[UrukNet] - [Daily Information from Occupied Iraq] - [newsletter 31 Marc 2006 - Part Two]

uruknet.info   اوروكنت.إنفو :: information from occupied iraq :: informazione dall'iraq occupato

On the Occupation’s Third Anniversary: What did Iraqis Gain from the ‘Liberation’? :: mohammed ali :: These days see the third year since the beginning of the tragedy of the catastrophe of the invasion-turned-occupation by the world’s most aggressive countries. The Iraqi people have never experienced such a catastrophe over the course of their ancient and modern history. The invasion, its subsequent occupation and installation of a puppet regime in Iraq is a by-product of the wanton intentions of the colonialist powers and their disrespect to recognised international law. These colonial powers invaded and now occupy Iraq in order to force their control and influence on the region as whole by first subjugating the Iraqi people first. Let’s take a quick look at occupied Iraq today... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22152 The shattering of the Iraqi education system, yet again Imad Khadduri ...By the end of the 1970s, and as a result of a concerted political determination, the literacy rate, for both men and woman, reached more than 90 per cent. However, two decades of wars followed by 13-year severe economic sanctions (1990-2003) left Iraq's education system in disrepair, enrolment dropped, and literacy levels stagnated. Iraq's adult literacy rate is now one of the lowest in all Arab countries. The dilapidating impact of the sanctions on the education and research capabilities in Iraq can best be exemplified by the UN banning Iraq from importing scientific or technical text books, periodicals and journals. Iraqi academics and professionals were intentionally isolated from scientific development for 13 years, by an international organisation. The rate of deterioration and fragmentation of the Iraqi education system was compounded by two major insidious outcomes in the aftermath of the American-led occupation that resulted in the looting and destruction of 84 per cent of Iraqi universities; the liquidation of university professors and the implementation of sectarian attitudes and practices among students... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22133 Each of us is holding his shroud by his hands, awaiting death… Faiza Al-Arji The situation in Iraq is very dangerous currently; there are street fights in Baghdad and other cities, the connections are cut-off, the occupation forces closed the Internet Cafés in the hot towns, like Sammara'a, Al-Qaim, and Al-Ramadi, cutting off their communications with the Iraqi and international cities, meaning- even someone living in Iraq wouldn't know what is happening there… I try to call by Mobile phone, and written messages, some of them get through, and a lot don't… I called my sister in Jordan, and she says the boarders with Iraq are also closed, and every connection with the people there by Internet was cut off…. Our people there are besieged; by an occupation force which commits crimes against civilians and children, by mercenaries who kill, kidnap, and ravage, corrupting the country, by criminal militias who perform eliminations and sectarian revenges, while people are hiding in their houses, aiming to protect their children and families from violence and killings. The Iraqis say: Someone out there is destroying our country, and we are hiding in our houses, without any power or might, without being able to do anything? We cannot defend our country?... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22145 DAILY WAR NEWS FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2006 Today in Iraq ...Three civilians killed and three wounded by mortar round in northeast Baghdad. Soldiers discovered six bullet-riddled bodies wearing handcuffs in western Baghdad. There were male and between the ages of 25 and 30. A policeman was killed when gunmen fired on his patrol in Falluja 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said. A 62-year-old male prisoner died on Thursday of an apparent heart attack at Abu-Ghraib jail, a U.S. military statement said. At least four civilians killed by car bomb in al-Aathamiah district of Baghdad. Salem Hameed, member of the al-Daawa Party, gunned down in western Baghdad. Majed Hameed, also a member of that political party, also shot dead in al-Adel district in Baghdad. Two more civilians killed by a mortar shell that hit their car in al-Ghazaliah district of Baghdad. Four Iraqis killed and 22 others injured by IED and car bombs in Baghdad... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22144 Food Rations Cut Hurting Poor The government has slashed subsidised food, despite rising poverty. By Daud Salman in Baghdad (ICR No. 170, 29-Mar-06) A government decision to cut food rations has hurt poor Iraqis who cannot afford high prices on the open market, say economists and Baghdad residents. Despite rising poverty, the government has decided to cut the food ration budget from four to three billion US dollars in 2006, as the country shifts from a socialist to a free market economy. The Iraqi government has provided subsidies on basic food items such as flour and sugar for decades. The United Nations expanded the programme when the country was under crippling economic sanctions. However, subsidies have now been cut on staples including salt, soap and beans... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22132 GI Special 4C28: "The Soldier-Killers In The Pentagon" - March 31, 2006 Thomas F. Barton Soldiers will no longer be allowed to wear body armor other than the protective gear issued by the military, Army officials said Thursday, the latest twist in a running battle over the equipment the Pentagon gives its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army officials told The Associated Press that the order was prompted by concerns that soldiers or their families were buying inadequate or untested commercial armor from private companies — including the popular Dragon Skin gear made by California-based Pinnacle Armor. Murray Neal, chief executive officer of Pinnacle, said he hadn't seen the directive and wants to review it... