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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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Meanwhile, in "Liberated" Basra
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" The billboard in Umm al-Broom Square was meant to advertise a cellphone service. Instead, it has become a message to those who dare to resist the rising tide of fundamentalist Islam in Iraq's second largest city.
The female model's face is now covered with black paint. Graffiti scrawled below reads, "No! No to unveiled women."
That message joins the chorus of ultraconservative voices and radical militias that are transforming this once liberal port city that boasted some of Iraq's most lively nightclubs into a bastion for hard-line Shiite Islamists since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Now, as the British prepare to exit Basra Province altogether after pulling out from this provincial capital last week, they leave behind what has been described by many here as an emerging "Shiite Taliban state," a reference to Sunni extremists in Afghanistan."
'Shiite Taliban' rises as British depart Basra September 18, 2007
"At the entrance to the headquarters of the South Oil Company (SOC) in Basra, a sign dating from when Saddam Hussein nationalized the oil industry in 1972 reads: "Our oil is ours."
Inside, an exasperated senior official, who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution, describes the onslaught by parties and militias intent on controlling the company by forcing their loyalists into key management positions. Some are beholden to the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad, which is controlled by the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the dominant Shiite coalition to which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki belongs.
"There is an invasion by parties and militias … we are a mouthwatering prize," he says, adding that recently 8,000 people, most of them illiterate, were pushed on to the company's payrolls.
The power plays extend to Basra's ports, too, often contributing to anger and a sense of injustice among the province's estimated 3 million people. In the town of Abu Al-Khaseeb, south of the city, the newly rich are building palatial homes next to mud huts. The mansions often belong to those who have been able to cash in on the brisk business in the town's Abu Flous port, which is one the province's main four ports and is widely considered to be controlled by the mafialike family, Bayet Ashour, and certain militias.
"You can only work at the port if you join a militia. I thought about it, but then my two cousins who had joined were badly wounded in a clash. So now we just sit home and shut up," says resident Jalal Ali.
Last month, armed tribesmen forcefully brought oil production to a standstill at the Majnoon oil field, 38 miles north of Basra city, after the SOC refused to meet their demands for jobs in the area. An official at the company, which controls oil exploration and production throughout southern Iraq, confirmed the incident. " Basra oil fuels fight to control Iraq's economic might September 18, 2007
" The billboard in Umm al-Broom Square was meant to advertise a cellphone service. Instead, it has become a message to those who dare to resist the rising tide of fundamentalist Islam in Iraq's second largest city.
The female model's face is now covered with black paint. Graffiti scrawled below reads, "No! No to unveiled women."
That message joins the chorus of ultraconservative voices and radical militias that are transforming this once liberal port city that boasted some of Iraq's most lively nightclubs into a bastion for hard-line Shiite Islamists since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Now, as the British prepare to exit Basra Province altogether after pulling out from this provincial capital last week, they leave behind what has been described by many here as an emerging "Shiite Taliban state," a reference to Sunni extremists in Afghanistan."
'Shiite Taliban' rises as British depart Basra September 18, 2007
"At the entrance to the headquarters of the South Oil Company (SOC) in Basra, a sign dating from when Saddam Hussein nationalized the oil industry in 1972 reads: "Our oil is ours."
Inside, an exasperated senior official, who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution, describes the onslaught by parties and militias intent on controlling the company by forcing their loyalists into key management positions. Some are beholden to the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad, which is controlled by the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the dominant Shiite coalition to which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki belongs.
"There is an invasion by parties and militias … we are a mouthwatering prize," he says, adding that recently 8,000 people, most of them illiterate, were pushed on to the company's payrolls.
The power plays extend to Basra's ports, too, often contributing to anger and a sense of injustice among the province's estimated 3 million people. In the town of Abu Al-Khaseeb, south of the city, the newly rich are building palatial homes next to mud huts. The mansions often belong to those who have been able to cash in on the brisk business in the town's Abu Flous port, which is one the province's main four ports and is widely considered to be controlled by the mafialike family, Bayet Ashour, and certain militias.
"You can only work at the port if you join a militia. I thought about it, but then my two cousins who had joined were badly wounded in a clash. So now we just sit home and shut up," says resident Jalal Ali.
Last month, armed tribesmen forcefully brought oil production to a standstill at the Majnoon oil field, 38 miles north of Basra city, after the SOC refused to meet their demands for jobs in the area. An official at the company, which controls oil exploration and production throughout southern Iraq, confirmed the incident. " Basra oil fuels fight to control Iraq's economic might September 18, 2007
Comments:
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A visit that will serve little purpose: Rice will simply come and talk and talk and get her souvenir photo.
