News & Views 05/28/07

Photo: A medic helps an injured Iraqi woman at Kirkuk hospital Monday , May 28, 2007. The woman is one of the six who was injured after a roadside bomb exploded in Kirkuk city center, and which targeted a police patrol, injuring 5 policemen and one woman, Kirkuk police said. (AP Photo/Emad Matti)

REPORTS – LIFE IN IRAQ

Wounds run deep for children of Iraq war

The day his mother and brother died is permanently one that eight-year-old Iraqi Ziad Irhaima will never forget, as the cauterised stump of one of his arms serves as a permanent reminder. Irhaima’s lost family members are only two of the countless and largely anonymous victims of the more than four years of bloodshed that has convulsed Iraq and inflicted deep and lasting wounds on its children. The UN children’s fund Unicef has called for an additional $42 million to fund child health initiatives and warned of the dire state of children’s health in the war-torn country. The spectre of disease is all the more frightening because of the gutting of the country’s public health system, which has suffered from a mass exodus of doctors and other trained professionals. The violence and displacement has also cut off thousands of families from health care, preventing children from receiving treatment for the physical and psychological wounds inflicted by the appalling violence. “I will never forget the image of my mother and brother lying on the ground covered with blood,” Ziad says, referring to the aftermath of a car bomb intended for the local courthouse in his hometown of Kirkuk, north of Baghdad. His physical injuries will not prevent him from one day leading a relatively normal life, but the psychological impact of the attack will last a lifetime, as it will for thousands of Iraqi children.

…… The relentless violence in Iraq will leave behind not only an entire generation of traumatised children like Nawzad, but hundreds of permanently disabled children without proper medical care.

Iraqi Deputy Claims US, British Forces Killed 15 Civilians

An Iraqi deputy claimed that US and British fighter jets bombarded civilian areas in Baghdad and Basra, 550 kilometres south of the capital, killing at least 15 people and wounding 20 others. Salih al-Ekeily, a member of the Sadr faction in parliament, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that buildings - homes to civilians - and a large crowd of people near a gas station were struck by US forces near dawn, in the Shiite-dominated Sadr City. He claimed that 10 people were killed, 10 others wounded and 30 cars caught fire in this incident. Referring to a second violent incident, al-Ekeily said that five people were killed and 10 were wounded when British forces 'targeted civilians in Basra overnight.' The deputy added: 'This is a crime. Both the Iraqi and foreign forces should take full responsibility for these acts.'

"Baghdad is a smashed city..."

Baghdad is a SMASHED city…no roads to drive on…most of them are closed off by concrete obstacles with concertina wire. In addition, the presence of the Iraqi military, who cover their faces with black masks and hold their guns in such a way that when you see them you will definitely be afraid that they will shoot you. The shops in most of the area I went to see are closed. I asked one of the shop owners I know, 55-year-old Abu Fadhil, since I heard that his shop was robbed. I found his door closed and locked and he was nowhere to be found. Later, on my way to Sadr City, I found that two of the three roads which lead all the way from south to north Baghdad are either partially or totally closed in some places. You still remember the highways in Baghdad…well now most of them are closed, or at least fenced off with obstacles, yet they say there is some progress in the security situation inside the city! Everyday two or three cars explode across Baghdad, killing big numbers of civilians. When I returned to my neighborhood of al-Adhamiya, I couldn’t get in unless the soldiers checked my ID and my car, even though the guards are from the same neighborhood and they know me personally. But they had to check it to ensure that no car bombs might happen. Nevertheless, daily mortars shell my neighborhood and those are out of control, despite this concrete wall placed by the Americans which now surrounds our neighborhood. Despite all that they do, they cannot bring security to our small neighborhood.

