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NY Times; trading burn-victims for Pulitzers
Mike Whitney
Too bad they don’t award Pulitzer Prizes for cynicism. The New York Times would be a hands-down winner. They seem to have the knack for dredging up the human interest stories that leave their readers scrambling for the Prozac. Jeffrey Gettleman’s article “Iraqi Boy, after Dream Trip to US, Hates to go Home” (7-28-05) would undoubtedly be a frontrunner in any competition. It is, quite simply, the most cynical story to appear in the “paper of record” in the last two or three years.
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Pretty Hot in Crawford; Pretty Hot in Hell
Mike Whitney
Fourteen Marines will touch down at Dover Air Force Base tomorrow; their lives cut-short in a brutal war that has yet to produce a rationale. The architect of that war will be landing at nearly the same time at his vacation home in Crawford, Texas; resting up from the grueling task of sending other-mother’s-sons to die for nothing. Where’s the outrage? Of the 14 men who were killed, not one was named Bush, or Cheney or Rumsfeld. They were all just grunts doing their jobs; fighting for their country. Or, so they thought. Not one of them joined the fray to fight to defend the torture chambers at Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib. Not one of them fought to make Iraq safe for Halliburton, or Bechtel, or Exxon…
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Harring Report another ‘Deep Throat’ – Official DoD Iraq War US Military over 8 Times More Dead than Reported
Investigating the New Imperialism
…According to Brian Harring, a computer data specialist who obtained this report for tbrnews.org, a popular Internet news website, of the 158,000 US Military shipped to Iraq, 34,000 have either deserted, were killed or seriously wounded. DoD lists currently being quietly circulated indicate almost 9,000 dead, over 23,000 seriously wounded and a large number of suicides,forced hospitalization for ongoing drug usage and sales, murder of Iraqi civilians and fellow soldiers, rapes and courts martial…
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NY Times Article on Amir Assafar’s NY Concert
A Letter By Wafaa’ Al-Natheema Sent to Robin Shulman of the NY Times
Wafaa’ Al-Natheema
…Your entire article failed to use the terms Arabic maqam or Arabic music, very typical indeed in western journalism these days and precisely after the current war and occupation on IRAQ, which is to silence and/or discredit the Arab MAJORITY and their contributions. Every time Iraqis are introduced in western journalism, they are Sunnis and Shiites (not Moslems anymore) and they are Kurds and Christians neglecting completely the terms Arab or ArabicBut in western societies, they are Christians and Jews (with no sect significance.)!Iraqi maqam despite using some Persian and Kurdish names is mostly Arabic and had influenced the music of the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia and Europe…
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Hit Me Baby, One More Time
Chris Floyd , Empire Burlesque
…”Iraqi legislators accused Kuwait of stealing their oil as well as chipping away at their national territory on the border – allegations similar to those used by Saddam Hussein to justify his invasion of Kuwait that began 15 years ago Tuesday…” (…) As the story notes, this is precisely the same thing that Saddam alleged before the first Gulf War — allegations that happened, by and large, to be true. There was also a huge financial conflict between the two countries (…) And here’s an historical footnote you don’t often see — or rather, you NEVER see it in the mainstream media: another reason for bin Laden’s pique is that HE wanted to fight Saddam in Kuwait. Here’s how it happened…
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All hail the ‘excuse makers’!
Xymphora
…The fact that it is becoming ‘common sense’ to assume that terrorism has a cause in the actions of Western states and Israel is terrifying to the Zionists, who have worked for years constructing the myth that terrorism is connected with an evil inherent in, and unique to, Islam. The myth was primarily required to justify the Israeli state terrorism against the Palestinians. This state terrorism is intended to ethnically cleanse the Occupied Territories so the land can be stolen, and is justified by claiming that such state terrorism is ‘self defense’ against the irrational and unprovoked actions of the Palestinians, whose sole motivation for violence is to push Israel ‘into the sea’ due to motives buried deep in their evil religion. This lie has served the Zionists well for years, and could have worked for many more, but using its American treason agents to force the attack on Iraq, with its disastrous occupation, they have pushed too far, and inadvertently revealed the lie behind the whole Zionist myth of the reasons for terrorism…
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The new know-nothings
Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post
There’s an old saying that when the facts are against you, argue the law. But the Bushies have gone one better: when the facts are against them, they argue the very existence of facts. As pretty much every fact has turned against the administration in Iraq, the fallback position has increasingly become: well, who can really know anything? Everything is so complex. You’ve got Sunnis, you’ve got Shiites, you’ve got Kurds…the truth is…well, the truth is that we can’t know the truth…so how can we be held accountable when nothing is really knowable?…
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Is the bond of military brotherhood an intrinsic justifier for war?
