Free Iraq
The US's occupation of Iraq will see to it that the Lion of Babylon rises again .. سنـُبعـَث ُ من جَديد ، وإلى ضَـيـرِِهِـم
| 
|
Some of my interviews - video and audio clips Nov 15, 2005 | My position on "The Iraqi people, the Resistance and Oil versus American bases" Feb 8, 2005 |
Iraqi Resistance Television (videos, many in Arabic) تلفزيون المقاومة العراقية |
Friday, March 30, 2007
American insidious foreign policy, coming home
.
Bush's Private Army: Blackwater - The Shadow Army (video) uncertain date, probably 2007
See these previous postings:
See these previous postings:
Bush's Private Army: Blackwater - The Shadow Army (video) uncertain date, probably 2007
See these previous postings:
- 'Democracy' galore in Iraq October 31, 2006,
- Bloodied cash for killer mercenaries February 14, 2006,
- The “Salvador option”, with dressings, is being served in Iraq April 22, 2006
See these previous postings:
- CIA terrorism in Iraq ..... Who? US? June 1, 2005
- Samarra and the CIA-bred Death Squads in Iraq February 27, 2006
- "In Iraq, we are the violence" November 11, 2006
BBC Documentary: History of the US “Death Squads”
Video clip from Dahr Jamail: Iraq'sDeath Squads supported by the US
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Take the word ‘terrorism’
.
Further to the Email Exchange in the below posting:
Email exchange:
The following is an exchange of emails with a dear friend who saw the video of the blasting of the Bradley:
Imad:
Your half hearted apology does not clear your support of al-Qaeda. I am really disgusted with your contribution to promoting terrorism, and in providing a platform for its dissemination.
Repent
AD
--
AD
Half hearted it is not.
Promoting terrorism? Why don't you take on Bush for a change?
Did you see the (updated) item of US soldiers shooting randomly in Ramadi fighting "terrorism"? What are they promoting? Your version of anti-terrorism, I presume.
I do not repent a single word I have said on my Blog.
Others' tattered statements are their own and they can wipe whatever with them.
Imad Khadduri
--
Imad
The mess that the Americans got Iraq in does not justify your siding with terrorism. You can crticize GW Bush and the US, but to promote al Qaeda's "heroic" crimes is another matter. I suppose this is difficult for you to comprehend.
Repent
AD
--
Dear AD
I can see where your problem is, though you apparently look at it in an astigmatic manner.
Kindly do a Google search for "Define: Terrorism" .
Among the converging results, you might closely read the following:
"Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives". US Federal Bureau of Investigation
Now, if you can ever explain to me how the above video of blowing up an occupier's Bradely (subject of your flurry) on Iraq's soil is an act of "terrorism", or that my showing of it is "siding with terrorism", I would declare you the best Missionary (or maybe Da'iya) this side of the US who would indeed cause me to repent.
All the best
Imad Khadduri
The above exchange instigated the comment of yet another very dear old friend for whom I have the highest esteem and respect:
London 26-3-07
Dear Imad
Salam
I always resist the temptation to respond or comment because I think that sometimes it is a waste.
However, despite being very busy writing a book with a strict deadline to meet, I find myself tempted to make a short comment. It is in relation to the exchanges between your dear friend and yourself. I do not want to know who the friend is but I would not be surprised if he is one of our Baghdad College produce!
To avoid any confusion I must state from the outset that I oppose killing innocent people as a matter of principle, that only those guilty are supposed to be punished as I do not believe in the inheritance of guilt.
The point which seems to be missed is that we have been conditioned by the massive deception of the Western media into attaching definitions to words which may not necessarily be what our culture assumes. Take the word ‘terrorism’. The imperialist media has made people think that it is an act that could only perpetrated by individuals and not by states. Thus the killing of people in New York is terrorism but incineration of children in Falluja is an act of war against a new category that has never existed under the international law, which itself was created by the West, of ‘enemy combatant’.
You dear friend says:
‘You can crticize GW Bush and the US, but to promote al Qaeda's "heroic" crimes is another matter.’
You don’t criticize murderers. You summon them before a court, indict them and ask them to submit their defence and when they fail you sentence them in accordance with the law that prevails in the land of the crime – in this case Iraq. But what would I tell my client who seeks justice for the killing of his 4 year old child by the US in Falluja, when I cannot indict George Bush in Iraq because Bremer has granted him immunity and I am prevented by the biased justice system in the US/UK from initiating action there. Would it surprise you that when people are denied justice, they take it into their hands?
Your friend refers to the ‘mess the Americans got Iraq into’, how pathetic to refer to genocide as a ‘mess’!
There is a further point which your friend seems to have missed, namely the right to terrorise your enemy. Many Muslims take Qur’anic dictate as not open to question. It is in this light they function. Aggression is prohibited in Islam but self defence is an obligation not just a right. When some body or power assumes Muslims as enemies, then that power by Qur’anic dictate becomes the target of Muslim as a religious obligation.
When Qur’an says (I would not translate Qur’an and to those who do not understand it as it was revealed I need not show excuse):
واعدوا لهم ما استطعتم من قوة ومن رباط الخيل ترهبون به عدو الله وعدوكم
(For the sake of clarity, I will translate: "And prepare for them all the force that you can muster and horses - meaning weapons- to terrify the enemy of God and your enemy").
The verse makes it clear that those who make Islam their enemy should be terrorized.
If some Muslims operate in accordance with the above dictate, then how can I argue against them while still maintaining the infallibility of Qur’an?
The killing of innocent people in Iraq or Afghanistan does not fall within the ambit of the above verse and is thus indefensible.
However, the killing of people in US is a different matter. It is argued by those who assume a wider interpretation of the above verse that there are no civilians in the camp of the enemy when the enemy attacks Muslim civilians. Thus when the Americans pay their taxes, serve in the army, elect their representatives who then go and kill our civilians and claim that to be collateral damage, make themselves our enemy by choice. If killing civilians in Falluja and Najaf is part of the war against terrorism then killing civilians in New York is equally part of war against terrorism. I find such an argument very compelling.
فان اعتدوا عليكم فاعتدوا عليهم بمثل ما اعتدوا عليكم
(Again, for the sake of clarity, I will translate: "If they transgress upon you, then transgress upon them in the same manner as they transgressed upon you")
Life must be precious wherever it is. However, the West keeps reminding us that it is not so and that the life of one of their citizens is worth more than the lives of thousands of those in other parts of the world. Thus everybody talks about 9/11 as if it was the day before doomsday, but little is mentioned of 6 August (Hiroshima), 7 April (first Falluja massacre) or 28 January (Zarqa, Najaf) as examples of massacres in which no less civilians were exterminated by the US and its allies. If half a million Iraqi children are worth the price, as Albright commented and remained in office, then I would not shed a tear for 3000 Americans because none of them is more precious than my son.
The question that needs an answer is where does this lead to? The answer seems to be until the West gives up its genocidal policies dating back to 1492, through the cleansing of all America, North and South, Australia, New Zealand, the colonization of all Africa and most of Asia and the post colonialism invasions. Nothing has changed - when the British army invaded Iraq in 1916 (there was no Saddam Hussain) it claimed to have come to liberate Iraqis, when the US invaded in 2003 it claimed to have come to liberate. In both occasions they neither asked the Iraqis nor did they care about what the Iraqis wanted.
