Free Iraq

(Extract)
Raed in the Middle, August 26, 2005 - The Third Deadline: "De-assembling the joke called the Iraqi 'government' would be in the best of Iraq and Iraqis, and holding new general elections without occupation forces going around the streets is the best scenario Iraq can reach to for the time being.

"On the short term, the US administration decision-makers should take the necessary steps from their side to stop the cycle of violence. The US-led coalition troops should be pulled out of Iraq ASAP. The details about the transitional period between the withdrawal of the occupation forces and the rebuilding of the Iraqi army and Iraqi security forces should be left to Iraqis to handle it by themselves. The US people should ask their government to stop causing the death of more US and Iraqi people in Iraq. The pentagon should start withdrawing the US troops from Iraq instead of sending more of them.

"All the Bush administration's whining and speeches about 'helping Iraqis by keeping the US army in Iraq' and 'saving Iraqis from a civil war by keeping the US army to protect them from each other' make no sense and are all a bunch of lies and excuses to extend the US military presence in Iraq, and leave permanent bases in the country (Japan and Germany style). The US administration should simply change the idea of using Iraq as a military base for threatening other countries in the M.E. like Iran and Syria, and leave Iraq to Iraqis to live peacefully in their country.

"If we believe in democracy and the right of people to rule themselves, and if we believed in the Iraqi people and their right to rebuild their country after the cruel decades of destruction because of internal and external reasons, we shouldn’t support another day of the illegal occupation.

"On the long term, the US government supported by the US citizens should publicly apologize to Iraq and Iraqis for the horrible consequences of the illegal war and occupation, and they should ask the UNCC to start estimating the size of damage caused by the occupation forces to Iraq and Iraqis, and estimate the compensation that should be paid.*

"Whether this imposed constitution will be approved or not, it won’t solve the Iraqi crisis, it won’t be any better than the January pre-mature elections."
-----------------------------------------
* Raed, what you ask for is simple justice. Nothing more. And I do apologize, from the bottom of my heart. Nothing can reverse the terrible destruction and carnage. (Robert Fisk estimates at least double the prior figure of 100,000 Iraqi deaths. I believe him.) To ask, at this time, for forgiveness, would be trite. But I do hope that in time, by some miracle, there will be a healing of the hideous wounds. In the meantime, I honour the dignity, humanity and courageous struggle of Iraqis. May we learn a lesson in humility.
 

A Broken Covenant; The War in Iraq
I REFUSE
for Camilo Mejia

I refuse to be used as a tool of war.
I refuse to kill on order.
I refuse to give my life for a lie.
I refuse to be indoctrinated or subordinated.
I refuse to allow the military to define all I can be.
I refuse to abdicate my responsibilities as a citizen of the world.
I refuse to deny the human rights of any person.
I refuse to suspend my conscience.
I refuse to give up my humanity.
I refuse to be silenced.
Do you hear me?
 

Have been away for a while.

Here is a pearl from the year 1811:

"Indeed, when we consider that the discovery and settlement of America have exterminated millions of the red men, and entailed upon the sable inhabitants of Africa endless and destructve wars, captivity, slavery and death, we have reason to shudder at the gloomy perspective, and to apprehend that in the retributive justice of the Almighty there may be some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, red with uncommon wrath; some portentous cloud, pregnant with the elements of destruction, ready to burst upon European America, and to entail upon us those calamities which we have so wantonly and wickedly inflicted upon others.

"And perhaps, in the decrepitude of our empire, some transcendent genius, whose powers of mind shall only be bounded by that impenetrable circle which prescribes the limits of human nature, may rally the barbarous nations of Asia, under the standards of a mighty empire.

"And if Asia shall then revenge upon our posterity the injuries we have inflicted on her sons, a new, a long, and a gloomy night of gothic darkness will set in upon mankind.

"And when, after the efflux of ages, the returning effulgence of intellectual light shall again gladden the nations, then the WIDESPREAD RUINS of our cloud-capped TOWERS, of our solemn temples, and of our magnificent cities will, like the works of which we have treated, become the subject of curious research and elaborate investigation."

