- George W. Bush eint die Welt - in Angst
Mehrheit der Bevölkerung sieht in US-Präsidenten
Gefahr für globalen Frieden
- Bagdad: Wahlen und die Angst
- Soldatenfamilien gegen Irak-Krieg
Großbritannien: Netzwerk fordert von Premier Blair
Rechenschaft für Opfer. Einberufung verweigert
- Iran auf «Akt der Aggression» vorbereitet
- Rumsfeld sagt Teilnahme an Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz ab
- Iraq - Falluja - The Fall and Fall Out - 15 min 00 sec
[10 January 2005]
Battle in Fallujah goes on
http://www.journeyman.tv/download.php?id=10477
- Blood is Precious
Iraqis and Americans meet to share grief
and committment to justice
- Bizarro Election
- Car Bombs
- Hersh Adds Credibility to Speculation Margaret Hassan
was the Victim of a Counterinsurgency Operation
- Fear and Voting in Baghdad
- A question for activists
Supporting Iraq's right to resist occupation
- The Face of War
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album32
- Iraqi Resistance Report
for events of Thursday, 20 January 2004
- Crisis Pictures
http://crisispictures.org/
George W. Bush eint die Welt - in Angst
Mehrheit der Bevölkerung sieht in US-Präsidenten
Gefahr für globalen Frieden
Rüdiger Göbel
George W. Bush, der am Donnerstag in Washington zum zweiten Mal
seine Hand auf die Familienbibel legte, den Amtseid sprach und
nun für weitere vier Jahre im Weißen Haus residiert, hat die Welt
geeint wie kein US-Präsident vor ihm. Menschen rund um den Globus
sind der Meinung, die Wiederwahl des Kriegspräsidenten habe die
Welt gefährlicher gemacht. Dies geht aus einer Umfrage des britischen
Nachrichtensenders BBC in 21 Ländern hervor. Rund 60
Prozent der fast 22.000 Befragten befürchten negative Auswirkungen
auf Frieden und Sicherheit in der Welt. In Deutschland gehen 77
Prozent der Befragten davon aus, daß »Bush II« nichts Gutes bringen
wird. In Frankreich teilten 75 Prozent diese Meinung, in Großbritannien,
immerhin wichtigster Bush-Verbündeter in Europa, 64 Prozent.
Am klarsten sieht offensichtlich der EU-Aspirant Türkei: 82 Prozent
der dort Befragten sprachen sich gegen Bush aus. Wen wundert's? -
Nach dem Irak droht mit den jüngsten Angriffsdrohungen gegen Iran
das zweite Nachbarland des NATO-Mitgliedstaates in Brand gesetzt
zu werden. Auch in den lateinamerikanischen Ländern, die Washington
als eine Art Hinterhof betrachtet, herrscht Angst vor Bush: 79
Prozent der Argentinier und 78 Prozent der Brasilianer sorgen sich
um den Weltfrieden. Anders ticken die Uhren einzig im erzkatholischen
Polen, in der aufstrebenden Wirtschaftsmacht Indien und auf den
Philippinen. Dort erhält Bush mit jeweils gut 60 Prozent mehrheitlich
Zustimmung.
Obwohl er die Mehrheit der Wähler hinter sich bringen konnte, findet
Bush in der eigenen Bevölkerung vor allem wegen des Irak-Desasters
immer weniger Unterstützung, berichtete die Los Angeles Times. Nur
noch 39 Prozent der Amerikaner glauben, daß es die Situation im Irak
wert sei, den Krieg noch weiter fortzusetzen.
Bush selbst feiert sich bis Sonntag noch in einer »Celebration of
Freedom«. Freiheit eine das Land, gebe der Welt Hoffnung »und wird
uns in eine Zukunft des Friedens führen«, sagte Bush am Vorabend
seiner zweiten Amtszeit. Er sei bereit und begierig, die vor ihm
liegenden Aufgaben anzupacken. In weiten Teilen der Welt wird dies
richtigerweise als Drohung verstanden.
junge Welt vom 21.01.2005
http://www.jungewelt.de/2005/01-21/004.php
Bagdad: Wahlen und die Angst
von Robert Fisk
Seattle Post Intelligencer / ZNet 19.01.2005
In der Welt des Journalismus regiert das Klischee. In diesem Falle
allerdings stimmt das Klischee, das einem als erstes in den Sinn
kommt - Bagdad ist wirklich eine Stadt der Angst. Die Iraker fürchten
sich, die Männer der Milizen, die amerikanischen Soldaten, die
Journalisten, alle fürchten sich. Der 30. Januar rückt näher - jener
Tag, an dem die Segnungen der Demokratie auf uns niederregnen sollen.
Er naht mit der Sicherheit und Geschwindigkeit eines 'Doomsday'.
Auf dem jüngsten Sarkawi-Video ist die Exekution von 6 irakischen
Polizisten zu sehen. Sie schießen einem nach dem andern in den
Hinterkopf. Einer lebt noch und stellt sich tot. Ein Bewaffneter
nähert sich ihm von hinten und zerschießt ihm den Kopf. Es sind
diese Bilder, die alle verfolgen. Dienstagmorgen an der al-HurriyaKreuzung
überholen mich vier Laster mit (irakischen) nationalen
Sicherheitskräften - laut Präsident Bush die künftigen Retter des
Irak. Ihre Gewehre wirken wie Stachelschweinborsten - gegen sämtliche
Verkehrsteilnehmer und alle Irakis auf dem Bürgersteig gerichtet.
Die irakische Armee richtet ihre Waffen gegen die eigenen Landsleute.
Alle tragen Masken - schwarze Kapuzen, Skimasken oder Palästinensert
ücher. Zu sehen sind nur die Sehschlitze und ein verängstigtes
Augenpaar. Genau so eine Straßenszene erlebte ich letzten Sommer
in Mahmoudiya - südlich von Bagdad - kurz bevor die Stadt endgültig
kollabierte und an die Aufständischen fiel. Nun beobachte ich diese
Szenen also hier in der Hauptstadt.
Der Kamal-Jumblatt-Platz liegt am Tigris. Zwei amerikanische HumveeFahrzeuge
nähern sich dem Kreisverkehr. Die Maschinengewehrschützen
in den Humvees brüllen die Autofahrer an: Abstand halten! An jedem
der Fahrzeuge hängt hinten ein großes Schild auf Arabisch: "Verboten.
Überholen Sie den Konvoi nicht. Halten Sie 50 Meter Abstand." Die
nachfolgenden Autos gehorchen - wissen sie doch genau, was "tödliche
Gewalt" (deadly force) bedeutet, jene beiden Worte, die auf den
Schildern der amerikanischen Checkpoints prangen. Doch dann geraten
die beiden Humvees mitten in den Verkehrsstau. Die Schützen brüllen
uns an, legt den Rückwärtsgang ein. Ein Taxi übersieht die USSoldaten
und blockiert ihren Weg. Der Amerikaner im vorderen Fahrzeug
schleudert eine volle Plastikflasche Wasser auf das Taxidach. Der
Taxifahrer weicht auf das Grasrondell aus. Einem Laster ergeht es
nicht viel anders. "Zurück", schreit der hintere Schütze und starrt
uns durch seine Brillengläser an. Verzweifelt versuchen wir, mitten
im Stau zu wenden.
Natürlich, die Russen damals in Kabul hätten Handgranaten geworfen.
Die verängstigten "Befreier" Bagdads allerdings werfen mit Plastikflaschen
auf Iraker, die am 30. Januar in den Genuß der US-verordneten
Demokratie kommen sollen. Wer mir diese seltsame Szene nicht abnimmt:
auf der Windschutzscheibe des hinteren Humvees stand "Specialist
Carrol". Ich bin sicher, dieser Spezialist betrachtet jeden von uns
als potentiellen Selbstmordattentäter - einen Killer auf vier Rädern.
Wer wollte es Carrol verübeln? Kurz zuvor war ein Bombenattentäter
vor die Polizeistation in Tikrit gefahren - das liegt nördlich von
Bagdad -, und hatte sich und mindestens 6 Polizisten in den Tod
gesprengt.
Wir biegen um die Ecke, und ich erkenne den Grund für den Verkehrsstau:
irakische Cops im Gemenge mit hunderten Autofahrern. Die Fahrer
versuchen verzweifelt, an Benzin zu kommen. Sie weigern sich, noch
länger in der Schlange für etwas anzustehen, das der Irak doch im
Überfluß hat: Benzin. Ich halte am Ramaya-Restaurant, um zu Mittag
zu essen - geschlossen. Um das Lokal herum wird gerade ein zwanzigst
öckiger Sicherheitswall hochgezogen. Also fahre ich auf eine Pizza
ins Rif und klimpere ein wenig auf dem Klavier - während meine Augen
den Eingang nach Leuten absuchen, die ich nicht sehen will. Die
Kellner sind nervös - und sehr froh, daß sie mir die Pizza schon
nach 10 Minuten servieren können. Ich bin der einzige Gast im Lokal.
