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The nightmares that fill the Baghdad night
Haifa Zangana is an Iraqi-born novelist and former prisoner of Saddam's regime. The following, also published at Comment is Free, is a moving and very personal reminder of the darkness that overshadows the cradle of civilisation. Her last article on Webdiary was Death of a Professor: assassinations in Iraq. Thank you Haifa for sending this to us.
Iraq: the Women's Story was shown on Channel 4 last night. To protect the identity of the filmmaker, who lives in Baghdad and fears reprisals, she was given the name Zeina.
Zeina had sent me an email before the film was shown, saying:
Dear Haifa, I hope this letter finds you very well, also your family. I am writing to tell you that the film on the Iraqi woman is going to be shown today. I am interested in your opinion. Best and greetings, Zeina.
Immediately after watching the film, I emailed her my opinion. I received two replies. The first was brief:
I am happy you find it excellent. Thanks, Zeina.
PS: Intisar's brother was killed. She found his body in the hospital's fridge. He was slaughtered. She said that she is leaving. Well, sorry to tell you this, but you know how the situation is."
Intisar is the pharmacist who accompanied Zeina while shooting the film in Qaiem.
I did not reply. I could not. Words, just like Iraqi young men, went missing. Kidnapped, shot in the head, killed, slaughtered , tortured, drilled, bound and gagged, bodies, disappeared ... Silence replaced emotions. Silence became our way to mourn our dead: brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, husbands and children; our unnamed, uncounted dead. Unless ...
Despite my silence, I received her second email this morning:
Thank you, Haifa, I am happy that you still have hope. The resistance, and the spirit of resistance, will go on. History says so. But it tears my heart every moment to see the wonderful Iraqi young men slaughtered like sheep - even worse, like insects.
It tortures me, like all Iraqi mothers, to wait by seconds for my daughters to come back home from college. Nightmares fill our nights. And what is there on the horizon? Nothing. Just dark, bleak pictures of smaller, powerless, backward entities controlled by you-know-who ... This is the future of Iraq ... Actually, there will be no more Iraq: they have to find another name.
I wish I could have more hope; at least to feel better than I do. But I read almost all the Iraqi papers every day. I listen to people talk, and I watch. It is difficult for me to find hope in what I see. As a woman, I can tell you that we have no hope, no matter what.
Sorry again for this very down feeling. I wrote this reply yesterday very late at night but decided not to send it. I thought that maybe I would feel better in the morning and write in a better way. But it was not the night: it was the reality, which is darker than Baghdad's night these days. Well, I think you already know what I've just said. Best, Zeina.
Despite her "very down feeling", I know that Zeina will continue her work. She is one of the few independent journalists still working in Iraq defying the occupation forces as well as their puppet regime, with its sectarian and ethnic militias. More than 100 Iraqi journalists have been killed since the invasion in March 2003. Women journalists, academics, and doctors have not been spared.
Sabah Ali, an independent Iraqi journalist who reports occasionally for the Brussells Tribunal, wrote on May 8:
The Iraqi journalists union published a report and lists of the Iraqi journalists killed in the last three years. The list took five months of working on the ground, documenting when, where, how and by whom the journalists were killed. It is as follows: 69 journalists were killed by militias or unknown armed men; 21 were killed in explosions or fighting; 17 were shot by the American troops; and two were shot by the Iraqi troops.
Sabah Ali also provides us with a list of names of the killed journalists with detailed information regarding the circumstances of their deaths.
On October 27 2004, Liqa Abdul Razaq, a newsreader at al-Sharqiya TV, was shot with her two-month-old baby in the Aldoura district of Baghdad; Layla al-Saad, dean of law at Mosul University, was slaughtered in her house; Maha Ibrahim, editor in chief of Baghdad TV, was killed on July 3 2005, shot by US military gunfire.
The Iraqi journalist Raeda Mohammed Wageh Wazzan of the regional public TV station Iraqiya was found dead on February 25, five days after masked gunmen had kidnapped her and her son in the centre of the northern city of Mosul. She was shot in the head.
The cruel murder of Atwar Bahjat, one of the country's top television journalists, was the latest.
Those women were killed for giving a voice to the voiceless, but other women are differently abused in the "new Iraq". Under the democracy that is still so highly acclaimed by Bush and Blair, women face arrest just for complaining.
Here is an example: On May 3, US forces arrested Sanaa al-Badri, a woman doctor, in Dhuluiya, 25 miles north of Baghdad, a day after she accused US forces of stealing $4,000 (£2,145) in gold during a raid on her house, officials said.
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running sects
Hi Ian,how astute"Running a sect is a bit like running an orchard" I think running sects is much harder still.
