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.
Monday, September 27, 2004
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. "
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