiscriminately. There were no reports of casualties among US soldiers. Thousands of Afghans protested at the scene of the killings, blocking the main road between the Afghan capital, Kabul, and the Pakistan border and throwing rocks at police. Many chanted: "Death to America! Death to Karzai!" in a reference to the Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president...
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DAILY WAR NEWS FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2007
Today in IraqProminent journalist Mohan al-Zaher killed near his home in western Baghdad. Iraqi Journalists Syndicate says he was killed resisting a kidnapping. al-Zaher has written columns critical of the Iraqi government and the U.S. occupation. Hundreds of U.S. troops enter Sadr City, seal off streets, conduct house-to-house searches. They meet no resistance and apparently find nothing. British military says that coalition troops raided the local headquarters of the Iraqi interior ministry's domestic intelligence agency, and freed 37 prisoners. British say they found evidence of torture and links to bomb attacks. Iraqi police say that U.S., rather than British troops accompanied Iraqis in carrying out the raid...
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Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Saturday, 3 March 2007.
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab VoiceIn a dispatch posted at 3:31pm Makkah time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US aircraft killed an Iraqi family of six in an air raid on a home west of Hit at dawn on Saturday. The Hit correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam met with the stricken family’s neighbors, five of whom had also been wounded – three of those severely – in the American attack, despite the fact that they live some 200 meters from the targeted house. The neighbors told Mafkarat al-Islam that the US plane fired a rocket at the home at 5am Saturday, after the Iraqi Resistance had fired four mortar shells at the US base not far from the house. The neighbors said that the American rocket totally demolished the home. Shaykh Ahmad al-Hitawi who supervised the funeral of the six martyrs – Ibrahim al-Jabawi, his 70-year-old mother, his wife, and their three children – said that the power of the rocket explosion reduced the family to nothing but a pile of cooked flesh...
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How Barack Obama learned to love Israel
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic IntifadaI first met Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama almost ten years ago when, as my representative in the Illinois state senate, he came to speak at the University of Chicago. He impressed me as progressive, intelligent and charismatic. I distinctly remember thinking 'if only a man of this calibre could become president one day.' On Friday Obama gave a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Chicago. It had been much anticipated in American Jewish political circles which buzzed about his intensive efforts to woo wealthy pro-Israel campaign donors who up to now have generally leaned towards his main rival Senator Hillary Clinton...
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www.uruknet.info: a site gathering daily information concerning occupied Iraq:
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