Cheers
Fukuyama isn't the only
Fukuyama isn't the only (former?) Bush enthusiast engaged in rather incontinently fleeing the battlefied that Bush term II has become.
The New Republic's Jonathan Chait reflects that this current tearing and rending of the corpse of the GW Bush Presidency is nothing exactly new. It is, apparently, a little like the sight of the ALP chewing up and excreting its less than stellar leaders:
The strange thing is that the open criticism of Bush by conservative or Republican elites ( and their continued desertion) doesn't quite stack up against Bush's numbers in polling. Among the Republican base he holds strongly at 78-80%. It is the rest of the country (and those elites) that have fallen away.
The criticism is seemingly aimed at setting the poor boy up as an apostate. He fails because he's not "a true conservative" and is therefore not true to Republican values of small government and responsible spending:
Problem is, these same people were in open adoration of the fellow before he inadvertently took a swim in a sewage settling pond.
The crimes of war
WAR CRIMES committed by the
Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person? Check: see
Willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial? Check: see
Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly? Check: see much of
More of the usual
You just don't get it do you, Roslyn Ross?
What possible relevance could your post have without including the definition of "protected person"? If you provide an adequate link as you should have, you will find it doesn't include all the people you give the appearance of standing up for.
I suppose the benign interpretation is that it was just an oversight on your part. Never been known for being benign, me.
Protected Person
Malcolm B Duncan: Thankyou. Roslyn. Please clarify what is a protected person in your link. Is the link referring to people like those who were supposed to be under protection of the Dutch when Mladic and Co moved in, or what? Or to prisoners of war, or what?
I guess one could say Mladic was a protected person at the moment, protected from justice by those who believe he should not face justice.
As for displaying the corpse of Zarkawi. Well maybe for the West that is abhorrent, but I am sure the Iraqis wanted to know that they had actually got the man. Many Iraqis I am sure would only be convinced by those photos. I certainly would want to see the evidence for myself if I had had my family blown up by him. I would want to know that they had really got the so and so. And I do not grieve over his death. I cannot as you say you do on another post grieve over all those who die, including the insurgents. Why would anyone grieve over the death of that man for God's sake?
All life is sacred
Jenny, if you accessed the link, as I suggested to Malcolm, you can see the reference to 'protected person' comes in reference to the Geneva Convention. Clearly the Geneva Convention uses this terminology. If you want to get more information then I suggest you access the Geneva Convention and search for protected person.
The point of my post was the issue of war crimes committed by the US and that was the point of the article by William Rivers Pitt which I quoted.
As for displaying the corpse, my point there was you can't criticise people for doing something and then do it yourself. Yes such things are acceptable in other countries and the Middle East but if the US is happy to display corpses then they can't criticise the Iraqis for displaying corpses of dead US soldiers. It's a matter or principle.
I for one don't have a problem seeing dead bodies. I lived in India for four years and it was common to see corpses in the paper. Different people different thoughts. But, the US and many other Western nations do not approve of such things. so, for the US to do it, when it criticises others for doing it, is hypocritical. That was the point.
As to Zargawi being seen as such a monster by the Iraqis, there's a good case to say he wasn't. He was a construct of the Occupation more than anything.
Why would anyone grieve over that man's death? Why not. You know nothing about him other than what you read. Ditto for me. He may have been guilty of crimes but he may not. We do not know. We rely on what we are told, what we hear, what we read. He may not even have been Zargawi.
But, even if he were responsible for great crimes I would see his death as something to grieve in the way that all deaths are. There will be people grieving over him, to varying degrees.
It is the actions we should condemn, not the individual. Every human life is of value. People do terrible things but that does not make them terrible people.
We differ on this I know but I believe people are more damaged than evil and more frightened than cruel.
I think Blair, Bush and Howard are all guilty of war crimes but I would not wish their deaths and I would not be glad of their deaths. Their deaths too would be a grief. The death of any human being is a grief. But that's my view. All human life is sacred.... actually all life is sacred and to be honoured in my book.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
"The death of any human being is a grief. But that's my view. All human life is sacred.... actually all life is sacred and to be honoured in my book."
Israeli kids blown up on buses by Palestinian bombers too? Not from what you've previously posted. It seem that they're fair game and we must understand their murderers and, of course, with understanding comes acceptance.
Now don't get carried away with your rhetoric, Roslyn.
Not the way of the world
Greg: I have never said, nor inferred that those who die at the hands of Palestinian resistance fighters should not be grieved.
What I said was, one can understand why the Palestinians fight for their freedom without condoning the methods.
The death of both Palestinian and Israeli is deserving of grief.
