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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Sunday, September 30, 2007
The insidious American implanting of sectarianism - through corruption
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From an email by a close friend:
"Note, in pages 14 and 15 [of the above U.S. Embassy report] how Corruption cases are divided into Shia/Sunni/Kurd.
Since when do belief and ethnic background make a difference when it comes to stealing?
Perhaps this demonstrates how the State Dept is preparing for partitioning Iraq?"
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Update:
"Joel Starr, the deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, notified Waxman that his committee could interview the State Department officials, but anything they had to say about corruption within the Iraqi government would be classified--meaning Waxman could not disclose that information to the public.
How can information about criminal waste and fraud in another government be considered a state secret in the United States?"
State Dept: Corruption in Iraq is Classified September 26, 2007
As for the the Democratic US Senator Joseph Biden who championed partitioning Iraq into three separate regions — Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni — with a central government in Baghdad since May 1, 2006 and whose bill was passed by the Senate on September 27, 2007:
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""I am a Zionist," stated Senator Biden. "You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist." (emphasis added)
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Senator Biden further stressed that without Israel, one could only imagine how many battleships and troops America would have to station in the Middle East.
Meeting with Shalom TV President Rabbi Mark S. Golub in Washington, DC, the candidate for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination said that it's insulting for any American to suggest that Israel is somehow the cause of the war in Iraq."
Exclusive network interview of Senator Joe Biden March 28, 2007
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Comment from a good friend: "Thanks for this information. I would add, "you don't have to be a Zionist to be a Jew."" October 1, 2007
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"In 1982, Oded Yinon [see FLASHBACK: A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties June 13, 1982], an official from the Israeli Foreign Affairs office, wrote, "To dissolve Iraq is even more important for us than dissolving Syria. In the short term, it's Iraqi power that constitutes the greatest threat to Israel. The Iran-Iraq war tore Iraq apart and provoked its downfall. All manner of inter-Arab conflict help us and accelerate our goal of breaking up Iraq into small, diverse pieces.""
Rogue U.S. Troops Knowingly Bombed British In Iraq January 31, 2007
From an email by a close friend:
"Note, in pages 14 and 15 [of the above U.S. Embassy report] how Corruption cases are divided into Shia/Sunni/Kurd.
Since when do belief and ethnic background make a difference when it comes to stealing?
Perhaps this demonstrates how the State Dept is preparing for partitioning Iraq?"
.
Update:
"Joel Starr, the deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, notified Waxman that his committee could interview the State Department officials, but anything they had to say about corruption within the Iraqi government would be classified--meaning Waxman could not disclose that information to the public.
How can information about criminal waste and fraud in another government be considered a state secret in the United States?"
State Dept: Corruption in Iraq is Classified September 26, 2007
As for the the Democratic US Senator Joseph Biden who championed partitioning Iraq into three separate regions — Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni — with a central government in Baghdad since May 1, 2006 and whose bill was passed by the Senate on September 27, 2007:
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""I am a Zionist," stated Senator Biden. "You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist." (emphasis added)
....
Senator Biden further stressed that without Israel, one could only imagine how many battleships and troops America would have to station in the Middle East.
Meeting with Shalom TV President Rabbi Mark S. Golub in Washington, DC, the candidate for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination said that it's insulting for any American to suggest that Israel is somehow the cause of the war in Iraq."
Exclusive network interview of Senator Joe Biden March 28, 2007
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Comment from a good friend: "Thanks for this information. I would add, "you don't have to be a Zionist to be a Jew."" October 1, 2007
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"In 1982, Oded Yinon [see FLASHBACK: A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties June 13, 1982], an official from the Israeli Foreign Affairs office, wrote, "To dissolve Iraq is even more important for us than dissolving Syria. In the short term, it's Iraqi power that constitutes the greatest threat to Israel. The Iran-Iraq war tore Iraq apart and provoked its downfall. All manner of inter-Arab conflict help us and accelerate our goal of breaking up Iraq into small, diverse pieces.""
Rogue U.S. Troops Knowingly Bombed British In Iraq January 31, 2007
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ـ"واذا ما تركنا جانبا موقف الاحتلال وحكومته التي هي بلا حول ولا قوة من تقسيم العراق المفترض، ما هو موقف ابناء الشعب العراقي عموما؟
ـ"واذا ما تركنا جانبا موقف الاحتلال وحكومته التي هي بلا حول ولا قوة من تقسيم العراق المفترض، ما هو موقف ابناء الشعب العراقي عموما؟
ان موقفهم هو موقف المندهش من وجود مخلوقات قد تفكر بهذه الطريقة، وهذا الموقف ليس نابعا من سذاجة المواطن أو هلوسة الاحلام والتمنيات بل انه مستند الي حقيقة تاريخية متمثلة بوحدة الوطن والشعب عبر آلاف السنين،ـ
وهو موقف لن يتمكن الامريكي من فهمه لسببين، الاول لكونه ابن بلد أسسه المهاجرون قبل قرنين أو ثلاثة من الزمن ويجهل معني التواصل التاريخي والحضاري، والثاني لانه محتل مهووس بالسياسة التوسعية للامبراطورية الامريكية.ـ
أما بالنسبة الي العراقي المتعاون مع الاحتلال فانه سيتعامي عن رؤية الحقيقة لسببين ايضاً، الاول لانه قد ربط مصالحه بمصالح المحتل ومنافعه الشخصية والثاني لانه عاد مع المحتل وقد أفقدته روح الثأر والانتقام القيم والمعايير الاخلاقية.ـ
ونحن نري هولاء العملاء يدورون دوران الثور الاعمي بحثا عن حل دولي أو إقليمي أو عبر صفقات طائفية أو عرقية، وأعينهم تارة علي تخبـّط أسيادهم وتارة اخري علي ما يدخل في جيوبهم من المال الحرام.ـ
ان الحل في العراق لن يأتي من تغيير في الإدارة أو السياسة الأمريكية. فالحزبان المتناوبان علي السطة منذ نشوء الدولة لا يتنافسان حول إحقاق الحقوق أو العدالة بل عن أنجح الطرق لإدارة الأمبراطورية المتهاوية، وأرباح الشركات الكبري. ولنتذكر أن الديمقراطي المحبوب جون كينيدي ووريثه لندن جونسن كانا المسؤولين الأساسيين عن كارثة فيتنام .ـ
كما ان الحل لن يأتي مما يسمي بالقوي الإقليمية، والتي لا يمكن أن تتواجد في مئات المدن و القري حيث سيتقرر مصير البلاد في نهاية المطاف.ـ
الحل لا يأتي الا من داخل العراق وبأيدي العراقيين أنفسهم عبر أشكال مقاومتهم، وبالأخص عن طريق العمليات النوعية أوالإستنزافية التي تقودها المقاومة العراقية الباسلة. وهي عمليات موجهة ضد العدو الامريكي الصهيوني وما عداهما هي عمليات ارهابية تنفذها قوات الاحتلال وعملاؤها ومرتزقتها هدفها قتل وتشريد المواطنين الابرياء".ـ
هيفاء زنكنة
ـ29 أيلول 2007
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Saturday, September 29, 2007
Iraqi Resistance .. Samples
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The Hidden Facts (video, 16 minutes)
A documentary by The 1920 Revolution Brigades كتائب ثورة العشرين, September 27, 2007
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The Islamic Army in Iraq (Al-Jazeera video)
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How Iraqis see the U.S.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Bush pardons himself
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President Bush bill pardons himself for his war crimes (video) September 20, 2007
"The Iraqi war was conceived in 1992, during the first Bush administration, in a 46-page document entitled Draft Defense Planning Guidance.
The document advocated the concept of preemptive war to assure the military and diplomatic dominance of the world by the United States. It asserted the need for "… access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil." It warned of "… proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." And it spoke of "… threats to U.S. citizens from terrorism." It was the template for today's war in Iraq.
The Draft Defense Planning Guidance was signed by the secretary of defense, Richard Cheney. It was prepared by three top staffers: Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Zalmay Khalilzad-all of whom would fill high-level positions in the administration of George W. Bush, nine years in the future."
The Mega-Lie Called the "War on Terror": A Masterpiece of Propaganda September 28, 2007
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President Bush bill pardons himself for his war crimes (video) September 20, 2007
"The Iraqi war was conceived in 1992, during the first Bush administration, in a 46-page document entitled Draft Defense Planning Guidance.
The document advocated the concept of preemptive war to assure the military and diplomatic dominance of the world by the United States. It asserted the need for "… access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil." It warned of "… proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." And it spoke of "… threats to U.S. citizens from terrorism." It was the template for today's war in Iraq.
The Draft Defense Planning Guidance was signed by the secretary of defense, Richard Cheney. It was prepared by three top staffers: Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Zalmay Khalilzad-all of whom would fill high-level positions in the administration of George W. Bush, nine years in the future."
The Mega-Lie Called the "War on Terror": A Masterpiece of Propaganda September 28, 2007
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Monday, September 24, 2007
"Turkey shooting" and now "Baiting" ... Acts of American "Bravery"
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"At the end of the [1991] war, retreating Iraqi conscripts (mainly from the Kurdish north of the country) and groups of foreign workers fleeing Kuwait, were attacked by massive USA air power.
Rockets, napalm and cluster bombs were used in what is described by the pilots as a "turkey shoot". This is a USA term meaning an unopposed slaughter (emphasis added)."
The Turkey Shoot
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"A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by scattering pieces of "bait," such as detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing Iraqis who pick up the items".
Military is ‘baiting’ insurgents in Iraq September 24, 2007
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Updates:
"At the end of the [1991] war, retreating Iraqi conscripts (mainly from the Kurdish north of the country) and groups of foreign workers fleeing Kuwait, were attacked by massive USA air power.
Rockets, napalm and cluster bombs were used in what is described by the pilots as a "turkey shoot". This is a USA term meaning an unopposed slaughter (emphasis added)."
The Turkey Shoot
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"A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by scattering pieces of "bait," such as detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing Iraqis who pick up the items".
Military is ‘baiting’ insurgents in Iraq September 24, 2007
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Updates:
"In a country that is awash in armaments and magazines and implements of war," he said, "if every time somebody picked up something that was potentially useful as a weapon, you might as well ask every Iraqi to walk around with a target on his back."
