Les vaccins H5N1; Monsanto et l'Irak; provocations de l'Iran

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Émission de L'Autre Monde du 10 juillet 2008: Les vaccins H5N1; Monsanto et l'Irak; provocations de l'Iran

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L'Autre Monde 10 juillet 2008
60 min / Radio de l'UQAM, CHOQ FM

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Cette semaine: Alerte aux vaccins H5N1, Moyen-Orient, économie mondiale, dossier spécial sur l'Irak, propagande à propos de l'Iran, Big Brother et plus avec le tour du monde LNI. L'Autre Monde, pour la plus importante information de la semaine et ce, sans détour. Cette émission est documentée. Nous menons la guerre à la désinformation! Soyez au rendez-vous le jeudi à 11h sur les ondes de CHOQ FM!

***Hyperliens vers les sources des informations discutées sur l'émission d'aujourd'hui:

Turkish newspaper reveals Maliki's wait-game

Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyat [via alriyadh] revealed why Maliki is playing a time game and why the Kurds want to sign the agreement as soon as possible:

Iraqi government asked both Turkey and Iran to provide written guarantees on security cooperation with Iraq, in exchange for abandoning the security agreement the U.S.

The newspaper uncovered, that Baghdad is waiting for answers from Tehran and Ankara, and will cancel the whole idea of the agreement in case Iran and Turkey provide such guarantees.

WHAT a chess move on the part of Al-Maliki!

If he gets the written assurances from Turkey and Iran on security, the US presence becomes.....irrelevant, and our troops could, theoretically, come home.The big question here is, what is the Bush administration prepared to do to prevent this from happening??

Iraq raises prospect of US withdrawal timetable

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the prospect on Monday of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington.

So we just might not be in Iraq forever after all!

'US builds 4 bases on Iraq-Iran border'

According to the official, the bases are only precautionary measures in case of a military strike against Israel by Iran.

"Precautionary", my astrolabe!

Labour MP Admits US/UK Stealing the Oil and Fomenting Civil War in Iraq .........

Patrick Cockburn, The Independent's well-respected, non-embedded, journalist in Iraq, pointed out that elections are due in about six months time and the Shias of Prime Minister Maliki's faction are trying to gain advantage over the popular Shia faction of al Sadr. They are using force to do this and want to draw in the British in Basra. The US are also spoiling for a fight. They are in the middle of their 'surge' in troop numbers. Very sensibly, al Sadr calculated he could wait them out and called a cease-fire. He then extended it.

The US would like to goad him into a fight and are using the Maliki forces to do it. US troops have moved into the Basra area and have goaded UK forces into taking part too. The weak British government has caved into this pressure, but even if for a short while they back up one faction over another, they will remain largely ineffective.

Iraq Retrospective: Read The Quotes That Sent Us To War

As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year, Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky have published a "definitive, footnoted, hilarious but depressing compilation of experts who were in error" about the war from the beginning.

White House admits fault on 'Mission Accomplished' banner

No shit.

Iraq Conflict Has Killed A Million Iraqis: Survey

Published on Thursday, January 31, 2008 by Reuters

More than one million Iraqis have died as a result of the conflict in their country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, according to research conducted by one of Britain’s leading polling groups, Opinion Research Business (ORB).

"Well, that's what they GET for having nooku ... HEY; quit kicking me!"-- Official White Horse Souse

Silent Victims of the Iraq War

Five years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, more than 800,000 children have been forced to flee their homes to escape the violence. According to a report released Tuesday, most are unable to go to school and 60% do not have access to clean drinking water. More than half of the displaced children suffer from malnutrition. The mortality rate of children under 5 years old is three times higher in Iraq than in Syria or Jordan.

More of Bush's true "legacy" in Iraq.

Condoleezza Rice Says She's `Proud' of Decision to Invade Iraq

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she's ``proud'' of the U.S. decision to wage the Iraq war and insisted that the world is not more dangerous than it was when George W. Bush took office.

If Secretary Rice claims that she is "proud" of the US decision to invade Iraq, she must, logically be "proud" of the following:

1. Over a million Iraqis dead, and millions displaced.

2. The use of depleted uranium which has sickened and killed thousands of Iraqis, our own troops, and their families.

3. The legitimization of torture as a standard technique of American interrogation at home and abroad.

4. The complete destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure, including hospitals and schools.

5. The subjugation of Iraq as a US vassal from which large American companies will profit greatly from upcoming contracts.

