SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Military -- Deadly year in Iraq has grown worse as military struggles to adjust tactics: "By Robert Burns | ASSOCIATED PRESS | 10:53 a.m. December 30, 2004
WASHINGTON – By key measures of the level of insurgent violence against American forces in Iraq – numbers of dead, wounded and insurgent attacks – the situation has grown worse since summer.
While those numbers don't tell the full story of the conflict in Iraq, they suggest insurgents are growing more proficient, even as the size of the U.S. force increases and U.S. commanders succeed in soliciting more help from ordinary Iraqis.
For example:
– The U.S. military suffered at least 348 deaths in Iraq over the final four months of the year, more than in any other similar period since the invasion in March 2003.
–The number of wounded surpassed 10,000, with more than a quarter injured in the last four months as direct combat, roadside bombs and suicide attacks escalated. When President Bush declared May 1, 2003, that major combat operations were over, the number wounded stood at just 542.
– The number of attacks on U.S. and allied troops grew from an estimated 1,400 attacks in September to 1,600 in October and 1,950 in November. A year earlier, the attacks numbered 649 in September, 896 in October and 864 in November.
...
U.S. deaths averaged 62 per month through the first half of the year. But since June 28, when U.S. officials restored Iraqi sovereignty and dissolved the U.S. civilian occupation authority, that average has jumped to about 78.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
42 killed in Iraq: 74 since Sunday (3 days)
42 killed in Iraq: "42 killed in Iraq
28/12/2004 20:06 - (SA)
Samarra - At least 42 people were killed in a string of attacks on Iraqi security forces and other targets on Tuesday after Osama bin Laden declared fugitive Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi his 'emir' in the country.
...
The latest bloodshed brought to at least 74 the number of people killed in attacks throughout the country since Sunday evening, including two US soldiers.
28/12/2004 20:06 - (SA)
Samarra - At least 42 people were killed in a string of attacks on Iraqi security forces and other targets on Tuesday after Osama bin Laden declared fugitive Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi his 'emir' in the country.
...
The latest bloodshed brought to at least 74 the number of people killed in attacks throughout the country since Sunday evening, including two US soldiers.
Inside Falluja: 'Nothing to come back to': bodies in houses: 60% to 70% of the homes and buildings are completely crushed
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Inside Falluja: 'Nothing to come back to': "Inside Falluja: 'Nothing to come back to'
Scenes of widespread destruction have greeted residents allowed back into the Iraqi city of Falluja following the US assault in November. BBC News spoke to Dr Saleh Hussein Isawi, the acting director of the Falluja general hospital, who accompanied some of the refugees into the city.
At about 0800 on Friday, the US checkpoint in the west of Falluja agreed that people from the city, especially those who live in the Andalus sector, be allowed inside to see their homes.
I was there, inside the city - about 60% to 70% of the homes and buildings are completely crushed and damaged, and not ready to inhabit at the moment.
Of the 30% still left standing, I don't think there is a single one that has not been exposed to some damage.
One of my colleagues... went to see his home, and saw that it is almost completely collapsed and everything is burnt inside.
When he went to his neighbours' home, he found a relative of his was dead and a dog had eaten the meat off him.
...
There is no water, no electricity, no sewage system - there is nothing inside the city, except a very small amount of medical supplies that have come from Falluja hospital by two ambulances.
Scenes of widespread destruction have greeted residents allowed back into the Iraqi city of Falluja following the US assault in November. BBC News spoke to Dr Saleh Hussein Isawi, the acting director of the Falluja general hospital, who accompanied some of the refugees into the city.
At about 0800 on Friday, the US checkpoint in the west of Falluja agreed that people from the city, especially those who live in the Andalus sector, be allowed inside to see their homes.
I was there, inside the city - about 60% to 70% of the homes and buildings are completely crushed and damaged, and not ready to inhabit at the moment.
Of the 30% still left standing, I don't think there is a single one that has not been exposed to some damage.
One of my colleagues... went to see his home, and saw that it is almost completely collapsed and everything is burnt inside.
When he went to his neighbours' home, he found a relative of his was dead and a dog had eaten the meat off him.
...
There is no water, no electricity, no sewage system - there is nothing inside the city, except a very small amount of medical supplies that have come from Falluja hospital by two ambulances.
Pondering the Slaughter of Innocents
Pondering the Slaughter of Innocents: "December 26, 2004 by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune | by Eric Ringham
The day after Christmas is a good time to ponder the slaughter of innocents. Naja Salman, a girl, age 2, killed by gunfire. Razzaq Salman, a boy, age 11, also gunfire. Rafid Georgis, a boy, 10, dead from a car bomb.
It's hard to come by a good estimate of the total number of Iraqi civilians killed in the current war. But it's easy to find descriptions of individual Iraqi dead, thanks in part to Iraqbodycount.net. Name, age, gender, place and cause of death -- it's all there, a memorial to as many victims as the IBC organization can identify.
,,,
In a war against insurgents, you cannot always tell a combatant from a noncombatant, which is one reason for the confusion about the number of civilian victims in Iraq. Most guesses range between 10,000 and 20,000, though other estimates run much higher. The British medical journal Lancet recently suggested the total may be close to 100,000.
...
"War is waged by adults, but it's the children who suffer the most," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy in a statement last month. She was talking not about deaths, but about health; severe malnutrition has almost doubled since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
That's saying something. Prior to the war, one in eight Iraqi children died before the age of 5. Acute malnutrition was reported at 4 percent. Now that figure stands at 7.7 percent, and the Washington Post reports that an estimated 400,000 children are afflicted by "wasting," with chronic diarrhea and other symptoms. Experts blame dirty water. ...
The day after Christmas is a good time to ponder the slaughter of innocents. Naja Salman, a girl, age 2, killed by gunfire. Razzaq Salman, a boy, age 11, also gunfire. Rafid Georgis, a boy, 10, dead from a car bomb.
It's hard to come by a good estimate of the total number of Iraqi civilians killed in the current war. But it's easy to find descriptions of individual Iraqi dead, thanks in part to Iraqbodycount.net. Name, age, gender, place and cause of death -- it's all there, a memorial to as many victims as the IBC organization can identify.
,,,
In a war against insurgents, you cannot always tell a combatant from a noncombatant, which is one reason for the confusion about the number of civilian victims in Iraq. Most guesses range between 10,000 and 20,000, though other estimates run much higher. The British medical journal Lancet recently suggested the total may be close to 100,000.
...
"War is waged by adults, but it's the children who suffer the most," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy in a statement last month. She was talking not about deaths, but about health; severe malnutrition has almost doubled since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
That's saying something. Prior to the war, one in eight Iraqi children died before the age of 5. Acute malnutrition was reported at 4 percent. Now that figure stands at 7.7 percent, and the Washington Post reports that an estimated 400,000 children are afflicted by "wasting," with chronic diarrhea and other symptoms. Experts blame dirty water. ...
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Mosul: mortar attack: 22 dead, 50 wounded
Excite News: "Pentagon Says 22 Killed, 50 Hurt in Mosul Attack | Dec 21, 9:53 AM (ET)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least 22 people were killed and 50 others wounded in a rocket and mortar attack against a U.S. military base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a Pentagon official said on Tuesday.
The defense official, who asked not to be identified, said it was not yet known how many U.S. troops were among the fatalities in the midday attack on Forward Operating Base Marez. ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least 22 people were killed and 50 others wounded in a rocket and mortar attack against a U.S. military base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a Pentagon official said on Tuesday.
The defense official, who asked not to be identified, said it was not yet known how many U.S. troops were among the fatalities in the midday attack on Forward Operating Base Marez. ...
Monday, December 20, 2004
US Marines 'Traumatised' By Fallujah Assault: haunted by appalling injuries: had orders to shoot all males of fighting age seen on the streets
US Marines 'Traumatised' By Fallujah Assault: "12-19-4 AFP
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - Nearly six weeks after US marines stormed the rebel enclave of Fallujah, military psychologists are still seeing a steady stream of service personnel traumatised by the long days and nights of ferocious street fighting.
...
The marines lost more than 50 dead and hundreds wounded, some of them seriously, in the huge assault launched on November 8, the largest since last year's invasion.
The US-backed government put rebel losses at more than 2,000, although unit commanders later revealed their troops had orders to shoot all males of fighting age seen on the streets, armed or unarmed, and ruined homes across the city attest to a strategy of overwhelming force.
The marines who seek help can be haunted by the sight of appalling injuries, the screams of wounded comrades, the fear of death, or simply the chaotic hell of combat, the psychologists say.
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - Nearly six weeks after US marines stormed the rebel enclave of Fallujah, military psychologists are still seeing a steady stream of service personnel traumatised by the long days and nights of ferocious street fighting.
...
The marines lost more than 50 dead and hundreds wounded, some of them seriously, in the huge assault launched on November 8, the largest since last year's invasion.
The US-backed government put rebel losses at more than 2,000, although unit commanders later revealed their troops had orders to shoot all males of fighting age seen on the streets, armed or unarmed, and ruined homes across the city attest to a strategy of overwhelming force.
The marines who seek help can be haunted by the sight of appalling injuries, the screams of wounded comrades, the fear of death, or simply the chaotic hell of combat, the psychologists say.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Surgical air strikes
US Air strike on Iraqi civilians: "US Air strike on Iraqi civilians
Tall Afar, Falluja, Samarra, Baghdad
www.albasrah.net"
Tall Afar, Falluja, Samarra, Baghdad
www.albasrah.net"
Najaf, Baghdad: insurgent raids: 60 dead, 120 wounded [... US insecurity}
Excite News: "60 Killed, 120 Wounded in Iraq Car Blasts | Dec 19, 9:33 PM (ET) | By ABDUL HUSSEIN AL-OBEIDI
NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Car bombs tore through a Najaf funeral procession and Karbala's main bus station Sunday, killing at least 60 people and wounding more than 120 in the two Shiite holy cities. In Baghdad, gunmen launched a bold ambush, executing three election officials, in their campaign to disrupt next month's parliamentary ballot.
The deadly strikes highlighted the apparent ability of the insurgents to launch attacks almost at will, despite confident assessments by U.S. military commanders that they had regained the initiative after last month's campaign against militants in Fallujah.
In the Baghdad attack, dozens of guerrillas - unmasked and apparently unafraid to show their faces - ran rampant over Haifa Street, a main downtown thoroughfare. They dragged the three election ...
NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Car bombs tore through a Najaf funeral procession and Karbala's main bus station Sunday, killing at least 60 people and wounding more than 120 in the two Shiite holy cities. In Baghdad, gunmen launched a bold ambush, executing three election officials, in their campaign to disrupt next month's parliamentary ballot.
The deadly strikes highlighted the apparent ability of the insurgents to launch attacks almost at will, despite confident assessments by U.S. military commanders that they had regained the initiative after last month's campaign against militants in Fallujah.
In the Baghdad attack, dozens of guerrillas - unmasked and apparently unafraid to show their faces - ran rampant over Haifa Street, a main downtown thoroughfare. They dragged the three election ...
Thursday, December 16, 2004
The New York Times > National > A Flood of Troubled Soldiers Is in the Offing, Experts Predict
The New York Times > National > A Flood of Troubled Soldiers Is in the Offing, Experts Predict: "By SCOTT SHANE | Published: December 16, 2004
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - The nation's hard-pressed health care system for veterans is facing a potential deluge of tens of thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq with serious mental health problems brought on by the stress and carnage of war, veterans' advocates and military doctors say.
An Army study shows that about one in six soldiers in Iraq report symptoms of major depression, serious anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, a proportion that some experts believe could eventually climb to one in three, the rate ultimately found in Vietnam veterans. Because about one million American troops have served so far in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Pentagon figures, some experts predict that the number eventually requiring mental health treatment could exceed 100,000.
"There's a train coming that's packed with people who are going to need help for the next 35 years," said Stephen L. Robinson, a 20-year Army veteran who is now the executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, ...
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - The nation's hard-pressed health care system for veterans is facing a potential deluge of tens of thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq with serious mental health problems brought on by the stress and carnage of war, veterans' advocates and military doctors say.
An Army study shows that about one in six soldiers in Iraq report symptoms of major depression, serious anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, a proportion that some experts believe could eventually climb to one in three, the rate ultimately found in Vietnam veterans. Because about one million American troops have served so far in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Pentagon figures, some experts predict that the number eventually requiring mental health treatment could exceed 100,000.
"There's a train coming that's packed with people who are going to need help for the next 35 years," said Stephen L. Robinson, a 20-year Army veteran who is now the executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, ...
Monday, December 13, 2004
Amputation Rate for US Troops Twice That of Past Wars
Amputation Rate for US Troops Twice That of Past Wars :: VAIW :: Veterans Against The Iraq War: "By Raja Mishra | Boston Globe, December 9, 2004"
Much attention has focused on the 1,000-plus soldiers killed in Iraq, but the Pentagon has released little information on the 9,765 soldiers injured as of this week.
US troops injured in Iraq have required limb amputations at twice the rate of past wars, and as many as 20 percent have suffered head and neck injuries that may require a lifetime of care, according to new data giving the clearest picture yet of the severity of battlefield wounds.
The data are the grisly flip side of improvements in battlefield medicine that have saved many combatants who would have died in the past: Only 1 in 10 US troops injured in Iraq has died, the lowest rate of any war in US history.
But those who survive have much more grievous wounds. Bulletproof Kevlar vests protect soldiers' bodies but not their limbs, as insurgent snipers and makeshift bombs tear off arms and legs and rip into faces and necks. More than half of those injured sustain wounds so serious they cannot return to duty, according to Pentagon statistics.
Much attention has focused on the 1,000-plus soldiers killed in Iraq, but the Pentagon has released little information on the 9,765 soldiers injured as of this week.
US troops injured in Iraq have required limb amputations at twice the rate of past wars, and as many as 20 percent have suffered head and neck injuries that may require a lifetime of care, according to new data giving the clearest picture yet of the severity of battlefield wounds.
The data are the grisly flip side of improvements in battlefield medicine that have saved many combatants who would have died in the past: Only 1 in 10 US troops injured in Iraq has died, the lowest rate of any war in US history.
But those who survive have much more grievous wounds. Bulletproof Kevlar vests protect soldiers' bodies but not their limbs, as insurgent snipers and makeshift bombs tear off arms and legs and rip into faces and necks. More than half of those injured sustain wounds so serious they cannot return to duty, according to Pentagon statistics.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
US soldiers would kill civilians: estimated his unit killed more than 30 civilians in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad
News: "US soldiers would kill civilians, says Marine | By Andrew Buncombe in Washington | 09 December 2004
A former US Marine has claimed that he saw American troops in Iraq routinely kill unarmed civilians, including women and children. He said he had also witnessed troops killing injured Iraqi insurgents.
Jimmy Massey, 33, a staff sergeant who served in Iraq before being honourably discharged after 12 years' service, said he had seen troops shooting civilians at road blocks and in the street. A code of silence, similar to that found in organised crime gangs, prevented troops from speaking about it.
"We were shooting up people as they got out of their cars trying to put their hands up," said Mr Massey. "I don't know if the Iraqis thought we were celebrating their new democracy. I do know that we killed innocent civilians." Mr Massey said US troops in Iraq were trained to believe that all Iraqis were potential terrorists. As a result, he had watched his colleagues open fire indiscriminately. In one 48-hour period, he estimated his unit killed more than 30 civilians in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. ...
A former US Marine has claimed that he saw American troops in Iraq routinely kill unarmed civilians, including women and children. He said he had also witnessed troops killing injured Iraqi insurgents.
Jimmy Massey, 33, a staff sergeant who served in Iraq before being honourably discharged after 12 years' service, said he had seen troops shooting civilians at road blocks and in the street. A code of silence, similar to that found in organised crime gangs, prevented troops from speaking about it.
"We were shooting up people as they got out of their cars trying to put their hands up," said Mr Massey. "I don't know if the Iraqis thought we were celebrating their new democracy. I do know that we killed innocent civilians." Mr Massey said US troops in Iraq were trained to believe that all Iraqis were potential terrorists. As a result, he had watched his colleagues open fire indiscriminately. In one 48-hour period, he estimated his unit killed more than 30 civilians in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. ...
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
More artillery, tanks, machine gun fire, death-dealing fighter planes terminating whole city blocks ...
(DV) hEkLe: Letter from a GI in Falluja: "“This Wasn’t a War, It Was a Massacre” | by hEkLe | www.dissidentvoice.org | December 6, 2004 | First Published in GI Special
...
I was in Falluja during the last two days of the final assault.
My mission was much different from that of the brave and weary infantry and Marines involved in the major fighting.
I was on an escort mission, accompanied by a squad whose task it was to protect a high brass figure in the combat zone.
...
This particularly arrogant officer went to the last battle in the same spirit of an impartial spectator checking out the fourth quarter of a high school football game.
Once we got to the Marine-occupied Camp Falluja and saw artillery being fired into town, the man suddenly became desperate to play an active role in the battle that would render Falluja to ashes. It was already rumored that all he really wanted was his trigger time, perhaps to prove that he is the toughest cowboy west of the Euphrates.
...
The younger soldiers who grew up in relatively peaceful times interpret the mentality of the careerists as one of making up for lost opportunities. To the elder generation of trigger pullers, this is the real deal; the chance to use all the cool toys and high speed training that has been stored away since the ’70s for something tangibly useful...and it’s about goddamn time.
...
