Free Iraq

""The Iraqi security officials on Monday variously accused two Britons they detained of shooting at Iraqi forces or TRYING TO PLANT EXPLOSIVES." Washington Post, Ellen Knickmeyer, 9-20-05; "British Smash into Jail to Free Two Detained Soldiers"

In more than two years since the United States initiated hostilities against Iraq, there has never been a positive identification of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Never.
That doesn't mean that he doesn't exist; it simply suggests that prudent people will challenge the official version until his whereabouts and significance in the conflict can be verified.

At present, much of the rationale for maintaining the occupation depends on this elusive and, perhaps, illusory figure. It's odd how Al-Zarqawi appears at the precise coordinates of America's bombing-raids, and then, miraculously vanishes unscathed from the scene of the wreckage. This would be a remarkable feat for anyone, but especially for someone who only has one leg.

Al-Zarqawi may simply be a fantasy dreamed up by Pentagon planners to put a threatening face on the Iraqi resistance. The Defense Dept has been aggressive in its effort to shape information in a way that serves the overall objectives of the occupation. The primary aim of the Pentagon's "Strategic Information" program is to distort the truth in a way that controls the storyline created by the media. Al-Zarqawi fits perfectly within this paradigm of intentional deception."
Who's Blowing Up Iraq? New evidence that bombs are being planted by British
 

"The Herald notes the following: “Sources say the "British soldiers, possibly members of the new Special Reconnaissance Regiment formed earlier this month to provide intelligence for SAS operations, were looking at infiltration of the city’s police by the followers of the outspoken Shi’ite cleric, Moqtada al Sadr,” thus admitting the soldiers worked undercover..."
British “Pseudo-Gang” Terrorists Exposed in Basra
 

Wouldn't be surprised at all if these two British undercover soldiers turned out to be Israelis. English, as well as Americans are borrowing lavishly the arab-speaking Israeli military personnel for Iraq operations.

This perhaps explains the violence they applied to liberate these two, when they could have done it by negotiation.

Being so heavily armed they were prepairing some terrorist act against the Shias, for which the Sunys would have been blamed, which is also the best way to provoke a civil war ( our great free news media have been conditioning us for just that, for some time now).

Don't you think it strange that Brits didn't mind jeopardizing their PR with the population over an incident that could have been routinely resolved? (Just read how stupid and contradictory their official explanations are - now they even blame Iran).
 

(MadAsHell: Your 2nd link doesn't work!)
-----------------------------------

Kurt Nimmo, British "Pseudo-Gang" Terrorists Exposed in Basra (last 4 paras): Even though the Washington Post mentions two Brits were detained, apparently caught red-handed shooting Iraqi police and planting explosives, it does not bother to mention the SAS or its long and sordid history of engaging in covert pseudo-gang behavior and conclude the obvious: Britain, and the United States—the latter having admitted formulating the Proactive Preemptive Operations Group (P2OG) in 2002, a brain child of neocons staffing the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board, designed to “stimulate reactions” on the part of “terrorists” (in Iraq, that would be the resistance)—are intimately involved in sowing chaos and spreading violence in Iraq and more than likely soon enough in Iran and Syria.

Of course, this unfortunate and embarrassing incident in Basra will fall off the front page of corporate newspapers and websites soon enough, replaced with more appropriate, if fantastical, propaganda implicating the Iraqi resistance and intel ops such as al-Zarqawi for the violence, obviously engineered to create a civil war in Iraq and thus divide the country and accomplish the neocon-Likudite plan to destroy Islamic culture and society.

Addendum

It is not surprising the corporate media in the United States and Britain would omit crucial details on this story. In order to get the whole story, we have to go elsewhere—for instance, China’s Xinhuanet news agency. “Two persons wearing Arab uniforms [see the M.O. cited above] opened fire at a police station in Basra. A police patrol followed the attackers and captured them to discover they were two British soldiers,” an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua. “The two soldiers were using a civilian car packed with explosives, the source said.”

So, the next time you read or hear about crazed “al-Qaeda in Iraq” terrorists blowing up children or desperate job applicants, keep in mind, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, the perpetrators.
 

Does anybody have footage of the Brits smashing into the jailhouse with their armor? Now THAT would be a propaganda bonanza. You'd think with all the portable video cameras around, someone would have caught it.

This whole thing is beginning to sound like one of those B Grade action adventure movies, with stupid characters, an unbelievable plot and bad production values. I wonder what the Brits were thinking? Hey old chaps, who needs diplomacy, we've got a bloody tank! Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The really sad part about this is that it feeds those who live on conspiracy theories. Why were the Brits in such a hurry to get their men out? Hmmmmmmm... Maybe they were planting explosives! That's right, they're doing it to turn Iraqis against one another and justify the occupation! That's because George Bush is in contact with aliens who want to use Iraq as I landing site and ...

Folks ... sometimes a stupid act is just that and nothing more. Mix together an out of touch political leadership, disgusted Iraqis, scared ground troops, macho generals ... shake well ... and you get ... stupid acts like this one.
 

toobad4us: The photo at the top of this article admittedly is not the video you're looking for. But I must say, it looks rather convincing.
 

British prison break and blown covert operation, exposes "war on terrorism" lie
 

Why Basra is in revolt against occupation: "Basra, Iraq’s southern oil city, had been held up as a model of successful occupation by British authorities.

"But many of the promises made in the wake of the 2003 invasion never materialised.

"Discontent has also been building over a policy that favours some tribes above others.

"The largely Shia city feared it would be a target of a bombing ahead of an important religious festival. The explosive find sparked rumours that British troops were about to commit an atrocity.

“'What our police found in their car was very disturbing — weapons, explosives and a remote control detonator,' Sheikh Hassan said. 'These are the weapons of terrorists. We believe these soldiers were planning an attack on a market or other civilian targets, and thanks be to god they were stopped and countless lives were saved.'”
 

To say we must stay in Iraq to save it from chaos is a lie: "The British government - and opposition - is in total denial. Ministerial boasts can't conceal the gloom of private briefings. Blair has done what no prime minister should do. He has put his soldiers at a foreign power's mercy. First that power was America. Now, according to the defence secretary, John Reid, it is a band of brave but desperate Iraqis entombed in Baghdad's Green Zone. He says he will stay until they request him to go, when local troops are trained and loyal and infrastructure is restored. That means doomsday. Everyone knows it.

"Iraqis of my acquaintance are numb at the violence unleashed by the west's failure to impose order on their country. They are baffled at the ineptitude, the counter-productive cruelty of the arrests, bombings and suppressions. They are past caring whether it was better or worse under Saddam. They know only that more people a month are being killed than at any time since the massacres of the early 1990s. If death and destruction are any guide, Britain's pre-invasion policy of containment was far more successful than occupation.

"Infrastructure is not being restored. Baghdad's water, electricity and sewers are in worse shape than a decade ago. Huge sums - such as the alleged $1bn for military supplies - are being stolen and stashed in Jordanian banks. The new constitution is a dead letter except the clauses that are blatantly sharia. These are already being enforced de facto in Shia areas."
 

A DOUBLE HAT-TRICK: "Ahmed Chalabi may be the biggest crook of all time. . .

"However, in one quick swoop, someone has emerged who puts Chalabi to shame: former Iraqi defense minister Hazim Shaalan, who served in the short-lived but very damaging Allawi regime. Iraqi stooge authorities are preparing an arrest warrant for him alleging that he stole more than $1 billion from the ministry budget. Some estimates of his fraudulent actions put the figure as high as $2.3 billion."
 

Benjamin Netanyahu on Iraqi oil
 

Blood for No Oil: "The strangest aspect of media coverage of our invasion and occupation of Iraq involved that country's oil. Everyone, including the Bush administration, was well aware that Iraq sat on a sea of it. It was obvious that Middle Eastern oil was a global lifeline and an ever more valuable commodity; and yet, unless you were a faithful reader of the business pages, for days, weeks, even months on end, it was impossible to find serious discussion of Iraqi oil in the mainstream media. Forget the fact that a number of the major players in the Bush administration came out of the energy business; that Condoleezza Rice, the national security advisor, had had an oil tanker named after her (when she was still on Chevron's board of directors); that the neocons and their supporters evinced a special interest in the oil heartlands of our planet (a.k.a. 'the arc of instability'); or that the Pentagon was staking those heartlands out, base by base.

"Energy is a strange thing to control militarily. As Iraq showed and Katrina reminded us recently, its flow is remarkably vulnerable, whether to insurgents, terrorists, or hurricanes. It's next to impossible to guard hundreds, not to say thousands, of miles of oil or natural gas pipelines. It's all very well to occupy a country, set up your 'enduring camps,' and imagine yourself controlling the key energy spigots of the globe, but doing so is another matter. (As the saying went in a previous military age, you can't mine coal with bayonets.) In the case of Iraq, one could simply say that the military conquest and occupation of the country essentially drove Iraq's oil deeper underground and beyond anyone's grasp. Hence, the signs should indeed say: 'BLOOD FOR NO OIL.' It's the perfect sorry slogan for a sad, brainless war; and even the Pentagon's resource-war planners might consider it a lesson worthy of further study as they think about our energy future."
 

The Struggle Over The Future Of New Orleans: "There has been a kind of policy of triage, where you tear down two of the largest public housing projects in the city--the famous Desire project and St. Thomas in the Warehouse District--to make room for a Wal-Mart and gentrification. You re-house only a portion of the population--a minority--and the other residents are basically thrown out onto the streets, with the expectation that they would leave the city.

"The city’s working-class Black population--the people who are the very soul of the city, and who created its culture and made it famous--is now largely seen as the major obstacle to the city’s economic recovery.

"A portion of them is necessary to be service workers in casinos and hotels. But the bigger idea has been to shrink the Black population and push the poor out of the city.

"This is seen is the absolute condition, not just for gentrification, but for the ideal that the Black political elite and the white business class in Audubon Park are agreed on--literally turning New Orleans into a theme park of its history, but without the people who actually created that history and culture.

"It’s hard not to believe that such a ruthless attitude toward the poor didn’t also inform some of the planning for a disaster in New Orleans. Of course, this opens the way to the statement by a Republican congressman from Baton Rouge that the housing projects were finally cleaned up--we couldn’t do it, but God did.

"All kinds of extravagant claims have been reported about how the city can use this to its advantage--about how New Orleans might even become a Republican city as the result of the silver lining that the French Quarter, the Convention Center, the Garden District and Audubon Park are all high and dry, and therefore safe.

"So the flood becomes part of an ethnic cleansing, basically. City politics has been aiming at that for the last 20 or 25 years.

"The elites are talking now about abandoning whole parts of the city--and that will probably be given an ecological gloss."
 

Iraqi police protest British raid

Iraqis Rally to Denounce British Rescue

Saddam's Lawyers: Trial Date Too Soon

Two Iraqi journalists killed in Mosul
 

It is a Racist, Religionist world
 

Double Standards in Iraq; British Agents in Local Drag Saved by Cavalry: "Put simply, the double standards we impose are nauseating. What if Iraqis had stormed Abu Ghraib to free the prisoners there from sexual abuse, torture, beatings and assaults on their religious beliefs? If they had succeeded bashing down the wall of that jail and plucking their friends from their cells, would that cavalry have been termed 'rescuers' or 'terrorists'? We already know the answer to that one don't we?

"Get with the rule: The allies are honor-soaked heroes when they drop bombs, fire depleted uranium tank shells, send missiles into heavily-populated areas, use cluster-bombs or napalm and force people into rivers when they cannot swim. But any Iraqi who would dare retaliate is 'a terrorist' even if that Iraqi happens to be a policeman at a checkpoint guilty of arresting two trigger-happy drag artist foreign spooks."
 

Fake Terrorism Is a Coalition's Best Friend: "Make no mistake – any and all violence to erupt from Basra over this incident lands squarely on the shoulders of the British army and its special forces. Instead of stoking the flames of propaganda against a nation it has no hope of ever conquering, maybe Britain should quit trying to intimidate the Iraqis with fear and torture and start focusing on fixing its mistakes and getting out of the Middle East.

"These actions are inexcusable and embarrassing; however, they should make you think. If a country like the United Kingdom is willing to commit acts of terror, what kind of false-flag operations do you think the United States is capable of?

"If you thought the U.S. wouldn't blow up people it claims to support in the hopes of advancing its agenda, think again. Use this incident as your first reference point."
 