Western imperialism has assumed different excuses over the centuries, ranging from civilizing the barbarians, to spreading Christianity (the bastardized version they adopted) to protecting human rights. For the next wave , post human rights, they would have to find a new excuse – How about universally imposing the law of same sex marriage?
Once the West stops treating the Muslims as enemies and Westerners stay within their borders, then Muslims would have no claim or appeal to arms. When the politician in the US/UK talk about the War with Islam lasting another 100 years, they are not saying that because they believe that Muslims simply enjoy it but because they know that they are not going to give up their claim to supremacy in the World. I suggest that your dear friend should read carefully what Bremer said and did in Iraq because he may end up suggesting more than simple criticism!
Regards
Abdul-Haq
Further to the Email Exchange in the below posting:
Email exchange:
The following is an exchange of emails with a dear friend who saw the video of the blasting of the Bradley:
Imad:
Your half hearted apology does not clear your support of al-Qaeda. I am really disgusted with your contribution to promoting terrorism, and in providing a platform for its dissemination.
Repent
AD
--
AD
Half hearted it is not.
Promoting terrorism? Why don't you take on Bush for a change?
Did you see the (updated) item of US soldiers shooting randomly in Ramadi fighting "terrorism"? What are they promoting? Your version of anti-terrorism, I presume.
I do not repent a single word I have said on my Blog.
Others' tattered statements are their own and they can wipe whatever with them.
Imad Khadduri
--
Imad
The mess that the Americans got Iraq in does not justify your siding with terrorism. You can crticize GW Bush and the US, but to promote al Qaeda's "heroic" crimes is another matter. I suppose this is difficult for you to comprehend.
Repent
AD
--
Dear AD
I can see where your problem is, though you apparently look at it in an astigmatic manner.
Kindly do a Google search for "Define: Terrorism" .
Among the converging results, you might closely read the following:
"Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives". US Federal Bureau of Investigation
Now, if you can ever explain to me how the above video of blowing up an occupier's Bradely (subject of your flurry) on Iraq's soil is an act of "terrorism", or that my showing of it is "siding with terrorism", I would declare you the best Missionary (or maybe Da'iya) this side of the US who would indeed cause me to repent.
All the best
Imad Khadduri
The above exchange instigated the comment of yet another very dear old friend for whom I have the highest esteem and respect:
London 26-3-07
Dear Imad
Salam
I always resist the temptation to respond or comment because I think that sometimes it is a waste.
However, despite being very busy writing a book with a strict deadline to meet, I find myself tempted to make a short comment. It is in relation to the exchanges between your dear friend and yourself. I do not want to know who the friend is but I would not be surprised if he is one of our Baghdad College produce!
To avoid any confusion I must state from the outset that I oppose killing innocent people as a matter of principle, that only those guilty are supposed to be punished as I do not believe in the inheritance of guilt.
The point which seems to be missed is that we have been conditioned by the massive deception of the Western media into attaching definitions to words which may not necessarily be what our culture assumes. Take the word ‘terrorism’. The imperialist media has made people think that it is an act that could only perpetrated by individuals and not by states. Thus the killing of people in New York is terrorism but incineration of children in Falluja is an act of war against a new category that has never existed under the international law, which itself was created by the West, of ‘enemy combatant’.
You dear friend says:
‘You can crticize GW Bush and the US, but to promote al Qaeda's "heroic" crimes is another matter.’
You don’t criticize murderers. You summon them before a court, indict them and ask them to submit their defence and when they fail you sentence them in accordance with the law that prevails in the land of the crime – in this case Iraq. But what would I tell my client who seeks justice for the killing of his 4 year old child by the US in Falluja, when I cannot indict George Bush in Iraq because Bremer has granted him immunity and I am prevented by the biased justice system in the US/UK from initiating action there. Would it surprise you that when people are denied justice, they take it into their hands?
Your friend refers to the ‘mess the Americans got Iraq into’, how pathetic to refer to genocide as a ‘mess’!
There is a further point which your friend seems to have missed, namely the right to terrorise your enemy. Many Muslims take Qur’anic dictate as not open to question. It is in this light they function. Aggression is prohibited in Islam but self defence is an obligation not just a right. When some body or power assumes Muslims as enemies, then that power by Qur’anic dictate becomes the target of Muslim as a religious obligation.
When Qur’an says (I would not translate Qur’an and to those who do not understand it as it was revealed I need not show excuse):
واعدوا لهم ما استطعتم من قوة ومن رباط الخيل ترهبون به عدو الله وعدوكم
(For the sake of clarity, I will translate: "And prepare for them all the force that you can muster and horses - meaning weapons- to terrify the enemy of God and your enemy").
The verse makes it clear that those who make Islam their enemy should be terrorized.
If some Muslims operate in accordance with the above dictate, then how can I argue against them while still maintaining the infallibility of Qur’an?
The killing of innocent people in Iraq or Afghanistan does not fall within the ambit of the above verse and is thus indefensible.
However, the killing of people in US is a different matter. It is argued by those who assume a wider interpretation of the above verse that there are no civilians in the camp of the enemy when the enemy attacks Muslim civilians. Thus when the Americans pay their taxes, serve in the army, elect their representatives who then go and kill our civilians and claim that to be collateral damage, make themselves our enemy by choice. If killing civilians in Falluja and Najaf is part of the war against terrorism then killing civilians in New York is equally part of war against terrorism. I find such an argument very compelling.
فان اعتدوا عليكم فاعتدوا عليهم بمثل ما اعتدوا عليكم
(Again, for the sake of clarity, I will translate: "If they transgress upon you, then transgress upon them in the same manner as they transgressed upon you")
Life must be precious wherever it is. However, the West keeps reminding us that it is not so and that the life of one of their citizens is worth more than the lives of thousands of those in other parts of the world. Thus everybody talks about 9/11 as if it was the day before doomsday, but little is mentioned of 6 August (Hiroshima), 7 April (first Falluja massacre) or 28 January (Zarqa, Najaf) as examples of massacres in which no less civilians were exterminated by the US and its allies. If half a million Iraqi children are worth the price, as Albright commented and remained in office, then I would not shed a tear for 3000 Americans because none of them is more precious than my son.
The question that needs an answer is where does this lead to? The answer seems to be until the West gives up its genocidal policies dating back to 1492, through the cleansing of all America, North and South, Australia, New Zealand, the colonization of all Africa and most of Asia and the post colonialism invasions. Nothing has changed - when the British army invaded Iraq in 1916 (there was no Saddam Hussain) it claimed to have come to liberate Iraqis, when the US invaded in 2003 it claimed to have come to liberate. In both occasions they neither asked the Iraqis nor did they care about what the Iraqis wanted.
Western imperialism has assumed different excuses over the centuries, ranging from civilizing the barbarians, to spreading Christianity (the bastardized version they adopted) to protecting human rights. For the next wave , post human rights, they would have to find a new excuse – How about universally imposing the law of same sex marriage?
Once the West stops treating the Muslims as enemies and Westerners stay within their borders, then Muslims would have no claim or appeal to arms. When the politician in the US/UK talk about the War with Islam lasting another 100 years, they are not saying that because they believe that Muslims simply enjoy it but because they know that they are not going to give up their claim to supremacy in the World. I suggest that your dear friend should read carefully what Bremer said and did in Iraq because he may end up suggesting more than simple criticism!
Regards
Abdul-Haq
Friday, March 23, 2007
What few dollars can do to millions of it, with a bit of bravery
See update and an email exchange below:
.