The fighter jets were right on time and made their grand appearance with a series of massive air strikes. Between the pernicious bombs and fierce artillery, the sky seemed as though it were on fire for several minutes at a time. First, you would see a blaze of light in the horizon, like lightning hitting a dynamite warehouse, and then hear the massive explosion that would turn your stomach, rattle your eyeballs and compress itself deep within your lungs. Although these massive bombs were being dropped no further than five kilometers away, it felt like it was happening right in front of your face.
...
More artillery, more tanks, more machine gun fire, ominous death-dealing fighter planes terminating whole city blocks at a time...this wasn’t a war, it was a massacre!
As I look back on the air strikes that lasted well into the next morning, I cannot help but be both amazed by our modern technology and disgusted by its means.
...
We reduced Falluja to rubble. We claimed victory and told the world we held Falluja under total and complete control. Our military claimed very few civilian casualties and listed thousands of insurgents dead. CNN and Fox News harped and cheered on the television that the battle of Falluja would go down in history as a complete success, and a testament to the United States’ supremacy on the modern battlefield.
...
hEkLe is a pseudonym for an American soldier currently serving in Iraq. hEkLe and several fellow soldiers have a Web log that they regularly update with essays at www.ftssoldier.blogspot.com.
...
I was in Falluja during the last two days of the final assault.
My mission was much different from that of the brave and weary infantry and Marines involved in the major fighting.
I was on an escort mission, accompanied by a squad whose task it was to protect a high brass figure in the combat zone.
...
This particularly arrogant officer went to the last battle in the same spirit of an impartial spectator checking out the fourth quarter of a high school football game.
Once we got to the Marine-occupied Camp Falluja and saw artillery being fired into town, the man suddenly became desperate to play an active role in the battle that would render Falluja to ashes. It was already rumored that all he really wanted was his trigger time, perhaps to prove that he is the toughest cowboy west of the Euphrates.
...
The younger soldiers who grew up in relatively peaceful times interpret the mentality of the careerists as one of making up for lost opportunities. To the elder generation of trigger pullers, this is the real deal; the chance to use all the cool toys and high speed training that has been stored away since the ’70s for something tangibly useful...and it’s about goddamn time.
...
The fighter jets were right on time and made their grand appearance with a series of massive air strikes. Between the pernicious bombs and fierce artillery, the sky seemed as though it were on fire for several minutes at a time. First, you would see a blaze of light in the horizon, like lightning hitting a dynamite warehouse, and then hear the massive explosion that would turn your stomach, rattle your eyeballs and compress itself deep within your lungs. Although these massive bombs were being dropped no further than five kilometers away, it felt like it was happening right in front of your face.
...
More artillery, more tanks, more machine gun fire, ominous death-dealing fighter planes terminating whole city blocks at a time...this wasn’t a war, it was a massacre!
As I look back on the air strikes that lasted well into the next morning, I cannot help but be both amazed by our modern technology and disgusted by its means.
...
We reduced Falluja to rubble. We claimed victory and told the world we held Falluja under total and complete control. Our military claimed very few civilian casualties and listed thousands of insurgents dead. CNN and Fox News harped and cheered on the television that the battle of Falluja would go down in history as a complete success, and a testament to the United States’ supremacy on the modern battlefield.
...
hEkLe is a pseudonym for an American soldier currently serving in Iraq. hEkLe and several fellow soldiers have a Web log that they regularly update with essays at www.ftssoldier.blogspot.com.
US soldiers in Iraq have nearly a one-in-ten chance of getting killed, physically wounded, or psychologically traumatized
GI Special 2#C33: Marine Fighting Iraq War: "U.S. Casualties Running At 9%
11.27.04 Critical Montages
The total number of casualties is about 25,000, plus the more than 1,200 killed. Since about 300,000 men and women have served in Iraq, it makes for a casualty rate of about 9%. (emphasis added, Editor & Publisher, 'Press Routinely Undercounts U.S. Casualties in Iraq,' November 25, 2004)
In other words, US soldiers deployed in Iraq have nearly a one-in-ten chance of getting killed, physically wounded, or psychologically traumatized."
11.27.04 Critical Montages
The total number of casualties is about 25,000, plus the more than 1,200 killed. Since about 300,000 men and women have served in Iraq, it makes for a casualty rate of about 9%. (emphasis added, Editor & Publisher, 'Press Routinely Undercounts U.S. Casualties in Iraq,' November 25, 2004)
In other words, US soldiers deployed in Iraq have nearly a one-in-ten chance of getting killed, physically wounded, or psychologically traumatized."
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Navy Probes New Iraq Prisoner Photos
Navy Probes New Iraq Prisoner Photos: "Saturday, December 4, 2004 by the Associated Press | by Seth Hettena
CORONADO, Calif. - The U.S. military has launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head.
Some of the photos have date stamps suggesting they were taken in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of possible abuse of prisoners in Iraq. The far more brutal practices photographed in Abu Ghraib prison occurred months later.
An Associated Press reporter found more than 40 of the pictures among hundreds in an album posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site by a woman who said her husband brought them from Iraq after his tour of duty. It is unclear who took the pictures, which the Navy said it was investigating after the AP furnished copies to get comment for this story. "
CORONADO, Calif. - The U.S. military has launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head.
Some of the photos have date stamps suggesting they were taken in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of possible abuse of prisoners in Iraq. The far more brutal practices photographed in Abu Ghraib prison occurred months later.
An Associated Press reporter found more than 40 of the pictures among hundreds in an album posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site by a woman who said her husband brought them from Iraq after his tour of duty. It is unclear who took the pictures, which the Navy said it was investigating after the AP furnished copies to get comment for this story. "
Friday, December 03, 2004
Hamas will accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a long-term truce with Israel
Excite News: "Hamas May Accept Statehood in West Bank | Dec 3, 1:32 PM (ET) | By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - The militant group Hamas will accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a long-term truce with Israel, a leader said Friday, apparently softening Hamas' hardline stance and boosting hopes for renewed peace efforts after Yasser Arafat's death.
Sheik Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas official in the West Bank, told The Associated Press he sees a truce in which Israel and a Palestinian state "live side-by-side in peace and security for a certain period."
Yousef's statements signal an apparent reversal of policy for Hamas, which has long sought to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic Palestinian state. The group has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks during the past four years.
...
"Hamas has announced that it accepts a Palestinian independent state within the 1967 borders with a long-term truce," Yousef said, referring to lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
...
"For us a truce means that two warring parties live side-by-side in peace and security for a certain period and this period is eligible for renewal," Yousef said. "That means Hamas accepts that the other party will live in security and peace."
...
Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said Thursday that cease-fire negotiations could begin next week.
"If the Israelis stop their aggression against our people, I think through the negotiations ... we can reach a final agreement," he said.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - The militant group Hamas will accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a long-term truce with Israel, a leader said Friday, apparently softening Hamas' hardline stance and boosting hopes for renewed peace efforts after Yasser Arafat's death.
Sheik Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas official in the West Bank, told The Associated Press he sees a truce in which Israel and a Palestinian state "live side-by-side in peace and security for a certain period."
Yousef's statements signal an apparent reversal of policy for Hamas, which has long sought to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic Palestinian state. The group has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks during the past four years.
...
"Hamas has announced that it accepts a Palestinian independent state within the 1967 borders with a long-term truce," Yousef said, referring to lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
...
"For us a truce means that two warring parties live side-by-side in peace and security for a certain period and this period is eligible for renewal," Yousef said. "That means Hamas accepts that the other party will live in security and peace."
...
Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said Thursday that cease-fire negotiations could begin next week.
"If the Israelis stop their aggression against our people, I think through the negotiations ... we can reach a final agreement," he said.
Twin Attacks in Iraq Kill at Least 30
Twin Attacks in Iraq Kill at Least 30 (washingtonpost.com): "By Scott Wilson | Washington Post Foreign Service | Friday, December 3, 2004; 11:46 AM
BAGHDAD, Dec. 3 -- Iraqi insurgents staged nearly simultaneous attacks Friday morning on police stations at opposite ends of Baghdad, killing at least 30 people, freeing dozens of prisoners and emptying a police arsenal in a demonstration of the militants' strength in the heart of the country.
Hours later insurgents rose up in Mosul, overrunning many points in the western sector of Iraq's third-largest city. "
BAGHDAD, Dec. 3 -- Iraqi insurgents staged nearly simultaneous attacks Friday morning on police stations at opposite ends of Baghdad, killing at least 30 people, freeing dozens of prisoners and emptying a police arsenal in a demonstration of the militants' strength in the heart of the country.
Hours later insurgents rose up in Mosul, overrunning many points in the western sector of Iraq's third-largest city. "
Iraq's civilian dead get no hearing in the United States: no civilian deaths, because there are no Iraqi civilians, only insurgents.
The Daily Star - Opinion Articles - Iraq's civilian dead get no hearing in the United States: "By Jeffrey D. Sachs | Thursday, December 02, 2004
Evidence is mounting that America's war in Iraq has killed tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and perhaps well over 100,000. Yet this carnage is systematically ignored in the United States, where the media and government portray a war in which there are no civilian deaths, because there are no Iraqi civilians, only insurgents.
American behavior and self-perceptions reveal the ease with which a civilized country can engage in large-scale killing of civilians without public discussion. In late October, the British medical journal Lancet published a study of civilian deaths in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion began. The sample survey documented an extra 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths compared to the death rate in the preceding year, when Saddam Hussein was still in power - and this estimate did not even count excess deaths in Fallujah, which was deemed too dangerous to include.
The study also noted that the majority of deaths resulted from violence, and that a high proportion of the violent deaths were due to U.S. aerial bombing. The epidemiologists acknowledged the uncertainties of these estimates, but presented enough data to warrant an urgent follow-up investigation and reconsideration by the Bush administration and the U.S. military of aerial bombing of Iraq's urban areas.
America's public reaction has been as remarkable as the Lancet study, for the reaction has been no reaction. ...
...
Recent reporting on the bombing of Fallujah has also been an exercise in self-denial. On Nov. 6, The New York Times wrote that "warplanes pounded rebel positions" in Fallujah, without noting that "rebel positions" were actually in civilian neighborhoods. Another story in The Times on Nov. 12, citing "military officials," dutifully reported: "Since the assault began on Monday, about 600 rebels have been killed, along with 18 American and 5 Iraqi soldiers." The issue of civilian deaths was not even raised. ...
...
... The Wall Street Journal actually wrote an editorial on Nov. 18 that criticized the critics, noting that whatever the U.S. did, its enemies in Iraq did worse, as if this excused American abuses.
Evidence is mounting that America's war in Iraq has killed tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and perhaps well over 100,000. Yet this carnage is systematically ignored in the United States, where the media and government portray a war in which there are no civilian deaths, because there are no Iraqi civilians, only insurgents.
American behavior and self-perceptions reveal the ease with which a civilized country can engage in large-scale killing of civilians without public discussion. In late October, the British medical journal Lancet published a study of civilian deaths in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion began. The sample survey documented an extra 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths compared to the death rate in the preceding year, when Saddam Hussein was still in power - and this estimate did not even count excess deaths in Fallujah, which was deemed too dangerous to include.
The study also noted that the majority of deaths resulted from violence, and that a high proportion of the violent deaths were due to U.S. aerial bombing. The epidemiologists acknowledged the uncertainties of these estimates, but presented enough data to warrant an urgent follow-up investigation and reconsideration by the Bush administration and the U.S. military of aerial bombing of Iraq's urban areas.
America's public reaction has been as remarkable as the Lancet study, for the reaction has been no reaction. ...
...
Recent reporting on the bombing of Fallujah has also been an exercise in self-denial. On Nov. 6, The New York Times wrote that "warplanes pounded rebel positions" in Fallujah, without noting that "rebel positions" were actually in civilian neighborhoods. Another story in The Times on Nov. 12, citing "military officials," dutifully reported: "Since the assault began on Monday, about 600 rebels have been killed, along with 18 American and 5 Iraqi soldiers." The issue of civilian deaths was not even raised. ...
...
... The Wall Street Journal actually wrote an editorial on Nov. 18 that criticized the critics, noting that whatever the U.S. did, its enemies in Iraq did worse, as if this excused American abuses.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
August 2002: 10 suspicious deaths, August 2003: 518 murders in a similar four week period
Times Online - World: "November 27, 2004 | 6,635 bodies in Baghdad mortuary: counting cost of crime and chaos | From Anthony Loyd in Baghdad
...
Figures compiled at the central mortuary, on file and indisputable, shine a light through the murk of estimate and rumour surrounding casualty rates in Iraq. Of the 6,635 suspicious deaths in Baghdad recorded this year at the city’s Medical-Legal Institute, the complex incorporating the central mortuary, more than 75 per cent were killed by a bullet. Stabbing is the next most common cause of death.
October’s figures include 726 suspicious deaths, of which 494 were caused by gunfire. The vast majority did not die for reasons directly related to the insurgency but as the result of the crimewave scourging the capital’s streets.
The institute’s deputy director, Abdul Razzaq al-Ubaidi, said: “Vengeance killings, kidnap victims, gang war, robberies — we don’t deal with bodies whose cause of death is already known by the police, for example those killed in bombings.”
The mortuary staff cannot agree whether the present situation could be described as better or worse than that which existed under Saddam Hussein. In August 2002, ten suspicious deaths led to post-mortem examinations. In August 2003, post-Saddam, 518 murders were recorded in the city in a similar four-week period. But the staff also remember when hundreds of victims of mass execution were dumped by the Baathist authorities at the mortuary and relatives were too frightened to collect them.
...
Figures compiled at the central mortuary, on file and indisputable, shine a light through the murk of estimate and rumour surrounding casualty rates in Iraq. Of the 6,635 suspicious deaths in Baghdad recorded this year at the city’s Medical-Legal Institute, the complex incorporating the central mortuary, more than 75 per cent were killed by a bullet. Stabbing is the next most common cause of death.
October’s figures include 726 suspicious deaths, of which 494 were caused by gunfire. The vast majority did not die for reasons directly related to the insurgency but as the result of the crimewave scourging the capital’s streets.
The institute’s deputy director, Abdul Razzaq al-Ubaidi, said: “Vengeance killings, kidnap victims, gang war, robberies — we don’t deal with bodies whose cause of death is already known by the police, for example those killed in bombings.”
The mortuary staff cannot agree whether the present situation could be described as better or worse than that which existed under Saddam Hussein. In August 2002, ten suspicious deaths led to post-mortem examinations. In August 2003, post-Saddam, 518 murders were recorded in the city in a similar four-week period. But the staff also remember when hundreds of victims of mass execution were dumped by the Baathist authorities at the mortuary and relatives were too frightened to collect them.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
20,802 US Soldiers Heavily Wounded went through German hospital: offical total in 8458 ... ["we don't do bodycounts" ... accurately?]
20,802 US Soldiers Heavily Wounded (mparent7777.blog-city.com): "Raed in the Middle | November 24, 2004
believe it or not... Can anyone believe how dirty and dishonorable the US administration is? The official number of
US soldiers wounded in Iraq that was announced by the US DOD (department of defense) is 8458 in Iraq (http://icasualties.org/oif/ ) and 423 in Afghanistan (http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html#methodology ).
Can anyone believe that the US military hospital at Germany (alone), the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, announced that 20,802 troops have been treated at Landstuhl from injuries received in "Operations Iraqi Freedom" (occupying Iraq) and "Enduring Freedom" (occupying Afghanistan).
The interesting part of the news that I didn't find these numbers on AlJazeera (the No.1 enemy of Rumy and other little bush supporters). These Numbers were published by the well-known, Department of Defense-authorized daily newspaper distributed overseas for the U.S. military community, "Stars and Stripes": http://www.stripes.com/about/aboutstripes.html
More than 17,200 from these soldiers were injured in Iraq, and more than 3,000 were injured in Afghanistan as I read in a local newspaper: http://www.assabeel.net/
These numbers are just for the US soldiers that were moved to Germany. There are other thousands that were injured inside Iraq and Afghanistan and treated in small local military clinics and hospitals, or moved to other US military hospitals.
believe it or not... Can anyone believe how dirty and dishonorable the US administration is? The official number of
US soldiers wounded in Iraq that was announced by the US DOD (department of defense) is 8458 in Iraq (http://icasualties.org/oif/ ) and 423 in Afghanistan (http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html#methodology ).
Can anyone believe that the US military hospital at Germany (alone), the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, announced that 20,802 troops have been treated at Landstuhl from injuries received in "Operations Iraqi Freedom" (occupying Iraq) and "Enduring Freedom" (occupying Afghanistan).
The interesting part of the news that I didn't find these numbers on AlJazeera (the No.1 enemy of Rumy and other little bush supporters). These Numbers were published by the well-known, Department of Defense-authorized daily newspaper distributed overseas for the U.S. military community, "Stars and Stripes": http://www.stripes.com/about/aboutstripes.html
More than 17,200 from these soldiers were injured in Iraq, and more than 3,000 were injured in Afghanistan as I read in a local newspaper: http://www.assabeel.net/
These numbers are just for the US soldiers that were moved to Germany. There are other thousands that were injured inside Iraq and Afghanistan and treated in small local military clinics and hospitals, or moved to other US military hospitals.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
'Something was not right': Kevin Sites talks about the killing of the Iraqi on camera
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | 'Something was not right': Cameraman tells Falluja marines why he broadcast controversial shooting | Tuesday November 23, 2004 |
The Guardian
The broadcast last week of footage showing a US marine shooting an injured Iraqi fighter in Falluja caused an international outcry. Yesterday the cameraman, Kevin Sites, published on his website [www.kevinsites.net] this open letter to the marines with whom he had been embedded."