Wayne Madsen Report, September 21, 2005 --Chilean mercenaries tied to Blackwater USA: "As a follow-up to yesterday's article about Chilean mercenaries discovered to be training in Honduras prior to being shipped out to Iraq, it has been revealed that North Carolina-based Blackwater USA was the first to send Chilean mercenaries to Iraq. Moreover, the Chileans were trained at Blackwater's North Carolina headquarters facility.

"Blackwater's program to recruit Chilean ex-military and security personnel began in October 2004. The other unnamed company mentioned in recent Chilean press reports as a partner for Your Solutions, Inc. (which is headquartered in Chicago with a subsidiary in Honduras) is Blackwater USA. Blackwater security agents were recently dispatched to New Orleans along with other private security personnel from the Steele Foundation, Wackenhut, and Israeli contractors."
 

"There's nothing more pathetic than watching someone who's out of touch feign being in touch. On his fifth sodden pilgrimage of penitence to the devastation he took so long to comprehend, W. desperately tried to show concern. He said he had spent some 'quality time' at a Chevron plant in Pascagoula and nattered about trash removal, infrastructure assessment teams and the 'can-do spirit.'"
 

Al-Arabiya TV demands US army release its journalist in Iraq
(Surely Al-Aarabiya TV might take a page from the British military's new How-to-Release-Prisoners-Training-Manual.)
 

Imad:

Per your above posting:

... this (seeking "charitable" donations for U.S. foreign policy projects, the details of which, of course, must remain secret) is an old Agency trick.

It was used by the CIA to support covert operations against Castro and the Sandinista government in Nicaragua as well as to finance "dirty tricks" campaigns against Nicaragua, Salvador Allende
in Chile and against various Soviet-bloc governments in Eastern Europe, particularly in the Baltic states.

The purpose is, by doing this (remember Ollie North and the Contras?), the CIA is able to launder money so that its origin (e.g. the U.S. taxpayer) is
obscured, thereby evading Congressional laws (such as "we don't pay for murder") regulating what U.S. tax money can be used for.

And as for USAID, this is a long-standing, well-known front organization for the CIA, which regularly gives its operatives fake USAID identities and
"employment" so they stay under cover.

The only people who aren't aware of these facts are the dumb, patriotic average Americans who think that it's really a charity.

Not that they'd care, of course, if they knew that their dollars are going to murder, torture, rape and kill, because that's what their tax money has been supporting for generations, with their full support.
 

No Exit; Descending Into Hell with George Bush: "The bodies of the mangled and bloated corpses are no where to be found on America's news programs. Like the countless dead in Iraq they're purged from the coverage and stripped from the public record. They've been replaced by the well-scrubbed visage of the Potemkin-president issuing his comforting words for his people.

"'New Orleans will rise again,' Bush crowed, invoking the worn phraseology of the slave era.

"For a White House that prides itself on appearances and spends over $62 million per year on public relations firms; the Bush monologue on national TV was a dismal performance. His limp promises of restoration, all ringing with the same free-market timbre that has left Kabul and Baghdad in a shambles, fell well short of the mark. The ruinous affects of his tenure are now everywhere to be seen and even the media's impenetrable smokescreen seems to be lifting.

"Disaster follows Bush like a shadow. It is the one inescapable fact that haunts his 58 years, and it should provide some meager relief for those who believe that he and his vile regime cannot be brought down.

"In Iraq the effects of Hurricane George can be seen throughout the Sunni heartland. Rumsfeld continues to storm through Iraq's underbelly like Tecumseh Sherman on his march to the sea leaving only tent cities and desolation behind. The relief agencies are simply overwhelmed by immensity of the human catastrophe. There's no way they'll be able to meet the people's needs.

"Bush, of course, just shrugs off such sentimentality. What possible difference could their suffering make? Besides, there's no longer even a trace of a plan for Iraq, just the fiendish abuse of force and the drunken-elation in slaughter.

"None of it makes sense, nor should it. The nation is sinking in an ocean of hubris and delusion. Reason and decency have vanished into the desert sirocco; only the rapture of utter destruction persists."
 

'People here see the Iraq government has no authority': "It was not a good day for the Iraqi government. It wanted to publicise the capture of the northern city of Tal Afar by the Iraqi army backed by US forces at the weekend. Instead it had to answer question after question about why Iraqi sovereignty had been treated with such contempt at the other end of the country."
 

Face it. It’s time we got our army out of Blair’s Vietnam
 

Iraq War, Downgraded to a Box Score, is Lost
 

Uri Avnery, "TRUTH against TRUTH; A Completely Different Look at the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"
(An excellent 32-page .pdf file)
 

Photos from Iraq, 21 September 2005
 

Wayne Madsen Report (Exclusive), Mohammed Atta and Prince Nayif: the Saudi drugs dealers who helped finance the 911 attack (Released confidential documents point to financing of 911 attacks tied to Bush family drug network)
 

What is Covert Action?

The main thing about Covert Action is that it must be deniable. There is a term called “plausible deniability”. When a government authorizes a covert action operation, the operation must be done in such a way that the government can claim that it knows nothing about it; in other words, the operation must not be attributable to the government that authorized it.

Covert Action operations are often Disinformation Operations, which are conducted in such a way as to discredit the opposition or the enemy. This is done, for example, by doing a violent action, such as a bombing, but making it look like the forces of another country or group did it. Such operations are sometimes called False-Flag Operations, meaning that the operation is conducted to make it look like it was done by people serving under another flag, preferably the enemy’s flag. If the operation succeeds as designed, people will blame the action on the wrong party (the enemy). Thus, public opinion will be won over to the side that actually did the killing. Such false-flag, covert action operations are often referred to as Dirty Tricks.

The British regularly employed Covert Action operations in Ireland, with the result that it is likely that the IRA often took the blame for violent actions with which they had no involvement, although they were hardly innocent players in the general mayhem. Many people suspect that the Northern Irish bank robbery that occurred some time back was actually a British Covert Action operation designed to make the IRA take the blame, so that people would believe that the IRA was not honouring the Good Friday Agreement. Incidentally, most of the British Northern Irish bank notes taken were worthless old notes, so they were no skin off anyone’s teeth.

The policy in Iraq is to keep the country destabilized and on the verge of civil war to show that it cannot govern itself and that it therefore requires the continued presence of American and British forces. The man accused of being behind much of the bombing going on there is Al-Zarqawi, a man known to be dead for some time now. Also, because he is (or, rather, was) a Sunni, bombings against the Shi’ia population, if blamed on him and the Sunni insurgents, can keep the pot of civil war simmering, thus giving further justification to keeping American and British forces there.

Most recently, two British Covert Operations specialists were captured in Basra, in Southern Iraq. They were disguised as Arabs and were carrying bomb-making materials. When Iraqi police tried to apprehend them, the two covert action operatives resisted arrest and killed two policemen. They were eventually caught and held in jail. After the British military learned that they had been captured, it sent tanks into Basra to forcibly free the two men. An enraged mob attacked the tanks with petrol bombs, and people around the world saw British soldiers jumping out of a flaming tank and being stoned. The reaction was one of sympathy for the British soldiers. Few stopped to wonder what was behind the anger and the assault. Most were sympathetic towards the “poor” British soldiers, who were perceived as being unjustly victimized.

So, who is behind many of the bombings against the Shi’ia and Sunni populations? It is quite possible, even probable, that many of them are being carried out by American, British, and even Israeli Covert Action operatives.

So, when you watch the news, think more deeply about what you’re seeing; and when you read your newspapers, try reading between the lines or wonder about the source or the writer behind the article. Has the article been planted? Is the writer in the pay of an intelligence service?

J.V. Grady is a former member of US Military Intelligence.
 

Jude's Final Thoughts on Iraq: ". . . NO mass graves have ever been found except few very small ones here and there, and those discovered in southern Iraq were graves of Iraqi soldiers who were either killed by the American army during the withdrawal of the Iraqi army from Kuwait or killed by the mob in what is called the 'uprising' after the Iraqi army withdrew from Kuwait. So far, he said, no other graves for Kurds or Shiites have been found at all. In fact, he said, that the occupation armies, and particularly the US army has committed more genocide than what is alleged that Saddam did.

"After I received your last message a short while ago, I picked up the phone and talked to my brother. I asked him if he could recall the use of aircrafts by the Iraqi army to drop CW on the Kurds in Halabja, he immediately replied, and without hesitation, that no aircraft has ever been used. In fact, he said, 'how precisely could an aircraft drop CW on very small area to get the effect of using such a weapon? It is very hard to drop a chemical bomb on small area in order to get the effect you want'. Besides, he was absolutely sure that it was the Iranian and not Iraqis who committed the crime in Halabja.

"I talked with him about the allegations made by Joost regarding the mass graves, and the number cited by HRW, he laughed and said: I could only imagine that this US propaganda is still running behind the scene, and confirmed that to the best of his knowledge while his unit was all the time in northern Iraq, no such crime has ever been committed against the Kurds. He even said: I bet Joost for a million US$, if they can find such graves in the whole country. He also said: after two and a half years of occupation, the country is filled with American of all kinds, and they never had the chance to find any mass graves yet. Do they need two and a half years more to find them, he added."
 

Baghdad Dweller, Back to 007 Mission: "What will happen if two Iraqis walking the streets of London or New York with the same gadgets (in the UK is shoot to dead policy)."
 

Iraqis in Basra Slam 'British Aggression'
 

Kurt Nimmo, Media Shifts Attention from SAS Screw Up to Iran: "Leave it up to the Moonie-owned United Press International to attempt a none-too delicate effort to steer attention away from the fact British covert intel goons killed a cop and bystander and were caught red-handed cruising around Basra in car loaded with explosives and detonators. “Attacks on British forces in southern Iraq may be directed from Iran,” reports the UPI.

As should be obvious, the Iraqi resistance has almost completely stalled the Anglo-American effort to pacify the country and reconstruct (or rather deconstruct) it into an acceptable model for the neocons and their carpet-bagging neolib co-conspirators who entertained high hopes to 'structurally adjust' the Iraqi economy and steal its natural resources—not simply oil but also its minerals, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur, hydropower, and other resources of commercially exploitable importance, including cheap human labor. In lieu of the neocon promise that Iraqis would welcome this thievery with open arms, the Bushites and their British collaborators are working to split the country into three distinct pieces along religious and ethnic lines through civil war—and thus SAS goons (and their counterparts in the Pentagon who have yet to stupidly blow their cover) are running around with explosives and detonators, pretending to be al-Zarqawi Arabs engaged in a mindless jihad. Of course, it will not work and the Iraqis will eventually be victorious.

[ . . .]

"Unfortunately, here in America, we have an installed president—not the guy from the fake cowboy ranch in Texas, but the other guy, the chicken hawk from Wyoming—who talks about lobbing around nukes if millions of people (mostly Arabs and Muslims) don’t assume the position. If indeed the Iraqis (and the Iranians) eventually eject the U.S. military from the Middle East (as Hezbollah did in Beirut on October 23, 1983), irradiating the entire region or at least significant portions will become a distinct possibility with the current crew in control of the levers of mass murder. Of course, this would only be an increase in magnitude, since the U.S. has already nuked and poisoned Iraq (and Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia) with depleted uranium (half-life of 4.5 billion years), a crime that rivals anything the Nazis have done in terms of outright viciousness since Iraqis will be getting sick and dying from various cancers for a very long time to come."
 

New Orleans - House of the Rising Sun

A Power Point presentation, with song of title above, 3.5 MB)
 

British Troops Reduce Presence in Basra: "British troops in the tense southern city of Basra greatly reduced their presence in the streets Thursday, apparently responding to a provincial governor's call to sever cooperation until London apologized for storming a police station to free two of its soldiers.

"Basra Gov. Mohammed al-Waili called the attack 'barbaric' and a product of imperial arrogance."

Public pressure mounts for Bush to curtail Iraq war after Katrina disaster
(How about "curtailing" Iraq war after IRAQ disaster?)

Shiites fleeing Sunni dominated neighborhoods of Baghdad: "The ethnic cleansing of Baghdad neighborhoods is proceeding at an alarming and potentially destabilizing pace."
 

Cindy Sheehan Caravan Stopped by Capitol Police: "Officers told the peace activists they couldn’t park at the Capitol because they don’t have the proper permits. Sheehan and company then began preparing to make the rest of the trek on foot."
 

(EXCERPT)
Faiza, "A Family in Baghdad", September 21, 2005: "Good morning…

Yesterday was the day of hell in Baghdad…
11 trapped cars exploded in many areas of Baghdad, within minutes of each other…
There were hundreds of deaths and wounded among civilians…and we don't know how many among the Iraqi police, or the occupation forces…

A lot of the Iraqis, and some of the clergies, Sunnies or Shia'ats, doubt the existence of Al-Zarqawi, and say his family held a funeral for him along time ago, and they deny his being alive, that these explosions are for the benefit of no one but the occupation forces, as the only losers in them are the Iraqi people.

