|
Iraqis have not yet learned
Truth About Iraqis
Where are you O Whores of the Green Zone who write so prolifically of your love for the US Soldier? Where are you Bastards of Baghdad who sell your mothers to the invading armies? Where are you men of religion hiding under your turbans prostituting your Islam in the mosques of Qum and Mecca? FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY: One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl last spring showed little remorse and even smiled during a confession to charges he conspired to kill her and her family. (…) Where are you who celebrated the death sentence of Saddam? Why are you silent now? Have you no daughters? Have you no wives? Have you no karama? Have you sold it all for a few dollars? Have you not been punished enough, has Iraq not been decimated enough? Have you not learned? Have you not learned that Washington and London will not embrace you? But dispose of you after your charge is fulfilled? There is more to come. Much more…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28306
Iraq minister says some hostages tortured, killed
Aseel Kami
Kidnappers who seized dozens of men from an Iraqi government building two days ago tortured and killed some of their hostages, the minister for higher education said on Thursday, citing the testimony of freed hostages. The comments from Abd Dhiab, who also said some 70 staff were still missing, underlined the rifts in the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has insisted that all but a handful of around 40 hostages have been freed. Tuesday’s raid by gunmen in police uniform raised new fears that sectarian militias were out of control, despite U.S. calls for Maliki to disband armed groups loyal to his Shi’ite allies (…) “There are a number of people who were killed, they are employees and guards,” Dhiab said, without specifying how many. “According to the people released, they were killed by torture,” he said, adding that several of those released were in shock after being tortured themselves…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28305
Bush gives go-ahead for building ‘Bush Center’ in Israel
Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent
United States President George Bush was informed on Tuesday of an initiative to establish a center under his name in Israel, as a sign of gratitude for his support for the country and its security. Outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Daniel Ayalon asked Bush for the go-ahead to establish such a center during a farewell meeting with the president and his deputy, Dick Cheney. Bush told Ayalon that “freedom” would be a worthy subject for the center to focus on…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28304
WAR NEWS FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2006
Today in Iraq
One U.S. soldier and three Marines were killed during combat in Anbar Province, the insurgent stronghold in western Iraq, the military said in a statement Wednesday. The soldier assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division and the three Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died Tuesday from wounds sustained in “enemy action while operating in Anbar Province,” the statement said. A suicide bomber drove his car into a tent where a funeral was being held in the mostly Sunni-Arab neighborhood of Dora in southern Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 15. Three bodies, blindfolded with their hands and legs tied, were found by police in eastern Baghdad. A car bomb exploded in a parking lot in central Baghdad on Wednesday, killing eight people and wounding 32. The car exploded near a gasoline station about 9:45 a.m. in the Bab Shargi neighborhood. Gunmen attacked the convoy of Salama al-Khafagi, a former member of the governing Council, wounding a bodyguard and killing a passer-by in the western Jamiaa district of Baghdad…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28303
Iraq’s death squads
Deborah Davies, Channel 4
… In the bloody mayhem of Baghdad it’s very difficult to untangle exactly who’s who amongst the various death squads who now rule the streets. There are organised criminal gangs, kidnapping and killing for ransom money, and there are private militia groups loyal to particular clerics or clan leaders. But there is no question that among the most efficient of the death squads are the police commandos. As part of our investigation, we traced how these commando units have been deliberately infiltrated and taken over by one of the most militant Islamic groups, the Badr Brigade. They’re the military wing of an Iraqi political party, The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. SCIRI was set up in the early 80's in exile in Iran and its aim was always to overthrow Saddam and his Sunni government and replace them with a Shia government. Now, very helpfully, the Americans have done that for them…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28302
US soldier pleads guilty to raping Iraqi teenager
Guardian
A US soldier today pleaded guilty to taking part in the rape of an Iraqi teenage girl and the murder of her family. Specialist James Barker, being tried at a military court in Kentucky, entered the plea to avoid the death penalty, his civilian lawyer, David Sheldon, said. A criminal investigation into the killing of the family of four at their home in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006, started in June. Barker is one of four US soldiers charged with premeditated murder over the rape and killing of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, her parents and her five-year-old sister…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28301
Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Wednesday, 15 November 2006.