With unequivocal condemnation on some of the tactics employed by Al-Qaida in Iraq, especially their targeting of civilians that is inflaming sectarian strife that is an anomaly to Iraqi society and their attacks against the patriotic Iraqi Resistance forces who do not pay allegiance to their so called "Iraqi Islamic State",
yet an act of bravery, such as shown by the below fighter, against the American or any other occupation soldiers or foreign mercenaries that remain standing on their feet on Iraq's soil, is a testimony to the ultimate defeat of the occupation of Iraq.
This also includes their pipe dream "military bases".
.
مع التحفظ الشديد والتنديد بعمليات "القاعدة" في العراق، بإستهدافهم المدنيين العزّل والتي تغذّي الإقتتال الطائفي المقيت والغريب على المجتمع العراقي، وعملياتهم القتالية ضد المقاومة العراقية الوطنية التي لا تعترف "بالدولة الإسلامية في العراق"، إلا أن الشجاعة الثي يبديها المقاتل في الفيديو أدناه ومن أمثاله ضد جنود الإحتلال، أمريكياً أو من أي جنسية أخرى أو ضد عشرات الآف من المرتزقة الأجانب، ما داموا هم واقفون على أرجلهم على أرض العراق، لخير دليل على قرب تحرير العراق من الإحتلال. كما ويسري هذا على قواعدهم العسكرية التي يحلمون بها في غطرستهم.ـ
.With unequivocal condemnation on some of the tactics employed by Al-Qaida in Iraq, especially their targeting of civilians that is inflaming sectarian strife that is an anomaly to Iraqi society and their attacks against the patriotic Iraqi Resistance forces who do not pay allegiance to their so called "Iraqi Islamic State",
yet an act of bravery, such as shown by the below fighter, against the American or any other occupation soldiers or foreign mercenaries that remain standing on their feet on Iraq's soil, is a testimony to the ultimate defeat of the occupation of Iraq.
This also includes their pipe dream "military bases".
.
Update: Compare that with the "bravery" of these "heroes":
Video shows US soldiers shooting civilians in Ramadi March 23, 2007
.
Or perhaps this "bravery":
"According to court testimony and reports, a Marine squad led by Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins III deliberately set out to kill an insurgent named Saleh Gowad, who had previously been captured and released several times. Failing to find him, they randomly seized disabled (emphasis added) ex-policeman Hashim Awad from his home as he slept."
US Marines spoofed drone to cover up murder, court told March 22, 2007
.
Email exchange:
The following is an exchange of emails with a dear friend who saw the video of the blasting of the Bradley:
.
Imad:
Your half hearted apology does not clear your support of al-Qaeda. I am really disgusted with your contribution to promoting terrorism, and in providing a platform for its dissemination.
Repent
AD
.
AD
Half hearted it is not.
Promoting terrorism? Why don't you take on Bush for a change?
Did you see the (updated) item of US soldiers shooting randomly in Ramadi fighting "terrorism"? What are they promoting? Your version of anti-terrorism, I presume.
I do not repent a single word I have said on my Blog.
Others' tattered statements are their own and they can wipe whatever with them.
Imad
.
Imad
The mess that the Americans got Iraq in does not justify your siding with terrorism. You can crticize GW Bush and the US, but to promote al Qaeda's "heroic" crimes is another matter. I suppose this is difficult for you to comprehend.
Repent
AD
.
Dear AD
I can see where your problem is, though you apparently look at it in an astigmatic manner.
Kindly do a Google search for "Define: Terrorism" .
Among the converging results, you might closely read the following:
.
"Any act including, but not limited to, the use of force or violence and/or threat thereof of any person or group(s) of persons whether acting alone or on behalf of, or in connection with, any organisation(s) or government(s) committed for political, religions, ideological or similar purposes, including the intention to influence any government and/or to put the public or any section of the public in fear."
.
Now, if you can ever explain to me how the above video of blowing up an occupier's Bradely (subject of your flurry) on Iraq's soil is an act of "terrorism", or that my showing of it is "siding with terrorism", I would declare you the best Missionary (or maybe Da'iya) this side of the US who would indeed cause me to repent.
All the best
Imad Khadduri
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
After 4 years: Iraqi Resistance Indicators..Up and Up! Rumsfeld's Metrics..Wet!
.
مؤشر المقاومة العراقية
الأرقام المدرجة في الأشكال البيانية المدرجة هنا تبين إضطراد تطور المقاومة العراقية خلال السنين الأربعة الماضية. وهذه
الأرقام المدرجة في الأشكال البيانية المدرجة هنا تبين إضطراد تطور المقاومة العراقية خلال السنين الأربعة الماضية. وهذه
المعلومات مستقاة من مؤشر العراق
حسب تحديث 19 مارس 2007
. The following graphs show the steady progress of the Iraqi resistance over the four years of occupation. They are extracted from the Iraq Index (pp 23 and 24) and updated on 19th March 2007.
.
.
يبين الشكل الأول أن المعدل اليومي للهجمات المسلحة قد زاد بأكثر من الضعف خلال العام الماضي فوصل الى 185 عملية في اليوم الواحد. وهذا يعني 1300 عملية مسلحة في الأسبوع أو 5500 في الشهر. ويمكن فهم هذه الأرقام بتصور حدوث معدل 7 أو 8 هجوم بقذائف الهاون او القنص أو العبوة التاسفة وما شابه لكل ساعة من ساعات الليل والنهار.تمت أضافة كلمة "المليشيات" الى "المتمردين" في عنوان هذا الشكل البياني الذي يتم تحديثه يأستمرار مؤخرا، كجزء من اللغة الأعلامية للقوات الأمريكية في تغييراتها في الأونة الأخيرة. ويبين الشكلان اللاحقان أن هذه الأضافة تشير الى قوات الحماية الشعبية المنخرطة مع المقاومة العراقية. ـ
.The first graph shows that the average number of attacks have more than doubled in the last year to about 185 per day. That is 1300 per week, and over 5500 attacks per month. Another way of understanding this is that in any one hour, day and night, there are 7-8 new mortar attack, IED, sniper fire, etc. The figures are based on variety of official and semi-official US sources and estimates. The inclusion of ‘Militias’ in the title of the graph is recent, and seems linked to the evolving political vocabulary by the US. In the light of the two other items. Militia can be understood to refer to local vigilantes that are largely part of the resistance.
.الشكل اليياني الثاني يظهر ان 75% من جميع العمليات المسجلة ( المستندة هنا على التقارير الفصلية من وزارة الدفاع الأمريكية الى الكونغرس) موجهة الى قوات الإحتلال مباشرة، و17% ضد القوات الأمنية العراقية تحت الإحتلال. وال 8% الباقية موجهة ضد "المدنيين" بدون تحديد. وهذه، الأخيرة هي التي تطغي على الأعلام.