...
As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a "gotcha" reporter - hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it.
This week I've been shocked to see myself painted as some kind of anti-war activist. Anyone who has seen my reporting on television or has read my dispatches on the web is fully aware of the lengths I've gone to to play it straight down the middle - not to become a tool of propaganda for the left or the right. But I find myself a lightning rod for controversy in reporting what I saw occur in front of me, camera rolling.
...
'Something was not right'
Cameraman tells Falluja marines why he broadcast controversial shooting
Tuesday November 23, 2004
The Guardian
The broadcast last week of footage showing a US marine shooting an injured Iraqi fighter in Falluja caused an international outcry. Yesterday the cameraman, Kevin Sites, published on his website this open letter to the marines with whom he had been embedded.
Since the shooting in the mosque, I've been haunted that I have not been able to tell you directly what I saw or explain the process by which the world came to see it as well.
As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a "gotcha" reporter - hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it.
This week I've been shocked to see myself painted as some kind of anti-war activist. Anyone who has seen my reporting on television or has read my dispatches on the web is fully aware of the lengths I've gone to to play it straight down the middle - not to become a tool of propaganda for the left or the right. But I find myself a lightning rod for controversy in reporting what I saw occur in front of me, camera rolling.
It's time for you to have the facts, in my own words, about what I saw, without imposing on that marine guilt or innocence or anything in between. I want you to read my account and make up your own minds. Here it goes.
It's Saturday morning and we're still at our strong point from the night before, a clearing between a set of buildings on the southern edge of the city. The advance has been swift, but pockets of resistance still exist. In fact, we're taking sniper fire from both the front and the rear.
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Weapons Company uses its 81's (mortars) where they spot muzzle flashes. The tanks do some blasting of their own. By mid-morning, we're told we're moving north again. We'll be back clearing some of the area we passed yesterday. There are also reports that the mosque, where 10 insurgents were killed and five wounded on Friday, may have been re-occupied overnight.
I decide to leave you guys and pick up with one of the infantry squads as they move house-to-house back toward the mosque. Many of the structures are empty of people - but full of weapons. Outside one residence, a member of the squad lobs a frag grenade over the wall. Everyone piles in, including me.
While the marines go into the house, I follow the flames caused by the grenade into the courtyard. When the smoke clears, I can see through my viewfinder that the fire is burning beside a large pile of anti-aircraft rounds.
I yell to the lieutenant that we need to move. Almost immediately after clearing out of the house, small explosions begin as the rounds cook off in the fire.
At that point, we hear the tanks firing their 240-machine guns into the mosque. There's radio chatter that insurgents inside could be shooting back. The tanks cease fire and we file through a breach in the outer wall.
We hear gunshots that seem to becoming from inside the mosque. A marine from my squad yells, "Are there marines in here?"
When we arrive at the front entrance, we see that another squad has already entered before us.
The lieutenant asks them, "Are there people inside?"
One of the marines raises his hand signaling five.
"Did you shoot them," the lieutenant asks?
"Roger that, sir, " the same marine responds.
"Were they armed?" The marine just shrugs and we all move inside.
Immediately after going in, I see the same black plastic body bags spread around the mosque. The dead from the day before. But more surprising, I see the same five men that were wounded from Friday as well. It appears that one of them is now dead and three are bleeding to death from new gunshot wounds.
The fifth is partially covered by a blanket and is in the same place and condition he was in on Friday, near a column. He has not been shot again. I look closely at both the dead and the wounded. There don't appear to be any weapons anywhere.
"These were the same wounded from yesterday," I say to the lieutenant. He takes a look around and goes outside the mosque with his radio operator to call in the situation to Battalion Forward HQ.
I see an old man in a red kaffiyeh lying against the back wall. Another is face down next to him, his hand on the old man's lap - as if he were trying to take cover. I squat beside them, inches away and begin to videotape them. Then I notice that the blood coming from the old man's nose is bubbling. A sign he is still breathing. So is the man next to him.
While I continue to tape, a marine walks up to the other two bodies about 15 feet away, but also lying against the same back wall.
Then I hear him say this about one of the men:
"He's fucking faking he's dead - he's faking he's fucking dead."
Through my viewfinder I can see him raise the muzzle of his rifle in the direction of the wounded Iraqi. There are no sudden movements, no reaching or lunging.
However, the marine could legitimately believe the man poses some kind of danger. Maybe he's going to cover him while another marine searches for weapons.
Instead, he pulls the trigger. There is a small splatter against the back wall and the man's leg slumps down.
"Well he's dead now," says another marine in the background.
I am still rolling. I feel the deep pit of my stomach. The marine then abruptly turns away and strides away, right past the fifth wounded insurgent lying next to a column. He is very much alive and peering from his blanket.
He is moving, even trying to talk. But for some reason, it seems he did not pose the same apparent "danger" as the other man - though he may have been more capable of hiding a weapon or explosive beneath his blanket.
But then two other marines in the room raise their weapons as the man tries to talk.
For a moment, I'm paralysed still taping with the old man in the foreground. I get up after a beat and tell the marines again, what I had told the lieutenant - that this man - all of these wounded men - were the same ones from yesterday. That they had been disarmed treated and left here.
At that point the marine who fired the shot became aware that I was in the room. He came up to me and said, "I didn't know sir - I didn't know." The anger that seemed present just moments before turned to fear and dread.
The wounded man then tries again to talk to me in Arabic.
He says, "Yesterday I was shot ... please ... yesterday I was shot over there - and talked to all of you on camera - I am one of the guys from this whole group. I gave you information. Do you speak Arabic? I want to give you information."
...
So here, ultimately, is how it all plays out: when the Iraqi man in the mosque posed a threat, he was your enemy; when he was subdued he was your responsibility; when he was killed in front of my eyes and my camera - the story of his death became my responsibility.
The burdens of war, as you so well know, are unforgiving for all of us.
The Guardian
The broadcast last week of footage showing a US marine shooting an injured Iraqi fighter in Falluja caused an international outcry. Yesterday the cameraman, Kevin Sites, published on his website [www.kevinsites.net] this open letter to the marines with whom he had been embedded."
...
As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a "gotcha" reporter - hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it.
This week I've been shocked to see myself painted as some kind of anti-war activist. Anyone who has seen my reporting on television or has read my dispatches on the web is fully aware of the lengths I've gone to to play it straight down the middle - not to become a tool of propaganda for the left or the right. But I find myself a lightning rod for controversy in reporting what I saw occur in front of me, camera rolling.
...
'Something was not right'
Cameraman tells Falluja marines why he broadcast controversial shooting
Tuesday November 23, 2004
The Guardian
The broadcast last week of footage showing a US marine shooting an injured Iraqi fighter in Falluja caused an international outcry. Yesterday the cameraman, Kevin Sites, published on his website this open letter to the marines with whom he had been embedded.
Since the shooting in the mosque, I've been haunted that I have not been able to tell you directly what I saw or explain the process by which the world came to see it as well.
As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a "gotcha" reporter - hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it.
This week I've been shocked to see myself painted as some kind of anti-war activist. Anyone who has seen my reporting on television or has read my dispatches on the web is fully aware of the lengths I've gone to to play it straight down the middle - not to become a tool of propaganda for the left or the right. But I find myself a lightning rod for controversy in reporting what I saw occur in front of me, camera rolling.
It's time for you to have the facts, in my own words, about what I saw, without imposing on that marine guilt or innocence or anything in between. I want you to read my account and make up your own minds. Here it goes.
It's Saturday morning and we're still at our strong point from the night before, a clearing between a set of buildings on the southern edge of the city. The advance has been swift, but pockets of resistance still exist. In fact, we're taking sniper fire from both the front and the rear.
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Ski.com provides holiday and skiing vacation travel packages...
ski.com
Skiing Equipment Shipped Free
Back Country Outlet carries a wide range of outdoor and...
backcountryoutlet.com
Free Shipping on All Skiing Equipment
Backcountry.com has the skis, boots and clothing from great...
backcountry.com
Weapons Company uses its 81's (mortars) where they spot muzzle flashes. The tanks do some blasting of their own. By mid-morning, we're told we're moving north again. We'll be back clearing some of the area we passed yesterday. There are also reports that the mosque, where 10 insurgents were killed and five wounded on Friday, may have been re-occupied overnight.
I decide to leave you guys and pick up with one of the infantry squads as they move house-to-house back toward the mosque. Many of the structures are empty of people - but full of weapons. Outside one residence, a member of the squad lobs a frag grenade over the wall. Everyone piles in, including me.
While the marines go into the house, I follow the flames caused by the grenade into the courtyard. When the smoke clears, I can see through my viewfinder that the fire is burning beside a large pile of anti-aircraft rounds.
I yell to the lieutenant that we need to move. Almost immediately after clearing out of the house, small explosions begin as the rounds cook off in the fire.
At that point, we hear the tanks firing their 240-machine guns into the mosque. There's radio chatter that insurgents inside could be shooting back. The tanks cease fire and we file through a breach in the outer wall.
We hear gunshots that seem to becoming from inside the mosque. A marine from my squad yells, "Are there marines in here?"
When we arrive at the front entrance, we see that another squad has already entered before us.
The lieutenant asks them, "Are there people inside?"
One of the marines raises his hand signaling five.
"Did you shoot them," the lieutenant asks?
"Roger that, sir, " the same marine responds.
"Were they armed?" The marine just shrugs and we all move inside.
Immediately after going in, I see the same black plastic body bags spread around the mosque. The dead from the day before. But more surprising, I see the same five men that were wounded from Friday as well. It appears that one of them is now dead and three are bleeding to death from new gunshot wounds.
The fifth is partially covered by a blanket and is in the same place and condition he was in on Friday, near a column. He has not been shot again. I look closely at both the dead and the wounded. There don't appear to be any weapons anywhere.
"These were the same wounded from yesterday," I say to the lieutenant. He takes a look around and goes outside the mosque with his radio operator to call in the situation to Battalion Forward HQ.
I see an old man in a red kaffiyeh lying against the back wall. Another is face down next to him, his hand on the old man's lap - as if he were trying to take cover. I squat beside them, inches away and begin to videotape them. Then I notice that the blood coming from the old man's nose is bubbling. A sign he is still breathing. So is the man next to him.
While I continue to tape, a marine walks up to the other two bodies about 15 feet away, but also lying against the same back wall.
Then I hear him say this about one of the men:
"He's fucking faking he's dead - he's faking he's fucking dead."
Through my viewfinder I can see him raise the muzzle of his rifle in the direction of the wounded Iraqi. There are no sudden movements, no reaching or lunging.
However, the marine could legitimately believe the man poses some kind of danger. Maybe he's going to cover him while another marine searches for weapons.
Instead, he pulls the trigger. There is a small splatter against the back wall and the man's leg slumps down.
"Well he's dead now," says another marine in the background.
I am still rolling. I feel the deep pit of my stomach. The marine then abruptly turns away and strides away, right past the fifth wounded insurgent lying next to a column. He is very much alive and peering from his blanket.
He is moving, even trying to talk. But for some reason, it seems he did not pose the same apparent "danger" as the other man - though he may have been more capable of hiding a weapon or explosive beneath his blanket.
But then two other marines in the room raise their weapons as the man tries to talk.
For a moment, I'm paralysed still taping with the old man in the foreground. I get up after a beat and tell the marines again, what I had told the lieutenant - that this man - all of these wounded men - were the same ones from yesterday. That they had been disarmed treated and left here.
At that point the marine who fired the shot became aware that I was in the room. He came up to me and said, "I didn't know sir - I didn't know." The anger that seemed present just moments before turned to fear and dread.
The wounded man then tries again to talk to me in Arabic.
He says, "Yesterday I was shot ... please ... yesterday I was shot over there - and talked to all of you on camera - I am one of the guys from this whole group. I gave you information. Do you speak Arabic? I want to give you information."
...
So here, ultimately, is how it all plays out: when the Iraqi man in the mosque posed a threat, he was your enemy; when he was subdued he was your responsibility; when he was killed in front of my eyes and my camera - the story of his death became my responsibility.
The burdens of war, as you so well know, are unforgiving for all of us.
Monday, November 22, 2004
How many injured and ill soldiers left off Pantagon's casualty count --- Would you believe 15,000?
CBS News | Iraq: The Uncounted | November 22, 2004�04:17:53: "Iraq: The Uncounted | Nov. 21, 2004
...
How many injured and ill soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines - like Chris Schneider - are left off the Pentagon’s casualty count?
Would you believe 15,000? 60 Minutes asked the Department of Defense to grant us an interview. They declined. Instead, they sent a letter, which contains a figure not included in published casualty reports: "More than 15,000 troops with so-called 'non-battle' injuries and diseases have been evacuated from Iraq."
Many of those evacuated are brought to Landstuhl in Germany. Most cases are not life-threatening. In fact, some are not serious at all. But only 20 percent return to their units in Iraq. Among the 80 percent who don’t return are GIs who suffered crushing bone fractures; scores of spinal injuries; heart problems by the hundreds; and a slew of psychiatric cases. None of these are included in the casualty count, leaving the true human cost of the war something of a mystery.
...
"You have to say that the total number of casualties due to wounds, injury, disease would have to be somewhere in the ballpark of over 20, maybe 30,000," says Pike.
...
The Department of Defense did not include non-battle injuries in its casualty reports in other recent wars, either.
...
Traditionally, that count has not included combat stress. It was long thought, in the military’s macho culture, that psychological trauma is best suffered in silence.
...
How many injured and ill soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines - like Chris Schneider - are left off the Pentagon’s casualty count?
Would you believe 15,000? 60 Minutes asked the Department of Defense to grant us an interview. They declined. Instead, they sent a letter, which contains a figure not included in published casualty reports: "More than 15,000 troops with so-called 'non-battle' injuries and diseases have been evacuated from Iraq."
Many of those evacuated are brought to Landstuhl in Germany. Most cases are not life-threatening. In fact, some are not serious at all. But only 20 percent return to their units in Iraq. Among the 80 percent who don’t return are GIs who suffered crushing bone fractures; scores of spinal injuries; heart problems by the hundreds; and a slew of psychiatric cases. None of these are included in the casualty count, leaving the true human cost of the war something of a mystery.
...
"You have to say that the total number of casualties due to wounds, injury, disease would have to be somewhere in the ballpark of over 20, maybe 30,000," says Pike.
...
The Department of Defense did not include non-battle injuries in its casualty reports in other recent wars, either.
...
Traditionally, that count has not included combat stress. It was long thought, in the military’s macho culture, that psychological trauma is best suffered in silence.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
"That's what Americans do, isn't that so?" Taha said. "They do this all the time in Iraq."
Excite News: "Iraqis, GIs Share Uneasy Relationship | Nov 20, 5:20 AM (ET) | By HAMZA HENDAWI
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - When a hail of bullets hit the car in which Jinan Adnan and her family were riding, she followed her maternal instincts - and paid with her life.
Adnan, 37, used her body to shield her three children in the back seat. Her husband and the children survived. She was mortally wounded.
Because American soldiers had been in a firefight nearby around the time, it remains unclear if a U.S. bullet killed her, though her husband, Aref Taha, says he saw four American soldiers firing in the car's direction.
"That's what Americans do, isn't that so?" Taha said. "They do this all the time in Iraq."
...
"They are criminals," Zaid, Adnan's 15-year-old son, said of the Americans on Friday. His father said he cannot find words to describe his rage at the loss of his wife of 16 years.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - When a hail of bullets hit the car in which Jinan Adnan and her family were riding, she followed her maternal instincts - and paid with her life.
Adnan, 37, used her body to shield her three children in the back seat. Her husband and the children survived. She was mortally wounded.
Because American soldiers had been in a firefight nearby around the time, it remains unclear if a U.S. bullet killed her, though her husband, Aref Taha, says he saw four American soldiers firing in the car's direction.
"That's what Americans do, isn't that so?" Taha said. "They do this all the time in Iraq."
...
"They are criminals," Zaid, Adnan's 15-year-old son, said of the Americans on Friday. His father said he cannot find words to describe his rage at the loss of his wife of 16 years.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Democracy Now! | Red Cross Estimates 800 Iraqi Civilians Killed in Fallujah
Democracy Now! | Red Cross Estimates 800 Iraqi Civilians Killed in Fallujah: Wednesday, November 17th, 2004
Red Cross officials in Iraq are now estimating 800 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the siege on Fallujah. We go to Baghdad to speak with independent journalist Dahr Jamail who broke the story. [includes rush transcript] "
Independent journalist Dahr Jamail is reporting that Red Cross officials in Iraq are now estimating 800 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the siege on Fallujah. Jamail quotes an unnamed Red Cross official who insisted on remaining anonymous out of fear of US military reprisal. The US military has claimed that no civilians have been killed in the city even though the city of 300,000 has recently witnessed some of the most intense fighting of the Iraq war. The military has estimated 1200 fighters have been killed.
Red Cross officials in Iraq are now estimating 800 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the siege on Fallujah. We go to Baghdad to speak with independent journalist Dahr Jamail who broke the story. [includes rush transcript] "
Independent journalist Dahr Jamail is reporting that Red Cross officials in Iraq are now estimating 800 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the siege on Fallujah. Jamail quotes an unnamed Red Cross official who insisted on remaining anonymous out of fear of US military reprisal. The US military has claimed that no civilians have been killed in the city even though the city of 300,000 has recently witnessed some of the most intense fighting of the Iraq war. The military has estimated 1200 fighters have been killed.