6. The fact that this country was whipped into a war frenzy on an absolute pack of lies that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

Yes, Secretary Rice, as one of Bush's sociopathic inner circle who feels no shame or blame for the consequences of their actions, has much to feel "proud" about this 4th of July holiday.

Monsanto à Babylone

L’agriculture millénaire irakienne détruite par les transnationales agro-alimentaires étatsuniennes

par Joëlle Pénochet

Mondialisation.ca, Le 13 fevrier 2008

“Contrôlez le pétrole, et vous contrôler des nations entières ; contrôlez le système alimentaire, et vous contrôlez les populations. »

Henry Kissinger

C’est au cœur de la Mésopotamie qu’a été inventée l’agriculture - avec un système d’irrigation sophistiqué -, voici plus de dix mille ans. La plaine alluviale exceptionnellement fertile située entre le Tigre et l’Euphrate offre des conditions idéales pour la culture des céréales. C’est là qu’est apparu le blé sauvage dans l’Antiquité. On y faisait pousser presque toutes les variétés connues aujourd’hui dans le monde (plus de 200 000). Les palmiers dattiers, qui fournissaient l’autre ressource vitale du pays, abritaient des plantes potagères très variées.

Les « semences de la démocratie » *

Depuis son invasion en 2003, l’Iraq n’a pas été seulement spoliée par ses agresseurs de sa souveraineté politique, de son patrimoine archéologique, de ses ressources pétrolières, mais aussi de sa souveraineté alimentaire.

( Ancient City of Babylon Destroyed by US Occupation Base

The city, born on the banks of the Euphrates River 5,000 years ago and full of priceless archaeological treasures, was transformed into a U.S. military camp after the 2003 invasion with a heliport built among the ruins.

Iraqi archaeologist Hadi Mussa Qataa, who guided an AFP reporter through the fragile ruins, said helicopter take-offs and landings, along with the tremors from the heavy rumble of armored vehicles had damaged the city's historic monuments.)

( Half of Baghdad without water

Power failures and maintenance have disrupted running water supplies to almost half of the capital, Baghdad, home to nearly 6 million people.)

En violation de la Constitution irakienne, et des conventions de la Haye et de Genève qui stipulent que l’occupant doit respecter la juridiction du pays occupé, l’administrateur provisoire Paul Bremer (un ancien collaborateur de Kissinger) a édicté, avant l’installation d’un gouvernement fantoche par Washington, cent ordonnances scélérates qui ont force de loi et qui ne peuvent être abolies ni modifiées par aucun gouvernement irakien (article 26 de la nouvelle constitution). Le pays tombait ainsi sous le joug économique total de l’Occupant, qui avait décidé de réformer drastiquement son économie sur le modèle économique néo-libéral américain.

L’ordonnance 81 du 26 avril 2004 a livré le pays en pâture aux nécro-entreprises géantes qui contrôlent le commerce mondial des graines, comme Monsanto (le fabriquant de l’agent Orange), Syngenta et Dow Chemicals. Elle conduit à la destruction irréversible de l’agriculture Iraqienne. L’Afghanistan avait subi le même sort en 2002.

4 million Iraqis struggling for food - UN

Four million Iraqis are struggling to feed themselves, and 40 per cent of the country's 27 million people have no safe water, the UN said today.

Apparently, this situation is what this administration characterizes as "progress" and "improvement" in the lives of everyday Iraqis.

And as for the "no safe water" issue, look fordevastating water-borne diseases, like cholera, to escalate like crazy.

What A Nice Way Of Saying "Genocide"

13 129 malformed children have been born in Iraq in the last five years. Their deformities have been caused by American Depleted Uranium munitions used in the American led 1991 "Desert Storm" war with Irak launched after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The war saw heavy use of depleted uranium rounds by American and British forces and was followed by a punitive sanctions regime enforced by the United Nations primarily at America’s behest. The sanctions included preventing Irak from importing drugs for the treatment of cancers and birth defects.

Warning: horrifically graphic pictures.

But please don't let them stop you from reading about your tax dollars at work, folks.

This is what we have done in Viet Nam, and in Iraq, funded by every person who pays their taxes..

Please just imagine for one second that one of these kids was your kid.

People around the world do not "hate us because we are free"; they hate us for our military having created the situations, through chemical exposure, which leads to the birth of severely malformed infants.

And by the way; the deformities hitting kids in Iraq are also hitting the kids of US vets who have been exposed to depleted uranium.

This should be on our nightly news, because this is the result of the US's military campaigns, past and present.