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22151 Condi Rice insults the Iraqi people Truth About Iraqis Three years after the war, with tens of thousands of Iraqi deaths on her hands and the knowledge her lies helped destroy Iraq, Condi Rice has admitted making mistakes in Iraq: "I know we've made tactical errors - thousands of them, I'm sure," Ms Rice said in a session of questions after her speech, organised by BBC Radio 4's Today programme and Chatham House international affairs institution. Yes, Rice, those thousands of mistakes are why thousands of Iraqis lie buried in makeshift graves, why thousands of other Iraqis lie unburied in the wasteland, and why thousands have been found bound and executed. Those thousands of mistakes are also why we have death squads which your military trained (was this one of the mistakes?) roaming the countryside picking off who they consider to be threat - Sunni, Shia, Turkmen, Christian, no matter... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22129 Hyper power hubris K Gajendra Singh Three years after the U.S.-led illegal invasion of Iraq , so pronounced by UN Secretary General Kofi Anan himself, Washington and its allies are getting sucked into a deepening quagmire . A number of US commentators and others in the West refuse to squarely blame US-UK leadership , which has been led by disciples of Leo Strauss and his evil ideology , propounding the theory of intellectual , cultural and racial supremacy , emphasizing the animal side of evolving homo sapiens , ie the rule of jungle ... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22147 Ignorance by Content and Omission Charles Sullivan ...The effects of this pervasive propaganda are visible all around us. We see it in the flag-draped coffins that arrive home every week from Iraq. We see it in the faces of the Iraqi children whose families were decimated by those whose sole concern is privatized wealth. We witness it in our dilapidated schools and national infrastructure. It is visible in the elderly without health care, the millions of nameless poor that are forced to live in abject poverty so that Bush could execute his war. The flies are buzzing around the dung heap. This is nothing new. People have always been deceived by their governments, regardless of which party is in power. You see, the underlying cause is capitalism and privatized wealth. So be careful about what you admit into your mind. It may be hazardous to your health... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22146 "Israel Lobby" Essay Creates Firestorm in US IslamOnline.net An essay by two prominent American professors challenging the pro-Israel lobby in the United States and its sway over the US foreign policy has created a firestorm, drawing immediate anti-Semitism accusations and scathing criticism, a leading British newspaper reported Friday, March 31 (...) Challenging accusation of being anti-Semite, professor Mearsheimer said the ongoing furor over the essay proved the strength of the pro-Israel lobby in the United States. "We argued in the piece that the lobby goes to great lengths to silence criticism of Israeli policy as well as the US-Israeli relationship, and that its most effective weapon is the charge of anti-Semitism," he told the Guardian... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22143 GI Special 4C27: Nightmare For The U.S. Military - March 30, 2006 Thomas F. Barton They are a publicity nightmare for the US military: an ever-growing number of veterans of the Iraq conflict who are campaigning against the war. To mark the third anniversary of the invasion this month, a group of them marched on Katrina-ravaged New Orleans. Inigo Gilmore and Teresa Smith joined them. At a press conference in a cavernous Alabama warehouse, banners and posters are rolled out: "Abandon Iraq, not the Gulf coast!" A tall, white soldier steps forward in desert fatigues. "I was in Iraq when Katrina happened and I watched US citizens being washed ashore in New Orleans," he says... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22142 Four Words that Spoke Volumes Mike Ferner, Orbstandard.com "Sentenced to time served," were the welcome words pronounced by Senior Judge Stephen Milliken, of the District of Columbia's Superior Court, on March 28. Ed Kinane, from Syracuse, and I stood before Milliken, charged with disrupting a Congressional Committee hearing the evening of March 8 when Ed silently held up a banner that read, "Stop the Killing," and I started reading the names of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis killed in the war. Capitol Police hustled us out and arrested us, but not before we interjected several moments of reality into the committee's discussion of $67,000,000,000 more for the war... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22141 FROM PROTEST TO RESISTANCE - Regional Student Antiwar Conferences Sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network Campus Antiwar Network Recently the US government has stepped up its bombing campaign in Samara to the highest level of intensity since the onset of the war. Even though public support has turned against the war and active resistance has begun in many sectors of the country and in the military, the movement is not at the necessary organizational levels to attain a complete withdrawal of American forces from the Middle East. Meanwhile, large demonstrations are being planned in cities across the country in April. This comes at a time when many politicians, Democrat and Republican, are supporting policies of "re-deployment" or outright military action against Iran... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22140 A Declaration of Impeachment Mark Taylor-Canfield At this time in American history, we must effect a profound awakening in our nation. All citizens must take the reigns of power and demand that our elected representatives in Congress vote to hold the President and his administrators accountable for their many offenses committed in the name of the people of the United States of America. We must avoid another three years of corruption and ineptitude by the administration of George W. Bush. Impeachment proceedings should begin immediately, for both criminal and civil violations that have caused harm to the people of this country and the people of other sovereign nations... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22139 The myth of the ‘honest broker’: Britain and Israel Mark Curtis, GlobalResearch.ca Britain’s apparent complicity in Israel’s military assault on Jericho prison should finally demolish an enduring myth about Britain’s foreign policy. Iraq’s supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction was not the only line peddled by the government to justify the invasion. Another was that Britain was an 'honest broker’ in the Middle East and would influence Washington to press Israel for peace with the Palestinians. Now that peace prospects look gloomier than ever following Israeli, US and EU reactions to Hamas’ success in Palestinian elections, the reality of Britain’s role needs to be exposed... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22137 Iraq is Not in Civil War (Yet) Iraq is Under Occupation LAITH AL-SAUD The inability to talk about Iraq in an appropriate context has been one of the greatest setbacks to the anti-war movement here in the United States of America, and to describe Iraq solely in terms of being in civil war contributes to this problem. Iraq is under occupation and the current rivalry between what are indeed Iraqi factions has to be interpreted within this context. The possibility of civil war in Iraq is not the result of mismanagement on the part of the Bush administration or some inherent hostility in Iraqi society; civil war, rather, is and has always been the favored alternative should the United States fail to dominate Iraq politically. The pirates of both the Right and Left side of the establishment agreed before hand that if they could not steer the ship they would sink it... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22136 Jill Carroll should have been killed says right-wing AHiddenSaint, Daily Kos That is right people the right wing isn't happy with Jill Carroll being freed. To them her death would have helped more then her life because she doesn't preach their view. Let's look at this little article of hate from Debbie Schlussel. Why are so many people who claim to be patriotic Americans so overjoyed that Jill Carroll was freed, yet hardly a peep when American contractors and others were freed? Here's a clue for the obviously dimwitted. Why was Jill Carroll freed? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she HATES AMERICA and our Mid-East policy. And, oh yeah, she HATES ISRAEL, too. That's right because she was freed apparently is anti-American. This is not the only little dribble from the right-wing... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22135 Tomgram: Frida Berrigan on a For-Profit Nuclear World Tom Engelhardt & Frida Berrigan ..."Privatization" has been in the news ever since George W. Bush became president. His administration has radically reduced the size of government, turning over to private companies critical governmental functions involving prisons, schools, water, welfare, Medicare, and utilities as well as war-fighting, and is always pushing for more of the same. Outside of Washington, the pitfalls of privatization are on permanent display in Iraq, where companies like Halliburton have reaped billions in contracts. Performing jobs once carried out by members of the military -- from base building and mail delivery to food service -- they have bilked the government while undermining the safety of American forces by providing substandard services and products. Halliburton has been joined by a cottage industry of military-support companies responsible for everything from transportation to interrogation. On the war front, private companies are ubiquitous, increasingly indispensable, and largely unregulated -- a lethal combination... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22149 Choosing up sides Swopa, Needlenose From Reuters this morning: A leading Iraqi Shi'ite cleric on Friday demanded the United States sack its envoy, heading a push for a unity government, accusing him of siding with fellow Sunni Muslims in the sectarian conflict gripping the country. . . . In a sermon read out at mosques for Friday prayers, [Ayatollah Mohammed al-]Yacoubi said Washington had underestimated the conflict between Shi'ites and the once dominant Sunni Arab minority, which many fear threatens to trigger a civil war . . . "It (the United States) should not yield to terrorist blackmail and should not be deluded or misled by spiteful sectarians. It should replace its ambassador to Iraq if it wants to protect itself from further failures."... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22131 Diary Patrick Cockburn Iraq is splitting into three different parts. Everywhere there are fault lines opening up between Sunni, Shia and Kurd. In the days immediately following the attack on the Shia shrine in Samarra on 22 February, some 1300 bodies, mostly Sunni, were found in and around Baghdad. The Shia-controlled Interior Ministry, whose police commandos operate as death squads, asked the Health Ministry to release lower figures. A friend of mine, a normally pacific man living in a middle-class Sunni district in west Baghdad, rang me. 'I am not leaving my home,’ he said. 'The police commandos arrested 15 people from here last night including the local baker. I am sitting here in my house with a Kalashnikov and 60 bullets and if they come for me I am going to open fire.’... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22113 America’s Blinders Howard Zinn Now that most Americans no longer believe in the war, now that they no longer trust Bush and his Administration, now that the evidence of deception has become overwhelming (so overwhelming that even the major media, always late, have begun to register indignation), we might ask: How come so many people were so easily fooled? The question is important because it might help us understand why Americans—members of the media as well as the ordinary citizen—rushed to declare their support as the President was sending troops halfway around the world to Iraq... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22148 www.uruknet.info: a site gathering daily information concerning occupied Iraq: news, analysis, documents and texts of iraqi resistance available in Italian and English.   You receive this newsletter because you subscribed it. If you think it was an abuse, or simply if you don't want to receive it any more, click here to unsubscribe from the newsletter.