Violence Breaks Out All Over Baghdad
Excite News: "Violence Breaks Out All Over Baghdad | Nov 20, 11:36 AM (ET) | By KATARINA KRATOVAC
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Baghdad exploded in violence Saturday, as insurgents attacked a U.S. patrol and a police station, assassinated four government employees and detonated several bombs. One American soldier was killed and nine were wounded during clashes that also left three Iraqi troops and a police officer dead.
Some of the heaviest violence came in Azamiyah, a largely Sunni Arab district of Baghdad where a day earlier U.S. troops raided the capital's main Sunni mosque. Shops were in flames, and a U.S. Humvee burned, with the body of what appeared to be its driver inside.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Baghdad exploded in violence Saturday, as insurgents attacked a U.S. patrol and a police station, assassinated four government employees and detonated several bombs. One American soldier was killed and nine were wounded during clashes that also left three Iraqi troops and a police officer dead.
Some of the heaviest violence came in Azamiyah, a largely Sunni Arab district of Baghdad where a day earlier U.S. troops raided the capital's main Sunni mosque. Shops were in flames, and a U.S. Humvee burned, with the body of what appeared to be its driver inside.
ICRC Slams 'Utter Contempt' for Humanity Amid Fierce Fighting in Iraq: no access for humanitarian relief, no official count of civilian casualties
ICRC Slams 'Utter Contempt' for Humanity Amid Fierce Fighting in Iraq: "Published on Friday, November 19, 2004 by the Agence France Presse
GENEVA - The International Committee of the Red Cross sharply criticized the 'utter contempt' for humanity shown by all sides in Iraq amid fierce fighting between US forces and insurgents for control of the city of Fallujah.
...
"For the parties to this conflict, complying with international humanitarian law is an obligation, not an option," Kraehenbuehl said in an unusually tough statement by the relief agency.
...
As aid agencies were prevented from entering Fallujah, Kraehenbuehl appealed "for everything possible to be done to allow such organizations to come to the aid of the thousands of Iraqis who are suffering."
...
The ICRC had no information from US forces on when they would allow aid teams into Fallujah, she added.
As the US offensive continued, the ICRC was providing aid including tents, blankets, water and food to displaced just outside the city, Notari said, but aid was limited because of insecurity along the road from Baghdad.
...
There has been no official count of civilian casualties. US forces said about 1,200 insurgents had been killed while 51 US soldiers and eight Iraqi soldiers had died during the fighting for Fallujah.
GENEVA - The International Committee of the Red Cross sharply criticized the 'utter contempt' for humanity shown by all sides in Iraq amid fierce fighting between US forces and insurgents for control of the city of Fallujah.
...
"For the parties to this conflict, complying with international humanitarian law is an obligation, not an option," Kraehenbuehl said in an unusually tough statement by the relief agency.
...
As aid agencies were prevented from entering Fallujah, Kraehenbuehl appealed "for everything possible to be done to allow such organizations to come to the aid of the thousands of Iraqis who are suffering."
...
The ICRC had no information from US forces on when they would allow aid teams into Fallujah, she added.
As the US offensive continued, the ICRC was providing aid including tents, blankets, water and food to displaced just outside the city, Notari said, but aid was limited because of insecurity along the road from Baghdad.
...
There has been no official count of civilian casualties. US forces said about 1,200 insurgents had been killed while 51 US soldiers and eight Iraqi soldiers had died during the fighting for Fallujah.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
The Bush Revolution: crushing resistance at State, the CIA ... shaft his Christian-right or pursue revolutionary changes on the right?
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The Bush Revolution: "By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF | Published: November 17, 2004
Having crushed the resistance in Falluja, President Bush is now trying to do the same at the State Department and the C.I.A.
Colin Powell may have "resigned," but don't kid yourself - the White House didn't want him. Mr. Powell's own statement said that he and Mr. Bush "came to the mutual agreement that it would be appropriate for me to leave at this time."
The real winner in this foreign policy wrestling match is Dick Cheney. One of his former aides, Stephen Hadley, will now be the national security adviser, and Condoleezza Rice was run over so many times by Mr. Cheney in the first term that she'll be docile at State.
In a conversation with the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, Mr. Powell once referred in frustration to Mr. Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz as "[expletive] crazies," according to a recent British biography of Tony Blair. Mr. Powell had a point, but they're getting the last laugh.
The central question of President Bush's second term is this: Will he shaft his Christian-right supporters, since he doesn't need them any more, and try to secure his legacy with moderate policies that might unite the country? Or, with no re-election to worry about, will he pursue revolutionary changes on the right? To me, it looks increasingly like the latter.
...
... That will be much less likely now that heads are rolling down the corridors of the C.I.A.'s directorate of operations.
It's fair to replace Mr. Powell, a political appointee, but the spies being pushed out at Langley are career professionals. The intelligence community's best assets aren't those spying for us in foreign capitals, but the thousands of Americans at the C.I.A., the D.I.A., the N.S.A. and the rest of the alphabet soup of spookdom. Their morale - already bad - will suffer a further dive, along with their effectiveness.
Having crushed the resistance in Falluja, President Bush is now trying to do the same at the State Department and the C.I.A.
Colin Powell may have "resigned," but don't kid yourself - the White House didn't want him. Mr. Powell's own statement said that he and Mr. Bush "came to the mutual agreement that it would be appropriate for me to leave at this time."
The real winner in this foreign policy wrestling match is Dick Cheney. One of his former aides, Stephen Hadley, will now be the national security adviser, and Condoleezza Rice was run over so many times by Mr. Cheney in the first term that she'll be docile at State.
In a conversation with the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, Mr. Powell once referred in frustration to Mr. Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz as "[expletive] crazies," according to a recent British biography of Tony Blair. Mr. Powell had a point, but they're getting the last laugh.
The central question of President Bush's second term is this: Will he shaft his Christian-right supporters, since he doesn't need them any more, and try to secure his legacy with moderate policies that might unite the country? Or, with no re-election to worry about, will he pursue revolutionary changes on the right? To me, it looks increasingly like the latter.
...
... That will be much less likely now that heads are rolling down the corridors of the C.I.A.'s directorate of operations.
It's fair to replace Mr. Powell, a political appointee, but the spies being pushed out at Langley are career professionals. The intelligence community's best assets aren't those spying for us in foreign capitals, but the thousands of Americans at the C.I.A., the D.I.A., the N.S.A. and the rest of the alphabet soup of spookdom. Their morale - already bad - will suffer a further dive, along with their effectiveness.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Moves Cement Hard-Line Stance On Foreign Policy: For the rest of the world, there will be "teeth-gnashing
Moves Cement Hard-Line Stance On Foreign Policy (washingtonpost.com): "Moves Cement Hard-Line Stance On Foreign Policy | By Glenn Kessler | Washington Post Staff Writer | Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A01
By accepting Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's resignation, President Bush appears to have taken a decisive turn in his approach to foreign policy.
Powell's departure -- and Bush's intention to name his confidante, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, as Powell's replacement -- would mark the triumph of a hard-edged approach to diplomacy espoused by Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Powell's brand of moderate realism was often overridden in the administration's councils of power, but Powell's presence ensured that the president heard divergent views on how to proceed on key foreign policy issues.
...
... Powell has pressed for working with the Europeans on ending Iran's nuclear program, pursuing diplomatic talks with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and taking a tougher approach with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Now, the policy toward Iran and North Korea may turn decidedly sharper, with a bigger push for sanctions rather than diplomacy. On Middle East peace, the burden for progress will remain largely with the Palestinians.
...
For the rest of the world, Powell was considered a sympathetic ear in an administration that often appeared tone-deaf to other nations' concerns. There will be "teeth-gnashing" over Powell's departure by many foreign officials, said Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, national security adviser in President Bill Clinton's second term. ...
By accepting Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's resignation, President Bush appears to have taken a decisive turn in his approach to foreign policy.
Powell's departure -- and Bush's intention to name his confidante, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, as Powell's replacement -- would mark the triumph of a hard-edged approach to diplomacy espoused by Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Powell's brand of moderate realism was often overridden in the administration's councils of power, but Powell's presence ensured that the president heard divergent views on how to proceed on key foreign policy issues.
...
... Powell has pressed for working with the Europeans on ending Iran's nuclear program, pursuing diplomatic talks with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and taking a tougher approach with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Now, the policy toward Iran and North Korea may turn decidedly sharper, with a bigger push for sanctions rather than diplomacy. On Middle East peace, the burden for progress will remain largely with the Palestinians.
...
For the rest of the world, Powell was considered a sympathetic ear in an administration that often appeared tone-deaf to other nations' concerns. There will be "teeth-gnashing" over Powell's departure by many foreign officials, said Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, national security adviser in President Bill Clinton's second term. ...
Monday, November 15, 2004
MSNBC - Iraq fighting spreads far beyond Fallujah
MSNBC - Iraq fighting spreads far beyond Fallujah: "Spate of attacks, clashes throughout Sunni triangle; Mosul �tense�" | MSNBC News Services | Updated: 7:45 p.m. ET Nov. 15, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers battled insurgents northeast of Baghdad on Monday in clashes that killed more than 50 people. Some guerrillas were said to be “fighting to the death” inside Fallujah, where American forces struggled to clear pockets of resistance.
At least five suicide car bombers targeted American troops elsewhere in volatile Sunni Muslim areas north and west of the capital, wounding at least nine Americans. Three of those bombings occurred nearly simultaneously in locations between Fallujah and the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, the U.S. command said.
The apparent coordination of those attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces suggested a level of military sophistication and planning not seen in the early months of the insurgency last year.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers battled insurgents northeast of Baghdad on Monday in clashes that killed more than 50 people. Some guerrillas were said to be “fighting to the death” inside Fallujah, where American forces struggled to clear pockets of resistance.
At least five suicide car bombers targeted American troops elsewhere in volatile Sunni Muslim areas north and west of the capital, wounding at least nine Americans. Three of those bombings occurred nearly simultaneously in locations between Fallujah and the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, the U.S. command said.
The apparent coordination of those attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces suggested a level of military sophistication and planning not seen in the early months of the insurgency last year.
AP Photographer Flees Fallujah; Witnesses US Helicopter Kill Fleeing Family of 5
AP Photographer Flees Fallujah; Witnesses US Helicopter Kill Fleeing Family of 5: "Monday, November 15, 2004 by the Associated Press | AP Photographer Flees Fallujah | Witnesses US Helicopter Kill Fleeing Family of 5 | by Katarina Kratovac
...
"I decided to swim ... but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river."
He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he "helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands."
...
"I decided to swim ... but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river."
He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he "helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands."
A City Lies in Ruins, Along with the Lives of the Wretched Survivors
A City Lies in Ruins, Along with the Lives of the Wretched Survivors: "Monday, November 15, 2004 by the lndependent/UK | by Michael Georgy in Fallujah and Kim Sengupta
After six days of intense combat against the Fallujah insurgents, US warplanes, tanks and mortars have left a shattered landscape of gutted buildings, crushed cars and charred bodies.
A drive through the city revealed a picture of utter destruction, with concrete houses flattened, mosques in ruins, telegraph poles down, power and phone lines hanging slack and rubble and human remains littering the empty streets. The north-west Jolan district, once an insurgent stronghold, looked like a ghost town, the only sound the rumbling of tank tracks.
After six days of intense combat against the Fallujah insurgents, US warplanes, tanks and mortars have left a shattered landscape of gutted buildings, crushed cars and charred bodies.
A drive through the city revealed a picture of utter destruction, with concrete houses flattened, mosques in ruins, telegraph poles down, power and phone lines hanging slack and rubble and human remains littering the empty streets. The north-west Jolan district, once an insurgent stronghold, looked like a ghost town, the only sound the rumbling of tank tracks.
A City Lies in Ruins, Along with the Lives of the Wretched Survivors
A City Lies in Ruins, Along with the Lives of the Wretched Survivors: "Monday, November 15, 2004 by the lndependent/UK | by Michael Georgy in Fallujah and Kim Sengupta
After six days of intense combat against the Fallujah insurgents, US warplanes, tanks and mortars have left a shattered landscape of gutted buildings, crushed cars and charred bodies.
A drive through the city revealed a picture of utter destruction, with concrete houses flattened, mosques in ruins, telegraph poles down, power and phone lines hanging slack and rubble and human remains littering the empty streets. The north-west Jolan district, once an insurgent stronghold, looked like a ghost town, the only sound the rumbling of tank tracks.
After six days of intense combat against the Fallujah insurgents, US warplanes, tanks and mortars have left a shattered landscape of gutted buildings, crushed cars and charred bodies.
A drive through the city revealed a picture of utter destruction, with concrete houses flattened, mosques in ruins, telegraph poles down, power and phone lines hanging slack and rubble and human remains littering the empty streets. The north-west Jolan district, once an insurgent stronghold, looked like a ghost town, the only sound the rumbling of tank tracks.
61 US Soldiers Killed This Week - by Michael Ewens
61 US Soldiers Killed This Week - by Michael Ewens: "November 15, 2004 | At least 40 killed in Fallujah alone | by Michael Ewens
In a flurry of weekend press releases, the Department of Defense named another 26 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. These deaths bring the total killed since Nov. 8 to 61. Such facts may conflict with 'official numbers' released to the unquestioning media. However, in an apparent response to this article, the DoD is now reporting that 38 US troops have died in Fallujah. The discrepancy in numbers may stem from unreported deaths. We will only know after the troops' names are officially released.
The 50-plus killed this week is indicative of a growing insurgency likely to spread to previously peaceful cities. Over twenty of the deaths occurred in Baghdad, Mosul, Abu Gharb, and Babli province (just south of Baghdad). This indicates that the violence is only spreading."
In a flurry of weekend press releases, the Department of Defense named another 26 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. These deaths bring the total killed since Nov. 8 to 61. Such facts may conflict with 'official numbers' released to the unquestioning media. However, in an apparent response to this article, the DoD is now reporting that 38 US troops have died in Fallujah. The discrepancy in numbers may stem from unreported deaths. We will only know after the troops' names are officially released.
The 50-plus killed this week is indicative of a growing insurgency likely to spread to previously peaceful cities. Over twenty of the deaths occurred in Baghdad, Mosul, Abu Gharb, and Babli province (just south of Baghdad). This indicates that the violence is only spreading."
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Behind the Camp David Myth: Palestinian positions ... were compatible with the existence of a Jewish state
Los Angeles Times: Behind the Camp David Myth: "Behind the Camp David Myth
Arafat didn't blindly spurn a generous offer.
By Robert Malley
Robert Malley was President Clinton's special assistant for Arab-Israeli affairs. He now directs the Middle East and North Africa program at the International Crisis Group.
November 12, 2004
It took Yasser Arafat many years to persuade his fellow Palestinians of the wisdom of the two-state solution, and it took longer still to convince Americans and Israelis of the genuineness of his views. Yet it took only two weeks at Camp David in the summer of 2000 to wreck all the progress that had been made and for Arafat to regain the pariah status he once held.
Those talks failed, and in the aftermath a myth was born that has had a lasting and devastating effect: that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak made the most generous offer possible, but that Arafat summarily turned it down. He did so, the story goes, because he never really believed in the Jewish state's right to exist in the first place and because he had never really hoped to reach a just, comprehensive and lasting peace with Israel. Since 2000, it is this narrative � Camp David as a metaphor for Palestinian rejectionism � that has ravaged the Israeli peace camp, distorted both U.S. and Israeli policy and badly undermined confidence in a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
...
Second, although Camp David undoubtedly was a breakthrough, and although Israel was prepared to concede far more than in the past, the deal nevertheless didn't meet the minimum requirements of any Palestinian leader. ...
A third oft-neglected point about Camp David is that the Palestinian positions, though clearly inconsistent with Israel's, nonetheless were compatible with the existence of a Jewish state: a Palestinian state based on the lines of June 4, 1967; Israeli annexation of limited West Bank territory to accommodate settlement blocs in exchange for the transfer of an equivalent amount of land from Israel proper; Palestinian sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and over its holy sites; and implementation of the refugees' right of return in a manner designed to protect Israel's demographic interests. Those stances probably went beyond what the Israeli people could accept. ...
The more difficult question is not why Arafat rebuffed the Camp David ideas but why he failed to embrace the Clinton parameters five months later in December 2000, which came far closer to meeting the Palestinian principles.
By then, however, everything had changed. The intifada was raging, Palestinians were seething and mourning their dead, and many of Arafat's advisors were counseling against the deal. ...
Arafat didn't blindly spurn a generous offer.
By Robert Malley
Robert Malley was President Clinton's special assistant for Arab-Israeli affairs. He now directs the Middle East and North Africa program at the International Crisis Group.
November 12, 2004
It took Yasser Arafat many years to persuade his fellow Palestinians of the wisdom of the two-state solution, and it took longer still to convince Americans and Israelis of the genuineness of his views. Yet it took only two weeks at Camp David in the summer of 2000 to wreck all the progress that had been made and for Arafat to regain the pariah status he once held.