Despite the new inquiries, it is not clear whether the program was isolated to one Iraqi region or how many people were killed using the tactics." U.S. sniper 'bait and kill' tactics may be a war crime September 25, 2007
Despite the new inquiries, it is not clear whether the program was isolated to one Iraqi region or how many people were killed using the tactics." U.S. sniper 'bait and kill' tactics may be a war crime September 25, 2007
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Sunday, September 23, 2007
The "silly" notion that Oil was behind Iraq's ocupation .. ـ"سخافة" النفط في إحتلال العراق
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ـ"«هذا أمر سخيف»، ردّ وزير الدفاع الاميركي السابق دونالد رامسفيلد على اعلامي اميركي في مؤتمر صحافي في البنتاغون قبيل الحرب في اوائل عام 2003، سأله اذا كان سبب الحرب على العراق هو الهيمنة الاميركية على نفطه.ـ
لكن يتضح الآن ان الأمر ليس بهذه الدرجة من السخافة، كما ادعى رامسفيلد في حينه. والمرجع في هذا الموضوع واحد من أهم المسؤولين الاميركيين الذين يتمتعون بصدقية عالية، ألا وهو ألان غرينسبان الرئيس السابق لمجلس الاحتياط الفيديرالي (البنك المركزي الاميركي)، الذي نشر في مذكراته «ان النفط هو من الأسباب الرئيسة في شن الحرب على العراق». وأضاف في كتابه «عصر الاضطرابات» الذي صدر الاسبوع الماضي: «انني حزين لأن ليس من المناسب سياسياً الاعتراف بما يعرفه الجميع، اي ان حرب العراق هي بصورة عامة حول النفط. ومن ثم، فالتوقعات عن العرض والطلب على النفط التي لا تأخذ في الاعتبار الحالة المضطربة في الشرق الاوسط، تتفادى الكلام عن غوريللا وزنها 800 باوند من الممكن ان تعرقل مسيرة الاقتصاد العالمي». وفي مقابلة مع صحيفة «الواشنطن بوست» الاثنين الماضي، قال غرينسبان «انا لم اقل ان هذا هو هدف الادارة الاميركية من الحرب» اذ ان «القضاء على صدام حسين يبقى هو السبب المباشر». واعتبر صدام حسين خطرا على الولايات المتحدة،» ليس من خلال حيازته على أسلحة الدمار الشامل، لكن لأنه كان يهدف الى إغلاق مضيق هرمز حيث يتدفق نحو 18 مليون برميل يومياً من نفط الخليج الى الاسواق العالمية» ـ
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كيف ستتغير كتابة تاريخ الحرب، في حال صدقية كلام غرينسبان؟ أولاً، وقبل كل شئ ، سيوضح هذا التفسير لماذا غزو العراق في عام 2003 بالذات، وبعيد الحرب على افغانستان، ومن دون اي مبرر مادي؟
كما سيلقي هذا التفسير شكوكاً وتساؤلات حول «المثل العليا» للحرب من إحلال الديمقراطية والحريات والشفافية في الدول العربية والاسلامية المجاورة، بعد «تحرير» العراق. وحول حقيقة السياسة الاميركية في المنطقة مستقبلاً، وما هي النوايا الحقيقية لها، وسيثير شكوكاً حول النيات الحقيقية للتصريحات الرسمية الاميركية العلنية المستقبلية ويزيد عدد الذين يؤمنون بنظرية «المؤامرة» التي تطغى حالياً على الكثير من التفسيرات عند الرأي العام العربي للسياسة الاميركية الاقليمية.ـ
كما يأتي في وقت غير مناسب لمشروع قانون النفط العراقي الذي دعمته واشنطن علناً وبقوة واعتبرته واحداً من 18 مؤشراً لنجاح حكومة نوري المالكي، ووسيلة للمصالحة الوطنية بين الاطراف المختلفة في العراق، إضافة الى فتح المجال امام الشركات البترولية الدولية للاستثمار في العراق الذي يبلغ احتياطه النفطي المؤكد 115 بليون برميل ، ويتوقع ان تتم مناقشته والتصويت عليه في الاسابيع المقبلة بعد ان كان ذلك مقرراً نهاية أيار (مايو) الماضي. إلا أن مشروع القانون الذي هو أمام البرلمان منذ شهور، اصبح مصدراً للخلاف بدلاً من التوافق بين الأحزاب العراقية، حاله حال مشاريع عدة أخرى."ـ
كما سيلقي هذا التفسير شكوكاً وتساؤلات حول «المثل العليا» للحرب من إحلال الديمقراطية والحريات والشفافية في الدول العربية والاسلامية المجاورة، بعد «تحرير» العراق. وحول حقيقة السياسة الاميركية في المنطقة مستقبلاً، وما هي النوايا الحقيقية لها، وسيثير شكوكاً حول النيات الحقيقية للتصريحات الرسمية الاميركية العلنية المستقبلية ويزيد عدد الذين يؤمنون بنظرية «المؤامرة» التي تطغى حالياً على الكثير من التفسيرات عند الرأي العام العربي للسياسة الاميركية الاقليمية.ـ
كما يأتي في وقت غير مناسب لمشروع قانون النفط العراقي الذي دعمته واشنطن علناً وبقوة واعتبرته واحداً من 18 مؤشراً لنجاح حكومة نوري المالكي، ووسيلة للمصالحة الوطنية بين الاطراف المختلفة في العراق، إضافة الى فتح المجال امام الشركات البترولية الدولية للاستثمار في العراق الذي يبلغ احتياطه النفطي المؤكد 115 بليون برميل ، ويتوقع ان تتم مناقشته والتصويت عليه في الاسابيع المقبلة بعد ان كان ذلك مقرراً نهاية أيار (مايو) الماضي. إلا أن مشروع القانون الذي هو أمام البرلمان منذ شهور، اصبح مصدراً للخلاف بدلاً من التوافق بين الأحزاب العراقية، حاله حال مشاريع عدة أخرى."ـ
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في النهاية، يبقى السؤال الأهم في هذا المجال والذي يبقى لغزاً، حاله حال بقية الأمور في العراق هذه الأيام. اذا كان السبب الرئيس وراء الحرب هو السيطرة على النفط، فهل يستدعي هذا تحطيم العراق وتهجير 4 ملايين نسمة من سكانه داخل البلد وخارجه؟
كما يصعب فهم كيف ان واشنطن بعد أربع سنوات من الاحتلال، تتفاوض مع طهران على مستقبل أمن العراق، وكيف يتوافق هذا مع أهداف الحرب مهما كانت؟
وإذا كان النفط هو عامل رئيس وراء الحرب، لماذا السماح بتخريب صناعة النفط العراقية، وعدم التمكن من حمايتها بشكل جدي؟ فقد بلغ معدل العمليات التخريبية ضد المنشآت النفطية والموظفين والعاملين فيها عملية واحدة يومياً خلال عامي 2005 و2006، كان آخرها خطف وكيل وزارة النفط عبدالجبار الوكاع وأربعة مدراء عامين نفطيين من مقر مؤسسة تسويق النفط في منتصف شهر آب الماضي من قبل نحو 100 مسلح يرتدون زي الشرطة ويحملون السلاح ذاته ويقودون سيارات تستعملها الشرطة العراقية."ـ
وليد خدوري
ـ23 أيلول 2007
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"That's silly," former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld answered a member of the American media at a news conference at the Pentagon before the war, at the beginning of 2003. The reporter had asked Rumsfeld if the reason for the war against Iraq was US control over oil.
However, it now appears that the issue wasn't that silly, as Rumsfeld claimed at the time. The source for this information is one of the most important US officials, who enjoys international credibility, namely Alan Greenspan, the former head of the US Federal Reserve. In his memoirs, Greenspan said that "oil was one of the main reasons for waging war against Iraq."
The book, entitled "Age of Turbulence", was published last week, it sees Greenspan say that "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil, and therefore the expectations about supply and demand for oil didn't take into consideration the turbulent state of the Middle East, ignoring the talk about the 800-pound gorilla in the room, which would obstruct the path of the world economy."
However, it now appears that the issue wasn't that silly, as Rumsfeld claimed at the time. The source for this information is one of the most important US officials, who enjoys international credibility, namely Alan Greenspan, the former head of the US Federal Reserve. In his memoirs, Greenspan said that "oil was one of the main reasons for waging war against Iraq."
The book, entitled "Age of Turbulence", was published last week, it sees Greenspan say that "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil, and therefore the expectations about supply and demand for oil didn't take into consideration the turbulent state of the Middle East, ignoring the talk about the 800-pound gorilla in the room, which would obstruct the path of the world economy."
...How will the writing of the war's history change, if Greenspan's remarks are credible? First, it will clarify why Iraq was invaded in 2003, after the war in Afghanistan, and with no material justification.
This explanation will also cast doubts and questions about the "higher goal" of the war, by bringing democracy, freedom and transparency to surrounding Arab and Islamic countries, after the "liberation" of Iraq. As for the reality of US policy in the region in the future, and the true intentions behind it, the book will raise doubts about the true intentions of official US statements in the future and increase the number of people who believe in the theory of the "conspiracy," which currently dominates much of the public's interpretations of US regional policy. Greenspan's book also comes at an inopportune time for the Iraqi Oil Law, supported and strongly openly by Washington, which considers it one of the 18 benchmarks for the success of the Nouri al-Maliki government.
This explanation will also cast doubts and questions about the "higher goal" of the war, by bringing democracy, freedom and transparency to surrounding Arab and Islamic countries, after the "liberation" of Iraq. As for the reality of US policy in the region in the future, and the true intentions behind it, the book will raise doubts about the true intentions of official US statements in the future and increase the number of people who believe in the theory of the "conspiracy," which currently dominates much of the public's interpretations of US regional policy. Greenspan's book also comes at an inopportune time for the Iraqi Oil Law, supported and strongly openly by Washington, which considers it one of the 18 benchmarks for the success of the Nouri al-Maliki government.
... We can assume that research in the future about Greenspan's statements will shed light on many obscure issues related to the war and oil. Why, for example, did the Pentagon guard the Oil Ministry in Baghdad, while the Iraqi Museum and many other state institutions were allowed to be looted? Everyone remembers the picture of the Marine that was broadcast by the world's satellite stations, as he guarded the Oil Ministry building while the museum was robbed, and no orders were given to protect it.
Why was the Oil Ministry the only facility protected (and even some of its contents were looted, despite the protection), while American soldiers refused to protect the Oil Marketing Institution, located close-by. They let rioters enter and burn the files of Iraqi oil customers, break and steal computers belonging to this important and venerable institution, which Iraq relied upon to sell crude oil, and which brought the country only $34 billion this year.
Why were the rioters allowed to steal from other vital oil institutions in Baghdad and worksites in oil fields in the north and south of the country? Was it negligence, as some claim today, or were there other goals that were not announced at the time, as Greenspan's comments suggest?"