Stan Moore, MMN
…Under these circumstances, even though the soldiers may have had more of a sense of honor than their government, and may have been willing to give their lives for their buddies and even for an assumed (but false) benefit to some Iraqis, there is no honor in this war. The bonds of brotherhood among American soldiers have to be placed in an immoral context. Brotherhood among invaders, crusaders, and occupiers is part of the problem — and it exacerbates the problem. Wars of empire are only possible with the expenditure of cannon fodder…
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A Feast of Death
William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t
On Tuesday, some took solemn note of the fact that the total number of “Coalition” fatalities from the invasion and occupation of Iraq had reached 2,000. On Wednesday afternoon, that number blurred upwards again to 2,015 dead soldiers. 1,821 of those served under the American flag. Fourteen US Marines died on Wednesday when their vehicle was shattered by a large bomb. Six other Marines were killed together on Monday, and a seventh is reportedly being held hostage. Two more Marines also died Monday, both from car bombings in separate locations…
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More sophisticated bombs mark Iraq attacks: US general
AFP/Reuters
…Brigadier General Carter Ham of the US Joint Staff said insurgents have adapted to increased armour protection on US military vehicles by changing techniques and building more lethal bombs. He says the changing insurgent techniques have proven a challenge for US forces. “We are seeing larger amounts of explosives,” General Ham said. “We are seeing different techniques that are being used in an effort to counter the efforts of coalition and Iraqi security forces to protect folks while they are moving – different types of penetrator, different techniques of triggering the events…
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Family Members Of U.S. Military Killed In Iraq To Protest At Bush’s Country Estate
Cindy Sheehan
George Bush said speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in August: (08/03/05): “We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission.” “The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause.” In reaction to these two assinine and hurtful statements, members of Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) are going to George’s vacation home in Crawford, Tx this Saturday, August 6th at 11:00 am to confront him on these two statements. 1) We want our loved ones sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation’s sons and daughters home from the travesty that is Iraq IMMEDIATELY, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions…
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Unofficial de-Baathification process targets Sunnis in Basra
Leila Fadel, Knight Ridder Newspapers
…The assassins have targeted mostly men who are thought to have been connected to Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, which was dominated by Sunni Muslims. About 950 people have been killed since Saddam’s regime was toppled in April 2003, according to Majid al Sari, the Defense Ministry adviser for the southern region. About half of the dead, al Sari said, are Sunnis, who make up about 30 percent of the city’s population. As a result, many Sunni families are selling their homes and migrating to other provinces and countries. They aren’t the only victims. “Even among those Baathists who have been killed there were Shiites,” al Sari said. “Daily we find bodies, and 90 percent of them are political crimes…
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Galloway defends ‘martyrs’ remark
BBC News
…Mr Galloway claimed the insurgents were ordinary Iraqis defending their country against “foreign invaders”. “It can be said, truly said, that the Iraqi resistance is not just defending Iraq. They are defending all the Arabs and they are defending all the people of the world against American hegemony.” In one speech, the MP said: “These poor Iraqis – ragged people, with their sandals, with their Kalashnikovs, with the lightest and most basic of weapons – are writing the names of their cities and towns in the stars, with 145 military operations every day, which has made the country ungovernable…
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Early Warnings on Prisoner Abuse Ignored
William Fisher
As early as March 2003, senior U.S. military lawyers complained to the Pentagon about the Justice Department’s definition of torture and how it would be applied to interrogations of enemy prisoners captured by U.S. forces. The lawyers were reportedly concerned that broadly defined, tough interrogation tactics would not only contravene longstanding military doctrine — leaving too much room for interpretation by interrogators — but also would cause public outrage if the tactics became known…
