Free Iraq

1921 photo showing Hanna Petros, music teacher, band master at the Chaldean School in Mosul. He is sitting fourth from the left. One of Hanna's students, Saeed Shabo (famous composer of nationalistic songs) is sitting to the right side of Hanna.

وطنية أم تبعية النفط العراقي؟ـ

2009-07-01T15:07:00.006-04:00

وزير النفط العراقي السابق عصام الجلبي يدق جرس الانذار من عقود نفط تبرمها حكومة الفساد في المنطقة الخضراء والتي تعيد العراق الى التبعية.ـ

مقابلة مع عصام الجلبي على قناة روسيا اليوم

ـ 1 تموز 2009

A "hol iday" full of holes

2009-06-25T17:00:00.005-04:00

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Al-Maliki declared June 30 2009 a "holiday" commemorating the "withdrawal" of the American occupier soldiers from Iraqi cities. Fools may be celebrating. Let us see if the July 30 2009 referendum will be allowed.
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"On November 17, 2008, when Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker signed an agreement for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, citizens from both countries applauded. While many were disappointed about the lengthy timeline for the withdrawal of the troops, it appeared that a roadmap was set to end the war and occupation. However, the first step — withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009 — is full of loopholes, and tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers will remain in the cities after the "deadline" passes.

The failure to fully comply with the withdrawal agreement indicates the United States is looking to withdraw from Iraq in name only, as it appears that up to 50,000 military personnel will remain after the deadline.

The United States claims it's adhering to the agreement, known as the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), even with so many troops being left in the cities. But the United States is changing semantics instead of policy. For example, there are no plans to transfer the 3,000 American troops stationed within Baghdad at Forward Operating Base Falcon, because commanders have determined that despite its location, it's not within the city.

The original intent of moving troops out of the cities was to reduce the U.S. military role and send the message to Iraqis that the United States would be leaving the country soon. But troops that are no longer sleeping in the cities will still take part in operations within Iraqi cities; they will serve in "support" and "advisory" roles, rather than combat functions. Such "reclassification" of troops as military trainers is another example of how the United States is circumventing the terms of the SOFA agreement.

The larger loophole in the agreement is the treatment of military contractors. There has been little mention of the 132,610 military contractors in Iraq. Of these, 36,061 are American citizens, according to a recent Department of Defense report.

Since September 2008, only 30,000 troops have left Iraq. The 134,000 soldiers that remain are just slightly below the number of troops that were in Iraq in 2003. These numbers are likely to remain well above 100,000 until 2010.

Instead of sending soldiers stationed in cities home, the military has been expanding and building new bases in rural areas to accommodate soldiers affected by the June 30 deadline. And Congress just passed a war-spending bill that includes more funding for military construction inside Iraq.

The implications of the June 30 pullout are manifest: As Iraqis grapple with increasing responsibility for the security of their country and American military leaders search for avenues to project their influence, withdrawal from urban areas will set important precedents for the proposed full withdrawal of American forces.

The ability of Iraqi and U.S. commanders to subvert the SOFA and extend the stay of U.S. troops in Iraqi cities past the June 30 deadline does not bode well for the other withdrawal deadlines laid out in the agreement. Moreover, the vague language of the agreement lends itself to the possibility that U.S. forces will remain in Iraq past the December 31, 2011 deadline.

This all may be for naught, however, as a referendum on the SOFA is scheduled for July 30 in Iraq [emphasis added]. Despite attempts by the Iraqi cabinet to postpone the vote, lawmakers think a delay is unlikely. The measure is likely to lose if it goes to popular vote given the widespread opposition to the SOFA in Iraq, which is seen as legitimizing the U.S. occupation until 2011. According to the latest polls, published in the Brookings Institution’s Iraq Index, 73% of Iraqis oppose the presence of coalition forces [emphasis added]. If the SOFA is struck down by the vote, U.S. forces could be forced out of Iraq immediately as the forces would not be legally protected.

The referendum could create big problems for the Obama administration, which has quietly discouraged the Iraqi government from holding it. The pressure from the administration is inconsistent with their goals of promoting democracy in Iraq. The people, who have been forced to live under occupation for the past six years, deserve a chance to have their voices heard.

Obama campaigned on a promise to leave Iraq. Yet the response to the June 30th deadline, the lack of support for the referendum, and the passage of another $70 billion for the war are stark indicators of what the real Iraq policy may be [emphasis added]."
A Withdrawal in Name Only June 24, 2009
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Historical Dictionary of IRAQ .. القاموس التأريخي للعراق

2009-06-22T16:24:00.004-04:00

Historical Dictionary of IRAQ Part 1 القاموس التأريخي للعراق الجزء الأول

Historical Dictionary of IRAQ Part 2 القاموس التأريخي للعراق الجزء الثاني

Except for the accuracy of the 1988 Halabja chemical gas attack.