Those talks failed, and in the aftermath a myth was born that has had a lasting and devastating effect: that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak made the most generous offer possible, but that Arafat summarily turned it down. He did so, the story goes, because he never really believed in the Jewish state's right to exist in the first place and because he had never really hoped to reach a just, comprehensive and lasting peace with Israel. Since 2000, it is this narrative � Camp David as a metaphor for Palestinian rejectionism � that has ravaged the Israeli peace camp, distorted both U.S. and Israeli policy and badly undermined confidence in a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
...
Second, although Camp David undoubtedly was a breakthrough, and although Israel was prepared to concede far more than in the past, the deal nevertheless didn't meet the minimum requirements of any Palestinian leader. ...
A third oft-neglected point about Camp David is that the Palestinian positions, though clearly inconsistent with Israel's, nonetheless were compatible with the existence of a Jewish state: a Palestinian state based on the lines of June 4, 1967; Israeli annexation of limited West Bank territory to accommodate settlement blocs in exchange for the transfer of an equivalent amount of land from Israel proper; Palestinian sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and over its holy sites; and implementation of the refugees' right of return in a manner designed to protect Israel's demographic interests. Those stances probably went beyond what the Israeli people could accept. ...
The more difficult question is not why Arafat rebuffed the Camp David ideas but why he failed to embrace the Clinton parameters five months later in December 2000, which came far closer to meeting the Palestinian principles.
By then, however, everything had changed. The intifada was raging, Palestinians were seething and mourning their dead, and many of Arafat's advisors were counseling against the deal. ...
The "completely false conception that Arafat was offered a good deal ": the 97% myth
Arafat and Vanunu: Two Prisoners of War- by Justin Raimondo: "November 12, 2004 | Israel's move against Mordechai Vanunu, the man who exposed their nuclear secrets, couldn't have been timed better | by Justin Raimondo
...
Central to the hateful festivities surrounding Arafat's death is the myth of the missed opportunity, the completely false conception that Arafat was offered a good deal by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Bill Clinton, and, because of a psychological inability to make the transition from revolutionary leader to "statesman," failed to take it while the taking was good. This is utter balderdash, as a simple glance at a map of what the Palestinians were offered – here and here – graphically reveals. Alexander Cockburn put it well:
"Bill Clinton has always been one for the phony reconciliation, the win-win solution, the photo-op deal. The defining moment of his diplomacy was the 'handshake' between Rabin and Arafat, offered to the world as the insignia of a decent settlement brokered by America."
But it was nothing of the sort, as Cockburn notes. The Palestinian "nation" was to be a series of disconnected bantustans, surrounded entirely by Israeli military posts and "settlements" populated by ultra-Zionist fanatics. All water, roads, communications, and other vital command posts of this "independent" entity would be controlled by the Israelis. Some independence!
As Michael C. Desch wrote in The American Conservative:
"In the Palestinians' view, they had surrendered 78 percent of historic Palestine to Israel when they recognized Israel as a sovereign state at Oslo in 1993; in return, they expected that they would get the remaining 22 percent (the West Bank and Gaza) as part of the final agreement. Yet the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands continued to deepen and expand after Oslo and the Israeli government began to interfere ever more intrusively in the lives of ordinary Palestinians.
If Palestinians were black, instead of a rich nut-brown, the UN would have imposed strict sanctions long ago, and in the U.S. the Israeli government would be as reviled as the white South African or Rhodesian regimes that lorded it over their native African majorities. As it is, Israeli propaganda seeks to depict any and all Arabs, and practically all Muslims, as terrorists, a definition that suits Osama bin Laden just fine. The Israelis have been particularly eager to smash all manifestations of secular Arab militance, in a perfect complement to bin Laden working the other side of the street.
Arafat was no saint, but then the only saints in that part of the world are already buried in their graves. It's a rough neighborhood, and by local standards the PLO leader was no better or worse than most of his Israeli counterparts, whose crimes fall in the category of state terrorism as opposed to the more freelance variety practiced by the other side. After all, the Israeli state was founded by groups that employed terrorism as a tactic, who bombed hotels full of innocent civilians, massacred Arab villagers, and drove the remaining Palestinians off the land. These are the very same people, by the way, who claim that they are a bulwark against terrorism – even as they carry out a brutal policy of state terrorism in the sight of the whole world.
...
...
Central to the hateful festivities surrounding Arafat's death is the myth of the missed opportunity, the completely false conception that Arafat was offered a good deal by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Bill Clinton, and, because of a psychological inability to make the transition from revolutionary leader to "statesman," failed to take it while the taking was good. This is utter balderdash, as a simple glance at a map of what the Palestinians were offered – here and here – graphically reveals. Alexander Cockburn put it well:
"Bill Clinton has always been one for the phony reconciliation, the win-win solution, the photo-op deal. The defining moment of his diplomacy was the 'handshake' between Rabin and Arafat, offered to the world as the insignia of a decent settlement brokered by America."
But it was nothing of the sort, as Cockburn notes. The Palestinian "nation" was to be a series of disconnected bantustans, surrounded entirely by Israeli military posts and "settlements" populated by ultra-Zionist fanatics. All water, roads, communications, and other vital command posts of this "independent" entity would be controlled by the Israelis. Some independence!
As Michael C. Desch wrote in The American Conservative:
"In the Palestinians' view, they had surrendered 78 percent of historic Palestine to Israel when they recognized Israel as a sovereign state at Oslo in 1993; in return, they expected that they would get the remaining 22 percent (the West Bank and Gaza) as part of the final agreement. Yet the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands continued to deepen and expand after Oslo and the Israeli government began to interfere ever more intrusively in the lives of ordinary Palestinians.
If Palestinians were black, instead of a rich nut-brown, the UN would have imposed strict sanctions long ago, and in the U.S. the Israeli government would be as reviled as the white South African or Rhodesian regimes that lorded it over their native African majorities. As it is, Israeli propaganda seeks to depict any and all Arabs, and practically all Muslims, as terrorists, a definition that suits Osama bin Laden just fine. The Israelis have been particularly eager to smash all manifestations of secular Arab militance, in a perfect complement to bin Laden working the other side of the street.
Arafat was no saint, but then the only saints in that part of the world are already buried in their graves. It's a rough neighborhood, and by local standards the PLO leader was no better or worse than most of his Israeli counterparts, whose crimes fall in the category of state terrorism as opposed to the more freelance variety practiced by the other side. After all, the Israeli state was founded by groups that employed terrorism as a tactic, who bombed hotels full of innocent civilians, massacred Arab villagers, and drove the remaining Palestinians off the land. These are the very same people, by the way, who claim that they are a bulwark against terrorism – even as they carry out a brutal policy of state terrorism in the sight of the whole world.
...
Friday, November 12, 2004
U.N. Report Slams Use of Torture to Beat Terror
U.N. Report Slams Use of Torture to Beat Terror: "November 12, 2004 by the Inter Press Service | by Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - No country can justify torture, the humiliation of prisoners or violation of international conventions in the guise of fighting terrorism, says a U.N. report released here.
The 19-page study, which is likely to go before the current session of the U.N. General Assembly in December, does not identify the United States by name but catalogues the widely publicized torture and humiliation of prisoners and detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. troops waging the so-called ”war on terrorism.”
...
On Wednesday, U.S. President George W Bush named White House legal counsel Alberto Gonzales as attorney general to succeed John Ashcroft, who announced his resignation last week.
In a now-infamous memo to the White House in January 2002, Gonzales argued that captured members of the former ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan were not protected under the Geneva Conventions, which stipulate the treatment of prisoners of war (POWs). The United States has signed the Geneva Conventions.
...
Gonzales has also described international conventions governing prisoners of war, including the Geneva Conventions, as ''obsolete.''
According to the author of the 19-page U.N. report, 'Torture, and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment', ''The condoning of torture is, per se, a violation of the prohibition of torture.”
UNITED NATIONS - No country can justify torture, the humiliation of prisoners or violation of international conventions in the guise of fighting terrorism, says a U.N. report released here.
The 19-page study, which is likely to go before the current session of the U.N. General Assembly in December, does not identify the United States by name but catalogues the widely publicized torture and humiliation of prisoners and detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. troops waging the so-called ”war on terrorism.”
...
On Wednesday, U.S. President George W Bush named White House legal counsel Alberto Gonzales as attorney general to succeed John Ashcroft, who announced his resignation last week.
In a now-infamous memo to the White House in January 2002, Gonzales argued that captured members of the former ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan were not protected under the Geneva Conventions, which stipulate the treatment of prisoners of war (POWs). The United States has signed the Geneva Conventions.
...
Gonzales has also described international conventions governing prisoners of war, including the Geneva Conventions, as ''obsolete.''
According to the author of the 19-page U.N. report, 'Torture, and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment', ''The condoning of torture is, per se, a violation of the prohibition of torture.”
Tests for Mideast and World: the road to Baghdad passes through Jerusalem
The New York Times > International > Middle East > News Analysis: After Death, Tests for Mideast and World: "By STEVEN ERLANGER | Published: November 12, 2004
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov. 11 - Yasir Arafat was both the symbol of the Palestinians' hope for a viable, independent state and the prime obstacle to its realization.
His death early Thursday morning presents an enormous set of challenges to his own people, to the Israelis, to a re-elected American president and to the world at large.
It is a test, first of all, for the Palestinians themselves, to move from a revolutionary ethos of victimhood and military confrontation with Israel to a more responsible and legitimate government, able to care for its people and to negotiate for them.
It is a test for Israel and its prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to move beyond the dismissive response that there is 'no negotiating partner' and to work to help the emerging Palestinian leadership consolidate and maintain authority and control.
And it is a test for President Bush, already being pressed in public by his best ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, to push Mr. Sharon hard for revived negotiations with the Palestinians.
As Mr. Blair, the Europeans and Arab states like Egypt constantly point out, the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate feeds Muslim anger and despair, giving a larger rationale to terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and to the insurgency in Iraq.
Before the Iraq war, Mr. Bush had been told that "the road to Jerusalem passed through Baghdad," but with Iraq today a magnet for anti-Western fervor, it is increasingly believed in the region that the formula is the other way around. ...
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov. 11 - Yasir Arafat was both the symbol of the Palestinians' hope for a viable, independent state and the prime obstacle to its realization.
His death early Thursday morning presents an enormous set of challenges to his own people, to the Israelis, to a re-elected American president and to the world at large.
It is a test, first of all, for the Palestinians themselves, to move from a revolutionary ethos of victimhood and military confrontation with Israel to a more responsible and legitimate government, able to care for its people and to negotiate for them.
It is a test for Israel and its prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to move beyond the dismissive response that there is 'no negotiating partner' and to work to help the emerging Palestinian leadership consolidate and maintain authority and control.
And it is a test for President Bush, already being pressed in public by his best ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, to push Mr. Sharon hard for revived negotiations with the Palestinians.
As Mr. Blair, the Europeans and Arab states like Egypt constantly point out, the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate feeds Muslim anger and despair, giving a larger rationale to terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and to the insurgency in Iraq.
Before the Iraq war, Mr. Bush had been told that "the road to Jerusalem passed through Baghdad," but with Iraq today a magnet for anti-Western fervor, it is increasingly believed in the region that the formula is the other way around. ...
Bush and Blair See 'New Opportunity' for Mideast Peace
The New York Times > AP > National > Bush and Blair See 'New Opportunity' for Mideast Peace: "By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Published: November 12, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Friday the death of Yasser Arafat provides ``a great chance to establish a Palestinian state'' and a broader Middle East peace.
At a joint White House news conference, Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged their support for a fresh stab at Israeli-Palestinians peace negotiations.
``We'll hold their feet to the fire to make sure that democracy prevails,'' Bush said.
``We're going to work flat out to deliver this,'' Blair said.
...
While the president coupled his call for a Palestinian state with his unwavering support of Israeli security, Blair stressed the need to bolster Palestinians.
``If we want a viable Palestinian state, we want to make sure the political, the economic and the security infrastructure of that state is shaped and comes into being,'' the British prime minister said.
``We've got the chance over the next few months, with the election of a new Palestinian president, to put the first marker down,'' Blair said.
Bush didn't commit to a Mideast conference or sending a U.S. envoy to the region -- two items sought by Europeans. But he did talk more optimistically than usual about the prospects for a Palestinian state.
``I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United States on such a state,'' Bush said. ``I believe it is in the interests of the world that such a truly free state develop. I know it is in the interest of the Palestinian people.''
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Friday the death of Yasser Arafat provides ``a great chance to establish a Palestinian state'' and a broader Middle East peace.
At a joint White House news conference, Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged their support for a fresh stab at Israeli-Palestinians peace negotiations.
``We'll hold their feet to the fire to make sure that democracy prevails,'' Bush said.
``We're going to work flat out to deliver this,'' Blair said.
...
While the president coupled his call for a Palestinian state with his unwavering support of Israeli security, Blair stressed the need to bolster Palestinians.
``If we want a viable Palestinian state, we want to make sure the political, the economic and the security infrastructure of that state is shaped and comes into being,'' the British prime minister said.
``We've got the chance over the next few months, with the election of a new Palestinian president, to put the first marker down,'' Blair said.
Bush didn't commit to a Mideast conference or sending a U.S. envoy to the region -- two items sought by Europeans. But he did talk more optimistically than usual about the prospects for a Palestinian state.
``I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United States on such a state,'' Bush said. ``I believe it is in the interests of the world that such a truly free state develop. I know it is in the interest of the Palestinian people.''
A Middle East Opening (washingtonpost.com)
A Middle East Opening (washingtonpost.com): "By Brent Scowcroft | Friday, November 12, 2004; Page A25
...
Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Iran and terrorism are parts of a whole and can only be satisfactorily engaged as such. To cut through this Gordian knot will require not only a new approach but the deep, sustained commitment of the United States and a significant investment of the president's attention.
...
This essential step in Iraq needs to be accompanied by a U.S. undertaking to revitalize the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat has passed from the scene. His death represents a sea change in the Palestinian situation and, as the president has remarked, "an opening for peace." Both the United States and Israel have refused to deal with Arafat. The United States must seize this unique opportunity to make a decisive move.
The president should add substance to his commitment to an independent Palestinian state. It must include steps to provide security to Israel and to give the Palestinians the ability and means to construct a viable political entity free from the crushing presence of Israeli troops. The United States should insist that Israel stop construction of its wall on the West Bank and mirror its withdrawal from Gaza with the evacuation of the West Bank. In return, the wall and Israeli troops would be replaced by an international force, principally European or perhaps NATO troops.
The Palestinians should be pressed to take urgent measures to replace Arafat with political leadership that is both willing and able to undertake responsible negotiations and deliver on its commitments. Arab friends, notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco, should provide vital guidance, encouragement and support.
The "road map" plan of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations should be revived and fortified by the actions I've described and vigorously pushed by its sponsors to final settlement. The outlines of such a settlement have, by the otherwise unfortunate stagnation of the process, become much less contested. A unified Jerusalem would serve as capital to both peoples. While the "right of return" could be left as a principle, the reality is that most Palestinian refugees will remain outside Israel, just as most Jewish settlers will return to Israel. A donor pool may need to be organized to provide compensation for both groups. [1/10th of what that spent on Iraq shold do nicely!.ed.] Border rectifications would be necessary to compensate for the settlement solution and would complete the package.
Substantial, visible progress on the Palestinian issue would significantly improve the atmosphere in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, ....
...
Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Iran and terrorism are parts of a whole and can only be satisfactorily engaged as such. To cut through this Gordian knot will require not only a new approach but the deep, sustained commitment of the United States and a significant investment of the president's attention.
...
This essential step in Iraq needs to be accompanied by a U.S. undertaking to revitalize the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat has passed from the scene. His death represents a sea change in the Palestinian situation and, as the president has remarked, "an opening for peace." Both the United States and Israel have refused to deal with Arafat. The United States must seize this unique opportunity to make a decisive move.
The president should add substance to his commitment to an independent Palestinian state. It must include steps to provide security to Israel and to give the Palestinians the ability and means to construct a viable political entity free from the crushing presence of Israeli troops. The United States should insist that Israel stop construction of its wall on the West Bank and mirror its withdrawal from Gaza with the evacuation of the West Bank. In return, the wall and Israeli troops would be replaced by an international force, principally European or perhaps NATO troops.
The Palestinians should be pressed to take urgent measures to replace Arafat with political leadership that is both willing and able to undertake responsible negotiations and deliver on its commitments. Arab friends, notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco, should provide vital guidance, encouragement and support.
The "road map" plan of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations should be revived and fortified by the actions I've described and vigorously pushed by its sponsors to final settlement. The outlines of such a settlement have, by the otherwise unfortunate stagnation of the process, become much less contested. A unified Jerusalem would serve as capital to both peoples. While the "right of return" could be left as a principle, the reality is that most Palestinian refugees will remain outside Israel, just as most Jewish settlers will return to Israel. A donor pool may need to be organized to provide compensation for both groups. [1/10th of what that spent on Iraq shold do nicely!.ed.] Border rectifications would be necessary to compensate for the settlement solution and would complete the package.
Substantial, visible progress on the Palestinian issue would significantly improve the atmosphere in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, ....
Falluja a 'Big Disaster,' Aid Needed - Red Crescent
Excite News: "Falluja a 'Big Disaster,' Aid Needed - Red Crescent | Nov 12, 7:37 AM (ET) | By Omar Anwar
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Aid agencies called on U.S. forces and the Iraqi government to allow them to deliver food, medicine and water to Falluja on Friday and said four days of intense fighting had turned the city into a 'big disaster.'