أن الأعداد الرسمية لقوات الحكومة قد تزايدت بإستمرار وتصل الأن الى 330 ألف. وهي غالبا ما تعمل مع القوات الأمريكية أو تسبقها أو تحمي مؤخراتها. أما بالنسبة لأستهداف المدنيين فمن غير المعروف نسبة الهجمات على المرتزقة ( وتسميهم التقارير الرسمية بالمتعاقدين) الذين يرتدون الملابس المدنية ويعمل الكثير منهم في المناطق المدنية، وتقدر الحكومة الأمريكية عددهم بال 100 ألف، بدون وجود إلتزام بتعدادهم، أو بتعداد ضحاياهم. كذلك لا تميز الأرقام الهجمات على وحدات حماية المنشئات التي يقدر عددها بال150 ألف حسب تقدير نوري المالكي والتي بسبب سيطرتها على المباني وإمتلاكها السلاح والسيارات هي في الحقيقة مليشيات بحد ذاتها، خصوصا أنها تدار من قبل شركات أمنية خاصة ، أي متداخلة مع المرتزقة.أما الهجمات على المدنيين الحقيقيين فالشارع العراقي بشكل عام يضع مسؤليته على عملاء الأحتلال، وهو تصور لا تقل مشروعيته عن وضع مسؤلياتها على متطرفين مجانيين يقتلون الناس وبعضهم البعض
The second graph shows that 75% of the recorded attacks,(here based on the quarterly reviews to congress only) has remained directed at the occupation forces directly, and further 17% at the Iraqi government forces. The remaining, 8% are directed at unspecified civilian targets. It is the latter that makes it to the media.
The official Iraqi government security forces numbers have been steadily rising and now stand at about 330 000. They often act as forward or guard units for the occupation forces. It is not known what proportion of the attacks on "civilians" who are in fact mercenaries who operate in civilian clothes and are often based in civilian areas. The official US estimates is of 100,000 private contractors in Iraq. Other civilian targets may be Facility Protection Forces, whose number is estimated by the government at 150 000, or at real civilians. Word on the Iraqi street is that attacks on real civilians are the work of occupation agents, a version of events that is at least as credible as the mad fanatics attacking each other.
.
الشكل الثالث جدول يبين الإنتشار الجغرافي لهجمات المقاومة حسب المحافظات في العامين الأخيرين. وهناك تغييرات صغيرة لكن الأصطدامات المتكررة في المحافظات الجنوبية بين القوات الحكومية ويبينها وبين الأهالي تبدو غير مدرجة ، وهو ما يشير الى أن ما هو مدرج هي أعمال المقاومة وحدها. ومن المعروف أن طريق الإمدادات بين الكويت وبغداد بطول حوالي 800 كم ، والمار عبر أغلب محافظات الجنوب، هو أشد طرق العالم حراسة ، وأن مبالغ خيالية تصرف على المرتزقة و"العشائر" والمليشيات لحمايته. ـ
.The third figure gives the geographic distribution of the resistance attacks. There are small shifts in pattern over time, but the frequent clashes in most southern provinces seem not to be included. This may indicate that the figures used refer only to resistance actions. It must be noted that the 800 km supply route from Kuwait to Baghdad through several southern provinces is the most heavily protected one in the world, with massive funds paid to contractors, ‘tribes’ and local militias.
The Iraq Index is produced by the Washington-based Brookings Institutions. It comes in 54 pages of tables, graphs and footnotes in PDF format, half of which on security indicators.
The index has been updated weekly over the last four years, in whatever section new data become available. The authors are Michael E. O’Hanlon and Jason H. Campbell.
Similar other projects, such as Iraqi Body Count and Iraqi Coalition Casualties Count, the above mentioned Brookings index is based on what is regarded by the western parliamentarians and the establishment figures as reputable sources which would verify and correct their data. Considering the politics of data, the figures are conservative and may well not represent the full story. Most security figures are from U.S. Department of Defense Quarterly Report to Congress.
منذر نعمان الأعظمي- اللجنة العراقية للإعلام والثقافة الوطنيةـ21 مارت 2007
Mundher Adhami
Iraqi Committee for Media and Culture
21 March 2007
As for Rumsfeld's metrics, the Iraqi saying goes: "soak it in water and then drink the water" for all the good it will do you.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
داخل الداخلية
.
آخر فضائح وزارة الداخلية
في يوم 18/3/2007 صدرت جملة اوامر ادارية في وزارة الداخلية تضمنت الاتي :- ـ
ـ1 - تسحب يد المفتش العام لوزارة الداخلية السيد عقيل عمران سعيد الطريحي من الوظيفة حتى اشعاراً اخر ...ـ
ـ2- يودع مدير عام التفتيش السيد محمد مهدي بالحجز الاداري فوراً وحتى اشعاراً اخر ... ـ
ـ (( تعليق – السيد محمد مهدي هو زوج اخت المفتش العام عقيل عمران ويتولى عمليات ( الاستفادة ) في غياب السيد المفتش)) ...ـ
ـ3- سحب جميع ضباط ومراتب "المفتش العام" وانهاء تنسيبهم خلال 72 ساعة لجسامة الجرائم المرتكبة من قبلهم . ـ
ـ4- طرد العقيد خالد / مدير مكتب مفتش الشرطة الوطنية من الخدمة ... ـ
ـ5- طرد العقيد ستار /مدير التدقيق في وزارة الداخلية ... ـ
ـ6- طرد العميد سعد مدير في مكتب المفتش العام ...ـ
ـ (( تعليق - الاخير قام بتعين ازواج بناته وابن اخته في وزارة الداخلية من دون مؤهلات وهم غير ملتحقين للخدمة ...بل فقط لاستلام الرواتب ..)) ـ
ـ7- قام السيد المفتش العام لوزارة الداخلية باصدار 75 جواز جديد فئة ج ( حصته الاسبوعية ) لجهات غير معروفة وخصص مجموعة من منتسبي المفتشية بتعقيب اصدار تلك الجوازات وفق السياق المتبع وهم
ـ م .اول حيدر المرسومي . ـ
ـ المفوض كاظم حمود . ـ
ـ المفوض عباس تي تي . ـ
كما و يستخدم العميد عباس الشمري بأصدار بطاقات الاحوال الشخصية وشهادة الجنسية العراقية وترويج معاملات نقل السجلات من محافظة الى اخرى اضافة الى القيام باعمال تخص الفساد الاداري بين الموظفين والمراجعين ... ـ
ـ انتهى مجمل ما تضمنته الاوامر الادارية الصادرة عن الوكالة الادارية لما يسمى ( ديوان وزارة الداخلية ) ...ـ
سرمد العراقي - عبر الإيميل
في يوم 18/3/2007 صدرت جملة اوامر ادارية في وزارة الداخلية تضمنت الاتي :- ـ
ـ1 - تسحب يد المفتش العام لوزارة الداخلية السيد عقيل عمران سعيد الطريحي من الوظيفة حتى اشعاراً اخر ...ـ
ـ2- يودع مدير عام التفتيش السيد محمد مهدي بالحجز الاداري فوراً وحتى اشعاراً اخر ... ـ
ـ (( تعليق – السيد محمد مهدي هو زوج اخت المفتش العام عقيل عمران ويتولى عمليات ( الاستفادة ) في غياب السيد المفتش)) ...ـ
ـ3- سحب جميع ضباط ومراتب "المفتش العام" وانهاء تنسيبهم خلال 72 ساعة لجسامة الجرائم المرتكبة من قبلهم . ـ
ـ4- طرد العقيد خالد / مدير مكتب مفتش الشرطة الوطنية من الخدمة ... ـ
ـ5- طرد العقيد ستار /مدير التدقيق في وزارة الداخلية ... ـ
ـ6- طرد العميد سعد مدير في مكتب المفتش العام ...ـ
ـ (( تعليق - الاخير قام بتعين ازواج بناته وابن اخته في وزارة الداخلية من دون مؤهلات وهم غير ملتحقين للخدمة ...بل فقط لاستلام الرواتب ..)) ـ
ـ7- قام السيد المفتش العام لوزارة الداخلية باصدار 75 جواز جديد فئة ج ( حصته الاسبوعية ) لجهات غير معروفة وخصص مجموعة من منتسبي المفتشية بتعقيب اصدار تلك الجوازات وفق السياق المتبع وهم
ـ م .اول حيدر المرسومي . ـ
ـ المفوض كاظم حمود . ـ
ـ المفوض عباس تي تي . ـ
كما و يستخدم العميد عباس الشمري بأصدار بطاقات الاحوال الشخصية وشهادة الجنسية العراقية وترويج معاملات نقل السجلات من محافظة الى اخرى اضافة الى القيام باعمال تخص الفساد الاداري بين الموظفين والمراجعين ... ـ
ـ انتهى مجمل ما تضمنته الاوامر الادارية الصادرة عن الوكالة الادارية لما يسمى ( ديوان وزارة الداخلية ) ...ـ
سرمد العراقي - عبر الإيميل
بغداد العروبه 20/3/2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Testimonials for a War Crime Tribunal on Iraq - i.e. if there is justice
.