The difference is that Israelis die because their Government is a brutal occupier and ruthless coloniser while Palestinians die because they live under brutal occupation and are subject to ruthless and murderous colonisation. There's a difference.
The one thing which is not different is that the death of an Israeli is equal to that of a Palestinian even though one can find less justification for deaths which are a result of maintaining an occupation and colonisation policy than one can for deaths resulting from a fight for freedom.
As a pacifist I wish Israel could act without violence and I wish the Palestinians could too but such is not the way of the world.
You like many others seem to have a problem making distinctions between the individual and the act. You also do not seem able to comprehend that one can defend absolutely a fight for freedom and yet not defend the bloodshed which results from it. However, the bloodshed which results from occupation and colonisation is completely without justification even though one may understand the dysfunction at the heart of Israeli and Jewish religion and culture which pushes them to maintain such injustice..
Roslyn, please explain:
"Even though one may understand the dysfunction at the heart of Israeli and Jewish religion and culture which pushes them to maintain such injustice.."
What exactly are you referring to here? If something like this was said about the "religion of peace" then I'd expect to see cries of "racism!" sprout like mushrooms. At least here. But Jews are always fair game.
Where are the stats?
Mike: You have not yet posted those stats on the quality of life and standard of living experienced by Palestinians under occupation.
Or have you changed your mind about that?
Dysfunction defined
Mike: My comments regarding dysfunction relate to the debasing effect of occupation. The occupiers become dysfunctional because of the immorality and cruelty of what they do. You only have to read the comments of the dissenting IDF reservists to see this.
In terms of dysfunction as a part of Judaism, a core concept of the religion is victimhood and victimisation which goes back thousands of years. Hardly healthy when one can not move on so to speak.
I would qualify and say I think all religions are dysfunctional but we are talking about Israel here and the dysfunction in that society is a combination of religious belief and the debasing effect that occupation and violent colonisation has had on the Israelis.
I do think that social dysfunction is greater when there is a cultural/religious predisposition and an environment such as that of occupation and colonisation. In addition, the religion encouraged a greater sense of victimhood for all Jewish experiences and one of the most dysfunctional aspects of Israeli society today is the belief that they are the victims even when logic and reason would declare that they, quite clearly, are the aggressors and the Palestinians are the victims.
All would have been clear
Malcolm, if you had taken the time to access the link you could have read the full article and all would have been clear.
Sheer dissembling
If you could point me to the definition of "protected person" in your link, I should be greatly obliged. No more benign, just obliged.
If you cannot, would you mind shutting it?
CSI Glebe. Mythbusters Newtown.
Angela Ryan: "So two five hundred pound bombs dropped on house leaving a 20 foot crater and not much else allows dear Zaqarwi, the darling of the US psychops, to have a body found with just a few (old) bruises?"
Yes, it is most important that the "left" transform Abu Musab al-Zarqawi into a hero and martyr.
Meanwhile, back on planet Earth.....
"The US military says an autopsy performed on the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, reveals he died from shockwaves caused by two big bombs dropped on his hide-out last week."
"The army has again denied allegations that its soldiers beat Zarqawi to death."
"Releasing the findings of the autopsy, the US military says Zarqawi died of extensive blast injuries to his lungs."
(At least they didn't behead him with a bowie knife, the "politically correct" method. But he wasn't an aid worker, was he?)
My guess is a double pneumothorax due to the decompression from the blast.
Contrary to what most people think, bomb damage is due mostly to massively lowered, not massively increased atmospheric pressure around the blast centre.
That's why building walls adjacent to the ground zero point typically collapse out, frequently leaving inner walls and other solid objects intact, but nonetheless pulling down roofs and floors.
Obviously, there are blast effects, too. But it's not uncommon to find bodies intact in bombed buildings.
Also, I think it's indicative that the usual line-up of useful idiots are now having to take moral succour from the idea that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, of all people, was some kind of "victim".
Leading on to ....
"Al Qaeda in Iraq has appointed a militant named Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to succeed Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was killed in a US air strike, in an Internet message posted Monday. "
That's odd, isn't it?
Given that Zarqawi was just the invention of a Zionist Imperialist Agressors a psyops action (the latest "just so" explanation for everything not accounted for in Marxist theory).
The politcal left's unrelenting support for the Ku Klux Resistance, er "freedom fighters" of Iraq, is one of those developments which it will later expend huge amounts of effort trying to deny.
Eventually, it will insist that Zarqawi and the Sunni militias were "really" backed by the USA "in the deeper, more meaningful sense of the term."
we must write the history
C Parsons: "Contrary to what most people think, bomb damage is due mostly to massively lowered, not massively increased atmospheric pressure around the blast centre...."
