Free Iraq
The US's occupation of Iraq will see to it that the Lion of Babylon rises again .. سنـُبعـَث ُ من جَديد ، وإلى ضَـيـرِِهِـم
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| Unrevealed Milestones in the Iraqi National Nuclear Program: 1981-1991 | معالم وأحداث غير مكشوفة في البرنامج النووي الوطني العراقي 1981-1991 | 
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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Some of the benefits of 'Liberation'
"In the early hours of an October morning, a security detail for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi was racing down a mostly empty street in the capital's Karrada neighborhood when it came to a checkpoint set up by the Iraqi army. The soldier at the checkpoint yelled and motioned for the vehicles to stop, according to Iraqi and American security forces who described what happened. But the convoy, which consisted of four or five vehicles carrying 30 men, (emphasis added) did not respond. The soldier fired a warning shot into the air.
That's when the trouble started, said Lt. Col. Robert M. Roth, commander of U.S. Army Task Force 4-46, which is helping train the new Iraqi army.
"The vice president's PSD grabbed the Iraqi army soldier and took him to the vice president's house," Roth said, using the abbreviation for private security details. "They said he tried to assassinate the vice president and refused to hand him over" to proper authorities.The Iraqi Defense Ministry intervened and ultimately persuaded Mahdi's men to let the soldier go, 48 hours later.
Mahdi could not be reached for comment."
Private Security Crews Add to Fear in Baghdad November 28, 2005
These 30 men are foreign mercenaries whose salary is being paid by the Iraqi government to the tune of $1,000 per day per each mercenary... (see previous posting Contract Killers … and fight to the death December 12, 2004, and also Ahmad Al-Chalabi's complaint ".. you know, each one of those 22,000 [mercenaries] makes $1,000 a day. This is $22 million a day, or $7 billion a year. Why is that necessary? They are not answerable to anyone and move around bearing weapons in a provocative manner.’ "
'Provocative' is a bit mild for the British Aegis murderers.
This is one antidote. It is a documentary on the work of one Iraqi resistance sniper named Juba.
See this for background on the songs in the video and on Juba.
This is a previous posting (February 22, 2005) on Snipers in Iraq, where Juba is first referred to.
And this is a Liberator
Sunday, November 27, 2005
A not so idle chatter about Iraq .... and a ‘VP’
In a response to a recent posting here on ‘Vice President’ Adil Abdul Mahdi Shubbar, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?", one email response solicited a sign-post clarification on the evolving lava currents flowing down the volcano in Iraq.
The exchange involved life long friends, all PhD professionals with decades of expertise in their specializations.
Suffice it to label them Friend1, Friend2 and the Elder.
The chatter starts with Friend1 addressing the Elder but with yours truly in sight.
===
Dear Elder,
Regrettably Imad, living in his Canadian cocoon, has lost his bearings and went a mile too far.
There is no need for this vilification of Adil. A similar statement would have been necessary about Saddam and sectarians who kill Iraqis every day thinking that they are marching to heaven. For Imad - A more intelligent approach to your view of political differences is necessary I think.
It is not all black and white!
Friend1
===
Dear Elder
Intelligence is in the eyes of the beholder.
All the statements that I have posted on Adil are either stated by Adil himself, or what is reported about him. I did not write them, except to describe him as an occupier's puppet and expressing my regret to see his intimate handshake.
If Friend1 would find any defense of what he considers 'vilifications' of Adil, then Friend1’s 'statements' would be invited, and then 'intelligence' would be the judge.
As for Qamis Othman (Translation: the shirt of Othman, an Iraqi proverb connoting the continuous laying of a blame for a misdeed on somebody or some issue, no matter whether it truly applies or not), I wonder if Friend1 did read my book, with an open mind, after taking off his Sad Damn glasses, and see the extent of the bloodshed and the suffering brought upon Iraq by the occupation; the exact point that I decried and warned of even before the start of the invasion.
But perhaps Friend1 welcomes that.
And where does Adil fit in this, from his own statements?
This is not a mere political chit-chat.
It is the litmus test of who is a patriot.
All the best
Imad Khadduri
===
I thought I would start with "Dear the Elder", then I thought poor Elder in the middle!
I don't agree with Imad's language because it does not help, but I agree with his sentiment.
What these people are doing in the name of shi'i suffering is inexcusable. Their alliance with Bush is not only immoral, but it is stupid and doomed. They have ended up behaving just like Saddam.
I had told Friend1 that those playing the shi'i sectarian card will be disappointed when the Americans find good strong sunni sectarian allies to play with. Now it is the Americans who have exposed the torture chambers, so it seems this process has started in earnest. I suppose their response will be more latum (translation: breast beating) which is what they are best at.
As for Adil, it is sad to see him sunk into this mire, and I think Imad had it just right when he pointed to the clasp of Bush's arm.
Best,
Friend2
====
Dear Friend2,
I am sure that the Elder would not mind my inserting here his response to the above dialogue, as it is true and I would like to embark on my exposition with it as a basis, and culminating with Adil.
Dear Imad,
Iraq was handed on a plate of gold to the occupiers. There was no need for them to come if we had an intelligent or patriot ruler, instead of a psychopath dictator. What we have today is a result of that.
Regards
The Elder
Indeed, the tearing apart of the fabric of the Iraqi society by Saddam's follies and policies is undeniable. I had written to that effect before the invasion back in February 2002 (when I started writing my English version of the book, page 12):
"Compounded by a ruthless, self-aggrandizing despot that ruled with ever-increasing repression that was perpetrated by about eighteen Security and Intelligence organizations, the Iraqi people suffered immensely. Few Iraqi families have not seen at least a loved one die or imprisoned during Saddam’s ruthless reign of power.
These two repressive factors (The other was the wanton destruction of Iraq's civilian infrastructure through the sustenance of the Economic Sanctions), in addition to two wars, in the eighties and in 1991, had destroyed Iraq’s infrastructure, squandered the accumulated experience of its nation building that was laboriously catered for by its professional class since Iraq’s statehood in 1921 and shredded its social, educational, legal and economic fabric."
Yet, at the same time, I forewarned, and not for love or support of Saddam but for aching for Iraq, of the colossal black cloud of destruction that would result in the aftermath of the invasion (pages 224 and 225, from my rebuttal to friends - some are included in this email list - on why I do not curse Saddam every other line of my articles and interviews):
"... I ask for them to realize that the Americans are utterly lacking a viable plan for Iraq and the Iraqi people after they drop their hundreds of bombs and fire their destructive missiles at Iraq. This will lead to at least tens of thousands of dead Iraqis and the easy defeat of the tattered remains of the Iraqi army. Iraq and the Iraqi people will be in a state of free fall, dropping into a deeper abyss (emphasis as in original), with Turkey, Iran and Israel (with its own agenda against the Palestinians) all eyeing pieces of Iraqi flesh to bite off. The oil has already been marked.
......
The coming war was not launched in the spur of the moment. It is an opportunity seized upon after September of 1991. Its seeds have been planted since the early nineties by a clique of American neoconservative right wing thinkers, with strong sympathies (and some, even ties) to Israeli interests. These thinkers engineered their plans for reshaping the Middle East through their work with the American Enterprise Institute, the Project for the New American Century, and other like-minded organizations.
......
Despite fierce American media support, their arguments are being riddled with holes, yet the war crimes they plan on committing in Iraq will still take place.
My five articles, and the numerous TV and radio interviews, are solely intended to shred even further their flimsy arguments and expose the extent of the misinformation that is beamed to the American people and others to blind their vision of what is actually being enacted.
These neoconservatives will, sooner or later, be fully exposed and cast aside; hopefully they will appear in front of an international war tribunal, along with Saddam. The Iraqi people will resurrect”.
Finally, I would like to quote from the letter to the Iraqi Intelligence and Security agencies, which I had written before my escape from Iraq in 1998 and that was delivered to Al-Sahhaf after my escape (page 198):
"I shall stay outside my country for a limited time, but my love for Iraq will not die because I made sure that it is in the milk that was fed to my children.
....
I will always remain that person who is ready to serve his country and willing to oblige its needs, in the field of my specialization. I wish to confirm to you that my tie to my country will not be severed no matter what distances and time might separate the two of us."
May I again ask Friend1 on what grounds does he draw his ill-conclusions on my allegiances?
Elder, you yourself had correctly predicted, during the Spring of 2003, the political scenario of the freshly occupied Iraq in your article:
.