War-related birth defects in Fallujah

Families in Fallujah are calling for an investigation into the rise of birth defects after the US used phosphorus over the Iraqi city in 2004.

They have raised concerns about the weapons used by American forces in 2004, including constant bombardment with uranium depleted artillery shells and other depleted uranium ammunition- when Fallujah suffered the heaviest blitze following the overthrow of the Saddam regime of the entire war in Iraq.

Let anyone in the military or government who still have the gall to deny the negative effects of these chemicals, and then volunteer to be exposed to precisely the level of exposure the people of Fallujah experienced and see what happens.

Children in US Custody Held Without Due Process

US military authorities, operating as the Multinational Forces in Iraq, were as of May 12, 2008 holding 513 Iraqi children as "imperative threats to security," and have transferred an unknown number of other children to Iraqi custody. According to a recent report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), children in Iraqi custody are at risk of physical abuse.

All kids need safe, loving environments to nurture their growth and potential.

What the hell are we doing imprisoning children as young as 10, and would someone please explain just how it comes about that 10 year olds are labeled as "imperative threats to security," by the US military?!?

Ticking bomb of Iraq's forgotten refugee children

Qawala camp, two miles outside the city of Sulaymaniyah in the north of the country, is home to 3,000 men, women and children, a tiny percentage of up to 2.5m Iraqis believed to be homeless in their own country.

These people rarely feature in news from Iraq that focuses on calibrating the gains or losses of the American military "surge", or the record of the deadlocked parliament under Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister. Yet it is crucial to the country's future that they should be able to return home and rebuild their lives, or they will be a ticking bomb that threatens any possibility of a peaceful future for Iraq.

Take a good, hard look at that kid clutching a doll.

Imagine, just for one second, that this was your kid.

How would you be feeling about the US attack and subsequent occupation of your country right about now, 5 years on?

US/IRAQ: Rules of Engagement "Thrown Out the Window"

Garret Reppenhagen received integral training about the Geneva Conventions and the Rules of Engagement during his deployment in Kosovo. But in Iraq, "Much of this was thrown out the window," he says.

US uses cluster bombs in Sadr City

An Iraqi member of parliament has revealed that the US forces have used forbidden weapons against Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Sadr City.

US quietly demands Iraq give defense contractors, US military immunity from prosecution

"Hey, our boys can;t do their jobs if they are constantly worried about rape charges!!!" -- Official White Horse Souse

Bush's Dirty Secret: Bribing Iraq Insurgents Not to Fight

The real purpose of the "surge" was to hide another deception. The Bush regime is paying Sunni insurgents $800,000 a day not to attack US forces. That's right, 80,000 members of an "Awakening group," the "Sons of Iraq," a newly formed "US-allied security force" consisting of Sunni insurgents, are being paid $10 a day each not to attack US troops.

Studies: Iraq Costs US $12B Per Month

The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising.

CHALLENGES 2007-2008: Iraq Progresses To Some Of Its Worst

by Dahr Jamail

By the end of 2007, attacks against occupation forces decreased substantially, but still number more than 2,000 monthly. Iraqi infrastructure, like supply of potable water and electricity are improving, but remain below pre-invasion levels. Similarly with jobs and oil exports. Unemployment, according to the Iraqi government, ranges between 60-70 percent.

An Oxfam International report released in July says 70 percent of Iraqis lack access to safe drinking water, and 43 percent live on less than a dollar a day. The report also states that eight million Iraqis are in need of emergency assistance.

Baghdad 'drowning in sewage'

BAGHDAD is drowning in sewage, thirsty for water and largely powerless, an Iraqi official said today in a grim assessment of services in the capital five years after the US-led invasion.

Watch for huge outbreaks of water-borne diseases, such as cholera, to become rempant in this country.

Showman al-Zawahiri rants on global warming too!

Al-Qaeda's deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri yesterday claimed global warming was helping militant Islamic extremism.

Showman al-Zawahiri rants on global warming too!

Mirror
Wed, 23 Apr 2008

Al-Qaeda's deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri yesterday claimed global warming was helping militant Islamic extremism.

Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's deputy also launched an astonishing attack on Iran in a two-hour audiotape posted on an Islamic militant website.

He said global warming reflected "how criminal, brutal and greedy the Western Crusader world is, with America at the top".

The Egyptian surgeon accused Shiite Iran of trying to discredit the Sunni al-Qaeda terror network by spreading a conspiracy theory that Israel was behind the September 11 attacks.