Sie sind wie freundliche Kaninchen, die die Straße im Auge behalten.
Sie warten auf DAS AUTO.
Ich telefoniere mit einem irakischen Freund, der zu Saddam Husseins
Zeiten ein Literaturmagazin herausgab. "Sie wollen, daß ich wählen
gehe, aber beschützen können sie mich nicht", sagt er. "Vielleicht
kommt kein Selbstmordattentäter in das Wahllokal. Aber man wird
mich beobachten. Was, wenn man mir drei Tage später eine Handgranate
in den Hausflur wirft? Die Amerikaner werden sagen, sie hätten ihr
Bestes getan, und Allawis Leute werden sagen, ich sei ein 'Märtyrer
der Demokratie'. Glaubst du wirklich, ich werde wählen gehen?"
Die Moustansariya Universität ist eine der besten Universitäten im
Irak. Die Studenten stehen vor ihren Semesterabschlußprüfungen im
Fach 'Englische Literatur'. Im Irak endet das Semester im Januar.
Ein Student berichtet mir von seinen Kommilitonen. Sie gingen zu
ihrem Dozenten und sagten, sie seien noch nicht soweit mit den
Prüfungsvorbereitungen - so angespannt ist die Situation hier.
Anstatt sie durchfallen zu lassen, hätte der Dozent die Prüfung
einfach verschoben.
Auf meiner Rückfahrt über die al-Hurriya-Kreuzung (neben der
'Grünen Zone') sehe ich plötzlich einen großen schwarzen 4-by-4
voller Bewaffneter, die Skimasken tragen. "Zurück!" brüllen sie
die Autofahrer an, während sie versuchen, über die Mittellinie
abzukürzen. Ich kurble meine Scheibe herunter. Die hintere Tür
des 4-by-4 öffnet sich, und ein westlicher Typ - blaue Augen,
blonde Haare - mit Skimaske richtet seine Kalaschnikow auf mein
Auto. "Zurück" kreischt er in furchtbarem Arabisch. Dann ist der
4-by-4 über die Straße - 3 gepanzerte Pickups mit geschwärzten
Scheiben und quietschenden Reifen im Gefolge. Die Fahrzeuge
transportieren kostbare Fracht, nämlich Westler - in die vermeintliche
Sicherheit der 'Grünen Zone'. Die 'Grüne Zone' ist
jener hermetisch abgeriegelte Gebäudekomplex, von dem aus der
Irak angeblich regiert wird.
Ich werfe einen Blick in die irakische Presse. Da ist US-Außenminister
Colin Powell, der erneut vor einem "Bürgerkrieg" im Irak
warnt. Warum warnen Leute aus dem Westen immer vor einem Bürgerkrieg
? Die Gesellschaft hier ist eine Stammesgesellschaft und keine
sektiererische. Nur eine Zeitung - der kurdische Al Takhri, loyal
zu Mustafa Barzani - stellt dieselbe Frage. "Im Irak gab es noch
nie einen Bürgerkrieg", wettert der Leitartikler. Stimmt. Also dann,
"volle Kraft voraus - erstens" in Richtung Angstdatum 30. Januar
und "zweitens" in Richtung Demokratie.
Die amerikanischen Generäle - mit ihrer einzigartigen Mischung aus
Verlogenheit und Prinzip Hoffnung inmitten des Aufstands - sagen,
nur in 4 der 18 irakischen Provinzen könne es Schwierigkeiten hinsichtlich
einer "vollen" Wahlbeteiligung geben. Eine gute Nachricht.
Allerdings wäre es angebracht, einen Blick in die Bevölkerungsstatistik
zu werfen. Dann wird einem nämlich klar, daß in diesen 4
Provinzen über die Hälfte der irakischen Bevölkerung lebt - was die
Generäle selbstverständlich wissen.
Übersetzt von: Andrea Noll
Orginalartikel: "Fear and Voting in Baghdad"
http://www.zmag.de/
artikel.php?id=1325&PHPSESSID=56af30a0e06b09cb00ed4ebc518a1233
Soldatenfamilien gegen Irak-Krieg
Großbritannien: Netzwerk fordert von Premier Blair
Rechenschaft für Opfer. Einberufung verweigert
Christian Bunke, Manchester
Insgesamt 73 britische Soldaten sind seit März 2003 im Irak ums
Leben gekommen; 800 weitere im selben Zeitraum zum Teil schwer
verletzt. Diese Angaben mußte das britische Verteidigungsministerium
in dieser Woche herausgeben. Aufgrund des zu Jahresbeginn in Kraft
getretenen Informationsfreiheitsgesetzes dürfen solche Informationen
nicht mehr zurückgehalten werden.
In der britischen Armee rumort es. Neuester Beleg dafür ist die am
Mittwoch öffentlich abgegebene Erklärung eines Londoner Reserveoffiziers,
er werde eine mögliche Einberufung in den Irak verweigern.
»Die fundamentalen Grundsätze der Demokratie werden in diesem Krieg
mit Füßen getreten. Die Iraker sehen, wie immer mehr Öl aus ihrem
Land abtransportiert wird, und sie selbst haben noch nicht einmal
Elektrizität. In diesem Krieg geht es nur darum, daß die USA das
Weltmonopol auf Öl erlangen«, so Lance Corporal George Solomou wörtlich.
In einem Interview für den britischen Fernsehsender Channel
4 erklärte er weiter, notfalls würde er für seine Überzeugung ins
Gefängnis gehen. Er erwarte auch, daß in den kommenden Monaten noch
weitere britische Soldaten ihre Weigerung, am Irak-Krieg teilzunehmen,
öffentlich kundtun würden.
Bereits seit einigen Monaten existiert in Großbritannien ein
erstarkendes Netzwerk von Soldatenfamilien. In einem offenen Brief
an Premierminister Anthony Blair fordert dieses den sofortigen
Rückzug aller britischen Truppen aus dem Irak. Gleichzeitig erklären
sich die Soldatenfamilien mit der Antikriegsbewegung solidarisch. »Wo
ist die Rechenschaftspflicht Tony Blairs, was die getöteten britischen
Soldaten und die über 100.000 getöteten unschuldigen irakischen Opfer
angeht? Wir sind nun Teil einer Kampagne, die auch die Unterstützung
vieler Parlamentarier hat, um Blair zur Verantwortung zu ziehen«,
heißt es in dem Brief.
junge Welt vom 21.01.2005
http://www.jungewelt.de/2005/01-21/010.php
Iran auf «Akt der Aggression» vorbereitet
Donnerstag 20. Januar 2005, 17:31 Uhr
Teheran/Berlin (AP) Der iranische Präsident Mohammed Chatami hat
einen Angriff der USA auf sein Land als unwahrscheinlich bezeichnet.
Teheran sei aber auf einen «Akt der Aggression» vorbereitet, sagte
er am Donnerstag im staatlichen Rundfunk. «Wir haben Pläne dafür.»
Iran wolle keine Spannungen mit Washington, erklärte Chatami. «Wir
glauben, dass Amerika nicht in der Lage ist, die verrückte Maßnahme
eines Angriffs auf Iran zu ergreifen.» Der iranische Staatschef
verwies dabei auf das starke Engagement der USA im Irak.
US-Präsident George W. Bush hatte Anfang der Woche öffentlich einen
Militärschlag gegen den Iran im Streit um dessen Atomprogramm nicht
ausgeschlossen. In einem Fernsehinterview sagte er: «Ich hoffe, wir
können das auf diplomatischem Weg regeln, aber ich schließe keine
Option aus.» Zudem gibt es Berichte, wonach die USA bereits Spionagetrupps
nach Iran eingeschleust haben. Dies hatte vor allem in Europa
Besorgnis ausgelöst.
Auch der iranische Botschafter in London forderte die USA auf, aus
den im Irak begangenen Fehlern zu lernen und auf Militäraktionen
gegen den Iran zu verzichten. Washington solle keine weitere Besch
ädigung seines internationalen Ansehens und keine Verstärkung
der Spannungen in der islamischen Welt riskieren, sagte Botschafter
Mohammed Hossein Adeli in der BBC. Er wies US-Darstellungen zurück,
dass der Iran Atomwaffen bauen wolle. Das Nuklearprogramm diene
ausschließlich friedlichen Zwecken.
Rumsfeld sagt Teilnahme an Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz ab
Donnerstag 20. Januar 2005, 20:47 Uhr
München (dpa) - US-Verteidigungsminister Donald Rumsfeld hat seine
Teilnahme an der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz abgesagt. Hintergrund
könnte eine Strafanzeige gegen ihn beim Generalbundesanwalt
wegen angeblicher Kriegsverbrechen im Irak sein. Der Veranstalter
der Konferenz, Horst Teltschik, bestätigte Rumsfelds Absage.