الزلزال العراقي : الدروس والعبر
ربيع 2003
من الواضح أن تصور ما سيحدث في المستقبل المنظور صعب جدا . فأهمية الزلزال لا تكمن في طريقة حسم المعركة العسكرية فحسب، بل ايضا فيما حل في نفوس أهل البلد ووجدانهم . فمنهم من هو قابل بما يجري، لا بل متعاون معه؛ ومنهم من هو رافض ذلك رفضا قاطعا؛ ومنهم من لا يزال مذهولا جراء ما حدث؛ ومنهم من هو موافق على التعاون ويريد أن يصل الى سدة الحكم، لكن بشروط معينة. ومن المتوقع أن تقبل الأحزاب السياسية جميعها، من دون استثناء، ببقاء القوات الأجنبية الى حين الانتخابات العامة، هذا اذا قررت الحكومة الأميركية الانسحاب كليا حتى بعد تلك الفترة، أو قررت ابقاء قواعد عسكرية في البلد كما ذكر في الصحافة الاميركية ونفاه وزير الدفاع الاميركي .ء
يتوقع أيضا بروز قوى سياسية جديدة على الساحةالعراقية، الى جانب الأحزاب السياسية التي لها جذور وقواعد واسعة على الأرض الآن. لكن من غير الواضح حتى الآن ماهية هذه القوىالسياسية الجديدة، ومدى نفوذها في أوساط الراي العام العراقي: فهل ستعكس القوى الجديدة نواة مجتمع مدني جديد قائم على المؤسسات الحديثة ذات القاعدة الشعبية المتعددة الأطياف، والتي تلتقي على مشروع سياسي محدد، أم العودة أكثر فأكثر الى العشيرة والدين والطائفة والملة؟ ومن غير الواضح كذلك ما اذا سيتم فرز هذه القوىالسياسية الجديدة بطرق سلمية وحضارية، أم عن طريق الصراع المسلح ، وبالذات تحت لواء الاحتلال الاجنبي.ء
ان عدم وضوح الصورة المستقبلية نابع من أننا أمام واقع جديد في طور التكوين ، واقع عسكري أجنبي قوي في مرحلة سقط فيها النظام السياسي العربي بمختلف أنواعه ومشاربه . هناك قيم ومباديء لا يمكن التخلي عنها ، مثل رفض الاحتلال والدفاع عن سيادة البلد. ء
الزلزال العراقي : الدروس والعبر
ربيع 2003
من الواضح أن تصور ما سيحدث في المستقبل المنظور صعب جدا . فأهمية الزلزال لا تكمن في طريقة حسم المعركة العسكرية فحسب، بل ايضا فيما حل في نفوس أهل البلد ووجدانهم . فمنهم من هو قابل بما يجري، لا بل متعاون معه؛ ومنهم من هو رافض ذلك رفضا قاطعا؛ ومنهم من لا يزال مذهولا جراء ما حدث؛ ومنهم من هو موافق على التعاون ويريد أن يصل الى سدة الحكم، لكن بشروط معينة. ومن المتوقع أن تقبل الأحزاب السياسية جميعها، من دون استثناء، ببقاء القوات الأجنبية الى حين الانتخابات العامة، هذا اذا قررت الحكومة الأميركية الانسحاب كليا حتى بعد تلك الفترة، أو قررت ابقاء قواعد عسكرية في البلد كما ذكر في الصحافة الاميركية ونفاه وزير الدفاع الاميركي .ء
يتوقع أيضا بروز قوى سياسية جديدة على الساحةالعراقية، الى جانب الأحزاب السياسية التي لها جذور وقواعد واسعة على الأرض الآن. لكن من غير الواضح حتى الآن ماهية هذه القوىالسياسية الجديدة، ومدى نفوذها في أوساط الراي العام العراقي: فهل ستعكس القوى الجديدة نواة مجتمع مدني جديد قائم على المؤسسات الحديثة ذات القاعدة الشعبية المتعددة الأطياف، والتي تلتقي على مشروع سياسي محدد، أم العودة أكثر فأكثر الى العشيرة والدين والطائفة والملة؟ ومن غير الواضح كذلك ما اذا سيتم فرز هذه القوىالسياسية الجديدة بطرق سلمية وحضارية، أم عن طريق الصراع المسلح ، وبالذات تحت لواء الاحتلال الاجنبي.ء
ان عدم وضوح الصورة المستقبلية نابع من أننا أمام واقع جديد في طور التكوين ، واقع عسكري أجنبي قوي في مرحلة سقط فيها النظام السياسي العربي بمختلف أنواعه ومشاربه . هناك قيم ومباديء لا يمكن التخلي عنها ، مثل رفض الاحتلال والدفاع عن سيادة البلد. ء
.
(Translation:
The Iraqi Earthquake: The lessons and the implications
Spring 2003
…..
It is obvious that any prediction on what will happen in the near future is very difficult. The relevance of the earthquake is not in the military resolution of the conflict itself, but what has transpired in the minds and spirits of the Iraqi people themselves. Some accept what is being enacted, and are even collaborating with it. Some decry and oppose it categorically. Some are still dump founded and confused by what is unfolding. Some agree to cooperate aiming to garnering some official positions, but with certain conditions.
It is anticipated that all political parties, without exception, will agree to the stationing of foreign forces in Iraq until the general election; that is even if the American government would even decide to withdraw completely from Iraq after that period, or has decided to build some military bases in Iraq, as mentioned in the American press and denied by Rumsfeld.
New political forces are also expected to appear on the Iraqi arena, in addition to the political parties that have deep roots in Iraq and large support on the ground at the moment. But what is not clear is what would be the nature of these new political forces, and the extent of their influence in the Iraqi general public. Will these new forces nurture the nucleus of a new secular society to be built upon modern institutions that would reflect the wide spectrum of the Iraqi people that would agree on a unified political agenda, or shall they reflect an accelerated regression to tribal, sectarian and religious trenches?
It is also not clear whether the distinctions between these new political forces would evolve in peaceful and civilized pathways, or resolved through armed struggle, and particularly under the banner of fighting the foreign occupation.
…. The lack of clarity about the immediate future emanates from the fact that we are facing a new situation that is in a state of formation, the reality of the a militarily strong foreign occupation in a period which has witnessed the complete asunder and breakdown of the whole spectrum of the Arabic political will.
There are, however, certain values and principles that can not be discarded, such as the rejection of the occupation and the defense of the sovereignty of the country".
And even more clarifying is your (I am still addressing the Elder) statement in the article “The Coming Agenda” that was published in the Al-Nahar Lebanese daily during the first week of March, 2003 on the eve of the invasion:
"Despite the welter of explanations and pretexts relating to the nature of the forthcoming foreign military rule in Iraq , there will be only one outcome. From that moment on, the operative words will be: resistance to foreign occupation, with all that this implies."
I was stating the same thing, though in a more descriptive 'language', as Friend2 complains, in my interviews before the invasion when I predicted that 'Rivers of Blood will Flow', to the consternation of some of the interviewers who implied that I was 'threatening' the American people; and on two occasions they terminated the interview abruptly and sent the RCMP to investigate me upon the request of 'American Intelligence' who claimed to have received complaints from some American listeners. I do submit that language does wither in the face of the blood that has been and will be shed in Iraq, except for those addicted to pontification. Force is the only way to confront the force of the occupiers (the initial illegal 'shock and awe' invasion and the following 160 'operations', and counting), and as the Resistance is irrefutably proving. I believe this is the 'implication' that you alluded to above.
In contrast to the above declared positions, I am trying to recall Friend1's arguments, and positions, over the past six years, whenever we met. Almost invariably, when we would touch any issue relating to Iraq's situation, Friend1 would immediately slam on the brakes and skid uncontrollably into an anti-Saddam speech, only to crash into a short-change vision of how to move forward.
It is alluring for some to keep repeating the mantra of 'spreading democracy' in Iraq and other Arab states. It should be noted that the only 'democracy' that the Americans, and the Israelis, want (and allow) for Iraq, Palestine and for other Arab states are governments that they themselves support (and in more ways than are obvious), and that these governments do effectively police and 'control' their people for the interests of the American and Israeli agendas; not a government that 'represents' its people.
(Translation:
The Iraqi Earthquake: The lessons and the implications
Spring 2003
…..
It is obvious that any prediction on what will happen in the near future is very difficult. The relevance of the earthquake is not in the military resolution of the conflict itself, but what has transpired in the minds and spirits of the Iraqi people themselves. Some accept what is being enacted, and are even collaborating with it. Some decry and oppose it categorically. Some are still dump founded and confused by what is unfolding. Some agree to cooperate aiming to garnering some official positions, but with certain conditions.
It is anticipated that all political parties, without exception, will agree to the stationing of foreign forces in Iraq until the general election; that is even if the American government would even decide to withdraw completely from Iraq after that period, or has decided to build some military bases in Iraq, as mentioned in the American press and denied by Rumsfeld.
