Free Iraq

Does George not spot the irony?
"But Iraq has—have got people there that are willing to kill, and they're hard-nosed killers."
 

From a previous post . . .
"Iraq is about to be westernized."
Probably CS also fails to spot the irony.
 

America's Good Germans?
- "[A] bunch of psycho officers sent us into shit we never should have gone into."
- "I am not a hero. Guys like me are just a necessary part of things. To maintain this way of life in a fine community like this, you need psychos like us to go and drop a bomb on somebody's house."

How long can an army continue when combat personnel view both officers and themselves as psychos? What will happen if that Marine's recognition that imperial wars are fought to protect affluence and privilege at home spreads on the front lines of those wars?
 

Shaming the Shameless: "Cindy Sheehan's story shames me."

"Is this war even touching the public? As often as not, the lead story in the national newspapers is not the war. It does not dominate discussion in the Senate or the House. Nor does it figure in our everyday conversation. What does this show? And what does it say about us when fellow-citizens are getting maimed and killed and this has no impact on our lives?

"Here's a practical suggestion. Tonight (Aug 17) is a candlelight vigil all across America in support of Cindy Sheehan. You can host or join one near you by going to Cindy Vigils.
 

Slurs, Lies and Innuendos: "The Bush administration's top officials must be counting the days until the end of the presidential vacation brings to a close the Crawford standoff between Camp Casey and Camp Carnage.

"While the president mouths respectful platitudes about the grieving mother, his henchmen are sharpening their media knives and starting to slash."
 

Individuals Matter
Unacceptable regimes in Iraq and the United States: "The power of government, whatever weapons it possesses, whatever money it has at its disposal, is fragile. When it loses its legitimacy in the eyes of its people, its days are numbered. We need to engage in whatever actions appeal to us. There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at points in history and creating a power that governments cannot suppress."
 

Sunni Muslim scholar assassinated
 

If war is so brilliant and so noble
why is it the fat-satiated-bellicose-arrogant-self-centered-egotistical-rich white men aren't all out on the battlefield? How is it that a few cheap medals sent off to those ripped and shredded; are the spoils of war for the dispossessed, poor, marginalized, cannon fodder of generational war?
 

Imad,

As a person who's devoted a major portion of his life to helping others work through trauma, I grieve for the people of Iraq and for all those who've been injured physically, emotionally or psychologically because of America's War Against Iraq.

I have come to the point where I call this war "America's War" because I cannot consider only Bush responsible when Congress, the media and the people are complicit in this travesty.

Thank you for the Fisk article. I'd seen it posted elsewhere but was not motivated to read it until it came from you.

Except for Fisk and a handful of others, most of us would blunder about in ignorance.

With More Sadness Than I Can Acknowledge.

San Diego CA
 

To Whom It May Concern:
"Bush and his fascist clique are psychopathic killers, shaped and nurtured through ideological indoctrination, although they may never have pulled a trigger.. . .If Bush can get his rapture from looking at a scoreboard on a baseball field or while sitting on a sofa in his home, then he can certainly experience similar pleasure when he sees a scorecard on the death and destruction he ordered."
 

I think it is important to maintain a sense of perspective.
Is this war even touching the public you ask? No, but it is nothing personal against the Iraqi people. It is merely a common human reaction.

The Iraq war is at the back of many people's minds in just the same way as many conflicts or tragedies have been.
More than 3 million people have lost their lives in central African wars in recent years while the world has done nothing. Why has it done nothing?

Take the Congo as a prime example. There are certainly plenty of excuses for war there and it is happening right now. Congo is potentially a goldmine. It is rich in oil (millions of barrels per week), diamond and gold, coltan, tin, and copper, and valuable tropical hardwoods. Many countries have interests there, and many are conducting their own proxy wars tearing the Congo to bits.

The war, like the Iraq war, has many sides to it, and it is hard to discern the responsible parties. But the most obvious trail leads to Rwanda which is overpopulated, almost devoid of raw materials, and has with only moderately productive soil.

So how can we expect Iraq to be different?
The average person on the street does not care how many barrels of oil Iraq produces every day, those facts are only important to politicians and oil companies. The price of petrol in the UK has always been sky high anyway, because of taxes.