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice
In a bulletin posted at 6:35pm Makkah time Wednesday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US occupation troops withdrew from one of their bases west of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad after weeks of Resistance rocket barrages. The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the at-Ta’mim section of ar-Ramadi as saying that US troops began pulling out of their base in al-Anbar University west of the city, clearing out the vehicles and provisions from inside the base and hauling away the tall cement barricades, barbed wire fences, and spy cameras that used to ring the facility. The witnesses reported that the Americans had withdrawn more than 100 military vehicles so far and the pull out was still underway…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28311
Political change in the United States? As in Israel, just different faces.
Agustin Velloso
When the former Israeli prime minister Sharon, was taken to hospital almost one year ago, and his successor Olmert invited Peretz to head the ministry of defence, political commentators made money once again with their articles in support of the powerful leaders. The foresaw an almost rosy future for Israel under the auspices of Peretz, ‘Peace Now’ forerunner and notable Labour member who promised increases in social services and advances in negotiations with the Palestinians. None of the comments makes the Israeli government less guilty of crimes against humanity and the commentators less accountable for their support of the government. Rumsfeld left yesterday the ministry of defence of a government as genocidal as Israel’s, but as it happened with Sharon, this punctual change, or the wider ones brought by elections, is unable to achieve justice. A place in a bench in front of a war crimes tribunal and against humanity, should be the first stop in his way to a sentence in accord with his crimes, if someone is able to visualize one…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28290
Palestine: Wake Up America
Sarah Meyer, INDEX RESEARCH
…Who is responsible for giving the American people warped facts, or no facts at all, about the plight of the Palestinian people? Why are the White House, Congress and the Senate, as well as Mainstream Media in collusion with the massive lobby, AIPAC? This lobby, according to the NY Times banner on their webpage, is “The most important organization affecting America’s relationship with Israel.” It is time for the Sleeping Beauty – America the Beautiful, land of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights – to wake up not only to the so-called ‘war on terror’ and Iraq war lies, but also to the lies they have been fed about Palestine over many years. Following is a short synthesis of articles and videos focusing on the Beit Hanoun horror – a microcosmic mirror of Israeli crimes perpetrated upon the Palestinian people. Read and watch, and wake up America…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28279
And it Continues to Get Stranger
Zeyad, Healing Iraq
What happened yesterday in central Baghdad borders on the farcical. Up to 80 gunmen, dressed in camouflaged Interior Ministry uniforms in dozens of unmarked four wheel-drive vehicles and pickup trucks with tinted glass, surrounded and blocked all roads leading to the Directorate of Scholarships and Cultural Relations at Andalus Square at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday. They stormed the four-story building, claiming they were clearing it to prepare for a visit of U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. But once inside they cocked their weapons and shouted at everyone to stay where they were. In what appeared to be a carefully planned operation, the whole thing took less than 15 minutes. Men were seperated from women, and the women locked up in a room and their cell phones were confiscated. IDs were checked to determine sectarian background and then between 50 to 100 men were hauled off into the pickup trucks. Eyewitnesses said they moved across the Mohammed Al-Qasim highway and passed several checkpoints by Shaab Stadium and the Interior Ministry heading to eastern Baghdad, most likely to Sadr City…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28291
Update on Iraq’s mass kidnapping (2nd Update)
Roads to Iraq
By this time you all know what is the definition of “terrorism” in Iraq, according Maliki: Iraqi PM plays down kidnap as militia dispute What happened was not terrorism, rather it was due to dispute and conflict between militias from one side or another. Kidnapping and beating innocent Iraqi civilians is not terrorism, attacking government members or the American is terrorism. Elaph reported that the Iraqi government announced they managed to release all the hostages after raids on different areas in Baghdad, [strange that not a single person was arrested in these so called “raids”]. Al-Jazeera, confirmed what I translate earlier that the hostages were found in a school in Sadr-city, Iraqi interior Ministry said: significant number of the hostages are not released yet, also Al-Jazeera reporter in Baghdad said there were no raids, the kidnappers themselves released the hostages and there are many others still kidnapped…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28284
WHAT IS A CITIZEN?