- The words of DeWitt Clinton, in the year 1811, speaking to an audience at the New York Historical Society. Text printed in the 2005 book, by Peter L. Bernstein, "Wedding Of The Waters: The Erie Canal And The Making Of A Great Nation".

DeWitt Clinton was born in 1769, and died in 1828. Between 1797 and 1828, he held every major elective office in New York: assemblyman, senator, mayor of New York City, lieutenant governor, and governor. He created the public school system in New York. He was the Canal Commissioner, responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal, and the Champlain Canal. He was a distinguished scientist(ornithologist).
He was also instrumental in the passage of legislation for the manumission of slaves, guaranteeing that those who escaped to New York would be granted their freedom forever.
 

And here is a pearl from the 'future':

President's weekly radio address. Crawford, we have a problem.

Turn on your speakers.
 

Maligned Mainstream Media:
U.S. Launches Offensive in Iraqi Village

"U.S. aircraft firing missiles struck houses and cars, sending palls of smoke into the sky as the forces moved into Sadah, according to residents contacted by The Associated Press. In the evening, Marines and insurgents clashed in the streets, they said."

Then, a few paragrpahs down, a contradiction to that statement:

"U.S. troops sealed off Sadah, 180 miles northwest of Baghdad, and U.S. and Iraqi officials released no information on casualties on the first day of the assault.

Troops went house to house, blasting open doors in a hunt for insurgents, but so far no weapons caches or significant militant figures had been found, a correspondent for CNN embedded with the troops said."

And, by divine insight, the report states:

"Helicopters fired on three vehicles as the force moved in, including two that were carrying suicide bombers and a third that was being loaded with weapons, CNN reported."

Do take a look at what the report thinks fit for a picture to go along with this new massacre.
 

Preceeding comment:
Indeed, the accompanying photo sanitises the bloodbath, 'clouding' the issues, precisely as intended.
----------------------

Kurt Nimmo, Syria, al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Big Lies in Bushzarro World: "As Hitler knew, a ceaseless stream of lies and half-truths, as disseminated by official propaganda outlets (in Nazi Germany, the Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda; in the United States, the corporate media feeding off Pentagon backgrounders), endeavor to rearrange the intellectual furniture of Americans, who now believe 'al-Qaeda' is in Iraq. . . .

"Of course, the United States is not fighting against 'al-Qaeda in Iraq' but rather the Iraqi resistance and the 'operations' (invasions) of villages near the Syrian border are designed to remind us that Bush’s 'war' is a noble cause determined to defeat international terrorism before it reaches our shores. ...

“'Even before the U.S. occupation forces settled into Saddam Hussein’s palaces in Baghdad, the neoconservatives who have set the direction of the Bush presidency’s radical foreign and military policies were looking toward Syria,' writes Tom Barry. 'The road to Damascus, which is at the center of the Bush administration’s roadmap for restructuring the Middle East, doesn’t run directly from Baghdad. Its starting points are in Washington, Jerusalem/Tel Aviv, and Beirut—charted by the neoconservative think-tanks, the Christian Right, and the right-wing Zionists who move easily back and forth between Capitol Hill and the Middle East.'

"Now that the Bushcons have followed Hitler’s advice to the letter—using prefabricated Big Lies to rearrange the intellectual furniture of average, often intellectually lazy Americans—the push is on to demonize Syria as the source of evil, including suicide bombings in Iraq (pay no attention to those SAS men lurking about) and the presence of 'al-Qaeda' bad guys who so easily slip across the border, apparently with Bashar Assad’s blessing.

"In short, Operation Iron Fist is all about destabilizing the border and setting up the pretext to conduct bombing raids against Damascus, 'the center of the Bush administration’s roadmap for restructuring the Middle East.'”
 

Khalid Jarrar, Tell Me a Secret, Rape and Resistance, a conversation: On the difficulty of speaking about the resistance, "women might understand it better."