To many people it is an isolated war thousands of miles away.
The fact that the US and UK governments conspired to invade seems to have lost relevency.

Out of sight out of mind.
It is not on the scale of WWII where there were tens of millions of deaths stretching across the continents whilst encompassing the Holocaust and Hiroshima.

I think we have to be realistic about what we expect of people in general. If every person, worried about every single war going on globally, for every day of their lives, then the world would be a worse place for it.

Life goes on.
 

Last night a friend and I went to the local 'Cindy Vigil'. If our experience was indicative, then I say the American people DO NOT support this stinking war in Iraq.

Living in a small conservative town that traditionally has voted Republican, I did not know last night what response the candle light vigil would attract. About 150 of us turned out, many more than anticipated. In our group were mothers and children and men and women and veterans of many wars. Standing with our placards and candles, first by the court house and then along the freeway, the public response was a joy to behold. Passers by overwhelmingly supported us. People waved and cheered, car horns sounded, and there was scarcely a mean response throughout. Vigil participants were ordinary decent human beings. Thank you, Cindy, for giving us courage.

To the people of Iraq, proper words fail me. Our debt is too great. One candle light vigil amongst many can never undo the tragedy inflicted upon you and your nation. But I want you to know that a veteran standing nearby expressed what most people now know. We should not be in your country doing such terrible things. You had done nothing to deserve this. We were lied to. You are innocent. The drawing chosen by Dr. Khadduri for this current post reflects the grief of my heart.
 

Iraqis have done nothing to deserve this, true. However, we should try to apply that sympathetic attitude across the board, to all nationalities. When 9/11 occured, when Kuwait was invaded, when Afghanistan was invaded, when 7/7 occured, when Iran was attacked, innocent people died. They did nothing to deserve it.

Many people die, as a result of conflict and terrorism, throughout the world every day. You will see it on almost every continent. You just have to put it to the back of your mind and get on with your life.
 

Seafordian, your:
"If every person, worried about every single war going on globally, for every day of their lives, then the world would be a worse place for it."
Respectfully, I disagree. If every person worried about every single war going on globally the world would be a far better place. Perhaps, then, we would stop having the damn things.

As for your
"Life goes on," you are dead wrong. Such complacent indifference allows the military might of your country and mine to snuff out the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The survivors of the dead and maimed are not now sitting down to their next cup of English tea, looking across the newspaper and saying, "Life goes on."
 

Complacent indifference allows the military might of your country and mine to snuff out the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

This is true, but it also applies to other countries with any military force. We should all remember that. That complacency exists in all societies in every country. Many countries have assumed both the role of offence and defence at some time in their history. Iraq, who was once the aggressor to Kuwait and Iran, is now on the defence. The UK may be the aggressor now, but has been on the defence on a number of occasions, most notably with Nazi Germany. Likewise Russia, the US, India etc etc.

Wars have existed since the beginning of time. It is human nature. We will never cease "having the damn things". We all must accept it and get on with life if it is not happening in our own country. You have no choice.
 

They want us to be afraid: Osama in Iraq!
 

Explosions rock Baghdad after rush-hour bombings kill 43: "The capital suffered its worst attack this year on Wednesday when three car bombs devastated a busy bus station and a nearby hospital in near simultaneous attacks. . . The rush-hour bombings came two days after Iraqi leaders failed to draft a new constitution due to differences on key issues, raising concerns of fresh political chaos."
 

"Private gunmen are now guarding four U.S. generals"
 

"The American occupation army has . . . arrested five children who are under the age of ten, and kept them as pawns in the Iraqi city of Baji."
 

ILLUSION OF DEMOCRACY: "Basrah under the control of the British troops since May 2003 has become tolerant of Shia extremism . . . as long as they do not point their guns towards the occupiers. 90% of the new police force are drawn from the Badir Brigade . . . and the other controlling factor is Maqtada Sadr’s Mahdi Army, both conducting with impunity kidnapping, assassination and total intolerance to the Iraqi Christian community, abuse of women, undermining education and teachers are the norm. . . "
 

Iraq's New Constitution: "Intense US pressure, orchestrated by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and US colonial emissary in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, and backed by more than 160,000 US troops and foreign mercenaries, makes the draft [constitution] and the timing an important part of the US imperial agenda.