Iraqis in Amman: testimonials
.السادة الاخوان
يرجى الاطلاع على شريط الفديو الذي اعده عضو الكونغرس الامريكي جيم مكديرموت اثناء وجوده في عمان في تشرين الثاني 2006 والذي يتضمن مداخلات لنواب عراقيين وشخصيات عراقية حول الوضع في العراق .ـ
فاروق زيادة
.Congressman McDermott Interviews in Amman, Jordan (video)يرجى الاطلاع على شريط الفديو الذي اعده عضو الكونغرس الامريكي جيم مكديرموت اثناء وجوده في عمان في تشرين الثاني 2006 والذي يتضمن مداخلات لنواب عراقيين وشخصيات عراقية حول الوضع في العراق .ـ
فاروق زيادة
American testimonials (A series of 10 videos)
Hijacking Catastrophe:
- Introduction
- Blueprint for Empire
- Hijacking Fear
- Things Related and Not
- Empire
Sorrows of Empire part 1 - Sorrows of Empire part 2
- "Bring it On" part 1
- "Bring it On" part 2
- Politics of Citizenship
.
Friday, March 16, 2007
The Iraqi Oil Sludge ...."هيهات، هيهات منا الذلة"
.
ـ(1) ماذا تم من 31/1/2007 لحد الان حول مسودة قانون النفط:-ـ
أ) تسلسل الحوادث بما يتعلق بتمرير مسودة القانون:-ـ
ب) صيغة "اتفاق" 26/2 بين الحكومة المركزية وحكومة كردستان
ج) تسلسل الحوادث، فيما يتعلق بمعارضة القانون.ـ
.
ـ(2) شركة النفط الوطنية العراقية والملاحق الاربعة
أ) ان الملاحق الاربعة جاءت تحت العناوين (التسميات) التالية:-ـ
اولاً- الملحق رقم (1) الحقول المنتجة.ـ
ثانياً- الملحق رقم (2) : الحقول غير المنتجة القريبة من عقد الانتاج.ـ
ثالثا- الملحق رقم (3) : الحقول غير المنتجة البعيدة عن عقد الانتاج.ـ
رابعا- الملحق رقم (4) الرقع الاستكشافية.ـ
.ب) كيف تنفذ شركة النفط الوطنية اعمال التنقيب والتطوير، ماهي نوع العقود.ـ
.
ـ(3) الثروة النفطية في المناطق "السنيّة"ـ
أ- ماقالته النيويورك تايمز في 19/2/2007:ـ
ب- الوضع الفعلي للحقول في المناطق السنيـّة
.
ـ(4) ماهي الفروقات بين مسودة 15/1 ومسودة 15/2
.
ـ(5) ما المطلوب؟
.
ان بقاء الاميركان ليس الحل بل هو سبب التوترات والفوضى والقتل الجماعي ، ولننظر للاربع سنوات الماضية، كلما استمر وجودهم كلما ازدادت الامور سوءاً، فمدة البقاء وزيادة القتل علاقة طردية، والنتيجة واضحة، اذ لو بقوا سنوات اخرى فالقتل سيزداد ولن يقل بالمرة. هم العلة وليس الدواء، اقطع العلة تجد الدواء. لايمكن حل مشكلة العراق مع وجود جندي امريكي فيه. ـ
في الوقت الحاضر وحكم بوش وجماعته في اضعف حالاتهم، وهم في نهاياتهم، اذاً لماذا نعطيهم جرعة تقوية (وستكون جرعة قوية ستراتيجية) بتمشية قانون يخدم بالاصول والفروع اجندتهم فقط. هم الحصان الخاسر بوضوح، فاذاً لماذا نراهن على الحصان الخاسر؟. ـ
هل يعتقد من يريد ان يمرر القانون من العراقيين، بان الاميركان سيلتزموهم ويساندوهم، لماذا يقوم الاميركان بذلك وقد ادى الجانب العراقي مايريدون. ان الحكومة ومجلس النواب، وبيوم تصديق القانون، يكونون قد حكموا على انفسهم بالانتهاء والانقراض، والظواهر واضحة للعيان، سوف لن يبقوا وسيتم المجيء بحكومة اخرى. ولذا من الناحية التكتيكية هو المناورة بعدم تمشية القانون للبقاء اطول، واذا كان في كل الاحوال فهم سينتهون، فعلى الاقل يتم ذلك ولايكون القانون وزراً تاريخياً في رقابهم. لاتمرروا القانون او على الاقل يؤجل لظروف افضل وبدراسة اقيم له، ليس فقط حفاظاً لمصالح هذا الشعب المضحي الصبور الكريم المثابر، ولكن بنفس الوقت الحاقد المدمر الذي يحرق الاخضر واليابس ان يصل الضيم مداه. ايضاً لاتمرروه حفاظاً على وجودكم وتاريخكم ومستقبلكم ورفع رؤوسكم، وعدم الخنوع لارادة الظالم والمعتدي، وتذكروا دائما "هيهات، هيهات منا الذلة".ـ
التقرير الكامل - فؤاد قاسم الامير
بغداد 15/3/2007
في الوقت الحاضر وحكم بوش وجماعته في اضعف حالاتهم، وهم في نهاياتهم، اذاً لماذا نعطيهم جرعة تقوية (وستكون جرعة قوية ستراتيجية) بتمشية قانون يخدم بالاصول والفروع اجندتهم فقط. هم الحصان الخاسر بوضوح، فاذاً لماذا نراهن على الحصان الخاسر؟. ـ
هل يعتقد من يريد ان يمرر القانون من العراقيين، بان الاميركان سيلتزموهم ويساندوهم، لماذا يقوم الاميركان بذلك وقد ادى الجانب العراقي مايريدون. ان الحكومة ومجلس النواب، وبيوم تصديق القانون، يكونون قد حكموا على انفسهم بالانتهاء والانقراض، والظواهر واضحة للعيان، سوف لن يبقوا وسيتم المجيء بحكومة اخرى. ولذا من الناحية التكتيكية هو المناورة بعدم تمشية القانون للبقاء اطول، واذا كان في كل الاحوال فهم سينتهون، فعلى الاقل يتم ذلك ولايكون القانون وزراً تاريخياً في رقابهم. لاتمرروا القانون او على الاقل يؤجل لظروف افضل وبدراسة اقيم له، ليس فقط حفاظاً لمصالح هذا الشعب المضحي الصبور الكريم المثابر، ولكن بنفس الوقت الحاقد المدمر الذي يحرق الاخضر واليابس ان يصل الضيم مداه. ايضاً لاتمرروه حفاظاً على وجودكم وتاريخكم ومستقبلكم ورفع رؤوسكم، وعدم الخنوع لارادة الظالم والمعتدي، وتذكروا دائما "هيهات، هيهات منا الذلة".ـ
التقرير الكامل - فؤاد قاسم الامير
بغداد 15/3/2007
.