Why was the Oil Ministry the only facility protected (and even some of its contents were looted, despite the protection), while American soldiers refused to protect the Oil Marketing Institution, located close-by. They let rioters enter and burn the files of Iraqi oil customers, break and steal computers belonging to this important and venerable institution, which Iraq relied upon to sell crude oil, and which brought the country only $34 billion this year.
Why were the rioters allowed to steal from other vital oil institutions in Baghdad and worksites in oil fields in the north and south of the country? Was it negligence, as some claim today, or were there other goals that were not announced at the time, as Greenspan's comments suggest?"
Greenspan Re-writes the History of the Invasion of Iraq, Walid Khadduri September 23, 2007
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From a Comment by PV:
Rubbish, Rumsfeld was right, it wasn't oil - it was Israel's inthronization as the Regional Power.
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Saturday, September 22, 2007
شوّر "المجنون" بالشهرستاني
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ـ"... ولكي لا تفوز قوات الاحتلال ومرتزقتها علي العملاء في حكومة الاحتلال في مسابقة (من يقتل عددا أكبر من المواطنين العراقيين) ارتكبت ميليشيات الاحزاب والوزراء والسياسيين قائمة طويلة من الانتهاكات والجرائم ولعل ابسط مثال عليها هو الاعتداء علي المركز الامتحاني في مدرسة عقبة بن نافع في منطقة السيدية جنوبي بغداد، بتاريخ 19/06/2007 حيث قامت قوات الذيب سيئة الصيت التابعة لوزارة الداخلية بالقاء القبض علي مدير المدرسة ومعاونه وعشرين من الطلبة اضافة الي اطلاق النار العشوائي وقتل ثلاث نساء ورجل ممن كانوا ينتظرون ابنائهم في باب قاعة الامتحانات.ـ
من الامثلة اعلاه، وهي مجرد نقطة في بحر من المجازر والجرائم المرتكبة بحق شعبنا، نلاحظ بان هدف الاستعمار الامبريالي هو الهيمنة الكلية وبأي شكل من الاشكال علي الناس وعلي موارد الوطن، وما اغتيال العقول والكفاءات وخطف المعلمين والطلاب وقصف المدنيين وحرمانهم من الخروج الي الشارع لابقائهم سجناء في بيوتهم وقتل الرغبة في التعليم ومنع النشاطات النقابية وتحديد تشكيل الاتحادات وتنظيمات المجتمع الاهلي والمدني غير الوجه الحقيقي لسياسة الاحتلال القمعية بعيدا عن ادعاءات الديمقراطية علي ايقاع الحرب علي الارهاب.ـ
وليس مستغربا أن يفضح مستخدمو الاحتلال أنفسهم حين يتسابقون لاثبات ولائهم لسيدهم وما القرار الذي أصدره حسين الشهرستاني وزير النفط في السادس من آب الماضي ومنع بموجبه اتحاد نقابات عمال النفط من مزاولة اي نشاط واصفا الاتحاد بانه منظمة غير شرعية غير نموذج واضح لعقلية العبد الضرورية لخدمة المستعمر.ـ
والا ما معني منع اتحاد نقابات عمال النفط من مزاولة أي نشاط في ظل حكومة تصف نفسها بانها (منتخبة ديمقراطية)؟ واذا افترضنا ان امريكا هي البلد المحتذي والراعي لبناء (الديمقراطية) في العراق، فهل سمعتم باصدار أي وزير امريكي او حتي الرئيس الامريكي نفسه قرارا يلغي فيه النقابات وهي التي تعتبر ضمن النظم الديمقراطية لبنة اساسية في بناء المجتمع المدني وحق من حقوق الانسان؟ـ
هنا قد نحتاج الي قراءة القرار من وجهة نظر الشهرستاني نفسه، وهو رجل طالما اشتكي من دكتاتورية النظام السابق معتزا بنضاله من اجل بناء الديمقراطية والدفاع عن حقوق الانسان.ـ
تري هل قرار الشهرستاني نابع من عنف نشاطات النقابات وخروجها علي مواصفات العمل الديمقراطي؟ كلا.ـ
اذ ان كل نشاطات النقابات سلمية تراوح ما بين الاعتصام والتظاهرة وتوقيع رسائل احتجاج وكتابة طلبات لمقابلة المسؤولين في الحكومة، وكل الرسائل مكتوبة باسلوب خطاب وقور، كما يدل مضمون البيانات علي نقطة جوهرية وهي ان هدف النقابات هو حماية المصلحة العامة للوطن والمواطنين عن طريق التوعية في مجال النفط والتحذير من النتائج الكارثية التي ستلحق بالعراق ومستقبله اذا ماقامت الحكومة الحالية وبرلمانها بتشريع قانون النفط والغاز الجديد الذي يعتبر تهديما لكل الانجازات الوطنية في حقل النفط وتصنيعه ونهبا علي المكشوف لاهم مورد مادي للعراق.ـ
السبب اذن هو قانون النفط وكون الاتحاد باساليبه السلمية عثر حجرة في طريق التشريع.ـ
اما من ناحية التزام الشهرستاني بالقوانين والشرعية فلعل اول سؤال يتطرق الي اذهان المواطنين وهم يتلقون اخبار القتل اليومي من قبل قوات الاحتلال وشركات الحماية المتعاقدة مع الحكومة الامريكية مباشرة، هو لماذا لا يبادر الشهرستاني وهو الذي يدعي الوطنية والدفاع عن حقوق الانسان أولا بالمطالبة باخراج قوات الاحتلال حفاظا علي سيادة البلد وهو فعل وطني بحت وثانيا رفع الحصانة عن قوات الاحتلال وكل حثالات الارض التي تمرح وتسرح وتعربد علي جثث شبابنا واطفالنا ونسائنا بلا مساءلة ولا قصاص بل وبحماية كلية من القانون رقم 17 الذي سنه حاكم العراق الفعلي بول بريمر وبمرأي ومسمع من الشهرستاني وأمثاله؟ـ
مما يقود الي التساؤل ايضا عن مفهوم النشاط القانوني في العراق الديمقراطي الجديد الذي يجب ان تتصف به النقابات والاتحادات لتتمكن من ممارسة عملها؟ هل هو نشاط مماثل لما تنجزه قوات الاحتلال من جرائم؟ هل هو مماثل لنشاط شركات الحماية الخاصة والمتعاقدين الجلادين في السجون السرية والعلنية واطلاق النار علي المدنيين العزل؟ هل هو القتل الجماعي كما في مجزرة حديثة أو اغتصاب وحرق الصبية عبير قاسم حمزة وقتل والديها واختها الطفلة هديل أم انها عمليات التعذيب الوحشية في معتقل ابو غريب؟ وكلها جرائم لم يدن بسببها أحد وفق القانون العراقي او الدولي او الانساني.ـ
خلافا للشهرستاني المشغول بمعاقبة كل من يمارس نشاطا نقابيا سلميا، تحدثت أريكا رازوك، المتحدثة باسم منظمة العفو الدولية الامريكية في مجال ادارة الاعمال وحقوق الانسان امام الكونغرس الامريكي في شهر حزيران (يونيو) من العام الحالي عن حرية شركات الحماية والمرتزقة والمتعاقدين في العراق المحتل، وقدمت تفاصيل 20 جريمة مع ملفات جرائم وانتهاكات حقوق الانسان التي تمارسها هذه الشركات في العراق بحكم تمتعها بالحصانة، متطرقة بالتفصيل الي مساحات العمل الكبيرة المتوفرة لهذه الشركات من خلال التعاقد مع البنتاغون اي وزارة الدفاع الامريكية ووزارة الخارجية في التحقيق وتعذيب المعتقلين كما حدث في سجون ابو غريب وبوكا وكروبر. وقد نبهت المتحدثة بشكل خاص علي نتائج اطلاق الحرية للشركات ومستخدميها المسلحين باحدث العتاد بدون محاسبة مما يعني علي ارض الواقع فتح الباب علي مصراعيه للانتهاكات وارتكاب الجرائم.ـ
وحسب تقرير لمنظمة هيومن رايتس ووتش أن المقاولين يتمتعون بالحصانة التامة من أي مساءلة أو عقاب علي أفعالهم فشروط عملهم مع الجيش الأمريكي تمنحهم حصانة من المقاضاة أمام المحاكم العراقية، وهم لا يخضعون لتسلسل القيادة العسكرية، ومن ثم فلا يجوز تقديمهم لمحاكمة عسكرية، ولا تجوز مقاضاتهم أمام المحاكم الأمريكية. أن مسؤولية أية حكومة في العالم هي حماية المواطن وكرامته من العوز والفاقة وتوفير الامان له، وتزداد مسؤولية الحكومة جسامة اذا ما كانت الحكومة قد بيعت الي المواطنين باعتبارها حكومة منتخبة ديمقراطيا ذات سيادة ودستور كما هو حال الحكومة العراقية التي يثبت صمتها علي الجرائم ومحاربتها لأية بادرة ديمقراطية حقيقية بأنها شريكة للاحتلال لا في النهب وسرقة اموال الشعب وموارده فحسب بل انها شريكة له في تحمل مسؤولية الجرائم والانتهاكات ومن بينها جرائم استهداف عمال نفط الجنوب واتحاد نقابات العمال وكل صوت أبي يرفض مهانة الاحتلال وذله رافضا التخلي عن منجزاته وهاتفا مع عمالنا الابطال "هيهات ننطي مجنون تعويض للبنتاغون"، أي هيهات أن نسلم حقل مجنون الغني بنفطنا تعويضا للبنتاغون الامريكي."ـ
هيفاء زنكنة
ـ22 أيلول 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
The British Blackwater - Aegis 'Defence' Services murderers
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"There is ample evidence that mercenary companies in Iraq on contract to the Pentagon have been arbitrarily shooting civilians.
The recently revealed Blackwater case is not an isolated event. It is part of a pattern, which the mainstream media has carefully concealed.
The following 2005 video shows British mercenaries in Iraq shooting civilians "for entertainment".
The video shows private security contractors working for Aegis Defense Services "Victory" Group firing indiscriminately at Iraqi civilian motorists in Baghdad."
VIDEO: Mercenaries in Iraq Shooting Civilians (4.2MB) September 19, 2007
Better Still: Above video plays immediatley 'Trophy' video exposes private security contractors shooting up Iraqi drivers November 28, 2005
There is a previous posting here that showed that film, and other excesses of these mercernary killers: Some of the benefits of 'Liberation' November 29, 2005
Updates:
"It sounds counterintuitive, but Iraq has got too dangerous for security companies to boom there." [tsk, tsk]
Iraq's hired hands under fire as the pot of gold starts to run low September 22, 2007
""Organised as business entities and structured along corporate lines, they mark the corporate evolution of the mercenary trade," according to Mr Singer, who was among the first to plot the worldwide explosion in the use of private military firms.