New political forces are also expected to appear on the Iraqi arena, in addition to the political parties that have deep roots in Iraq and large support on the ground at the moment. But what is not clear is what would be the nature of these new political forces, and the extent of their influence in the Iraqi general public. Will these new forces nurture the nucleus of a new secular society to be built upon modern institutions that would reflect the wide spectrum of the Iraqi people that would agree on a unified political agenda, or shall they reflect an accelerated regression to tribal, sectarian and religious trenches?
It is also not clear whether the distinctions between these new political forces would evolve in peaceful and civilized pathways, or resolved through armed struggle, and particularly under the banner of fighting the foreign occupation.
…. The lack of clarity about the immediate future emanates from the fact that we are facing a new situation that is in a state of formation, the reality of the a militarily strong foreign occupation in a period which has witnessed the complete asunder and breakdown of the whole spectrum of the Arabic political will.
There are, however, certain values and principles that can not be discarded, such as the rejection of the occupation and the defense of the sovereignty of the country".
And even more clarifying is your (I am still addressing the Elder) statement in the article “The Coming Agenda” that was published in the Al-Nahar Lebanese daily during the first week of March, 2003 on the eve of the invasion:
"Despite the welter of explanations and pretexts relating to the nature of the forthcoming foreign military rule in Iraq , there will be only one outcome. From that moment on, the operative words will be: resistance to foreign occupation, with all that this implies."
I was stating the same thing, though in a more descriptive 'language', as Friend2 complains, in my interviews before the invasion when I predicted that 'Rivers of Blood will Flow', to the consternation of some of the interviewers who implied that I was 'threatening' the American people; and on two occasions they terminated the interview abruptly and sent the RCMP to investigate me upon the request of 'American Intelligence' who claimed to have received complaints from some American listeners. I do submit that language does wither in the face of the blood that has been and will be shed in Iraq, except for those addicted to pontification. Force is the only way to confront the force of the occupiers (the initial illegal 'shock and awe' invasion and the following 160 'operations', and counting), and as the Resistance is irrefutably proving. I believe this is the 'implication' that you alluded to above.
In contrast to the above declared positions, I am trying to recall Friend1's arguments, and positions, over the past six years, whenever we met. Almost invariably, when we would touch any issue relating to Iraq's situation, Friend1 would immediately slam on the brakes and skid uncontrollably into an anti-Saddam speech, only to crash into a short-change vision of how to move forward.
It is alluring for some to keep repeating the mantra of 'spreading democracy' in Iraq and other Arab states. It should be noted that the only 'democracy' that the Americans, and the Israelis, want (and allow) for Iraq, Palestine and for other Arab states are governments that they themselves support (and in more ways than are obvious), and that these governments do effectively police and 'control' their people for the interests of the American and Israeli agendas; not a government that 'represents' its people.
I have rarely heard the word 'justice' being invoked to what has happened and is happening in Iraq and Palestine, but which the Resistance in Iraq and in Palestine manifest through their struggle. If you lived under Saddam, even the thought of this word (justice) was an anathema that was severely punished once it was sensed, except for the many expatriates living comfortably abroad. Now that they have returned under the protection of the occupiers and are serving their interests, they have morphed into that brutal role. Which brings us to Adil.
My first inkling of Adil's position on Iraqi oil was in December 27, 2004. "The government, which is supposed to be replaced after elections scheduled for January, will also pass a new law that will further open Iraq's huge oil reserves to foreign companies. U.S. firms are expected to gain the lion's share of access in a process estimated to be worth billions of dollars. "So I think this is very promising to the American investors and to American enterprises, certainly to oil companies," Abdel Mahdi said at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Tuesday."
He repeated the same to the same audience on February 11, 2005:
"Abdel Mahdi .. told the National Press Club in Washington in so many words, and to the delight of corporate US oil majors, that a new oil law would privatize Iraq's oil industry. The new law would allow investment in both downstream and "maybe even upstream" operations, meaning foreigners could become de facto owners of Iraqi oilfields. No wonder Mahdi has been touted by US corporate media as the next best candidate for prime minister".
By what authority is Adil promising Iraq's oil to the US companies?
Elder, you have known Adil intimately for five decades now. From your occasional meetings and contacts with Adil over the past two decades at his Paris exile, and as he changed his political colours, I wonder when was the first time that you recognized Adil's generous position on Iraq's oil? That would be indeed revealing.
As for Adil's position on 'terrorists', I am reminded of my meeting with him in Paris in 1966 when he tried very hard to convince me to drop my PhD program and to return to Iraq to join the 'revolutionaries' of the Mao-bent Communist faction, that he then fully supported, as they were waging a 'guerilla war of liberation' against whoever at the time. Now, "Abdul Mahdi had this to say about Fallujah, the city that was obliterated by the U.S. armed forces a year ago. "It is one of the most peaceful areas in Iraq. I don't know whether the people are happy or not. But it is one of the most peaceful cities."
Is this now the 'peace' that we aspire for Western Iraq under Adil's vision?
"This week marks the one year anniversary of the barbarous and criminal US assault on Fallujah in which, according to "Iraqi NGO's and medical workers…between 4,000 and 6,000" mostly civilians were killed. In addition, "36,000 of the city's 50,000 homes were destroyed, along with 60 schools and 65 mosques and shrines," and up to "200,000 residents were forced to flee, creating a refugee population the size of Tacoma." Creating a wasteland is a form of "collective punishment" and is a war crime. The leadership responsible for the wasting of Fallujah has yet to be held accountable." Wasting Fallujah
My first inkling of Adil's position on Iraqi oil was in December 27, 2004. "The government, which is supposed to be replaced after elections scheduled for January, will also pass a new law that will further open Iraq's huge oil reserves to foreign companies. U.S. firms are expected to gain the lion's share of access in a process estimated to be worth billions of dollars. "So I think this is very promising to the American investors and to American enterprises, certainly to oil companies," Abdel Mahdi said at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Tuesday."
He repeated the same to the same audience on February 11, 2005:
"Abdel Mahdi .. told the National Press Club in Washington in so many words, and to the delight of corporate US oil majors, that a new oil law would privatize Iraq's oil industry. The new law would allow investment in both downstream and "maybe even upstream" operations, meaning foreigners could become de facto owners of Iraqi oilfields. No wonder Mahdi has been touted by US corporate media as the next best candidate for prime minister".
By what authority is Adil promising Iraq's oil to the US companies?
Elder, you have known Adil intimately for five decades now. From your occasional meetings and contacts with Adil over the past two decades at his Paris exile, and as he changed his political colours, I wonder when was the first time that you recognized Adil's generous position on Iraq's oil? That would be indeed revealing.
As for Adil's position on 'terrorists', I am reminded of my meeting with him in Paris in 1966 when he tried very hard to convince me to drop my PhD program and to return to Iraq to join the 'revolutionaries' of the Mao-bent Communist faction, that he then fully supported, as they were waging a 'guerilla war of liberation' against whoever at the time. Now, "Abdul Mahdi had this to say about Fallujah, the city that was obliterated by the U.S. armed forces a year ago. "It is one of the most peaceful areas in Iraq. I don't know whether the people are happy or not. But it is one of the most peaceful cities."
Is this now the 'peace' that we aspire for Western Iraq under Adil's vision?
"This week marks the one year anniversary of the barbarous and criminal US assault on Fallujah in which, according to "Iraqi NGO's and medical workers…between 4,000 and 6,000" mostly civilians were killed. In addition, "36,000 of the city's 50,000 homes were destroyed, along with 60 schools and 65 mosques and shrines," and up to "200,000 residents were forced to flee, creating a refugee population the size of Tacoma." Creating a wasteland is a form of "collective punishment" and is a war crime. The leadership responsible for the wasting of Fallujah has yet to be held accountable." Wasting Fallujah
.
I had previously used this metaphor for Iraq's approaching calamity. Iraq is like an antique vase, deeply fractured all over but was still held together, before the occupation, by a tight metal ring around the neck of the vase, meaning Saddam and his Intelligence and Security. Bush was going to fire a bullet into that vase which would shatter the whole structure, and nobody would be able to predict where the pieces will fall. But we, the Iraqis, will rebuild Iraq. We have done it several times before. However, this time, we will not be easily forgetting the injustice of what occurred, who incurred it and we shall not be forgetting to exact retribution, for generations to come. Mark my words.
I was about to end here when I received this follow-up email from Friend1, which will be appropriate to add for completeness sake and for the tact that is now posited:
Dear Imad,
I once again repeat that you have gone more than a mile too far; two miles this time!
Knowing how super-charged you tend to become, I have some sympathy to your condition of isolation. However, your language is unacceptable I am afraid. The people you are associating your "good" sentiments with are unfortunately those who maim women and children and kill people who are poor and those seeking work (e.g Khadimiyah Mustar) or those traveling South in Garage Al Nahda and so forth. Unfortunately, "Paradise" may be littered with so many fools who create hell on earth like that imbecile Sajida who did not have more than 6th grade education and did not know what "Fitna" is when asked by Jordanians. The "monster" we should never forget is going to be on trial next Monday and I guess his supporters, including some intelligent people , will try to make this megalomaniac a hero again. To me, he is "the monster".