Extremists Threaten New Gov’t Internet Project in Universities

Islamic extremists who believe that the Internet can spread immoral and un-Islamic behaviour say that they will sabotage plans by the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to link the country’s science centres electronically and offer free Internet access to students. “On the Internet, the youth can find different kinds of information, many of which is unhealthy. Couples strike up friendships through the Internet and spread vice,” said Abu Muhammad, who said he is a spokesman for the Islamic Army, an armed insurgent group in Iraq. “We don’t agree that such services should be offered and will do whatever is needed to prevent this system from working properly in Iraq. Pornographic sites are easily accessible and the youth adopt bad habits which cannot be accepted in an Islamic country,” Abu Muhammad added. Nearly 200 Internet centres are to be set up in universities across the country with the aim of helping students do their research work. “The use of the Internet was banned under [former President] Saddam Hussein’s regime. The ban led the country to lag behind in information technology. The current proposal is to improve the culture of our students and help them to acquire more knowledge about what is happening in the rest of the world,” said Hisham Abdul-Azim, a senior official in the education ministry and one of the project designers.

Thank you, appreciated …

After four years of liberation we've got a lot of things and we've realized a lot of achievements like: We don't like the government which we've elected and it's obvious that we regret voting for it. We started feeling ashamed of saying that we are Muslims because of all of the continuous crimes that have contorted true Islam. But the world needs to know that the Iraqi Muslims are not behind these crimes as we have been living together for hundreds of years and we haven't witnessed this kind of sectarian and racist issues. We mustn't forget the freedom and the respect that we've gained as individuals from the Iraqi leaders and the leaders of other countries. The President of Iraq has left to the United States of America for medical treatment while my wife has cancer and I can't take her even to Syria for treatment like many other Iraqis do.

“We Couldn’t Even Get A Single Chair To remind Us of the Good Old Days”

Mustafa Abdul-Muta'al, 42, says he cannot bear seeing his nine-member family live as displaced persons. He blames his plight on the government which did not compensate him after his house was destroyed two years ago in an insurgent attack in Ramadi. Abdul-Muta'al says he is tired of hearing promises that his compensation will soon be paid. With his wife suffering from cancer and two sons seriously malnourished, he is desperately trying to find a way to win his rights and take his family back to a safer place.

"We had a prosperous life and for years we lived in our house with full security. After an attack in my neighbourhood in Ramadi, my house was totally destroyed and one of my sons died during the assault. He had remained behind in Ramadi to look after the house while we had fled to Baghdad to escape the violence in our home city. "Of course, the tragedy that took my son's life is the worst, but I couldn't believe it when I saw my beautiful house that took me years to build with everything inside destroyed. "We couldn't even get one single chair to remind us of the good old days because everything was burned. When we fled to Baghdad we didn't take with us more than a few clothes and some food. When we returned to Ramadi we found we were not only homeless but had lost everything in our home. "The government promised to compensate all families who lost property during the attacks but two years have since passed and all I hear is that they intend to pay soon, and that because of a shortage of funds, some families will be paid later.

US, Iraqi troops find Qaeda prison camp in Iraq

U.S. and Iraqi troops raided a suspected al Qaeda prison camp north of Baghdad and freed 41 men, some of whom said they had been held for four months, the U.S. military said on Monday. The air and ground operation on Sunday followed a tip-off from a local resident. The camp was six miles south of Baquba in Diyala province, where many insurgents have set up new bases to escape a major security crackdown in Baghdad. "The individuals, who were living in a small, concrete and mud compound ... were sleeping in cramped rooms on dirty blankets and pillows," the military said in a statement. Iraqi police confirmed the raid and said the whereabouts of the prisoners' captors were not known. Al Qaeda militants typically kill their captives soon after abducting them and have not been known to operate such camps. [No mention of all the prisoners in US camps in Iraq. – dancewater]

REPORTS – IRAQI MILITIAS, POLITICIANS, POWER BROKERS

Gathering the Tribes

At his home in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province and a onetime Iraqi insurgent stronghold, Sheik Shakir Saoud Aasi is enjoying after-dinner cigars with his guest of honor, battalion commander Lt. Col. Craig Kozeniesky of the 2/5 Marines. Around the room, Marines and Iraqi tribesmen and police are sitting together, swapping jokes and stories. Some of these Iraqis were probably shooting at Americans less than a year ago. Now they and the Marines are fighting side by side against Al Qaeda. "We are not just friends but also brothers," the sheik tells Kozeniesky. "This is a new beginning for both of us." Kozeniesky can only agree: "Things have changed dramatically." A 5-year-old Iraqi boy in traditional robes and headdress is racing around the room and vaulting into U.S. troops' laps. What does he want to be when he grows up? He proudly announces: "American general named Steve!" The Pentagon is praying that its new allies will reconfigure the war. The success of the Ramadi experiment has given rise to hopes that the model can be applied elsewhere in Iraq. A year ago insurgents were launching nearly 30 attacks a day in the city; now the daily average is less than one.

