IRAQ: Fewer Deaths Bring No Reassurance
Ali al-Fadhily*
Despite claims by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Bush administration officials that violence in Iraq is decreasing, residents in the capital tell a different story. Attacks by Iraqi resistance groups against the U.S. military continue in Baghdad and Iraq’s al-Anbar province, despite U.S. military support for certain Sunni militias in the areas (…) Many Iraqis say that violence elsewhere continues unreported – and that where there is calm, it is hardly for reassuring reasons. “Sectarian killings are less because all the Sunnis have been evicted from mixed areas in Baghdad,” Salman Hameed, a teacher who was evicted from the al-Hurriya area west of Baghdad eight months ago told IPS. “All my relatives and Sunni neighbours who survived the killing campaign led by the militias under the eyes of American and Iraqi forces have fled either to Syria or to other Sunni cities.”….

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Mosul – Another “Paradise Lost”?
Felicity Arbuthnot
Iraq is now threatened with a flood of biblical proportions. The Mosul dam, thirty miles north of Iraq’s ancient third city is likely to burst, due to the mismanagement and potential fraud relating to the $27 million “donated” by the United States for its repair, according to a Report by Stuart Bowen, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, released on Tuesday, 30th October. In September 2006, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) stated: “In terms of internal erosion potential of the foundation, Mosul Dam is the most dangerous dam in the world …. If a small problem (at) Mosul Dam occurs, failure is likely.” The dam is the largest in Iraq and the fourth largest in the Middle East. Were the dam breached, the ACE estimate that Mosul city (2002 population 1.7 million) would be engulfed in a wall of water twenty metres (sixty six feet) high, which would flood all in its path down to Baghdad. In May this year, General David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker, wrote to “Prime Minister” Nuri Maliki, urging him to make the repair of the dam a “national priority”. Maliki’s U.S., puppet, corruption ridden, government is playing down the dangers – it is thought to avoid causing panic – and next to nothing has been done by way of action….

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Palestinians fleeing Iraq stranded at border, lack medical care: UNHCR
The Associated Press
Two thousand Palestinians trying to flee violence and harassment in Iraq are stranded at the Iraqi-Syrian border in precarious conditions with sick children unable to receive medical treatment, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday. Some 437 Palestinians are living in Al Tanf refugee camp on no-man’s-land between Iraq and Syria, and another 1,560 have sought shelter in al-Waleed camp on the Iraqi side of the border, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Living conditions in the desert camps are harsh, with sandstorms blasting the makeshift homes and winter approaching, said spokesman Ron Redmond. He added that up to 40 Palestinians arrive at al-Waleed camp every week. “The borders are basically closed because of the visa restrictions that have been imposed by neighboring countries,” he told reporters in Geneva…. “There are children with spinal injuries, skin diseases, intestinal problems, cancer, leukemia,” he said. “Very serious cases, and they’re unable to get the help that they need inside Iraq.”….

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US Alliance Afghan Genocide -Six Million Excess Deaths?
Dr Gideon Polya
Post-invasion non-violent excess deaths in Occupied Afghanistan – a month on from the 6th anniversary of the war criminal US invasion and occupation on 7th October 2001 – now total an estimated 3.2 million. However comparisons with Occupied Iraq (1.5-2 million TOTAL post-invasion excess deaths, and 0.8-1.2 million or about 50% of these being VIOLENT deaths) suggest that the post-invasion violent excess deaths in Occupied Afghanistan could total 3 million. The racist, war criminal US military state that they “don’t do body counts” of Indigenous victims but publicly-accessible UN demographic data allow us to estimate the carnage as outlined below….

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Employment centers have names of more than 1 million jobless Iraqis
Ahmad al-Taai, Azzaman
Employment and training centers across the country have to deal with an army of jobless Iraqis whose numbers have recently shot to more than 1.2 million, a statement by the ministry of labor and social affairs said. The massive jobless figure includes only those who have registered with these centers in the hope of finding a job. Ministry officials estimate that the jobless figure maybe twice that number as many unemployed Iraqis simply do not bother to register with these centers….

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Solidarity
Charles Sullivan
We are living in extraordinarily dangerous times, when evil, rather than justice, prevails. The schoolyard is terrorized by thugs and punks with names like Bush, Cheney, Limbaugh, Robertson, Clinton, Rockefeller, Rice, Rumsfeld, Perle, Kristol and Giuliani—pedigreed people all. In an inconspicuous corner of the schoolyard, the good people—and they are legion—keep to themselves, afraid. No one wants to be hurt; and the thugs and punks are dangerous, even criminally insane people. They have terrible weapons and criminal gangs who patrol the schoolyard to intimidate and terrorize, looking for those who talk to others; looking for signs of organization and resistance. The good people have witnessed their maiming and killing countless times. They have every reason to be afraid….