As for the miserable democracy model they want to apply in Iraq, it is a catastrophe of a special type…
There are some sectarian and ethnic leaders, narrow-horizoned, and biased, and they were brought and put on the ruling seats somehow, marketing their biased, racial ideals to the poor Iraqi people, trying to force everybody to believe their delusions, and lies….

Does democracy mean disintegrating homelands, kindling turmoil and hatreds under the pretext: the right of self determination and separation? Aren't all the countries of the world a mixture of various religions and ethnics?
Isn't America itself a mixture of all that?
Why wouldn't they give the blacks, for instance, a self-rule?
Or the Catholics? Or the Protestants?
Or those with European or Asian origins?

And what is that dream?
New markets for the capitalist goods, investments for their companies which are about to be bankrupt, so they would be revived back to life, people tamed to become like sheep, presenting cheap labor, and safe counties for western tourists, to enjoy the magic of the east, and its beauty…
The capital is a coward, as they say, and wouldn't come to places with tension, and worries… so, programming the region and rearranging it, is the No. 1 step, even if it takes many years, and many causalities, but it is worth all that patience…..
And we see with our own eyes, on the ground of reality, the steps of this slow, and continuous programming…
Whoever lives here, understands things not like those who live in Europe and America, as those would think that their governments are just, noble, and humane, thinking that we reject their interferences because we are barbarians, terrorists, ungrateful, and rejecters of the ideas of progress….

Yesterday evening, I went out with my family to participate in a candle demonstration with a lot of people, mostly from Palestine, to stand in front of the UN building in Amman, and give an outcry against the existence of the Separating Wall in Palestine, for which an International Justice Court's verdict was issued, to be demolished, but Israel refuses to fulfill the verdict, and the Security Council is drowning in stories of administerial and financial corruption…
And the whole world seems like it is in a deep sleep……

These days, I am reading a book about the personal diaries of Miss Gertrude Bell, 1914-1926. She lived in Iraq, working as a secretary of the Military Commander or such, during the British occupation of Iraq…
I wish all the Arabs and their children would read that book, so they could understand the occupier's mentality, and the way they look at our people; the superior look, full of contempt…..
Isn't that look the same today?

General Maude entered Baghdad in 1917, and made his famous speech: We came here as liberators, not conquerors…
Meaning; friends, not occupiers… (Doesn't this seem like a repeated story today?).
And at one party in his honor, he drank unboiled milk, became ill with cholera, died, and was buried in Baghdad. Then, they started a donations box, and made a statue for him in the middle of Baghdad, that remained there till the angry people brought it down, in the 1958 revolution. So the book says….
Imagine if they should say now that Bremer died, and the Iraqis have to pay donations to build a statue for him in the middle of Baghdad, considering that he brought freedom and democracy to the Iraqis.
I can imagine now the misery in which my Iraqi ancestors lived through then…
 

(SimoHurtta, this is for you!)
If it's freedom and success 'they' hate, why aren't 'they' attacking Norway?: "Most Americans like to believe they live in the best country in the world. They don't. According to the United Nations Human Development Report for 2005, Norway is number one. Why? It's a welfare state.

"There is a pleasant economic equality enjoyed by the Norwegian polity. No one is too poor; no one is too rich. In fact, great wealth is regarded as some sort of social disease.

"Americans like to think that terrorists attack them because they are rich, free, and number one. Not true. They don't attack Norway—another benefit for keeping to your neck out of the woods, minding your own business, taking care of your own people, and planning for tomorrow—not to mention preventing your government from being drowned in the bathtub by snake-oil salesmen posing as public servants, so it can't help when an iceberg hits a fjord, or equivalent natural disaster. Norwegians seem proud of having government on their backs! Not too heavy when they can request and obtain any government record they please for their review! They are also disgustingly healthy. Must be the lack of stress. Thirty million Americans are on anti-depressants. You wonder why.

"Lots of Americans like to think they have the most generous government in the world. Again, not true. The US is the stingiest donor of foreign aid among rich nations. . . ."
 

Bush administration's perfect post-Katrina storm gaining strength: "According to the official version, the "incompetent" Bush administration bungled the Katrina relief effort. Wrong. This administration has gone about its business like the world-class gangsters that they are. They have, willfully and quite "competently," done all the things that really matter to them, and disregarded what does not."
 

Ghali Hassan, 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 and the timing an important part of the US imperial agenda.

"The Bush administration needs this propaganda campaign to show the world that its policy remains on course—something positive out of Iraq—and that 'democracy' is 'spreading.' . . .

"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 Washington Post reported that Khalilzad attempted to break the deadlock by presenting a US-crafted draft of the Iraqi constitution. '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. There is no need to rewrite Iraq's Constitution. It was one of the most secular and progressive constitutions in the Muslim World, but it just doesn't serve US interests.

"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 unopened. The US is doing everything to show it is 'winning' the propaganda war. Ordinary Iraqis 'ask you about security, about electricity, about water, about when the occupation will end, when the murders will end, when the rapes will end,' reported Robert Fisk of The Independent from Baghdad.

"The current 'government'—the Kurds and the SCIRI-Da'awa parties—has no credibility among the majority of the Iraqi people. It was appointed by the US occupation and has since betrayed the Iraqi people by failing to keep its pre-elections rhetoric and demand the full withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq. This 'government' has also failed to provide the minimal security and most basic living conditions demanded by the Iraqi people. Its survival very much depends on the presence of the occupying forces.

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

Extended tours of some US military units eyed in Iraq: Pentagon: "US military planners are considering extended tours of duty for some units in Iraq if more US troops are needed for the upcoming elections there, a Pentagon spokesman said.

"Lawrence DiRita, the defense department's chief spokesman, said it was 'entirely possible' commanders would want to boost the force in Iraq beyond its current level of 140,000."

(Has anyone noticed the amount of military might required to enable democracy?)
 

Latif,
You say,"You had obviously never seen the filthy tired street children, mothers hanging onto dirty hungry babies and destitute widows. Had you been to the Baghdad markets you would see infants rummaging through rubbish looking for scraps of food."

Perhaps there is a universality about poverty. What you write about sounds much like large sections of the United States or many other countries that I might name.

Considering your real issues (whatever they may be) would be easier if you confined yourself more to information and less to invective. But I suspect your specialty is the latter.
 

Powerful Blast Shakes US Military Base in Kirkuk

The Iraqi Army announced on Thursday conclusion of a wide-scale mop-up operation in the town of Tal-Afar: "In the southern city of Basra, three mortars crashed harmlessly into the air facility of the city, a source at the airpot told the KUNA correspondent."

Prince Saud Al-Faisal Claims USA Aggravates Ethnic Tension in Iraq
 

Saddam's Revenge: "The secret history of U.S. mistakes, misjudgments and intelligence failures that let the Iraqi dictator and his allies launch an insurgency now ripping Iraq apart."

(I've had deep reservations about posting this article. But, what the heck, we're all adults. Make your own decision!)
 

On the subject of "Liars":

A word used infrequently by myself. But, if not previously, then let me say here today:
- George Bush is a LIAR.
- Tony Blair is a LIAR.
- Donald Rumsfeld is a LIAR.

There, now that is out of the way!

Heidi, you may be confused about the difference between citing articles offering perspectives differing from officially sanctioned dogma vs. accusing someone of intentional falsity. You are invited, at your leisure (no time constraints whatsoever), to point out any posting wherein I have called "victims liars". I promise an immediate retraction. To call a victim a liar would be totally unseemly and unjustified. In advance, I offer my apologies.
 

(There are some things Kurt Nimmo does better than anyone else.)
British "Pond Life" Intel Ops Unmentioned in the Corporate Media:
Jarlath Kearney writing for the Daily Ireland, draws a crucial comparison that will of course be completely ignored by the larger corporate media. The incident in Basra, where two SAS undercover operatives were captured, dressed as Arabs and driving a car loaded with weapons and explosives, is similar to an earlier incident in Northern Ireland, where the SAS operated for years. “The incident drew parallels with the March 1988 attack on the funeral of IRA volunteer Caoimhghin Mac Bradaigh,” writes Kearney. “During that incident, two armed and undercover army intelligence operatives drove directly at the cortege in west Belfast. After firing a shot, both soldiers were subsequently captured, beaten and shot dead by the IRA.” Lucky for the British intelligence operatives in Basra, they were not murdered, although apparently beaten.

Kearney also mentions that Brigadier (in the Intelligence Corps) Gordon Kerr, who “played a key role in the activities of covert British activities in the North [of Ireland],” is “now stationed with British forces in Iraq.” Neil Mackay, Home Affairs Editor of the Sunday Herald, characterizes Kerr as “the archetypal spy; a spook’s spook and a master of dirty tricks and dirty wars,” on the same level “as pond life” (according to “regular squaddies and military brass”), “[h]ighly effective, immensely powerful and very dangerous pond life, but pond life nevertheless.” Kerr and his Force Research Unit (FRU) not only “handed packages of photographs and military reports detailing the movements and addresses of potential targets, which in turn were passed to loyalist murder gangs” in Northern Ireland (essentially organizing targeted assassinations), but also “carried out more ‘flag tours’—secret intelligence missions [in Berlin, circa 1983-85]—than the French and US military intelligence put together” and were thus described by an “officer who served with Kerr in Berlin” as “pointlessly aggressive and confrontational.” An intelligence officer who knew Kerr portrayed him as “the perfect advocate of the ends justifying the means.”

In Britain, as in America, criminals and terrorists are rewarded for their murderous behavior. In February, 2003, Kerr was “sent to the Gulf to head up British spying activities in the Middle East as part of preparations for action in Iraq,” Mackay reported for the Sunday Herald. “The move has been described as a ‘get out of jail free card’ for Kerr.” Prior to this assignment, Kerr was rewarded with a military attache position in Beijing. “The fact that Kerr seems to be playing a key role in the coming war suggests that all the activities that he was involved in were sanctioned at the highest level,” remarked Jane Winter, the director of British Irish Rights Watch.
(final 2 paras omitted)
 

President George W. Bush's plan to reconstruct the Gulf Coast is the biggest crony cash-cow in U.S. history (aside from the pork-orgy he's throwing for his pals in Iraq): "Bush is using his emergency powers to strip American citizens of their legal protections against exploitation, handing out no-bid contracts to his pals and paymasters and allowing them to pay coolie wages to build their new commercial empires on the bones and blood of the hurricane's victims."
 

Bush Hits the Bottle: First Lady yells, "Stop, George."
(Now there's a slogan I can identify with!)
 

Wayne Madsen Report, September 22, 2005: -- Neil Bush meets Russian-Israeli oligarch in Latvia. There is an interesting postscript to WMR's Sept. 19 report on the selling out of America's communications security and intelligence infrastructure to neo-cons linked to international American fugitive Marc Rich. According to RIA-Novosti, Neil Bush, the brother of George W. Bush -- infamous from the Silverado Savings & Loan scandal and a sordid divorce trial from his ex-wife Sharon -- met on the evening of Sept. 21 in Riga, Latvia with Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who is wanted by the Russian government for a host of criminal activities, including embezzlement. Berezovsky, who also has Israeli citizenship and has been traveling between Israel, Britain (where he has political asylum), and Ukraine in an attempt to undermine Russian President Vladimir Putin's government, has been linked by international law enforcement agencies to Rich's global network. The Bush-Berezovsky meeting was apparently facilitated by Belokon Holding, a large Latvian investment firm headed by Valeri Belokon.

Belokon is reported to be involved with Berezovsky in supporting the right-wing and anti-Russian Latvian political party, New Era ("Jaunais Laiks"). The party was founded by wealthy Latvian financier Repshe Einars, a former Prime Minister and Defense Minister who has allegedly received financial support from Berezovsky, Belokon, and Grigori Krupnikov, a former chairman of the Latvian Jewish community and secretary general of New Era until January of this year. It is also noteworthy that Latvia has been a major hub of weapons smuggling for the international Russian-Israeli-Ukrainian Mafia (RUIM).

Berezovsky visited Riga to meet with Bush and other shareholders of Bush's company Ignite!, a firm involved in providing education and training software in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates. and, not coincidentally, in Florida and Texas. One of Bush's chief financial supporters is Defense Minister and Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, an individual who often crossed paths with the Taliban and Al Qaeda on his frequent hunting and falconing trips to eastern Afghanistan.