Stattdessen schicke die US-Administration mit Douglas J. Feith die
«Nummer 3» des Pentagon zu dem Treffen. Als Grund sei Teltschik
eine Auslandsreise Rumsfelds genannt worden. Die Strafanzeige wurde
nicht erwähnt.
Iraq - Falluja - The Fall and Fall Out - 15 min 00 sec
[10 January 2005]
Battle in Fallujah goes on
Two months after the US launched its biggest ever assault on
Fallujah, what exactly happened inside the city has, until
now, remained a mystery. Now, for the first time, Guardian
films reveals the true story.
It was billed as a resounding military success. Over 1,200
insurgents were meant to have been killed and another 2,000
trapped inside Fallujah. But now this version of events is
being challenged. Far from being crushed, rebels claim they
left the city in an organised withdrawal. "It was a tactical
move," explains insurgent leader Alazaim Abuthe. "The fighters
decided to redeploy to Amiriya." Before they left, fighters
booby-trapped many bodies. People are too scared to move them
so the corpses lie rotting all over the city. Rabid dogs feed
off them and then attack returning residents. Far from stabilising
Iraq in preparation for this month's election, the assault on
Falluja has fanned the flames of civil war. Today Fallujans are
too busy trying to stay alive in freezing refugee camps to worry
about ballot papers that haven't arrived for an election they
have no intention of voting in. As one resident comments, "We're
not interested in this sort of democracy." Guardian Films
(Ref: 2541
http://www.journeyman.tv/?lid=18059&cc=1#18048
http://www.journeyman.tv/download.php?id=10477
Blood is Precious
Iraqis and Americans meet to share grief
and committment to justice
by Dahr Jamail ; The Ester Republic; January 17, 2005
Family members left behind by those who have died violent deaths
amidst the occupation of Iraq, whether they are Iraqi or American,
have every reason to be bitter. After all, each death is due to
an illegal occupation as the result of an illegal invasion of a
sovereign country (although the United States government disputes
this view). With over 1,340 dead US soldiers and an estimated
100,000 dead Iraqi civilians as a result of the war and occupation,
there are many families left behind engulfed in grief.
In a recent delegation to Amman, Jordan, US family members who lost
loved ones in the conflict in Iraq came to the Middle East to meet
with Iraqis who had lost loved ones. The delegation was sponsored by
Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights group, and Code
Pink, a women's peace activist group based in Los Angeles. The groups
represented in the delegation were Military Families Speak Out and
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.
Preceding reconciliation, the families shared stories of violence
and suffering, particularly from Iraqis who face a daily battle
of survival in the hell that has befallen their country under US
occupation. A Shi'ite Muslim man spoke at the first meeting of the
delegation. His brother was detained by soldiers last summer while
giving a speech at the offices of the Human Rights Organization of
Hilla.
"The Americans raided the place and made everyone lie down. They
randomly shot nine people and injured them. Then they put two people
on the wall and executed them by shooting them in the head. These
were religious people. They then detained my brother and one other
person," he said.
After living under a brutal dictatorship for his entire life, now
with the opportunity to tell the story of his brother to people from
the country who now occupied his, he took the liberty of saying how
things were even worse now for his people under US occupation, using
his own brother as an example.
"I come from a family who were fighters against Saddam. Saddam
discriminated against my family and our whole tribe. Thousands of
us," he said, "My brother is a sheikh, he is a religious man in
Hilla. He used to make sermons during Saddam's time against Saddam.
He was detained for speaking against Saddam."
He said his brother was suffering more in Abu Ghraib at the hands
of the US military than when he was detained by the former regime.
His family went months without being allowed to contact his brother,
"They would not charge my brother with anything, and for three
months they set appointments, then canceling them."
His brother has now been detained for seven months, and he added,
"After three months I met with him and he was paralyzed in his arm
and leg, because he had been shot by a taser gun. They kept him in
a small black box for many days."
At a later meeting between Iraqi and American families that was
filled with tears, a sheikh from Fallujah also shared the horrendous
story of his son-in-law's execution by US soldiers last week.
"I am happy to be a Muslim which taught me brotherhood, love and
peace for everybody on this planet, no matter who they are or what
they are doing," he began, "The closest people to Islam are people
who say they are Christians."
"We used to think the worst dictator was Saddam Hussein. I was one
who was persecuted by him. I used to wish that somebody would come
to liberate us. The occupation troops came to help us get rid of
this dictator. All of the people where I used to live decided not
to fight the occupation troops because we thought they are going
to bring security and withdraw because this is what they told us.
Everyone knows what it means to liberate a country."
He spoke of what he saw during the invasion in April 2003, "I saw
with my own eyes they destroyed the shops, the institutes and they
allowed people to steal everything, and killing was collective."
"We used to say maybe this is only the first days...but a month after
the occupation the troops went at night to places and broke the doors,
entered, stole things, and let the thieves steal," he said angrily,
"We began to compare the dictatorship to the occupation. We compared
the criminal Saddam to criminal Bush."
He spoke of his son-in-law, Sheikh Mouofa. On the 24th of December,
his home was raided and Sheikh Mouofa was shot by soldiers.
"I saw him on the ground surrounded by blood," he told the military
families, who were all weeping. Mouofa's wife heard the two bullets,
as she was in a nearby room.
Three days later the family was told by the military that the
assassination was a mistake.
After pausing to collect himself from his grief he added, "A
human being is very dear and precious in Islam. Any believer
of any religion is our brother, no matter what their beliefs."
"This is what we believe, not like Bush. He prefers oil rather than
human beings," he added while holding up a photo of two little girls.
"Two days after their father was killed these children were asking
for their father. Their father was killed by the people who were
supposed to make their dreams come true."
He pleaded with the delegation, as well as continuing on about
atrocities he has witnessed in his country.
"We criticized Saddam for the mass graves. We have mass graves daily
now in Iraq. Houses in Iraq are destroyed on people as they sleep. I
saw them detain a man and take him in front of his family," he said
to the audience. "They tied him to a chair with a rope, they beat him
with the butts of their rifles, then they shot and killed him. Then
they took his brothers."
He continued, "We seek your help. We tell you, please help us get
rid of these troops. Not to shed blood, yours or ours. At the funeral
of my son-in-law some people shouted that America is the enemy of
God. But I don't accept this, because I know that in America there
are other people like you."
"I feel terrible hearing about these atrocities in Fallujah and all
around Iraq," replied Fernando Suarez del Solar of Los Angeles. He
and his wife Rosa lost their son, Jesus, on March 27, 2003 when he
stepped on a US cluster bomb while fighting in Iraq.
Suarez, after wiping away tears, added, "I understand and share your
grief because I also have a young grandson who is left orphaned.
Because of two people, Saddam Hussein and George Bush, who made harm
to humanity. I would like you to understand the great suffering in
the US from this war that is so unjust. I know the numbers are very
unequal but in the US there are children who have been left orphaned.
We share your suffering. You have a great responsibility today to
avoid that the hate against us grows. And we the parents how have
lost our children have a great responsibility for stopping the hate
with this loss. With hate we get nowhere. Only with love. My heart
goes out to you."
The sheikh patted his heart with his hand repeatedly while saying,
"Thanks for these words that come from the heart."
The exchange between the two men symbolized what occurred with the
peace delegation, where shared loss and grief was transformed into
solidarity and a commitment to work for justice.
"My son's birthday was last month," said Suarez, "He died so we could
have this moment. He wanted to give his life to help Iraqis. Thank
you for being together today my brother and you are all part of my
family."
Suarez was told by the military that his son had died by being
shot in the head during battle. After further investigation,
Suarez learned his son was killed when he stepped on an illegal,
unexploded US cluster bomb in Diwaniyah during the invasion.
Nadia McCaffrey lost her son, Sergeant Patrick McCaffrey, on June
22, 2004 in Iraq. He'd joined on September 12th, 2001, because he
wanted to do something to help his country. He too left behind a
wife and children, as did Jesus and the sheikh's son-in-law.
Speaking about her loss at a press conference later at the
Intercontinental Hotel in Amman, McCaffrey said, "I blame the
government. I blame Bush. I've never felt any resentment towards
the Iraqi people. The last picture I have of him was holding
white flowers given to him by Iraqi children, just before he was
killed."
One of the main goals of the delegation was to bring medical supplies
and money donated by people in America in order to bring relief to
the hundreds of thousands of refugees from Fallujah. After the US
military assault on the city in November, it is estimated that 75%
of the homes and buildings have been bombed to the ground, and the
remaining 25% received at least moderate damage.
"I am aware and I don't defend the horrible crimes the troops have
done in Iraq. I'm ashamed of what's happening," said Fernando Suarez
when he met with Iraqi doctors, "But you have to understand that they
are not all the same. You can't say that all people from the US are
criminals. Just like we can't say because some Muslims are terrorists
all Muslims are terrorists."