Depends upon the ordinance, either is quite possible. I presume you mean externally to the main point of impact.
"That's why building walls adjacent to the ground zero point typically collapse out, frequently leaving inner walls and other solid objects intact, but nonetheless pulling down roofs and floors."
If lowered pressure, don't you mean collapse inwards? Actually I think you are thinking of thermal explosions where there is a "sucking " like effect, not the same as these bombs uses apparently.
If he died from "dual penumothoraces" then that is negligence from the medics, quite capable of assesing such and putting in tubes over the hour it took to die. I suspect internal bleeding from a pummelling-from the blast of course. The differing ages of the facial bruising suggest he had a bad night the day before cutting hedges and doornob wrestling.
The scenario story line does not make sense. Firtsly, why not attempt to capture the most valuable intelligence asset one could ever consider? Secondly, why bomb the house twice to destroy any intelligence evidence? As if hard drives would be intact after that! What a bunch of clearly fabricated lies. The 17 raids immediately following simultaneously across Iraq due to data allegedly from the house bombed is ridiculous. Takes ages to organise such and the data was blasted inside out by C Parsons description already.
The reason the spin must continue is if Al Zarkawi was already interrogated and then dropped at the site after the blast, the bombing becomes an obvious murderous killing of his young family and friends to send a message in blood just as bad as any terrorist attack.
Who cares? As long as no one asks questions, no one thinks. Does it matter if we become as our enemy in thought and deed and blackness of soul,...as long as we win to write the history?
Suicide as 'Act of Warfare'
I've been struggling with the characterisation of the suicides in Guantanamo Bay as an 'act of warfare'.
Then I got it.
A suicide is just a suicide bombing, without the bombing. Silly me!
Buy one get one free
C. Parsons, how about a compromise. Buy one and get one free. You decide which one they will buy and we can share in the finder’s fee. See ya at the pub old boy and cheers, or is it Yeeeeehah or Jiiiiiiihad.
Opportunity for keen lad
Phil Moffat: "As yet he has not been convicted of cold blooded murder."
Yes, but he says he is keen to learn.
"Afghanistan is in the middle of a very, very heavy war in the north, no waiting here. I have arranged to go directly to the front…"
Bona fides better than idiotalogues
C Parsons, the Australian/British idiotalogue in Gitmo Bay may or may not be suitable for the position. As yet he has not been convicted of cold blooded murder; a necessary accomplishment for the said vacancy. His belief system may make him a possible applicant, however, as yet I do not think his bona fides compare to Mr Bryant's. Having said that I’m sure there are ample twits on this planet to fill the position.
Maybe a few of the American lads from Kilo Company could be enticed to do a bit of moonlighting to keep the “show” on the road. They at least, like our Mr Bryant, have the bona fides, although, like the Gitmo idiotalogue, they have yet to be convicted for their alleged crimes.
What they need is a red-neck jihadist mercenary
Phil Moffat: "I have a proposal that may be to the benefit to all. There is currently a position vacant in Iraq for a murdering thug. We have such a person right here in Australia. One Martyn Bryant."
Martyn would be good, as he has plenty of hippie cred, but apparently he's put on a lot of weight, lately.
Also, his killing method was high on maintenance, using single fire semi-automatics, whereas more sophisticated freedom fighters these days prefer to strap high-explosives to intellectually disabled kids and detonate them remotely.
And how good is Martyn with a mobile phone detonating device I wonder?
No, what we need is someone who:
a) Is ideologically pre-disposed to killing Jews and Westerners, and is on record saying that;
b) Is a known Islamist nihilist;
c) has a documented record of service on behalf of Al-Quaeda or the Taliban - or both;
d) who enjoys the support of our own far-left and ultra-right political fringes.
Now, someone springs to mind immediately.
But as he's already in Guantanamo Bay and will soon be moving to the UK, he may not be available.
Re: What they need is a red-neck jihadist mercenary
Anyone who can say "Yeeeehaaa!" can probably say "Jeeeehaaaad!"
A first for GWB?
Will writes: "Bush is right about one thing - this is going to be a long fight."
Could this be a first for GWB?
A first for GWB?
Well maybe not a first but a rare occurrence.
But, just because he's Dubya doesn't necessarily mean he's wrong.
Let's do a deal
I have a proposal that may be to the benefit to all. There is currently a position vacant in Iraq for a murdering thug. We have such a person right here in Australia. One Martyn Bryant. He is good with weapons, enjoys killing innocent women and children and is currently costing the Australian taxpayer more than what he is worth. If he grows a beard and dies his hair I’m sure the Iraqi resistance could be encouraged to accept his services.