One attempt by the Clinton National Security Council to attack Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan -- Operation Delenda -- was scrapped because of the close proximity of UAE hunting and falconing sheiks like Rashid bin Maktoum to the targeted locations. It is also likely that the Able Danger U.S. Special Operations/DIA surveillance of Al Qaeda during the same time detected the presence of Neil Bush's friends to the Al Qaeda training and operational areas. Able Danger was quickly shut down by the Bush administration.

From 1994 to 1999, Bush ran Interlink Management Corporation (10000 Memorial Drive, Houston) headquartered in the same building where his father George H. W. Bush also maintained an office. Interlink was involved in bio-warfare defenses against biological warfare terrorist attacks, including anthrax attacks, on people, crops, and animals. Ignite!'s advisory board includes two officers of Bessemer Trust, a firm that handles investments for George H. W. Bush. Other Ignite! advisers include former Tennessee Senator and Republican National Committee chairman Bill Brock, Houston businessman Bob Stearns, a Bush loyalist who was selected by then Gov. George W. Bush to be a member of the Texas Technology Board, and Peter Su, a former campaign adviser to George W. Bush. Ignite!'s Bush has the Chairman and CEO title at Ignite! while Ken Leonard serves as President and Chief Financial Officer. Other Ignite! investors include George H. W. and Barbara Bush, Taiwanese businessmen, and Middle East billionaires.
 

Hundreds of Iraqis refused entry into Iraq by US army decision: One of those stranded in the desert at the Syrian border for over a week is a 13-year old boy, returning from having a leg amputated. "The government in Baghdad has given no indication it plans to look into the issue."

"An Iraqi guard pulled out his gun and pointed it at Aljazeera's cameraman to show his resentment at the channel's attempt to document the drama.

"The stranded Iraqis fear their ordeal will continue for a long time and their plight will be forgotten even as the health problems of some of them worsen while others are running out of money."
 

Powerful Cleric Backs Iraq Constitution: "Two officials in the Shiite Muslim hierarchy in Najaf said Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called senior aides together and told them to promote a 'yes' vote among the faithful during the Oct. 15 national referendum on the constitution.

"Iraqi security forces in the south have largely fallen under the authority of militias — the military wings of Iraq's various Shiite factions. The Mahdi Army of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stands largely in opposition to the Badr Brigade, which owes allegiance to the biggest Shiite party, SCIRI.

"SCIRI is beholden to al-Sistani, whose decision to endorse the constitution sets up a political showdown with al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army — both vehement opponents of the charter.

"Al-Sadr was joined in his opposition Thursday by Ayatollah Mohammed al-Yaqoubi, who issued a statement from his office in Basra instructing his followers to vote against the constitution."
 

Cindy Sheehan Rips War Party in Baltimore Talk: "Freedom and democracy begin at home," Sheehan said in an obvious dig at one of Bush's ubiquitous pro-Iraqi war propaganda lines. "Sixty-two percent of the country want our troops to start coming home. That's democracy! That's majority rule! If Bush believes in democracy, then he should bring our troops home." She said, "Bush violates the Constitution every time he opens his mouth." She underscored how the new Iraqi regime is "a sham government - a puppet government," and that many of its mover and shakers "encouraged the [U.S.] invasion so that they could get rich. They are feeding off our children's flesh and blood."
 

Treasury Chief Optimistic About IMF, Iraq (I'm hoping someone "out there" might read this article and comment.)
 

Join The Marines - The Few, The Proud, The Psychotic: "I spent four years in the military as an enlisted man in the early 1960's during the buildup phase of the Vietnam War. ...

"At the time, we were engaged in a war, but I thought we were in Vietnam for all the right reasons, as did everyone else with whom I worked. ...

"I didn't know about the CIA-sponsored assassination program called Operation Phoenix or the CIA's drug running or any of the other ugly 'operations' taking place in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, or Thailand using special forces divisions of the Army, Navy, or Air Force, along with federal agents and their contractors where scores of Asian people-mostly innocent- were being slaughtered or scarred for life as a 'by-product' of these operations. Innocent civilians were no longer people, they became 'collateral damage'. The military, like the CIA, operates in complete secrecy and a strict 'need-to-know' basis.

"Today's enlisted personnel or lower level officers are no more privy to the dark side of military operations than I was.

"Today's military has grossly devolved from what it was in my day. The fascist element is far more transparent today and the amalgamation of US military personnel with 'private' security contractors, as seen in Iraq, is making it obvious to even the densest jar head that the US military is no longer in the business of 'securing the peace' or 'winning freedom' for oppressed people. Today, the US military is doing most of the oppressing against sovereign people in their own country. We are now invaders, not defenders. Of course, you are subjected to rivers of propaganda to convince you otherwise.

"There is no act of cruelty, inhumanemess, mistreatment, excessive force, torture, murder, defamation, deceit, 'false flag' sabotage, or atrocities committed against innocent civilians that is beyond the pale for today's 'Semper Fi' or 'All You Can Be' pawns in the game.

"Don't allow your children or loved ones to be hoodwinked by phony recruitment psycho-garbage. Stay out of the military at all costs."
 

The Tipping Point: Where the Neo Con-Job Unraveled: "No matter how they spin it, the red-handed nabbing of two British agents-provocateurs in Basra will lift the veil of deceit that has cloaked the otherwise unexplainable internecine attacks between Sunnis and Shi’ites. The long-held Israeli/Neocon goal has been to break up Iraq, among other Arab states, into more easily managed Bantustans. The obvious fault lines among the Sunni, Shia, and Kurd communities made Wolfowitz believe achieving the goal would be a cakewalk. It wasn’t the toppling of Saddam he was talking about, you see, and all those terrible 'mistakes' made by Proconsuls Garner and Bremmer were as carefully calculated as the rest of this bloody farce.

"What happened in Basra, from the Iraqi standpoint — which is all that matters now that the end-game approacheth — is that two Brits in robes were driving a civilian car packed with explosives. Their mission was to throw a heavy distraction at the Shia militias who were quite upset that three of their chiefs were taken captive by the Brits. They sought to blow up a huge bomb in the busy marketplace, with the obvious blame pointing to Sunnis. But, as often happens with such false flag tactics, they backfired.

[ . . . ]

"But back to Basra. The Yanks have to placate the Shia — at least enough to feel secure that they will not be overwhelmed from the rear, the only point of escape if such becomes necessary. It was the only reason elections were held in a way that would guarantee nominal Shia control of the ‘government’. But, perhaps with Iran’s nominal assistance, the Shia began to look for proof of coalition involvement in acts that really only benefit the coalition. Hence the capture of the two Brit operatives en flagrante. You can ignore comfortably British claims their disguised boys were just surveying suspected militants. If that was their true mission, why would they shoot up the Iraqi police who stopped them, and why would storming of the police station occur before negotiations could produce the soldiers’ release with far less hoopla? More crucial, why would the usually calm city of Basra erupt in such rage? Perhaps they’re feeling the twisting Yankee knife in their backs yet again."
 

This attack on free speech will fuel Muslim hostility: "Blair's campaign began right after July 7 with an astonishing attempt to silence those exploring any link between British policies in the Middle East and the growth of domestic Muslim militancy. ...The threat posed to freedom of expression aside, it is alarming that Blair seems to be focusing only on Muslim actions. ...The many western scholars and writers who incite their countries to undertake wars of aggression are not to be affected by anti-incitement legislation. Such incitement is more deadly due to the awesome destructive power of the states that are being urged, invariably, to attack a much weaker country."
 

Robert Fisk Refused Entry into U.S.
"UNBELIEVABLE" henceforth stricken from my vocabulary.
 

Ignoring the Real Obscenities: "At a time when the focus of every federal law enforcement agent is supposed to be keeping this country safe from terrorists, attorney general Alberto Gonzales is diverting time, agent and resources into a war on dirty books and movies."
 

Evelyn if Fisk had spoken out against many other governments in the world, such as the former Iraqi regime, he would have been put in a cell, tortured, starved, beaten and then eventually executed.

Fisk was denied entry to the US? oooooh! What hardship for him! The pain and inconvenience must have been indescribable I am sure!
 

Yes Seafordian USA is the greatest nation in the world. It is so tolerant. The president can tell what ever lies he wants and take his nation to an expensive war (later he naturally claims that he had bed intelligence of the WMD’s). USA is a great nation where an active alcoholic and known drug addict can rise to be a President.

What do you Seafordian think about the National Enquirer’s article today: BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS
?

Laura told to George: 'It's Jim Beam or me.

Dr. Justin Frank says: I do think that Bush is drinking again. Alcoholics who are not in any program, like the President, have a hard time when stress gets to be great.

"I think it's a concern that Bush disappears during times of stress. He spends so much time on his ranch. It's very frightening."

A Drug addict holding the Great Nuke Button (not imagined nukes, but real and functioning). Frightening indeed. When Boris Jelzin was “leaning” on the vodka bottle USA did laugh and wondered how an alcoholic can lead a great power with nukes. Well it is the world turn to laugh and wonder.


PS. I suppose Robert Fisk doesn't loose anything if he is not allowed to came to USA. USA though misses much. Well Nazi Germany had an equal policy against famous critical journalists as the modern USA.
 

You American pro-war internet warriors are amusing. The latest trend is to pick up Arabic, Japanese, Finnish or Spanish blog nick names. Like it would bring US the support it needs in its Iraq operations morality. Hilarious but on the same time sad and naïve.

Blaming me and others as saddamist or islamfasit etc is rather strange. I have several times said that I have not supported Saddam or George Bush. I know that Saddam was a relative “mild” dictator, nothing compared to the worst lunatics. USA has after WW2 installed in power corrupted lunatic dictators and military juntas like Shah of Iran, Papa Doc, Marcos, Suharto, Pinochet, Greek Junta etc. With to cost of millions lives and hundreds of millions condemned to poverty and misery. It has never been for Democracy and Liberty, not in Iraq or elsewhere. If it would be about order and democracy then USA should have started with Somalia or Congo.

The stories of how cruel Saddam was are mostly propaganda by people who in reality know about Saddam as much George Bush knew about Iraqi WMD’s. Painting a picture that Saddam was some Papa Doc, Stalin or Idi Amin power two is hilarious. Yes Saddam was a dictator but not much worse than Shah or the Saudi Kings.

You Americans of speak about Saddam’s dead. What about Vietnam? USA openly brags to have killed over two million people Vietnam. USA deliberately poisoned the jungles and rice fields of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Not to speaking about those incredible wars in Latin America. Name one single country in the world where US Army has created after WW2 a functioning democracy. If you can't do that stop that liberty, democracy, prosperity crab.

PS. Sudenmorsian (in English = the bride of a wolf --- Nazis loved to use wolf in the names of their troops an other mythology) Finland won the National Competitiveness contest second time. USA second.
 

Basra governor ends co-operation with British
 

The Inevitable War with Iran: "If Washington wants a war with Iran, there'll be a war with Iran. That's the great lesson of the Iraq war; once the decision is made, there's no turning back.

"The administration's goals in attacking Iran are simple and straightforward. They hope to control Iran's vast petroleum and natural gas reserves, disarm a regional rival to Israel, prevent Iran from opening its own market for trading oil in petro-euros, and manage the global energy market to maintain US dominance over rising powers like India and China. This can be successfully achieved by putting the regions' resources under US control.

"Whatever strategy the Pentagon has in mind, it certainly will not duplicate the disaster that persists in Iraq. Israel will probably lead the assault taking out the potential nuclear sites with the US in a mop-up role; bombing the 45 chemical, biological and conventional weapons facilities.

"It won't be pretty and the margin for error is significant.

"At the end of the day, the US will need to storm the oil-rich Ahwaz region (perhaps, 90% of Iran's oil) and create the rationale for a long-term occupation. There's no plan to subjugate the 70 million Iranians who live beyond that region, although the air-strikes will probably attempt to 'decapitate' the regime, so they may need to find new leaders. Time is Running out

"There are many signs that the US is drawing closer to a war with Iran. It's clear from numerous reports that the administration is conducting routine fly-overs of Iran, as well as providing support to the disparate terrorist organizations (MEK) that are fomenting rebellion on the ground.

"Just this week, Secretary Rumsfeld suggested that Iran was behind the street violence that erupted in Basra when two undercover commandos were arrested by Iraqi police. Rumsfeld snappishly opined that Iran's involvement was 'not helpful'."
 

China Preparing For War And Few Notice
 

US Tells China to Use Power Responsibly (!!!!!!)
 