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Americans said to have proposed a six-month truce to the resistance groups
Arablinks
Al-Hayat says this morning that it has learned from “sources in the government and sources close to the armed groups” about a plan including a followup reconciliation meeting, to be arranged by the Iraqi Reconciliation Agency, but to be held under American and international auspices, along with a proposal for a six-month truce between the armed resistance groups and the American/Iraqi forces (…) The journalist talks a little about reactions, and this is where he talks about the reported proposal for a truce. A spokesman for the Al-Douri group of the Baath party denied the party was represented at the meetings, and said it is not bound by the results. A source close to the Jihad and Reform Front, which has recently formed the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance, said it has received invitations from the Americans to launch new negotiations, adding that [the negotiation proposal] was conditioned on a six-month truce, during which time the political process would intensify, and shooting would stop, while the Americans would stop arresting members of these groups and would release those held. ….

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TORTURE OFFICIALLY ENDORSED IN AMERICA
Desert Peace
The Bush administration has made the tortures used during the ‘dark ages’ in Europe look like child’s play. But, an administration that backs every evil move made by Israel, a country many times condemned by UN resolutions apparently has the same lack of morals. The latest method of torture is one known as ‘water boarding’.. The name sounds like a water sport… nothing is further than the truth. To add insult to injury, so to speak, a new Attorney General was confirmed last night in the United States… one that refuses to denounce torture, water boarding in particular. This appointment in effect is an official endorsement of same….

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IOF raids of West Bank towns, villages and refugee camps continue
Palestinian Information Center
IOF raids of Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camps and kidnapping Palestinian citizens has intensified at the same time security coordination between the occupation troops and Abbas’s security agencies has increased. In the first week of November the IOF made 24 raids in different parts of the West Bank during which dozens of houses were raided and the troops opened fire randomly on many occasions, according to a report by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). The raids usually take place at dawn which traumatizes children and women in the raided homes….

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Washington sponsored secret Dead Sea conference between Iraqi government and the resistance factions
Roads to Iraq
According to Saudi newspaper Al-Watan that the “Dead-Sea conference” was secret conference sponsored by the US Foreign Ministry. The newspaper stated that it was a four days conference attended by Iraqi politicians, officials from the Iraqi government and the Parliament with various Iraqi resistance factions, led by the Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party [Izzat Al-Douri wing, represented by Al-Maini, former Head of Information and Media University]. Al-Watan obtained a copy of the final statement that the document discussed several issues such as the form of the state, the government system and the future of the occupation forces in Iraq (…) Contrary to all newspapers reports, INA interviewed Ba’ath Party [Al-Douri wing] spokesman Al-Murshdi and he denied the above reports saying: The Ba’ath Party didn’t attend the “Dead Sea Conference” formally or informally…

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US military frees nine Iranians in Iraq
AFP
Nine Iranians held in Iraq on suspicion of aiding insurgents were freed by the American military in Baghdad Friday, amid growing signs that both the US and Iran are seeking to ease tensions over Iraq. Among those freed are two of five Iranians detained in January in a raid in the Kurdish city of Arbil in northern Iraq accused by the US of supporting insurgency, although Tehran insisted they were diplomats arrested in its consulate. “They (nine Iranians) have been released and handed over to the government of Iraq,” Major Winfield Danielson told AFP….

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Nothing less than our freedom
Mohammed Khatib, The Electronic Intifada
For the people of our small village of Bil’in, which lies west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the planned negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders in Annapolis, Maryland evoke mixed feelings. Like all Palestinians, we pray that our children will not spend their lives as we did, under Israeli military occupation. But our experience has been that Israel, the stronger party, exploits peace talks as a smokescreen to obscure facts that it is establishing on the ground. During the Oslo “peace” process Israel built settlements in the occupied territories at an unprecedented rate. Israel’s system of settler-only roads, which is now strangling our cities and villages, was created during the Oslo process. This makes us wary of the Annapolis negotiations….

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Mehdi Army had ‘reign of terror’
BBC News
Iraqi police say the powerful Mehdi Army militia has been involved in killing of hundreds of people in the mainly Shia Muslim province of Karbala. Maj Gen Raid Shaker told a public meeting the militia of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr had brought four years of terror and anarchy causing 670 deaths. His allegations were backed by scores of angry people attending the meeting. Mr Sadr’s supporters have rejected the allegations, saying they are victims of a smear to cover up excesses by police…

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US military frees nine Iranians in Iraq
AFP
Nine Iranians held in Iraq on suspicion of aiding insurgents were freed by the American military in Baghdad Friday, amid growing signs that both the US and Iran are seeking to ease tensions over Iraq. Among those freed are two of five Iranians detained in January in a raid in the Kurdish city of Arbil in northern Iraq accused by the US of supporting insurgency, although Tehran insisted they were diplomats arrested in its consulate. “They (nine Iranians) have been released and handed over to the government of Iraq,” Major Winfield Danielson told AFP….