In many ways it mirrors broader trends in the world economy as countries switch from manufacturing to services and outsource functions once thought to be the preserve of the state. Iraq has become a testing ground for this burgeoning industry, creating staggering financial opportunities and equally immense ethical dilemmas.
None of the estimated 48,000 private military operatives in Iraq has been convicted of a crime and no one knows how many Iraqis have been killed by private military forces, because the US does not keep records. (emphasis added)"
Making a killing: how private armies became a $120bn global industry September 23, 2007
"There is ample evidence that mercenary companies in Iraq on contract to the Pentagon have been arbitrarily shooting civilians.
The recently revealed Blackwater case is not an isolated event. It is part of a pattern, which the mainstream media has carefully concealed.
The following 2005 video shows British mercenaries in Iraq shooting civilians "for entertainment".
The video shows private security contractors working for Aegis Defense Services "Victory" Group firing indiscriminately at Iraqi civilian motorists in Baghdad."
VIDEO: Mercenaries in Iraq Shooting Civilians (4.2MB) September 19, 2007
Better Still: Above video plays immediatley 'Trophy' video exposes private security contractors shooting up Iraqi drivers November 28, 2005
There is a previous posting here that showed that film, and other excesses of these mercernary killers: Some of the benefits of 'Liberation' November 29, 2005
Updates:
"It sounds counterintuitive, but Iraq has got too dangerous for security companies to boom there." [tsk, tsk]
Iraq's hired hands under fire as the pot of gold starts to run low September 22, 2007
""Organised as business entities and structured along corporate lines, they mark the corporate evolution of the mercenary trade," according to Mr Singer, who was among the first to plot the worldwide explosion in the use of private military firms.
In many ways it mirrors broader trends in the world economy as countries switch from manufacturing to services and outsource functions once thought to be the preserve of the state. Iraq has become a testing ground for this burgeoning industry, creating staggering financial opportunities and equally immense ethical dilemmas.
None of the estimated 48,000 private military operatives in Iraq has been convicted of a crime and no one knows how many Iraqis have been killed by private military forces, because the US does not keep records. (emphasis added)"
Making a killing: how private armies became a $120bn global industry September 23, 2007
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
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Repugnant Black Water ... سـِيـَان
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"Iraq's interior ministry said eight civilians were killed and 13 wounded when Blackwater contractors opened fire on civilians in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Mansour in western Baghdad after mortar rounds landed near their convoy.
General Abdul Kareem Khaleh, an interior ministry spokesman, said Blackwater guards "opened fire randomly at citizens". "
US vows Blackwater killings probe September 18, 2007
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"Iraq's interior ministry said eight civilians were killed and 13 wounded when Blackwater contractors opened fire on civilians in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Mansour in western Baghdad after mortar rounds landed near their convoy.
General Abdul Kareem Khaleh, an interior ministry spokesman, said Blackwater guards "opened fire randomly at citizens". "
US vows Blackwater killings probe September 18, 2007
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شاهد عيان:ـ
"ـ"قال المحامي حسن جابر سلمان المياحي، وهو أحد الجرحى الذين يرقدون في مستشفى اليرموك لوكالة فرانس برس "وقع إنفجار بالقرب من ساحة النسور" فيما كان هو متوجها الى وزارة العدل حيث كان لديه موعد هناك. وأضاف "بعد ذلك قامت أربع من سيارات المرتزقة بإغلاق الشارع بصورة كاملة، وقاموا يأمرون الناس بالرجوع الى الخلف باللغة الإنكليزية". وأشار الى أنه كانت أمامه سيارتان فقط من المدنيين "وقمنا فعلاً بالإستدارة والعودة وإبتعدت حوالي 150 متراً منهم". وتابع "وبعدها بلحظات (ونحن بظهورنا لهم) أطلقوا النار علينا بصورة كثيفة ومباشرة، وكانت العجلات التي تقلّهم عالية وأسلحتهم الأوتوماتيكية متوسطة وثقيلة. وقال "أصيبت سيارني بـ 12 طلقة من الخلف ودمـّرتها بالكامل وأصبت أنا بأربع طلقات في ظهري وأخرى في ذراعي". وقال المحامي الى ان "الإنفجار وقع في مكان بعيد جداً عن منطقة الحادث ولم يكن هناك أي مـّبرر لهذه الفعلة من قبل المرتزقة". وقال "لقد قتلوا حتى شرطي المرور الذي كان يقف أمامي في ساحة النسور، ورأيت إمرأة مـُسنة تحاول إخراج ولدها الذي قتل في داخل سيارته وقاموا بقتلها". وأشار الى أنه رأى العشرات من المواطنين يزحفون على الأرض خارج سياراتهم والنيران فوق رؤسهم". وتابع روايته قائلاً "عندما أصبت فقدت الوعي بصورة جزئية وإتجهت سيارتي بسرعة الى إحدى الحواجز وإرتطمت بشاحنة محملة بالغاز، وبعدها جاء جنود عراقيون سمعتهم يرددون "أنه جريح" وأخرجوني من نافذة السيارة بعد أن تأكدوا انني محامي". وإنتقد هذا المحامي، وهو أب لثمانية أطفال، الولايات المتحدة وقال " هل هذه هي الديمقراطية التي وعدت بها أمريكا؟ إنسان أعزل يطلق عليه النار من الخلف بدون سبب".ـ
"ـ"قال المحامي حسن جابر سلمان المياحي، وهو أحد الجرحى الذين يرقدون في مستشفى اليرموك لوكالة فرانس برس "وقع إنفجار بالقرب من ساحة النسور" فيما كان هو متوجها الى وزارة العدل حيث كان لديه موعد هناك. وأضاف "بعد ذلك قامت أربع من سيارات المرتزقة بإغلاق الشارع بصورة كاملة، وقاموا يأمرون الناس بالرجوع الى الخلف باللغة الإنكليزية". وأشار الى أنه كانت أمامه سيارتان فقط من المدنيين "وقمنا فعلاً بالإستدارة والعودة وإبتعدت حوالي 150 متراً منهم". وتابع "وبعدها بلحظات (ونحن بظهورنا لهم) أطلقوا النار علينا بصورة كثيفة ومباشرة، وكانت العجلات التي تقلّهم عالية وأسلحتهم الأوتوماتيكية متوسطة وثقيلة. وقال "أصيبت سيارني بـ 12 طلقة من الخلف ودمـّرتها بالكامل وأصبت أنا بأربع طلقات في ظهري وأخرى في ذراعي". وقال المحامي الى ان "الإنفجار وقع في مكان بعيد جداً عن منطقة الحادث ولم يكن هناك أي مـّبرر لهذه الفعلة من قبل المرتزقة". وقال "لقد قتلوا حتى شرطي المرور الذي كان يقف أمامي في ساحة النسور، ورأيت إمرأة مـُسنة تحاول إخراج ولدها الذي قتل في داخل سيارته وقاموا بقتلها". وأشار الى أنه رأى العشرات من المواطنين يزحفون على الأرض خارج سياراتهم والنيران فوق رؤسهم". وتابع روايته قائلاً "عندما أصبت فقدت الوعي بصورة جزئية وإتجهت سيارتي بسرعة الى إحدى الحواجز وإرتطمت بشاحنة محملة بالغاز، وبعدها جاء جنود عراقيون سمعتهم يرددون "أنه جريح" وأخرجوني من نافذة السيارة بعد أن تأكدوا انني محامي". وإنتقد هذا المحامي، وهو أب لثمانية أطفال، الولايات المتحدة وقال " هل هذه هي الديمقراطية التي وعدت بها أمريكا؟ إنسان أعزل يطلق عليه النار من الخلف بدون سبب".ـ
الحكومة العراقية تلغي ترخيس شركة "بلاك ووتر"ـ
جريدة الراية القطرية
ـ18 أيلول 2007
جريدة الراية القطرية
ـ18 أيلول 2007
.
An eye witness account (translation of above):
"Lawyer Hassan Jaber Salman Al-Mayahi, who is one of the wounded in this incident told Agence France-Press from his Yarmouk hospital bed "an explosion occurred near the Al-Nisoor roundabout" as he was heading to the Ministry of Justice for an appointment. He added " Four of the mercenary cars completely blocked the streets and shouted to everybody in English to back away. There were only two civilian cars in front of me as we turned around and managed to move to about a distance of 150 meters from them. Immediately after that, (and as our backs were to them) they started shooting directly at us from their elevated positions in their SUVs with medium and heavy machine guns. My car was hit from the back by 12 bullets and was completely destroyed. I was hit with four bullets in the back and a bullet in my arm." The lawyer added that "the explosion was very far from the roundabout and there was no reason whatsoever for this atrocity by the mercenaries. They even killed the policeman standing in the roundabout in front of my eyes. I also saw an elderly woman who was trying to get her son who was killed from inside his car when they shot and killed her, too. I saw tens of civilians crawling on their stomachs moving away from their cars with bullets streaming over their heads." He continued "when I was hit, I temporarily lost my consciousness and my car veered to hit a barrier and then slammed into a gas truck. I then heard Iraqi soldiers saying "he is wounded" and pulled me out of the car". The lawyer, a father of eight, bitterly criticized the United States "Is this the democracy that America had promised us? An unarmed civilian is shot in the back for no reason."
Al-Raya Qatari newspaper (in Arabic) September 18, 2007
An eye witness account (translation of above):
"Lawyer Hassan Jaber Salman Al-Mayahi, who is one of the wounded in this incident told Agence France-Press from his Yarmouk hospital bed "an explosion occurred near the Al-Nisoor roundabout" as he was heading to the Ministry of Justice for an appointment. He added " Four of the mercenary cars completely blocked the streets and shouted to everybody in English to back away. There were only two civilian cars in front of me as we turned around and managed to move to about a distance of 150 meters from them. Immediately after that, (and as our backs were to them) they started shooting directly at us from their elevated positions in their SUVs with medium and heavy machine guns. My car was hit from the back by 12 bullets and was completely destroyed. I was hit with four bullets in the back and a bullet in my arm." The lawyer added that "the explosion was very far from the roundabout and there was no reason whatsoever for this atrocity by the mercenaries. They even killed the policeman standing in the roundabout in front of my eyes. I also saw an elderly woman who was trying to get her son who was killed from inside his car when they shot and killed her, too. I saw tens of civilians crawling on their stomachs moving away from their cars with bullets streaming over their heads." He continued "when I was hit, I temporarily lost my consciousness and my car veered to hit a barrier and then slammed into a gas truck. I then heard Iraqi soldiers saying "he is wounded" and pulled me out of the car". The lawyer, a father of eight, bitterly criticized the United States "Is this the democracy that America had promised us? An unarmed civilian is shot in the back for no reason."