"If someone is trying to rape you, wouldn't you fight back? And then he tries and tries, and you fight and fight and fight, and he insists and you try to hurt him, even if a little to make him go away, you are bleeding, and he tries and hits you, over and over, to make you surrender, your nose is broken, you are screaming in pain, you push and kick, you cry for help, he beats you more and more and more, your tooth is broken, you hit him on the stomach as hard as you could, you see pain on his face, he tries to cover it and look strong, you cant see with your left eye, your throat hurts you because of the screaming, people pass by and do nothing, and you scream and fight with every drop of power, with every piece of strength, with everything, and anything, you realize your life is in danger, tears and blood are all over your face and parts of your body, your clothes are torn in many places..Every part of your body hurts...."

"And then someone on the window, right behind you, drinking ice tea, sitting on a comfortable chair, relaxing and watching the whole scene right from the beginning opens the window and says: hey, what's the matter of you? Why are you so violent?"
 

Wayne Madsen Report, October 1, 2005, Upcoming Special Report "Clearing the baffles for 911": "When submarines are trying to detect the presence, through the use of sonar, of trailing enemy subs, they use a process called 'clearing the baffles.' The submarine turns at least 120 degrees in either direction to detect potential trailing adversaries. The top leadership of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement also 'cleared the baffles' prior to the 911 terrorist attacks -- and any intelligence and law enforcement officer detected, either directly or peripherally, trailing the network we now reflexively call 'Al Qaeda,' was systematically removed from their duties."
 

The occupation of Iraq is illegitimate, therefore Iraqis have a right to resist the occupation of their country
 

"I have a word of advice I would like to offer Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon chieftains who currently preside over the 200 or more hunger-strikers at Guantanamo Bay, 20 of whom are near death.
For God’s sake, let them die.
What more could you possibly want from them?
They’ve already provided you with the subjects you needed for your newly-perfected sense-deprivation techniques and your sadistic methods of torture. They supplied you with the lab-rats for your new drugs, your improved methods of psychological torment, and your sexually-deviant abuses. Now, let them die. The experiment is over. Show that there is some speck of humanity left in your withered heart by allowing these men to pass away with dignity; the dignity you deprived them of in life."
Let them Die or Let them go
 

(Very similar to Dr. Khadduri's of 10:01 PM - above)
Marines, Insurgents Clash in Iraqi Village: "The U.S. military said al-Qaida in Iraq, the country's most fearsome militant group behind a wave of suicide bombings, had taken control of Sadah, eight miles east of the Syrian border. It said the foreign fighters were using the village as a way station when they entered Syria to join the insurgency.

"U.S. troops sealed off the village, 180 miles northwest of Baghdad. In gunbattles and air strikes, the military said U.S. forces killed at least eight insurgents in the village on the first day of the new offensive, named Operation Iron Fist.

"Insurgents drove two vehicles toward one U.S. Marine position, dismounted and began to attack with small-arms fire, the military said. One of the vehicles was found to be rigged with explosives. The gun battle left four insurgents dead, the military said. A fifth surrendered.

"President Bush said he was encouraged by the increasing size and capability of the Iraqi security forces, touting progress on a key measure for when U.S. troops can come home.

"'They have made important gains in recent weeks and months; they are adapting our strategy to meet the needs on the ground; and they're helping us to bring victory in the war on terror,' Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address*."
---------------------------------

* Dakhil, I far prefer the "Weekly radio address" you posted 9:27 PM (above). Something to live for. The background dripping water held great appeal.
 

Retired general: Iraq invasion was 'strategic disaster': “The invasion of Iraq I believe will turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history.”
 

Colonel blames Blair over Iraq 'catastrophe', describing it as "a right rollicking cock-up".
 

The official line, explaining why we must kill as many as possible before they come get us:
"They are leaving Iraq to transfer their training skills in car bombings to their original countries," said Iraqi Interior Minister Jabor.

(ABC News Online tells this story without a single blush.)
 

