World Iraq Newswire Archive

Define "win." Winning cannot be finding Saddam's WMDs; he had none. Winning cannot be punishing Iraq for 9-11; they had nothing to do with it. Winning cannot be punishing Iraq for aiding Al Qaeda; they weren't. Winning can't be defined as liberating the Iraqis. They're trying to do this themselves, but we won't let them. Define "win".

Why hasn't Bliar been run out of town on a rail? Doing nothing will only embolden his kind.

Breaking through the media silence on Iraqi civilian suffering.

Just two days after Prime Minister Tony Blair announced a reduction in British troops in Iraq, Defence Secretary Des Browne made clear that this was in fact a redeployment of troops to Afghanistan.

A lengthy article in this week’s New Yorker magazine by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh provides further evidence that the Bush administration has not only set course for war against Iran, but has over the past few months embarked on a reckless and incendiary strategy that has the potential to unleash sectarian Sunni-Shia conflicts throughout the Middle East.

help we can change destination yes live no dead

Here are some more audio clips from last saturdays No Trident / Troops Out demo.

Media corporations have an awesome ability to fail to learn even the most obvious lessons from the recent past. In discussing allegations made against Iran in 2007, for example, it is often as though Iraq 2002-2003 never happened. The same journalists receiving the same propaganda from the same government sources respond with the same credulity and the same indifference to the human consequences.

During a heated debate in a class I teach on social justice, several US Marines who had done tours in Iraq told me that they had "sacrificed" by “serving” in Iraq so that I could enjoy the freedom to teach in the USA. Parroting their master’s slogan about “fighting over there so we don’t have to fight over here”, these students proudly proclaimed that they terrorized and killed defenseless Iraqis. They intimated that their Arab victims are nothing more to them than collateral damage, incidental to their receipt of some money and an education.

Coming from the chief architect of the illegal US-led invasion of Iraq, these words can have only one meaning: the US is preparing for a military attack on Iran. As far as Cheney is concerned, Tehran’s failure this week to abide by the US-backed UN resolution demanding the suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities is just one more nail in the coffin.

The American Vice-President, Dick Cheney, today delivered his only address to the ‘public’ at the plush Shangri-la Hotel. He will later meet with the servile Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson and other minor government officials at Victoria Barracks, Paddington. The symbolism of Cheney’s visit in the last days of neo-conservative rule is not lost on Australians; the absence of the Prime Minster, John Howard, from the venue was the most notable aspect of the event!

Posted by Tony Gosling
Questions have been tabled in Parliament about reports that the shadowy Army unit linked to Troubles intelligence scandals is now operating in Iraq.

There has been more violence by police at the mass murdering USA Dick Cheney Carnival demonstration in NSW Sydney Australia.

While the main protest at Dick Cheney's visit was held in Sydney, members of Melbourne's anti-war and civil rights movements marked the occasion yesterday (Thursday) outside the Nike store on Bourke/Swanston ...

Thursday, February 22, 2007: 10 arrested by violent thugs as Cheney protesters gather in Sydney

Dr Munthir Al-Kewther was born in Najaf in 1965. He has studied Islamic and Western Philosophy at various Western and Iraqi universities. Dr Al-Kewther completed his PhD in Islamic Philosophy at Iraq’s Kufa University in 1995.

Dr Al-Kewther is currently Dean of the Faculty of Media and Journalism at Al-Huraa University in the Netherlands. He has an extensive background as a television presenter and broadcaster. From 2001-2006 he was a news reader and programme presenter at Al-Mustaqillah TV in London.

Dr Al-Kewther spoke with Mahan Abedin

I live a few miles from an ATK (Alliant Tech) plant that produces depleted uranium (DU) tank shells for the military. Tank shells destroy and kill, and they, along with all military hardware, are a constant reminder of our failure as a civilization. But DU weapons and tank shells are only two of many items that raise questions that even our violence prone society needs to address. Since shortly after Gulf War I, soldiers and civilians have been questioning the safety of these weapons which are made of radioactive material. The more questions raised, the more the military-industrial complex has hauled out studies showing the safety of DU munitions. One CEO called DU the "skim milk" of uranium in an article penned for my local paper. An Air Force officer is even stalking the internet, trying to intimidate anyone who suggests DU is anything but benign.

The Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar has obtained a copy of the proposed oil law and has just translated it into English. He discusses the new law with Antonia Juhasz, author of "The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time.”

While in the initial days of the operation sectarian violence and deaths appeared to decline, by Sunday the death toll was nearing the 100-per-day Baghdad residents have come to expect. Three car bombs exploded in mainly Shia areas of the city, killing at least 67 and injuring more than 120.

The Kuala Lumpur Initiative to Criminalise War Petition to Citizens of the World - Petition

 http://www.perdana4peace.org/petition.html

The following text is the testimony given by Professor Ali Shalal, who was tortured at Abu Ghraib Prison. This statement was presented to the War Crimes Commission set up under the helm of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, as evidence in the procedure launched in Kuala Lumpur directed against US President George W. Bush, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australia's Prime Minister John Howard.

Ali Shalal, known to the World as the "man behind the hood", is a man of tremendous courage and determination. I heard his testimony, I had the opportunity of speaking to him on several occasions in the course of the war crimes Conference. We established bonds of friendship and solidarity. We shared our determination to bring the war criminals in high office to justice.

Ali Shalal is a professor of theology. He is a tremendous source of inspiration. It is important to understand that what Ali Shalal experienced is part of a routine process of torture, applied systematically to those arrested. Many of his companions in Abu Ghraib died as a result of torture or were executed upon their release so that they would not reveal the gruesome horrors and atrocities committed on the orders of the Bush administration. Also of significance, as confirmed by his testimony, was the fact that Israeli "civilians" were involved in assisting the US prison interrogators.

Ali Shalal survived and provided testimony in the name of all those who were tortured to death. Ali Salal's words will go down in history.

The war criminals in high office will be brought to justice. It is also our determination that they will be given a fair trial.

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 19 February 2007