Al-Raya Qatari newspaper (in Arabic) September 18, 2007
Updates:
Confirmation and picture of eye witness account ... تأكيد الشهادة وصورة الجريح...Wounded Iraqis: 'No one did anything' to provoke Blackwater September 19, 2007
The real story of Baghdad's Bloody Sunday September 21, 2007
"Please, please, I tell myself, leave Orwell out of it. Find some other, fresher way to explain why "Operation Iraqi Freedom" is dependent upon killer mercenaries. Or why the "democratically elected government" of "liberated" Iraq does not explicitly have the legal power to expel Blackwater USA from its land or hold any of the 50,000 private contractor troops that the U.S. government has brought to Iraq accountable for their deadly actions." The Blackwater Fiasco September 19, 2007
"Traffic officer Ali Khalaf, who was on duty on Sunday last week in Al-Yarmukh, in the mainly Sunni Mansour area of west Baghdad, told AFP he had witnessed the entire incident.
"The American convoy arrived... and as usual I stopped the traffic to allow them to pass," Khalaf said.
As they often do, guards from the US firm -- the largest private security operators in Iraq -- hurled water bottles at cars to stop traffic as they drove through.
"Then without reason, they opened fire. Four shots, in the air, aiming just above the cars," Khalaf said.
"But one of the bullets struck a man in his car. I went to his aid but he was already dead, his body was slumped on the dashboard.
"His wife was then killed before my eyes by a bullet that hit her in the head."
Khalaf said he ran to take shelter inside his little hut as the gunfire continued.
The car with the dead couple "continued to move, with its doors open and the bodies inside -- like a phantom vehicle."
"The Americans fired at everything that moved, with a machine gun and even with a grenade launcher. There was panic. Everyone tried to flee. Vehicles tried to make U-turns to escape." Witness tells of carnage in Baghdad shooting September 23, 2007
"The State Department allowed Blackwater's heavily armed teams to operate without an Interior Ministry license, even after the requirement became standard language in Dfence Department security contracts. The company was not subject to the military's restrictions on the use of offensive weapons, its procedures for reporting shooting incidents or a central tracking system that allows commanders to monitor the movements of security companies on the battlefield. The confrontation between the Iraqi government and Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., has illuminated the uneven and largely dysfunctional regulatory system intended to govern tens of thousands of hired guns operating in Iraq.
A one-paragraph subsection to a 2004 edict issued by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the now-defunct U.S. occupation government, granted contractors immunity from the Iraqi legal process. This edict is still in effect (See Paul Bremer's Order 17 below)". Where Military Rules Don't Apply September 20, 2007.
"The banning of Blackwater makes it impossible to ignore the fact that Iraq is not in charge of Iraq. We are. Iraq's Interior Ministry announced that authorities have cancelled Blackwater's licence to operate in the country and intend to prosecute the company for a shooting that killed eight Iraqis.
The New York Times account added this disclaimer in the second paragraph:
"But under the rules that govern private security contractors here, the Iraqis do not have the legal authority to do so."
Who says? The occupying Americans. The Coalition Provisional Authority issued a "law" when they supposedly handed over sovereignty to Iraq--Order No. 17 [see below]--that gave Blackwater and other US contractors immunity from Iraqi law. How clever of the American pro-consul.
The basic reality in wars of occupation--see the history of colonialism--is that a country can never regain true sovereignty so long as the occupying army remains on the scene, able to impose its will by force of arms. That of course is Iraq's situation, no matter what the White House says or Americans wish to believe. Iraq will not become a sovereign nation until the US troops depart. Maybe this why polls show 76 percent of Iraqis want the US out. " The Puppet Talks Back September 18, 2007
"Section 2: Iraqi Legal Process
1) Unless provided otherwise herein, the MNF, the CPA, Foreign Liaison Missions, their
Personnel, property, funds and assets, and all International Consultants shall be
immune from Iraqi legal process.
Section 4: Contractors
3) Contractors shall be immune from Iraqi legal process with respect to acts performed
by them pursuant to the terms and conditions of a Contract or any sub-contract
thereto."
Paul Bremer's COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY ORDER NUMBER 17, June 27, 2004
(Correction: We previously thought the occupier's CPA web site on Iraq has been shut down in June 2006 as per their anouncements. Apparently, it is still up!! It may have finally hit them that, the occuption lis asted longer than their expected 2 years (aka Iraqi Resistance). The above Order (and all other orders) can be veiwed also at http://www.cpa-iraq.org/regulations/#Orders).
"Its [Blackwater's] largest obtainable government contract is with the State Department, for providing security to US diplomats and facilities in Iraq. That contract began in 2003 with the company's $21 million no-bid deal to protect Iraq proconsul Paul Bremer. Blackwater has guarded the two subsequent US ambassadors, John Negroponte and Zalmay Khalilzad, as well as other diplomats and occupation offices. Its forces have protected more than ninety Congressional delegations in Iraq, including that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. According to the latest government contract records, since June 2004 Blackwater has been awarded $750 million in State Department contracts alone. It is currently engaged in an intensive lobbying campaign to be sent into Darfur as a privatized peacekeeping force. "
Bush's Shadow Army March 15, 2007
"There are about 186,000 so-called private contractors operating alongside 165,000 troops . The US military is the junior partner in this coalition. This is a shadow war"
“Blackwater” Author describes the US civilian Militia Group’s relationship with BushCo. “Shadow War” September 17, 2007
"Emails seen by The Observer reveal that employees of Blackwater Security were recently sent a message stating that 'actually it is "fun" to shoot some people.'
Dated 7 March and bearing the name of Blackwater's president, Gary Jackson, the electronic newsletter adds that terrorists 'need to get creamed, and it's fun, meaning satisfying, to do the shooting of such folk.' "
Fury at 'shoot for fun' memo April 3, 2005
"KH: Why would the U.S. want to support these militias?
RR: It's an easy way to produce immediate statistical successes on the ground, a decrease in attacks on American soldiers. And this is a long-term strategy. Petraeus came in with Negroponte with the so-called "Salvador Option" for Iraq, arming death squads to kill insurgents as the Reagan administration did in the 1980s in El Salvador. In 2004 he incorporated all of the Shia militias into the Iraqi security forces and basically created Shia death squads and secret torture prisons we've all heard stories of. Now they're funding Sunni militias and Sunni death squads".
U.S. Is Paying Off Iraq's Worst War Criminals in Attempt to Ward Off Attacks September 18, 2007
These are some of the previous postings here on these war profiteering criminals:
Privatized Warfare in Iraq May 23, 2007
American insidious foreign policy, coming home March 30, 2007 (see this related item Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans September 10, 2005)
'Democracy' galore in Iraq (Hired Guns) October 31, 2006
Bloodied cash for killer mercenaries February 14, 2006
Tens of thousands of private security war criminals roam Iraq
Monday, September 17, 2007
On the demise of Abu Risha and, hopefully, the Al-Qaida in Iraq
.
Update:
"[Abu Risha] declaring: "The coalition forces are friendly forces, not occupying forces!"
Lessons From an Anbar Sheik September 29, 2007
Below is an email exchange on Abu Risha and Al-Qaida with a long-standing Iraqi friend of mine in response to the previous posting:
How Petraeus lies .. the collaborator's handshake and those protected by American tanks September 14, 2007
.
“Imad : there are three occupiers of Iraq: the US, Al-Qaeda, and Iran.... If you fight any of them you are a patriot... Please do NOT applaud Al-Qaeda .. they are a disease even worse than Iran and the US .. they use Islam as cover to kill innocent people...”
Thank you, S. Where did I applaud the Al-Qaida?
Imad: “Good riddance, hopefully to the 'others' too......” [This was the original caption above the two pictures in the above posting]
You are therefore applauding the demise of Abu Risha who was assassinated by Al-Qaeda... What more do you want to say? They are the same people who assassinated the late Ragheed if you remember.....
S: Since mid last year, when the top echelons of Al-Qaida leadership in Iraq were killed or captured (and recall that they constitute only a few percent of the ‘insurgents’ in Iraq according to American intelligence sources and the same ratio holds for prisoners), it appears that a new crop of young criminals in Al-Qaida have taken over. Many of these young fanatics are not Iraqi and are much more foolish and blind than their elder experienced predecessors. In their desperation and heightened fanaticism, they have turned their guns on Iraqi civilians and even killed several commanders of the Iraqi Resistance in Al-Anbar (where they were first welcomed to fight the Americans) simply because these commanders did not condescend to their “Iraqi Islamic State”. The Resistance did warn them repeatedly, since early last winter, on the possible repercussions of their criminal acts but they [The Resistance] have apparently failed to carry out their threats due to their own splintering and also for the need to remain underground for security reasons. That is when, earlier this year, Abu Risha, in seeking pure tribal revenge for the killing of his father and two brothers, preempted the Resistance and took the initiative by extending his hands to the American occupiers to the tune of tens of millions of dollars and gathering little known tribes in Anbar around him and officially announced his Anbar Sahwa Council to combat the Al-Qaida criminals. He thus had the blessing of the occupier to openly seek vengeance against the Al-Qaida and without compromising his identity. (He was intending to depart to Amman the day after his death to look after his millions of dollars worth of business there). None of the major other tribes in Al-Anbar joined his Sahwa for just this reason, i.e. his open collaboration with the Americans. Neither would the Resistance factions contemplate such open collaboration with the American occupier, even in attacking the Al-Qaida. It is only now during the past two months that the Resistance has reckoned with itself and has formed two large groups encompassing the major Resistance factions. One would now expect that with a focused vision, a resurgence of the more unified Resistance would also target criminal Al-Qaida elements. Recent developments have only confirmed that the violent strife in Iraq, and contrary to Israeli and neocons’ hopes and expectations, is not in fact a result of deep rooted sectarianism but that the violent conflict is manifestly political, even within the same sects (Shiite and Sunni). On the other hand, the ‘democracy’ promised by the ‘liberators’ have descended into age old tribalism that is the antithesis of a modern Iraqi state.