Al-Zawahiri said: "Iran's aim is clear - to cover up its involvement with the US in invading Muslim homes in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Admiral: Al Qaeda in Iraq 'killing off' former allies

This al qaeda in Iraq article mentions al qaeda in Iraq 10 times. I think al qaeda in Iraq they are trying al qaeda in Iraq to convey al qaeda in Iraq some sort of al qaeda in Iraq subliminal al qaeda in Iraq message.

See also Fake Al Qaeda

Iraq says no hard evidence of Iran support for militia

Iraq said on Sunday it has no evidence that Iran was supplying militias engaged in fierce street fighting with security forces in Baghdad.

This issue of "...no evidence" presented by Iraqi Spokesperson Ali Al Dabbagh, will not deter the US or Israel from attacking Iran, unfortunately.

They can't make anything else stick, so they are going to run with that, no matter what.

Iran: No point in talking to US about Iraq

Since March 25, US air and ground raids on civilians in Baghdad's Sadr City have left thousands of Iraqis, most of them women and children, dead and wounded.

Heavy bombardment on Sadr city despite ceasefire

Three large parts of Sadr city were subjected to heavy bombardment that was continuously carried out by U.S. helicopters, starting from Saturday 3:30 p.m. until now, despite the Iraqi government and representatives of the Sadr movement having signed an agreement to stop confrontations in the city.

By this military action, the US has demonstrated very clearly that they do not want this ceasefire to hold.

And heavy air bombardment of densely packed urban areas absolutely guarantees two things:

1. Heavy civilian casualties

2. Radicalizing those left standing even more strongly against the Al-Maliki government and US troops.

US army bombs home of Judge kill most of Judges family (caution re grisly pics)

Sunday: 108 Iraqis Killed, 60 Wounded

Early reports from Sadr City and Baghdad suggest that fighting between the Mahdi army and security forces has increased. Meanwhile, two mass graves were found in Diyala province. At least 108 Iraqis were killed and another 60 were wounded in violence across Iraq. No Coalition deaths were reported.

Forgive me, but this does not look as though there have been "gains in security"; it looks as though we are seeing an horrendous worsening of security, definitely in Baghdad and Sadr City.

And if we can't hold Baghdad, how in the world can we hold the rest of the country?

Sadr City bloodshed kills 925 Iraqis

Clashes between Shiite militiamen and security forces have killed more than 900 people in Baghdad's Sadr City, Iraqi officials said Wednesday, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to press the offensive to its conclusion.

The latest death toll from the Sadr City fighting that began late last month is set to make April the deadliest month this year, denting US and Iraqi government claims of improved security.

Baghdad militia clashes kill 19

Another 19 people were killed in fighting between militiamen and security forces in Shiite areas of Baghdad, officials said on Wednesday, as the death toll from weeks of street battles passed 360.

"..The death toll from weeks of street battles passed 360."

More "security progress" in Iraq, I see.

The Results Are In ... Oh, By the Way, the Iraqis Don't Really Want Us

January 14, 2008

Did you miss this? It should have been the lead story in every newspaper and radio and TV program in America. In the Washington Post it was on page 14. In virtually all of the rest of the media it was on page zero, channel zero, 0000 AM or 00.0 FM.

The US military in Iraq hired firms to conduct focus groups amongst a cross section of the population. A summary report of the findings was obtained by the Post. Here are some of the highlights of the report as disclosed by the newspaper:

* Until the March 2003 US occupation Sunnis and Shiites coexisted peacefully.

* Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the US military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them.

* After the United States leaves Iraq, national reconciliation will happen "naturally."

* A sense of "optimistic possibility permeated all focus groups ... and far more commonalities than differences are found among these seemingly diverse groups of Iraqis."

* Dividing Iraq into three states would hinder national reconciliation. (Only the Kurds did not reject this option.)

* Most would describe the negative elements of life in Iraq as beginning with the US occupation.

* Few mentioned Saddam Hussein as a cause of their problems, which the report described as an important finding, implying that "the current strife in Iraq seems to have totally eclipsed any agonies or grievances many Iraqis would have incurred from the past regime, which lasted for nearly four decades -- as opposed to the current conflict, which has lasted for five years."

Iraq: the Bloody Disaster is Working. A round-up of the good news that the media refuses to report.

Would someone please remind me again of just how much better life is for the Iraqi people than before the invasion and occupation?