,
"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fears the Americans will withdraw support for his government — effectively ousting him — if parliament does not pass a draft oil law by the end of June, close associates of the Iraqi leader told The Associated Press on Tuesday."
.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
تيتي تيتي .. جنكم حذاء قاسم الطنبوري
.
ـ"اكدت مصادر عراقية عسكرية وثيقة الصلة بعلاوي وأنقرة أن العاصمتين البريطانية والتركية تسعيان ضمن ستراتيجية تغيير خارطة العملية السياسية ونظام الحكم في العراق، الى وضع أُسس نظام الحكم العسكري في العراق لإنهاء حالة الاحتقان الطائفي، ومن ثم الخروج عن سلطة المنظومة الاسلامية التي أسست لها طهران بغباء وصمت أميركيين.ـ
...
وأبرز أعضاء حكومة الظل هم:ـ...ـ
حكومة الظل بقيادة علاوي تستعد لتسلم زمام الأمور في بغداد (سنشير الى مصدر الخبر قريباً)ـ
ـ13 أذار 2007
.
والكاكا وين؟ ... يم الهورن؟
.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Previous posted documents .. only now being 'revealed' by the mainstream media
.
"A former Iraqi defence minister whose 10 months in office coincided with the disappearance of more than $800m (£400m) from the ministry’s coffers is living openly in Amman and London despite a warrant for his arrest.
Hazem Shaalan, a small businessman in London until Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, rose in a year to one of the most important jobs in the interim government that ran Iraq from 2004 to 2005.
He left Baghdad before the next government discovered that a fortune had been looted from his ministry’s account in what one senior investigator has called “one of the largest thefts in history” (emphasis added).
The missing money was part of $8.8 billion of shrink-wrap-ped American cash that was flown into Iraq after Saddam fell but which is now unaccounted for. It is the subject of a congressional inquiry in Washington amid growing demands by Democrats to identify those responsible.
Hazem Shaalan, a small businessman in London until Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, rose in a year to one of the most important jobs in the interim government that ran Iraq from 2004 to 2005.
He left Baghdad before the next government discovered that a fortune had been looted from his ministry’s account in what one senior investigator has called “one of the largest thefts in history” (emphasis added).
The missing money was part of $8.8 billion of shrink-wrap-ped American cash that was flown into Iraq after Saddam fell but which is now unaccounted for. It is the subject of a congressional inquiry in Washington amid growing demands by Democrats to identify those responsible.
By the way:
Missing cash
$12 billion - cash shipped to Iraq from US in 2003-4
$8.8 billion - total spent by Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and never accounted for
$2.5 billion - Iraqi money spent by CPA from oil-for-food programme without proper accounts
$800m - amount missing from Iraqi defence ministry
$500m-$600m - missing from transport, electricity and interior ministries
$69m - value of fuel missing from oil ministry".
$12 billion - cash shipped to Iraq from US in 2003-4
$8.8 billion - total spent by Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and never accounted for
$2.5 billion - Iraqi money spent by CPA from oil-for-food programme without proper accounts
$800m - amount missing from Iraqi defence ministry
$500m-$600m - missing from transport, electricity and interior ministries
$69m - value of fuel missing from oil ministry".
Former Iraq minister denies theft of millions, March 11, 2007.
This site posted ten videos and related pictures and documents on this heist on April 2, 2005, for those that dispute the authenticity of the documents that are posted on this site (for example, see below posting and here and here).
This is a confirming testament (video) from a repentant 'Finance Minister' at the time of the above heist.
.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Badr and Iran in Iraq ... وثائق ومعلومات عن قوات بدر الإيرانية ونشاط إيران في شمال العراق
.
The three below documents are in Arabic.
Two lists (Excel) detail the names of Badr Brigade members (the military arm of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq - Hakim and Adel Mahdi).
The first lists the names of 1991 members in Baghdad Badr Sector 9 with the following information: their Arabic name, their Iranian names, their nicknames, the date of their Iranian employment, their address, their military unit, their military rank and their salary.
The second lists the same information for the 324 members in Diyala Badr Sector 9.
The third is a report on the wide spread presence of Iranian Intelligence and commercial activities in the north of Iraq.
.
The three below documents are in Arabic.
Two lists (Excel) detail the names of Badr Brigade members (the military arm of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq - Hakim and Adel Mahdi).
The first lists the names of 1991 members in Baghdad Badr Sector 9 with the following information: their Arabic name, their Iranian names, their nicknames, the date of their Iranian employment, their address, their military unit, their military rank and their salary.
The second lists the same information for the 324 members in Diyala Badr Sector 9.
The third is a report on the wide spread presence of Iranian Intelligence and commercial activities in the north of Iraq.
.
قائمة رواتب منتسبي فيلق 9 بدر - بغداد (1991 منتسب)ـ
قائمة رواتب منتسبي فيلق 9 بدر - ديالى (324 منتسب)ـ
أجهزة النظام الايراني تتواجد حالياً في كردستان العراقية 26 كانون الثاني 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
"We, The American Soldiers, Were The Terrorists"
.
"I was awakened at 3 a.m. that first night and told to get my ass up quickly because in one hour we were going to raid a house full of terrorists.
Capt. Conde and some sergeants showed me and my squad mates a satellite photo of a house and a drawing of the layout of the inside. Our assignment was to blow off the door, burst into the house, raid it fast and raid it good -- looking for contraband, caches of weapons, signs of terrorists or terrorist activity, then rounding up the men and getting out damn fast. The longer we stayed in any one location, the longer somebody would have to put us in the sights of a rocket-propelled grenade or lob mortars at us.
I had no idea what to expect.
Would I charge through the door, only to be blown to bits by a grenade? Would somebody with an AK-47 knock my Oklahoman ass right back out that door?
Would some six-year-old terrorist with two days of gun training be waiting to put me in his crosshairs?
...I gripped my M-249. Yes, it could belt out 2,000 rounds a minute but only in theory. You couldn't really hold your finger down that long. When you were blazing away like that, the bullets turned the barrel as hot as Hades. And if you held your finger down too long, it would warp the barrel.
It took thirty seconds for Jones and me to put the charge of C-4 plastic explosive on the door.
Then we dashed around to the side of the house so we wouldn't blow ourselves up. You'd be fried meat if you were anywhere near the explosion. I set off the blast, and then the six of us charged in. Jones went first -- that skinny, red-haired Ohio boy was always hot to trot. With Jones leading the way we burst into the house, armed to the hilt. Kevlar helmets, flak jackets, machine guns, combat boots, the whole nine yards.
I'd never been inside an Iraqi's house before.
We charged through a kitchen. I had been told by squad leader Padilla to check everything, so I even opened the fridge. Perhaps, I thought, I would find guns or grenades hidden inside. No such luck.
In the fridge, all I saw was a bit of food. In the freezer I found big slabs of meat, uncovered. No wrapping. No plastic. Frozen, just like that. We ran into a living room with long couches, one along each wall.
In this room with the couches we found two children, a teenager, and a woman. We also found two young men in the house. One looked like a teenager and the other was perhaps in his early 20s -- brothers.