Did Al-Qaida suddenly subside in Al-Anbar in just a few months, as Bush and Petraeus foolishly claim to be the result of their ‘new tactics’ and after four years of ruthless occupation violence and government failure that has turned major Al-Anbar cities into complete ruins? If it took several bribed tribes to have this effect then one would expect more results from a unified Resistance. Do note that Al-Qaida was supposed to have been cleansed from Al-Anbar, and have then moved to Baquba (where noted American operations took place in the summer) and are now also slated to be in the Mosul neighborhood where, again, it was announced that local tribes, Arab, Kurds, Yazidies and Christians are banding together against Al-Qaida, but learning their lesson, are seeking ‘government’, and not American support.
As to whether Al-Qaida was behind Abu Risha’s demise, Al-Maliki has formed a committee to investigate the bombing, so we will soon know!!
By the way, the Good riddance caption has been clarified (after getting more information on the presence of an American tank in front of Risha's home)" to read:
“Good riddance, and hopefully to the 'others' who are protected by American tanks”.
Also by the way, I hope I will not be repeating myself to you anymore on where I stand vis-a-vis Al-Qaida:
"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", March 23, 2007
This is all I can offer you, S, for arguments.
Imad : tell me of one investigation that came out with ANY results.... It is a charade ....
S: That is exactly what I meant, and I had hoped that you would catch the irony of my statement.
Perhaps a final side note on Al-Qaida, who are not Iraqi patriots and hence I do not support. Yet attacking American soldiers, targets and those who work for and protect the Americans are legitimate targets in order to end the occupation.
Imad : Do we have to be violent always..... Is this the teaching of Saddam.... He solved all his problems with more blood... Can not we learn from people like Ghandi?? Violence breeds violence and this will only destroy Iraq and its people further.... I am sure there are more civilized ways to end occupations and achieve justice.... This fighting will only achieve the goals of the occupiers and give them the reasons to stay.
S: Did you preach about being peaceful enough to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld so as to turn around and ask Iraqis who have been occupied violently to be peaceful and not fight the occupier?
Will that one sided peace by Iraqis bring back the one million dead Iraqis?
And what has this got to do with Saddam, anyway? Iraq is occupied.
If you are implying what I think you are, then kindly allow me to take my leave from this discussion lest I will continue to bother you with my rejection of any occupier of Iraq and my support for fighting them by any means. Do recall that the Al-Qaida flourished in Iraq as a direct consequence of the criminal American occupation itself.
Comment from an Iraqi friend:
"Well said Imad, especially your answer on the Ghandi tactics in front of a barbaric occupation. Your friend is repeating the arguments of Bush & co. concerning the threat of Al-Qaeda.
In my belief, there is no such things as Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Islamic State of Iraq. These are all false flag psy ops.
In Iraq there is one emeny: the Occupation.
The resistance is purely Iraqi, yet there may be some Arabs, either coming from outside or originally residing in Iraq. It is natural to have Arabs fighting along with the Iraqis. Remember when Arabs from everywhere, Iraq included, used to fight alongside Palestinian Fedayeen ?
If Bush is allowed to have his coalition of the willing to invade independent countries, why should not the Iraqi resistance be allowed to have its own coalition to defend an occupied country?"
Update:
"[Abu Risha] declaring: "The coalition forces are friendly forces, not occupying forces!"
Lessons From an Anbar Sheik September 29, 2007
Below is an email exchange on Abu Risha and Al-Qaida with a long-standing Iraqi friend of mine in response to the previous posting:
How Petraeus lies .. the collaborator's handshake and those protected by American tanks September 14, 2007
.
“Imad : there are three occupiers of Iraq: the US, Al-Qaeda, and Iran.... If you fight any of them you are a patriot... Please do NOT applaud Al-Qaeda .. they are a disease even worse than Iran and the US .. they use Islam as cover to kill innocent people...”
Thank you, S. Where did I applaud the Al-Qaida?
Imad: “Good riddance, hopefully to the 'others' too......” [This was the original caption above the two pictures in the above posting]
You are therefore applauding the demise of Abu Risha who was assassinated by Al-Qaeda... What more do you want to say? They are the same people who assassinated the late Ragheed if you remember.....
S: Since mid last year, when the top echelons of Al-Qaida leadership in Iraq were killed or captured (and recall that they constitute only a few percent of the ‘insurgents’ in Iraq according to American intelligence sources and the same ratio holds for prisoners), it appears that a new crop of young criminals in Al-Qaida have taken over. Many of these young fanatics are not Iraqi and are much more foolish and blind than their elder experienced predecessors. In their desperation and heightened fanaticism, they have turned their guns on Iraqi civilians and even killed several commanders of the Iraqi Resistance in Al-Anbar (where they were first welcomed to fight the Americans) simply because these commanders did not condescend to their “Iraqi Islamic State”. The Resistance did warn them repeatedly, since early last winter, on the possible repercussions of their criminal acts but they [The Resistance] have apparently failed to carry out their threats due to their own splintering and also for the need to remain underground for security reasons. That is when, earlier this year, Abu Risha, in seeking pure tribal revenge for the killing of his father and two brothers, preempted the Resistance and took the initiative by extending his hands to the American occupiers to the tune of tens of millions of dollars and gathering little known tribes in Anbar around him and officially announced his Anbar Sahwa Council to combat the Al-Qaida criminals. He thus had the blessing of the occupier to openly seek vengeance against the Al-Qaida and without compromising his identity. (He was intending to depart to Amman the day after his death to look after his millions of dollars worth of business there). None of the major other tribes in Al-Anbar joined his Sahwa for just this reason, i.e. his open collaboration with the Americans. Neither would the Resistance factions contemplate such open collaboration with the American occupier, even in attacking the Al-Qaida. It is only now during the past two months that the Resistance has reckoned with itself and has formed two large groups encompassing the major Resistance factions. One would now expect that with a focused vision, a resurgence of the more unified Resistance would also target criminal Al-Qaida elements. Recent developments have only confirmed that the violent strife in Iraq, and contrary to Israeli and neocons’ hopes and expectations, is not in fact a result of deep rooted sectarianism but that the violent conflict is manifestly political, even within the same sects (Shiite and Sunni). On the other hand, the ‘democracy’ promised by the ‘liberators’ have descended into age old tribalism that is the antithesis of a modern Iraqi state.
Did Al-Qaida suddenly subside in Al-Anbar in just a few months, as Bush and Petraeus foolishly claim to be the result of their ‘new tactics’ and after four years of ruthless occupation violence and government failure that has turned major Al-Anbar cities into complete ruins? If it took several bribed tribes to have this effect then one would expect more results from a unified Resistance. Do note that Al-Qaida was supposed to have been cleansed from Al-Anbar, and have then moved to Baquba (where noted American operations took place in the summer) and are now also slated to be in the Mosul neighborhood where, again, it was announced that local tribes, Arab, Kurds, Yazidies and Christians are banding together against Al-Qaida, but learning their lesson, are seeking ‘government’, and not American support.
As to whether Al-Qaida was behind Abu Risha’s demise, Al-Maliki has formed a committee to investigate the bombing, so we will soon know!!
By the way, the Good riddance caption has been clarified (after getting more information on the presence of an American tank in front of Risha's home)" to read:
“Good riddance, and hopefully to the 'others' who are protected by American tanks”.
Also by the way, I hope I will not be repeating myself to you anymore on where I stand vis-a-vis Al-Qaida:
"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", March 23, 2007
This is all I can offer you, S, for arguments.
Imad : tell me of one investigation that came out with ANY results.... It is a charade ....
S: That is exactly what I meant, and I had hoped that you would catch the irony of my statement.
Perhaps a final side note on Al-Qaida, who are not Iraqi patriots and hence I do not support. Yet attacking American soldiers, targets and those who work for and protect the Americans are legitimate targets in order to end the occupation.
Imad : Do we have to be violent always..... Is this the teaching of Saddam.... He solved all his problems with more blood... Can not we learn from people like Ghandi?? Violence breeds violence and this will only destroy Iraq and its people further.... I am sure there are more civilized ways to end occupations and achieve justice.... This fighting will only achieve the goals of the occupiers and give them the reasons to stay.
S: Did you preach about being peaceful enough to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld so as to turn around and ask Iraqis who have been occupied violently to be peaceful and not fight the occupier?
Will that one sided peace by Iraqis bring back the one million dead Iraqis?
And what has this got to do with Saddam, anyway? Iraq is occupied.
If you are implying what I think you are, then kindly allow me to take my leave from this discussion lest I will continue to bother you with my rejection of any occupier of Iraq and my support for fighting them by any means. Do recall that the Al-Qaida flourished in Iraq as a direct consequence of the criminal American occupation itself.
Comment from an Iraqi friend:
"Well said Imad, especially your answer on the Ghandi tactics in front of a barbaric occupation. Your friend is repeating the arguments of Bush & co. concerning the threat of Al-Qaeda.
In my belief, there is no such things as Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Islamic State of Iraq. These are all false flag psy ops.
In Iraq there is one emeny: the Occupation.
The resistance is purely Iraqi, yet there may be some Arabs, either coming from outside or originally residing in Iraq. It is natural to have Arabs fighting along with the Iraqis. Remember when Arabs from everywhere, Iraq included, used to fight alongside Palestinian Fedayeen ?
If Bush is allowed to have his coalition of the willing to invade independent countries, why should not the Iraqi resistance be allowed to have its own coalition to defend an occupied country?"
Sunday, September 16, 2007
They are getting better at it (Videos)
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Dead men walking
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"VIEWED from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)
... A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb. These civilians highlighted their own predicament: had they informed the Americans of the bomb before the incident, the Iraqi Army, the police or the local Shiite militia would have killed their families."
Sgt. Omar Mora & Sgt. Yance T. Gray September 12, 2007
"Two US soldiers who helped write a critique from the front saying America had "failed on every promise" in the war have been killed in Iraq, it was reported yesterday.
Staff Sergeant Yance Gray, 26, and Sergeant Omar Mora, 28, were among a group of seven soldiers serving in Iraq who wrote a piece excoriating America's conduct of the war. The piece was published in the New York Times last month."
US troops who criticised Iraq war strategy killed in Baghdad September 13, 2007
See previous posting: 18 on 3: How brave can you get? September 11, 2007
"VIEWED from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)
... A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb. These civilians highlighted their own predicament: had they informed the Americans of the bomb before the incident, the Iraqi Army, the police or the local Shiite militia would have killed their families."
Sgt. Omar Mora & Sgt. Yance T. Gray September 12, 2007
"Two US soldiers who helped write a critique from the front saying America had "failed on every promise" in the war have been killed in Iraq, it was reported yesterday.