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society, which receives support from foreign agencies including the Red Cross and UNICEF, said it had asked U.S. forces and Iraq's interim government to let them deliver relief goods to Falluja and establish medics there.
But it said it had received no reply."
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Aid agencies called on U.S. forces and the Iraqi government to allow them to deliver food, medicine and water to Falluja on Friday and said four days of intense fighting had turned the city into a 'big disaster.'
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society, which receives support from foreign agencies including the Red Cross and UNICEF, said it had asked U.S. forces and Iraq's interim government to let them deliver relief goods to Falluja and establish medics there.
But it said it had received no reply."
Friday, October 08, 2004
War crimes: US F-16 take out people on street: never asked ir armed or posing a threat
News: "Take them out, dude: pilots toast hit on Iraqi 'civilians' | By Andrew Buncombe in Washington | 06 October 2004
The Pentagon said yesterday it was investigating cockpit video footage that shows American pilots attacking and killing a group of apparently unarmed Iraqi civilians.
The 30-second clip shows the pilot targeting the group of people in a street in the city of Fallujah and asking his mission controllers whether he should 'take them out'. He is told to do so and, shortly afterwards, the footage shows a huge explosion where the people were. A second voice can be heard on the clip saying: 'Oh, dude.'
The existence of the video, taken last April inside the cockpit of a US F-16 fighter has been known for some time, though last night's broadcast by Channel 4 News is believed to be the first time a mainstream broadcaster has shown the footage.
At no point during the exchange between the pilot and controllers does anyone ask whether the Iraqis are armed or posing a threat. Critics say it proves war crimes are being committed. "
The Pentagon said yesterday it was investigating cockpit video footage that shows American pilots attacking and killing a group of apparently unarmed Iraqi civilians.
The 30-second clip shows the pilot targeting the group of people in a street in the city of Fallujah and asking his mission controllers whether he should 'take them out'. He is told to do so and, shortly afterwards, the footage shows a huge explosion where the people were. A second voice can be heard on the clip saying: 'Oh, dude.'
The existence of the video, taken last April inside the cockpit of a US F-16 fighter has been known for some time, though last night's broadcast by Channel 4 News is believed to be the first time a mainstream broadcaster has shown the footage.
At no point during the exchange between the pilot and controllers does anyone ask whether the Iraqis are armed or posing a threat. Critics say it proves war crimes are being committed. "
Falluja: US precision strike: 11 Iraqi dead, 17 wounde [... 2nd precsision strike against a wedding party]
Reuters AlertNet - U.S. strike kills 11 at wedding in Iraq's Falluja: "08 Oct 2004 04:47:20 GMT | Reuters | By Fadel al-Badrani
FALLUJA, Iraq, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. air strike on the rebel-held city of Falluja in western Iraq killed 11 people and wounded 17 at a wedding party, with women and children among the casualties, a hospital doctor said on Friday.
Rafah al-Hayat said the U.S. raid, the latest of several which the U.S. military has staged against targets it says are used by foreign militants in Falluja, occurred at about midnight (2100 GMT) on Thursday.
The U.S. military said the 'precision strike' had hit a safe-house being used by the network of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at 1:15 a.m. on Friday."
FALLUJA, Iraq, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. air strike on the rebel-held city of Falluja in western Iraq killed 11 people and wounded 17 at a wedding party, with women and children among the casualties, a hospital doctor said on Friday.
Rafah al-Hayat said the U.S. raid, the latest of several which the U.S. military has staged against targets it says are used by foreign militants in Falluja, occurred at about midnight (2100 GMT) on Thursday.
The U.S. military said the 'precision strike' had hit a safe-house being used by the network of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at 1:15 a.m. on Friday."
Monday, October 04, 2004
This is a Massacre, Not a War in Iraq
This is a Massacre, Not a War in Iraq: "Sam Hamod
10/04/04 'ICH' -- This is a massacre, not a war in Iraq. The U.S. bombing Samarra, Fallujah, Baghdad and other cities, killing hundreds of civilians and calling them terrorists is like the massacres of the Native Americans during America's push westward.
In this case, it has to do with America's push eastward.
What is also troubling is that no major media outlet, no major politician--none are callig this what it is, an immoral, unmitigated killing of hundreds of Iraqi civilians every week, a massacre.
Also, those who are experts in Arabic have claimed for months that the man alleged to be Zarqawi is not really Zarqawi because he does not have the real Zarqawi's Jordanian accent. But, the American military, we are positive by now, has created this mythical Zarqawi to allow it to mercilessly attack Fallujah ... but our country, America, is immoral and cowardly, every day attacking Fallujah by F16, Apache and long range cannon fire. In the process, killing hundreds of civilians, but as in the Viet Nam war, saying, "It's just collateral damage and we are not responsible for that."
...
America may win some battles, but it losing the larger war.
The entire world is condemning our behavior in Iraq as illegal and immoral. What is coming is the long term hatred of America by the majority of Muslims in the world, and some will become combatants in time--not necessarily in Iraq, but in their own countries. Bush and his massacre of Muslims is sowing anger, hatred, desire for revenge--in time, America will reap a whirlwind that the ignorant GW Bush has sown.
Make no mistake about it.
America has played its last cards as a moral world leader.
Our moral arguments now are laughable to the rest of the world.
...
Let's call it what it is in Iraq and Palestine, massacres, not wars. Somehow, it is as if Bush and Sharon are joined together at the hip and in their immoral hearts and minds.
Both are guilty of war crimes. We knew this about Sharon by recalling his infamous invasion of Lebanon in the 1980s; but we didn't know how much Bush would follow his lead and take America down with him.
Just remember this one line, "This is a massacre, not a war."
The Iraqis have no planes, helicopters or tanks; the Palestinians have no planes, helicopters or tanks; but America does and uses them indiscriminately, as does Israel. America should take a cue from the resistance to Israel, some day it will come here, when the people in the Muslim and Arab worlds have had enough and decide to strike back.
Woe unto us for allowing the madman Bush to kill people in Iraq, Afghanistan and by proxy, in Palestine. Some day, as Malcolm X prophesied, "The chickens will come home to roost."
10/04/04 'ICH' -- This is a massacre, not a war in Iraq. The U.S. bombing Samarra, Fallujah, Baghdad and other cities, killing hundreds of civilians and calling them terrorists is like the massacres of the Native Americans during America's push westward.
In this case, it has to do with America's push eastward.
What is also troubling is that no major media outlet, no major politician--none are callig this what it is, an immoral, unmitigated killing of hundreds of Iraqi civilians every week, a massacre.
Also, those who are experts in Arabic have claimed for months that the man alleged to be Zarqawi is not really Zarqawi because he does not have the real Zarqawi's Jordanian accent. But, the American military, we are positive by now, has created this mythical Zarqawi to allow it to mercilessly attack Fallujah ... but our country, America, is immoral and cowardly, every day attacking Fallujah by F16, Apache and long range cannon fire. In the process, killing hundreds of civilians, but as in the Viet Nam war, saying, "It's just collateral damage and we are not responsible for that."
...
America may win some battles, but it losing the larger war.
The entire world is condemning our behavior in Iraq as illegal and immoral. What is coming is the long term hatred of America by the majority of Muslims in the world, and some will become combatants in time--not necessarily in Iraq, but in their own countries. Bush and his massacre of Muslims is sowing anger, hatred, desire for revenge--in time, America will reap a whirlwind that the ignorant GW Bush has sown.
Make no mistake about it.
America has played its last cards as a moral world leader.
Our moral arguments now are laughable to the rest of the world.
...
Let's call it what it is in Iraq and Palestine, massacres, not wars. Somehow, it is as if Bush and Sharon are joined together at the hip and in their immoral hearts and minds.
Both are guilty of war crimes. We knew this about Sharon by recalling his infamous invasion of Lebanon in the 1980s; but we didn't know how much Bush would follow his lead and take America down with him.
Just remember this one line, "This is a massacre, not a war."
The Iraqis have no planes, helicopters or tanks; the Palestinians have no planes, helicopters or tanks; but America does and uses them indiscriminately, as does Israel. America should take a cue from the resistance to Israel, some day it will come here, when the people in the Muslim and Arab worlds have had enough and decide to strike back.
Woe unto us for allowing the madman Bush to kill people in Iraq, Afghanistan and by proxy, in Palestine. Some day, as Malcolm X prophesied, "The chickens will come home to roost."
Israeli offensive, code-named 'Days of Reckoning,' : 2 Israeli children dead, 83 Pal, incl 20 children, 350 wounded
International News Article | Reuters.com: "Arab Nations at UN Demand Israel Stop Gaza Attacks | Mon Oct 4, 2004 06:40 PM ET | By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Arab nations want the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding Israel stop a major offensive in the Gaza Strip, but the United States raised objections at an emergency meeting on Monday.
Algerian U.N. Ambassador Abdalla Baali, the only Arab member of the council, said 'taking into account the urgency of the situation' that resulted in at least 63 Palestinian deaths, he would like a vote on Tuesday.
'The Palestinian people are exposed to a virtual war of extermination,' Baali, who called the meeting, told the council. 'The unfettered use of brutal force is terrifying.'
Israel launched the offensive, code-named 'Days of Reckoning,' after a Palestinian rocket strike killed two children in the southern town of Sderot on Wednesday.
...
Palestinian U.N. observer Nasser al-Kidwa said his leadership condemned the "rudimentary" Qassam rocket attacks by Palestinians and especially the killing of Israeli children.
But he contended Israel over the last week had killed 83 people, including 20 children, wounded more than 350 others and demolished homes, using 2,000 soldiers, 100 tanks and a "massive use of helicopter gunships."
"Israel persists in committing war crimes and acts of state terrorism against the Palestinian people," al-Kidwa said. "There is no justification for this Israeli hysteria, for this widespread killings and deliberate destruction."
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Arab nations want the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding Israel stop a major offensive in the Gaza Strip, but the United States raised objections at an emergency meeting on Monday.
Algerian U.N. Ambassador Abdalla Baali, the only Arab member of the council, said 'taking into account the urgency of the situation' that resulted in at least 63 Palestinian deaths, he would like a vote on Tuesday.
'The Palestinian people are exposed to a virtual war of extermination,' Baali, who called the meeting, told the council. 'The unfettered use of brutal force is terrifying.'
Israel launched the offensive, code-named 'Days of Reckoning,' after a Palestinian rocket strike killed two children in the southern town of Sderot on Wednesday.
...
Palestinian U.N. observer Nasser al-Kidwa said his leadership condemned the "rudimentary" Qassam rocket attacks by Palestinians and especially the killing of Israeli children.
But he contended Israel over the last week had killed 83 people, including 20 children, wounded more than 350 others and demolished homes, using 2,000 soldiers, 100 tanks and a "massive use of helicopter gunships."
"Israel persists in committing war crimes and acts of state terrorism against the Palestinian people," al-Kidwa said. "There is no justification for this Israeli hysteria, for this widespread killings and deliberate destruction."
Translating Iraq Statistics: Austin Tx would have 25 explosions in one month!
The Human Toll Behind the Iraq Statistics: " October 4, 2004 by the Austin American-Statesman (Texas) | by Thomas G. Palaima
What do war statistics mean to us?
Imagine how Americans would feel if they were exposed to the same rate of insurgent attacks that are now occurring in Iraq. Six of the Iraqi provinces that have been declared safe have had four or more attacks per 100,000 people in the last month.
Let's say that here in Austin during the month of September, 25 explosions and killings and maimings took place in our neighborhoods. Imagine you knew that in larger cities such as Houston and Dallas the number of attacks had reached upward of 300 all the way to a 1,000, and that authorities showed no signs of being able to stop them. "
What do war statistics mean to us?
Imagine how Americans would feel if they were exposed to the same rate of insurgent attacks that are now occurring in Iraq. Six of the Iraqi provinces that have been declared safe have had four or more attacks per 100,000 people in the last month.
Let's say that here in Austin during the month of September, 25 explosions and killings and maimings took place in our neighborhoods. Imagine you knew that in larger cities such as Houston and Dallas the number of attacks had reached upward of 300 all the way to a 1,000, and that authorities showed no signs of being able to stop them. "
U.S. Policies Stir More Fear Than Confidence
U.S. Policies Stir More Fear Than Confidence: "October 3, 2004 | By Jeffrey Fleishman, Times Staff Writer
...
One of the sharpest differences between the U.S. and its longtime allies is over the issue of when to use force. A June poll conducted in part by the German Marshall Fund of the United States found that 54% of the Americans surveyed, compared with 28% of the Europeans, believed that military strength would ensure peace. Among Europeans, 73% said the war in Iraq had increased the threat of terrorism.
The disparity represents two dynamics: The world has yet to understand how Sept. 11, 2001, jolted America's sense of security, and the U.S. has underestimated how much international credibility it sacrificed in the Iraq war.
Analysts suggest that America's foreign policy wouldn't significantly change if Sen. John F. Kerry defeats President Bush in November. The division between the men, as seen by much of the world, comes down to style and personality.
...
... The survey also found that on average, 58% of respondents in those countries said the Bush administration made them feel worse about the U.S. versus 19% who said the president's policies made them feel better.
...
"I believe the U.S. poses a greater risk to Egypt and the Islamic world than terrorism," said Tarek Refaat, a software engineer from Cairo. "If we have to have a global policeman, it should be the United Nations, not the U.S. What good does America do for me as a global policeman? I might need this global policeman to protect me if Egypt is attacked by Israel. And you think America will rush to protect Egypt from the Israelis, their strongest allies?"
Galina Babayan, a Moscow mathematics professor, offered this assessment: "It would be more appropriate to compare the U.S. not with a global policeman, but with an ill-natured teenager sent back to the first grade. He is bigger and stronger than anybody else. He bullies everyone around him. But he is slow on the uptake."
...
Wang Jisi, a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official, said the American people don't comprehend the world. "They don't travel, and they don't talk to foreigners…. And they don't read any foreign-language materials, so it is not very difficult for people to deceive them, to give them some propaganda [to] inflame ideological and nationalist feelings."
...
"The U.S. can't be the world policeman anymore," said Erika Thiel, standing with her son, Juergen, remembering when U.S. boots echoed through the streets. "Muslims don't want to be watched over, and sovereign nations want to be independent from the U.S. shadow."
...
One of the sharpest differences between the U.S. and its longtime allies is over the issue of when to use force. A June poll conducted in part by the German Marshall Fund of the United States found that 54% of the Americans surveyed, compared with 28% of the Europeans, believed that military strength would ensure peace. Among Europeans, 73% said the war in Iraq had increased the threat of terrorism.
The disparity represents two dynamics: The world has yet to understand how Sept. 11, 2001, jolted America's sense of security, and the U.S. has underestimated how much international credibility it sacrificed in the Iraq war.
Analysts suggest that America's foreign policy wouldn't significantly change if Sen. John F. Kerry defeats President Bush in November. The division between the men, as seen by much of the world, comes down to style and personality.
...
... The survey also found that on average, 58% of respondents in those countries said the Bush administration made them feel worse about the U.S. versus 19% who said the president's policies made them feel better.
...
"I believe the U.S. poses a greater risk to Egypt and the Islamic world than terrorism," said Tarek Refaat, a software engineer from Cairo. "If we have to have a global policeman, it should be the United Nations, not the U.S. What good does America do for me as a global policeman? I might need this global policeman to protect me if Egypt is attacked by Israel. And you think America will rush to protect Egypt from the Israelis, their strongest allies?"
Galina Babayan, a Moscow mathematics professor, offered this assessment: "It would be more appropriate to compare the U.S. not with a global policeman, but with an ill-natured teenager sent back to the first grade. He is bigger and stronger than anybody else. He bullies everyone around him. But he is slow on the uptake."
...
Wang Jisi, a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official, said the American people don't comprehend the world. "They don't travel, and they don't talk to foreigners…. And they don't read any foreign-language materials, so it is not very difficult for people to deceive them, to give them some propaganda [to] inflame ideological and nationalist feelings."
...
"The U.S. can't be the world policeman anymore," said Erika Thiel, standing with her son, Juergen, remembering when U.S. boots echoed through the streets. "Muslims don't want to be watched over, and sovereign nations want to be independent from the U.S. shadow."
Pat Robertson Sunday praised Israel as part of God's plan : include Israeli-controlled land in a Palestinian state are part of "Satan's plan."
Haaretz - Israel News: "04/10/2004 22:44 | Robertson: If Bush 'touches' Jerusalem, we'll form 3rd party | By Daphna Berman, Haaretz correspondent, and agencies
Influential American evangelist Pat Robertson said Monday that Evangelical Christians feel so deeply about Jerusalem, that if President George W. Bush were to 'touch' Jerusalem, Evangelicals would abandon their traditional Republican leanings and form a third party.
Evangelical Christians - estimated at tens of millions of Americans - overwhelmingly support Bush for his pro-Israel policies, Robertson told a Jerusalem news conference Monday.
But if Bush shifted his position toward support for Jerusalem as a capital for both Israel and a Palestinian state, his Evangelical backing would disappear, Robertson indicated.
"The President has backed away from [the road map], but if he were to touch Jerusalem, he'd lose all Evangelical support," Robertson said. "Evangelicals would form a third party" because, though people "don't know about" Gaza, Jerusalem is an entirely different matter.
...
Robertson urged that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) be abolished, given what he called the organization's active role in the "perpetuation" of the Palestinian refugee problem. He warned that a Palestinian state would become "a constant source of irritation" that would "endanger the territorial integrity" of Israel.