We hollered and cussed. I spat dip on the floor and screamed along with the other soldiers at the top of my lungs. I knew they didn't understand, but I hollered anyway.
"Get down," I shouted. "Get the f--k down. Shut the f--k up."
They didn't know what "get down" meant, so we knocked the two brothers to the floor, face down.
We put our knees on their backs, pulled their hands behind them, and faster than you can bat an eye we zipcuffed them.
Zipcuffs are plastic handcuffs that lock on tight. They must have bit something fierce into those young men's skin. There was no key, nothing -- the only way to get them off was to slice them with cutters.
We pushed the brothers outside, where 12 other soldiers from our platoon were waiting.
The Iraqi brothers were taken away to an American detention facility for interrogation.
I don't know what it was called, and I don't know where it was. All I know is that we sent away every man -- pretty well every male over five feet tall -- that we found in our house raids, and I never saw one of them return to the neighbourhoods we patrolled regularly.
Inside, we kept on ransacking the house.
The more obvious it became that we would find no weapons or contraband, the more we kicked the stuffing out of the house.
We knocked over dressers, sliced into mattresses with knives, kicked our way through doors, raiding the three bedrooms on the second floor, then raced up to the third floor.
We turned over everything we could and broke furniture at random, searching for contraband, weapons, proof of terrorist activity, or signs of weapons of mass destruction.
We found nothing but a CD.
Soldiers initially said it showed proof of terrorist activity, but it turned out to have nothing on it but a bunch of speeches by Saddam Hussein.
Once we had everybody outside the house and had done our initial job of ransacking, another squad took over inside.
They kept raising hell in there, breaking and turning over more furniture, looking for weapons that we might have missed.
Outside, under a carport, I was assigned to watch the women and children. We weren't arresting them, but we weren't allowing them to go anywhere either. The family members couldn't go back inside, and they couldn't wander off into the neighbourhood. They had to stay right there while we tore the hell out of their house.
A girl in the family -- a teenager -- started staring at me. I tried to ignore her.
Then she began speaking to me. Inside, when we had been screaming at her and the others, I'd assumed that nobody understood a word of English. But this young girl spoke to me in English, and her eyes bored holes right through me.
She was skin and bones, not even 100 lb., not yet a full-grown woman, but something about her seemed powerful and disturbing.
I feared that girl, and I wanted to get away from her as fast as I could, but it was my job to stay right there and make sure she didn't move. I had my weapon ready. She was wearing a blue nightgown and had a white scarf covering her hair. She had no veil, so I could see her face perfectly. Her eyes were coal black and full of hatred.
In English, she asked me, "Where are you taking my brothers?"
"I don't know, Miss," I said.
"Why are you taking them away?"
"I'm afraid I can't say."
"When are you bringing them back?"
"Couldn't tell you that either."
"Why are you doing this to us?"
I couldn't answer that."
US Soldier Joshua Key "Given What We Were Doing To Them, Who Could Blame Them For Wanting To Kill Us, And All Americans?" March 8, 2007
US Deserter Joshua Key (Video-16 minutes) March 8, 2007 interview
"It doesn't matter who controls Congress. Congress is a dead institution, ruled by timid legislators who no longer exercise any real role in the governing of this nation.
It doesn't matter what the Supreme Court may or may not do. The President of the United States has declared himself a "war time President" and granted himself dictatorial rights that no one in Congress or the Court appears able to successfully challenge him.
The America we used to cherish is dead, replaced by a ruthless dictator. The America that more than 3,100 men and women died for in Iraq no longer exists. We might as well pull the sheet over Uncle Sam's head and prepare for the funeral.
Or can we, as a people, regain control of our government? Perhaps, but doing so will require drastic measures. I'm not talking about kicking out one party of political hacks and replacing it with another: Been there, done that, witnessed the failure.
We need to rethink this experiment called America. Maybe we need to start with a clean sheet of paper. Maybe it's time to recognize that our present America is a rotting corpse, devoured from within by the cancer of politics, corruption, greed and a lust for power.
Maybe it's time for a new American Revolution. After all, the last one started because another guy named George tried to destroy our way of life.
Turn off the life support: America is dead, March 9, 2007 (The comments are also noteworthy)
"I was awakened at 3 a.m. that first night and told to get my ass up quickly because in one hour we were going to raid a house full of terrorists.
Capt. Conde and some sergeants showed me and my squad mates a satellite photo of a house and a drawing of the layout of the inside. Our assignment was to blow off the door, burst into the house, raid it fast and raid it good -- looking for contraband, caches of weapons, signs of terrorists or terrorist activity, then rounding up the men and getting out damn fast. The longer we stayed in any one location, the longer somebody would have to put us in the sights of a rocket-propelled grenade or lob mortars at us.
I had no idea what to expect.
Would I charge through the door, only to be blown to bits by a grenade? Would somebody with an AK-47 knock my Oklahoman ass right back out that door?
Would some six-year-old terrorist with two days of gun training be waiting to put me in his crosshairs?
...I gripped my M-249. Yes, it could belt out 2,000 rounds a minute but only in theory. You couldn't really hold your finger down that long. When you were blazing away like that, the bullets turned the barrel as hot as Hades. And if you held your finger down too long, it would warp the barrel.
It took thirty seconds for Jones and me to put the charge of C-4 plastic explosive on the door.
Then we dashed around to the side of the house so we wouldn't blow ourselves up. You'd be fried meat if you were anywhere near the explosion. I set off the blast, and then the six of us charged in. Jones went first -- that skinny, red-haired Ohio boy was always hot to trot. With Jones leading the way we burst into the house, armed to the hilt. Kevlar helmets, flak jackets, machine guns, combat boots, the whole nine yards.
I'd never been inside an Iraqi's house before.
We charged through a kitchen. I had been told by squad leader Padilla to check everything, so I even opened the fridge. Perhaps, I thought, I would find guns or grenades hidden inside. No such luck.
In the fridge, all I saw was a bit of food. In the freezer I found big slabs of meat, uncovered. No wrapping. No plastic. Frozen, just like that. We ran into a living room with long couches, one along each wall.
In this room with the couches we found two children, a teenager, and a woman. We also found two young men in the house. One looked like a teenager and the other was perhaps in his early 20s -- brothers.
We hollered and cussed. I spat dip on the floor and screamed along with the other soldiers at the top of my lungs. I knew they didn't understand, but I hollered anyway.
"Get down," I shouted. "Get the f--k down. Shut the f--k up."
They didn't know what "get down" meant, so we knocked the two brothers to the floor, face down.
We put our knees on their backs, pulled their hands behind them, and faster than you can bat an eye we zipcuffed them.
Zipcuffs are plastic handcuffs that lock on tight. They must have bit something fierce into those young men's skin. There was no key, nothing -- the only way to get them off was to slice them with cutters.
We pushed the brothers outside, where 12 other soldiers from our platoon were waiting.
The Iraqi brothers were taken away to an American detention facility for interrogation.
I don't know what it was called, and I don't know where it was. All I know is that we sent away every man -- pretty well every male over five feet tall -- that we found in our house raids, and I never saw one of them return to the neighbourhoods we patrolled regularly.
Inside, we kept on ransacking the house.
The more obvious it became that we would find no weapons or contraband, the more we kicked the stuffing out of the house.
We knocked over dressers, sliced into mattresses with knives, kicked our way through doors, raiding the three bedrooms on the second floor, then raced up to the third floor.