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A Feast of Death
William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t
On Tuesday, some took solemn note of the fact that the total number of “Coalition” fatalities from the invasion and occupation of Iraq had reached 2,000. On Wednesday afternoon, that number blurred upwards again to 2,015 dead soldiers. 1,821 of those served under the American flag. Fourteen US Marines died on Wednesday when their vehicle was shattered by a large bomb. Six other Marines were killed together on Monday, and a seventh is reportedly being held hostage. Two more Marines also died Monday, both from car bombings in separate locations…
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GI Special 3C10: A Sister To Be Proud Of – August 3, 2005
www.militaryproject.org/
I am Bart Tucker’s little sister (The Siouxland Soldier who was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq) and I am currently staying with him in Walter Reed Army Medical in Washington DC.. I agree with what was said about stop making excuses n get to know some of the soldiers and talk to them.. Thats what i have been doing…It’s very sad to see them struggle and try and fight to live, after almost sacrificing themselves for there country. Bush came to visit my brother but all he did was come in for 2 minutes or less n give him a pat on the head saying how you doing there sport, he felt like he was 2 years old..
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Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Wednesday, 3 August 2005.
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice. www.freearabvoice.org
…In a dispatch posted at 3:55 GMT Wednesday, Quds Press reported that it had learned from “exclusive sources” that a special American detachment had arrived in the country about a week ago with the task of carrying out “dirty operations” that could be blamed on the Iraqi Resistance in an effort to try to erode mass support forthe independence movement.The sources said that the American unit, dubbed “gnawing rats,” was to carry out assassinations, sabotage of government installations and random bombings, all of which could be blamed on the Iraqi Resistance…
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Documents Tell of Brutal Improvisation by GIs
Interrogated General’s Sleeping-Bag Death, CIA’s Use of Secret Iraqi Squad Are Among Details
Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer
Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was being stubborn with his American captors, and a series of intense beatings and creative interrogation tactics were not enough to break his will. On the morning of Nov. 26, 2003, a U.S. Army interrogator and a military guard grabbed a green sleeping bag, stuffed Mowhoush inside, wrapped him in an electrical cord, laid him on the floor and began to go to work. Again…
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Gitmo Captives Say Medical Personnel Approved, Participated in Abuses
Kari Lydersen, The NewStandard
Saeed Sarim, a Yemeni detainee held by American captors at Guantánamo Bay, said that when a special squad of guards attacked him in 2003, one of the Guantánamo medical staff was in the room advising guards on how to beat him. “He was regulating the process of the beating,” Sarim said of the clinician, according to interviews conducted with detainees by the international law firm Allen & Overy. “This nurse who is regulating the beating process, he is the same person that was distributing medicine previously”…
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The Court-Martial of Sergeant Benderman
Sgt. Benderman chose to put his weapon down; not to kill but to love his fellow human beings
Camilo Mejia
When Sgt. Kevin Benderman went to Iraq on March of 2003, he saw the destruction of a nation, he saw a little girl with a burnt arm asking the soldiers for help they were ordered not to provide, he saw people drinking water from mud puddles, and he saw that Iraqis were regular people, just like himself, and that our military should not bring destruction to that country. What Sgt. Benderman saw in Iraq changed him in a way so profound, that after ten impeccable years in the Army, he decided to apply for conscientious objection…
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Skin in the Game
Cindy Sheehan
August is 3 days old and 22 soldiers and Marines have died in Iraq already. 14 more today. All are still “Pending Notification.” 14 more mothers are going to collapse on the ground screaming, or put into shocked silence for the violence done to her and her son. 14 more fathers are going to lose the better part of their hearts. Dozens of spouses, siblings, children and friends are going to be put into a tailspin of grief…
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