"A Palestinian state with full sovereignty would be a launching ground for various types of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction," the former presidential candidate said.
...
"I see the rise of Islam to destroy Israel and take the land from the Jews and give East Jerusalem to [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Yasser Arafat. I see that as Satan's plan to prevent the return of Jesus Christ the Lord," said Robertson, a Christian broadcaster.
In two Jerusalem appearances, Robertson Sunday praised Israel as part of God's plan and criticized Arab countries and some Muslims, saying their hopes to include Israeli-controlled land in a Palestinian state are part of "Satan's plan."
Influential American evangelist Pat Robertson said Monday that Evangelical Christians feel so deeply about Jerusalem, that if President George W. Bush were to 'touch' Jerusalem, Evangelicals would abandon their traditional Republican leanings and form a third party.
Evangelical Christians - estimated at tens of millions of Americans - overwhelmingly support Bush for his pro-Israel policies, Robertson told a Jerusalem news conference Monday.
But if Bush shifted his position toward support for Jerusalem as a capital for both Israel and a Palestinian state, his Evangelical backing would disappear, Robertson indicated.
"The President has backed away from [the road map], but if he were to touch Jerusalem, he'd lose all Evangelical support," Robertson said. "Evangelicals would form a third party" because, though people "don't know about" Gaza, Jerusalem is an entirely different matter.
...
Robertson urged that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) be abolished, given what he called the organization's active role in the "perpetuation" of the Palestinian refugee problem. He warned that a Palestinian state would become "a constant source of irritation" that would "endanger the territorial integrity" of Israel.
"A Palestinian state with full sovereignty would be a launching ground for various types of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction," the former presidential candidate said.
...
"I see the rise of Islam to destroy Israel and take the land from the Jews and give East Jerusalem to [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Yasser Arafat. I see that as Satan's plan to prevent the return of Jesus Christ the Lord," said Robertson, a Christian broadcaster.
In two Jerusalem appearances, Robertson Sunday praised Israel as part of God's plan and criticized Arab countries and some Muslims, saying their hopes to include Israeli-controlled land in a Palestinian state are part of "Satan's plan."
September: 80 US dead, 2nd-Deadliest 2004 Month in Iraq
Yahoo! News - Sept. Is 2nd-Deadliest 2004 Month in Iraq: "Mon Oct 4, 1:15 PM ET Middle East - AP | By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON - September was the second-deadliest month of the year for U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) and brought to nearly 500 the number who have died since the insurgency escalated in late March.
The Pentagon (news - web sites) announced Sunday evening that two soldiers died late last week of injuries suffered earlier in the month, and another was killed Sept. 30 by a roadside bomb. That brought the month's death toll to 80, up from 65 in August and equal to the 80 who died in May.
The worst month of the year for U.S. troops in Iraq was April when 135 died in a wave of insurgent attacks. Some had hoped the violence would decrease after an interim Iraqi government was given sovereignty June 28, but the death toll has risen steadily since then.
Forty-two U.S. military deaths were recorded in June and 54 in July. ...
WASHINGTON - September was the second-deadliest month of the year for U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) and brought to nearly 500 the number who have died since the insurgency escalated in late March.
The Pentagon (news - web sites) announced Sunday evening that two soldiers died late last week of injuries suffered earlier in the month, and another was killed Sept. 30 by a roadside bomb. That brought the month's death toll to 80, up from 65 in August and equal to the 80 who died in May.
The worst month of the year for U.S. troops in Iraq was April when 135 died in a wave of insurgent attacks. Some had hoped the violence would decrease after an interim Iraqi government was given sovereignty June 28, but the death toll has risen steadily since then.
Forty-two U.S. military deaths were recorded in June and 54 in July. ...
Monday, September 27, 2004
Body Count: Killings Surge in Iraq: 25 per day, 3,000 gunshot deaths in 8 months [vs. almost none before the war]
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Body Count: Killings Surge in Iraq, and Doctors See a Procession of Misery: "By ALEX BERENSON | Published: September 26, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Business is booming at the Baghdad morgue.
Before the war, before the fall of Saddam Hussein's government, seven or eight bodies arrived each day at this nondescript building in northeastern Baghdad for autopsies. Most deaths resulted from car crashes or other accidents. Killings were rare, and gun violence rarer still, a testament to the monopoly that Mr. Hussein held on the use of force.
Now the paper-and-cardboard ledgers where the autopsies are logged are torn from overuse. On an average day, the morgue receives 20 to 25 bodies, the human cost of the post-war wave of crime and insurgency engulfing the city.
The unexpected change is an increase in bullet injuries," said Dr. Abdul Razzaq al-Obeidi, one of the morgue's chief doctors. "Mostly vengeance." In the first eight months of this year nearly 3,000 people in municipal Baghdad, which has about five million residents, have died from gunshot wounds - nearly all homicides, Dr. Obeidi said. A surge of killings in September has only increased the pressure.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Business is booming at the Baghdad morgue.
Before the war, before the fall of Saddam Hussein's government, seven or eight bodies arrived each day at this nondescript building in northeastern Baghdad for autopsies. Most deaths resulted from car crashes or other accidents. Killings were rare, and gun violence rarer still, a testament to the monopoly that Mr. Hussein held on the use of force.
Now the paper-and-cardboard ledgers where the autopsies are logged are torn from overuse. On an average day, the morgue receives 20 to 25 bodies, the human cost of the post-war wave of crime and insurgency engulfing the city.
The unexpected change is an increase in bullet injuries," said Dr. Abdul Razzaq al-Obeidi, one of the morgue's chief doctors. "Mostly vengeance." In the first eight months of this year nearly 3,000 people in municipal Baghdad, which has about five million residents, have died from gunshot wounds - nearly all homicides, Dr. Obeidi said. A surge of killings in September has only increased the pressure.
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Many [Christians] oppose abortion on religious grounds ... but favor U.S. serial war with equal passion: rarely object to the 'collateral' killing
AxisofLogic/ Religion/World View: "In the Realm of Judeo-Christianity, Some Lives are More Precious than Others | By Charles E. Carlson | Aug 13, 2004, 10:23
A strange paradox is predominant among the Judeo-Christian celebrities. It is found in mega-churches and bible study groups, and even in pro-life organizations. Many of these oppose abortion on religious grounds, but most favor U.S. serial war with equal passion. Oddly, pro-life leaders and spokesmen rarely object to the 'collateral' killing of thousands, perhaps millions, of children who are virtually undefended. Many of those killed are pregnant women, especially in Iraq, where a modest estimate is now up to 9,000 Iraqi civilians killed in 2003. With the death of each pregnant woman, an unnamed unborn child also dies. We will explore why this ambivalence exists and its effect on the so-called 'Judeo-Christian' culture.
...
... The Southern Baptist Convention, which boasts some 16 million members and 45,000 churches and is the largest Judeo-Christian faction. Here is its official policy on the sanctity of human life:
“Procreation is a gift from God, a precious trust reserved for marriage. At the moment of conception, a new being enters the universe, a human being, a being created in God's image. This human being deserves our protection, whatever the circumstances of conception.”
So far so good! Now for the war policy of the SBC. Only one formal resolution on war has been recorded in its 165 year history, and that concerned Iraq in July 2003, after the bombing was declared ended and the casualty rate of civilians was known to be high. Here, in part, are the SBC’s words taken from its website:
“RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, June 17–18, 2003, affirm President George W. Bush, the United States Congress, and our armed forces for their leadership in the successful execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
Note the Southern Baptist policy on life specifically states that the circumstances of the individual are irrelevant to its right to protection. In other words, a child’s life is sacred regardless of race, parentage, or nationality; yet the War resolution declares the bombing of Iraq to be “successful.” What about those lives?
A strange paradox is predominant among the Judeo-Christian celebrities. It is found in mega-churches and bible study groups, and even in pro-life organizations. Many of these oppose abortion on religious grounds, but most favor U.S. serial war with equal passion. Oddly, pro-life leaders and spokesmen rarely object to the 'collateral' killing of thousands, perhaps millions, of children who are virtually undefended. Many of those killed are pregnant women, especially in Iraq, where a modest estimate is now up to 9,000 Iraqi civilians killed in 2003. With the death of each pregnant woman, an unnamed unborn child also dies. We will explore why this ambivalence exists and its effect on the so-called 'Judeo-Christian' culture.
...
... The Southern Baptist Convention, which boasts some 16 million members and 45,000 churches and is the largest Judeo-Christian faction. Here is its official policy on the sanctity of human life:
“Procreation is a gift from God, a precious trust reserved for marriage. At the moment of conception, a new being enters the universe, a human being, a being created in God's image. This human being deserves our protection, whatever the circumstances of conception.”
So far so good! Now for the war policy of the SBC. Only one formal resolution on war has been recorded in its 165 year history, and that concerned Iraq in July 2003, after the bombing was declared ended and the casualty rate of civilians was known to be high. Here, in part, are the SBC’s words taken from its website:
“RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, June 17–18, 2003, affirm President George W. Bush, the United States Congress, and our armed forces for their leadership in the successful execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
Note the Southern Baptist policy on life specifically states that the circumstances of the individual are irrelevant to its right to protection. In other words, a child’s life is sacred regardless of race, parentage, or nationality; yet the War resolution declares the bombing of Iraq to be “successful.” What about those lives?
"two state solution": The solution is not to establish another ethnic state but to disestablish the ones that exist now
AxisofLogic/ Palestine: "Should There Be A Jewish State? | By John Spritzler | Sep 21, 2004, 02:58
Editor's Note: This is a reprint from our first publication of John Spritzler's article on April 13, 2004. - Eds.
'I would much rather see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish state.'
- Albert Einstein, in Ideas and Opinions, [Crown Publishers, New York, 1954], p. 190
'A state cannot be Jewish, just as a chair or a bus cannot be Jewish...The state is no more than a tool, a tool that is efficient or a tool that is defective, a tool that is suitable or a tool that is undesirable. And this tool must belong to all its citizens -- Jews, Moslems, Christians...The concept of a 'Jewish State' is nothing other than a snare.'
- Amos Oz, Israel's preeminent writer of fiction, in 'A Laden Wagon and an Empty Wagon?
Reflections on the Culture of Israel,' Free Judaism, October 1997, p. 5 [Hebrew]"
The idea of a Jewish state (whose Jewish proponents call themselves "Zionists") is sacrosanct in the mainstream U.S. media, which does not give voice to the troublesome questions raised by the issue, in particular that many Jews have historically opposed the idea of a Jewish state. The establishment of Israel has been far more controversial among Jews than most Americans are aware. Jewish opponents of a Jewish state believed in democracy with equal rights for Jews and non-Jews, and thought a purely Jewish sovereignty would be disastrous for ordinary Jews.
...
... The Holocaust is no more a reason for Jews to have a state of their own than slavery is a reason for African-Americans to have a pure "Black state" of their own.
Most Jews who survived the Holocaust, when given a choice between going to Palestine to create a Jewish state or going to the United States, chose the United States because it seemed to offer what they really wanted — a society where people are equal before the law and Jews are treated the same as everybody else.
WHAT NOW?
The very concept of ethnically pure states is divisive and destined to stoke conflict. The so-called "two state solution" in the Middle East — establishing a Palestinian state to counter the Jewish state — is a conceptual and political trap that prevents Arab and Jewish working people from uniting around their common interests and values. The situation in the Middle East cannot be solved within this framework; it leads nowhere except to more destruction and hate and more elite control.
The solution is not to establish another ethnic state but to disestablish the ones that exist now. Israel, as well as states that are just for Muslims or any other ethnic group, must cease to exist as states based on apartheid and ethnic domination. They must be replaced by secular democracies with equal rights for all, regardless of their ethnic background, and with equal tolerance for all religions.
Editor's Note: This is a reprint from our first publication of John Spritzler's article on April 13, 2004. - Eds.
'I would much rather see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish state.'
- Albert Einstein, in Ideas and Opinions, [Crown Publishers, New York, 1954], p. 190
'A state cannot be Jewish, just as a chair or a bus cannot be Jewish...The state is no more than a tool, a tool that is efficient or a tool that is defective, a tool that is suitable or a tool that is undesirable. And this tool must belong to all its citizens -- Jews, Moslems, Christians...The concept of a 'Jewish State' is nothing other than a snare.'
- Amos Oz, Israel's preeminent writer of fiction, in 'A Laden Wagon and an Empty Wagon?
Reflections on the Culture of Israel,' Free Judaism, October 1997, p. 5 [Hebrew]"
The idea of a Jewish state (whose Jewish proponents call themselves "Zionists") is sacrosanct in the mainstream U.S. media, which does not give voice to the troublesome questions raised by the issue, in particular that many Jews have historically opposed the idea of a Jewish state. The establishment of Israel has been far more controversial among Jews than most Americans are aware. Jewish opponents of a Jewish state believed in democracy with equal rights for Jews and non-Jews, and thought a purely Jewish sovereignty would be disastrous for ordinary Jews.
...
... The Holocaust is no more a reason for Jews to have a state of their own than slavery is a reason for African-Americans to have a pure "Black state" of their own.
Most Jews who survived the Holocaust, when given a choice between going to Palestine to create a Jewish state or going to the United States, chose the United States because it seemed to offer what they really wanted — a society where people are equal before the law and Jews are treated the same as everybody else.
WHAT NOW?
The very concept of ethnically pure states is divisive and destined to stoke conflict. The so-called "two state solution" in the Middle East — establishing a Palestinian state to counter the Jewish state — is a conceptual and political trap that prevents Arab and Jewish working people from uniting around their common interests and values. The situation in the Middle East cannot be solved within this framework; it leads nowhere except to more destruction and hate and more elite control.
The solution is not to establish another ethnic state but to disestablish the ones that exist now. Israel, as well as states that are just for Muslims or any other ethnic group, must cease to exist as states based on apartheid and ethnic domination. They must be replaced by secular democracies with equal rights for all, regardless of their ethnic background, and with equal tolerance for all religions.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
European Press Criticizes Bush Address to U.N. as a Denial of a Worsening Situation in Iraq
The New York Times > International > Europe > Diplomacy: European Press Criticizes Bush Address to U.N. as a Denial of a Worsening Situation in Iraq: "By PATRICK E. TYLER | Published: September 23, 2004
LONDON, Sept. 22 - The editorial cartoon in The Times of London on Wednesday was derisive: the first panel showed President Bush telling the United Nations General Assembly, 'Friends, our policy in Iraq is directed solely towards a successful election.'
The second panel had him saying which election: 'Mine.'
European newspapers, including some that supported the American military campaign in Iraq, were largely critical of Mr. Bush's address on Tuesday to the United Nations, accusing him of being unrealistic about the worsening situation in Iraq.
...
The Polish newspaper Nasz Dziennik, however, argued in an editorial that Mr. Bush, having "attacked Iraq in defiance" of those nations that called for United Nations authorization for invasion, Mr. Bush was now trying to convince the international community that it should pay for the "chaos'' caused by "reckless policy."
...
In Le Figaro, which reflects the thinking of France's conservative establishment, the correspondent Philippe Gélie wrote that Mr. Bush was "impervious to criticism'' in the conduct of American foreign policy, and characterized his speech as that of a "campaigning American president'' who "lectured the rest of the world.''
...
An editorial in the German daily Tagesspiegel was blunt. Its headline: "U.S., U.N., Iraq: The truth counts for nothing.''
LONDON, Sept. 22 - The editorial cartoon in The Times of London on Wednesday was derisive: the first panel showed President Bush telling the United Nations General Assembly, 'Friends, our policy in Iraq is directed solely towards a successful election.'
The second panel had him saying which election: 'Mine.'
European newspapers, including some that supported the American military campaign in Iraq, were largely critical of Mr. Bush's address on Tuesday to the United Nations, accusing him of being unrealistic about the worsening situation in Iraq.
...
The Polish newspaper Nasz Dziennik, however, argued in an editorial that Mr. Bush, having "attacked Iraq in defiance" of those nations that called for United Nations authorization for invasion, Mr. Bush was now trying to convince the international community that it should pay for the "chaos'' caused by "reckless policy."
...
In Le Figaro, which reflects the thinking of France's conservative establishment, the correspondent Philippe Gélie wrote that Mr. Bush was "impervious to criticism'' in the conduct of American foreign policy, and characterized his speech as that of a "campaigning American president'' who "lectured the rest of the world.''
...
An editorial in the German daily Tagesspiegel was blunt. Its headline: "U.S., U.N., Iraq: The truth counts for nothing.''
The War's Toll on Iraqi Civilians: 30,000 or 13,000 civilians? [and the non-civilians killed during the first assault?]
The War's Toll on Iraqi Civilians (washingtonpost.com): "By Jefferson Morley | washingtonpost.com Staff Writer | Tuesday, September 21, 2004; 9:01 AM
When the 1,000th U.S. soldier was killed in Iraq earlier this month, more than a few commentators in the international online media took note of another death toll: Iraqi civilians.
...
"While so much is made of the 1,000 US military fatalities," said a columnist for Gulf News in the United Arab Emirates, "an eerie silence surrounds the tally of Iraqi casualties since the invasion."
...
Since then, other figures have been floated. Commentators for the Jordan Times and the Daily Star in Beirut, Lebanon, have cited an estimate of 30,000 deaths. That is the figure disseminated by the Iraqi Human Rights Organization, an independent group in Baghdad.