Machine Tools: Another Terror War Triumph for the Texas Twerp: Every policy adopted in the Terror War seems deliberately designed to increase terrorism, to increase chaos and insecurity and fear -- and to reap the political and financial rewards from these horrific conditions.
Shoot and cry: Liberal Zionism's dilemma: They desperately wish to "acknowledge" and embrace the Palestinian "feeling" of suffering and dispossession, yet at the same time, help to solidify the Zionist mythology that was, and is, used to justify the Palestinians' dispossession. Perhaps, however, it is not quite strictly accurate to call it a "dilemma," since for the Zionist -- liberal or otherwise -- there is no doubt when it comes to the crunch question of whether to support or oppose the ongoing colonization of Palestine and the dispossession of its people.
Evelyn,
indeed i cannot understand why you don't post the original links to the articles, but only to this "blog" that hides the original sources and sometimes even the real writers ' names. i believe that you readers should know that an article was published, for instance, by the Independent or by the New York Times, and not by "marcparent"!
indeed i cannot understand why you don't post the original links to the articles, but only to this "blog" that hides the original sources and sometimes even the real writers ' names. i believe that you readers should know that an article was published, for instance, by the Independent or by the New York Times, and not by "marcparent"!
# posted by 
: September 20, 2007 6:56 PM
: September 20, 2007 6:56 PM
Gunmen Blow Up Iraq's North Export Pipeline -Official: The attack took place in the section of the pipeline connecting the oil-rich city of Kirkuk to the Baiji, home to Iraq's largest oil refinery. Iraq usually pumps Kirkuk crude oil to the refinery, 250 kilometers north of Baghdad, which takes what it needs before it pumps the rest to Ceyhan.
The official said the pipeline blast was "catastrophic" as it caused huge quantities of crude oil to spill into the Tigris River.
The official said the pipeline blast was "catastrophic" as it caused huge quantities of crude oil to spill into the Tigris River.
180,000 private contractors flood Iraq: The United States has assembled an imposing industrial army in Iraq larger than its uniformed fighting force and responsible for a such a broad swath of responsibilities the military might not be able to operate without its private-sector partners.
History Will Not Absolve Us: Leaked Red Cross report sets up Bush team for international war-crimes trial: ". . . They would put people naked for up to 40 days in cells where they were deprived of any kind of light. They would cut them off from any sense of what time it was or . . . anything that would give them a sense of where they were."
. . . Abu Zubaydah ... was not only waterboarded (a technique in which he was made to feel that he was about to be drowned) but also "kept in . . . a small cage, about one meter [39.7 inches] by one meter, in which he couldn't stand up for a long period of time. [The CIA] called it the dog box."
. . . Abu Zubaydah ... was not only waterboarded (a technique in which he was made to feel that he was about to be drowned) but also "kept in . . . a small cage, about one meter [39.7 inches] by one meter, in which he couldn't stand up for a long period of time. [The CIA] called it the dog box."
Anonymous : September 20, 2007 11:56 AM -
Thanks for your valid observation.
In the case of articles "lifted" from a number of sites generally I do link to the original source. But I have noticed that often in time the original links disappear, whereas the secondary ones do not.
As for articles "lifted" from the website you mention, frequently one needs to track down the original source. So, I confess to being lazy!!! (True.) But possibly interested readers can do what I fail to do.
Thanks, again. It's good to know that someone actually is following along.
Thanks for your valid observation.
In the case of articles "lifted" from a number of sites generally I do link to the original source. But I have noticed that often in time the original links disappear, whereas the secondary ones do not.
As for articles "lifted" from the website you mention, frequently one needs to track down the original source. So, I confess to being lazy!!! (True.) But possibly interested readers can do what I fail to do.
Thanks, again. It's good to know that someone actually is following along.
Bush inartfully suggests Saddam killed Mandela
(Re above, this morning watching the Bush press conference I was staggered - I don't know why - by Bush's remark. Why oh why do his handlers ever allow the man to open his mouth?)
(Re above, this morning watching the Bush press conference I was staggered - I don't know why - by Bush's remark. Why oh why do his handlers ever allow the man to open his mouth?)
Wayne Madsen Report (subscription-based site) -
Sept. 20, 2007 -- Bush claims Saddam Hussein killed Mandela: At a White House news conference this morning, a clearly mentally unbalanced President George Bush suggested that Saddam killed Nelson Mandela, the post-apartheid President of South Africa. Bush said, "I heard somebody say, 'Now where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela is dead. Because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas."
[ . . . ]
In 2003, Mandela criticized Bush and his policies, stating that Bush is "a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust." Mandela also said that Dick Cheney, a one-time supporter of South Africa's apartheid regime, was a "dinosaur."
