[UrukNet] - [Daily Information from Occupied Iraq] - [newsletter 30 April 2006]

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Take Back the Oil Companies Mike Whitney Nationalizing the oil industry should be the central tenet of any progressive political movement. Evidence of the industry’s involvement in the invasion of Iraq as well as its obvious complicity in corrupting the political system should provide ample proof that the oil giants are a clear and present danger to democracy and need to be put under state control. In an era of oil scarcity we no longer have the luxury of allowing a handful of corporate plutocrats to decide the f! ate of the global economy. The industry chieftains have deliberately closed down vital refineries to lower production and enhance their profits. They have sluiced boatloads of cash into the political system to ensure that congress and the executive carry out their directives. Presently, there’s not an inch of daylight between the Exxon boardroom and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, they both operate off the very same script. The oil industry is the primary beneficiary of Bush’s war in Iraq... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22965 'Mission Accomplished.' Felicity Arbuthnot ...We may, infact not have the luxury of generations for war or even peace. I am indebted to Irving Wesley Hall of www.notinkansas.us for meticulous, referenced addition to the Depleted Uranium debate. They have army sources unavailable to most, a chilling inside track. The lie to the spin. Two stories of enormity which they have uncovered perhaps demonstrate the historically incomparable mess we are in. Bearing in ! mind that it is estimated that two thirds of those who served in the 1991 Gulf war are sick or on disability benefits, thought to be linked to DU and or untested innoculations and destruction of toxic sites, orders of magnitude more of DU has been used and continues to be used in Iraq. This time round though, no meaningful figures regarding DU contamination are obtainable. 'Medical professionals in hospitals and facilities treating returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan have been threatened with ten thousand $ fines and jail, if they talk about the soldier or their medical problems', states Hall. 'Reporters have been prevented access to to more than fourteen thousand medical evacuees, flown nightly ... to Walter Reed Hospital near Washington DC. What is the DoD hiding?' He asks. Hall relates the sad, salutary tale which perhaps answers his own question. Seargant Michael Lee Tosto, possibly 'first American victim of 2003's "Shock and Awe" ..' He died in Baghdad on June! 17th 2003, aged twenty four. In common with a number of death! s report ed at that time, he died, said the army, of pulmonary edema, or cardiac failure after showing flu like symptoms... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22962 Tomgram: Giving the President a Pink Slip in New York City Tom Engelhardt It's the perfect day for a march. Sunny, crisp, clear, spring-like. The sort of day that just gives you hope for no reason at all, though my own hopes are not high for New York's latest antiwar demonstration. I haven't received a single email about it. Many people I know hadn't realized it was happening. I fear the outreach has been minimal and despite all the signals of danger (of another war, this time with Iran) and of possibility (nosed! iving presidential approval polls, an administration in disarray, and the Republican Party in growing chaos), I approach this 30 block march with something of a sinking heart... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22972 Carl Schmitt and the Bush Dictatorship Kurt Nimmo If you need evidence the Straussian neocon controlled Bush administration is a dictatorship, consider the "decider" in the White House, according to the Boston Globe, "has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution," or rather his trashing of the Constitution. No doubt Bush has neve! r read the Constitution, not that it matters—he is president in name only and the executive branch is controlled by a cabal of Straussians who believe in Machiavellian dictatorship, not a constitutionally limited republic. "Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, 'whistle-blower’ protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research."... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22970 Qasem, and Media, Describe War Crimes in Ramadi Brian Conley, Alive in Baghdad ...This morning Qasem sent me his account of the events in Ramadi over the past week, which you’ll find below. He mentions a series of events which appear to be an account of this "evacuation" from the inside. I am now with my family in Anbar[A province in western Iraq] I found my family ok…and most friends also…….but the situation was very bad ……burned tank ( US tank ) was in front of my house and my house [was damaged] partially….! .there was hard fighting …… At 22/April 2006 the US troops did clear crime in the other side of Ramadi ( Tameem ) …US soldeirs inspect Iraqi family house and after they finished they killed 3 men inside it and one woman were dead when she shocked with this crime …..the resuilt was 4 civilians killed by US troops inside one house after inspection …. The people there told me that the US soldiers seems got mad for no reason and there was no fighting at that day……… Baghdad TV channel show the victems and the house and gave report about it …the clear thing was that US soldiers killed 3 men in a house of civilian family without any reason !!!! I’ll try to connect Qasem’s letter similar accounts from the media on corresponding days. First of all, I was not able to find any mention of the Tameem district of Ramadi in recent news from Google News... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22963 Why Did The President Repeatedly Refuse To Kill Zarqawi? georgia10, Daily Kos Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times that "[e]ach week brings new confirmation" that the Downing Street Memo was accurate. Today, we see yet another confirmation that this administration was hellbent on invading Iraq, rather than really fighting terrorists: [Former US spy Mike Scheuer] claims that a July 2002 plan to destroy [Zarqawi's training camp] lapsed because "it was more important not to give the Europeans the impression we! were gunslingers". "Mr Bush had Zarqawi in his sights almost every day for a year before the invasion of Iraq and he didn't shoot" (...) Rumsfeld and administration officials (including the President) repeatedly pointed to the presence of Zarqawi in Iraq as "evidence" of a Saddam-al Qaeda link (nevermind that Saddam Hussein was himself viewed Zarqawi as a threat and was trying to capture him). If the President killed Zarqawi, he would have killed the ability to falsely link Saddam and al Qaeda and convince the American people that war was a necessary response to 9/11... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22974 Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Sunday, 30 April 2006 Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice. In a dispatch posted at 5pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters shot down an unmanned US spy plane east of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad. The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the village of al-Bu Fahd as saying that Resistance fighters fired light weapons at an un! manned American reconnaissance airplane used to spy on the movements of the Iraqi Resistance. The gunfire brought the aircraft crashing to the ground immediately... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22969 DAILY WAR NEWS FOR SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2006 Today in Iraq ...Three British "security contractors" killed in attack on convoy near Basra, two injured. (Note: AP story calls these people "foreign civilians." Apparently UK citizens are "foreigners" in Iraq, but U.S. citizens are not. Bizarrely, althoughthe Foreign office has confirmed this, the British Ministry of Defence now denies it.) Multi-National Division -- Baghdad soldier killed by roadside bomb southwest of Baghdad at 4:00 pm, April 29 (Confirmed. U! .S. Humvee destroyed by bomb in Tikrit. AP reports there are casualties, but U.S. command has not issued any info as of this writing... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22968 Militias steal new recruits with better pay and perks Daniel McGrory, TimesOnline ...Alah was brought up in a Shia neighbourhood but laughs at the idea that it was religious conviction that encouraged him to join the ranks of the Mahdi Army. "It is an attractive package," he says, weighing up the economic advantages offered by the militia, such as a pledge to take care of Alah’s family if anything happens to him. He and his colleagues do as they please. They do not bother with warrants before searching premises, ! and can open fire at will. As well as dispensing rough justice, al-Mahdi is behind the increasingly oppressive campaign against "antisocial behaviour", which means harassing young women in the street... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22967 Two demos Eli Stephens, Left I on the News An estimated 300,000 people demonstrated against the war in Iraq and the possible war against Iran in New York City yesterday. The New York Times covered the demonstration in the local section; other papers didn't cover it at all. There was an AP article, but it didn't make it into the paper I read, the San Jose Mercury News. And on the morning after 300,000 people demonstrated against the war, what was the lead story on NPR radio this morning? The upcoming (later that d! ay) demonstration on Darfur. The actual demonstration in New York was not mentioned at all... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22975 Bush challenges hundreds of laws President cites powers of his office Charlie Savage, Globe Staff President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution. Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration se! rvices problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22964 Turkish Armed Forces Strike PKK Camps in N. Iraq zaman.com The Turkish armed forces have launched their first military operation along the Iraqi border where Turkish troops have concentrated for days. The Northern Iraqi cities of Amedi and Zaho, sheltering Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants, were hit with mortar attacks in "Operation Crescent." First reports say that locations where militants were lodged in the regions of Geliye, Pisaxa, Pirbela, Sheshdara, Sheranish and Elanish were demolished... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22961 Bush didn't attack Iraq so that you could have cheap gasoline! The war on Iraq was never about WMD Len Hart It's always been about oil but more specifically: big oil profits! Recent big oil contracts prove it. And so do record prices at the pump. But those who thought that an oil grab in Iraq would lower prices at the pump are chagrined. Bush lied to them with GOP code words and now he's all but flippin' them off. Bush lied about the reasons prices at the pump have reached record levels just as he lie! d about the reasons for the war of aggression against Iraq. Despite the spin, the high prices at the pump translate into record profits for big oil. Exxon-Mobil is a case in point... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22960 Further comments on the Zarqawi video Joseph Cannon ...Readers should consult the important 1999 Washington Post article on how American PSYOPS units create convincing audio and video fakes. Also take a look at this 2002 story from the Guardian, which details how Swiss scientists exposed a Bin Laden audio tape as a forgery. One other aspect of the new Zarqawi video bothers me. How could Zarqawi and his band train in the open desert and conduct live-fire exercises? We may presume that satellites scan every inch of! Iraq continuously. Where and when was this footage taken?... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22955 The 9/11 Conspiracy and Truth Wafaa' Al-Natheema Must-See Videos. In Arabic http://www.pentagonstrike.co.uk/pentagon_ar.htm#Main In English http://www.pentagonstrike.co.uk/flash.htm#Main . If you feel the information passes by quickly, right click on your mouse (pointed on the video footage) to forward, rewind and back (or pause)... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22976 Iraqi oil gangs syphon off billions Jim Muir A new class of grand mafiosi sucking billions of pounds out of Iraq's vital oil sector is crippling efforts to rebuild the nation, according to an official report published in Baghdad. The findings of the Oil Ministry's independent inspector-general painted a sordid picture of massive abuses pervading every corner of the industry, from the well-head to the petrol pump. It said that since Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003, the spread of smuggling had turned Iraq from a! major exporter of petrol products into an importer... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22973 Mission Accomplished Day Cindy Sheehan May 1st, 2006 will be the 3rd Anniversary of the end of "major combat" in Iraq. It was a glorious day when George Bush flew onto the deck of the Abraham Lincoln and was hailed by the rapturous throngs of toadie "news" persons such as Chris Matthews ("And that's the president looking very much like a jet, you know, a high-flying jet star," Hardball, May 1, 2003) and Bob Schieffer ("As far as I'm concerned, that was one of the great pictures of all time. And if you're a politi! cal consultant, you can just see campaign commercial written all over the pictures of George Bush." Meet the Press, May 4, 2003). What a fast and clean war! ... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22966 April 28 Saddam Hussein's Birthday Wafaa' Al-Natheema I just visited the IraqPatrol website (in Arabic) and found an interesting collage of pictures and Iraqi songs in celebration of Saddam's birthday! Although I do not appreciate the idea of leaders celebrating their personal occassions publicly, the collage of pictures and especially songs is entertaining. Some of the Iraqi songs are of poor quality, but the overall collage of Iraqi songs with a couple of songs by (the non-Iraqi) Dalida brought some memorie! s... Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=22971 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. 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