Scorching corruption .... أشكارا (يعني عيني عينك) أو قـُرّة عينك يا مالكي

2009-06-21T16:21:00.010-04:00

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Adel Muhsin Abdullah, the Health ministry's inspector general high tails it to his family in London on an airplane from Baghdad airport just hours before the Ministry of Health's contracts' documents offices (with corrupt contract deals galore) are scorched to ashes last Thursday June 18, 2009 with staff casualties.
Huge fire in health ministry building in Baghdad June 19 2009
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ـ"وصلتنا خلال الساعات الماضية خبر هروب المفتش العام بوزارة الصحة العراقية الدكتور عادل محسن عبد الله إلى بريطانيا، حيث تقيم عائلته هناك لغاية الأن في أرقى المناطق في العاصمة لندن، بعد هذا الحريق الاجرامي المفتعل والمتعمد، وحسب ما أفاد لنا به أحد المسؤولين بالوزارة من خلال اتصاله بنا بقوله " لقد بحثنا عن المفتش العام الدكتور عادل محسن عبد الله في الوزارة ولم نجد له أي اثر، وعند سؤالي شخصيآ عليه من بعض الموظفين العاملين معه في مكتب المفتش العام، أبلغوني أنه قد خرج من الوزارة قبل أطفاء الحريق ،وذهب مباشرة إلى مطار بغداد الدولي لغرض السفر إلى بريطانيا، وهذا العمل المدان لو حدث فعلآ فأنه سوف يكون أكبر وصمة عار سوف تظل في جبينه مدى الحياة، ولغاية أرسال هذه المعلومة المهمة لكم لم أجد بدوري له أي أثر لغاية هذه اللحظة، وتلفوناته النقالة كلها مقفله وهذا ما يرجح لنا فعلآ أنه قد هرب خارج العراق " ـ

هروب المفتش العام بوزارة الصحة ( العراقية ) إلى بريطانيا بعد حريق شركة " كيماديا " المفتعل والمتعمد

ـ19 أيار 2009

تحديث:ـ

وصلتنا رسالة ألكترونية من بغداد اليوم بالخبر التالي:"باشر المفتش العام عادل محسن بالدوام في الوزاره منذ يوم امس الاحد"ـ

ـ1 تموز 2009

ـ" " تشغل الشركة العامة لتسويق الأدوية والمستلزمات الطبية (كيماديا) ثلاث طوابق من مبنى وزارة الصحة هي على التوالي الطابق الخامس والسادس والسابع، ويعتبر الطابق الخامس مقر الشركة ومنطقة مفتوحة تم تخصيصها للزيارات والمراجعة، حيث يقوم الأشخاص المراجعين ومعظمهم من ممثلي شركات الأدوية والمستلزمات الطبية والمعدات والأجهزة الطبية المختلفة تابعين لشركات عربية وأجنبية ومحلية، لغرض متابعة معاملات العقود والمناقصات والعطاءات التي تمنحها وزارة الصحة لهذه الشركات عن طريق شركة (كيماديا) ومتابعة أعمالهم، وفي الطابق الخامس كذلك توجد بعض مكاتب اللجان الاستشارية التي يتعلق عملها بمتابعة مثل تلك المواضيع، وتقدير الاحتياجات الطبية بين الشركة المجهزة والوزارة، وكذلك في هذا الطابق يتم استقبال المراجعين والموظفين من فروع شركة (كيماديا) المنتشرة في مختلف المحافظات العراقية، والمتعلقة بإعمال توزيع الأدوية والمستلزمات الطبية في المستشفيات والمركز الصحية "ثم يضيف لنا المسؤول ويوضح لنا الأكثر خطورة من هذا الحريق المفتعل المتعمد أن " الطابقين السادس والسابع من مبنى الوزارة فيهما توجد جميع أسرار شركة (كيماديا) منذ تأسيسها ولغاية لحظة جريمة الحريق المفتعل، وفي المكاتب المنتشرة في هذين الطابقين فيهما التفاصيل الدقيقة عن كل ما قامت به (كيماديا) بانجازه من مشاريع صحية مختلفة، واستيراد أدوية، ومستلزمات طبية وغيرها من الأمور التي تتعلق بعمل الشركة خلال السنوات الماضية وخصوصآ بعد الاحتلال والغزو الأمريكي، وهناك أمر مهم جدآ حيث يمنع منعآ باتآ على المراجعين وممثلي الشركات الدوائية من دخول هذين الطابقين، إلا بتصريح خاص يصدر من قبل مدراء الأقسام بشركة (كيماديا) ولظروف محددة ومعينة تتعلق بموضوع المراجعة ومدى أهميته، وهذا كان معمول به سابقآ، إما خلال الفترة الماضية فتم التهاون في هذا الأمر كثيرآ نتيجة التسيب الإداري وعدم الشعور بالمسؤولية، وطغت المحسوبية الشخصية والحزبية على المهنية الوظيفية في هذا الأمر، حيث يكفي لأي مراجع اليوم ابرزا هويته الحزبية أو مرجعيته السياسية، أو من قبيل استغلال مناصبهم السياسية الحكومية بالذهاب والصعود إلى هذين الطابقين المهمين، أو حتى بإرسال أشخاص عاديين يسبقهم اتصال تلفوني من مسؤول في الحكومة بمسؤولي شركة (كيماديا) لغرض تمشية أي معاملة رسمية تخصهم أو تخص شركات تجارية تابعة لهم، أو الاستفسار ومتابعة العطاءات والمناقصات التي تطرحها الشركة دائمآ، وهذا يعتبر كله مخالف للقوانين والأنظمة الوظيفية ولكن نجدها مع الأسف بكل وضوح اليوم في ظل حكم المحاصصة الطائفية والحزبية مما يؤدي بالنتيجة إلى الدخول في قنوات ودهاليز الفساد المظلمة ".ـ