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Iran Strikes Have Little Support in Europe and U.S., Poll Finds
Leon Mangasarian, Bloomberg
A poll conducted in five European countries and the U.S. found low support for the use of military strikes against Iran to halt its nuclear program. The Harris Interactive Survey said using force against Iran is backed by just 8 percent in France, 7 percent in Germany, 8 percent in Italy, 8 percent in Spain, 11 percent in the U.K. and 21 percent in the U.S. Diplomatic efforts aimed at stopping Iran’s uranium enrichment program were supported by 50 percent in France, 51 percent in Germany, 52 percent in Italy, 53 percent in Spain, 44 percent in the U.K. and 36 percent in the U.S., the poll showed….

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Bomber kills 5 local tribal leaders in Iraq
Reuters
A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed five Sunni Arab tribal leaders in Iraq’s Diyala province on Friday, police said. They said the bomber blew himself up in a meeting of local tribal leaders from the area. Those killed were members of the Diyala Salvation Council, a body set up to oppose al Qaeda in Iraq in the province. Police said three people were wounded in the attack in the village of Dojemah, near the town of Khalis. Among those killed were the deputy head of the Diyala Salvation Council, Sheikh Faeiz Lefta al-Obaidi. After tribal leaders largely drove al Qaeda out of Iraq’s Anbar province, formerly a key stronghold of the insurgency, tribal groups opposed to al Qaeda militants have sprung up in other areas of Iraq….

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Iraq: Call an air strike
Pepe Escobar
…The Pentagon – via Major General Joseph Fil, commander of US forces in Baghdad – is relentlessly spinning there’s now less violence in the capital, a “sustainable” trend. This is rubbish. Fil cannot even admit to the basic fact that Baghdad has been reduced to a collection of blast-walled, isolated ghettos in search of a city. Baghdad, from being 65% Sunni, is now at least 75% Shi’ite, and counting. Sunni and Shi’ite residents alike confirm sectarian violence has died down because there are virtually no more neighborhoods to be ethnically cleansed…

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Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Thursday, 8 November 2007
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice. www.freearabvoice.org
…In a dispatch posted at 2:55pm Baghdad time Thursday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that US forces raided the home of an al-Anbar University professor at dawn on Wednesday and took the academic prisoner. In response, university students took to the street to protest. Yaqen correspondent Hikat al-Husayni reported ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Hadi ad-Dulaymi, the Assistant Dean of the College of Management and Economics at al-Anbar University confirmed that the Dean of the College, Dr. ‘Abd ar-Razzaq ad-Dulaymi had been arrested by the American occupation troops during an airborne raid on his home at dawn Wednesday. Dr ‘Ab al-Hadi ad-Dulaymi said that some Americans landed on the roof of the dean’s house as others surrounded it on the ground. The US troops then burst inside and began ransacking the home, smashing furniture, and beating family members. They then arrested Dr. ‘Abd ar-Razzaq ad-Dulaymi….

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Will ‘armloads’ of US cash buy tribal loyalty?
Sam Dagher, AFP
…Since June, Mr. Hassani, who claims to be one of the princes of the legendary Shammar tribe, which numbers nearly 7 million across the Arab world, says he has received at least $100,000 in cash and numerous perks from the US military and the Iraqi government. With his help, at least $1 million has also been distributed to other tribal sheikhs who have joined his Salahaddin Province “support council,” according to US officers. Together, they have assembled an armed force of about 3,000 tribesmen dubbed the “sahwa [awakening] folks.” All of these enticements serve one goal: To rally Sunni tribes and their multitude of followers to support coalition forces….

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Shocking Doctrines, Shocking Short Shrift
A Review of Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine”
Carolyn Baker
I recently had the opportunity to view a lecture by Michael Parenti whom I consider a foremost expert on imperialism. Parenti began his lecture with the use of the word “stochasticism” which essentially means random, non-deterministic, based on conjecture or guess. A simpler way of summarizing it is, “stuff happens.” It is, in fact, the polar opposite of “conspiratorial.” In the lecture Parenti went on to criticize those who refuse to admit that the United States is imperialistic and who explain its imperial adventures around the world as something that “just happened.” Generally, those in academia who rationalize U.S. imperialism are astute, incisive thinkers on other issues, so one is perplexed by the obtuseness they demonstrate around the topic of imperialism….

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Will ‘armloads’ of US cash buy tribal loyalty?
Sam Dagher, AFP
…Since June, Mr. Hassani, who claims to be one of the princes of the legendary Shammar tribe, which numbers nearly 7 million across the Arab world, says he has received at least $100,000 in cash and numerous perks from the US military and the Iraqi government. With his help, at least $1 million has also been distributed to other tribal sheikhs who have joined his Salahaddin Province “support council,” according to US officers. Together, they have assembled an armed force of about 3,000 tribesmen dubbed the “sahwa [awakening] folks.” All of these enticements serve one goal: To rally Sunni tribes and their multitude of followers to support coalition forces….

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