Malcom Lagauche
Last week, an acquaintance made a curious statement to me. He opposed the illegal invasion of Iraq until the bullets started flying and then he became a part of the “I support our troops” brigade of millions of Americans. I differed with his opinion, but everybody is entitle to one. His next statement threw me off. He said, “I guess there must be a head sheriff to keep the world in order.” I then asked, “Well, what if it is a bad sheriff?” He countered, “Do you mean that the U.S. is bad?” I said, “No, my words were quite clear. I think that the U.S. is portraying a diabolical image and is making the world more violent.” Then, he wanted to know what I do to show my citizenship. I said, “I obey the laws and I am creative. In addition, I have never cheated the U.S. government out of one cent in income taxes.”…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28285
Confirmation of request of the verdict and incrimination panel
Lawyer Khalil Dolaimi, President of the Defense Committee for President Saddam Hussein and his comrades
Pursuant to our repeated requests of the 5th, 7th and 9th of November 2006 and after our deputized representative in Baghdad reported that the Court has not yet provided him with copies of the verdict and incrimination decisions rendered in the claim (# 1/criminal/2005) on November 5, 2006. We would like to confirm before the whole world that the court lacks every standard for a fair trial and that it is still pursuing its continued efforts to obstruct the efforts of the Defense to submit a legal cassation appeal against the unjust verdicts which rendered against President Saddam Hussein and some of his comrades by this court, and its trial which lacks both legality and legitimacy according to the latest reports of all legal institutions and U.N. commissions. It is worth mentioning that the court has violated all laws when it refused to receive the final defense submissions from the lawyers although those submissions were signed and were in full accordance with legal requirements and not to the contrary as the court claims…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28299
The bad scenario
Arablinks.blogspot.com
Abdulbari Atwan, writing in this morning’s Al-Quds al-Arabi, says the mass kidnapping at the Education Ministry (following on earlier assassinations of intellectuals and others) is an indication that the destruction of the country now includes a concerted plan to stultify the coming generation and set back the country for decades to come. He says this is happening in an environment where neighboring countries, first and foremost Iran, are developing nuclear programs. Given the complete collapse of security in Iraq, he says it wouldn’t be surprising to see Bush withdraw his troops ignominiously to minimize further losses, and to prepare for the next war, against Iran. Atwan adds that it was the Jewish lobby in Washington that promoted the war against Iraq, and it is the same group involved in the current run-up to war in Iran. Tony Blair, for his part, hoping to avoid having to join Rumsfeld in the war-criminals department, has started touting the idea of asking for help from Syria and Iran…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28281
GIVATI TERRORIST UNITE – ISRAELI JEWS COWARDS AND SIMPLE THIEVES
They Stole Money,Gold,Cellphones From Homes of Impoverished Starving People !
Hiyam Noir, PalestineFreeVoice Novembre
The Israeli Jews that was participating in the “Autumn Clouds” bloody murder carnage in Biet Hanoun the Givati terrorgang ( Unit) used the time to steal Palestinian private property – money, gold, cellphones and other valuables from the homes of the dead and those who escaped the horror. The mayor of Beit Hanoun Muhammad Nazek Al-Kafarneh said in a pressconferense that the “soldiers” of the Givati “unit” ( gang) were not content with murdering and injuring hundreds of people, destroying property valued at millions of dollars, destroying the livelihood of a whole city during their so-called “Autumn Clouds” operation, but they used their time to steal cellphones, gold (which is the most widely used form of saving in Palestine) and other private property from the homes of impoverished people who are already under a genocidal regime of starvation…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28295
To Hell with Centrism: We Must Reclaim the Inspired Edge
Phil Rockstroh
Rumsfeld is gone. Mehlman is gone. Delay is gone. Yet — let’s not have our progressives’ version of a strutting on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier moment. Because mission has not been accomplished. For those who haven’t noticed: While we were busy with other concerns, many of our rights and liberties went missing. Moreover, along with them, have went or are going fast: our planet’s polar ice caps; accountability of the corporate sector (our nation’s true power brokers); as well as, a sense of place, history, and even a cursory understanding, among a large percent of the populace of the US, of the precepts of civilization and of democratic discourse…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28294
Howard Zinn joins Kathy Kelly, Dahr Jamail, Ann Wright and Neil MacKay in endorsing “War Crimes Committed by the United States in Iraq and Mechanisms for Accountability.”