ـ.......وقد أوضح لنا كذلك أحد الموظفين بالوزارة، والذي كان في وقتها قريب من حادث الحريق المفتعل المتعمد بقوله لنا " في البداية وقبل منتصف النهار تقريبآ بنصف ساعة قالوا لنا أن هناك اجتماع سيكون مع أحد المسؤولين المهمين في الحكومة في القاعة الخاص بالاجتماعات في الوزارة، ثم بعدها سمعنا موظفين يتحدثون عن وجود أشخاص تصرفاتهم غريبة وتثير الشك والريبة يدخلون المكاتب الشركة في الطابقين السادس والسابع دون أن يتحدثون مع الموظفين، أو حتى يعترضهم إي شخص أو مسؤول، ثم سمعنا بعدها صراخ من بعض الموظفين يقولون أن هناك حريق في إحدى المكاتب في نهاية الممر القريب من باب الطوارئ مع دخان كثيف يخرج حيث هرع الجميع للنزول إلى الطوابق السفلية من مبنى الوزارة، أما في الطوابق العليا فلم يسمع الموظفين في بداية الأمر بالحريق إلا بعد أن التهمت النيران بسرعة كبيرة واتت على جميع محتويات مكاتب الشركة المهمة في الطابقين السادس والسابع ومن ثم امتدت السنة النيران إلى الطابق الثامن " ثم يضيف لنا الموظف بالوزارة ويؤكد أن " هذا الحريق لم يكن بفعل تماس كهربائي أبدآ كما روج له بعض المسؤولين لوسائل الإعلام، ولكن كان الحريق متعمد قام به أشخاص محترفين يعرفون ما يفعلون، وليس أشخاص هواة يحملون قنينة بنزين أو صفيحة من نفط لغرض إحراق مكاتب الشركة المهمة جدآ والموجودة في هذين الطابقين"ـ

كشف المستور... خفايا وأسرار الحريق المتعمد بوزارة الصحة (العراقية) للتغطية على جرائم الفساد كما رواها لنا المسؤولين الحكوميين - صباح البغدادي - 19 أيار 2009

The Other Face of Obama ... الوجه الآخر لإوباما

2009-06-20T06:36:00.004-04:00

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Obama is indeed pragmatic and shrewdly manipulative. Listen to his speech to AIPAC نصرة أوباما لإسرائيل and his infatuation with/pandering/subservience to Zionism. That alone should be rather convincing.

However, for further emphasis, then his speech in Cairo shows how far he missed the target when he addressed the "Muslims" (in Arabic).
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ـ"في ذات الوقت الذي ألقى فيه الرئيس الامريكي والقائد الأعلى للقوات العسكرية الامريكية باراك اوباما خطابه، يوم الخميس الماضي، في جامعة القاهرة، أعلن الجيش الأمريكي مقتل 3 جنود امريكيين في هجوم شنه 'مسلحون' في شرق أفغانستان. كما أعلن الجيش الامريكي مقتل جندي برصاص قناص في مدينة الفلوجة، غرب العراق. وتتطلب قراءة خطاب اوباما فهم تزامن الاحداث الثلاثة والخلفية السياسية والعسكرية والاقتصادية التي دفعت ادارته (الديمقراطية اليسارية بالمقارنة مع ادارة بوش الجمهورية بمحافظيها الجدد)، الى تقديمه كإعلان 'بداية جديدة' بين امريكا والعالم الاسلامي." ـ

الرئيس اوباما وتكريس السياسة الامبريالية بمسحة دينية

هيفاء زنكنة

ـ7 أيار 2009

What is now required from the Iraqi Resistance .... ما المطلوب من المقاومة العراقية

2009-06-16T16:58:00.008-04:00

ـ"ان المرحلة القادمة التي ستشهد بداية الانسحاب الامريكي ستكون مرحلة خطيرة وحاسمة، ليس على مستوى الكفاح والمواجهة مع قوات الاحتلال حسب، بل على مختلف المستويات والاصعدة الاخرى التي يجب ان تضع قوى المقاومة العرقية المسلحة ومن خلفها ملايين العراقيين من منتسبي القوى الوطنية الرافضة للأحتلال على درجة كافية من الجاهزية والإستعداد لكل الاحتمالات والتوقعات، وتمكنها من النهوض بكل مستلزمات هذه المرحلة ومتطلباتها.ـ