"A year ago when I was in Iraq I learned to love Iraqi people," said
Suarez, referring to his trip to Baghdad last year to visit the spot
where his son died, "We have to work together. Sitting around here
talking, you are going back to Iraq and tell them there are people
from the US, and we will go back and denounce how a corrupt government
has turned our children into beasts."
At another meeting between the delegation and Iraqi families, Suarez
continued, "You have to understand that our children were forced to
go to Iraq, they didn't want to go. Sometimes it is survival, but
that doesn't justify that they don't help people, or that they abuse
prisoners. That is why yesterday I asked for your forgiveness. Maybe
the medicine we bring can help 100 children survive. But we are
working to help the whole country survive."
Suarez brought several large suitcases of medicine and medical
supplies he'd collected from donations raised. "If this helps
just a few Iraqi children," he said, "then I am happy."
The sheikh from Fallujah, also at this meeting, summarized the
feeling of the delegation.
While holding up a picture of his deceased son-in law, the sheikh
said, "This man was killed last weekend," then holding up the photo
of his two children added, "These two kids will not see their father
again. This moment should be a lesson for us all. Let us say the
truth for all the people. To the people whose presidents lied to
them, and media helps them in their lies. Let's have one position.
Blood is precious, on the contrary to what Bush wants. Let's try
to prevent our people from participating in this unjust war."
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=7040§ionID=15
Bizarro Election
Bob Dreyfuss, Tompaine.com
January 18, 2005
The election in Iraq is getting weirder and weirder.
First, does anyone but me think that the media's emphasis on
registering Iraqi voters in the United States and other Western
countries is being wildly hyped? This is, after all, an election
in Iraq, but the U.S. media is giving enormous ink to the polling
places being set up in the United States, neglecting to mention
that these voters have no idea who to vote for, since there is
no campaigning, no election materials, and no easy way to find
out who the candidates are. Second, the press here keeps calling
them Iraqi "exiles," but they are in fact "immigrants," just like
millions of other foreign-born U.S. citizens and residents. They
are not going back. Why exactly they should vote in Iraq isn't
clear to me, but it is clear that they represent a large pool of
mostly pro-American (and pro-Shiite) voters.
The Bush administration has been saying for weeks now that the
election doesn't matter, that it's only a first step, downplaying
the importance of the election_even as sober analysts point out
that the election is likely to splinter the country and set it up
for civil war.
The funniest thing of all is the report that the Iraqi puppet
government is planning to ban all private vehicular traffic on
election day. How are people supposed to get to the polls? Why
don't they just impose an all-day curfew and order people to
stay in their homes? That would make the election safe.
Today I am passing on an excerpt of a piece sent to me by Patrick
Lang, the former Middle East chief at the Defense Intelligence
Agency and a leading critic of the Bush-neocon axis. He provides
some historical context, which is sadly missing in nearly all
mainstream media reporting on Iraq. They treat Iraq as if it didn't
exist before the first Gulf War, and here Lang neatly summarizes
the pre-history of Iraq. I was particularly struck by his notion
that the Baath Party tried to reinvent Iraq as a nation not organized
along ethnic and religious lines. Here's the excerpt:
The British Empire screwed the lid down on Mesopotamia, installed
King Feisal, and hoped for the best. The country exploded in a
mostly Shia tribal revolt shortly thereafter. After several years
of fighting the British felt secure enough in what they had done
to grant Iraq a rather liberal Western style constitution under
the Hashemite (read foreign) monarch. This government ruled Iraq
with a certain benevolence on a parliamentary basis until 1958.
The government functioned much as does that of the Jordanian branch
of the Hashemite family. They are restrained, civilized people,
the Hashemites. Those who claim that Iraq has never known democracy
seldom mention this experience of responsible and representative
government. There was early evidence that such a government might
not endure in Iraq. The unsuccessful 1944 revolt of generals of the
Iraqi Army who hated a continuing British presence and who favored
the German side in World War Two was a bad omen.
In the end, however, the opportunity and temptation provided by
such a government for conspiracy and plotting among ethno-religious
communities on the basis of Arab Nationalism and religious hostility
proved too great. The monarchy was overthrown in 1958 with great
cruelty and public disgrace. There followed a rapid succession of
nationalist, communist, Baathist and other governments who waged both
peace and war against and with the non-Arab and non-Muslim minorities
(Kurds, Yazidis, Turcomans, etc). The lid "screwed down" by imperial
Britain lasted remarkably well long after they had gone and it
functioned largely on the basis of the British sponsored continuation
of the millennium long domination of the area by the Sunni Arab
community. The Sunni Arabs remained the real rulers of the country
until the American invasion of 2003 and the Shia Arabs remained in
the position of a despised "underclass" while the largely Sunni Kurds
observed the process and resisted it when they dared. Oddly enough,
the Baath Party served in Iraq as a political vehicle for the entry
of Shia and Christian Iraqis into the "mainstream of Iraqi life. The
Baath was founded by Christian Arabs and was designed by them so as
to identify people as Arabs, not by religion, but by language and
culture. This suited the purposes of the Iraqi Shia perfectly and
many, many of them joined the Baath Party rising quite high in the
government and armed forces. Indeed, the lieutenant general commanding
the Republican Guards Armored Corps in the invasion of Kuwait in the
first Gulf War was a Shia.
The present American and British occupation of Iraq has the specific
intention of re-organizing the country on the basis of "one man,
one vote." The declaration of this intention pried "the lid" off the
"can of worms," of relations and understandings that had long kept the
forces of chaos in check in Iraq. In the Middle East people understand
that they must vote for candidates from their own ethno-religious
community. To do anything else is a revolutionary choice, something
that only a radical would do, perhaps a Baathist. To make that choice
is to risk rejection by your own community.
In this context we can expect that the coming election will produce
a Shia dominated government under the influence of the higher clergy
and likely to be inclined toward Shia Iran in a massively Sunni part
of the world.
"Freedom is on the march?" No, chaos and war are on the march.
Article nr. 8979 sent on 19-jan-2005 18:38 ECT
The address of this page is : www.uruknet.info?p=8979
The original address of this article is :
www.tompaine.com/archives/the_dreyfuss_report.php
Car Bombs
January 19, 2005
The thundering blast rocks me awake at 7:05am. The first thing my
eyes see are the curtains of my room flowing in, as if a strong
wind is blowing into my room.
'Holy shit, they hit the embassy,' I think to myself, 'the blast
was so close.'
I leave my windows cracked and curtains drawn for just this reasonwhile
my door was blasted open, splintering the frame where it was
locked shut, none of my windows shattered. Aside from small chunks
from the ceiling of my room strewn about the floor, I am alright.
I look out my window and see that despite shattered glass strewn
outside many of the nearby buildings, the Australian embassy is
intact.
I quickly throw on some clothes, grab my camera and run into the
hall-where it is filled with so much dust it's difficult to see.
In the hall, as well as all the others I see as I run upstairs,
pieces of ceiling and broken glass are everywhere.
The suicide car bomb detonated near the base of a large building
across the street which is home to many Australian soldiers. From
there they guard the checkpoint to their nearby embassy from the
multi-story building with snipers. Two smoldering bits of a vehicle
sit nearby the building, and two bodies lay in pools of blood
across the street.
A small building near the Australian outpost received heavy damage
right in front of the detonated car. Despite being heavily fortified
with concrete barriers, razor wire, sand bags, and sand barriers, the
outpost has chunks blown out of it and the netting and plywood which
covers many of the windows is hanging haphazardly out the openings.
I was on the roof just minutes after the blast and the Iraqi Police
(IP) had already arrived en masse. A woman screaming in hysterics
is pushed inside one of their trucks and taken away_she was trying
to reach one of the bodies as several policeman ushered her off.
Other IP's inspect the bodies while black smoke plumes languidly
drift down the street in the early morning stillness.
Police run about, yelling orders and barking at journalists, but
there is nothing much else for them to do. They load the two bodies
into a vehicle and drive them to a morgue.
It is a seemingly senseless attack-as this building occupied by the
Australian military is so heavily fortified that no car bomb could
possibly reach it. This one caused merely superficial damage, and
killed only civilians while wounding some Australian soldiers.
This was a smaller car bomb, as it didn't leave a crater like so many
of the others. Nevertheless, glass is shattered in buildings hundreds
of meters away from the blast, pieces of wall are crumbled_it is like
being in a large earthquake, but the tremors consolidated into one
large shake.
About 20 minutes later several truckloads of Iraqi soldiers show up,
many of them wearing their usual black facemasks.
15 minutes after this the US military shows up with 10 Humvees, a
Bradley and a large tank. They seal the street, and begin to string
their razor wire across the road.
Two Apache helicopters arrive and commence rumbling in circles around
the area, buzzing overhead.
I watch an old woman who lives in a home just across from the
bombing. She is walking around in her yard aimlessly, sometimes
stopping to slowly pick up rubble from her wall that was damaged
in the blast, then just looking around her home.