A more conservative figure comes from Iraqbodycount.net, a British Web site that compiles media reports on Iraqi civilian deaths. Based on such reporting, the site says there have been a minimum of 12,778 civilian deaths in Iraq and a maximum of 14,820. ...
When the 1,000th U.S. soldier was killed in Iraq earlier this month, more than a few commentators in the international online media took note of another death toll: Iraqi civilians.
...
"While so much is made of the 1,000 US military fatalities," said a columnist for Gulf News in the United Arab Emirates, "an eerie silence surrounds the tally of Iraqi casualties since the invasion."
...
Since then, other figures have been floated. Commentators for the Jordan Times and the Daily Star in Beirut, Lebanon, have cited an estimate of 30,000 deaths. That is the figure disseminated by the Iraqi Human Rights Organization, an independent group in Baghdad.
A more conservative figure comes from Iraqbodycount.net, a British Web site that compiles media reports on Iraqi civilian deaths. Based on such reporting, the site says there have been a minimum of 12,778 civilian deaths in Iraq and a maximum of 14,820. ...
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Fallujah: US warplanes: 16 dead, 12 wounded incl women, children, ambulance ... 'The American army has no morals.'
Patrick Cockburn: The Punishment of Fallujah: "September 14, 2004 | US Precision Strikes...on Ambulances | By PATRICK COCKBURN | Baghdad
A plume of grey smoke billowed above Fallujah yesterday as the US military claimed they were making precision air strikes against insurgents in the city and local doctors said that civilians were being killed and wounded.
The US army said its warplanes had bombed houses because it had intelligence about the presence of fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whom the US sees as the guiding hand behind many attacks on its forces.
Dr Adel Khamis of the Fallujah General Hospital said at least 16 people were killed, including women and children, and 12 others were wounded. Video film showed a Red Crescent ambulance torn apart by an explosion. A hospital official said the driver, a paramedic and five patients had been killed by the blast.
'The conditions here are miserable - an ambulance was bombed, three houses destroyed and men and women killed,' said Rafayi Hayad al-Esawi, the director of the hospital. 'The American army has no morals.'"
A plume of grey smoke billowed above Fallujah yesterday as the US military claimed they were making precision air strikes against insurgents in the city and local doctors said that civilians were being killed and wounded.
The US army said its warplanes had bombed houses because it had intelligence about the presence of fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whom the US sees as the guiding hand behind many attacks on its forces.
Dr Adel Khamis of the Fallujah General Hospital said at least 16 people were killed, including women and children, and 12 others were wounded. Video film showed a Red Crescent ambulance torn apart by an explosion. A hospital official said the driver, a paramedic and five patients had been killed by the blast.
'The conditions here are miserable - an ambulance was bombed, three houses destroyed and men and women killed,' said Rafayi Hayad al-Esawi, the director of the hospital. 'The American army has no morals.'"
Thursday, September 02, 2004
|TheStar.com - 17 killed in U.S. air strike
TheStar.com - 17 killed in U.S. air strike: "17 killed in U.S. air strike | 3 children among dead as U.S. hits militant safehouse | 7 hostages freed in Iraq after boss pays $500,000
FALLUJA, Iraq�A U.S. air strike on the city of Falluja late yesterday killed 17 civilians, including three children, and wounded six others, hospital officials said.
Also yesterday, Iraqi militants released seven foreign hostages after their employer paid $500,000 (U.S.) ransom.
Witnesses said the strike hit a residence in the southern neighbourhood of al-Jubail. People struggled to pull bodies from the rubble, while ambulances and cars took the dead and wounded to the hospital.
The U.S. military said they hit a suspected safehouse used by followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "
FALLUJA, Iraq�A U.S. air strike on the city of Falluja late yesterday killed 17 civilians, including three children, and wounded six others, hospital officials said.
Also yesterday, Iraqi militants released seven foreign hostages after their employer paid $500,000 (U.S.) ransom.
Witnesses said the strike hit a residence in the southern neighbourhood of al-Jubail. People struggled to pull bodies from the rubble, while ambulances and cars took the dead and wounded to the hospital.
The U.S. military said they hit a suspected safehouse used by followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "
Monday, June 14, 2004
Israelis to Extend Barrier Deeper Into West Bank: Sharon advisor: "exactly what we agreed with the Americans"
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Israelis to Extend Barrier Deeper Into West Bank: "By GREG MYRE | Published: June 15, 2004
JERUSALEM, June 14 - Israel is preparing to build new segments of its separation barrier around Jewish settlements that would mark the deepest penetration yet into the West Bank, a move that drew sharp criticism from Palestinians on Monday.
President Bush has called the fence's route a "problem," and American officials have raised objections in continuing talks with the Israelis. But Israel has insisted that Washington has not opposed the first phase of construction around Ariel and nearby settlements that are more than 10 miles inside the West Bank.
The Israeli plan, approved by the government last fall, calls for building a barrier around three sides of Ariel, which is about 20 miles north of Jerusalem and is one of the largest Jewish settlements, with close to 20,000 residents. This same building pattern would be carried out around several other settlements in the same area.
After this work is completed, Israel would consult with the United States about joining these sections together and linking them with the main barrier, which runs closer to the West Bank boundary, said Asaf Shariv, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"This is exactly what we agreed to with the Americans," he said.
JERUSALEM, June 14 - Israel is preparing to build new segments of its separation barrier around Jewish settlements that would mark the deepest penetration yet into the West Bank, a move that drew sharp criticism from Palestinians on Monday.
President Bush has called the fence's route a "problem," and American officials have raised objections in continuing talks with the Israelis. But Israel has insisted that Washington has not opposed the first phase of construction around Ariel and nearby settlements that are more than 10 miles inside the West Bank.
The Israeli plan, approved by the government last fall, calls for building a barrier around three sides of Ariel, which is about 20 miles north of Jerusalem and is one of the largest Jewish settlements, with close to 20,000 residents. This same building pattern would be carried out around several other settlements in the same area.
After this work is completed, Israel would consult with the United States about joining these sections together and linking them with the main barrier, which runs closer to the West Bank boundary, said Asaf Shariv, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"This is exactly what we agreed to with the Americans," he said.
Baghdad: car bomb: 13 dead, incl 5 US workers
Excite News: "Crowds Celebrate 13 Deaths in Iraq Blast | Jun 14, 9:00 PM (ET) | By ROBERT H. REID
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A car bomb shattered a convoy of Westerners in Baghdad Monday, killing at least 13 people, including three General Electric workers and two bodyguards. Crowds rejoiced over the attack, dancing around a charred body and shouting 'Down with the USA!'"
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A car bomb shattered a convoy of Westerners in Baghdad Monday, killing at least 13 people, including three General Electric workers and two bodyguards. Crowds rejoiced over the attack, dancing around a charred body and shouting 'Down with the USA!'"
Friday, May 21, 2004
Ramadi: US air attack: [wedding party] 40 dead, many mothers and children: US General "videos ...inconsistent" with US reports
Excite News: "Iraq Desert Bombing Video Shows Carnage | May 21, 8:29 PM (ET) | By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Fragments of musical instruments, tufts of women's hair, and a large blood stain are among the scenes in Associated Press Television News film of a destroyed house that survivors say U.S. planes bombed during a wedding party.
It is the first known footage from the site of Wednesday's attack, which killed up to 45 people, mostly women and children from the Bou Fahad tribe in Mogr el-Deeb, a desert village on the Syrian border.
The U.S. military has said the target was a suspected safehouse for foreign fighters from Syria and denied Friday that children were killed in the airstrikes.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters in Baghdad that U.S. troops who reported back from the operation "told us they did not shoot women and children."
...
But an Associated Press reporter in the Ramadi area, at least 275 miles east of Mogr el-Deeb, was able to identify at least 10 of the bodies as those of children.
At the Bou Fahad cemetery outside Ramadi, where the tribe is based, each of the 28 fresh graves contain one to three corpses, mostly of mothers and their young children.
Relatives said they include those of 2-year-old Kholood and 1-year-old Anoud, daughters of Amal Rikad, who was killed; of 2-year-old Raad and 1-year-old Ra'ed - whose headless body was found near his house - sons of Fatima Madhi, who was killed; of Saad, 10, Faisal, 7, Anoud, 6, Fasila, 5, Kholood, 4, and Inad, 3 - children of Mohammed and Morifa Rikad, who were killed.
There also are photo images of dead children, but it was not possible to determine if those victims were already accounted for by relatives.
In Washington, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers told Congress that "we feel at this point very confident that this was a legitimate target, probably foreign fighters" who may have ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian wanted for allegedly organizing attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq on behalf of al-Qaida.
...
Smuggling livestock into Syria is also part of a herdsman's life, although no one in the tribe acknowledged that.
Weddings are often marked in Iraq with celebratory gunfire, but survivors insisted no weapons were fired Wednesday - despite speculation by Iraqi officials that this drew a mistaken American attack.
...
"What we saw in those APTN videos were substantially inconsistent with the reports we received from the unit that conducted the operation," Kimmitt said. "We're now trying to figure out why there's an inconsistency.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Fragments of musical instruments, tufts of women's hair, and a large blood stain are among the scenes in Associated Press Television News film of a destroyed house that survivors say U.S. planes bombed during a wedding party.
It is the first known footage from the site of Wednesday's attack, which killed up to 45 people, mostly women and children from the Bou Fahad tribe in Mogr el-Deeb, a desert village on the Syrian border.
The U.S. military has said the target was a suspected safehouse for foreign fighters from Syria and denied Friday that children were killed in the airstrikes.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters in Baghdad that U.S. troops who reported back from the operation "told us they did not shoot women and children."
...
But an Associated Press reporter in the Ramadi area, at least 275 miles east of Mogr el-Deeb, was able to identify at least 10 of the bodies as those of children.
At the Bou Fahad cemetery outside Ramadi, where the tribe is based, each of the 28 fresh graves contain one to three corpses, mostly of mothers and their young children.
Relatives said they include those of 2-year-old Kholood and 1-year-old Anoud, daughters of Amal Rikad, who was killed; of 2-year-old Raad and 1-year-old Ra'ed - whose headless body was found near his house - sons of Fatima Madhi, who was killed; of Saad, 10, Faisal, 7, Anoud, 6, Fasila, 5, Kholood, 4, and Inad, 3 - children of Mohammed and Morifa Rikad, who were killed.
There also are photo images of dead children, but it was not possible to determine if those victims were already accounted for by relatives.
In Washington, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers told Congress that "we feel at this point very confident that this was a legitimate target, probably foreign fighters" who may have ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian wanted for allegedly organizing attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq on behalf of al-Qaida.
...
Smuggling livestock into Syria is also part of a herdsman's life, although no one in the tribe acknowledged that.
Weddings are often marked in Iraq with celebratory gunfire, but survivors insisted no weapons were fired Wednesday - despite speculation by Iraqi officials that this drew a mistaken American attack.
...
"What we saw in those APTN videos were substantially inconsistent with the reports we received from the unit that conducted the operation," Kimmitt said. "We're now trying to figure out why there's an inconsistency.
Karbala: AC-130 Gunships: 18 Iraqi dead, [incl 2 pilgrims?], 13 wounded
Excite News: "18 Killed in Heavy Fighting in Karbala | May 21, 8:28 AM (ET) | By FISNIK ABRASHI
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) - American AC-130 gunships and tanks pounded militia positions early Friday near two shrines in the center of the holy city of Karbala, and the U.S. military said it killed 18 fighters loyal to a rebel cleric. Hospital officials said the dead included two Iranian pilgrims.
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) - American AC-130 gunships and tanks pounded militia positions early Friday near two shrines in the center of the holy city of Karbala, and the U.S. military said it killed 18 fighters loyal to a rebel cleric. Hospital officials said the dead included two Iranian pilgrims.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Coalition casualties to date: 783 U.S., 58 British, Italy-18; Spain-8; Bulgaria-6; Ukraine-4; Poland-3, Thailand-2, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia Ne
Modbee.com | The Modesto Bee: "List of coalition casualties | Five G.I.s fall as U.S. battles Shiites in Iraq | The Associated Press | Last Updated: May 17, 2004, 08:15:27 PM PDT
(AP) - The names of coalition casualties, provided by relatives or military officials. As of Monday, May 17, 783 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense.
The British military has reported 58 deaths; Italy, 18; Spain, eight; Bulgaria, six; Ukraine, four; Poland, three;
Thailand, two; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia and the Netherlands have reported one each.
The list will be updated as information becomes available from the Associated Press."
(AP) - The names of coalition casualties, provided by relatives or military officials. As of Monday, May 17, 783 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense.
The British military has reported 58 deaths; Italy, 18; Spain, eight; Bulgaria, six; Ukraine, four; Poland, three;
Thailand, two; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia and the Netherlands have reported one each.
The list will be updated as information becomes available from the Associated Press."
Baghdad, near Green Zone: suicide car bomb: HEAD of GOVERNING COUNCIL killed 3-6 more
News: "Head of Governing Council killed in Baghdad bombing | By Christopher Torchia, AP | 17 May 2004
The head of Iraq's Governing Council was killed today in a suicide car bombing near a US checkpoint in central Baghdad - a major blow to coalition efforts to stabilize Iraq ahead of a handover of sovereignty on 30 June.
Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem, was the second and highest-ranking member of the US-appointed council assassinated so far. He was among four Iraqis killed in the blast, according to Redha Jawad Taki, a member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim organization. "
The head of Iraq's Governing Council was killed today in a suicide car bombing near a US checkpoint in central Baghdad - a major blow to coalition efforts to stabilize Iraq ahead of a handover of sovereignty on 30 June.
Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem, was the second and highest-ranking member of the US-appointed council assassinated so far. He was among four Iraqis killed in the blast, according to Redha Jawad Taki, a member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim organization. "
Green Zone: suicide car bomb 6 Iraqi dead including Head of GOVERNING COUNCIL
Excite - News: "Suicide Car Bomb Kills Iraq Governing Council Chief | May 17, 5:33 am ET | By Joseph Logan and Khaled Yacoub Oweis
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide car bomb killed the head of Iraq's Governing Council Monday, dealing a major blow to the U.S. coalition battling a Shi'ite insurgency and a growing prisoner abuse scandal.
Abdul Zahra Othman Mohammad, a Shi'ite Muslim also known as Izzedin Salim, was in the last car of a Governing Council convoy waiting at a checkpoint to enter the 'Green Zone' coalition headquarters in central Baghdad when the car bomb exploded.
The attack underlined the vulnerability of the Baghdad administration just six weeks before the U.S.-led occupiers are set to hand over sovereignty to Iraqis, though officials insisted violence would not derail the political process.
At least six people were killed as the blast tore through the crush of cars and pedestrians waiting to get into the heavily guarded compound of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, blowing bodies apart and melting the asphalt.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide car bomb killed the head of Iraq's Governing Council Monday, dealing a major blow to the U.S. coalition battling a Shi'ite insurgency and a growing prisoner abuse scandal.
Abdul Zahra Othman Mohammad, a Shi'ite Muslim also known as Izzedin Salim, was in the last car of a Governing Council convoy waiting at a checkpoint to enter the 'Green Zone' coalition headquarters in central Baghdad when the car bomb exploded.
The attack underlined the vulnerability of the Baghdad administration just six weeks before the U.S.-led occupiers are set to hand over sovereignty to Iraqis, though officials insisted violence would not derail the political process.
At least six people were killed as the blast tore through the crush of cars and pedestrians waiting to get into the heavily guarded compound of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, blowing bodies apart and melting the asphalt.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Iraq: American civilian beheaded: vowed more killings in revenge for the 'Satanic degradation' of Iraqi prisoners buy US
Excite - News: "Qaeda Leader Beheads U.S. Civilian in Iraq -Web Site | May 11, 6:09 pm ET | By Ghaida Ghantous
DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq beheaded an American civilian and vowed more killings in revenge for the 'Satanic degradation' of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, an Islamist Web site said on Tuesday.
A poor quality videotape on the site showed a man dressed in orange overalls sitting bound on a white plastic chair in a bare room, then knelt on the floor with five masked men behind him.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq beheaded an American civilian and vowed more killings in revenge for the 'Satanic degradation' of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, an Islamist Web site said on Tuesday.
A poor quality videotape on the site showed a man dressed in orange overalls sitting bound on a white plastic chair in a bare room, then knelt on the floor with five masked men behind him.
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Baghdad : car bomb: 6 US dead, 2 US Dead
Excite News: "Military: 8 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq | Apr 29, 7:13 AM (ET)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Eight U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday in the Baghdad area, a U.S. military spokesman said. Media reports said the troops were killed in a car bomb attack, but the spokesman had no details.
The Arab television network Al-Arabiya reported that the troops were killed in a car bomb explosion in the town of Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad. The spokesman could not confirm the report.
The deaths came after another U.S. soldier was killed Thursday by a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his patrol in eastern Baghdad, the military said.
Another soldier was killed and another wounded Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy outside the city of Baqouba, 24 miles north of the capital, the military said."
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Eight U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday in the Baghdad area, a U.S. military spokesman said. Media reports said the troops were killed in a car bomb attack, but the spokesman had no details.
The Arab television network Al-Arabiya reported that the troops were killed in a car bomb explosion in the town of Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad. The spokesman could not confirm the report.
The deaths came after another U.S. soldier was killed Thursday by a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his patrol in eastern Baghdad, the military said.
Another soldier was killed and another wounded Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy outside the city of Baqouba, 24 miles north of the capital, the military said."
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