Middle East">Opium fields spread across Iraq as farmers try to make ends meet

The cultivation of opium poppies whose product is turned into heroin is spreading rapidly across Iraq as farmers find they can no longer make a living through growing traditional crops.

So, together with Afghanistan, we now have two nations, both of which had succeeded in ending the drug trade within their borders, now conquered by the United States, and watched over by the US military are now transformed into opium farms under the watch of a government repeatedly linked to the drug trade.

See also The Crimes of Mena.

Iraq to reinstate ex-Saddam supporters

Well then what was the point of the damned invasion?!?

Rice says Iraq war was right thing to do

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended on Thursday the Bush administration's record in Iraq after sharp criticism of the war in a new book by a former White House spokesman.

"We did some things well, some things not so well," said Rice, who was national security adviser when the Iraq war began in 2003. "The one thing that I am certain was not a mistake was to liberate the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein."

I am certain that from the point of view of the war-mongers, all wars are "the right thing to do." That is not the question. The question is whether those who thought the war was the right thing to do lied to the rest of us to trick us into their little war.

As for Rice's comments on the upside of the war, let us take a closer look.

Iraqi Dead May Total 600,000, Study Says

The US tortured a bunch of Iraqis.

The US wrecked Iraq's health-care system

... and their electrical system

So, Ms. Secretary, outside of your personal stock portfolio, tell us exactly WHY this war was such a good idea?

... and why we should not tar and feather anyone and everyone in government who dares lie to the people for any reason whatsoever?

VIDEO - Cheney On Two-Thirds Of The American Public Opposing The Iraq War: 'So?'

Bush: Iraq violence is a 'very positive moment'

In an interview with The Times, he backed the Iraqi Government's decision to "respond forcefully" to the spiralling violence by "criminal elements" and Shia extremists in Basra. "It was a very positive moment in the development of a sovereign nation that is willing to take on elements that believe they are beyond the law," the President said.

Chief rabbi thanks Bush for 'war against Iraq'

"I want to thank you for your support of Israel and in particular for waging a war against Iraq," Metzger told Bush, according to the chief rabbi's spokesman.

Bush reportedly answered that the chief rabbi's words "warmed his heart."

If you ever wondered who Bush was really working for in his push for war in Iraq: now, you know.

Comforting, isn't it?

Iraq war shows limits of US power

More importantly, the war has shown the limits of American power. It is clear the United States can only manage to fight two small wars at a time.

Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the US armed forces almost to breaking point. America after the invasion of Iraq is no longer the superpower it was before.

Daily we see TV shows that propagandize us all about America's high-tech "Wonder Weapons", promising to make killing the other guys a safe open air video game, costly to develop, always "just around the corner", and when finally deployed usually unable to perform as advertised. (If you have not read the book "The Pentagon Wars" about the development of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, make a point of doing so. There is also a very funny movie based on the book.)

But the fact is that America's war machine, like America's President, is all hat and no cattle. Our expensive high-tech military toys are easily spoofed by some very low-tech tricks. This is a repeat of Vietnam, in which the US taxpayer paid to turn 4000 Bell Helicopters into rusted monuments to the 60,000 kids who died in that mistake. Despite the aforesaid helicopters, laser-guided bombs, aircraft carriers, E6 and B-52 bombers, and the very best technology DARPA could come up with, we lost that war, just as we are losing this one.

The reason is simple. The might of a nation is not in its hardware but in the spirit of the people. The United States will always win a war when the people know that war is just and necessary. But all the modern weapons in the world cannot win a war when the people know that the war is false, based on lies; a war not for defense but to invade and conquer another nation in order to plunder its wealth. That is not what America is, despite the best efforts of those who stole the elections in 2000 and 2004.

La propagande de guerre: Disneyland va s'installer en Irak, un pays dévasté par la guerre

par Michel Chossudovsky

Mondialisation.ca, Le 4 juin 2008

Second Largest City In Iraq About To Get The Fallujah Treatment

It seems that the US occupation is about to embark on a new spate of war crimes in northern Iraq against 'AlQaeda', a translation of which would be any sunni, shiia or kurd who opposes the occupation in the first place. Mass murder in Iraq is following a novel template - pre announced genocide, with commanders promising widespread death, destruction and mass displacement. Mosul will thus join the list of cities with Najaf, Haditha and Fallujah to be flattened while the residents flee the carnage if they're lucky or be instantly branded 'Al Qaeda' if they find themselves dead in the streets.

"Al Qaeda" is simply the name with which the US smears anyone who wants their country back in Iraq.