UN Human Rights Body to Scrutinize U.S. Abuses
 

On The Man with His Finger on the Nuclear Button

Wayne Madsen Report, September 22, 2005 -- Note on Bush drinking: Much is being made of a recent National Enquirer report regarding George W. Bush's hitting the bottle. It should be noted that the Enquirer has historically hired legitimate journalist stringers who use pen names to mask their true identities, particularly on political stories.

The Bush boozing story is not a new one. The editor has heard of and written about Bush's drinking bouts since 2001. The "choking pretzel" incident had nothing to do with a pretzel but was a carefully contrived story used to cover up a Bush drinking spree that resulted in his passing out on a coffee table in the White House second floor residence and injuring his face. Ditto the numerous cases of Bush falling off a bike somewhere to explain further wounds on his face. Back in college, we used to call that getting 's**t-faced drunk.' Apparently, Mr. Bush still thinks he's in college.

The White House press corps has been whispering about Bush's drinking over the past few years. None dare write or speak about it lest their credentials are lifted and further access cut off by the most vindictive White House in American history.
 

A bridge too far: "Among many unanswered questions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we have this one: Why didn't the stranded residents of flooded New Orleans simply walk to dry land? For many, the answer was simple and disturbing: The suburbs wouldn't let them.

"Three long days after the hurricane hit, thousands of evacuees, mostly black, tried to march across one of the last escape routes out of the city, the Greater New Orleans Bridge. But they were turned back by gun-wielding police officers from suburban Gretna, La."
 

WHAT IS THE PRICE FOR YOUR CHILD'S LIFE?: "No, seriously, how much would you charge me to let me kill your kid? I'll make up a whole batch of comfortable lies about it so you can assuage your guilt when your kid comes home in a cheap box with a cheaper flag draped over it, but, c'mon, let's talk money here. How much?

". . . In exchange for money, a certain group of people have agreed to let your kids be killed. That group is the United States Congress. And for the last several years, many of them have been accepting money from AIPAC, a supposed lobbying group that stands exposed as a spy operation for a foreign government, in order to promote that foreign government's agenda, which includes war in the Mideast, waged against that foreign government's enemies.

"It sounds bizarre, indeed this selling of America's children to a foreign government, to be that government's mercenaries, has to rank as the greatest single betrayal of a people by their government in all of history. So, let is take it one step at a time.

"Let us look at what Israel wants." (A WELL DOCUMENTED ARTICLE; MANY LINKS FOLLOW)
 

Iraqi resistance earns world’s respect: "The Iraqi resistance is made up of many different organizations, with different political programs and goals and ideologies. There is armed struggle, union organizing, community organizing and other forms of struggle. As of yet there is no national front. The many Iraqi forces that want to end the U.S. occupation differ over tactics.

"For example, the Iraqi National Foundation Congress on Sept. 15 issued a statement critical of the targeting of civilians a few days earlier in Baghdad, when 150 people were killed by a car bomb, but put the onus for the killing on the aggressive U.S. tactics in the north of Iraq.

"Some people have argued that should U.S. troops leave, a civil war would occur, or that the Iraqis would choose a religion-based regime, or put Saddam Hussein back in power. Whatever the new Iraq looks like, this is a decision that only the Iraqis can make, and they can only make it when the Pentagon leaves.

"If Washington can’t help the people of New Orleans, it certainly can’t help those of Baghdad.

"The duty of the movement here is to join the struggle to make the continued U.S. occupation of Iraq impossible and to do this in solidarity with the Iraqi sisters and brothers who have stopped the empire in its tracks."
 

Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 5 in Iraq
 

This has been discussed here many times. USA, Saudis and their other oil producing Arab allies urged Saddam to attack their enemy Iran and paid Saddam for that. The real events of Kuwait war are still unclear (did US promise Kuwait to Saddam?). Many of the dead Shia and Kurds were caused by rebellions urged by USA. However USA never helped the Kurds and Shia ater starting the rebellions. Not to speak about the sanctions and the numerous dead it caused. So USA is to also blame. Blaming only Saddam is simply naïve.

As I have many times said I do not approve or support Saddam. Neither do I support the policy of Jim Beam sorry naturally I meant George Bush.

Yes I am a Finn. The majority of Finns are against Iraq occupation, against joining NATO and the respect to USA is here in the bottom of all times. Why indeed. In the Clinton times the general opinion was opposite.

Sudenmorsian your words naida lähettää make no sense in Finnish nor translated in English. Naida is a slang word equivalent to the English word fuck. Lähettää means send. Fuck send what means it?
Hanki parempi kääntäjä suden morsian.

Simohurrta I will listen to your cries of grief on here when our fabulous Americans have hammered them all away

You will hear my cries if he is executed after a trial that doesn’t include the Iraq – Iran war period (as Iran demands). To find out the real historical truth of the all the events in the 80's and 90's is for Iraqis and the rest of the world is more important than the opinion of some paranoid testosterone filled Americans.

Still not a single example of countries where US Army has created a lasting democracy after WW2. Surely there must be some examples after all those coup d'etat, invasions and occupations. Guys you know so much of Iraq and US democratization policy, do not hesitate give me examples.
 

Fighting International Populism; Militarizing the Market: "After years of obsessing over Cuba, the United States has decided to obsess over the whole of Latin America because now it turns out that the Cuba threat wasn't all it was cracked up to be. After all, what's communism compared to the scourge of international populism? [ . . . ]

"In June 2005, undeterred both by the long series of rejections and by Rumsfeld's failure in Quito to militarize the protection of capital, Rice went to the June 2005, meeting of the OAS General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, asking for an agreement permitting Iraq-like pre-emptive interventions to preserve democracy in Latin America. Governments judged to fall short of standards set by the Inter-American Democratic Charter of 2001 would be subject to sanctions. The delegates rejected the proposal."
 

Pentagon extends Iraq duty for 9,400 soldiers: "It's really to maintain stability of the U.S. forces during the Iraqi national elections."
 

Let's hear it for the Germans!

A Green-Left Coalition; The Real Story of the German Elections: "The real story of the German election, which has not been accurately reported in the American corporate media, is that the left won. [ . . . ]

"The U.S. media seem unwilling to admit that a country as economically well off, and as socially and politically conservative, as Germany, might have a majority that favors socialist or progressive solutions to economic and social problems, and might reject a candidate as sympathetic to American political views and American foreign policy as Merkel and the CDU, but that is the real message of the German election.

"Whatever the outcome of intraparty negotiations to form a new government, it is clear that a majority of Germans still want a government that protects workers, protects the elderly, and that controls corporate power, and that maintains a foreign policy independent of the U.S."
 

Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, Iran knocks Europe out - again: "The EU-3 (France, Britain and Germany) should underestimate Ali Larijani, the head of the Supreme National Security Council and Iran's top nuclear negotiator, at their peril. [ . . . ]

"Iran has already called the Europeans' bluff twice. It will do it again. Its right to a nuclear program - for civilian use - is a matter of national pride. The consensus extends from the hardliners who control all levers of power to the reformists and to the general population.

"Oil prices are going though the roof - and no government in its right mind would be willing to risk an Iranian oil embargo. The Iranians as much as the EU-3 foreign ministers know very well that uranium enrichment is not forbidden by the NPT. And they also know very well that absolutely nothing was done by the "international community" regarding the Israeli, Indian and Pakistani nuclear programs."
 

More on the idiocy of U.S. barring Robert Fisk: "[Fisk] constantly shows up the sluggish cowardice and indolent hand-out journalism practiced by so many U.S. foreign correspondents from the safety of their hotel bars. That the U.S. won't allow this great journalist into this country to tell what he has seen and what he knows is a scandal."
 

A Conversation with Cindy Sheehan: ". . . George Bush is always saying that he is a Christian man. I believe a Christian person does not murder people. Jesus was a prince of peace. But when you look at the damage that the religious right has done to this country... Those of us who are Christian need to go back to our core gospel values and teach George: Thou Shalt Not Kill.

"We need to change the whole value system we're operating under. People have been drawn to George Bush because they thought he was making them more secure-George Bush is making our world less secure. You don't promote peace by killing people; you don't make people free by killing them."
 

How to beat censorship, courtesy of France: " A Paris-based media watchdog has released a free guide with tips for bloggers and dissidents to sneak past Internet censors in countries from China to Iran."

Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents available in Chinese, Arabic, Persian, English and French downloaded here.
 

Paljonko tämä maksaa, you ask? Naturally it has cost much to Iraqis. Several millions dead, but you “fake Finn” should remember what caused them. US policy is much to be accused in their deaths – as much Saddam’s regime. That is here essential and should be in the covered in the trial.

You sorry “girl” lower your self on the level to be some thing else than you are. You did not explain what that idiotical “naida lähettää” comment of your means. No Finn would ever say like that, it even can be any spelling mistake. You funny “Pentagon Clown “ pick some worlds from internet and pretend to today a Finn, tomorrow a Swede.

It is sorry to see that you American ultra patriots are so low people that you first brag by all means that you liberated Iraqis then you call them in the next sentence brown ears and sand niggers. You are simply a late born racist Nazi as your nick name shows. Sudenmorsian - Bride of a wolf – shows your infantile sense of humour. Maybe you are that famous half-Norwegian female bicker who eats Yorkshire pudding and comments on this blog with different names. Well - like president so are his most loyal supporters. Nothing much to expect…
 

The 'myth' of Iraq's foreign fighters: "The US and Iraqi governments have vastly overstated the number of foreign fighters in Iraq, and most of them don't come from Saudi Arabia, according to a new report from the Washington-based Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS). According to a piece in The Guardian, this means the US and Iraq 'feed the myth' that foreign fighters are the backbone of the insurgency. While the foreign fighters may stoke the incurgency flames, they only comprise only about 4 to 10 percent of the estimated 30,000 insurgents. [ . . . ]

"Finally, The Guardian reports that 'ambitions for Iraq are being drastically scaled down in private' by British and US officials. The main goal has now become avoiding the image of failure. The paper quotes sources in the British Foreign department as saying that hopes to turn Iraq into a model of democracy for the Middle East had been put aside. 'We will settle for leaving behind an Iraqi democracy that is creaking along,' the source said."
 

SimoHurtta,
You are being generous when you say "US policy is much to be accused in their deaths – as much Saddam’s regime." U.S. policy is responsible for vastly more Iraqi suffering than Saddam ever could have conceived. And, in all probability, U.S. policy greatly enabled Saddam, which precisely is why ordinary Rule of Law conventions will not apply at his trial. (Not that any of this matters to those hankering after blood sport.)
 

Passive Resisters: "The numbers are in dispute, but the fact remains: Dozens of men imprisoned at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are starving themselves. At least 16 are in the infirmary, being tube-fed sustenance to prevent their deaths. It's an ugly reaction to an ugly fact: They are being mistreated by the United States."
 

The logic of colonial rule: "The argument that withdrawal will lead to civil war is slightly absurd, since the occupation has already accelerated and exacerbated ethnic and religious tensions in Iraq. Divide and rule is the deadly logic of colonial rule - and signs that the US is planning an exit strategy coupled with a long-term presence is evident in the new Iraqi constitution, pushed through by US proconsul Zalmay Khalilzad. This document is a defacto division of Iraq into Kurdistan (a US-Israeli protectorate), Southern Iraq (dominated by Iran) and the Sunni badlands (policed by semi-reliable ex-Baathists under state department and Foreign Office tutelage). What is this if not an invitation to civil war? The occupation has also created a geopolitical mess. Recent events in Basra are linked to a western fear of Iranian domination. Having encouraged Moqtada al-Sadr's militias to resist the slavishly pro-Iranian faction, why are the British surprised when they demand real independence?

"There will be no progress towards peace so long as Tony Blair remains prime minister. He was re-elected with only 35 % of the popular vote and barely a fifth of the overall electorate - the lowest percentage secured by any governing party in recent European history. Britain is undergoing a crisis of representation: a majority of the population opposed the war in Iraq; a majority favours withdrawing British troops; 66% believe that the attacks on London were a direct result of Blair's decision to send troops to Iraq. All good reasons why we march and demand an end to war, occupation and terror on Saturday."
 