وبضوء ذلك فان سؤالا يطرح نفسه بالحاح على الجميع: ما هو المطلوب من المقاومة والقوى الوطنية المناهضة للاحتلال؟ وجوابا على هذا السؤال الذي نطمح أن يشكل بداية حوار مفتوح تشارك به كل الإقلام العراقية المخلصة والمؤمنة بحتمية الانتصار العراقي على جيش الاحتلال لبلادنا أدون هذه الملاحظات التي ارى بان إنجازها في القريب له اهمية كبيرة من بين ملاحظات عديدةـ"ـ

ما المطلوب من المقاومة العراقية

صلاح عمر العلي

ـ 16 حزيران 2009

The above article, in Arabic, is by Salah Omar Al-Ali, a seasoned Iraqi patriot and politician, with pertinent advice to the Iraqi Resistance on how to face the coming challenges of the coming months and as the American occupier forces are being forced to withdraw in defeat from Iraq. The advice to them, aside from several concrete actionable points, boils to being humble, fortify the gained positions while avoiding a spirit of arrogance.

تحديث:ـ

توضيحات ورد على من يتستر تحت اسم الدكتور كاظم عبد الحسين عباس

صلاح عمر العلي

ـ1 تموز 2009

مفالة كاظم عبد الحسين عباس

ـ16 حزيران 2009

Interview(s)

2009-06-15T15:44:00.009-04:00

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This is a recent one-on-one interview that was aired last Friday evening June 12, 2009 on Al-Jazeera English channel's "Inside Iraq" program (23 minutes) ; if you are interested.

The main points of the above interview were mentioned, in Arabic (and this is part 2 of that nterview) in a Dubai Commercial channel which was aired on March 29, 2003, and only a week after the occupation of Iraq. It is one of several other recordings of my first radio and television interviews when I decided to speak out (months before and immediately after) against the March 2003 disastrous and illegal occupation of Iraq. These are available in a previous posting dated November 15, 2005. You might have to wait for a few minutes for the downloading of some of the interview files.

This is another appearance on Al-Jazeera's "Inside Iraq" on March 19, 2008 on the fifth bitter anniversary of the occupation of Iraq.

Iraq's (not so) New Death Squad

2009-06-13T15:47:00.007-04:00

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In a retort to a previously posted item: "The Iraqi Resistance, once again" May 31, 2009 by Dahr Jamail, an old friend (see Friend1 in a posting here of November 26, 2005), who adamantly eschews non-resistance in Iraq, had this reservation:

"From this article we realize that former military intelligence "general" leads an Al-Sahwa group and a "resistance" group and that money - not principle!!- is the main motivation for their shifting alliances (see paragraph 11).

I congratulate Dahr Jamail on this analysis! He is preparing us for more mayhem in the days ahead."

Surely one is not forgetting the astute patriotic “principles” of the present Iraqi puppets (among them those that are still on the CIA payroll (see posting of Novemebr 12, 2008) in the Iraqi government; by the way, they are four now with Muwaffaq Al-Rubaie's departure two months ago) and their failed pathetic attempts to distance themselves from partaking in the endemic "corruption money”.

Yet it does behoove one not to be that blind as to what is also at one of the roots of the real "mayhem" in Iraq, whether in some of the atrocities of the past few years, the present relatively large scale readily attributed “suicide" bombings or in future American "Balck Ops" operations, and until these Death Squads are thoruoghly neutralized:

“The Iraq Special Operations Forces (ISOF) is probably the largest special forces outfit ever built by the United States, and it is free of many of the controls that most governments employ to rein in such lethal forces. The project started in the deserts of Jordan just after the Americans took Baghdad in April 2003. There, the US Army's Special Forces, or Green Berets, trained mostly 18-year-old Iraqis with no prior military experience. The resulting brigade was a Green Beret's dream come true: a deadly, elite, covert unit, fully fitted with American equipment, that would operate for years under US command and be unaccountable to Iraqi ministries and the normal political process.

According to Congressional records, the ISOF has grown into nine battalions, which extend to four regional "commando bases" across Iraq. By December, each will be complete with its own "intelligence infusion cell," which will operate independently of Iraq's other intelligence networks. The ISOF is at least 4,564 operatives strong, making it approximately the size of the US Army's own Special Forces in Iraq. Congressional records indicate that there are plans to double the ISOF over the next "several years."
Iraq's New Death Squad June 3, 2009

By the way, an Update on the new American version of "Democracy in Iraq"

"An Iraqi national referendum on last year’s security pact with the US is currently scheduled to take place on July 30. According to Iraqi law, if voters reject the pact, which calls for the US to remove all troops by December 31, 2011, Washington would have to remove its military 17 months sooner—by July 30 of 2010. Should the vote be held as scheduled, it is a virtual certainty that the Iraqi masses will repudiate the pact.
Washington, of course, has no intention of obeying any popular referendum. Yet it wishes to avoid the political embarrassment of a broad repudiation of its occupation of the oil-rich country. “American diplomats are quietly lobbying the government not to hold the referendum,” the New York Times notes. The US has long justified its invasion and occupation of Iraq—which has resulted in the deaths of well over 1 million Iraqis and made refugees out of millions more—as a selfless exercise in building “democracy.” "
US opposes Iraqi popular vote on troop withdrawal, June 13, 2009
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Thorough Corruption in Iraq .... وما خفي، وما يُخفى، كان أعظم

2009-06-01T09:22:00.004-04:00

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خارطة الفساد في العراق - مشروع شهادة أمام مجلس النواب العراقي

موسى فرج

رئيس هيئة النزاهة في العراق (سابقا)ـ

ـ1 حزيران 2009

There now exists, thanks to the occupation, rampant corruption in Iraq's government offices, at all levels.