I hope Imad that you would one day condemn those who blow up innocent Iraqis under false pretexts of Moqawamat AlMuhtal (translation: resisting the occupier) hoping to seize our people's hearts once more. This will not happen as our people have been maimed for too long. It is time that honest people look to the future of their country and how to minimize its losses.
That Adil should shake hands with Bush and get 4 billion $ in debt relief in return is called diplomacy and that diplomacy will one day get Iraq into real independence, including economic relief from our 125 billion debt that Saddam and his party bequeathed to our poor people through their muzaidat (translation: bidding with slogans) ! I have little doubt that their cash balances are part of the reason we hold so much debt.I guess your mind is fixed once more!!
It is after all black and white: isn't it?
Regards to your wife and to my good friend the Elder. Unlike Imad, I am a democrat and can listen to his diatribes with a cool head.
Friend1
Pushing furiously on his brakes, he again slams into his obsession, the 'monster'.
For the first time, however, I see a glimmer of Friend1's political thought, namely, Adil's "diplomacy that will one day get Iraq into real independence".
How the neocons do applaud, especially also after Chalabi's recent round of visitations to their major 'think-tanks'. Servicing them is to be Iraq's 'real independence'. Elder, I still believe in your statement: "the operative words will be: resistance to foreign occupation, with all that this implies." Obviously, I doubt whether Friend1 does.
Now, what does "all that this implies" mean?
Friend1 has surely some grasp of CIA history and their Phoenix and Salvador atrocities that, with their locally trained militias, had led to the death of tens of thousands in Vietnam and Salvador. Even before the start of the invasion, Alawi visited CIA's headquarters in Langley and offered his cooperation to similar CIA operations in Iraq, the 'apparent' results of which I have already posted.
"Both Robert Dreyfus and Seymour Hersh affirm that Allawi, working with then CIA chief George Tenet, started building up a secret death squad division similar to those operated by the Americans in Vietnam in 1968 as part of the notorious Operation Phoenix. The budget for these "security" operations run by Allawi is a most princely $3 billion, taken from the $87 billion voted by Congress for "reconstruction". These funds are laundered to Allawi's security apparatus via the so-called American Special Air Forces in Iraq. The basic personnel of this outfit is 275 CIA officers plus a handful of former Iraqi intelligence officers who, led by a renegade officer, Ibrahim AlJanabi are now working with the Americans. The outlines of this force were laid down in January 2003 when Allawi visited CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It seems Allawi received further instructions at that visit for soon afterward he started writing copious articles that were duly published in the US press (Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal) and one Arabian Gulf region newspaper (Emirates based AlEtihad). The main thrust of these articles was to praise US security and intelligence organisations and support their operations in Iraq against "terrorism" - the word Allawi uses to describe virtually all armed resistance in Iraq."
Pushing furiously on his brakes, he again slams into his obsession, the 'monster'.
For the first time, however, I see a glimmer of Friend1's political thought, namely, Adil's "diplomacy that will one day get Iraq into real independence".
How the neocons do applaud, especially also after Chalabi's recent round of visitations to their major 'think-tanks'. Servicing them is to be Iraq's 'real independence'. Elder, I still believe in your statement: "the operative words will be: resistance to foreign occupation, with all that this implies." Obviously, I doubt whether Friend1 does.
Now, what does "all that this implies" mean?
Friend1 has surely some grasp of CIA history and their Phoenix and Salvador atrocities that, with their locally trained militias, had led to the death of tens of thousands in Vietnam and Salvador. Even before the start of the invasion, Alawi visited CIA's headquarters in Langley and offered his cooperation to similar CIA operations in Iraq, the 'apparent' results of which I have already posted.
"Both Robert Dreyfus and Seymour Hersh affirm that Allawi, working with then CIA chief George Tenet, started building up a secret death squad division similar to those operated by the Americans in Vietnam in 1968 as part of the notorious Operation Phoenix. The budget for these "security" operations run by Allawi is a most princely $3 billion, taken from the $87 billion voted by Congress for "reconstruction". These funds are laundered to Allawi's security apparatus via the so-called American Special Air Forces in Iraq. The basic personnel of this outfit is 275 CIA officers plus a handful of former Iraqi intelligence officers who, led by a renegade officer, Ibrahim AlJanabi are now working with the Americans. The outlines of this force were laid down in January 2003 when Allawi visited CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It seems Allawi received further instructions at that visit for soon afterward he started writing copious articles that were duly published in the US press (Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal) and one Arabian Gulf region newspaper (Emirates based AlEtihad). The main thrust of these articles was to praise US security and intelligence organisations and support their operations in Iraq against "terrorism" - the word Allawi uses to describe virtually all armed resistance in Iraq."
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(By the way, the first 'political kidnapping' in Iraq took place in 1962 by Adil and Allawi, both staunch Ba'athist at the time. They kidnapped the Medical University Dean because he refused to declare a holiday on a Finals test day to accommodate a Ba'athist demonstration.
An Update: Now, in an abrupt change of tack and with tongue in cheek, 'People are doing the same as [in] Saddam's time and worse,' Ayad Allawi told The Observer. 'It is an appropriate comparison. People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same things.').
Add to the above mentioned kind of US (and UK) implemented covert terror, the death squads of Badr and SCIRI (Adil’s party), the Wolf Brigade and the Scorpion Brigades of Al-Shahwani (whose salary is paid directly by the CIA), and Adnan Thabit's (ex-Ba'athist) Special Police Commandos that have led to extensive torture and extrajudicial killings in Iraq.
Adil 'diplomatically' states: "There is terrorism on only one side," he said. "Inappropriate acts by the other side, by the police—this is something else. This is a reaction.", and, "You can't fight terrorism without attacking some popular areas."
The fury of what is unleashed by the "reaction" of these terror squads is best captured by the eloquent Iraqi young lady Riverbend, with which I totally and humbly concur:
“Gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms shot dead an aging Sunni tribal leader and three of his sons in their beds on Wednesday, relatives said…”
Except when you read it on the internet, it’s nothing like seeing scenes of it on television.
They showed the corpses and the family members- an elderly woman wailing and clawing at her face and hair and screaming that soldiers from the Ministry of Interior had killed her sons. They shot them in front of their mother, wives and children… Even when they slaughter sheep, they take them away from the fold so that the other sheep aren’t terrorized by the scene.
In war, you think the unthinkable. You imagine the unimaginable. When you can’t get to sleep at night, your mind wanders to cover various possibilities. Trying to guess and determine the future of a war-torn nation is nearly impossible, so your mind focuses on the more tangible- friends… Near and distant relations.
I think that during these last two and a half years, every single Iraqi inside of Iraq has considered the possibility of losing one or more people in the family. I try to imagine losing the people I love most in the world- whether it’s the possibility of having them buried under the rubble… or the possibility of having them brutally murdered by extremists… or blown to bits by a car bomb… or abducted for ransom… or brutally shot at a checkpoint. All disturbing possibilities.
I try to imagine what would happen to me, personally, should this occur. How long would it take for the need for revenge to settle in? How long would it take to be recruited by someone who looks for people who have nothing to lose? People who lost it all to one blow. What I think the world doesn’t understand is that people don’t become suicide bombers because- like the world is told- they get seventy or however many virgins in paradise. People become suicide bombers because it is a vengeful end to a life no longer worth living- a life probably violently stripped of its humanity by a local terrorist- or a foreign soldier.
I hate suicide bombers. I hate the way my heart beats chaotically every time I pass by a suspicious-looking car- and every car looks suspicious these days. I hate the way Sunni mosques and Shia mosques are being targeted right and left. I hate seeing the bodies pile up in hospitals, teeth clenched in pain, wailing men and women…
But I completely understand how people get there."
When it is a matter of a war crime being committed against my country and many tens of thousands of Iraqis "wasted", yes, it is white and black.
Is it that grey to you, Friend1?
Before you slam on your brakes, refer to 'justice' above.
Imad Khadduri
When it is a matter of a war crime being committed against my country and many tens of thousands of Iraqis "wasted", yes, it is white and black.
Is it that grey to you, Friend1?
Before you slam on your brakes, refer to 'justice' above.
Imad Khadduri
===
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PS: I received this email from yet another Friend, which I thought might put the final touches to the above discourse:
"Dear Imad
Perhaps for brevity sake, you appear to have missed clarifying a point that I have heard you elaborate about in a previous conversation with you.
Friend1 takes sanctity in the fact that Adil “should shake hands with Bush and get 4 billion $ debt relief in return for, is called diplomacy and that diplomacy will one day get Iraq into real independence, including economic relief from our 125 billion debt that Saddam and his party bequeathed to our poor people through their muzaidat (translation: bidding with slogans) !”