Inside the secretive Bilderberg Group: "Informal and private networks like Bilderberg have helped to oil the wheels of global politics and globalisation for the past half a century. In the eyes of critics they have undermined democracy, but their supporters believe they are crucial to modern democracy's success. And so long as business and politics remain mutually dependent, they will continue to thrive."
 

Kurt Nimmo, Bali Bombed Again, Intel Op Jemaah Islamiah Suspected: "It is too early to speculate on the motivations of the latest Bali bombing. But we can rest assured it will be the same story—crazed Muslims declaring war on infidels wherever they find them and for the usual murderous religious reasons—and al-Qaeda will once again post a video or audio message on the internet. No doubt this claim for responsibility will come over the next few days and the latest outrage and carnage will be laid at the feet of 'al-Qaeda,' the database of Mujahedeen organized by the CIA and used in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Chechnya, and elsewhere. For the neocons, 'al-Qaeda' is the best thing since the invention of sliced bread."
 

"The Operation Was Hastily Planned And Executed, With Significant Risks And Little Return": "I think the most frustrating thing is there's no sense of accomplishment. . . . You're biding your time and waiting. But then you lose your friends, and it's not even for their own country's freedom. We've been here almost seven months and we don't control the cities. It's no secret. Their intelligence is better than ours."
 

Transcript, October 2, 2005 Meet the Press: Interviewed, Head of the U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid
(Posted for benefit of anyone seeking "Official Talking Points")
If you're tired of reading, it's enough to know that "There are peaks and valleys that you go through, but overall, the trend is good. We're certainly confident. And the most important thing we're confident about is that the Iraqis want to do this. They want to take the fight. They will take the fight."
 

EXTRACT
Opening Up Jewish Eyes: "On September 11, 2001, my little world was knocked off its axis. I quickly found myself among a group of 911 truth seekers who could not accept the government's official fiction of Arab highjackers with boxcutters flying planes into the World Trade Center. ...

"Next came my reeducation about the country of Israel. I was dismayed to learn that it was not the 'lone democracy in the Middle East' anymore than Lee Harvey Oswald was the 'lone gunman' who assassinated John F Kennedy. I was shocked to see the myth of 'A people without a land ...and a land without people' smashed before my eyes. I was horrified to learn that Israel was a racist, apartheid state. I was heartbroken as I read about the massacres and systematic elimination of the Palestinian people, and the twisted fiction that the history books had placed in front of our eyes and between our ears. I saw the myth about how Israel had taken desert land that had been occupied by a nomadic group of savages and turned it into a productive fertile oasis explode before me. ...

"The Israelis had seized the Palestinian people's citrus groves, olive trees, rock quarries and homes. They had brutalized the peoples of that area. They had eradicated farmers, artisans and town dwellers and substituted a work force composed of a settler population. The history of Palestine was one of unspeakable suffering and subjugation, armed displacement, massacre and expulsion.

". . . I learned that Rabbi Fishman had presented a map to the UN's select committee on Palestine based on Theodore Herzel's diaries. It declared Eretz Israel stretched from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates, including all of Palestine, all of Transjordan, Egypt up to the Nile including Cairo, 2/3 of Syria, 40% of Iraq, the southern tier of Turkey, up to and encapsulating Kuwait.

"The Zionists were awarded 55% of the most fertile land.

"The Kermit report stated 'We will use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and cutting off all social services to rid Galilee of its Arab population.'

"It was through the Hidden History of Zionism that I first learned about the Nazi/Zionist collaboration and how the ordinary Jew had been duped by an unconscionable cabal of greed and power. Sadly, I might add, the rank and file Jew is still being duped."
 

International Human Rights Lawyer Points Out Absurdities in Hussein's Legal Defense: "Dr. Curtis Doebbler, well-respected human rights lawyer and law professor, can't get American media to tell the truth about the legal farce going on in Bagdhad. He claims proceedings against the former Iraqi dictator have no merit since initial invasion violated international law. He also says Hussein's court appointed Iraqi attorney has been harrassed and had legal papers stolen by American authorities." *

* What are they afraid of?