Half an hour after this another large car bomb detonates in eastern
Baghdad at an Iraqi police headquarters, killing 18 people as the
explosion echoes across the capital city.
I return to my room to commence writing_Abu Talat calls and can't
make it over for our work because so many roads nearby my hotel
are closed.
As I write three more huge explosions rumble across the center
of Baghdad. In a span of just 90 minutes five car bombs detonated
killing at least 26 people.
One of the car bombs detonated outside a bank where IP's were
collecting their salaries, killing at least 10 of them.
Another car bomb detonated at the airport, killing two guards.
A military installation was also attacked, killing two American
soldiers and two civilians.
Iraqis around my hotel compound are sweeping up glass as I make
some calls to let folks know I'm alive.
The US-backed Iraqi government has announced draconian measures which
state that from January 29th-31st the borders of Iraq will be closed,
mobile and satellite phone services will be cut, the borders of
Iraq's 18 governorates will be closed and no civilian traffic will be
allowed near the polling stations.
Polling stations will each have several rings of security in an
attempt to stave off the violence. Be that as it may, the Ministry
of Health is making special preparations to deal with the massive
bloodshed expected for the "elections."
Posted by Dahr_Jamail at January 19, 2005 12:49 PM
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000175.php#more
Hersh Adds Credibility to Speculation Margaret Hassan
was the Victim of a Counterinsurgency Operation
Kurt Nimmo
January 18, 2005
On November 17 of last year, I speculated that CARE director in
Iraq, Margaret Hassan, was abducted and presumably killed as part
of a counterinsurgency operation--a victim of phony terrorist
groups created by foreign intelligence--on the part of either the
United States, Israel, the British, or a combination of thereof,
a dirty trick in the dirty war against the Iraqi insurgency
( http://kurtnimmo.com/blog/index.php?p=419 ). One journalist wrote
to say I had no evidence of this, I was in fact conspiracy mongering,
and such speculation is a basically disservice to others opposed to
war for it essentially makes the antiwar movement out to be wild-eyed
crackpots. I wrote my blog entry, subsequently reposted widely on
the internet, after doing considerable research about the history of
counterinsurgency. I quoted from and summarized several articles--
written by Andrew Rubin, Julian Borger, Richard Sale, and Seymour
Hersh--to make the case Hassan was the victim of a counterinsurgency
op engineered to make the Iraqi resistance look bad. In addition, I
quoted Michael McClintock:
US military (and CIA operative) officer Major Edward Geary Lansdale's
"psy-war tactics" used in the Philippines against the Huk. Lansdale's
methods "centered on measures of deception similar to those employed
in the British and French colonial campaigns in Kenya and Indochina,"
including the creation of bogus guerilla units used to discredit the
enemy.
Further research turned up little on the Kenya counterinsurgency
program--that is until I read Seymour Hersh's latest installment
on the Strausscons (The Coming Wars: What the Pentagon can now
do in secret: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=8931 ) published by the
New Yorker and posted on their website. Quoting John Arquilla, a
professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School,
in Monterey, California, Hersh includes the following:
When conventional military operations and bombing failed to defeat
the Mau Mau insurgency in Kenya in the 1950s, the British formed
teams of friendly Kikuyu tribesmen who went about pretending to be
terrorists. These "pseudo gangs," as they were called, swiftly threw
the Mau Mau on the defensive, either by befriending and then ambushing
bands of fighters or by guiding bombers to the terrorists' camps.
What worked in Kenya a half-century ago has a wonderful chance of
undermining trust and recruitment among today's terror networks.
Forming new pseudo gangs should not be difficult.
As I noted, Lansdale adopted at least some of the British
counterinsurgency tactics in the Philippines and was considered
"eminently qualified to advise on unconventional warfare and the
American role in Indochina" and elsewhere in the Third World, as
Michael McClintock notes ( http://www.statecraft.org/chapter8.html ).
He also writes:
Only in 1961, when a presidential demand was made for a purposebuilt
counterinsurgency establishment, was the Special Forces/
Special Warfare Center development of unconventional warfare
adopted across the board as the foundation of a military doctrine
of counterinsurgency. The military core of unconventional warfare,
the organization, tactics and techniques of America's covert CIA
and Special Forces "guerrillas," provided a nucleus for the new
doctrine of counterinsurgency.
As stated previously, I believe the CIA (and military intelligence)
is busy at work discrediting the Iraqi resistance with such tactics,
although of course I cannot prove it. As John Arquilla writes,
forming "new pseudo gangs should not be difficult," especially in
the chaotic environment of Iraq (and soon, as Hersh points out,
Iran).
Obviously, the U.S. military realizes it cannot defeat the Iraqi
resistance through conventional military means, as the British were
unable to defeat the Mau Mau insurgency in Kenya. Considering the
long and violent history of the CIA--and the fact the Joint Chiefs
of Staff proposed creating fake terrorist groups to discredit Cuba
(Operation Northwoods) as a pretext to invade Cuba and depose Castro-I
find it entirely plausible that Hassan, who was against Bush's
invasion and occupation (and influential as the director of a highprofile
NGO), was kidnapped and possibly murdered, although her body
has yet to be found. It makes infinitely more sense for a "pseudo
gang" of Iraqi terrorists--possibly criminals, paramilitaries from
the Allawi government, or freelance mercenaries under the direction
of U.S., Israeli, or British intelligence--to engage in such vile
behavior, not the Iraqi resistance who would only lose from committing
such horrendous violence against those striving to alleviate the
suffering of the Iraqi people.
As if to lend credence to the assertion that the Allawi government
consists of people of the sort who would kill innocent people--
exactly the sort of people the Strausscons need in Iraq--the Sydney
Morning Herald reports that a "former Jordanian government minister
has told The New Yorker that an American official confirmed to him
that the Iraqi interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, executed six
suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station last year".
( http://www.uruknet.info/?p=8963 ) Note the word "suspected," not
convicted criminals.
"A well-known former government minister told me that an American
official had confirmed that the killings took place, saying to him,
'What a mess we're in--we got rid of one son of a bitch only to get
another one'," writes Jon Lee Anderson for the New Yorker. The Sydney
Morning Herald adds "that Anderson was present during an interview
conducted by the Herald's chief correspondent, Paul McGeough, in late
June, with a man who said he witnessed the executions by Dr Allawi."
"The man," writes Anderson, "described how Allawi had been taken to
seven suspects, who were made to stand against a wall in a courtyard
of the police station, their faces covered. After being told of their
alleged crimes by a police official, Allawi had asked for a pistol,
and then shot each prisoner in the head. [One of the men survived.]
Afterward, the witness said, Allawi had declared to those present,
'This is how we must deal with the terrorists.' The witness said he
approved of Allawi's act, adding that, in any case, the terrorists
were better off dead, for they had been tortured for days."
No doubt it would be a guessing game to speculate who tortured the
suspects--Allawi's thugs or "our" thugs, the same thugs who rape
children and beat people to death at Abu Ghraib.
One thing is for certain--Allawi is precisely the sort of "son of a
bitch" the Strausscons need in Iraq, not that it will ultimately make
much difference because eventually Allawi will be living in Miami or
swinging from a lamppost in Baghdad.
Article nr. 8982 sent on 19-jan-2005 19:25 ECT
The address of this page is : www.uruknet.info?p=8982
The original address of this article is :
kurtnimmo.com/blog/index.php?p=500
Fear and Voting in Baghdad
by Robert Fisk; Seattle Post-Intelligencer; January 19, 2005
Journalism yields a world of cliches but here, for once, the
first cliche that comes to mind is true. Baghdad is a city
of fear. Fearful Iraqis, fearful militiamen, fearful American
soldiers, fearful journalists.
Jan. 30, that day upon which the blessings of democracy will shower
upon us, is approaching with all the certainty and speed of doomsday.
The latest Zarqawi video shows the execution of six Iraqi policemen.
Each shot in the back of the head, one by one. A survivor plays dead.
Then a gunman walks confidently up behind him and blows his head
apart with bullets.
These images haunt everyone. At the al-Hurriya intersection Tuesday
morning, four truckloads of Iraqi national guardsmen -- the future
saviors of Iraq, according to President Bush -- are passing my car.
Their rifles are porcupine quills, pointing at every motorist, every
Iraqi on the pavement, the Iraqi army pointing their weapons at
their own people. And they are all wearing masks -- black hoods or
ski masks or kuffiyas that leave only slits for frightened eyes.
Just before it collapsed finally into the hands of the insurgents
last summer, I saw exactly the same scene in the streets of
Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. Now I am watching them in the capital.
At Kamal Jumblatt Square beside the Tigris, two American Humvees
approach the roundabout. Their machine-gunners are shouting at
drivers to keep away from them. A big sign in Arabic on the rear
of each vehicle says: "Forbidden. Do not overtake this convoy.