Medea Benjamin, "Why We're Marching"

Here are some of the many reasons why we will be out on the streets of Washington DC this weekend
- We're marching because we are distressed over the continued war in Iraq.
- We're marching because we want to hold George Bush accountable for dragging us into this war on false pretenses.
- We're marching because we support our troops.
- We're marching because we're convinced that we can't afford to continue spending over a billion dollars a week on this unwinnable war.
- We're marching because we're appalled by the war profiteering of companies such as Halliburton and Bechtel.
- We're marching because we want to seriously address our nation's addiction to oil.
- We're marching because we fear that our government is building 14 permanent bases in Iraq.
- We're marching because we're convinced that the war in Iraq is endangering our security.
- We're marching because the war in Iraq is undermining the capacity of the US military.
- We're marching because our presence in Iraqi is not helping the Iraqis.
- We're marching because there are many indications that the Iraqis want us to leave.
- We're marching because we don't want to see our nation ever again engage in an unprovoked, pre-emptive war.

(Full list, abbreviated text)
 

Riverbend, Draft Constitution - Part II
(See Riverbend's post for her comments on the following Articles of the Constitution)

Article (47):
4- Voting laws aspire to achieve women’s representation on the Council of Representatives of a ratio of not less than a quarter.

Article (65):
The candidate for the president's post must:
1st -- be Iraqi by birth from Iraqi parents.
2nd -- be legally competent and have reached the age of 40.
3rd -- have a good reputation and political experience and be known for his integrity, rectitude, justice and devotion to the homeland.
4th -- not have been convicted of a crime that violates honor.

Article (115):
Every province or more has the right to establish a region based on a request for a referendum to be submitted in one of the following ways:
1st -- A request from one-third of the members in each of the provincial councils in the provinces that wish to establish a region.
2nd -- A request from one-tenth of the voters in each of the provinces that wish to establish a region.

Article (4):
5th -- Any region or province can take a local language as an additional official language if a majority of the population approves in a universal referendum.
The abovementioned region may take on its own ‘local’ language.

Article (117):
5th -- The regional government shall be in charge of all that's required for administering the region, especially establishing and regulating internal security forces for the region such as police, security and guards for the region.)

Article (137):
The Transitional Administration Law for the Iraqi State and its appendix are voided upon creation of the new government, except for what appears in paragraph (a) of Article 53 and Article 58 of the Transitional Administration Law.)

Article 53 [Kurdistan Regional Government]
(A) The Kurdistan Regional Government is recognized as the official government of the territories that were administered by the that government on 19 March 2003 in the governorates of Dohuk, Arbil, Sulaimaniya, Kirkuk, Diyala and Neneveh. The term "Kurdistan Regional Government" shall refer to the Kurdistan National Assembly, the Kurdistan Council of Ministers, and the regional judicial authority in the Kurdistan region.

"Federalism based on geography is acceptable, but federalism based on ethnicity and sect? Why not simply declare civil war and get it over with?"
 

American Mother Has Iraqi Audience

This is an act of censorship worthy of Joseph Goebbels (We're talking UK here, not US!)

Iraq: Blair studying early 'exit ticket'
 

Iraq tour marine hanged himself: "A Royal Marine who narrowly avoided being killed when he witnessed five colleagues die in a helicopter crash in Iraq hanged himself on board his warship, an inquest heard yesterday.

"The parents of David Ward, 21, described how the Royal Navy brushed aside requests for help after their son began drinking heavily and became depressed on returning from a six-month tour of duty in Basra in 2003."

Fighting Surges in Iraq: "Heavy fighting surged Friday in the Euphrates River city of Ramadi, police and hospital officials said, and the U.S. military reported the deaths of two more soldiers around the militant stronghold, scene of nearly one-quarter of 29 American deaths this month. "

U.S. Army soldiers make abuse claims in Iraq, Afghanistan: "A U.S. Army captain and two sergeants recounted in a Human Rights Watch report on Friday how Iraqi inmates near Falluja were beaten with a baseball bat, stacked clothed in pyramids, deprived of food and water and put in painful positions until they fainted."
 

Insurgency growing again in Iraq: "U.S. leaders have claimed that the metrics of casualties being inflicted on the insurgents in Iraq prove that the war was going better for the United States and its Iraqi allies. But unfortunately there are solid grounds to dispute that assertion."
 

Senior UK officers query military's role: "Senior military officers, anxious about the security situation in Iraq, are beginning to seriously question the role of British troops in the country.

"At a meeting on Thursday night at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, serving officers applauded as Colonel Tim Collins, commander of the 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment during the invasion of Iraq, attacked the handling of the invasion and subsequent operations.

"'We have clearly no plan,' he told his audience of serving and retired military officers. 'We are relying entirely, it seems to me, on military muscle to impose freedom and democracy.'

"Similar criticisms will be vented by General Sir Rupert Smith, a former deputy supreme commander and commander of UN forces in Bosnia, in a book, The Utility of Force, published next week.

"He told the Guardian that 'use of force was of limited value' in trying to achieve the objective of establishing a democratic government in Iraq."
 

Perhaps many of you already know this Aljazeera link: Iraq under occupation. I've only now discovered it. Much valuable resource material.

Israeli helicopters fire missiles at Gaza
 

Ex-Blair envoy gives Iraq warning: "The UK and US may have to abandon Iraq if central government breaks down and the country is engulfed by chaos, Tony Blair's former special envoy has said.

"Sir Jeremy Greenstock said a pullout from Iraq might be needed if the US and UK had no reasonable prospect of holding it together.'

"But he said he did not think this had happened yet."

(Nice idea. After Iraq is engulfed by chaos, GO.)
 

US soldiers kill deputy mayor, two police officers in northern Iraq: "A deputy mayor of the Iraqi town of Dhuluiyah, some 100 km north of Baghdad, and two police officers were killed by US forces there on Friday, local policeand witnesses said.

"'A group of US soldiers stormed the house of Brigadier Jabar Atiyah Saud, the deputy mayor of Dhuluiyah and dragged him out of his house before they shot him several bullets in his head,' a source from the Joint Coordination Center in Tikrit told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"Meanwhile, the US soldiers also killed two local police officers, Captain Amir Yousif and the 1st Lt. Jasim Khalaf, the source added.

"The US troops have sealed off the town of Dhuluiyah since Tuesday, imposing curfew and preventing people from leaving their homes as US snipers deployed on roofs of high buildings, local residents told Xinhua by telephone.

"The US soldiers shot the drinking water containers above houses and many families are suffering from shortage in watersupplies," a local resident, Ammar al-Jubouri said. The wounded people or even deaths were not allowed to shift to the medical center outside the town, Jubouri said. On Wednesday, the US troops had detained the police chief of the town and hundreds of people, including dozens of policemen, after insurgents in Dhuluiyah attacked a convoy of trucks carrying military supplies for the US troops.

"The attack damaged three trucks in the convoy guarded by the US troops and killed their three drivers, probably Turkish nationals, According to the source."
 

Kurt Nimmo (recommend full article), Big Trouble for British Occupation of Southern Iraq: "Basra’s governor, Mohammed al-Wa’eli, accused Britain of 'imperial arrogance,' a shoe that fits and the Brits (and Americans) should wear it. The average UK Telegraph reader may not know it—as many Americans do not know their own checkered history—but 'imperialism' is precisely what the Brits imposed on Iraq for decades, beginning after the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1914. Britain, in standard arrogant and back-stabbing fashion, promised the Arabs of what they would later call Iraq independence, only to betray them. Instead of independence, Iraq became a 'mandate' territory under the League of Nations and British 'supervision.' Outraged Iraqis revolted in 1920 and the British put down the rebellion with aerial bombardment. It was Winston Churchill, as colonial secretary, who remarked, 'I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favor of using poison gas against uncivilized tribes,' for instance the Kurds in northern Iraq. Churchill was also responsible in part for drawing the current borders of Iraq, carved out three Ottoman districts—the northern mostly Kurdish district administered from Mosul, the middle predominately Sunni Arab district, including Baghdad; and the southern largely Shiite district, whose major city is Basra. It was indeed the 'imperial arrogance' of the British that angered the Arabs (and Kurds) of what is now Iraq and motivated them to revolt."
 

Treasure of Baghdad, A New Five-Star Hotel in Baghdad !! (Inside the Green Zone)
 

Soldier's chilling testimony fuels demonstrations against Iraq war: "'I don't know how many innocents I killed with my mortar rounds. ...In Baghdad, I had days that I don't want to remember. I try to forget.'

"The rare insight into the chaos of the combat ­ including an order to open fire on all taxis in the city of Samawa because it was believed Iraqi forces were using them for transport­. . ."
 

Polluting Palestine; The Settlements and Their Sewage: "Much of the spectacular landscape of Palestine is so beautiful it takes your breath away. Wadi Fuqin is one of the breathtaking places in the southern West Bank, where the hills of the central range open up to a rich landscape of vineyards and fruit trees and fields of vegetables in the wide valleys between hillsides. Farther north, the mountains and steep valleys and endless terraced olive groves form a serene landscape, dotted with small villages of white stone houses and tall minarets. In the east, the desert hills unfold in gentle, pastel-colored undulations. Israeli debris is increasingly scarring this landscape everywhere.

"Israeli construction on a massive scale is changing the pastoral landscape of Palestine in striking ways, intruding on the Palestinian salon. ..."
 

A Bolivarian Socialist at the UN; Hugo Chavez's Mission
 

The View of a Former Interrogator; The US Military and Torture
 

One thing that disturbs me about this is that those weapons in the pictures aren't American weapons. It takes a trained eye to notice the difference, but upon closer inspection, I can tell those were made by Diemaco (a Canadian arms manufacuter). ABout a month ago there was a very little know controversy in Canada about a Diemaco warehouse being robbed, and some weapons being stolen. Some people were woprried that the weapons would end up in the hands of street gangs across the country, but now it seems we know where they ended up, and can be pretty sure about who stole them.
 

In the Wake of Katrina; America's Shame: "The fate of blacks in New Orleans should remind us of other 'disposable people' (about 1.5 billion across the planet) who live in slums, work in alternative economies and earn the disdain and fear of the well-heeled. The distance between these people and the aristocrats who run the system became clear when the President's mother, Barbara Bush, faced the nation after her visit with refugees in Houston, Texas. 'What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the [Houston Arena] here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.'

"Among America's poor (13 per cent by the federal rates, about 37 million people), the social indicators are appalling: high infant mortality rates, low literacy rates, high unemployment rates, and low rates of health insurance. This reality accompanied by the decimation of social welfare and of federal relief schemes left a vulnerable population to drown in the Gulf of Mexico. The official death toll is expected to rise into the thousands.

"Instead of compassion, the government went on the rampage. When whites scrounged for food, the media pointed to their resilience, whereas blacks were called looters. On August 31, the government ordered the police to stop searching for survivors and to fight against the looting (they were ordered to shoot at sight). Governor Kathleen Blanco, in her most pointed message, noted, 'I have one message for these hoodlums: These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will.' Two days later, the police killed at least four people."
------------------------------

In apartheid South Africa, 'disposable people' were termed 'surplus people'. (No, I'm not making that up.)
 

Robert Fisk, Turning a Blind Eye to Murder and Abuse in Basra; Nature and Man Conspire to Expose the Lies of the Powerful: ". . .[T]he photographs of British soldiers, cowled in fire, hurling themselves from the top of their Warrior fighting vehicle in Basra this week, were the final iconic images of our uniquely British folly in Iraq."

"Remember how we were told that our immense experience of 'peace- keeping' in Northern Ireland had allowed us to get on better with the Iraqis in the south than our American cousins further north? I don't actually remember us doing much 'peacekeeping' in Belfast after about 1969--the rest, I recall, was about biffing the IRA--but in any case the myth was burned out on the uniforms of British troops this week.

"Indeed, much of the war in Northern Ireland appeared to revolve around the use of covert killings and SAS undercover operatives who blew away IRA men in ambushes. Which does raise the question, doesn't it, as to just what our two SAS lads were doing cruising around Basra in Arab dress with itsy-bitsy moustaches and guns? Why did no one ask? How many SAS men are in southern Iraq? Why are they there? What are their duties? What weapons do they carry? Whoops! No one asked.

"What we were actually doing to 'keep the peace' in Basra was to turn a Nelsonian 'blind eye' on the abuse, murder and anarchy of Basra since 2003 (including, it turns out, quite a bit of abuse by our very own squaddies)."
 

EXTRACT
Ghali Hassan, The invasion and occupation of Iraq was a premeditated murderous act of aggression: "The alleged presence of Al-Zarqawi has two important purposes for the U.S. Occupation: it provides a way to distort the image of the legitimate Iraqi Resistance; and it allows the occupying forces to present the war of Occupation as a war against Al-Qaeda, the created enemy. Al-Qaeda has replaced Communism.