The above is a a revealing imagined confrontation (in Arabic) with the Iraqi parliament members by Muossa Faraj, a (very recently) head of the Iraqi Integrity Commission. He exposes many of the hitherto unknown corruption charges and cases against the members of the parliament, ministeries and the upper echelons of the government.

"Police arrested some 120 officials on corruption charges over the course of April and May, the commission said. All this corruption cost the government 250 billion dollars over the last five years (emphasis added), Judge Moussa Faraj, of the CPI, said. In 2006, former minister of electricity Ayham al-Samarrai was sentenced to two years' in prison on the charge that 2 billion dollars earmarked for the reconstruction of Iraq's power network disappeared under his watch. In September 2007, Judge Radhi Hamza (who testified, haltingly, before a US congressional committee back in October 2007) resigned from his post as Iraq's first anti-corruption commissioner, citing political pressure from al-Maliki's government and anonymous death threats".

Ex-trade minister arrested after attempting to flee Iraq May 31, 2009

"Iraq plans to arrest 1,000 officials for corruption after a scandal which has forced the resignation of the Trade Minister and is threatening the food supply of millions of Iraqis.
Corruption at the Trade Ministry is an important issue in Iraq because the ministry is in charge of the food rationing system on which 60 per cent of Iraqis depend. Officials at the ministry, which spends billions of dollars buying rice, sugar, flour and other items, are notorious among Iraqis for importing food that is unfit for human consumption, for which they charge the state the full international price.
The scandal first erupted in April when police, entering the Trade Ministry in Baghdad to arrest 10 senior officials accused of corruption and embezzlement, were greeted with gunfire by the ministry's own guards. The shoot-out allowed several officials, including two brothers of the Trade Minister, Abdul Falah al-Sudany, time to escape out the back gate.
The political crisis over corruption has escalated after a video surfaced showing Trade Ministry officials at a party, apparently drinking alcohol, cavorting with prostitutes, and deriding the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
The voice of the man shooting the video, widely viewed and sent from phone to phone in Baghdad, is heard shouting to the dancing girls: "You before Maliki". Guests at the party who were captured on the video are said to include one of Mr Sudany's brothers and the ministry's spokesman."

Iraq faces the mother of all corruption scandals May 29, 2009

The Iraqi Resistance, once again

2009-05-31T14:50:00.003-04:00

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"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle - be Thou near them! With them - in spirit - we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it - for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen." Mark Twain

This [the above] is the slaughter and suffering that is being caused by the US occupation of Iraq. This is the death and suffering that is causing the Iraqi Resistance to once again form, gain strength, and prepare to resume full operations."
Dahr Jamail
The Return of the Resistance May 31, 2009

Baghdaddy's, indeed!

2009-05-28T12:12:00.007-04:00

Caption: Alas, Saddam Hussein did not make the list of gay icons.
Photo Credit: Special To The Washington Post

Article: For One Night, Baghdad Gets a Pink Zone, May 22, 2009

Being so culturally sensitive, are some of those that "they" have liberated inivited to the party?

"Grainy footage taken on a mobile phone and widely distributed around Baghdad shows a terrified young Iraqi boy cowering and whimpering as men with a stick force him to strip, revealing women's underwear beneath his dishdasha (Arab robe).
"Why are you dressed as a girl?" roars one of the men, brandishing his stick as the youth removes his brassiere. The sobbing boy, who appears to be about 12, tries to explain that his family made him do it to earn money, as they have no other source of income."

Iraqi gay men face 'lives of hell', April 18, 2009

"Iraq’s gay population is being targeted by militia groups in a wave of killings that has claimed the lives of up to 25 young men and boys in the past month.
"They know I am gay. I don’t know if I am going to be killed, this is up to God," said Moyad, a 38-year-old Baghdad resident who would not give his last name out of fear for his safety. Visibly frightened, he said that he has many friends who have been sadistically tortured, some even murdered. "They are sticking glue up their anuses; some hospitals refuse to treat them. Is it a war waged against homosexuals?" he asked."

‘They Kill People Like Us,’ Says Gay IRAQI, May 4, 2009

A sample of the mainstream Western press bias

2009-05-26T14:38:00.008-04:00

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From a friend's email:

"Here's a tiny snippet, emblematic of the larger issue of how pressure from the pro-Israel lobby constantly, and subtly, intimidates the mainstream Western press.