Staff Sergeant Yance Gray, 26, and Sergeant Omar Mora, 28, were among a group of seven soldiers serving in Iraq who wrote a piece excoriating America's conduct of the war. The piece was published in the New York Times last month."
US troops who criticised Iraq war strategy killed in Baghdad September 13, 2007
See previous posting: 18 on 3: How brave can you get? September 11, 2007
Iraqi Air Farce ...مهزلة "القوة" الجوية العراقية
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"The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) plans to purchase as many as 18 Cessna 172 Skyhawk aircraft for introductory pilot training. The US Air Force (USAF) Aeronautical Systems Center released a notice on 3 August announcing a contract worth as much as USD10.5 million for the IQAF trainer aircraft, plus one year of contractor logistics support services in Iraq. Since being re-established in 2004 with just 35 pilots, the IQAF has continued to expand rapidly.."
Iraqi Air Force seeks Cessna 172s for training August 21, 2007 (Paid subscription)
And within two weeks, the first 'gift' fighter bomber arrives for the now mighty Iraqi Air Force:
"The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) plans to purchase as many as 18 Cessna 172 Skyhawk aircraft for introductory pilot training. The US Air Force (USAF) Aeronautical Systems Center released a notice on 3 August announcing a contract worth as much as USD10.5 million for the IQAF trainer aircraft, plus one year of contractor logistics support services in Iraq. Since being re-established in 2004 with just 35 pilots, the IQAF has continued to expand rapidly.."
Iraqi Air Force seeks Cessna 172s for training August 21, 2007 (Paid subscription)
And within two weeks, the first 'gift' fighter bomber arrives for the now mighty Iraqi Air Force:
ـ"تسلمت قيادة القوة الجوية العراقية ثلاث طائرات نوع (سزناكرفان) كهدية من القوات الأمريكية، وحضر احتفال التسليم الفريق اول الطيار الركن قائد القوة الجوية ومدير العمليات وممثلين عن القوات متعددة الجنسيات وعدد كبير من الطيارين والقادة والضباط، ويمثل استلام هذه الطائرات خطوة جديدة تضاف الى خطوات تعزيز قدرات القوة الجوية وتقديم الإسناد والاستطلاع وتبادل المعلومات مع القوات البرية وتقديم الدعم اللوجستي والعمليات للقطعات."ـ
ـ3 أيلول 2007
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كان استحيت يا كمال البرزنجي: قائد "القوة الجوية"، الله يجرّم ـ
Friday, September 14, 2007
How Petraeus lies .. the collaborator's handshake and those protected by American tanks
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UPDATES: Olbermann to Bush: "Your Hypocrisy Is So Vast" September 20, 2007
"[Abu Risha] declaring: "The coalition forces are friendly forces, not occupying forces!" Lessons From an Anbar Sheik September 29, 2007
"While Gen. Petraeus repeatedly cited the Sunni tribal turn against al-Qaeda as the most significant development in Iraq over the last year, he balks at the suggestion that his command is providing them with guns. "We have never given weapons to tribals," he said. "What we have done is applaud when they ask if they can point their guns at al-Qaeda.""
Petraeus: We're Not Arming Sunni Tribes September 10, 2007
"But it turns out that earlier this year, U.S. commanders weren't so defensive about the terms of their deal with the tribes.
Here's Major General Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S. troops in northern Iraq, on those terms in June:
[Question] (on camera): Will the assistance or the coordination with these former insurgent groups extend to arming [them] or helping them out in logistics in any sense?
Gen. Benjamin Mixon, U.S. Regional Commander in Iraq: It certainly will. We have seen this in counterinsurgency operations before, using local nationals, if you will, arming them, forming them into scouts, if you will. And that's the primary role that we want to use them in. They know the territory, they know the enemy."
Petraeus' Subordinate: Yes, We Are Arming Sunnis September 12, 2007
" For a soldier whose military abilities and experience are so lauded by the White House, General Petraeus has had a surprisingly controversial career in Iraq. His critics hold him at least partly responsible for three debacles: the capture of Mosul by the insurgents in 2004; the failure to train an effective Iraqi army and the theft of the entire Iraqi arms procurement budget in 2004-05."
President Petraeus? Iraqi official recalls the day US general revealed ambition September 13, 2007
"In sharp contrast to the lionization of General David Petraeus by members of the US Congress during his testimony this week, Petraeus's superior, Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (Centcom), derided Petraeus as a sycophant during their first meeting in Baghdad in March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting. Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" and added, "I hate people like that," the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior."
Petraeus out of step with US top brass September 14, 2007
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"The most prominent figure in a U.S.-backed revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida in Iraq was killed Thursday by a bomb planted near his home in Anbar province, 10 days after he met with President Bush, police and tribal leaders said.
... "This is a tragic loss," said Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, in a statement released in Washington by his spokesman. "It's a terrible loss for Anbar province and all of Iraq. It shows how significant his importance was and it shows al-Qaida in Iraq remains a very dangerous and barbaric enemy. He was an organizing force that did help organize alliances and did help keep the various tribes together."
... two Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter, said the assassination could be a huge setback because it sends a chilling message about the consequences of cooperating with the U.S. (emphasis added)"
Bomb Kills Iraqi Sheik Who Met With Bush September 13, 2007
Update:
"Abu Risha, 37, usually stayed inside a heavily fortified compound containing several houses where he lived with his extended family. A US tank guards the entrance to the compound, which is opposite the largest US base in Ramadi. (emphasis added)"
An assassination that blows apart Bush's hopes of pacifying Iraq September 14, 2007
UPDATES: Olbermann to Bush: "Your Hypocrisy Is So Vast" September 20, 2007
"[Abu Risha] declaring: "The coalition forces are friendly forces, not occupying forces!" Lessons From an Anbar Sheik September 29, 2007
"While Gen. Petraeus repeatedly cited the Sunni tribal turn against al-Qaeda as the most significant development in Iraq over the last year, he balks at the suggestion that his command is providing them with guns. "We have never given weapons to tribals," he said. "What we have done is applaud when they ask if they can point their guns at al-Qaeda.""
Petraeus: We're Not Arming Sunni Tribes September 10, 2007
"But it turns out that earlier this year, U.S. commanders weren't so defensive about the terms of their deal with the tribes.
Here's Major General Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S. troops in northern Iraq, on those terms in June:
[Question] (on camera): Will the assistance or the coordination with these former insurgent groups extend to arming [them] or helping them out in logistics in any sense?
Gen. Benjamin Mixon, U.S. Regional Commander in Iraq: It certainly will. We have seen this in counterinsurgency operations before, using local nationals, if you will, arming them, forming them into scouts, if you will. And that's the primary role that we want to use them in. They know the territory, they know the enemy."
Petraeus' Subordinate: Yes, We Are Arming Sunnis September 12, 2007
" For a soldier whose military abilities and experience are so lauded by the White House, General Petraeus has had a surprisingly controversial career in Iraq. His critics hold him at least partly responsible for three debacles: the capture of Mosul by the insurgents in 2004; the failure to train an effective Iraqi army and the theft of the entire Iraqi arms procurement budget in 2004-05."
President Petraeus? Iraqi official recalls the day US general revealed ambition September 13, 2007
"In sharp contrast to the lionization of General David Petraeus by members of the US Congress during his testimony this week, Petraeus's superior, Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (Centcom), derided Petraeus as a sycophant during their first meeting in Baghdad in March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting. Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" and added, "I hate people like that," the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior."
Petraeus out of step with US top brass September 14, 2007
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تحديث:ـ
ـ"ولو هبط كائن فضائي في واشنطن وجلس يستمع إلى جلسات الكونغرس لحسب ان العراق كان كيانا تمزقه الحرب الأهلية الطائفية عندما قررت أميركا ارسال قوات حفظ السلام إليه لتفصل بين الطرفين، وأن النقاش يدور في الكونغرس حول النجاح في المهمة من عدمه. نحن نعرف تاريخ الاحتلال وتفكيك دولة العراق بالحرب العدوانية بعد حصار تجويعي دام ثمانية عشر عاما، ولكن المواطن الأميركي المسكين هو فعلا أقرب إلى كائن فضائي."ـ
ـ"ولو هبط كائن فضائي في واشنطن وجلس يستمع إلى جلسات الكونغرس لحسب ان العراق كان كيانا تمزقه الحرب الأهلية الطائفية عندما قررت أميركا ارسال قوات حفظ السلام إليه لتفصل بين الطرفين، وأن النقاش يدور في الكونغرس حول النجاح في المهمة من عدمه. نحن نعرف تاريخ الاحتلال وتفكيك دولة العراق بالحرب العدوانية بعد حصار تجويعي دام ثمانية عشر عاما، ولكن المواطن الأميركي المسكين هو فعلا أقرب إلى كائن فضائي."ـ
عزمي بشارة
ـ13 أيلول 2007
."The most prominent figure in a U.S.-backed revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida in Iraq was killed Thursday by a bomb planted near his home in Anbar province, 10 days after he met with President Bush, police and tribal leaders said.
... "This is a tragic loss," said Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, in a statement released in Washington by his spokesman. "It's a terrible loss for Anbar province and all of Iraq. It shows how significant his importance was and it shows al-Qaida in Iraq remains a very dangerous and barbaric enemy. He was an organizing force that did help organize alliances and did help keep the various tribes together."
... two Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter, said the assassination could be a huge setback because it sends a chilling message about the consequences of cooperating with the U.S. (emphasis added)"
Bomb Kills Iraqi Sheik Who Met With Bush September 13, 2007
Update:
"Abu Risha, 37, usually stayed inside a heavily fortified compound containing several houses where he lived with his extended family. A US tank guards the entrance to the compound, which is opposite the largest US base in Ramadi. (emphasis added)"
An assassination that blows apart Bush's hopes of pacifying Iraq September 14, 2007
Good riddance, and hopefully to the 'others' who are protected by American tanks
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Thursday, September 13, 2007
'Planting sectarianism'
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ـ"شارك المئات من العراقيين امس في تظاهرة احتجاجا على بناء جدار اسمنتي يعزل منطقة الشعلة الشيعية عن حي الغزالية السني في شمال غرب بغداد معتبرين انه "تكريس للطائفية". وقد بدأت القوات الامريكية منذ الاسبوع الماضي ببناء جدار طوله حوالى الكيلومتر على طول الحدود بين الغزالية والشعلة ولم تنته من انجازه بعد.وخرج المئات من اهالي المنطقة من المناطق الشيعية والسنية في تظاهرة موحدة تندد بهذا العمل الذي اعتبروه "تكريسا للطائفية". وسارت التظاهرة التي شارك فيها زعماء عشائر ورجال دين واهالي المنطقتين انطلاقا من الشعلة الى الغزالية وسط اجراءات امنية مشددة. ورفع المتظاهرون لافتات كتبت باللغتين العربية والانكليزية "كلا للجدار العازل" واخرى "الجدار العازل ارهاب امريكي". وطالب المتظاهرون عبر بيان وزع خلال التظاهرة الحكومة العراقية "التدخل لوقف بناء الجدار فورا ورفع ما تم بناؤه" مؤكدين ان "الجدار يلبي مخططات القاعدة" وعلى الحكومة ان "تأخذ زمام الامور بتسليم الملف الامني في المنطقتين لقوات الامن العراقية". واشار البيان الى ان "الجدار بني ليفصل بين العائلة الواحدة". ـ
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"Protesters said the wall would encourage sectarianism in Baghdad. Hundreds of Iraqis have staged a protest against the building of a dividing wall between a Shia district of Baghdad and a Sunni area.Residents of the Shula and Ghazaliya districts waved Iraqi flags and chanted slogans rejecting both the proposed separation and the US occupation.