"The continuing existence of Al-Qaeda is a very useful pretext for the Blair-Bush axis and allies. It provides the necessary tool to instill fear and manipulate domestic public opinion. A U.S. army conscientious objector from the 82nd Airborne Division told the Canadian Refugee Status Commission: 'We were told to consider all Arabs as potential terrorists . . . and we were stimulated to encourage an attitude of hatred that gets your blood boiling.' The recent massacre of unarmed men women and children in Fallujah is a case in point.

"Just before the destruction of the city of Fallujah, in which thousands of innocent men, women and children have been murdered, U.S. forces justified the assault as a necessary step to 'enhance democracy' and 'flush-out' Al-Zarqawi and his men. After Fallujah was destroyed, and a large number of its people were slaughtered by U.S. forces, Al-Zarqawi was not found—because he died a long time ago. Fallujah has since become the symbol of Iraqi Resistance.

"During the U.S. attacks on Mosul, Ramadi and Al-Qaim, the phantom of Al-Zarqawi continues to play an important role in Western propaganda. It was reported that Al-Zarqawi had survived the assault on Fallujah and is fighting the U.S. forces on many fronts. Nothing could be further from the truth. The attacks were directed primarily against members of the Iraqi Resistance and the Iraqi population at large.

"In its recent meeting attended by world's leaders, the UN was unable to define terrorism, because, according to the U.S., terrorism has no definition. Any act of violence not practised by the U.S. and its allies is defined as terrorism. We know who is waging a war of terror on the defenceless people of Iraq. It isn't Al-Qaeda or Al-Zarqawi: it is the U.S. and Britain who are terrorising the Iraqi people on a daily basis. Iraq is not the frontline of terrorism; the Iraqi people are defending themselves and their country against terrorism.

"As I wrote earlier, Iraqi sources argued rightly that the U.S. forces and their collaborators are behind every major sectarian killing and kidnapping in the country. The promotion of Shiite-Sunni conflict is the creation of U.S. forces. The attacks on specific religious groups, such as on Shiites, were aimed at provoking sectarian strife among Iraqis. After every large killing of civilians, the U.S. and mainstream media are deliberately blaming the Iraqi Resistance for the violence. The main aim is to distort the image of the Resistance and weaken its popular support in Iraq and abroad.

"The fact that Iraqi Police in Basra were able to arrest two British soldiers (the SAS) working under cover, whom Iraqi police accused of planting bombs against civilians, was a case in point. Furthermore, thousands of prominent Iraqi scientists including doctors, intellectuals and politicians have been murdered by Israeli Mossad and C.I.A. agents. Similar patterns of Western terrorism against civilians have their history in the British occupation of Kenya and India, and in the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The U.S. plan to divide Iraq—on ethnic and religious lines—and control its wealth was prepared several years before the war. It was no secret. One only needs to read The New York Times to get an idea about the U.S. Zionist ideology. In addition, the U.S. is promoting religious fundamentalism against Iraqi nationalism.

"U.S. forces and their collaborators are the only benefactors of ongoing violence in Iraq. The U.S. is deliberately destroying the fabric of the Iraqi society. Since March 2003, more than 100,000 have been killed—based on the estimation of the Lancet report in November 2004. The majority of these war crimes were committed by U.S. and British forces against innocent men women and children.

"Since the invasion of their country by U.S. forces, Iraqis have only known mayhem, all forms of human rights abuses, including torture, and a culture of corruption not seen in Iraq's history. The U.S. is continuing the process of the complete destruction of Iraq. U.S. corporations are not rebuilding Iraq; they are busy building prisons to incarcerate Iraqis, and military bases in order to continue the colonial occupation of Iraq. The imperial deception is so efficient that even well-educated people in the West, and Americans in particular, have been manipulated to the extent that they were unable to differentiate between the destruction of a society by violent military forces and the promotion of 'democracy' and 'freedom.'"
 

“Better off under Saddam”- The Iraqis admit: "This constitution, is it edible? Is it safe to drink? Can it be used as a hat? Can you plug it in to use as a fan? Can you keep your food cool in it? Can you make into a dress or a pair of shoes for a child? Can you trade it for medicine? Can you use it as a bullet-proof vest?"
 

Anti-war rally held in Washington: "Organisers said they were expecting 100,000 to turn out for the rally, march and concert near the White House and Washington Monument.

"Anti-war rallies were also being held in other cities across the US as well as in London, Paris and Rome."
 

Anti-war rallies condemn Bush and Blair: "Galloway, who drew international attention for a fiery condemnation of US policy he made to the Senate earlier this year, said the British prime minister and US president had failed to justify the invasion.

"This is not a clash of civilizations, not a war between people of the West and East, not a war between Christianity and Islam; George Bush does not represent any civilization," he said to cheers.

[In the U.S.] "Among the demonstrators were some 40 former U.S. soldiers recently returned from Iraq, holding up signs saying 'Bring Them Home Now!' and wearing their desert camouflage uniforms.

"'This is all new to me. I've never participated in something like this,' said John McNamara, 25, who served six months as an army truck driver in Iraq.

"'I took part in some destruction in the Middle East and I feel bad about that,' said McNamara, who flew from Los Angeles for the event. 'Being here won't make up for it but it might make me feel a little better about it.'"
 

RECONSTRUCTING IRAQ: Photos from Iraq, 24 September 2005
 

'You can't wash your hands when they're covered in blood': "The wounds carry on. This is what war does to your soul, to your humanity, to your family."
 

VIDEO: Bill O'Reilly interviews Phil Donahue
If your Internet connection is slow like mine, do something else while video downloads 8 minute clip (wash dishes, read book, go for a walk, fill in the blank!). Well worth the wait.
 

Cheney reported in good condition after surgery
(Forgive me; I know not what I do.)
 

(Fairly good "wrap-up" sort of article)
Anti-War Protesters March in Washington : "President Bush himself was out of town, monitoring hurricane recovery efforts from Colorado and Texas. "
 

Overthrow Of The American Republic, Part 81: Phone Companies Sleep With The FBI
 

The article posted September 23, 2005 10:24 AM asked: WHAT IS THE PRICE FOR YOUR CHILD'S LIFE? This article, "Halliburton's Stock Doubles - So Do US Troop Deaths" partially answers that question. Simple calculation: each dead American (never mind the dead other people) has added about 2 cents/share for Halliburton. Good value?
 

Needed: A better 'message'.
Hughes launches US image makeover among Muslims: "Karen Hughes, a powerful confidante of President George W. Bush who has long helped shape his words and message, heads to the Middle East on Saturday as part of a new campaign to make over the U.S. image in the Muslim world."

‘US-Iraqi attacks on rebel towns are genocide’
 

Robert Fisk on finding Osama
 

Evelyn

Regarding your above posting at 5:46pm (Sept 24) on "Bill O'Reilly interviews Phil Donahue"

I saw that. Indeed I stayed up until around 4am to watch it and wasn't disappointed.

It's the first time I've seen O'Reilly totally lose it.

I'm surprised he's kept his show.

Thought some little men in white coats would have been hovering outside his door by now.

Bestest.
 

At Least 24 Killed in Baghdad and Beyond
 

Raed in the Middle in San Francisco! (posted September 25, 2005)
 

Cindy Sheehan, We Don't Exist
 

Blair out of step as voters swing behind Iraq withdrawal

Britain refuses apology and compensation for Iraqis caught up in Basra riots (Surprise?)
 

Israeli air strike kills top Islamic Jihad leader in the southern Gaza Strip, signalling return to Israel's policy of assassination

Iraq Sunnis confident of halting charter
 

Hello I am here to apologise to the world for Finland's duplicity in dealing in with Iraq.

Iraq is not as far from Finland as it might appear on the map to many of you. We have some common history, even if the past ten years and more have seen political and economic relations put on ice. Finland has participated in the UN sanctions that have been used as a means to exert pressure on Saddam Hussein's regime. So obviously we have to take some responsibility for the millions of infant deaths there.

Finland chose sides already in the fall of 1990 after Iraq had attacked Kuwait. Finland was a member of the UN Security Council at the time, and was ready to give its support to a US-led coalition if it would be mustered to liberate Kuwait.
The decision was taken by President Mauno Koivisto. U.S. President George Bush Sr. asked for backing, and he got it. The decision to provide flanking support was justified, because the United States and the then Soviet Union had already agreed earlier that autumn on the subject of bringing pressure to bear on Iraq. The crucial Soviet-US discussions were carried out face-to-face by Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev in Helsinki.

However, Finland and Iraq had been engaged in extensive economic cooperation.
Thousands of Finns built palaces and administrative complexes for the Iraqi regime. The bilateral trade was balanced by importing Iraqi oil.
Indeed, the business transactions were so important and so advantageous that the Finns displayed an impressive ability to bend over backwards in their dealings with Saddam.

For ten years from the mid-1970s, the Iraqi Ambassador to Helsinki was General Saleh Mehdi Amash. Before his appointment to Finland, Amash had been in the Iraqi government, and had also served as ambassador in Moscow.
From the perspective of 2003, it seems incomprehensible that the good general was able to do much as he pleased during his tenure here. As a symbol of Iraqi power the embassy moved into a large new "Caliph's Palace" structure in Kulosaari, complete with tall columns and pointed arches; it would have fitted in perfectly to the Baghdad cityscape.
General Amash was not content to pull diplomatic strings behind the scenes, but took very public stands on such things as the make-up of Finnish government coalitions, and he also strong-armed Finnish companies for their alleged Zionist connections. Amash even filed a diplomatic note with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over a TV programme in which the husband-and-wife duo of Eelis and Seela Sella performed old Jewish songs.

So I do apologise for the duplicity of the Finnish people. I realise at the end of the day that we have been allies of both the US and Iraq and that is just not on really. We are no better than any other American ally and our people have much to answer for.

What can I say? Friends?
 

Pylkkänen has some ”misleading” comments and opinions. First the situation in 1991 was clear. The decision of giving Kuwait back to its “democratically elected” royal family was decided in UN with all diplomatic rules. Naturally Finland decided with the majority.

The situation in 2003 was COMPLETELY different. There was no UN decision to allow war. The prime minister of Finland at that time Paavo Lipponen had made some deal with George Bush when visiting Washington about joining the Coalition. When the leader of the opposition party Center Party (Keskusta) Anneli Jäättenmäki revealed this non published deal in an election debate in television there was a huge scandal. Lipponen and Social Democrat Party lost the elections because of this scandal. Finland did not join the Coalition.

Naturally Finland made good trade with Iraq before in the 70’s and beginning of 80’s. Why shouldn’t we have done it? So did all other countries. It was legal trade.

What come to Pylkkänen’s comments about the former Iraqi ambassador they are rather irrelevant. Also USA and Israel have sent some rather colourful Ambassadors to Finland who had opinions of matters that do not belong to normal diplomacy. What comes to Finnish Israeli arms relations the Iraqi Ambassador had some good points. Israel was the main customer of Finnish weapon industry in the 50’s and 60’s. The Israeli Galil assault rifles were made on machinery and by documentation, bought from Valmet.. The Finnish company Tampella sold also artillery and mortar licences to Israel in the middle of 70’s.

The Embassy of Iraq is built in “oriental” style. So what? The US Embassy in Kaivopuisto is build in US “New England“ style. The Finnish Embassies around the world, where we have an own building, are mostly designed by Finnish architects to promote Finnish architecture. The local people some times describe these houses as “strange”.

It is rather astonishing that Pylkkänen asks for forgiveness in the name of Finns. The majority of Finns were and have been firmly against the Iraq occupation. Before Iraq episode the Finnish people (majority) did see NATO as solution for Finnish defence. The Iraq war changed that opinion dramatically. Now people are against NATO, because the US influence in NATO’s decision making is seen to strong. We do not want to send our boys in US started wars around the globe. Finland has participated in most United Nation’s peace keeping operations by sending troops.

Finns have nothing to “answer” to USA even Pylkkänen claims so. We do not owe USA anything.
 

Finland and its people definitely profited from its trade relations with Saddam. Iraqi oil had financed a number of lucrative contracts with Finnish exporting companies, while the state airline even established a route to Bagdad for purposes of ferrying Finnish workers and other skilled personnel to construction sites in Iraq. The air route was subsequently closed after the Iraq-Iran war, but, like Germany, Finland's economic and political relations demanded a measure of caution in expressing its official view of the Persian Gulf War.

Little wonder they opposed the 2003 war? its about finance, not human beings.