See the description of this recently deceased fanatic May 26, 2009

"Pre-state Jewish activist known for assassination

Yehoshua Zettler was one of the founding members of a violent pre-state Jewish movement and mastermind of the assassination of a top United Nations envoy in 1948.
....
He was most known for planning the assassination of UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte in Jerusalem in September 1948, who had angered Jewish radicals by suggesting that the boundaries of a 1947 UN partition plan be revised to put Jerusalem under UN control and hand Israel's Negev desert to Jordan".

Note how he is described as an "activist".

Let me ask you -- if for example, as in the tragic case of Mr. Sergio Vieria De Mello, with anyone else deliberately staging the assassination of a U.N. official in the Middle East, because that side in a regional conflict didn't like the position that they thought he had recommended to the United Nations; what, do you suppose, the Western mainstream newspapers would call him?

Let me give you some help : they'd call him a "te_ro_is_". (Fill in the blanks yourself.)

But I guess if he's a member of the Stern Gang and he murders U.N. officials, well, then, he's just an "activist"... right?"

كسافات المالكي : "كتابات"ـ

2009-05-22T17:59:00.003-04:00

ـ"تحية طيبة... ـ
تعرض موقع " كتابات " العراقي الذي يترأس تحريره أياد الزاملي ويحرره كُتّابه بكامل الحرية وبدون أي تدخل أو شطب أو تكليف أو تفضيل لأحد على أحد من قبل رئيس التحرير إلى هجمة باسم القانون العراقي بحملة شنتها حكومة رئيس الوزراء العراقي نوري المالكي رئيس حزب الدعوة الإسلامي، وقد بدأت الحملة أياها عبر دعوة قضائية قام برفعها السيد رئيس الوزراء مستنداً فيها على القانون 111 الصادر عام 1969."ـ

بيان شخصي من اياد الزاملي الى نوري المالكي رئيس وزراء العراق

ـ23 أيار 2009

"Reporters Without Borders condemned Wednesday the Iraqi government's continuing legal offensive against independent news media, which for the first time is also targeting Internet media.

As a result of a lawsuit brought by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Baghdad court ordered the Iraqi news website Kitabat to pay 1 billion dinars (630,000 euros) in damages on 18 May.

Although based in Germany, Kitabat uses reports provided by many correspondents inside Iraq and the ruling threatens its ability to continuing operating."

Iraq cracks down on independent media, 23 May 2009

إستراتيجية البرنامج النووي في العراق

2009-05-15T06:39:00.003-04:00

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This posting is on a new book "The Strategy of the Nuclear Program in Iraq" (in Arabic) by Humam AbdulKhaliq and AbdulHalim Al-Hajjaj. The verb tense is the past tense.

صدر عن مركز دراسات الوحدة العربية كتاب "استراتيجية البرنامج النووي في العراق : في إطار سياسات العلم والتكنولوجيا" للدكتور همام عبد الخالق عبد الغفور والدكتور عبد الحليم إبراهيم الحجاج.ـ

ـ" قبل قصف إسرائيل لمفاعل تموز سنة 1981 وبعده، نُشر الكثير عن برنامج العراق النووي، دفاعاً عنه أو هجوماً عليه بالتهم والبهتان. وقد أخذ ذلك النشر شكل موجات تتصاعد تارة وتخفت تارة أخرى. ولم يُجر في كل ما كتب آنذاك التطرق كثيراً إلى الجوانب التكنولوجية والفنية للبرنامج.ـ

يستعرض هذا الكتاب الإطار الاستراتيجي لبرنامج استمر أكثر من خمسين عاماً، وتوالت على رسمه وإدارته نظم سياسية عديدة، حكمت العراق منذ عشرينيات القرن الماضي وإلى حين تدمير القوات الأمريكية البرنامج، ثم إلغاء منظمة الطاقة الذرية بعد احتلال العراق سنة 2003.ـ

وربما تكون هذه أول وثيقة تصدر عن البرنامج النووي ولا تعبّر عن رأي شخصي في البرنامج... وهي ليست مذكرات شخصية، ولا تتناول أو تنتقد أشخاصاً وعناوين أو تتحدث عن خصوصيات معيّنة. ونحن أردنا أن ندوّن ونوثق ما كانت قيادة العراق قد فكرت فيه، وحقيقة تطور الأحداث، وما أدت إليه من جهة وآلت إليه من جهة أخرى، لكي لا يتصور أو يذهب بعيداً من يتراءى له أن الأمر لا يعدو نزوات ورغبات. ولم يتم تناول أسماء أو حيثيات معيّنة محددة، لأن ذلك يذهب بالحقيقة بعيداً كما نرى، وكما رأيناها وعشناها.ـ

إن هدفنا هو عرض الصورة بوصفها وثيقة للتاريخ، كما رُسِمت، لا كما تخيلها البعض، أو كتبَ رواية بشأنها لأغراض التشويق".ـ

لشراء الكتاب عبر الإنترنت

Same average Americans stand behind their President in covering up Abu Ghraib torture

2009-05-14T16:21:00.010-04:00

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From a friend's email (May 14, 2009):

"President Obama said on Wednesday (May 13, 2009) that he is seeking to block the release of photographs that depict American military personnel abusing captives in Iraq and Afghanistan, worrying that the images could “further inflame anti-American opinion.”