"Recently, Khalilzad has warned the Iraqi 'government' that the US occupation must continue and the economy must be privatised and sold to US corporations. . .‘The Americans say they don't intervene, but they have intervened deep,’ Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of the constitution committee told the Washington Post (August 13, 2005). ‘They gave us a detailed proposal, almost a full version of a constitution. The U.S. officials are more interested in the Iraqi constitution than the Iraqis themselves’, he added.

"Meanwhile, the reality on the ground, the Iraqi people are left in the dark about their 'new constitution' despite their overwhelming rejection of the Occupation. Like the fraudulent and sectarian-based January 30 elections, the new constitution will be sold to Iraqis unpacked. . .

"The Kurd warlords, US faithful allies, hold more than 25 per cent of the assembly, and their role and intransigent will affect more than 85 per cent of the Iraqi population. The second group or slate is the SCIRI-Da’wa party, a collection of pro-Iran Iraqi expatriates and Iranian Mullahs led by the current "Prime Minister" Ibrahim Al-Jaaferi and his deputy Ahmed Chelabi. The Kurds and a segment of the Al-Jaaferi "government" are seeking to protect their self-interests and divide Iraq along ethnic and sectarian lines by way of "federalism", a euphemism for a broken nation.

"The American* people should be ashamed for having allowed their government to invade and occupy a defenceless nation. It is more shameful, they are allowing their government to commit daily war crimes in their name. Americans cannot pretend to live in 'liberty', while they deny basic liberty and freedom to other people. The only honourable act that will lift Americans to their dignity is to demand from their government the full and immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq."
--------------

* Add in the British, as well (Evelyn)
 

More than 1,600 vigils were held from coast to coast, drawing tens of thousands of people
 

TIME.com: August 22, 2005
A Mother And the President
 

Blessing the Bombs: The Hiroshima Bombers' Chaplain Faces Christ
"Sixty years ago, as a Catholic Air Force chaplain, Father George Zabelka blessed the men who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Years later, . . .

- "As a Catholic chaplain I watched as the Boxcar, piloted by a good Irish Catholic pilot, dropped the bomb on Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, the center of Catholicism in Japan."

- "If a soldier came to me and asked if he could put a bullet through a child’s head, I would have told him, absolutely not."

- "I struggled. I argued. But yes, there it was in the Sermon on the Mount, very clear: 'Love your enemies. Return good for evil.'"

- "There is no way to conduct real war in conformity with the teachings of Jesus."

- "Militarized Christianity is a lie. It is radically out of conformity with the teaching, life, and spirit of Jesus."
 

The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not based on religious fundamentalism of any kind.

"Militarized Christianity" does not exist. Soldiers are not there to keep in line with "the teaching, life, and spirit of Jesus". They are there to defend their country and go on the attack when asked by politicians.

Fact: Japan had to be crushed to end the war. Many US servicemen had received embarkation orders to the Pacific (for a land invasion of Japan) just before the bombings. A mainland invasion of Japan by the US would have created more destruction in a war that had already consumed millions of lives. There was no easy answer. Nuke or mainland invasion?

Think of it like this: The "bomb" was a race against time. Whoever developed and used it first would have used it to their advantage. If Germany had developed it before the allies, maybe we would be living in a very different world today. I personally am glad that the Nazis and Japanese were crushed beyond recognition.

Religion does not come into it. Crushing the Nazi and Japanese regimes was the crux of the matter
 

Seafordian: Religion damn well does come into it!!!!!!! Our paid professional killers (probably on whatever side) get 'blessed' just like our football teams. Where have you been all these years? Do the Queen's armies not get prayed over as well? Even I, a person who does not follow sport, know that 'god' is always on 'our side' (whichever that may be). Likewise, our chaplains send the troops off to war. George's holy bunch are working overtime.
 

Seafordian
"Are mere pundits responsible when an administration’s policy goes wrong? When their sophistic arguments helped sell and sustain it, very.
Their War, Too
 

I was an officer in the British army for many years, and served in Yugoslavia and the Falklands. Most men I served with had never even attended a church service before. Many would accept a blessing if they felt their lives would be in danger, that is, as a very last resort when frightened.