Stay 50 meters away from it." The drivers behind obey; they know
the meaning of the "deadly force" that Americans have written onto
their checkpoint signs.
But the two Humvees drive into a massive traffic jam, the gunners
now screaming at us to move back. When a taxi that does not notice
the U.S. troops blocks their path, the American in the lead vehicle
hurls a full plastic bottle of water onto its roof and the driver
mounts the grass traffic circle. A truck receives the same treatment
from the lead Humvee. "Go back," shouts the rear gunner, staring at
us through shades. We try desperately to turn into the jam.
Yes, the Russians probably would have chucked hand grenades in Kabul.
But here were the terrified "liberators" of Baghdad throwing bottles
of water at the Iraqis who are supposed to enjoy a U.S.-imposed
democracy on Jan. 30.
Lest anyone doubt this extraordinary scene, the rear Humvee has
"Specialist Carrol" written on the windscreen. Specialist Carrol,
I am sure, regards every one of us as a potential suicide bomber --
a killer on wheels -- and I can't blame him. One such bomber had
just driven up to the police station in Tikrit north of Baghdad and
destroyed himself and the lives of at least six policemen.
Round the corner, I discover the reason for the jam: Iraqi cops are
fighting off hundreds of motorists desperate for petrol, the drivers
refusing to queue any longer for the one thing that Iraq possesses
in Croeses-like amounts -- petrol.
I drop by the Ramaya restaurant for lunch. Closed. They are building
a 20-floor security wall around the premises. So I drive to the Rif
for a pizza, occasionally tinkling the restaurant's piano while I
watch the entrance for people I don't want to see. The waiters are
nervous. They are happy to bring my pizza in 10 minutes. There is no
one else in the restaurant, you see, and they watch the road outside
like friendly rabbits. They are waiting for The Car.
I call on an old Iraqi friend who used to publish a literary magazine
during Saddam Hussein's reign. "They want me to vote, but they can't
protect me," he says. "Maybe there will be no suicide bomber at the
polling station. But I will be watched. And what if I get a hand
grenade in my home three days later? The Americans will say they did
their best, Allawi's people will say I am a 'martyr for democracy.'
So do you think I'm going to vote?"
At Moustansariya University, one of Iraq's best, students of English
literature are to face their end-of-term exam. January marks the end
of Iraqi semesters.
But one of the students tells me that his fellow students had told
their teacher that -- so fraught are the times -- that they were not
yet prepared for the examination. Rather than giving them all zeros,
the teacher meekly postpones the exam.
I drive back through the Al-Hurriya intersection beside the Green
Zone and suddenly there is a big black 4-by-4, filled with ski-masked
gunmen. "Get back!" they scream at every motorist as they try to cut
across the median. I roll the window down. The rear door of the 4-by-
4 whacks open. A ski-masked westerner -- blond hair, blue eyes -- is
pointing a Kalashnikov at my car. "Get back!" he shrieks in ghastly
Arabic. Then he clears the median, followed by three armored pickups,
windows blacked, tires skidding on the road surface, carrying
the sacred westerners inside to the dubious safety of the Green
Zone, the hermetically sealed compound from which Iraq is supposedly
governed.
I glance at the Iraqi press. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
is again warning of "civil war" in Iraq. Why do we westerners keep
threatening civil war in a country whose society is tribal rather
than sectarian? Of all papers, it is the Kurdish Al Takhri, loyal
to Mustafa Barzani, which asks the same question. "There has never
been a civil war in Iraq," the editorial thunders. And it is right.
So "full ahead both" for the dreaded Jan. 30 elections and democracy.
The American generals -- with a unique mixture of mendacity and hope
amid the insurgency -- are now saying that only four of Iraq's 18
provinces may not be able to "fully" participate in the elections.
Good news. Until you sit down with the population statistics and
realize -- as the generals, of course, all know -- that those four
provinces contain more than half the population of Iraq.
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=7057§ionID=15
A question for activists
Supporting Iraq's right to resist occupation
SHARON SMITH, Socialist Worker
January 21, 2005
Socialist Worker columnist SHARON SMITH explains why you should
support the Iraqi resistance.
THE IRAQI resistance to U.S. occupation is growing, as is its support
among ordinary Iraqis. Iraq's interim government recently admitted
that the insurgency involves at least 40,000 "hardcore fighters" and
up to 200,000 active sympathizers--a far cry from the isolated 5,000
"Baathist remnants" and "foreign fighters" the Pentagon initially
claimed to be fighting.
A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in March concluded, "The
insurgents...seem to be gaining broad acceptance, if not outright
support. If the [pro-U.S.] Kurds, who make up about 13 percent of
the poll, are taken out of the equation, more than half of Iraqis
say killing U.S. troops can be justified in at least some cases."
That was shortly before the first siege on Falluja, in which U.S.
forces killed over 600 civilians before the armed resistance drove
them out. Support for the resistance can only have grown now that
U.S. bombs have flattened Falluja, killing hundreds more civilians
and driving 200,000 residents to live in the squalor of refugee
camps--while dispersing the resistance fighters to other localities.
In mid-December, for example, Knight Ridder reported on a 41-year-old
Iraqi woman, Kifah Khudhair, injured in a car bombing in Baghdad--
whose rage was directed not at the car bombers, but at the Americans.
"What can we do?" her son said. "These things happen every day, like
looting and murder. I am angry at the Americans because it is all
their fault. This is all because of them."
IRAQIS SUPPORT the resistance against the U.S. occupation of their
country for one simple reason: they want the Americans to get out--
now.
Yet many in the U.S. antiwar movement have had difficulty accepting
this black-and-white reasoning, preferring to see the world in shades
of gray. "[Iraqi] jihadis or America's terror-using hypocrites? If we
are truly to stop the terrorists, the world must take sides against
both," wrote New Left veteran Steve Weissman recently on Truthout.
This argument by Weissman is faulty on two counts.
First, Weissman equates the 500-pound bombs and high-tech weapons
used by the world's biggest superpower occupying Iraq (at the cost
of $7.8 billion per month) to the rocket-propelled grenades and
roadside bombs of those resisting that occupation. One side aims to
control Iraq to fulfill its grand plan to dominate the Middle East
and its oil. The other merely seeks the right for Iraqis to determine
their own future.
Some 100,000 Iraqi civilians are now estimated dead because of
the war and occupation. This followed the roughly 1 million Iraqis
killed from the deprivation caused by more than a decade of economic
sanctions. And this followed a death toll of up to 200,000 in
the 1991 Gulf War. Choosing sides should not be so difficult.
Without for a moment endorsing the tactic of targeting civilians,
which is used by parts of the resistance, the sheer magnitude of
the death and destruction inflicted by the U.S. upon ordinary Iraqis
should dispel any myth that the two sides in this war deserve equal
condemnation.
Moreover, Weissman accepts at face value the Bush administration's
absurd characterization of the insurgency as dominated by
"terrorists" and Islamic "extremists."
On December 15, the Boston Globe published a report by Molly Bingham,
who lived from August 2003 until June 2004 in Baghdad researching the
resistance. She observed, "The composition of the Iraqi resistance is
not what the U.S. administration has been calling it, and the more it
is oversimplified, the harder it is to explain its complexity. I met
Shia and Sunnis fighting together, women and men, young and old. I
met people from all economic, social and educational backgrounds."
She continued: "The original impetus for almost all of the
individuals I spoke to was a nationalistic one--the desire
to defend their country from occupation, not to defend Saddam
Hussein or his regime." Bingham's conclusion should help focus
the aims of every antiwar activist in the U.S.: "The resistance
will continue until American influence has disappeared from
Iraq's political system."
SUPPORT FOR the right of Iraqis to resist occupation must extend
beyond an abstract principle for the U.S. antiwar movement.
While recognizing "the right of the Iraqi people to resist as a point
of principle," Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies--
in widely circulated notes for a speech to the steering committee
of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) on December 18--argued, "We
should not call for `supporting the resistance' because we don't know
who most of them are and what they really stand for, and because of
those we do know, we mostly don't support their social program beyond
opposition to the occupation."
To be meaningful, however, supporting the "right to resist" must
include support for that resistance once it actually emerges.
Award-winning Indian writer and global justice activist Arundhati
Roy got to the heart of the issue in a San Francisco speech on August
16: "It is absurd to condemn the resistance to the U.S. occupation
in Iraq, as being masterminded by terrorists," she said. "After all,
if the United States were invaded and occupied, would everybody who
fought to liberate it be a terrorist?"
If we are waiting for the "ideologically pure" movement--assuming
the unlikely scenario that all those opposed to the war could agree
on one--we could be waiting forever.
As Roy explained, "Like most resistance movements, [the Iraqis]
combine a motley range of assorted factions. Former Baathists,
liberals, Islamists, fed-up collaborationists, communists, etc. Of
course, it is riddled with opportunism, local rivalry, demagoguery
and criminality. But if we were to only support pristine movements,
then no resistance will be worthy of our purity.