See below for proof of how the Average American supports his/her President, in trying to sweep America's dirty laundry under the carpet.

What's funny about all of this is, (as Rick Salutin so aptly put it), is the idiotic American assumption that the rest of the world is as ignorant about America's terrible record of human-rights abuses, as the Average American is.

In fact, the world is already painfully (pun intended) aware of what America's track record of torture and oppression is. So Mr. Obama's trying to clumsily censor the latest set of torture photos is the proverbial "locking the barn door after the horse has left" situation.

None the less, you can see from the above poll, how seriously Americans take their often-proclaimed devotion to "freedom of the press", "transparency", etc. -- they're all in favor of showing the facts; that is, until the facts don't show their actions in a favourable light.

Try to imagine the Premier of China, refusing to release photographs of what's going on in Tibet, on the grounds that showing these to the world would "inflame anti-Chinese sentiment", "putting Chinese forces occupying Tibet, at additional risk".

Then, change "China" to "America" and "Tibet" to "Abu Ghraib". You get it, now, don't you?

The lovely "progressive" Barack Obama, is now trying to (again) brush the truth about Abu Ghraib under the rug, just like George Bush did.

Ask yourself: If Obama really wanted to make a significant change in America's way of doing business -- if he really wanted to 'come clean' on what America has been doing to the world, over (at least) the last 8 years -- then why would he be trying to censor the pictures coming out of Abu Ghraib?"

Update: From the first Comment below

"But what is ultimately even more amazing is the claim that suppressing these photographs is necessary to prevent an inflammation of anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world generally and Afghanistan specifically. That claim is coming from the same people who are doing this: Civilian deaths in US airstrike overshadow Obama's Afghan summit" May 7, 2009

A wounded child in Farah yesterday. Up to 120 people, including civilians, were reported to have been killed in a series of US airstrikes on two villages (Times Online)

In contrast ... "Where there is much light, the shadow is deep" Goethe

2009-05-11T09:28:00.005-04:00

Are you ashamed of the US invasion of Iraq?

Arabesque Arts Festival Kicks Off

Us(S) Torture? Nah...We are better at it than "them"

2009-05-02T08:01:00.015-04:00

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I received a passionate email from an old friend regarding a recently aired ABC video of a 2004 incident in which Sheikh Issa, the brother of the UAE Emir Sheikh Khalifa, is violently punishing an Afghan (CNN report - in Arabic) who swindled him out of a US$5,000 grain delivery deal. It was very shocking to my old friend who is now in Chicago.

This is my response to her:

"The video is indeed repugnant.

But is anybody in the email list that were addressed recalling the Americans' atrocities in Abu Ghraib prison (and the then pregnant smiley face (see below) who is now a mother) and their treatment of Guantanamo’s "guests”?

And, would anyone in your email list be still sympathizing with the US war criminal soldier (Steven Green) who is still bragging in court "'that was awesome'” about his raping and burning of the 14 years old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi in Mahmoudiya in 2006?

We posted earlier (on July 5, 2006) on this gruesome war crime. This is a more comprehensive coverage of that horrific incident.

Why, then, is there such a singled repugnance of the above mentioned Issa incident and no repugnance is expressed (as far as has come to my attention) in the case of Green?

Is it because that “it is OK if it is one of us" but "it is NOT OK if it is one of “them""?

Ponder, and please respond, if you would."
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PS: The video was released by a former Lebanese business associate of Issa, a Bassam Al-Nabulsi, who posted it in revenge after he fell out on a business deal with Issa. So much for business deals and a belated conscious awakening when money is concerned. Where is Madoff when we need him?
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Iraqi oil, anybody?

2009-04-27T14:07:00.002-04:00

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I recieved the following article on Iraqi oil from a dear friend which he titled "A Crisis in Making", and thought it worth a posting on its own.

Iraqi Oil: Black Gold or Black Hole? April 26, 2009

Comments are welcome!

Al-Maqam Al-Iraqi - Classical Iraqi music and songs .... المقام العراقي حسين الاعظمي

2009-04-26T01:00:00.000-04:00

المقام العراقي - حسين الاعظمي : مقام المحمودي، مقام بنجكاه، مقام نهاوند، مقام دشت وبسته، مقام بيات وبسته، مقام جمال، مقام خلوتي، ايقاعات عراقية، كل لحظه امر عليك، مقام نهاوند، مقام دشت 2، يازارع البزرنكَوش، فراكَهم بجاني، مقام بنجكَاه 1

The above link is a collection of Al-Maqam Al-Iraqi by the group of Hussain Al-Adhami during a performance in Bahrain in 2005 and at other locations.
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من اللذين مد الإحتلال يده إليهم للعمالة

2009-04-25T12:05:00.003-04:00

ـ"عندما دخلت البيت الواقع على أطراف مدينة لاهاي الهولندية وجدت نفسي بين عشرات العراقيين من اليساريين والمثقفين وأصحاب اللحى المدججين بالخواتم والمسابح وأجهزة الموبايل، بعد ذلك دخل ثلاثة أجانب تعلن عنهم أناقتهم ولغتهم وبشرتهم البيضاء ( ثلاثة أمريكيين أحدهم من أصل يوغسلافي) وهذا الأخير خبير بحرب البوسنة والهرسك. ثم بدءوا محاضرتهم عن كيفية إسقاط الأنظمة البالغة القسوة والقوة. فاتني القول أن ما أرويه لكم حدث قبل الاحتلال الأمريكي للعراق عندما وجه الدعوة لنا الصحفي (إسماعيل زاير) بعد إلحاح لم نعرف أسبابه قبل غلق الباب خلفنا. ـ

.....