.... Carrying banners reading "No to the dividing wall" and "The wall is US terrorism", the protesters issued a statement demanding that Iraqi authorities intervene.
"The wall is in accordance with al-Qaeda's plans," the statement said, adding that it would "separate family from family".
Hassan al-Tai, a leader of the Sunni Tai tribe, demanded the Iraqi government act against those "planting division and sectarianism amongst Iraqis". "
Baghdad residents protest at wall September 12, 2007
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Patreus and Crocker be damned
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Blast and surge and blast again for the "model for a new Middle East"
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"It's a tried-and-tested torture technique: strike fear into your victims, deprive them of cherished essentials and then eradicate their memories. In 2003, the US applied this on an enormous scale for its invasion of Iraq. And then, after Saddam's regime crumbled, Washington set out to rebuild the traumatised country through a disastrous programme of privatisation and unfettered capitalism, as Naomi Klein shows in this exclusive extract from her new book".
The erasing of Iraq September 11, 2007
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism ......... See the Video
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"It's a tried-and-tested torture technique: strike fear into your victims, deprive them of cherished essentials and then eradicate their memories. In 2003, the US applied this on an enormous scale for its invasion of Iraq. And then, after Saddam's regime crumbled, Washington set out to rebuild the traumatised country through a disastrous programme of privatisation and unfettered capitalism, as Naomi Klein shows in this exclusive extract from her new book".
The erasing of Iraq September 11, 2007
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism ......... See the Video
.
ـ"وإذا كان صحيحاً اعتقاد ناؤمي كلاين أن محاولات محو ذاكرة العراقيين مؤامرة فإن قوى عدة، طائفية، وأثنية، وعرقية، وإقليمية، ودولية ساهمت فيها، وعملت على إعادة كتابة قصة البلد، عن طريق اقتطاع أقسام من الذاكرة، وهندستها لخلق ذاكرة مزيفة، وانتقاء أجزاء من الواقع، وجعلها الواقع كله.ـ
وعلى رغم اختلاف حسابات وأهداف هذه القوى لم تدرك جميعاً أبعاد العملية، ولا النتائج المترتبة عليها. لقد ضُرب العراق، حسب الكاتبة الكندية "بكل أسلحة الصدمات، باستثناء القنبلة النووية، مع ذلك لا شئ أمكنه إخضاع هذا البلد. لقد فشلت التجربة".ـ
أهوال الصدمات… هل تمحو ذاكرة العراقيين؟ 27 أيلول 2007.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
18 on 3: How brave can you get?
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"Seven Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded in a vehicle accident in a western portion of the Iraqi capital Sept. 10.
Two suspects detained previously and being transported were also killed in the accident. A third detainee was also injured in the incident.
The cause of the accident is under investigation."
Vehicle accident, seven MND-B Soldiers killed, 11 injured, September 10, 2007
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"Seven Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded in a vehicle accident in a western portion of the Iraqi capital Sept. 10.
Two suspects detained previously and being transported were also killed in the accident. A third detainee was also injured in the incident.
The cause of the accident is under investigation."
Vehicle accident, seven MND-B Soldiers killed, 11 injured, September 10, 2007
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Monday, September 10, 2007
The naked emperor in his 'secure' cloth
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".... George W. Bush had to sneak into the country he conquered.
.... Before the surprise trip on Sept. 3, a TIME correspondent was summoned to a Starbucks in downtown Washington, where he was informed of the Iraq mission — and then prohibited from telling anyone other than his spouse and his boss.
At dusk on Sunday, Sept. 2, passengers boarded Air Force One inside its massive hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. Once darkness fell, the hangar doors opened, and the plane pushed out onto the runway for takeoff, its lights off and its window shades drawn. Laptops were returned in midflight, but their owners had to disable the wireless functions to prevent the President's plane from being tracked across the globe. Twelve hours later, Air Force One touched down, and Bush stepped out onto the tarmac of another well-secured U.S. air base for an eight-hour visit to Anbar province."
Moment Of Truth in Iraq September 6, 2007
This was the concluding paragraph from my first published article on these matters:
"Bush and Blair are pulling their public by the nose, covering their hollow patriotic egging on with once again shoddy intelligence. But the two parading emperors have no clothes. "
Iraq's nuclear non-capability November 21, 2002
.
".... George W. Bush had to sneak into the country he conquered.
.... Before the surprise trip on Sept. 3, a TIME correspondent was summoned to a Starbucks in downtown Washington, where he was informed of the Iraq mission — and then prohibited from telling anyone other than his spouse and his boss.
At dusk on Sunday, Sept. 2, passengers boarded Air Force One inside its massive hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. Once darkness fell, the hangar doors opened, and the plane pushed out onto the runway for takeoff, its lights off and its window shades drawn. Laptops were returned in midflight, but their owners had to disable the wireless functions to prevent the President's plane from being tracked across the globe. Twelve hours later, Air Force One touched down, and Bush stepped out onto the tarmac of another well-secured U.S. air base for an eight-hour visit to Anbar province."
Moment Of Truth in Iraq September 6, 2007
This was the concluding paragraph from my first published article on these matters:
"Bush and Blair are pulling their public by the nose, covering their hollow patriotic egging on with once again shoddy intelligence. But the two parading emperors have no clothes. "
Iraq's nuclear non-capability November 21, 2002
.
Bush in Iraq
Sultan Hashim refused to work with the occupiers ... العسكري العراقي سلطان هاشم
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إشارة الى النشرة السابقة في 8 أيلول 2007 حول قرارات الإعدام، ننشر أدناه رسالة القائد (بيتريوس) الى سلطان هاشم يطلب منه الإستسلام، ألا أنه رفض ذلك آثراً عدم التعاون مع المـُحتل وكما ندم أقرانه لاحقاً على قبولهم بذلك.ـ
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تحديث:ـ
ـ10 أيلول 2007
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ـ"... وعندما يطلع أحد اعضاء المحكمة ويسخر من قرار أصدره مجلس شوري الدولة، وهو أعلي هيئة قانونية وادارية في العراق، بوجوب مصادقة مجلس الرئاسة المكوّن حسب دستورهم من رئيس الجمهورية ونائبيه علي أي حكم بالاعدام تصدره أية محكمة في العراق، مهما كانت درجتها او مرتبتها، ويقول: ان قرارات مجلس شوري الدولة ليست ملزمة، وان محكمته خاصة ولا تخضع قراراتها لا لمجلس الرئاسة ولا لغيره، "ـ
ـ14 أيلول 2007
. Reference the earlier, September 8, 2007, below poting:
.
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David Patreus, the Commanding Major General in Iraq on August 28, 2003, had offered the following surrender terms to General Sultan Hashim, which, as a patriot, he had then refused as it would have had inevitably lead to working for the occupiers, much to the later regret of his fellow senior Iraqi military commanders:
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. Click to enlarge:
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Saturday, September 08, 2007
Illegal capital punishments under the occupation .. ـ"مجلس الشورى" .. بطناش
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On December 28, 2006, Chief Justice Madhat Mahmoud informed 'prime minsiter' Maliki that unless the death sentence of Saddam, Barazn and Bandar is officially endorsed by the 'Presidency', i.e. Talabani and the two 'Vice Presidents' Mahdi and Hashimi, then the executions will not be legal nor constitutional. The executions went ahead without the endorsement.
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كتاب مجلس الشورى الى مكتب الهاشمي في 30 آب 2007
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كتاب مكتب الهاشمي الى مكتب المالكي في 4 أيلول 2007
سبق وأن أصدر رئيس مجلس القضاء الأعلى في 28 كانون الأول 2006 وجهة نظره القانونية بعدم شرعية تنفيذ حكم الإعدام بصدام وبرزان وبندر بدون إستصدار أمر من هيئة الرئاسة.ـ
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نـُفـّذ حكم الإعدام بدونه.ـ
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وها هي المحاولة الثانية، وبالأخص فيما يتعلق بسلطان هاشم، لعل في الإعادة إفادة، (أو أُخذ ليل أو جـُر عتابة):ـ
.On December 28, 2006, Chief Justice Madhat Mahmoud informed 'prime minsiter' Maliki that unless the death sentence of Saddam, Barazn and Bandar is officially endorsed by the 'Presidency', i.e. Talabani and the two 'Vice Presidents' Mahdi and Hashimi, then the executions will not be legal nor constitutional. The executions went ahead without the endorsement.
As a new batch of high profile capital punishment is to be administered including among them are Sultan Hashim, the Iraqi Minister of Defense, and Hussein Rashid deputy chief of staff for military operation. These elite Iraqi officers, well known for their excellent reputation among their peers, and to the Iraqi people, who had unfair trial, politically motivated and blatantly interfered with by a pro-Iranian Government.
Below (in Arabic), is yet another decree from the highest legal council in Iraq (the Shoura Council) issued on August 30, 2007 repeating the above legal position on capital punishment. It was sent to the office of 'vice president' Hashimi who sent it to the office of 'prime minister' Maliki. Don't bother to cross your fingers that legality counts in occupied Iraq.
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إنقر على الصورة للتكبير
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الصفحة الأولى من قرار مجلس الشورى في 30 آب 2007
.كتاب مجلس الشورى الى مكتب الهاشمي في 30 آب 2007
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الصفحة الثانية من قرار مجلس الشورى في 30 آب 2007
كتاب مكتب الهاشمي الى مكتب المالكي في 4 أيلول 2007
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