Soldiers do not fight for Jesus Christ. I do not know how you formed these strange ideas, but I sincerely think you have been misled by literature that is more than erroneous.
 

I totally agree that "Soldiers do not fight for Jesus Christ." But, unfortunately, He is a convenient PR fig leaf in the hand of my president.
 

From the above link: "For its war in Iraq, the Bush administration relied on and benefited from the cheerleading* of a group of pundits and public intellectuals who, at every crucial moment, subordinated the facts on the ground to their own ideological preferences and those of their allies within the administration. They refused to hold the administration’s conduct of the war and the occupation to the ideals that they themselves professed, or simply to the standard of common sense. They abdicated their responsibilities as political intellectuals -- and, more elementally, as reliable empiricists.

"The delusions for which they were apologizing weren’t only the administration’s; they were their own as well. There was an odd sort of integrity to their dishonesty; they believed (most of them did) all the theories that justified the war. But they didn’t present these theories as theories. They presented them -- misrepresented them -- as facts."
-------------------------
* And this cheerleading was supported by a whole lot of 'god' talk from the sullied ranks of those purporting to be His representatives.
 

Time for some light reading? Google search: Iraq war +"military chaplains"
 

Evelyn: if Bush wishes to use Jesus Christ as a PR flag then that is his choosing.

From a soldiers perspective on the ground, the reality is that no such purpose exists. Soldiers are there at the whim of their politicians and should not be judged too harshly. They may carry the message but do not necessarily believe in it. If one is to challenge a soldier and judge him/her, then I would suggest that one walks just 1 mile in that soldiers shoes. I think you'll find a very different world to the one you imagine. Wars are the result of human nature and will never cease to exist, no matter how hard we puzzle over their very existence.
 

"From a soldiers perspective on the ground, the reality is that no such purpose exists. Soldiers are there at the whim of their politicians and should not be judged too harshly. They may carry the message but do not necessarily believe in it. If one is to challenge a soldier and judge him/her, then I would suggest that one walks just 1 mile in that soldiers shoes."

Seafordian, you are right. I have no argument whatsoever with your point. My fury is with the politicians and the corporate media who have sold us this bill of goods and the captains of industry who are profiting mightily. I recognize that an overwhelming majority of those forced into shedding blood, thinking they have no choice, would give their eye teeth to be at home with their families, leading their ordinary lives.

Last night at the vigil a man who had been to Korea and Vietnam was motivated by the spirit of the moment to tell me something of his experience. But he was so overwhelmed by terrible suppressed emotion that all he could state with total clarity was that he had been lied to. I have nothing but compassion for him and the millions who have walked the same path. Forgive me. I am at times judgmental. But my heart does go out to all the innocents.
 

Seafordian
As for your statement: "Soldiers do not fight for Jesus Christ", kindly read:
Jihad with a yahoo - “The enemy has got a face,” a Marine lieutenant-colonel told an embedded reporter just before the invasion began. “He’s called Satan. He lives in Fallujah. And we’re going to destroy him.”

 

Imad

You should not draw one massive conclusion from the comments of one man. You have never been in active service in a war zone, I can tell. I think you do need to spend some time on the ground with soldiers on active duty before you can draw a more appropriate and realistic conclusion.

Thanks
 

Seafordian,
Which part of linked article do you find inappropriate and unrealistic?
 

Evelyn: war veterans suffer much more than people think, or allow themselves to think. As you say, they are victims too.
Have you ever wondered why vets feel so alienated when they return? It is not because of trauma alone, it is also because of the attitude of the people when they return to their home country. If they are wrongly labeled as some warped group of rapists and baby-killers driven by religion, then the majority are being denied the truth, justice and the respect that they deserve.

One cannot deal with war any better by labeling all soldiers as some kind of wild and "evil" group, driven by a warped sense of religion. That is naive and misguided. When one is sent to a country (such as Iraq) where local animosity is sporadic, unpredictable and often times brutal, soldiers have to find a way of dealing with that whilst ensuring their own survival. If they have to be brutal themselves to survive, then that is just how it is. One would never survive or attempt to control hostile territory by being gentle and forgiving.

Political correctness is only feasible for those existing in a peaceful nation
 

Seafordian
I have been in "active service in a war zone", but not with "with soldiers on active duty" grunts.
 