وعندما أدركت أن المتكلم المهذب يعرف عني الكثير رجوته الاختصار ودوائر الأمريكيين الثلاثة لا تفارق ذاكرتي، فقال ما مضمونه " أن العراق مقبل على تغيير كبير وتاريخي ونحن وبسبب الانقطاع الطويل عن الوطن لا توجد لدينا خيوط اتصال مع الشارع العراقي ونحتاج إلى فتح مقرات ومكاتب في مدن الجنوب والوسط ونبحث عن أشخاص معروفين في هذه المدن ولديهم عائلات معروفة وعلاقات طيبة ويجيدون الكلام والإقناع".ـ
فسألته والألم يعتصرني :ـ
ـ إذا أنا مثلما تقول من عائلة شهداء ونضال وسياسة فهل مثلي يصلح لهكذا مهمة، فقال
ـ لا تقلق سندفع راتبين واحدا لك في العراق لتسيير الأعمال والثاني لعائلتك في هولندة، فقلت له
ـ قل لي بصراحة تريدونني (سياسي لو عميل) ؟ فقال
ـ أنت لا تصلح للعمالة"ـ

في الذكرى السادسة للاحتلال ..نـــــــــعم... فقد تآمرنا على الوطن!! ـ

نصيـر عـواد

ـ18 نيسان 2009

مع تعليقين في أسفل النشرة

The above is a confession of a recanting Iraqi was was offered collaboration with the occupier since before the occupation.

مقابلة مع قناة "روسيا اليوم"ـ

2009-04-22T15:05:00.007-04:00

هذه مقابلة أجراها الأخ سلام مسافر 19 نيسان 2009

لقد تم حذف إعتراضي على لقب "من آباء البرنامج النووي العراقي" وتصحيحي إياه بأني "من أبناء البرنامج النووي العراقي"ـ

كما، وربما سقط سهواً مني، فإن توقف البرنامج النووي العراقي السلمي والعسكري كان عشية القصف الأمريكي للمنشئات النووية ليلة الخميس من- 17 شباط 1991 - ـ

ـ(وكما ورد في النص المكتوب) وليس 2001 وكما ذكرته في المقابلة

The above is an iterview with "Russia Today" TV channel (in Arabic) on the occassion of the 6 years of Iraq's occupation under the false pretext of stopping Iraq's nuclear weapon program.

Spilled milk? Iraqi-American academics .. عشتار العراقية كشفت المستور

2009-04-18T01:00:00.008-04:00

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In a recent distribution, an impressive list (4.5 MB PDF) is offered of more than 300 Iraqi-American academics who were invited to attend an "Iraqi Academic Conference" during March 14-15, 2009 "To Help Improve and Sustain Higher Education in Iraq".

This event was hosted by The National Academies, Washington D.C. in collaboration with the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Iraq in Wash. D.C.

Impressive, indeed.

But what did they meet for? What was the purpose of their gathering? What is the connect with Iraq?

The released list of attendees does not contain any agenda, deliberations or resolutions for that event.

A search of The National Academies web site for "Iraqi" yields nothing on this gathering.

The Iraqi Embassy's declared intention for holding the event was devoid of any sustainable concrete venues.

The only available feedback on what transpired is posted on the U.S. Department of Defense's Military Health System Blog.

So much for Iraq's belated benefit to the educational system resulting from the six years of American occupation.

Thank you for collecting the names of the distinguished Iraqi academics in the U.S.

Update:
It appears that the above event was staged for the benefit of Kurdish interests, abetted by a fervent American "professor", namely Carole O'Realy, who serves too well the State Department, the Pentagon and Ammar Al-Hakim (pictured below). (See also her statement before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on April 3, 2009).
The following (in Arabic) is a thorough investigative background on the above murky conference by Iraqi Ishtar. We need many with her investigative skills.
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كشفت عشتار العراقية بتحريها المعهود المستور المدسوس في هذا المؤتمر:ـ

قل بروفيسورة ولا تقل جاسوسة !!ـ

ـ20 نيسان 2009

والمكشوف عنه (وصلت اليوم 21 نيسان 2009عبر صديق عزيز)ـ

منهاج مؤتمر الاكاديميين العراقيين للمساهمة في تطوير التعليم العالي في العراق

تقرير مؤتمر الأكاديمين العراقيين في الولايات المتحدة