"Before we prescribe how a pristine Iraqi resistance must conduct
their secular, feminist, democratic, nonviolent battle, we should
shore up our end of the resistance by forcing the U.S. and its
allied governments to withdraw from Iraq."
Focus on the Global South's Walden Bello made a similar point in
June. "What western progressives forget is that national liberation
movements are not asking them mainly for ideological or political
support," he wrote. "What they really want from the outside is
international pressure for the withdrawal of an illegitimate
occupying power so that internal forces can have the space to forge
a truly national government based on their unique processes. Until
they give up this dream of having an ideal liberation movement
tailored to their values and discourse, U.S. peace activists will,
like the Democrats they often criticize, continue to be trapped
within a paradigm of imposing terms for other people."
THE U.S. antiwar movement should heed this advice and expend less
energy in judging the character of the Iraqi resistance and more
effort on building a visible resistance to the Iraq occupation from
inside the U.S.
When the U.S. invaded Falluja and the Abu Ghraib torture scandal
broke in the spring of 2004, the U.S. antiwar movement--already
ensconced in its misguided effort to elect prowar John Kerry--
declined to mount a visible response to these and other atrocities
committed by the U.S. in Iraq, effectively sparing the Bush
administration from the need to account for its war crimes.
The main challenge for antiwar activists in the United States
is to rebuild a visible, national antiwar movement. That
means opposing the January 30 election--held under martial law,
which will effectively exclude 50 percent of the population--
and supporting the resistance that exposes its utter hypocrisy.
Is this strategy too ambitious--too far to the left for "mainstream"
America? That is unlikely, since a majority of Americans continue to
oppose the war.
U.S. troops are also divided, and we need to actively support those
troops who--at great personal risk--are resisting. The latest is
U.S. Army Sgt. Kevin Benderman, who refused to redeploy to Iraq
earlier this month after serving there from March to September 2003.
"The people that we are fighting now are for the most part people
like you and me, people who are defending themselves against a
superior military force and fighting to keep that which is rightfully
theirs," Benderman said. He added that the Iraqi people have the
right to choose their own form of government, "just like we did in
America after the revolution."
The antiwar movement must not lose sight of the fact that its main
enemy is at home--and any resistance to that enemy deserves our
unconditional support.
Article nr. 9010 sent on 20-jan-2005 21:42 ECT
The address of this page is : www.uruknet.info?p=9010
The original address of this article is :
www.socialistworker.org/2005-1/527/527_07_RightToResist.shtml
The Face of War
January 20, 2005
These photos were taken by US military personnel in Fallujah on
November 19, 2004. They were taken in order to identify the dead,
as well as used to track where the bodies were later buried in
Fallujah.
Of hundreds of photos taken for identification of the dead, I
selected these in order to show the face of war. Due to most media
outlets in the west continuing to not show the daily horrific
images in Iraq-of wounded and dead soldiers, civilians and fighters,
I decided to put these on my site.
I did so because I believe it is important for people to see what
war looks like.
All of these photos taken by the military are of men. An interesting
thing, in light of the fact that the Iraqi Red Crescent has announced
that conservatively, 60% of the casualties in Fallujah, which are
expected to be well over 2,000 people, are women, children, elderly
and unarmed civilians.
I warn you in advance that these are extremely graphic images.
Click here
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album32
Iraqi Resistance Report
for events of Thursday, 20 January 2004
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member editorial
board The Free Arab Voice. http://www.freearabvoice.org
Thursday, 20 January 2005. Eid al-Adha
Eid Mubarak!
How the Iraqi Resistance celebrated Eid al-Adha.
The correspondents of Mafkarat al-Islam working in 13 Iraqi provinces
celebrated the first day of the Islamic festival Eid al-Adha together
with the Iraqi people and Resistance fighters.
The correspondent in al-Anbar Province, where al-Fallujah, ar-Ramadi,
al-Qa'im and other "hot spots" are located, wrote that Resistance
fighters marked the festival by raising the Iraqi flag that bears the
motto "God is Greatest!" on houses, buildings, and government offices
throughout the southern part of al-Fallujah that is still in the hands
of the Resistance and never fell to the Americans since they began
their siege of the city on 8 November 2004. The Iraqi flag waved
proudly over ar-Ramadi, Hit, Hadithah, Rawah, and al-Qa'im too.
Loudspeakers on mosques broadcast prayers and invocations on the
occasion of the holiday. Resistance fighters went from door to door
to tell local people that they could go out freely and visit friends
and relatives. An announcement from the Resistance was posted on
mosques saying that the Resistance had halted armed activities against
the occupation for this one day, so that people could go out, stroll
the streets and enjoy the holiday.
In Samarra' Iraqi Resistance fighters fired 40 mortar shells into
the US occupation base in the city in honor of the festive occasion,
resulting in dozens of American casualties. At 9am Thursday
Resistance forces distributed dozens of copies of the Qur'an and
hundreds of Qur'an selections among men and women along with sweets,
money, new clothes to the children and relatives of martyrs. They
held a prayer in honor of their departed comrades and their relatives
in the ar-Ribat Mosque. They also halted armed attacks against
the occupation for the same reason as did the fighters in al-Anbar
Province.
Baghdad, the capital of Harun ar-Rashid, was worse off than other
parts of the country, as the water supply was still cut off and
people suffered from thirst as well as the usual lack of electric
power. What should have been a peaceful holiday was disturbed
by the roar of US tanks in the streets and the whine of American
aircraft overhead. The Resistance responded by firing Strela rockets
and bringing down two US Apache helicopters that were hovering over
the mosques in the village of Muhammad as-Sukran east of Baghdad.
Both craft were struck directly in the air burst into flame, killing
all aboard. The Brigades of Abu 'Ubaydah al-Jarrah announced that
they were responsible for the downings, saying "we didn't have enough
money to bring the joy of the holiday to the wives and children of
the martyrs, so we gave them this modest gift as a token of our love
for them and as vengeance for their fathers."
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that in the southern
city of as-Samawah, it was the Japanese occupation troops who
celebrated the Eid more than the local Iraqis. The Japanese came
out into the streets with all their weapons and troops in an
unprecedented show, driving around the city for two hours. They
undertook this act of uncommon courage after hearing that the
Resistance had announced a halt to its military operations for
the day. The Resistance did give them a bit of a scare, however,
pointing one machine gun at them on al-Ba'th [Baath] Street,
wounding one Japanese soldier. The rest fled back to their camp
as quickly as possible. The correspondent said that after those
gunshots, the streets of as-Samawah looked like a race track for
Japanese vehicles.
The joy of the holiday was mixed with tears in Mosul after a
Resistance hero, Shaykh Zubayr al-Mawsuli was martyred in a battle
with US forces in the middle of the city. Shaykh al-Mawsuli was
buried after mid-morning Eid prayers near the Grand Mosque in the
city. The whole city was plunged into mourning at the loss.
Al-Basrah is known for its love of joy and festivities. Resistance
fighters there strolled around various parts of the city, visiting
the Shi'i neighborhoods before the Sunni ones as part of their
effort to fend off the onslaught of sectarian discord that the
British occupation forces and their allies are trying to foment.
Resistance fighters distributed gifts to the children, visited homes
of martyrs and in al-Basrah too, the Resistance declared a halt to
military operations against the British occupation on the day of
the Eid. But no sooner had the British heard from their stooges that
the Resistance fighters were strolling about the streets of the city
than they raced with all their force to storm the neighborhoods and
streets of al-Basrah in search of them. The Resistance executed the
person who informed the occupation forces of their one day of rest
from armed activity, after he was seen and identified riding in one
of the British vehicles.
Al-Fallujah.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in al-Fallujah reported
eyewitnesses as saying that a US Apache helicopter had exploded
in mid-air at 2am Thursday morning over the al-'Amriyah area,
about 12km south of al-Fallujah. The crew of the US aircraft
was killed instantly, before even hitting the ground. US forces
encircled the area and carried out a search for the Resistance
attackers, but found nothing, according to the correspondent.
Baghdad.
Resistance bombing in ar-Ridwaniyah.
Iraqi Resistance bombs exploded under a US column in the al-Qatta'
area of ar-Ridwaniyah, southwest of Baghdad at 7am Thursday, striking
a Bradley armored vehicle and a Humvee and killing eight US troops.
Resistance attack in Abu Ghurayb.
Two Iraqi Resistance roadside bombs exploded in the az-Zaydan village
area near Abu Ghurayb at 8:30am Thursday, destroying a US Abrams tank.
Witnesses said that the blast sent the turret flying through the air.
Five US troops were killed in the attack.
US forces then opened fire indiscriminately at houses in the area,
inflicting minor damage. They then arrested six Iraqi civilians.