A survey was recently conducted at the Turku Student Village (Turun ylioppilaskylä) (the largest single student housing complex in Finland). The Fins do value American news very much.
half of those interviewed stated that they very much enjoyed watching CNN, that it was "relaxing" or "exciting" or "refreshing," and that they could agree with the statement that "CNN represents good, entertaining and professionally made commercial television news." Although if what CNN is reporting is "news," then a number of students felt that the American concept of news must be different from the Finnish. Those who were positive towards CNN and found it entertaining also stated that they were not afraid of its "point of view" because they felt that they were able to "decide for themselves" and they were interested in "hearing different points of view," including the American.

I think Finland is closer to the Americans and the Iraqis than they think.
 

We not not owe the US anything, but Finland owes Iraq much for participating in the trade sanctions that killed Iraqis in the millions. We have been a US ally and that is something we can't wipe away with an eraser. The 2003 war was economically bad for us and for that same reason, France and Russia held back
 

Pylkkänen our relationship with Saddam was like our relationship to Russia.

Already in the 19th century, the leaders of Finland’s national intelligentsia had developed a doctrine of survival with respect to Russia. Unlike the Poles, who rebelled repeatedly and lost all semblance of sovereignty, Finns had always emphasized loyalty to the Czar. At the same time, they requested, and received in return, the opportunity to expand - to a remarkable extent - their national and political status.

The Fins relied on Iraq enormously, there are parallels to Russia without a doubt. Shame on us
 

There is nothing misleading about my remarks. UN sanctions was a mass murder and we supported it regardless.

Finland has always been too fickle and too weak. Finland has been for centuries a trophy for invaders from the South and from the West, been subject of Christianisation as well from Russian-Orthodox and Roman-Catholic forces until finally, under Swedish rule, the country turned to the Lutheran confession, while much of Karelia remained under the influence of the Orthodox church. During the Northern War 1700-21 the Russian army fought for years on end in Finland causing much destruction and civilian suffering. In 1809 the country became an autonomous part of the Russian Empire while keeping Swedish-style civil institutions. Attempts at Russification under Nicholas II met with resistance, Russian terrorists found support from Finnish socialists and the General-Governor Bobrikov was assassinated.

We have as much to be ashamed of as anyone else
 

Finnish people also seem to be developing the same racial tensions as many other western countries now. This is very worrying and shameful. We call the UK and US after their bombings, but we have no excuse to hate anyone. Our imbalanced views on the middle east cause much strife

Take the Finnish Jewish community.

The Finnish Jewish community is rather small (1500 members) of the overall Finnish population of 5.2 million. Most of them live in the metropolitan area of Helsinki, with small numbers of members living also in the cities of Turku and Tampere. Due to Finland’s continuing pro-Arab attitude since the 1967 Six Day War, there were minor threats against the Jewish community during the Middle East crisis. In the monitoring period there have also been many pro-Palestine demonstrations and movements directed against the government of Israel and its actions in the Palestinian areas. These activities cannot be evaluated as anti-Semitic; nevertheless there is always a possibility that they can create extreme expressions of opinion, so that people may no longer distinguish the Israeli government from the Jewish people, thus increasing the danger of anti-Semitic thoughts and acts.

1. Physical acts of violence
On 6 May a window of the Jewish synagogue in the centre of Helsinki located on the building’s 2nd floor was smashed and raw eggs thrown against the walls at the Jewish Community Building. The attack was carried out by a group of about 10 skinheads. This is the first time that an incident of this kind has occurred in Helsinki.

Earlier in the spring there were two bomb threats. One bomb threat was not reported at all in the media and the other one was reported on different scales depending on the paper.

2. Verbal aggression/hate speech
Direct threats

The Jewish community in Helsinki has received threatening letters throughout the spring, especially in the earlier part, but also in May.

Telephone

Earlier this spring, at the same time as the Israeli army invaded the city of Jenin, the Finnish Jewish community began to receive threatening phone calls on a daily basis. Also in the monitoring period covered by this report there have been threatening phone calls to the Jewish Community Centre because of the recent incidents in the Middle East.

On 4 April an anonymous telephone bomb threat to a Jewish school in Helsinki caused the evacuation of the Helsinki synagogue and the Jewish old people’s home. No device was found.

Graffiti and anti-Semitic inscriptions

There has not been much anti-Semitic graffiti in Helsinki. While most of the graffiti expresses pro-Palestine sentiments, some of it is also very anti-Israeli.

Publicly distributed leaflets

Pro-Palestine movements have distributed their leaflets on many occasions. Some of these leaflets contain (extreme) anti-Israeli material, and others have asked people to boycott Israeli products to help attain peace in Israel.

Media

According to a representative of the Jewish community in Helsinki , Jews are blamed for what happens in Israel and the news and articles in the Finnish media have tended to be biased about issues dealing with the situation in Israel. He believes that the anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish tone of these writings could have been intentional or unintentional. He also sees that the recent development of anti-Semitism in Europe may lead to an increase in anti-Semitic acts in Finland.

Some of the writers of letters to newspapers have expressed their concern over the way the Finnish media handles the situation in Middle East. Some writers see that the media can really damage the general picture of Jews and weaken their position in society by presenting news from a narrow point of view, without taking all relevant matters into consideration.

Public discourse

The Archbishop, when referring to the situation in Middle East, said that the borders of a state cannot be drawn with the help of the Old Testament’s guidelines. He has agreed that the Jewish people are God’s chosen people, but still this fact should not affect how Christians react to the policy the Israeli government practices. Some people reacted very strongly to the Archbishop’s opinions. They could not understand how the Archbishop of the Finnish Lutheran Church could criticise the actions of the Israeli government. Others believed that he showed a great deal of courage by expressing his opinions on the situation in Middle East.

Internet

In some of the Internet’s news groups and chat rooms there has been discussion about the situation in Israel. The opinions have been both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel. On some occasions the discussion has been impolite from both sides. Hence, there are some anti-Semitic opinions in Internet chat rooms. It is common in these Internet discussions that people cite the Bible in making their arguments. Some argue that the Bible says that Jews are the chosen people of God and now they are persecuted as the Bible has predicted; others argue that the Jews killed Jesus and they will always be blamed for this.

3. Research studies
During the period no research studies were done in the field.

4. Good practice for reducing prejudice, violence and aggression
FLHR interviewed the representative of the Friends of Israel Association, who said that they have done a lot of work to reduce prejudice and violence towards Jews. The main method for doing this has been the dissemination of information. They have organised events informing the public about Israel and the Jewish culture. Some speakers have come from Israel to give lectures about the situation in Israel. There was also one pro-Israel demonstration on 11 May 2002.

5. Reactions by politicians and other opinion leaders
There has not been much discussion about the increase of anti-Semitism; more generally politicians have expressed their concern about a rise in support for extreme right-wing parties in Europe. Politicians and parties have declared that this kind of development is unacceptable in Finland and that a lot of work must be done to prevent this development from also taking place here.
 

Itzhak whatever

You want some "dis-appeal on behalf of the Jewish Task Force"?

Why don't you read Imad Khadduri's contribution to that on page 37 of his book "Iraq's Nuclear Mirage"?
 

Finnish trade with Saddam's Iraq yielded millions of dollars. Finland was quite high up among 75 countries dealing with Saddam although Saddam's largest trading partners were Russia, France, and Egypt.

Coincidence that Russia, France and Finland opposed the 2003 war?

I dont think so!!!!!!!!!!!
 

None of this surprises me about the Fins!

Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and Fidel Castro have all received votes in Finland’s 2003 parliamentary elections. Their names were among 24,400 rejected votes in the election to the 200-seat parliament.
Other vote winners Donald Duck, who got the most.

If they vote for Saddama and OBL then they have a deep societal problem that obviously needs attention!
 

Finland, much like the UK and US, (unfortunately) has a good deal of racism and hostility to foreigners. Even employers are racist. The main reason for this was the period of economic recession in the 1990s that was accompanied by high unemployment. Work is being done to increase tolerance towards immigrants and refugees by integrating them into Finnish society.

The increase of immigration has created a number of problems. The unemployment of foreign citizens is still over 30 per cent while for the whole country 8 per cent.

Negative attitudes and xenophobia among the main population towards foreigners are very much present.

I think is about time we accepted our shortcoming!
 

The trade between Finland and Iraq was rather minimal during Iraq - Iran war, Gulf War I and during the sanctions. So the decision of 2003 was not about economics. It was a decision of principle. What right have individual countries to attack others with no other reason that they do not “like” the present government? The world is full countries with problems with civil rights, but are the civil right violations a reason for attack wars? If United Nations decides actions against some country it is done by the international rules. In 2003 against the Iraq war were not only Russia, France and Finland. The majority of the countries opposed this war which later has created a real chaos and dangerous regional instability. The people who pay the prise of this war and occupation are the normal Iraqis.

When we criticize the UN sanctions against Iraq which indirectly and directly killed hundreds of thousands, we should remember a couple of facts. Which countries in UN demanded the sanctions and defined the limits of the trade barriers? Which countries tried to end the Sanctions? USA and UK demanded UN to start the sanctions and defined the rules. Later when the sanctions showed its effects UN established Oil for Food program to ease the effects. USA did not like it, but agreed. During the years several nations tried to end the sanctions. USA did not allow it.

Pylkkänen you tell with rather many details about the Jewish community in Finland and about their problems. Well, some members of the Finnish Jew community have taken in public a very pro-Israeli stand and have had very little understanding about Palestinians sufferings. They only speak about the means of how Palestinians resist the occupation (= suicide bombs) but forget consistently the other side of the equation. The decades long brutal occupation and stealing of water and land. Naturally the Finnish media and people speak about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is one of the major issues of our time.

Criticising in normal terms the actions of the state of Israel is not anti-Semitist behaviour not in Finland or anywhere else; even the Israelis very eagerly turn it be so. The state of Israel is not the victim. Jews were victims during WW2, but Palestinians had nothing to do with it. Israel has attacked its neighbours frequently (1956,1967,1982); it has occupied the land of millions, it has developed WMD’s and it is one of the militarily most powerful countries in the world. Israel has not obeyed UN resolutions for decades.

It is putting the head in the sand believing that the international events do not have an effect also in Finland.

Pylkkänen watch the pages of Jewish Task Force. These guys with their white supremacy ideology, spreading racial and religious hate, are as dangerous as Nazis or some radical Muslim groups. JTF is only on of tens of equal radical pro-Israeli groups and other organized means of spreading hate.

When Finns resisted the Russian rule in the beginning of the last century, the people who exploded Russian trains and military installations, assassinated Russian “rulers” in Finland, executed collaborators, planted bombs etc. where considered as national heroes. The Russians at that time described them as terrorists. Liberty is very important to us all. Liberty also includes that no foreign powers are “running” the country. Sometimes a domestic dictatorship is by the local people considered a better option as an occupation by others from a very different cultural background.
 

Simohurrta why throw wild criticism at other European countries when you refuse to accept the downfalls of your own country esp. on issues such as Iraq and racism? It offends you obviously, but if you are going to throw criticism around, you have to take it, also and justifiably.

Finland supported the UN in its sanctions on Iraq and they are partly responsible for the mess that country is in. They traded with Saddam and made millions.

In Finland, racism has been found to be increasing among young people. Young people's hardening attitudes will lead to conflicts in institutions involved with the whole age cohort, such as schools and the army. Ethnic conflicts cause unnecessary human suffering to all parties involved. At the same time they consume valuable resources and disturb the institutions' operation.

It is high time for the public organisations and institutions in society to start preparing for facing the ethnic suspicions and racism. Work communities need to be able to explore and identify attitudes and practices that lead into conflicts, preferably before any severe conflicts emerge.

The prevailing construction of Finnish national identity that is based on the myth of a threatened nation serves as a driving force for suspicious ethnic attitudes. At the national level it would be time to start supporting, at last, the construction of such national identity that would place more emphasis on citizen's skills and civic virtues as well as active participation in the community, as salient features of Finnish citizenship.

We have to look at our own problems before criticizing other countries!
 

To Simohurrta

Quote Simohurrta

"The trade between Finland and Iraq was rather minimal during Iraq - Iran war, Gulf War I and during the sanctions"

But similarly, the arms sold to Saddam by the USA during his reign was minimal relative to China, Russia, France and Czec. and Sth Africa. However, in recent posts you single out the USA as "the supplier of arms to Saddam"

Just goes to show doesn't it Simohurrta? Its all about "perspective"
 

And you Hanuu where do you live?

Did you have to look at our own problems before criticizing other countries ?
 

You mean minimal
I quote " But similarly, the arms sold to Saddam by the USA during his reign was minimal relative"

The facts are that during the Iran-Iraq war the U.S. supplied Iraq with something much more valuable than guns: satellite information on when and where the Iranians were going to attack.