We turned over everything we could and broke furniture at random, searching for contraband, weapons, proof of terrorist activity, or signs of weapons of mass destruction.
We found nothing but a CD.
Soldiers initially said it showed proof of terrorist activity, but it turned out to have nothing on it but a bunch of speeches by Saddam Hussein.
Once we had everybody outside the house and had done our initial job of ransacking, another squad took over inside.
They kept raising hell in there, breaking and turning over more furniture, looking for weapons that we might have missed.
Outside, under a carport, I was assigned to watch the women and children. We weren't arresting them, but we weren't allowing them to go anywhere either. The family members couldn't go back inside, and they couldn't wander off into the neighbourhood. They had to stay right there while we tore the hell out of their house.
A girl in the family -- a teenager -- started staring at me. I tried to ignore her.
Then she began speaking to me. Inside, when we had been screaming at her and the others, I'd assumed that nobody understood a word of English. But this young girl spoke to me in English, and her eyes bored holes right through me.
She was skin and bones, not even 100 lb., not yet a full-grown woman, but something about her seemed powerful and disturbing.
I feared that girl, and I wanted to get away from her as fast as I could, but it was my job to stay right there and make sure she didn't move. I had my weapon ready. She was wearing a blue nightgown and had a white scarf covering her hair. She had no veil, so I could see her face perfectly. Her eyes were coal black and full of hatred.
In English, she asked me, "Where are you taking my brothers?"
"I don't know, Miss," I said.
"Why are you taking them away?"
"I'm afraid I can't say."
"When are you bringing them back?"
"Couldn't tell you that either."
"Why are you doing this to us?"
I couldn't answer that."
US Soldier Joshua Key "Given What We Were Doing To Them, Who Could Blame Them For Wanting To Kill Us, And All Americans?" March 8, 2007
US Deserter Joshua Key (Video-16 minutes) March 8, 2007 interview
"It doesn't matter who controls Congress. Congress is a dead institution, ruled by timid legislators who no longer exercise any real role in the governing of this nation.
It doesn't matter what the Supreme Court may or may not do. The President of the United States has declared himself a "war time President" and granted himself dictatorial rights that no one in Congress or the Court appears able to successfully challenge him.
The America we used to cherish is dead, replaced by a ruthless dictator. The America that more than 3,100 men and women died for in Iraq no longer exists. We might as well pull the sheet over Uncle Sam's head and prepare for the funeral.
Or can we, as a people, regain control of our government? Perhaps, but doing so will require drastic measures. I'm not talking about kicking out one party of political hacks and replacing it with another: Been there, done that, witnessed the failure.
We need to rethink this experiment called America. Maybe we need to start with a clean sheet of paper. Maybe it's time to recognize that our present America is a rotting corpse, devoured from within by the cancer of politics, corruption, greed and a lust for power.
Maybe it's time for a new American Revolution. After all, the last one started because another guy named George tried to destroy our way of life.
Turn off the life support: America is dead, March 9, 2007 (The comments are also noteworthy)
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Documents: Iran's top agent in Iraq..Al-Maliki .. عميل إيران الرئيس في العراق .. المالكي
.
وثائق أخرى تدين المالكي (أنظر النشرة السابقة وثيقتان قي 26 كانون الثاني 2007) حول تنسيقه مع السفير الإيراني في العراق بتلفيق تهم ضد 13 برلمانياً معارضين للتدخل الإيراني السافر في العراق بهدف تصفيتهم جسدياً أو إحالتهم الى القضاء بعد رفع الحصانة البرلمانية عنهم كما هي الحال بحق الشيخ ناصر الجنابي أدناه ـ
وثائق أخرى تدين المالكي (أنظر النشرة السابقة وثيقتان قي 26 كانون الثاني 2007) حول تنسيقه مع السفير الإيراني في العراق بتلفيق تهم ضد 13 برلمانياً معارضين للتدخل الإيراني السافر في العراق بهدف تصفيتهم جسدياً أو إحالتهم الى القضاء بعد رفع الحصانة البرلمانية عنهم كما هي الحال بحق الشيخ ناصر الجنابي أدناه ـ
.
Another decree (dated March 2, 2007) from Al-Maliki (see the previous posting - Two documents January 26, 2007):
.
The below document is a letter from 'Prime Minister' Al-Maliki to the Iranian ambassador in Iraq assuring him that in coordination with Al-Quds (Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Intelligence), false information is being gathered against 13 Iraqi parliamentarians, who are vehemently opposed to Iran's increasing interference in Iraqi affairs, and intended to be handed over to the American occupiers to deal with them accordingly and at the same time direct the Iraqi legal system to lift their parliamentary immunity in order to arrest them. The intent is to liquidate them, either physically or by arresting them.
The document on the right is the official letter from The Mejlis Al Qadha'a Al A'ala (The High Legal court) asking parliament to deal with one of the 13 parliamentarians, Shaikh Nassir Al Janabi, who is accused of 'terrorist sympathy'. A similar letter is being sent, one or two at a time, to the other 13 parliamentarians who have been exposing the Iranian interference in Iraq and their Secret Death Squads and Prisons.
.
Update: For the doubting Comments below, here is some sort of confirmation on the authenticity of these documents (the news article is in Arabic, reiterating the subject matter of the below two documents).
تحديث:ـ "المالكي يحارب العرب في البرلمان العرافي" ـ7 آذار 2007
Click to enlarge, then click bottom right corner)
أنقر الصورة للتكبير ثم إنقر أسفل يمين الصورة
. 
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Increasing Iraqi Resistance Forces .... تعاظم المقاومة العراقية
.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Hasty retreat? Now don't you forget to declare victory.
.
"An elite team of officers advising the US commander, General David Petraeus, in Baghdad has concluded that they have six months to win the war in Iraq - or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat.
The officers - combat veterans who are experts in counter-insurgency - are charged with implementing the "new way forward" strategy announced by George Bush on January 10. The plan includes a controversial "surge" of 21,500 additional American troops to establish security in the Iraqi capital and Anbar province.
But the team, known as the "Baghdad brains trust" and ensconced in the heavily fortified Green Zone, is struggling to overcome a range of entrenched problems in what has become a race against time, according to a former senior administration official familiar with their deliberations.
"They know they are operating under a clock. They know they are going to hear a lot more talk in Washington about 'Plan B' by the autumn - meaning withdrawal. They know the next six-month period is their opportunity. And they say it's getting harder every day," he said."
US commanders admit: we face a Vietnam-style collapse, March 1, 2007
"An elite team of officers advising the US commander, General David Petraeus, in Baghdad has concluded that they have six months to win the war in Iraq - or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat.
The officers - combat veterans who are experts in counter-insurgency - are charged with implementing the "new way forward" strategy announced by George Bush on January 10. The plan includes a controversial "surge" of 21,500 additional American troops to establish security in the Iraqi capital and Anbar province.
But the team, known as the "Baghdad brains trust" and ensconced in the heavily fortified Green Zone, is struggling to overcome a range of entrenched problems in what has become a race against time, according to a former senior administration official familiar with their deliberations.
"They know they are operating under a clock. They know they are going to hear a lot more talk in Washington about 'Plan B' by the autumn - meaning withdrawal. They know the next six-month period is their opportunity. And they say it's getting harder every day," he said."
US commanders admit: we face a Vietnam-style collapse, March 1, 2007
'You can never find a competent suicide bomber when you need one'
Some Americans sorry Cheney survived, February 27, 2007
.
Archives
December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009