All that needs to be done is to send over a few of our experienced negotiators from the AWB with Martin’s bio in hand and do a deal. Our AWB boys along with the nod of our PM, Foreign Affairs Minister and Deputy PM could of course pretend to know nothing about this. This type of operation will most certainly be a success for our Government and their “negotiators” are experts in the “art” of supporting tyrants, espesially those tyrants who need cash to buy bullets and bombs to kill our soldiers with.
Martyn of course would be allowed to “escape” from prison and be immediately sent on secret “rendition” to Iraq. In return for Martyn’s services the Australian taxpayer may receive some $300 million in kickbacks and everyone should be happy. Of course Martyn would have to change his name. Osama Al Zaqarwi sounds good to me.
In short the Australian taxpayer would no longer have to support Bryant, receive a shit load of cash in return. The AWB boys would be back in the business doing what they do best. The Yanks would now have a new poster boy and our PM will probably be invited to Washington for another photo op with his very best mate. QED
PS. Did catching Saddam stop the killing?
Dear leader was a martyr and hero
David Roffey: "For the past two years or so it has suited both the US and Zarqawi's own PR purposes to make him out to be behind every incident of violence (or at least all the Sunni ones)."
Naturally, there cannot be much truth to that idea. Otherwise, they'd really miss him.
Oh, hello, hello? What have we here then?...
"A spokesman for the leading Sunni Arab insurgent group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, has hailed slain al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a martyr and vowed to continue the fight..."
You mean, he was leading it until yesterday? What a strange thing to say.
Resistance will continue - in cafés and poetry workshops
Bob Wall: "Craig, wise to be cautious about what lies in store. Best to await developments and try to put one death in perspective."
Indeed, after all, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the Sunni militias have many supporters still active in their cause.
Currency dealer George Galloway; British MP Clare Short ("Al-Qaeda cause is just, says Short"); film-maker and election forecaster Michael Moore; "spokesperson" John Pilger; writers Naomi Klein and Arundhati Roy; and vagina monologist Eve Ensler just to name a few.
Zarqawi was defended by left wing author and Herald contributor Richard Neville, who will doubtless note the loss of the Reinhard Heydrich of Iraq as the ungrateful locals were inclined to refer to the Jordanian-born "activist" and cack-handled would be marksman.
Strangely enough people were seen celebrating in Iraqi cafes and market-places yesterday!
Surely, they were under some state of false consciousness induced by bourgeois imperialist and Zionist media.
Or just perhaps they were Shi'ites and Kurds.
Position Vacant: Terrorist Mastermind
I've been wondering: just what are the qualifications and skills of a terrorist mastermind, and just exactly how do they apply them?
For the past two years or so it has suited both the US and Zarqawi's own PR purposes to make him out to be behind every incident of violence (or at least all the Sunni ones). So I guess he'd have to be a world-class manager of sorts, given the run-rate of more than 50 serious violent incidents/attacks per day - as far as I can tell from the coverage, he didn't actually carry out any of these himself. More likely, mastermindship runs to thinking up particularly gruesome things to do that will guarantee maximum publicity - probably he did carry out a few of these personally.
The obvious point is that now he's gone, if the violence doesn't let up (and there is really no reason to believe that it will), there will have to be someone else to step up to the plate for number-one hate object. I'd say the Coalition need a named leader for the insurgency more than the insurgents do, so it's probably up to us in the Coalition countries to nominate one.
When you think about it, though, it's obvious: innovative manager, mad publicity stunts, beardie, virgins ...
Perspective.
Craig, wise to be cautious about what lies in store. Best to await developments and try to put one death in perspective.
A couple of quotes from your links got my attention:
From Michael Berg:
From Bush:
But that violent man will.
DemocracyNow! covers the event and has interviews with Robert Fisk and and Loretta Napoleoni.
Other items on the program are an interview with 1st Lt Ehren Watada, the first US Army officer to refuse deployment to Iraq and an interview with Fr Daniel Berrigan marking his 85th birthday.
How he was found.
Juan Cole on the death of al-Zarqawi.
Ron Jacobs - You Can't Call Me al-Zarqawi Anymore.
Chris Floyd with his cynical approach.
On the matter of a man who has more violence in store, Bill Christison War War and More War is What Bush Really Wants.
This adds to the theme in the video Preventive Warriors.
Tom Englehardt: The Real Meaning of Haditha.
Lots of aspects to consider. The killing is not going to stop anytime soon and how much difference one death makes is yet to be known.
Didn't know it was loaded, your honour...