Evelyn: best to draw this to a close now. However just remember, you will not get to the truth by wrongly labeling the US and UK armed forces as some kind of "Jesus Army". You cannot get to the truth of the last few years by boiling everything down to some kind of religious crusade, you are going to have to analyse a bit deeper than that. However, if it makes you feel better about the invasion of Iraq, then do go ahead.
 

Imad when you have served through 2 (in fact 3) wars like me, then come back and talk.

I am glad to say that I have served with those 'grunts', who have more courage and endurance than you can conceive of

Many thanks
 

Seafordian, In closing the discussion, as you suggest, I acknowledge that my question
"Which part of linked article do you find inappropriate and unrealistic?"
has gone unanswered, and, further, that you seem not to have understood where I am laying primary responsibility for the ongoing barbarity. It is not with the soldiers themselves. They feel victimized at both ends of their 'conscription'. My own brother is one such.
 

From Sgt. Kevin Benderman, Prisoner of Conscience for objecting to war
"I have come to the conclusion that the Creator does not want us to fight wars or to leave our brothers to die in hunger or disease. We have been given the things we need to provide all men on the planet with what they need to get by in this world. Why should I not help another human being that needs what I can help them with? I have ignored that for far too long. I have turned my head when the homeless person asks for a little help. I have taken advantage of others when I should have been offering a hand up. I have done things in my life that I am not proud of. I have not lived a perfect life so I will not tell anyone else how to live theirs. I have learned that I have done things that are not to the benefit of mankind, and to continue in that vein would be detrimental to my growth as a human being.

I ask myself, 'Why should I continue with what I see as self-destructive behavior?'

'Why should I continue a way of life that does nothing to alleviate problems that have plagued humanity for far too long?'

If a drug addict learns that the drugs are killing him, he is expected to stop using drugs.

That leads me to ask, 'If what I am doing is killing me spiritually, why should I continue?'

We have become so engrained to the face of war that we can no longer see that it solves nothing. I will no longer participate."
 

"Speaking of God, speaking of God is what an awful lot of real Americans do these days. And why shouldn't they, goddam -- uh, darn it? After all, America is the land of religious freedom and tolerance; that is, of course, as long as you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior and declare every fifteen minutes (at the outside) how righteous and, thus, right, you are; otherwise, you might just wanna march your unrepentant ass straight on out of here to another country like Paris or Guam and go "f" yourself, you two-faced, gay-loving, heathen. Praise the Lord and pass the admonitions!"
-----------------------
Glorying in the fact that the author of this irreverent piece lives but a mere stone's throw away is certain to further exacerbate my identity crisis!
 

Seafordian, this is not the old discussion; rather a new one. (Though I don't expect you will take it up.) But, just in case, regarding "more courage and endurance", I suggest you speak in ignorance.
 

The Irony is…
 

Seafordian
I 'concieve' what I see of the brutal, vicious, aggressive, psychotic, green-card wannabes and cowardice (read random shooting of civilians at any sign of a threat) of the 'grunts' in Iraq, notwithstanding your hollow comradship with them, and the like them, of (three) wars; which, in my dictionary, is nothing to be proud of.
Not mentioning the 22,000 brutal mercenaries in Iraq at 1,000 blood money dollars per day. Even the US generals in baghdad are now being protected by them, not trusting their cozy retirement to their own 'grunts' (see Evelyn's comment above at 8:09).
I not only talk, but I shout at the top of my voice.
Pride in folly is still folly.
 

And on the subject of a gullible nation rushing to glorious, inevitable war . . .
Footage Contradicts London Police Reports: "A Brazilian shot to death a day after botched bombings in London had walked casually onto a train before being gunned down by undercover officers, according to leaked footage that appeared to contradict earlier police reports that said the man disobeyed police orders."

For so long as we refuse to use our heads, denying the humanity of others, for just that long will bloody life-destroying war be inevitable.
 