So the whole crisis in Iraq now is a matter of the "monsters' " debt? and paying back Iraq’s debt is a guarantee “for real independence”?
I don’t know who your Friend1 works for, but his appraisal of Iraq’s quandary is the flimsiest that I have heard.
Would your Friend1 consider the following scenario: that the occupiers will soon be kicked out of Iraq and by (civilized) international norms they will have to compensate Iraq and the Iraqi people for the costs of their illegal occupation, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Isn’t that what Kuwait and Iran still demand from Iraq? Isn’t that what is done for German Jews, Lockerbie victims (to the tune of billions) and several American relatives of Israelis killed by Palestinian ‘suicide bombers’? Or is ‘Corporate’ debt more sacrosanct? Once Iraq is fairly treated in this matter, it might then settle the ‘debts’ of the ‘monster’, and save Adil a lot of stooping and Friend1 a lot of mopping.
I just noticed Abu Hassan’s article on Col. Ted Westhusing in the Comments field. How appropriate here is Evelyn’s comment to it: “Regarding the psychologist, I note: "Westhusing struggled with the idea that monetary values could outweigh moral ones in war. This, she said, was a flaw." I wonder!!! ”
Between the corruption that Bremer spawned in Iraq and Friend1’s premise of Adil’s ulterior motive (which is probably what Adil himself flaunts about), your title “with friends like these, who needs enemies” does seem relevant."
===
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Sequel:
Elder/Friend2
I do not have Imad's address on my Lotus Notes. Please forward it to him and I do hope that he reads its meaning carefully and puts it in his Abu Tammam website as well.
Hopefully, this fits as political black and white as well !
Friend1
Attachments:
Public Opinion Survey in Baghdad "Trial of Saddam Hussein", November 2005
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I have sent this to Imad with your comment, but I really do not understand why you are so interested in it.
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I think that one of the biggest crimes of the occupation is how they are confused and are confusing issues of guilt and punishment, with the result of destroying any healing process. There were good examples of dealing with the aftermath of a vicious dictatorships and they were discussed by the UN and others; but these were discarded, probably for unsavoury political purposes.
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I do not believe it is possible for Saddam to have a meaningful trial, but the bizarre situation is that he is treated with such respect and accorded all his formal rights, while the people in the streets and in their homes are humiliated and viciously attacked by the same authorities in classic Saddam style.
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This is a disgraceful soap [cheap TV show], not justice.
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Can the TRUTH of those 35 years be reduced to whether he actually ordered the murder of people in Dujail or whether he only ordered an investigation?
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I am really amazed how uncritical you have become. This is a power game that is exercised over the minds and emotions of people.
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Aside from all this, I would be interested to know whether this Iraq Centre for Research & Strategic Studies has done any serious research, and how it is funded. It takes all sorts.
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Friend2
Thursday, November 24, 2005
طاري ظاري
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وحين سئل مثنى حارث الضاري الناطق باسم الهيئة من قبل احدى القنوات الفضائية كيف ستضمنون التزام الاحتلال بما تتفقون عليه اليوم من المطالبة بجدولة الانسحاب؟ قال : عندما يدعوه العراقيون كافة من مختلف الطوائف سوف يشعر بالاحراج وينسحب !! الادارة الامريكية ستشعر بالاحراج لأن مثنى وجماعته يعتقدون ذلك أو يريدوننا ان نعتقد ذلك! امريكا التي اعتاد اصغر جندي من ابنائها في العراق ان يضع قدمه على رأس اكبر عميل من المنطقة الخضراء دون ان يشعر بأي احراج . امريكا التي لم تشعر بالاحراج من شعبها ولا من شعوب اوربا ولا من الامم المتحدة ولا من الدول الكبرى والصغرى التي عارضت الحرب والغزو ، سوف تشعر بالاحراج لأن حفنة من الدمى التي صنعتها وتصنعها باستمرار ستقول لها من داخل المنطقة الخضراء التي تحميها بجنودها : من فضلك اخرجي لم نعد نريدك.."ء
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بثينة الناصري
November 22, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
We know .... You did not really need to prove it ... except to yourself
"... What I was raised to consider "Judeo-Christian ethics" are conspicuously absent in occupied Mesopotamia.
U.S. troops have tortured and sexually abused innocent civilians, and killed tens of thousands. From the bizarre killing of the Baghdad Zoo's prized Bengal tiger to the contamination of land, rivers and atmosphere, to the doubling of child malnutrition, the invasion piles up crime upon crime.
It is as though it were seeking to so impress the subject population with arbitrary cruelty that it will be terrorized into submission. Indeed, Iraqis compare this occupation with the Mongol invasion led by Hulegu Khan in the 1250s, which destroyed Baghdad's canal network, sacked the library, and slaughtered 80,000 men, women and children. (added emphasis)
Hulegu (grandson of Genghis Khan) had demanded that the last Abbasid caliph, al-Mutasim**, recognize Mongol sovereignty, rather like George W. Bush demanded Saddam grovel before U.S. imperial demands. Al-Mutasim refused, thinking the Muslim world would rally to his side should the Mongols invade. He miscalculated.
Today's barbaric occupiers display Mongol-like disrespect for their imperial prize. (added emphasis)
The Bombing of the Malwiya Minaret April 4, 2005
(See the previous posting on this subject)
One might also add here the occupier's puppets' connivance in this pillage.
Nor shall we forget, for generations to come, to exact retribution.
**PS: The Caliph was Al- Musta'sim rather than Al-Mutasim, who ruled nearly 420 years earlier.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
White phosphorous round hits Bush ... Finally
Neither Cheney's 'smokescreens' nor Rumsfeld's 'illuminating' insights that were showered for several years upon the (till now) gullible American public are going to spare president Bush from Murtha's "Willie Pete".
(White phosphorus is highly flammable and ignites on contact with oxygen. If the substance hits a person's body, it will burn until deprived of oxygen.
Globalsecurity.org, a defence website, says: "Phosphorus burns on the skin are deep and painful... These weapons are particularly nasty because white phosphorus continues to burn until it disappears... it could burn right down to the bone.")
Public support in the US for the war against Iraq was founded on a multi-tiered edifice of falsehood and deceit, coordinated by the US government and faithfully amplified by the spotlights of the corporate media.
The American public has now blinked.
No exit
Monday, November 21, 2005
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
"It is time to start waving the bloody shirt.
There is no longer any doubt that the men that the United States has installed in power in Iraq are monsters. Not only that, but they are monsters armed, trained and supported by George W. Bush's administration.
The very same Bush administration that defends torture of captives in the so-called War on Terrorism is using 150,000 U.S. troops to support a regime in Baghdad for which torture, assassination and other war crimes are routine.
So far, it appears that the facts are these: that Iraq's interior ministry, whose top officials, strike forces and police commando units (including the so-called Wolf Brigade) are controlled by paramilitary units from Shiite militias, maintained a medieval torture chamber; that inside that facility, hundreds of mostly Sunni Arab men were bestialized, with electric drills skewering their bones, with their skins flayed off, and more; that roving units of death-squad commandos are killing countless other Sunni Arab men in order to terrorize the Iraqi opposition.
...Last week I had a chilling encounter with one of the monsters responsible for the Murder Inc. units run by Badr and by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). At a Washington think tank, I met Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq's so-called deputy president and a SCIRI official.
When I asked Mahdi about reports that Iraqi police and interior ministry squads were carrying out assassinations and other illegal acts, he didn't deny it—but, he said, such acts were merely a reaction to the terrorism of the resistance.
"There is terrorism on only one side," he said. "Inappropriate acts by the other side, by the police—this is something else. This is a reaction."
As far as civilian casualties in Sunni towns, he had this to say: "You can't fight terrorism without attacking some popular areas."
I also asked him about the Badr Brigade, the Iranian-backed paramilitary force that is the main domestic army propping up Abdul Mahdi's Shiite coalition, he said "they are disarmed," which is patently absurd.
He added: "They participate fully in the political process."
Abdul Mahdi had this to say about Fallujah, the city that was obliterated by the U.S. armed forces a year ago. "It is one of the most peaceful areas in Iraq. I don't know whether the people are happy or not. But it is one of the most peaceful cities."
Our Monsters In Iraq November, 18, 2005
Several previous postings on this site referred to Adil Abdul Mahdi Shubbar:
- Oil-for-Food is now Oil-for-Grease Decmeber 27, 2004
- Have you counted the votes yet? January 28, 2005 (where I predicted that he might be the next Prime Minister, which is still on the cards)
- On Iraqi People, Resistance and Oil versus American bases February 5, 2005
- Iraqi oil (sp)oil .... and it may well get spoiled February, 15, 2005
- Corralling two Neoconservatives into Baghdad April 9, 2005
I had known Adil since the 1950's, when he was mentoring me in Ba'athist ideology, which I had abandoned in the early sixties and have never returned to.