Bob Wall: "CP, I am disappointed that having accused me of hiding material - despite my naming of the source but forgetting to provide the link - that you would not apologise. My oversight was inadvertent."
Of course, Bob. Of course.
mourning time for Roslyn and Angela
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister will announce the death of al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, state television reported on Thursday.
It gave no details but Nuri al-Maliki was due to hold a news conference with the top US commander in Iraq General George Casey shortly.
Hypocrisy reigns supreme
Mike, you do not explain why Angela and I would be mourning. Anyone of conscience grieves for any death whether it is an Iraqi child, a soldier of the occupying forces or a member of the Iraqi resistance.
What was truly tasteless was photographing and framing the body whether it was the body of Zargawi or someone else.
How is it that the US government prevents filming of coffins returning to the States because it is deemed 'tasteless' and it is okay to take a photo and then go to the extreme of framing it in order to 'show the world' a dead person.
This is the same US government which was outraged at footage of captured and dead foreign prisoners.
So, that would be one rule for the US and another rule for everyone else would it.
Zargawi may have been many things but he was never the leader of the Iraqi resistance and that's because resistance, by its nature, has many leaders. The Americans and Brits turned him into some sort of megamind, some Iraqis saw him as a leader, some saw him as a criminal and thug, some saw him as an incompetent.
The only thing of which we can be sure is that his death will change nothing. The handling of his death however, tasteless in the extreme, will just make Iraqis hate their occupiers even more. If that were possible of course.
Ah, what a light unto the world is America? Or is that the light from a missile or a lump of phosphorus. American democracy..... we invade you and install a puppet government and you vote for it. Still, not so dissimilar to the options Americans face today so maybe there is more consistency than we think.
American freedom .... we invade you and set up military bases across your country so we can 'occupy' you 'discreetly' for the rest of time and get our hands on your oil.
American capitalism .... we invade you and privatize everything and give first dibs to American companies and American 'friends.'
American law .... we invade you and we unleash mercenaries who are above Iraqi law. neat that. Also, we imprison you without charge, torture you and keep you in gaol without trial.
American justice ..... you fight against our occupation and we refer to the Israeli Army Occupation Manual and we shoot on sight, demolish your homes, imprison your men, terrorize your women and children.
Ah, America, land of the free, leader of the 'free' world, defender of rights ..... absolute, total, egregious and unremitting hypocrite.
amazing events again in Iraq,an intact body after cratored house
Ah Mike, it doesn't have "U" in it, thank goodness for us. Are we being a little naive in this timely announcement, admit the horrific reporting of wacko US military warcrimes? So two five hundred pound bombs dropped on house leaving a 20 foot crater and not much else allows dear Zaqarwi, the darling of the US psychops, to have a body found with just a few (old) bruises? I wonder if he still has his wooden leg? That seemed to disappear about the time of the bloodless beheading of poor Mr Berg. Idiot stooge event, wearing a hood and then reading a letter saying who he is. Weird. Mr Berg senior has suffered much and such is the cruelty spawned of deceptive war like this.
Put on your thinking caps, the story will change very soon. It is a shame to kill someone whose knowledge should have served greatly for the genuine US fighters in Iraq, one would have thought a capture alive and then beat the info out would be more sensible an operation, but then, that is just what his body appearance is consistent with. Pity he was killed, I would like to see him in the dock giving evidence as to his backers. No doubt Jordan will be relieved.
Cheers
hollywodd version methinks,too glamorous for such a murderer
Al Zakarwi killed by 2 x500 lb bombs. I just can't understand this tactic of sending in heaps of the best commandos (Delta Force) there are (after ours - biased admitted) to the point where the local village felt taken over, and completely surrounding the house then....calling in the two laser directed bomb runs, finding him outside (now the story has changed a bit) and then the local eyewitness reports the planes later bombed the same house again that night (I wonder if there was a translation error or if that was correct).
Then the next morning the bulldozers come and flatten it all. So much for combing for the evidence. The others killed were a child (morphed later into a woman despite the toys) a woman, his priest, and ?,.His loo reading material is Time (in arabic from May 5,better delivery than one would think).
Maybe someone can explain the rationale of such tactics, to bomb away an asset that would open up the intelligence network of the enemy and destroy its hardrive info etc with two bombs. Not straight. But, already 17 raids were simultaneously planned for that Wednesday night. Methinks we are getting the Hollywood version. Well, consider then 39 raids and more killings and roundings up, these weren't dropped bombs upon, but proper raids.
Hopefully this terrorist network is sunk. And what a loss to its backers. I note the US has called for talks with the Sunni insurgency. Good. Talks are the beginnings of finding a solution. Life must be sheer hell for the average Iraqi trying to live through all this. Now who gets the 25million and how long will he have to spend it?