………. But even as the Americans rejoice in Ramadi's transformation, they worry that it may not last. [No kidding. – dancewater]

Sadr purges movement following defection of aide to U.S.

Shiite Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is reported to be keen to put a new face to his movement already embroiled in sectarian revenge and death squads. Since his resurfacing following nearly four months of absence from Iraqi political scene, the young and charismatic Shiite leader has held several meetings with his aides to “restructure the movement whose ranks has been infiltrated by enemies,” officials close to the cleric said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said Sadr’s sudden emergence and his meetings have been prompted by the defection of one of his most senior aides, former Health Minister Ali al-Shammari. Shammari, who had resigned his post on Sadr’s orders for his movement to leave the government, has sought asylum in the U.S. which Sadr sees as an enemy. The sources said Shammari was close to Sadr and had insider information of the movement’s influence, spread and organization. The movement fears that Shammari might have passed to the U.S. confidential information on how the movement procures arms and training and the links it has with Iran. Since Shammari’s defection, U.S. generals in Iraq have been producing what they described as ‘evidence’ of Iran’s involvement in arming Iraqi insurgent groups and militia factions. Shammari is also reported to have passed lists of the movement’s military leaders, their whereabouts and functions. Shammari was moved to the U.S. from Baghdad by a special military plane. His defection is seen is a blow to Sadr. But one the movement says Shammari was not that senior and influential.

REPORTS – US/UK/OTHERS IN IRAQ

What Congress Really Approved: Benchmark No. 1: Privatizing Iraq's Oil for US Companies

On Thursday, May 24, the US Congress voted to continue the war in Iraq. The members called it "supporting the troops." I call it stealing Iraq's oil - the second largest reserves in the world. The "benchmark," or goal, the Bush administration has been working on furiously since the US invaded Iraq is privatization of Iraq's oil. Now they have Congress blackmailing the Iraqi Parliament and the Iraqi people: no privatization of Iraqi oil, no reconstruction funds. This threat could not be clearer. If the Iraqi Parliament refuses to pass the privatization legislation, Congress will withhold US reconstruction funds that were promised to the Iraqis to rebuild what the United States has destroyed there.

U.S. ambassador describes talks with Iranians as positive

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker described as positive the outcome of the U.S.-Iranian talks that were held on Monday in Baghdad. At a press conference, Crocker said the U.S. and Iranian stances towards Iraq are similar to a great extend. "But the U.S. wants to see some Iranian acts complying with what was declared today," he said. About the Iranians' consideration of the Multi-National forces in Iraq as occupation troops, the U.S. diplomat said these forces are present in Iraq upon the request of the Iraqi government, adding that the U.S. side spent millions of dollars to rehabilitate the Iraqi security forces. Regarding the Iraqi role in the talks, Croker said that Iraq had no role, but was the host and the leading country for the negotiations. [Yeah, that will work! – dancewater]

US “Security” Forces Open Fire in Baghdad

Employees of Blackwater USA, a private security firm under contract to the State Department, opened fire on the streets of Baghdad twice in two days last week, and one of the incidents provoked a standoff between the security contractors and Iraqi forces, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. A Blackwater guard shot and killed an Iraqi driver Thursday near the Interior Ministry, according to three U.S. officials and one Iraqi official who were briefed on the incident but spoke on condition of anonymity because of a pending investigation. On Wednesday, a Blackwater-protected convoy was ambushed in downtown Baghdad, triggering a furious battle in which the security contractors, U.S. and Iraqi troops and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters were firing in a congested area.