Resistance bomb attack in Sadr al-Qanat.
An Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded as a US Humvee was passing along
the highway in the Sadr al-Qanat area north of Baghdad at 9:30am
Thursday. The blast flipped the Humvee over, leaving one soldier
dead on the road and three others seriously wounded.
Resistance bomb in as-Sayyidiyah.
A heavy Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded on the highway in as-Sayyidiyah
at 1pm Thursday, destroying a Humvee and killing four US troops, one
of them believed to be an officer.
Resistance bomb attack in as-Suwayrah.
An Iraqi Resistance roadside bomb exploded on al-Mudakhkhat Street
in the as-Suwayrah area at 2:45pm Thursday, destroying a US Humvee
and killing two US troops.
Resistance bombing in Hur Rajab.
An Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded in Hur Rajab, south of Baghdad
at 4:15pm Thursday, destroying a US armored vehicle and killing
five American troops.
Resistance ambush in ad-Durah Thursday afternoon.
About 30 Iraqi Resistance fighters armed with rocket launchers and
machine guns, according to eye witnesses, ambushed a joint force of
American troops and Iraqi puppet "national guards" in the southern
Baghdad suburb of ad-Durah at 3:30pm Thursday. The attack destroyed
five pickups belonging to the puppet guards, killing 21 puppet
guards. The Resistance destroyed two US Bradley armored vehicles
and two Humvees in the attack, killing 13 US troops.
US forces then opened fire indiscriminately, killing four Resistance
fighters and wounding 18 local civilians. The Americans then arrested
46 other people who happened to be in the area.
Resistance attacks in al-Mushahadah.
Two Iraqi Resistance bombs planted next to each other in the middle
of a dirt road exploded in the al-Mushahadah area at 4:35pm Thursday,
blasting an Abrams tank apart. All those aboard the vehicle were
killed, their body parts scattered around the area. US forces opened
fire indiscriminately around the area but inflicted no significant
damage.
Iraqi Resistance forces armed with rockets, machine guns, and
explosive devices attacked US forces in the area of the pumps
in al-Mushahadah at 7:30am Thursday, killing seven US troops
and wounding five more. US troops responded by opening fire
indiscriminately in the direction from which they were taking
fire. The American return fire lasted until after the Resistance
fighters had left the scene. Three civilians were killed,
including one woman. Nine more civilians were wounded.
Resistance ambush with hand grenades in al-Karakh.
Iraqi Resistance fighters armed with hand grenades attacked an
American foot patrol in Baghdad's al-Karakh District at about
3pm Thursday, killing two US troops and wounding five more.
Witnesses said that one of the Americans who was wounded had his
leg blown off.
Resistance bombing in al-'Amil district Thursday evening.
A heavy Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded in the middle of Airport
Road in Baghdad's al-'Amil district, at about 5:15pm Thursday,
destroying a Humvee and killing three US troops. American forces
opened fire indiscriminately to deter any further attack but
they inflicted no casualties.
New American crime: helicopters open fire on civilian mourners in
cemetery, killing 12, wounding 23.
Two American helicopters - an Apache and a Black Hawk - opened fire
indiscriminately at mourners in the ash-Shaykh Ma'ruf Cemetery in
Baghdad's al-Karakh District at 6:30am Thursday. Witnesses who were
nearby said that the American attack left 12 Iraqi civilians dead
and 23 more seriously wounded.
Resistance liquidates collaborators in Baghdad.
Iraqi Resistance fighters assassinated three lackeys working for
the US occupation as they drove a car near the al-'Alawiyah exchange
in Baghdad's al-Karradah neighborhood at 12 noon on Thursday.
Iraqi Resistance fighters armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles
shot and killed "Sayyid Kamal, a high-ranking official in the
collaborationist Badr Brigades as he came out of his house in
the ash-Shawwakah area of al-Karakh in Baghdad at 7am Thursday
morning. Witnesses said the Resistance assassins were young,
around 17 years of age.
Resistance car bombing at puppet "ministry of the interior."
A car attempted to burst into the puppet so-called "ministry of the
interior" building on Palestine Street in Baghdad at 11am Thursday.
Puppet police guarding the building fired back, but the car exploded
when they approached it. Thirteen puppet policemen were killed and
34 more were seriously wounded. The explosion set seven puppet police
cars ablaze.
Al-Latifiyah.
Resistance fighters gun down eight puppet "national guards" in alLatifiyah.
Armed Iraqi Resistance fighters in a pickup opened intensive gunfire
on a group of puppet so-called "Iraqi national guards" in al-Latifiyah
at 9am Thursday. Eight puppet guards were killed in the attack. The
puppet guards fired back indiscriminately, killing five civilians who
happened to be in the area.
Diyala Province.
Large-scale Resistance attack on US base in Diyala Province reported.
A group of Iraqi Resistance fighters armed with rockets infiltrated
into an airport in Diyala Province at 5:50am Thursday. The fighters
destroyed three US Bradley armored vehicles, an Abrams tank, and
two Humvees and killed 26 US troops, Mafkarat al-Islam reported. The
capital of Diyala Province is Ba'qubah.
Al-'Alam - Salah ad-Din Province.
Bomb kills three US troops.
An Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded in al-'Alam in Salah ad-Din
Province at 11:30am Thursday, killing three US troops and
wounding one more.
Bayji.
Resistance group reports it liquidated two foreign spies.
A communiqué attributed to the Army of the Partisans of the Sunnah
[Prophet's Practice] published on an internet website stated that
the APS had abducted two members of a foreign intelligence service
belonging to the occupation forces and killed them in the central
Iraqi city of Bayji.
Reuters reported that communiqué as saying that they had captured
the two, one British and the second a Swede working for an
intelligence service in Bayji. Both had been executed, the
communiqué reported.
Reuters stated that a British Foreign Office spokesman said they
had "no details" and the Swedish Foreign Ministry said it had "no
knowledge" of the disappearance of any Swede.
Resistance bombardments on Thursday.
With the first hours of dawn on Thursday Iraqi Resistance forces
in the southern Baghdad suburb of ad-Durah fired eight Katyusha
rockets into the US Sukkaniya base, sending plumes of smoke rising
into the sky from within the facility. Two medevac helicopters
landed and the about 20 minutes later took off, evacuating
casualties.
At about 7am Thursday, Iraqi Resistance forces fired mortar rounds
into the puppet so-called "ministry of petroleum" on Palestine
Street in Baghdad, sending smoke rising into the sky.
At 9:30am Thursday, Iraqi Resistance forces fired Grad rockets into
the US al-Bakr base in Balad, north of Baghdad. Three US medevac
helicopters were seen landing in the camp after the attack.
At 9:30am Thursday, Iraqi Resistance forces fired mortar rounds
into the headquarters of the US-installed puppet "government" on
Palestine Street in Baghdad.
At about 10am Thursday, Iraqi Resistance forces fired five more
mortar rounds into the headquarters of the US-installed puppet
security service on Palestine Street in Baghdad.
At 12 noon Thursday, Iraqi Resistance forces fired two Grad rockets
into the US camp in Saddam Intenational Airport, sending plumes of
smoke rising into the sky.
An Iraqi Resistance Grad rocket blasted into the US occupied
building that formerly housed the Iraqi chief of staff in the
al-'Amiriyah district at 3:20pm Thursday, sending clouds of
smoke rising into the sky.
At 4:40pm Thursday, Iraqi Resistance forces fired two Katyusha
rockets into the US Sukkaniya base in the southern Baghdad suburb
or ad-Durah, sending smoke rising into the sky.
At about 5pm Thursday, Iraqi Resistance forces fired seven mortar
rounds into the US camp in the former Iraqi meat company in
'Uwayrij, south of Baghdad, sending clouds of smoke rising into
the sky.
- Sources
-
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54837
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54836
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54835
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54834
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54833
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54832
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54831
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54829
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54828
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54827
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54826
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54824
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54823
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=54822
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=54809
>>>-----------------------------------------------------------------<<<
>> GIV Mailinglist : http://mailing.giv-seiten.info <<
>>>-----------------------------------------------------------------<<<
http://www.giv-seiten.info/www.giv-archiv.de/2002/Oktober/021031GI.010
>> Kasnazaniya / Casnazaniyyah: http://video.giv-seiten.info <<
>>>-----------------------------------------------------------------<<<
>> Further Informations about Iraq and Palestine: <<
>> <<
>> GIV-Pages Online : http://www.giv-seiten.info <<
>> GIV-Page : http://giv.giv-seiten.info <<
>> Iraq-Page : http://irak.giv-seiten.info <<
>> Jemen-Page : http://jemen.giv-seiten.info <<
>> Jordanien-Page : http://jordanien.giv-seiten.info <<
>> GIV-Archiv : http://archiv.giv-seiten.info <<
>> GIV-Archiv : http://www.giv-archiv.de <<
>>>-----------------------------------------------------------------<<<
|