Here.
And the uncorroborated account of the soldies batering someone that looked like Zarkawi: here.
KIM GAMEL and ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press Writers BAGHDAD, Iraq : here.
".......A targeted individual was killed and at least 25 people were captured, he said. One raid discovered small arms, ammunition and other items hidden beneath the floor of a building in the Baghdad area. Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corp., the spokesman said troops carried out 39 raids overnight in which troops "picked up things like memory sticks, some hard drives" that would allow American forces to begin dismantling al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq. Those raids were based on 17 simultaneous raids U.S. troops staged Wednesday near Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province.".... Wednesday.
Cheers
Cheering Time For Geoff And Friends
And I am celebrating without any reservation.
Who says that the Iraqi war has done no good?
May his evil hide burn in hell for all of eternity.
A success, but will it end the violence?
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead but the mayhem he helped foment in Iraq is certain to live on, reports Rory Carroll in the Guardian this evening.
I hope Carroll is wrong, but sense he's probably right. The top US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, and the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalizad, have both cautioned that the demise of this particularly heinous killer would not stop the violence.
President Bush is saying the same.
And Mr Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg who was believed to have been beheaded by al-Zarqawi in Iraq, certainly sees no reason for a chest thumping celebration.
Now I wouldn't, in this particular case, share Mr Berg's faith in restorative justice, but I do see Justice as much more effective than Revenge. Wouldn't it have been far better strategically to capture and take the Iraqi insurgent's poster boy to trial than to kill him?
Re: Success, but will it end the violence?
Craig Rowley notes "The top US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, and the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalizad, have both cautioned that the demise of this particularly heinous killer would not stop the violence."
I think this is the important thing to keep in mind. The way al Qaeda and other networks are structured is that they're relatively unstructured and non-hierarchical. Taking out some of the top guys helps to the extent they are the "brains" of the operation, but there are other smart people in AQ, and probably plenty of others more than willing to take Zarqawi's place.
Ironically they've structured AQ and allied networks, whether by design or default, like the Internet - difficult to take down just by destroying one or a few cells or key people. Ironic too that Islamists like Zarqawi, who want to take the world back to some Medeival caliphate, make such clever use of the Internet in spreading their propaganda and planning their murders.
His death is also a mixed blessing in the sense that now he'll be portrayed as a "martyr" to the cause.
Bush is right about one thing - this is going to be a long fight.
Of Course It Will Not End The Violence
But I see cause for optimism for a number of reasons. It is by no means the beginning of the end or even the light at the end of the tunnel. But it must be one of the most hopeful developments since the Iraqi people turned out in their droves to claim democracy in defiance of the killers, because:
And perhaps most of all it is a sign that there is still some justice in a world where that appears to be an increasingly scarce commodity. As I said in another place:
I can't wait for his next video.
Celebrate Now
No apology?
CP, I am disappointed that having accused me of hiding material - despite my naming of the source but forgetting to provide the link - that you would not apologise. My oversight was inadvertent.
In normal times the editor would most likely have contacted me and pointed out the oversight which would have been corrected. However, we are not in normal times. I would like to thank the volunteers who have filled the breach, most recently Craig R who has done a lot of hours in recent days. Thanks Craig.
Any time....
Bob Wall: "Thank you for providing a substitute link for the same material."
I knew you would be pleased.
It pays to check first.
CP, sorry, I must have slipped up - a rare occurrence - but you will note that I did write:
Perhaps if you take a look at the end of the article you linked from the SMH and see where they got it from. Thank you for providing a substitute link for the same material.
Old predictable...
Bob Wall: 'The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further, potentially permanent, shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.'
Gee Bob, why didn't you provide us with a link to that item?
Gosh. Could this be why?
"The prisoner directive was due to be released in April with the Army Field Manual on interrogations. These were delayed following objections from other parts of government. The main stumbling block involved common Article 3 of the Geneva conventions, which bans torture and cruel treatment of all prisoners, whether unlawful combatants or traditional prisoners of war."
""The State Department and other agencies are said to have claimed that adopting Article 3 would put the US Government on more solid "moral footing", and make US policies easier to defend abroad."
I knew you'd grab and run with that. So I bookmarked it in advance.
Obsolete? Let's make it official.
Phil Moffat, the LA Times reports:
'The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further, potentially permanent, shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.'
The State Dept is fighting the move vigorously.