Bush's pathological ability to lie before millions of people on television is nothing new. Bush lied about Saddam Hussein possessing weapons of mass destruction. He now suggests that Saddam Hussein killed Nelson Mandela, who is still alive.
Bush also became irritated when NBC's David Gregory asked him about Israel's reported September 6 air strike on an alleged WMD facility in Syria. Bush shot back: "I'm not gonna comment on that." Israel has imposed a censorship news blackout on the air attack and Bush is complying with it from the White House. This is another clear indication that White House policy is dictated by Israel and its unregistered lobbyists in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and various not-for-profit think tanks that carry Israel's water in the nation's capital.
Sept. 20, 2007 -- Bush claims Saddam Hussein killed Mandela: At a White House news conference this morning, a clearly mentally unbalanced President George Bush suggested that Saddam killed Nelson Mandela, the post-apartheid President of South Africa. Bush said, "I heard somebody say, 'Now where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela is dead. Because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas."
[ . . . ]
In 2003, Mandela criticized Bush and his policies, stating that Bush is "a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust." Mandela also said that Dick Cheney, a one-time supporter of South Africa's apartheid regime, was a "dinosaur."
Bush's pathological ability to lie before millions of people on television is nothing new. Bush lied about Saddam Hussein possessing weapons of mass destruction. He now suggests that Saddam Hussein killed Nelson Mandela, who is still alive.
Bush also became irritated when NBC's David Gregory asked him about Israel's reported September 6 air strike on an alleged WMD facility in Syria. Bush shot back: "I'm not gonna comment on that." Israel has imposed a censorship news blackout on the air attack and Bush is complying with it from the White House. This is another clear indication that White House policy is dictated by Israel and its unregistered lobbyists in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and various not-for-profit think tanks that carry Israel's water in the nation's capital.
(Ohmyg-d, it just never ends.)
Baghdad officials urge residents to conserve water after oil spill threat: Al-Qaabi said officials are working with the Ministry and Water Resources to try to divert the oil slick into Lake Tharthar north of the Iraqi capital and prevent it from reaching Baghdad, a city of about 5.5 million people.
In the meantime, he said water towers around the city were being filled to the maximum to store as much water as possible before the slick reaches the capital.
Baghdad officials urge residents to conserve water after oil spill threat: Al-Qaabi said officials are working with the Ministry and Water Resources to try to divert the oil slick into Lake Tharthar north of the Iraqi capital and prevent it from reaching Baghdad, a city of about 5.5 million people.
In the meantime, he said water towers around the city were being filled to the maximum to store as much water as possible before the slick reaches the capital.
Crude oil spills into Tigris after Iraq bomb: ... [W]orkers from Iraq's Northern Oil Company were trying to prevent the spill from endangering the river, crops and livestock dependent on river water.
Later the in the day, the spill reached the central city of Tikrit, more than 60 miles to the south, residents and local officials said. Water stations closed in both cities, Tikrit and Beiji.
Later the in the day, the spill reached the central city of Tikrit, more than 60 miles to the south, residents and local officials said. Water stations closed in both cities, Tikrit and Beiji.
Video (1 hr. 17 min.), September Eleventh; Should the truth be revealed or concealed? David Ray Griffin, 9/11 Lecture, Copenhagen September 14, 2006
Arabs push through U.N. watchdog vote against Israel: Israel is widely assumed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, though it has never confirmed or denied it.
A similar resolution urging all Middle East nations to adopt IAEA safeguards on nuclear work passed overwhelmingly at last year's IAEA general assembly, with only Israel and top ally the United States opposed, as they were again on Thursday.
A similar resolution urging all Middle East nations to adopt IAEA safeguards on nuclear work passed overwhelmingly at last year's IAEA general assembly, with only Israel and top ally the United States opposed, as they were again on Thursday.
(Arthur Silber is a wonderfully thoughtful, insightful & moral commentator whose writings I recommend highly.)
A Nation on the Edge of the Final Descent (I): Glimpses of the Horrors to Come: Because my title refers to "the final descent" of the United States, I must begin by emphasizing an issue I have discussed in many essays. The destruction of the basic political structure of this country has been a continuing project for well over a century. That destruction has been the purpose of both the Republican and Democratic parties, and it reveals itself in two major ways: through a foreign policy of aggressive, non-defensive interventionism overseas, and by means of an increasingly powerful and intrusive government domestically. It is crucial to see the interconnectedness of these two aspects of the authoritarian, corporatist war state. When states make war, they accrue ever greater powers. Those powers are initially justified by appeals to external threats, which threats are almost always exaggerated and often entirely fictitious. Once the state has acquired those powers, it is a simple matter to alter their focus, and to direct them against alleged internal threats. The purpose in both spheres is always the same: to reduce and eventually eliminate challenges to the exercise of state power, whether such challenges are presented by foreign nations or by domestic dissenters. The ultimate goal is absolute power wielded by an omnipotent state.