John Pilger, THE RISE OF THE DEMOCRATIC POLICE STATE: ". . . [T]errorism is now defined in our law as actions abroad. . . . Of course, Blair is silent on western state terrorism in the Middle East and elsewhere; and for him to moralise about "our values" insults the fact of his blood-crime in Iraq. His budding police state will, he hopes, have the totalitarian powers he has longed for since 2001 when he suspended habeas corpus and introduced unlimited house arrest without trial. . . . Should you be tempted to dismiss all this as esoteric or merely mad, travel to any Muslim community in Britain, especially in the north west and sense the state of siege and fear."

"Professor Robert Pape of the University of Chicago has examined every act of suicide terrorism over the past 25 years. He refutes the assumption that suicide bombers are mainly driven by 'an evil ideology independent of other circumstances.' He said, 'The facts are that since 1980, half the attacks have been secular. Few of the terrorists fit the standard stereotype... Half of them are not religious fanatics at all. In fact, over 95 per cent of suicide attacks around the world [are not about] religion, but a specific strategic purpose - to compel the United States and other western countries to abandon military commitments on the Arabian Peninsula and in countries they view as their homeland or prize greatly... The link between anger over American, British and western military [action] and al-Qaeda's ability to recruit suicide terrorists to kill us could not be tighter.'

"So we have been warned, yet again. Terrorism is the logical consquence of American and British 'foreign policy' whose infinitely greater terrorism we need to recognise, and debate, as a matter of urgency."
 

Here is an interesting article by ted Rall:

"The most galling aspect of this fiasco is that it was entirely predictable. I know; I predicted it. Here's my column written back in July 2002:

"Most experts expect Iraq to disintegrate into civil war after an overthrow of Saddam's oppressive Ba'ath Party," I wrote. "Opinion of the United States is now at an all-time low among Muslims around the world. Going after Iraq will make matters worse. Why give radical anti-American Islamists even more political ammunition with which to recruit suicide bombers and attract the financial donations that fund their assaults?"

I'm no genius, but even I could see that this war was doomed eight months before the invasion:

"Do the Kurds deserve a homeland? Sure. Would Iraq be better off without Saddam? Probably. But if we're smart, we won't be the ones to blow over this particular house of cards. We have too much to lose and too little to gain in the mess that would certainly ensue."

Sacrifice? Count Me Out.
 

Vigil photos
 

Speaking that the Christian religion is not present on the battle fields in Iraq is an illusion. The resistance relies heavily in the religious “symbols” and rhetoric of Islam. But so do the American forces. They have priests on the battlefield who arrange religious services before and after battles. Also the individual soldiers lean on their faith and religion in high stress situations.

Do the Americans soldiers fight exactly “for Jesus” certainly not in a narrow sense, but in a broader sense, yes. The so called western values, to which Bush and Blair so often refer as a reason for the war, include our religion Christianity. When George Bush says “God protect or troops”, does he refer to a “universal” God or the Christian Go? Naturally the religion is very much present in the US propaganda and rhetoric. A little less in GB, but still it is there. When Bush says thank you for your families sacrifice, what does it mean? Thank you for preserving our “western values” and fighting against radical Islam, would be probably the interpretation what normal Americans understand by it.

http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/

When the enemy in the US media and Army propaganda is painted simply as bunch of religious fanatics, of course the war is a fight against enemies believes and religion. It would be stupid to say that it is not a war against radical Islam. Then it is naturally also a war against Islam. Where is the line between what is radical, medium or not radical? Can a normal rather culturally little educated and narrow minded US soldier see the difference? Certainly not, it can be read from the opinions of most soldiers. How can they see the details and nuances of for them a totally strange religion and culture? For most US soldiers in Iraq (and Vietnam before) everybody is a potential enemy.

The soldiers serving in a war create always an extreme close loyalty between the other members in their unit. The harder their experiences are the greater is that bond. For all soldiers in all wars. The former SS soldiers have been extreme loyal to each other also the war ended. The loyalty and friendship soldiers have among them has nothing at all to do with the justification of war in general and what the individual units have done on the battlefield. If you Seafordian would have been defending your country three times against a real invader, it would be reason to be proud. But being a member in attacks against Panama, Grenada and Iraq no reason to feel proud. Naturally a professional soldier has to go where he is commanded. So did the Japanese and German soldiers go in WW2.
 