….. Blackwater's security consulting division holds at least $109 million worth of State Department contracts in Iraq, and its employees operate in a perilous environment that sometimes requires the use of deadly force. But last week's incidents underscored how deeply these hired guns have been drawn into the war, their murky legal status and the grave consequences that can ensue when they take aggressive action.

……. A statement released by the military said that the "security unit" requested assistance and that Apache helicopters attached to the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, arrived before ground forces. Mohammed Mahdi, 37, an employee at a veterinary drugstore, said the combined American forces unleashed a fury of gunfire near the Amanat, the municipal headquarters located in the heart of downtown Baghdad. Before taking cover in his store, Mahdi said, he saw two people killed and one wounded near the city's legal registry. A U.S. Embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Blackwater contractors "did their job," enabling the State Department employees to be extracted without injuries. The U.S. military said no American soldiers were killed or wounded during the attack. Mahdi said that the battle lasted for nearly an hour and that when he emerged he saw four mini-buses, a taxi and an Opel sedan containing dead and wounded. He said that he saw "at least four or five" people "who were certainly dead" but that he did not know how the people were killed, who killed them or whether they were civilians or combatants. There were people yelling: 'There's someone dead over here! Come!' " he said. "And another saying: 'There's someone wounded over here. Come and get them.' "

Doubts Grow as GI’s In Iraq Find Allies in Enemy Ranks

“In Mosul, in 2003, it felt like we were making the city a better place,” he said. “There was no sectarian violence, Saddam was gone, we were tracking down the bad guys. It felt awesome.” But now on his third deployment in Iraq, he is no longer a believer in the mission. The pivotal moment came, he says, this past February when soldiers killed a man setting a roadside bomb. When they searched the bomber’s body, they found identification showing him to be a sergeant in the Iraqi Army. “I thought, ‘What are we doing here? Why are we still here?’ ” said Sergeant Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the First Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. “We’re helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us.” [And anyone who is surprised at this development should go get a ‘color me stupid’ teeshirt and wear it constantly. – dancewater]

COMMENTARY

I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty.

Among the hundreds of messages that my wife and I have received, two bore directly on this question. Both held me personally culpable, insisting that my public opposition to the war had provided aid and comfort to the enemy. Each said that my son's death came as a direct result of my antiwar writings. This may seem a vile accusation to lay against a grieving father. But in fact, it has become a staple of American political discourse, repeated endlessly by those keen to allow President Bush a free hand in waging his war. By encouraging "the terrorists," opponents of the Iraq conflict increase the risk to U.S. troops. Although the First Amendment protects antiwar critics from being tried for treason, it provides no protection for the hardly less serious charge of failing to support the troops -- today's civic equivalent of dereliction of duty. What exactly is a father's duty when his son is sent into harm's way? Among the many ways to answer that question, mine was this one: As my son was doing his utmost to be a good soldier, I strove to be a good citizen. As a citizen, I have tried since Sept. 11, 2001, to promote a critical understanding of U.S. foreign policy.

…….. Not for a second did I expect my own efforts to make a difference. But I did nurse the hope that my voice might combine with those of others -- teachers, writers, activists and ordinary folks -- to educate the public about the folly of the course on which the nation has embarked. I hoped that those efforts might produce a political climate conducive to change. I genuinely believed that if the people spoke, our leaders in Washington would listen and respond. This, I can now see, was an illusion. The people have spoken, and nothing of substance has changed.

Comment

In the shadow of 9/11, dissent has been at pains to demonstrate its patriotic vigor. While holding on to some inchoate sense of America's wholesomeness, we prefer to see the nation as having been misled into war rather than bear responsibility for our own willing acquiescence. In truth, American troops are now stuck in Iraq because most Americans were willing to accept the flimsiest of justifications for war. Bush and Cheney tricked the nation and Congress into supporting the war but it's easier to focus on their trickery than on the ease with which this country could be tricked. What does it say about a country (and not simply its government) that war could be embarked upon so casually? The war in Iraq -- the casual war -- won popular support for no better reason than that it served to boost American pride in the aftermath of the humiliation of 9/11. The promise of an easy victory sealed the deal. That there is now popular opposition to the war says nothing about any self-knowledge or critical awareness that America as a nation might have acquired in the last four years. Now, just as then, America sees itself set apart from the world. An adventure in domination has turned sour; in its wake comes the desire to retreat. The world we cannot master, remains a world by which we still seem unwilling to be instructed. [I remember pre- Iraq war days and how amazed I was at how many people in America who “drank the kool-aid”! And this commentator is right: they have mainly learned nothing, except that we are losing. – dancewater]