His younger brother, Hashim, was my best friend. I chose the nomme de guerre of Abu Hashim, in his tribute, when I joined the Palestinian Freedom Fighters in 1968.
Upon the assassination of his older brother Ghalib in Baghdad last month, and as decency and our traditions dictate, I had extended my condolences to Adil's family, and to him,
Personal condolences October 30, 2005
to the consternation of some friends of mine who decried my show of decency to a man who has transformed his allegiances to a willing American puppet.
I had sent an email to a mutual friend of ours, who is still in Baghdad and who knew Adil even more intimately than myself, on October 08, 2004 stating that:
"It is most painful seeing the attached picture of Adil."
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Advice on how to drive your car in Baghdad
The following instructions are in Arabic:
November 20, 2005
See a previous posting on this site:
We are not welcome here. You Stay Away !! April 23, 2005
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The below sign states: 'Please, A Very Serious Warning - We are authorized to fire on any vehicle that approaches the convoy less than 50 meters'
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Sovereignty is : There is a 50 meters distance between you and death every time you leave your home in your own country.
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The sign has been apparently updated now to a 100 meters, instead of the 50 meters death distance (Can you read a sign that far away?)
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Rewriting history, Mr Bush? .. As I was saying (Some of my interviews - video and audio clips)
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“While it’s perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began.”
Bush: Critics try to rewrite Iraq war history November 12, 2005
The following are recorded radio and TV interviews that I gave before the occupation of Iraq, that never got to Bush (well, we rather ought to leave that impression to future 'history', shall we?):
The first radio interview with Amy Goodman from Democracy Now on November 27, 2002 upon finally managing to publish my first article "Iraq's non-nuclear capability" in yellowtimes.org on November 21, 2002.
The first TV interview with CTV's CanadaAm Show on January 31, 2003 when I decided to come out publicly in full.
A TV interview with CBC (requires RealOne Player) following Colin Powell's infamous lies to the UN Security Council on February 8, 2003. (This is the sound track of it on Windows Media Player for those without RealOne Player).
A Chicago "This is Hell" radio interview on February 22, 2005.
This is how Charles Duelfer, (former deputy executive chairman, U.N. Special Commission on Iraq [UNSCOM]; former special adviser to the director of central intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; former head, Iraq Survey Group), explained why statements, such as the above, were not heeded by the American "Intelligence", and why they never got to Bush:
"QUESTIONER: The second one was a fellow who was a close adviser on the nuclear side, who went on to Canada--actually escaped from Saddam, went off to Canada and while--and he was very quiet for a long time because he was scared, but then as he saw war coming he actually went public and said, you know, "I was very close to the nuclear side and nothing was going on there. This was over for years." Now, that we paid a lot of attention not only to the Curve Balls, but we also to--the Saddam's bomb-maker and people like that, who got a tremendous amount of attention. Both of these reports, which were available at great length, I am wondering what the--how they were perceived inside the community and if they got any attention at all. I'm told that the fellow in Canada didn't--I'm sorry, his name escapes me--was never even interviewed by the CIA.
DUELFER: The system--you know, if you have a 100 people in the day who say, you know, "I was driving in Baghdad and I didn't see anything," it doesn't make it to the president's desk. It's just a--it's unnatural. I mean that, you know, nothing is happening, so you are going to report that to the president? (emphasis added)
But you if you do get a guy, you know, who says something is going on, then that attracts attention. I don't know, is it--part of it is human nature and part of it's a systemic problem."
But, but .. "It's just a -- it's unnatural" (A previous posting on this site on July 4, 2005)
“While it’s perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began.”
Bush: Critics try to rewrite Iraq war history November 12, 2005
The following are recorded radio and TV interviews that I gave before the occupation of Iraq, that never got to Bush (well, we rather ought to leave that impression to future 'history', shall we?):
The first radio interview with Amy Goodman from Democracy Now on November 27, 2002 upon finally managing to publish my first article "Iraq's non-nuclear capability" in yellowtimes.org on November 21, 2002.
The first TV interview with CTV's CanadaAm Show on January 31, 2003 when I decided to come out publicly in full.
A TV interview with CBC (requires RealOne Player) following Colin Powell's infamous lies to the UN Security Council on February 8, 2003. (This is the sound track of it on Windows Media Player for those without RealOne Player).
A Chicago "This is Hell" radio interview on February 22, 2005.
Two interviews with Dubai's Business Channel in Arabic:
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مقابلة تلفزيونية مع قناة دبي التجارية 29 آذار 2003 الحلقة الأولى
مقابلة تلفزيونية مع قناة دبي التجارية 30 آذار 2003 الحلقة الثانية
.مقابلة تلفزيونية مع قناة دبي التجارية 29 آذار 2003 الحلقة الأولى
مقابلة تلفزيونية مع قناة دبي التجارية 30 آذار 2003 الحلقة الثانية
This is how Charles Duelfer, (former deputy executive chairman, U.N. Special Commission on Iraq [UNSCOM]; former special adviser to the director of central intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; former head, Iraq Survey Group), explained why statements, such as the above, were not heeded by the American "Intelligence", and why they never got to Bush:
"QUESTIONER: The second one was a fellow who was a close adviser on the nuclear side, who went on to Canada--actually escaped from Saddam, went off to Canada and while--and he was very quiet for a long time because he was scared, but then as he saw war coming he actually went public and said, you know, "I was very close to the nuclear side and nothing was going on there. This was over for years." Now, that we paid a lot of attention not only to the Curve Balls, but we also to--the Saddam's bomb-maker and people like that, who got a tremendous amount of attention. Both of these reports, which were available at great length, I am wondering what the--how they were perceived inside the community and if they got any attention at all. I'm told that the fellow in Canada didn't--I'm sorry, his name escapes me--was never even interviewed by the CIA.
DUELFER: The system--you know, if you have a 100 people in the day who say, you know, "I was driving in Baghdad and I didn't see anything," it doesn't make it to the president's desk. It's just a--it's unnatural. I mean that, you know, nothing is happening, so you are going to report that to the president? (emphasis added)
But you if you do get a guy, you know, who says something is going on, then that attracts attention. I don't know, is it--part of it is human nature and part of it's a systemic problem."
But, but .. "It's just a -- it's unnatural" (A previous posting on this site on July 4, 2005)
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Update:
"The book said Dr. Alhaddad flew home in mid-September 2002 and had a series of meetings with CIA analysts. She relayed her brother's information that there was no nuclear program.
A CIA operative later told Dr. Alhaddad's husband that the agency believed her brother was lying. In all, the book says, some 30 family members of Iraqis made trips to their native country to contact Iraqi weapons scientists, and all of them reported that the programs had been abandoned."
The "we did not know" lie January 3, 2006
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Rewriting history, indeed!
Did you say write?
Did you say write?
"They hate us, .. and they hate freedom."
"At a rough Army outpost, just south of Iraq's capital city, some U.S. soldiers lounge along a row of makeshift benches, sharing with one another some recently obtained "intelligence."
"They keep their foot soldiers drugged," says one.
"Most are from other Middle Eastern countries, coming over the borders to fight us here," says another.
"Once," interjects a third, "a bus drove up into the middle of one town, and over the loudspeaker, a man asked who wanted to give himself to Allah. And right there 20 men jumped on board."
"They hate us," a final soldier adds, "and they hate freedom."
Zhou Dynasty strategist Sun Tzu's sagest advice, "know your enemy," has never been easy to follow. But some Iraq experts caution that, in this conflict, soldiers and civilians alike may have forgotten it altogether. What substitutes, even among top political and military leaders, is often well-intentioned rumor and speculation - and, sometimes, poorly developed racial and religious composites.
But the insurgency is significantly more diverse than described by many troops. Its warriors' varied motives are much less simplistic than defined by political leaders.
So who is the enemy?"
.... Who is responsible for the near daily bombings? "I don't know," she says. "I suppose insurgents. Trying to get rid of us, I guess. I guess they hate us because we done blown up half their country."
.... "How can we know who is our enemy," he says, "when we don't even know why we're here?" "
The invisible enemy in Iraq: Predicting who will attack is difficult November 14, 2005
""Prevail" is the "in" word in America just now. We are not going to "win" in Iraq - because we did that in 2003, didn’t we, when we stormed up to Baghdad and toppled Saddam?
Then George Bush declared "Mission Accomplished".
So now we must "prevail".
That’s what F J "Bing" West, ex-soldier and former assistant secretary for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration said this week.