Simo Hurtta,
Thank you so much for posting the link to The Presidential Prayer Team. I went in and had a look around. A few of the site's abundant features:

1. The current moving banner headline: "PRAY FOR THOSE WORKING FOR COMPROMISE IN THE NEW IRAQI CONSTITUTION"

2. The PPT Poll: "Do you believe the Iraqis will resolve the concerns that are delaying the constitution?"
(You are invited in to cast your "yes" or "no" vote.)

3. Prayer request: "Pray for the President as he welcomes to his home champion cyclist and fellow Texan, Lance Armstrong, for a bike ride on Saturday, praying for protection and great joy for both men."

4. Another prayer request: Lower gas prices. No comment.

5. Adopt-a-troop chart: 161,081 troops on offer. (Apparently only 1 remaining unadopted troop.)

6. Wonderful President-at-prayer photo.

7. Shopping cart. On offer: prayer wrist watches, dog tags, prayer mugs, lithograph prints, books, pens, magnets, presidential playing cards, praying bumper stickers. All conveniently priced, $10 - $50. Shop now while stocks last.
 

Chris Floyd: It's becoming increasingly clear that Bush does have an exit strategy from Iraq -- and it runs through Iran.
 

Bush's Emotional Incapacities: "President Bush isn't having all that great of a summer. . . .[A]s the dog days of summer heat up, President Bush is sweating bullets as he lays low out in Texas.. . . Not only can Bush not think for himself, he does not have the ability to admit he's ever been wrong. . . .Maybe Bush needs a cocktail. Looks like the baby Jesus isn't doing it for him."
 

Salam al-Maliki, transport minister, said the worsening conditions in Iraq, along with the hike in terror, insurgent attacks and violence “are a product of the occupation.”
 

Death of 3 Iraqi brothers, one in wheelchair, sparks anti-U.S. rage: "In Amiriya, relatives wept as they prepared the brothers for burial. One man lifted blankets, exposing devastating skull wounds; 'He is a cripple. He has been handicapped for the past 25 years,' he said, standing over Khalil's bloodied corpse."

"More than 20 labourers were treated in hospital in Baghdad this week after a U.S. helicopter opend fire as they slept on a rooftop at dawn. The military said its aircraft returned fire against 'terrorists' but added there were civilian casualties."
 

The Muslim religion is so unreformed since it was created that nowhere in the Muslim world has there been any real advance in science, or art or literature, or technology in the last 500 years

Finally someone speaks sense

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4163484.stm
 

Justification for Invading Iraq

Spreading Democracy


Saddam issued a series of decrees establishing severe penalties (amputation, branding, cutting off of ears, or other forms of mutilation) for criminal offenses. In mid-2000, the RCC approved amputation of the tongue as a new penalty for slander or abusive remarks about the President [Hussein] or his family. These punishments are practiced mainly on political dissenters. Iraqi TV had broadcast pictures of these punishments as a warning to others.

Under Saddam Hussein's regime women lack even the basic right to life. A 1990 decree allows male relatives to kill a female relative in the name of honour without any punishment.

Documents captured by the Kurds during the Gulf War [1990-1991] and handed over to the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch provided much information about Saddam's persecution of the Kurds. They detail the arrest and execution in 1983 of 8,000 Kurdish males aged 13 and upwards.

The Shia community, who make up 60% of Iraq's population, is Iraq's biggest religious group. Saddam has ensured that none of the Shia religious or tribal leaders is able to threaten his position. He kills any that become too prominent.

During the 1990's, Saddam pursued a policy of draining the marsh area of southern Iraq, so forcing the population to relocate to urban areas where it was less able to offer assistance to anti-regime elements and could be controlled more effectively by the regime's security forces. As an U.N. Environment Programme report put it -- 'The collapse of Marsh Arab society, a distinct indigenous people that has inhabited the marshlands for millennia, adds a human dimension to this environment disaster. Around 40,000 of the estimated half-million Marsh Arabs are now living in refugee camps in Iran, while the rest are internally displaced within Iraq.

RELAX YOU ARE ALL FREE NOW!!!!!
 

Hmph. Christian Soldier thinks spouting half baked poetry will convince Iraqis that their dead relatives were all worth it. Laughable, if it weren't tragic.