Because we have not been able to win this ground war from the air. (the precise, same war we seem to have not been winning for almost the last 5 years), what does the military do?

Pour on more air power, of course.

We will again (just as we did in Viet Nam) destroy the city in order to save it.

At the end of the day, those few Mosul residents who are left will pick the body parts of their loved ones and friends, look with horror on a city which has been blown to smithereens, and the US military will claim "victory".

Pentagon says new Iraq fighting arises from surge's success

"Freedom is Slavery."

"Ignorance is Strength."

"War is Peace."

"Failure is Success."

Fresh clashes grip southern Iraq

Heavy fighting has continued for a third day between Shia militias and the Iraqi security forces in southern Iraq.

More than 70 people have died and hundreds have been injured in days of violence sparked by an Iraqi crackdown on Shia militias in Basra.

Iraq implodes as Shia fights Shia

A new civil war is threatening to explode in Iraq as American-backed Iraqi government forces fight Shia militiamen for control of Basra and parts of Baghdad.

Note that Cheney and Mc Cain are conspicuously silent about the "progress in security" regarding the current situation in Iraq.

That this administration never saw this coming is a testament to their complete detachment from the realities on the ground.

Government forces in Basra not fighting: Kuwaiti paper

Several notables in the governate have told AlQabas that the government forces, having entered into what amounts to street-fighting for Basra neighborhoods, will lose this fight unless these local forces are reinforced by large additional forces from elsewhere, because their opponents in the Mahdi Army and other organizations have appropriate weapons in sufficient quantity, and have experience in urban fighting. The lack of fighting spirit on the government side is owing to a lot of causes, among them the existence of tribal links between the army and police on the one side, and the armed militias on the other.

This mess brought to you courtesy of the current US administration, which never, for one moment - in their hubris and complete lack of understanding of the history of this region - ever saw this coming.

Areas of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra

Iraq's Prime Minister was staring into the abyss today after his operation to crush militia strongholds in Basra stalled, members of his own security forces defected and district after district of his own capital fell to Shia militia gunmen.

Rockets from Sadr City slammed into the governmental Green Zone compound in the city centre, killing one person and wounding several more.

Baghdad under curfew amid clashes

A curfew has been imposed on Baghdad amid continuing clashes between Shia militias and Iraqi security forces.

US embassy staff in Baghdad have been told not to leave reinforced structures, following the attacks.

The Top Eleven Myths about Iraq, 2007

In fact, the reduction in violence we are witnessing is really a result of the U.S. discontinuing its vicious raids into insurgent territory, which have been - from the beginning of the war - the largest source of violence and civilian casualties in Iraq.

Telling sign of a failed Iraq strategy

How interesting that Ahmadinejad, unlike a U.S. president who has to be airlifted unannounced into ultra-secure bases, was able to convoy in from the airport in broad daylight on a road that U.S. dignitaries fear to travel. His love fest with Iraq President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who fought on Iran's side against Iraq and who speaks Farsi, even took place outside of the safety of the Green Zone, adding emphasis to Ahmadinejad's claim that while he is welcome in Iraq, the Americans are not.

But for Bush, his signature issue, the battle against terrorism, is a shambles. The terrorists are very much on the rise in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which Bush neglected for an Iraq sideshow that has cost over a trillion dollars and tens of thousands of lives. But the long-run price will be far higher, with the blowback from the massive instability that he has engendered in the region.

Iraq American Death Count: Public Largely Unaware

Public awareness of the number of American military fatalities in Iraq has declined sharply since last August. Today, just 28% of adults are able to say that approximately 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war. As of March 10, the Department of Defense had confirmed the deaths of 3,974 U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

Areas of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra

Iraq's Prime Minister was staring into the abyss today after his operation to crush militia strongholds in Basra stalled, members of his own security forces defected and district after district of his own capital fell to Shia militia gunmen.

Is the US looking at another Saigon moment?

New Report From Abu Ghraib: 'Oh Jesus, That Does Look Pretty Bad'

Davis, from the Roselle, N.J., area, said while stationed at the prison he also saw an incinerator with "bones in it" that he believed to be a crematorium and said some prisoners were starved prior to their interrogation.

Another soldier that had been stationed at Abu Ghraib, M.P. Sabrina Harman---who gained dubious fame for making a thumbs-up sign posing over the body of a prisoner she believed tortured to death---said the U.S. had imprisoned "women and children" on Tier 1B, including one child was as young as ten.