I had seen Doug Thompson's article and it added to my musings as the the recent flurry of activity here about the war. If there was news of a turn for the better in Iraq or evidence that supported the prewar spin then maybe a reason. But as things seem to be the opposite of those conditions it is a case of the same old, same old. How many times have we been through it? How much evidence, analysis etc has been presented? (Ta for the earlier mention)
I remind people that I linked the video "Preventive Warriors" earlier and suggest that those who haven't watched it and also taken into account stated US policy and rhetoric and the actions of the Bush administration and considered the implications do so. I add the second part of the Tom Bacevich interview to the mix.
Also, there is the matter of global warming - people are talking of the Earth being close to the point of no return - yet the US is spending all those resources - time, money etc on an illegal and unnecessary war. Whilst reportedly denying the danger. This is a link to the BBC Panorama report on climate change. 45 minutes
'Some of America's leading climate scientists claim to Panorama that they have been censored and gagged by the administration.
One of them believes the publication of his report, which catalogues the unprecedented rate of ice melt in the Arctic, was delayed as Americans prepared to vote in 2004.
The scientists claim that when Bush came to power in 2000 his administration selected advice which argued that global warming was not a result of human activities and that the phenomenon could be natural.
But one of the people who suggested the president adopt that position explains to Panorama how he has changed his point of view: "It's now 2006. I think most people would conclude that there is global warming taking place and that the behaviour of humans is affecting the climate. I am not the administration. What they want to do is their business. it has nothing to do with what I believe."'
There are higher priorities than the profits of US oil corporations.
Bush's current preoccupation, an amendment to the Constitution to ban gay marriage is not one of them. But he's got to get his party some support somewhere.
Nothing unusual with THIS
This sounds like business as usual to me:
Military commanders in the field in Iraq admit in private reports to the Pentagon the war "is lost" and that the U.S. military is unable to stem the mounting violence killing 1,000 Iraqi civilians a month.
Even worse, they report the massacre of Iraqi civilians at Haditha is "just the tip of the iceberg" with overstressed, out-of-control Americans soldiers pushed beyond the breaking point both physically and mentally.
"We are in trouble in Iraq," says retired army general Barry McCaffrey. "Our forces can't sustain this pace, and I'm afraid the American people are walking away from this war."
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has clamped a tight security lid on the increasingly pessimistic reports coming out of field commanders in Iraq, threatening swift action against any military personnel who leak details to the press or public.
The wife of a staff sergeant with Kilo Company, the Marine Unit charged with killing civilians at Haditha, tells Newsweek magazine that the unit was a hotbed of drug abuse, alcoholism and violence.
"There were problems in Kilo company with drugs, alcohol, hazing [violent initiation games], you name it," she said. "I think it's more than possible that these guys were totally tweaked out on speed or something when they shot those civilians in Haditha."…..
Visit Bagdad by night, highly recommended for all those dope soaked Yankee soldiers doing what they do best, murder and drugs. Support Saddam, support murder - support the US, support murder.
Methinks it’s about time we said enough is enough, don’t you?
No WMD. No Saddam, Democracy has been introduced. Mission accomplished so let's all piss off.
Bring em home now!
Latest victory for Iraqi "freedom fighters"
Jun 5, 2006 — By Mohammed al-Ramahi and Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen in police uniforms abducted up to 50 employees of Baghdad transport companies in broad daylight on Monday, Interior Ministry sources said, as a crisis over filling key security posts deepened.
They carried out what appeared to be a coordinated operation along a street that is home to several firms offering transport to Syria and Jordan, police said.
"It took them about five minutes to take people away. One, two, three, four — one after another," said witness Hamza Ali, recalling the men with rifles and strapped with grenades who suddenly showed up in 10 pickup trucks.
The motive for the abductions was unclear but businesses have been hit by kidnappers for various reasons such as ransom, revenge killings and religious rivalry.
Geneva what?
Thanks Ian
A voice from Iraq
An Iraqi blog
Excerpt: This is what we reaped from the occupier's policies. They tore the country apart, creating for us the atmospheres of violence, killings, sectarianism, militias, and death gangs. In
Or is it their intention to rip the country apart, spread chaos and ruin, then stand up to cry? I do not exactly know, but whoever announces them innocent from what is happening in
An illegal, immoral and unnecessary war
Why the
The following list of illegal, immoral, and atrocious behavior is obvious and not all inclusive by any means:
Doing 'Saddam' US style
Excerpt: And Iraqis were already talking about Abu Ghraib; not because of Saddam's atrocities, but rather because of what everyone knew
As for the economic and political "rebirth" President Bush promised Americans and Iraqis alike, the corruption at the core of the occupation administration made economic recovery, let alone political development, impossible to imagine by the invasion's first anniversary. As one senior Iraqi official confided to me, "this has become just like in Saddam's time, only with different faces."
Why war doesn't work.