BTW:

Here is an excellent source of information for anybody who wants to learn more of the events in Iraq:

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6654690&postID=112412765662154172

contains posts and links by Sahir.
 

Bruno,
Thanks for your comment. Regarding the link (Raed in the Middle), I'm wondering if perhaps you meant to leave this one instead:

http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
 

Where do you Christian Warrior find all that bull shit about Saddam? For example women had no rights in Saddam’s time. Is it really so? Why then there are woman doctors and scientists? Certainly the Americans have not had time (or desire) to educate them. Much of the human rights “truth” about Iraq before the war was distributed by The Iraq Foundation address 1012 14 St. NW, Suite 1110, Washington, DC 20005. After the occupation the foundation has been completely silent about the human rights aspect in Iraq. A funny “neutral” organization isn’t it Christian Soldier?

It is rather amusing that a Christian Warrior is demanding reforms in Islam. I think it is their business to decide when and how they reform their religion. On the issue about science how about Christianity? The light of the free world Messiah G. Bush is against stem cell research but not against developing WMD’s for US Army. The Pope is against several fields of science.
 

In the throes of spiritual death: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

"America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood."
(Rev. Martin Luther King)
 

America Programmed for War: Cause and Solution: “What one generation perceives as repression, the next accepts as a necessary part of a complex daily life.”

"What is our plan as the people? We will find inspiration from our revolutionary past. There are no laws against carrying out a change of government. Quite the contrary:

"We hold these truths to be self evident—that all are created equal, endowed with inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted deriving their powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security.

"Today there is no graver sin at work in the world than America’s military-based economy, adopted without the people’s consent. In honoring our Founding principles, we must acknowledge that to exploit fears and prejudices to maintain the flow of profits from conflict—to perpetuate a state of war in the name of peace—is treasonous to our creed."
 

Evelyn --

Oops, that was supposed to open up into a sub-section on Raed's blog, dedicated to posting links regarding Iraq, without the background noise of grunting trolls. I'll check to see if all is as it should be. Thanks.
 

Charles de Menezes' family: "Police chief should resign."
"I have always believed that those who break the law should be punished and some people have broken the law," said Mr Pereira.

"They have killed Jean and then told lies. They must face justice. We want to see all those responsible brought to justice. We want to see them prosecuted.

"My family want the truth. For the sake of my family, for the sake of the people of London, in Jean's name I say that those responsible should resign. Ian Blair should resign.

"The 25-year-old, his voice cracking with emotion, said Mr de Menezes had come to London 'full of dream and hopes' and was just like millions of other Londoners.

"He said that on the morning of his death he had intended to travel to work on the Tube as usual 'except that on July 22 as he went to work he was murdered.'"

Leaked documents obtained by ITV News said CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts showed [Charles de Menezes] was not wearing a padded jacket which could have concealed a bomb, and walked calmly through the station, even stopping to collect a free newspaper.
 

CS: Your objective at Free Iraq eludes me. Presumably your 'christian' part is an intentional facade; for proselytizing your approach is unsuited. Perhaps you're a visiting 'soldier'.

------------------------------
An Early End to the American Century: Failing in Iraq
"The American Century is now looking like it may be abbreviated to 10 or 15 years at the most. The New World Order, built on the rubble of Falluja and on the tortured victims of Abu Ghraib, is being progressively dismantled by the grit and resolve of the Iraqi resistance fighting to restore their nation's sovereignty and independence. It appears increasingly likely that their struggle will succeed."

(An article for reality-based site visitors)
 

"Tony Blair's "The rules have changed" speech was nothing but a public relations scam intended to announce the launching of martial law against minorities. His proclamation was no different than Bush's edicts about the "war on terror", which has led to the detention and abuse of hundreds of Muslims. Both are transparent schemes designed to eviscerate civil liberties and increase the power of the executive."
 

Menezes family rejects $m offer: They told the Daily Mail newspaper: "We will not be bought off. We will not be silenced. This is not about money, this is about justice."
"It is unbelievable that at the same time as the Met chief (Sir Ian Blair) is lying in Britain and misleading the public, he is also sending officers out to Brazil to offer money. It adds to our suspicions of a cover-up."

In an interview to be broadcast today, Sir Ian also said the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation into the killing had not begun immediately because of the "unique situation".