Charles Jenks, Traprock Peace Center
Howard Zinn joins Kathy Kelly, Dahr Jamail, Ann Wright and Neil MacKay in endorsing “War Crimes Committed by the United States in Iraq and Mechanisms for Accountability.” The report was published internationally by 10 organizations in October. “This report on the war crimes of the current administration is an invaluable resource, with a meticulous presentation of the evidence and an astute
examination of international law. – Howard Zinn. The 37 page report, written by Consumers for Peace with the consultation of international humanitarian law expert Karen Parker, JD, is available for free download at www.consumersforpeace.org/pdf/war_crimes_iraq_101006.
pdf
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28293
IRAQ TROOP WITHDRAWAL LOOKS FAR OFF
Nick Mottern, Director, Consumers for Peace
The removal of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense is being described in the press as a step planned by President George W. Bush even before the Democrats swept both houses of Congress to clear the way for changes in U.S. policy and action in Iraq. It is a step that has raised hope of less bloodshed and an early return home of U.S. troops. But in spite of Democratic statements calling for quick withdrawal, this hope may not be realized any time soon. This is in large part because the departure of Mr. Rumsfeld may be simply part of an intervention by a group of extremely wealthy players with long-standing oil connections, including George H.W. Bush, the father of the President, aimed at somehow fulfilling pre-invasion plans to give the world’s major private oil companies favorable access to Iraq’s oil. A related goal would be to restore the perception that the U.S. is dominant in the oil-rich Middle East, a perception nearly destroyed by the resistance forces in Iraq…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28292
Al Jazeera International Must Stay True to Arabic-Language Flagship
Firas Al-Atraqchi
In an age where information is quickly downloaded from television and computer screens onto handheld devices, breaking news can be read using mobile-phone technology, and a new breed of communicators employs podcasting, the source of your news — and their ethics — becomes crucial. Today’s launch of Al Jazeera International (AJI), the English-language news service of flagship Al Jazeera, highlights the importance of news sources more than ever, particularly as it arrives on the threshold of a growing global divide…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28298
Another Smoking Gun Indicating Bush Guilt; Another Smoking Gun Indicating Media Conspiracy
Jesse, TvNewsLIES.org
Be it the exposure of the Downing Street Memos or the multiple discoveries related to the events of 9/11 (like when seven of the accused hijackers, whom we still blame, surface…ALIVE), any one of the numerous smoking guns has been singularly worthy of a major criminal investigation of George W. Bush or his administration. And yet, all remain completely ignored by the criminal enterprise known as the U.S. corporate media. The most recent smoking gun came in the form of two documents indicating that George W. Bush personally approved the transporting of prisoners, none of whom was tried in a court and most of whom were not even charged with a crime, for the purpose of torturing them. Outside of the obvious implications these memos have regarding the violations of international & domestic human rights laws, they serve as another example of how George W. Bush has stood in front of this nation and lied over and over about the most serious of issues…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28300
Political Blogging as Hate Crime
Kurt Nimmo
If Rev. Ted Pike is correct, this blog may soon be illegal. “For the past eight years, the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith has tried unsuccessfully to pass its Orwellian federal ‘anti-hate’ bill. It has failed largely for one reason: Republican control of Congress,” writes Pike. “Repeatedly, Republican opponents of their hate bill, such as Rep. Roy Blunt and Sen. Bill Frist have been able, with Republican congressional backing, to block passage,” but now, with Democrats in control of Congress, “such freedom-saving clout no longer exists. ADL’s federal thought crimes bill, ‘The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act,’ will be reintroduced soon after January 1. Since no Democrat in Congress has ever voted against the hate bill, it will pass.” …
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28287
Video interview: War Crimes Suit prepared against Rumsfeld
Roads to Iraq