[ . . . ]
Is it any wonder then that, within our own borders, law enforcement will use potentially lethal weapons in the absence of any serious threat -- simply to gain compliance? When the state decides that your behavior matters, you will obey. Yes, you may engage in debate -- within the parameters established by the state. Yes, you may ask questions -- if the state approves them. If you dare to step outside the boundaries set by the state, you will be brought into line, by force as required -- and by possibly lethal force. The United States government murders a million innocent people who never threatened it; of what significance is the life of a single student, especially since he's a "troublemaker" anyway?
A Nation on the Edge of the Final Descent (I): Glimpses of the Horrors to Come: Because my title refers to "the final descent" of the United States, I must begin by emphasizing an issue I have discussed in many essays. The destruction of the basic political structure of this country has been a continuing project for well over a century. That destruction has been the purpose of both the Republican and Democratic parties, and it reveals itself in two major ways: through a foreign policy of aggressive, non-defensive interventionism overseas, and by means of an increasingly powerful and intrusive government domestically. It is crucial to see the interconnectedness of these two aspects of the authoritarian, corporatist war state. When states make war, they accrue ever greater powers. Those powers are initially justified by appeals to external threats, which threats are almost always exaggerated and often entirely fictitious. Once the state has acquired those powers, it is a simple matter to alter their focus, and to direct them against alleged internal threats. The purpose in both spheres is always the same: to reduce and eventually eliminate challenges to the exercise of state power, whether such challenges are presented by foreign nations or by domestic dissenters. The ultimate goal is absolute power wielded by an omnipotent state.
[ . . . ]
Is it any wonder then that, within our own borders, law enforcement will use potentially lethal weapons in the absence of any serious threat -- simply to gain compliance? When the state decides that your behavior matters, you will obey. Yes, you may engage in debate -- within the parameters established by the state. Yes, you may ask questions -- if the state approves them. If you dare to step outside the boundaries set by the state, you will be brought into line, by force as required -- and by possibly lethal force. The United States government murders a million innocent people who never threatened it; of what significance is the life of a single student, especially since he's a "troublemaker" anyway?
Iraqi refugees flood into Syria: More then 20,000 Iraqis were pouring across the border every day, compared to 2,000 a day normally. The large influx began Sept. 1, when Syria announced that visas would be required to enter the country, the official told reporters touring the remote Tanaf desert border crossing.
On Sunday, the Foreign Ministry said the visa requirement would be postponed until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends around Oct. 12.
On Sunday, the Foreign Ministry said the visa requirement would be postponed until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends around Oct. 12.
Internally displaced Iraqis have nowhere to go
Nowhere to go . . .
Nowhere to go . . .
Nowhere to go . . .
Nowhere to go . . .
Nowhere to go . . .
Nowhere to go . . .
Nowhere to go . . .
Nowhere to go . . .
Gaza ghetto insults decency: In addition to Israel "naming names" the government is also considering interrupting the provision of essential services, such as electricity and fuel, to the Gaza Strip. That this decision is being touted at the same time as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Israel can be no coincidence. ... It is also unlikely that any such initiative by Israel would have been made without the foreknowledge of the US.
Hello Mr. Imad Khadduri,
First, let me just say that I truly appreciate your work and time for sending out these articles and information.
Second, It disgusts me that people like these are running around Iraq and Afghanistan shooting everything that moves (GI's and mercs). Which I am quite sure happens often, as I have read at least 100 incidents have happened so far, that have been reported. Our US politicians or most of them it seems are very happy with staying the death course of war for many years in many countries. Have you heard of the leaked Red Cross report that is being compiled to charge Bush and his administration for war crimes? Please look at this article
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6821 if you have
not already.
Thank You again for all of your work. I hope we will see some kind of peace in our lifetime. Keep speaking the truth.
Post a Comment
First, let me just say that I truly appreciate your work and time for sending out these articles and information.
Second, It disgusts me that people like these are running around Iraq and Afghanistan shooting everything that moves (GI's and mercs). Which I am quite sure happens often, as I have read at least 100 incidents have happened so far, that have been reported. Our US politicians or most of them it seems are very happy with staying the death course of war for many years in many countries. Have you heard of the leaked Red Cross report that is being compiled to charge Bush and his administration for war crimes? Please look at this article
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6821 if you have
not already.
Thank You again for all of your work. I hope we will see some kind of peace in our lifetime. Keep speaking the truth.
# posted by : September 21, 2007 9:14 AM
: September 21, 2007 9:14 AM<< Home
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