Behind the eyes of the warmongering US hawks

While the foreign policy think-tank Chatham House declares Iraq to be on the point of total collapse, the intellectual architects of pre-emptive war continue to attract surprisingly respectful media attention. One can be revolted - but not surprised - at the spectacle of Bush and Blair, the Laurel and Hardy of the War on Terror, congratulating each other on their strategic vision from the White House lawn. But whose bright idea was it to let Richard Perle, the US hawk known as the 'prince of darkness', make a PBS documentary arguing that the world needs more military 'interventions'? And what explains the ubiquitous media presence of John Bolton, the troglodyte former US ambassador to the UN? Only last week Bolton was interviewed by John Humphrys on the Today programme. ………… It wasn't just that Bolton's arguments were bizarre and illogical to the point of insanity, such as his description of Humphrys and the millionaire philanthrophist George Soros as members of the 'extreme left'. Or his ludicrous assertion that the invasion of Iraq has laid the basis for a more stable and peaceful Middle East. It wasn't even his fanaticism, his arrogance and his utter contempt for the opinions of the non-American world. What is striking about Bolton is the savagery and homicidal intent that shows through the statesmanlike patter. [Why is this guy not in prison? – dancewater]

…….. Perle, Bolton and co often pontificate on the unique moral evil of terrorism. But in their contempt for human life and their appetite for war they are not that different from Osama bin Laden. Unlike Osama, they will not be found in the Hindu Kush carrying a Kalashnikov. They are war trolls, endlessly manipulating the public from TV studios. In this sense they are more like the Roman senators who grew rich and fat while the legions went out to 'create a wasteland and call it peace', as Tacitus once put it.

Operation Freedom From Iraqis

WHEN all else fails, those pious Americans who conceived and directed the Iraq war fall back on moral self-congratulation: at least we brought liberty and democracy to an oppressed people. But that last-ditch rationalization has now become America’s sorriest self-delusion in this tragedy. However wholeheartedly we disposed of their horrific dictator, the Iraqis were always pawns on the geopolitical chessboard rather than actual people in the administration’s reckless bet to “transform” the Middle East. From “Stuff happens!” on, nearly every aspect of Washington policy in Iraq exuded contempt for the beneficiaries of our supposed munificence. Now this animus is completely out of the closet. Without Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz to kick around anymore, the war’s dead-enders are pinning the fiasco on the Iraqis themselves. Iraqis are clamoring to get out of Iraq. Two million have fled so far and nearly two million more have been displaced within the country. (That’s a total of some 15 percent of the population.) Save the Children reported this month that Iraq’s child-survival rate is falling faster than any other nation’s. One Iraqi in eight is killed by illness or violence by the age of 5. Yet for all the words President Bush has lavished on Darfur and AIDS in Africa, there has been a deadly silence from him about what’s happening in the country he gave “God’s gift of freedom.” It’s easy to see why. To admit that Iraqis are voting with their feet is to concede that American policy is in ruins. A “secure” Iraq is a mirage, and, worse, those who can afford to leave are the very professionals who might have helped build one. Thus the president says nothing about Iraq’s humanitarian crisis, the worst in the Middle East since 1948, much as he tried to hide the American death toll in Iraq by keeping the troops’ coffins off-camera and staying away from military funerals. [bush does not care about our troops, much less the Iraqis. – dancewater]

How to Help Iraqi Refugees

Quote of the day: Memorial Day orators will say that a G.I.'s life is priceless. Don't believe it. I know what value the U.S. government assigns to a soldier's life: I've been handed the check. It's roughly what the Yankees will pay Roger Clemens per inning once he starts pitching next month. – Andrew J. Bacevich