Reported on the “Times” and “Spiegel” [via Keld Bach] A coalition of human rights groups has filed a criminal lawsuit against former US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld in Germany, accusing him of war crimes. A first attempt to prosecute him in 2004 failed, but the activists feel they have a better chance this time — and they have a powerful witness on their side. But it is good to watch a video interview with the German lawyer “Wolfgang Kaleck”, who is representing the organizations: Watch the Interview here…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28286
Iraq minister resigns in kidnapping dispute
Gulf News
Iraq’s Higher Education Minister stepped down on Wednesday while at least 70 hostages from Baghdad’s mass kidnapping were still missing. “I have suspended my participation as a minister with the government until those people who have been kidnapped are released,” Abed Theyab said. He said that at least 70 people out of at least 150 are still being held, contradicting a report from a ministry spokesman that 72 victims have been released. “The latest news I have is that 32 of those kidnapped were released this afternoon,” ministry spokesman Basil Al Khatib said. “Since yesterday 27 employees were released as well as some others. The total was 40 and now we have additional 32,” he said. Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki played down the kidnapping as “due to dispute between militias.”…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28283
Saddam’s Verdict Will Not Meet Expectations
Firas Al-Atraqchi
… The trial of Saddam Hussein and senior Baathist aides was meant to usher atonement and healing for the Iraqi people. Instead, it served as a backdrop — albeit a humiliating one to many Iraqis — to the civil strife that has since mushroomed into the killing spree that sees 100 Iraqis killed every day. But instead, the verdict will now further split Iraqis apart. Those calling for his execution will be seen as cohorts of the Americans, the British, the Iranians, and the Israelis…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28296
6 U.S. Servicemen Die in Action in Iraq
Associated Press
Three U.S. soldiers and three U.S. Marines were killed during combat in Iraq, the military said Wednesday. One soldier assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, of the Army, and the three Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7, died Tuesday from wounds sustained in “enemy action while operating in Anbar Province,” the insurgent stronghold in western Iraq, the statement said. At 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, two soldiers with the Army’s Multinational Division died when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in northwest Baghdad while conducting combat operations, the military said…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28280
Black humor .. were it not so devious.
Imad Khadduri, Free Iraq
“ “What is happening is not terrorism, but the result of disagreements and conflict between militias belonging to this side or that,” the Associated Press reported him [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki] saying.” While fighting the occupier of your country is …
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28282
Bibi Woos Techies, Demands Bombing of Iran
Kurt Nimmo
For some reason, Bibi thought tech investors in Palo Alto, California, wanted to hear the Likud line on Iran. No, they didn’t want to hear about quad-core computer chips or iPod versus Zune, but wanted instead the scoop on Iran. “Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu told technology investors in Palo Alto, California that Iran’s development of nuclear weapons is a greater threat to peace than the war in Iraq,” reports Arutz Sheva, a sort of clearinghouse for rabid Israeli settlers. “The issue is not Iraq… the issue is Iran,” warned Netanyahu. “If you stay in Iraq or leave Iraq, and Iran acquires nuclear weapons, you lose Iraq, you lose Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The Persian Gulf will become just that, a Persian gulf.”…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28278
Who Will Help Baby Ayesha?
Mahmoud El-Yousseph
…The heart breaking story is about a 2 year-old girl who was released from an Israeli prison near Ramallah on Nov.1st. Her name is Ayesha, which in Arabic means “life.” Ayesha was in prison with her mother practically all her life. Ayesha’s mother is still being detained under “Administrative Detention,” in other words, held on no charge, not eligible for trial, nothing…just a unilateral Israeli decision to detain her for 6 months at a time, already renewed 4 times! This poor baby. She knows nothing of life but the walls of her mother’s prison cell. She only knows her father from visits, when they were possible. She has never seen a road, a city, grass, trees, a real bed, her own bedroom, a park, a real meal, friends, real toys, etc, etc…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.info/?p=28277 |