Plugging his new book - No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah - he gave a frightening outline of what lies in store for the Sunni Muslims of Iraq.I was sitting a few feet from Bing - plugging my own book - as he explained to the great and the good of New York how General Casey was imposing curfews on the Sunni cities of Iraq, one after the other, how if the Sunnis did not accept democracy they would be "occupied" (he used that word) by Iraqi troops until they did accept democracy (emphasis added). He talked about the "valour" of American troops - there was no word of Iraq’s monstrous suffering - and insisted that America must "prevail" because a "Jihadist" victory was unthinkable."
Torture’s out. Now they call it abuse Robert Fisk, November 12, 2005
In the above context of the "valour" of the American troops, this is a report of an eye-witness account of a recent incident that was emailed to me (with a slight editing of the language). The details of this incident were recounted to a medic, who is working with a government health care unit, as recounted to her by her affected relative in that village:
"The incident took place on the 24th of October, 2005 in Al-Sijla village, Khazraj, Al-Dijail District قرية السجلة - خزرج- قضاء الدجيل.
Four American soldiers with a Sudanese translator came to the village at 9:00 a.m and approached several close houses, one group of houses at a time (houses in a farmer village are not close to each other).
They requested the men to leave their homes and to come forward. They then told the old men to go back inside and for the young men (youths) to stay out. They then enquired from them about a certain name. The Iraqi men responded that they did not know of a man by that name.
The soldiers told them that an informer had come forward and had informed them that he shelled their positions from near this village. The Iraqis denied they their knew of this and explained repeatedly that they were only farmers.
All of the soldiers were carrying the same type of syringes which, as the Iraqis described them, were plastic and non-transparent so that the Iraqis weren't able to see what was inside them.
The soldiers told them (through the translator) that they were going to give them injections so that they could "monitor" their movement wherever they went in Iraq "on a screen"!
Naturally the Iraqis, who were standing in a line, refused. A couple of American soldiers picked out the first one in line and beat him up till he was unconscious while the other American soldiers threatened the remaining standing Iraqis from making any move and watching the other houses.
The two American soldiers then injected the needle of the syringe through the trousers of the fallen Iraqi in the gluteal region and moved the needle in the muscle till they saw blood on the trousers in the injection site and then withdrew the needle.
They ordered the second one in line to come forward to receive his injection. He also refused and was beaten down.
They were all given the same injection, in the same manner and with the same needle and syringe (they did not change the needle nor the syringe). After going through several groups of houses, the American soldiers then left the area.
The health care professional encouraged the Iraqis to come forward and file a complaint. On 27/10/05, she offered to administer a baseline HIV and Hepatitis B tests for the Iraqi men that would come forward. Only four of the men did. They then went to the Local Council and filed a complaint to the American GCC in that area.
The American General lined up his men and asked the Iraqis to point out for him the soldiers that administered the injections, as they did not get their names.
The Iraqis pointed out the four soldiers and the translator. The General asked them who had given them the order to carry out such actions (everything was translated to them in Arabic and on the spot, for as we all know, Americans care about human rights).
The soldiers told him they had acted on their own ??!! A bit difficult to believe. The General (this part was not translated , but the Iraqi men understood enough to grasp the meaning) got very upset and yelled at the soldiers that the American army's reputation was at its lowest in the eyes of the world because of such careless actions; and told the Sudanese that he deserved to go back to the ghetto he came from.
The names of the victims are : Omar Abbas Hussain, Qusai Mit'ab Hussain, Basim Mut'ab Hussain and Saddam Mut'ab Hussain. صدام متعب حسين ، باسم متعب حسين
قصي متعب حسين، عمر عباس حسين
They have also gone to the Muslims Scholar Association هيئة علماء المسلمين which, as I understood, is planning to make an issue out of the case and they are hoping that some satellite channels will agree to interview these men and plan to go to human rights back home, if it means anything there.
I hope you can do something, someone has to, and I don't know who to contact. I plan to write to a web page I found, something like"American Friends" who are against the war and perhaps they will inform their government. On second thought, which government??!!!!. No comment."
Apparently, this injection was a ruse to fool the young men that their movement will be constantly 'monitored'.
"They hate freedom"? ... as the lady says, no comment.
Friday, November 11, 2005
"In Iraq, we are the violence"
The following excerpts are from a thoroughly researched account on the phenomenon of death squads operating in Iraq:
"Police Commandos and Disinformation Brigades
An instructive starting point for an examination of the prevailing media consensus is to consider some of the forces of the Iraqi state most closely associated with allegations of serious human rights abuses.
The majority of accusations are general. Journalists refer to the police, security forces, the National Guard or to poorly identified police commandos, but specific accusations have been made against a unit known as the Wolf Brigade. The identification of the Wolf Brigade with cases of abduction, torture and execution in Baghdad was first made on 16 May, when Mothana Harith Al-Dari, a spokesman for the AMS, stated that ‘The mass killings and the crackdown and detention campaigns in north-eastern Baghdad over the past two days by members of the Iraqi police or by an Interior Ministry special force, known as the Wolf Brigade, are part of a state terror policy’, in relation to the discoveries of the victims of extrajudicial executions noted above (Islam Online).
Within days a Knight Ridder journalist, Hannah Allam, had published under a variety of titles an article about the Wolf Brigade, highlighting their maverick tough-guy image and presenting their leader, who goes by the nom de guerre of Abul Waleed, as a devout Shiite, ‘complete with a photo of Imam Ali and religious chants programmed into his constantly ringing cell phone.’ (Knight Ridder). Allam informed readers that Waleed regarded the AMS as infidels and tossed their accusations of torture and murder into the bin. Additionally, readers learned that the unit was formed as the brainchild of Waleed in October 2004, saw its first action in Mosul after nearly two months’ training with US forces, and is behind the inhuman television programme Terrorists in the Grip of Justice, in which tortured detainees are forced to confess to a lurid array of crimes (Associated Press). However, whilst belittling charges of horrendous human-rights violations as ‘the usual complaints’, Allam made no reference to the Wolf Brigade being a special forces unit attached to the Interior Ministry (emphasis added).
What is the Wolf Brigade?
The most feared and effective commando unit in Iraq, experts say. Formed last October by a former three-star Shiite general and SCIRI member who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Walid, the Wolf Brigade is composed of roughly 2,000 fighters, mostly young, poor Shiites from Sadr City.
Are there any Sunni-led commando units?
Yes. At least one counterinsurgency unit is headed by a former officer of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. The Special Police Commandos, like the Wolf Brigade, have a reputation for brutality, but the group is also considered one of Iraq's most effective and well-disciplined counterinsurgency units.
... Those familiar with Peter Maas’s article ‘The Way of the Commandos’, published by The New York Times Magazine just six weeks earlier, will recognise that, in fact, the Wolf Brigade bears a striking similarity to the unit he identifies as the Special Police Commandos. The Police Commandos, too, were formed in autumn 2004 and saw one of their first major commitments in Mosul in November; like the Wolf Brigade, their leader also founded an unspeakably vile television show called Terrorism in the Grip of Justice.
The Police Commandos were founded on the initiative of then Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib, the son of a former Iraqi Chief of Staff, believed by many to have been a major CIA asset (National Review Online), under the command of his uncle, an ex-Baathist, Sunni military intelligence officer and CIA coup-plotter called Adnan Thabit. Its recruits are drawn from former members of the special forces and Republican Guard, with mixed ethnic and religious background (Washington Post), while its chain of command is said to be largely Sunni. Most importantly, the Police Commandos were formed under the experienced tutelage and oversight of veteran US counterinsurgency fighters, and from the outset conducted joint-force operations with elite and highly secretive US special-forces units (Reuters, National Review Online).
A key figure in the development of the Special Police Commandos was James Steele, a former US Army special forces operative. [See a previous posting on this site, CIA terrorism in Iraq ..... Who? US?, June 1, 2005].
... Another US contributor was the same Steven Casteel who as the most senior US advisor within the Interior Ministry brushed off serious and well-substantiated accusations of appalling human right violations as ‘rumor and innuendo’.
... In fact, the entire intelligence establishment is a creation of the Anglo-American secret services (Los Angeles Times), which began building at least as early as the beginning of the occupation (Detroit Free Press), although it may be suspected that the process was conceived long before. The new Iraqi establishment was staffed by long-term CIA assets, such as General Mohammad Shahwani, who had been nurtured by the CIA since the late 1980s (Asia Times Online) and became director of the new National Intelligence Service (the Mukhabarat). Like Thabit and Flayyih, other old CIA hands, Shahwani had participated in attempted coups against the government of Iraq.
... Like Thabit and Flayyih, Shahwani has retained his position under the transitional government and continues to report directly to the CIA (Seattle Times). Clearly, however, the purpose of stating or implying that unaccountable militias are behind the extrajudicial executions and/or that sectarian rivalries, especially Shia control of the Interior Ministry (which, as Beaumont correctly points out, is the centre of the horror), are to blame, is to distance the US from the almost unthinkable ongoing crimes against humanity. Comparable disinformation strategies have been employed in every counterinsurgency conflict with which the US has been involved; it is known as establishing ‘plausible deniability’...
... More specifically, in the case of Iraq, this disinformation strategy not only seems to be designed to mask the real intellectual authors of genocidal crimes, but also, increasingly, appears to be directed towards creating the very sectarian divisions that it hides behind.
... To penetrate the media smokescreen of spontaneous, uncontrollable violence and understand the role of intelligence operations in the creation of a beholden, occupied client state or series of statelets is fundamental to understanding the processes in Iraq today. It is also fundamental to recognising that the presence of Anglo-American forces in Iraq does not merely exacerbate the present violence; in Iraq we are the violence."
Crying Wolf: Media Disinformation and Death Squads in Occupied Iraq November 10, 2005
We would here emphasize the contents of a recent posting:
The Occupiers are Recoiling: in horror on November 3, 2005
in which "I would venture to state, unequivocally, that the following three atrocities, among others that were exposed by sheer luck, have been perpetrated by the American occupying forces themselves in a 'Phoenix' like onslaught that reflects their dismal failure in containing the Iraqi Resistance, and a concerted effort to instigate sectarian strife among the Iraqi people."
An Update:
"Faced with an insurgency that shows no signs of abating, the US and Iraqi government rely more and more on the paramilitaries. Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, has said units such as General Adnan's commandos are among "forces that are going to have the greatest leverage on suppressing and eliminating the insurgency". Those on the receiving end of some of this "leverage", however, describe terrifying experiences."
The Dirty War: Torture and mutilation used on Iraqi 'insurgents' November 20, 2005
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Blowing hot air in a punctured balloon
"American and Iraqi forces launched a major offensive Saturday near the porous Syrian border aimed at destroying al-Qaida in Iraq's (sic) ability to smuggle foreign fighters, money and equipment through the region.
... The offensive in the town of Husaybah of about 2,500 U.S. forces and 1,000 Iraqis — including local forces acting as scouts — will remove insurgents from the western province of Anbar ahead of Iraq's parliamentary election on Dec. 15, the U.S. military said.
... "Operation Steel Curtain marks the first large-scale employment of multiple battalion-sized units of Iraqi army forces in combined operations with coalition forces in the last year," the military said."
U.S. Launches Major Offensive in Iraq November 4, 2005
They must be reporting that to Rumsfeld, to add to his metrics. One notes that the size of one battalion is 300-1000, yet here we have "Multiple" battalions out of only 1,000 Iraqis, including 'local scouts".
Even hurricane names run out of alphabetical letters, per season. Not so with war Operation names. There have been 154 Operation names used in Iraq during the period May 15, 2003 (after the Iraqi resistance had commenced) till September 14, 2005, and counting.
"The U.S. public is intrigued with slogans in every aspect of American life and culture. With the invasion of Panama came the name of the operation: Operation Just Cause. Then we had Operation Desert Shield followed by Operation Desert Storm. Then Operation Desert Fox.
In March 2003, the illegal invasion was called Operation Iraqi Freedom. But, since it has lasted more than two years, the military script-writers had to come up with new names for operations. After all, no one thought the U.S. would still be fighting more than two years later. One name led to another. .. . Most of them depict violence and many refer to the good old Wild West days of U.S. history. The U.S. may just have to stay in Iraq long enough for the policymakers to run out of words in the dictionary for future operations. ..
In reality, George Bush did make an accurate designation when he affixed the moniker "Operation Iraqi Freedom." It is occurring currently in Iraq with the resistance at the forefront."
OPERATIONS, OPERATIONS, OPERATIONS August 22, 2005
""Staying the course" in a lost war is not a strategy at all; it is merely a recipe for disaster."
Exit Strategy: You Can't Stay the Course in a Lost War November 4, 2005
And they continue bombing bombed ruins:
"Husaiba, a poor rural town of about 30,000, is the first stop in a network of communities which the US military insists has been used by al-Qaida to smuggle fighters, weapons and explosives from Syria down the Euphrates valley to Baghdad and other cities.
Many of Husaiba's residents had fled the town after weeks of US military bombardment."
Fighting continues in western Iraq November 6, 2005
While inflicting even more wide-spread destruction and misery on nearby cities and villages:
"The second family was of Mohammad Jabir, a boy of nine years who was shot by an American sniper at his house door in the “Death Street” on Thursday Oct 20, 2005.
“He was going to his uncles’ house, across the street in the railway houses” his father said, trying hard to hold his tears “They were 4 of my children, went out to visit their uncle’s family, they were shot at immediately. They returned back, Mohammad was putting his hand on his chest, said I am injured, and then fell to the ground. He was bleeding. We tried to save him, but no ambulance or car was allowed to pass through. His uncle did not mind the shooting; he drove his car and took us to the hospital. By then Mohammad was dead”.
AlQaim October Massacre: Indiscriminate Killing Zone November 5, 2005
"Dr. Walid Al-Obeidi, the director of Haditha General Hospital and Dr. Jamil Abdul Jabbar, the only surgeon in the Haditha area, were arrested for a week, very badly beaten and threatened to face the same treatment in the future by the American troops.
Dr.Walid said “they arrested me in my house in front of my family, covered my eyes, and tied my hands to the back on Oct 5 2005 morning, during the last attack on Haditha (360 kilometers west of Baghdad). They occupied the hospital for 8 days and made it their office. The first day they beat me on my eyes, nose, back, hands, legs... My face was covered with blood. I could not wash my face because bleeding would start again. When they removed the tie I could not see. They investigated me until the afternoon. I realized later that I was arrested in the hospital store. Then they tied my hands to the front, and left me for two days. I was moved then to the pharmacy department. They accused me of treating terrorists, and asked for their names.
I told them that I treat patients regardless of their identity or their political position, according to my oath as a doctor; if they were national guards (which they actually were) or American soldiers. And anyway, if I do not want to treat the insurgents, I have no choice, because they were armed and masked. I would do anything they tell to do. Few days later, one of the soldiers came in the room, did not say anything, kicked me again on my face and left”
Dr. Jamil, a surgeon for 20 years, was also arrested and very brutally beaten. When we met him, 22 days later, his face was still bluish."
Haditha: River Gate… to Hell November 6, 2005
Operations, Operations, .................................and ...... Hot Air
Thursday, November 03, 2005
The Occupiers are Recoiling: in horror
I would venture to state, unequivocally, that the following three atrocities, among others that were exposed by sheer luck, have been perpetrated by the American occupying forces themselves in a 'Phoenix' like onslaught that reflects their dismal failure in containing the Iraqi Resistance, and a concerted effort to instigate sectarian strife among the Iraqi people:
"A car bomb explosion in an outdoor market packed with shoppers has killed 23 people and wounded more than 60 in a Shia town south of Baghdad.
.... There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, the third major vehicle bombing in a predominantly Shia area of Iraq within the past five days (emphasis added). Fifty people had been killed since Saturday in car bombings in Basra and a Shia village in central Diyala province. Those attacks have fueled fears of more sectarian tension between Shia and Sunni Arabs."
Car bomb kills many in Iraqi market November 3, 2005
They are scratching a solid core.
Awaiting a 'revealing' book by a disgruntled CIA operative, several years hence, on these massacres. Retribution also awaits.
PS:
How apt!! Almost 1,000 Days After U.S. Invasion of Iraq, Democratic Senators Call in Secret Session for Investigation of Pre-War Intelligence. (you might like to see this previous post).
Well, maybe the wheels of the US imperial justice do start to finally turn: after +150,000 (out of 26 million) Iraqi dead, +2000 (out of 140,000) US dead, +100 (out of 5000) UK dead and + 500 (out of 25,000) Foreign mercenaries dead.
But ... the outcome, if any, of the above "session" is still not certain!
It took two years for them to find out that Scooter Libby had indeed lied about revealing one CIA operative, to spite her husband, which is ashamedly trivial to the war crimes that are being committed against the hundreds of thousands of dead, tortured and imprisoned Iraqi people.
Are we waiting for another couple of years for the US congress to end the criminal
occupation of Iraq and to publicly indict Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, etc...??
Update: "The Republican majority in the House of Representatives rejected a resolution calling for a "substantive" investigation into "the manipulation of pre-war intelligence", the role of Vice President Dick Cheney' into Iraq's reconstruction, the leaking of the name of a CIA' agent and abuses against prisoners at Abu Ghraib' prison...Republicans in the House defeated the measure by 220 votes to 191." US Republicans rebuff resolution demanding Iraq inquiry November 3, 2005
I doubt that it will be that long, and not by them.
Ditto, the Iraqi Resistance.
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