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In surprise move, U.S. transfers sovereignty to Iraqi government ahead of schedule
[AP, 06/29/04: The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days early to avoid disruptions during the ceremony] Legal documents transferring sovereignty were handed over by U.S. governor L. Paul Bremer to chief justice Midhat al-Mahmood in a small ceremony in the heavily guarded Green Zone. Bremer took charge in Iraq about a year ago.
Israel and Iran chart collision course
[Asia Times, Kaveh L Afrasiabi, 06/27/04: Israel's secret service, the Mossad, is engaged in covert operations among Iranian and Syrian Kurds, in addition to training Iraqi Kurd commandos and setting up the latter as a counterweight to Shi'ite militias.] The post-invasion opening of Iraq to foreign influence has set up a new and dangerous chapter in Israel-Iran rivalry that in all likelihood will permeate Iraq and the "new Middle East" indefinitely. Israel dreams of regional superpowerdom, and of a Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline. The Kurds - Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian - are the key.
Three Iraqi Generals tell of (a different?) 'Plan B': "The liberation of Baghdad is not far away"
[Asia Times, Alix de la Grange, 06/27/04: "The indiscriminate pillage by American soldiers [at Fallujah] (according to many witnesses) and the sexual humiliation inflicted to prisoners, including Abu Ghraib in Baghdad, have only served to magnify the anger felt by most Iraqis."] "We knew that if the United States decided to attack Iraq, we would have no chance faced with their technological and military power. The war was lost in advance, so we prepared the post-war....to liberate Iraq and expel the coalition. To recover our sovereignty and install a secular democracy, but not the one imposed by the Americans. Iraq has always been a progressive country, we don't want to go back to the past, we want to move forward. We have very competent people," say the three tacticians.
PLAN B: The Kurdish Gambit
[New Yorker, Seymour Hersh, 06/26/04: Since the Bush people are quiet about likely Kurd secession next week we ask "what has been negotiated?"] “Israel’s immediate goal... is to build up the Kurdish commando units to balance the Shiite militias—especially those which would be hostile to the kind of order in southern Iraq that Israel would like to see,” the former senior intelligence official said. “Of course, if a fanatic Sunni Baathist militia took control—one as hostile to Israel as Saddam Hussein was—Israel would unleash the Kurds on it, too.” The Kurdish armed forces, known as the peshmerga, number an estimated seventy-five thousand troops, a total that far exceeds the known Sunni and Shiite militias.
US war crimes immunity bid fails
[BBC, 06/24/04: Okay! Let's prosecute these feral humans!] The US has given up trying to win its soldiers [and leaders!] immunity from prosecution at the new International Criminal Court.
Amnesty slams US-led 'War on Terror' for 'profound and far-reaching impact' on human rights
[BBC, 06/22/04: Ooo, torture, what fun! Weeee!] The US-led "War on Terror" has had a "profound and far-reaching impact" on human rights in the Gulf region, says an Amnesty International report.
U.S. State Dept. Officials Say They Never Heard of any 'Iraq Intelligence' Report from Putin
[NYT, 06/22/04: After our bombing of them for 12 years, why is it remarkable that Iraq would want to attack us?] Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia gave intelligence reports to the Bush administration suggesting that the government of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was preparing terrorist attacks in the US or against US targets overseas.

But officials at the US State Department expressed surprise, saying they knew of no such information from Russia, Reuters reported....

Bush has misled Americans on Iraq
[Financial Times, EDITORIAL, 06/19/04: Too bad the Republican-media junkies (especially watchers of Fox News, CNN, & the NBCs) will never "get" this] The evidence the administration produced to demonstrate the link was, at best, spurious, at worst, fabricated. This is not a small matter, especially in the context of the Bush team's case for its war of choice against Iraq.
Annan wants no war crimes exemption for Americans
[Strait's Times, 06/19/04: Despite intensive lobbying, Washington does not have the minimum nine 'yes' votes on the 15-member council to approve a new exemption...] Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the UN Security Council not to shield American peacekeepers once again from international prosecution for war crimes, citing the abuse of Iraq prisoners by US forces.
Group Seeks Change In US Foreign & Security Policies
[WP, Peter Slevin, 06/14/04: Boy, is this ever overdue!] Angered by President Bush's conduct of foreign policy and dismayed about America's diminished reputation abroad, more than two dozen former top diplomats and military leaders will release a statement this week calling for a change in U.S. national security policy.
Northern Iraq - calm like a bomb Trouble Brewing in Kurdistan
[Asia Times, W Joseph Stroupe, 06/09/04: Long denied their own Kurdish homeland, fighting between Kurds and Turkey may soon erupt] As negotiations at the United Nations on a new resolution for Iraq apparently near a close, developments with respect to the Kurds and north Iraq, where there has been relative calm until now, are looking more and more ominous. Recently, the People's Congress of Kurdistan (the former Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK), announced an abrupt end to its five-year ceasefire with Turkish forces, warning that it would soon resort to violent means to achieve its ends.
UN urges full power shift in Iraq
[BBC, 06/06/04: The UN has had it with Bush!] The United Nations envoy to Iraq says the US will have to change its behaviour if a shift to sovereignty is to have any meaning:
Australia's opposition leader defies Bush and commits to pulling troops out of Iraq if elected
[BBC, 06/06/04: If you're "with Bush" you'll get defeated in re-elections - let's all hope so!] Australia's opposition leader Mark Latham has reaffirmed his commitment to pull Australian troops from Iraq if he wins this year's general election....Mr Latham said the Labor Party strongly supported Australia's alliance with Washington, but was looking forward to the day when "the mistakes of Iraq could be left behind".
Iyad Allawi: A premier for all reasons
[Asia Times, Ehsan Ahrari, 06/02/04: A few ugly CIA details...] Allawi, the founder of Iraqi National Accord (INA), is a former Ba'athist and an ex-military man. He built his career as an anti-Saddam expatriate by consistently cooperating with, and supplying intelligence to, the British MI6 and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Consequently, his nomination as prime minister is perceived, at least in Washington, as a success for the Department of State and the CIA, both of which despised Chalabi, promoted Allawi's candidacy, and could not have been happier to see Chalabi's fall from grace.
Sunni Leader Favored By council Appointed Prez, Calls For 'Full Sovereignty,' Governing Council Dissolved
[NYT, DEXTER FILKINS and STEVEN R. WEISMAN, 06/01/04: Contains account of political tug-of-war with Bremer leading to his appointment]
Iraq´s compromise president
[Radio Netherlands, 06/01/04: Bush cartel caves-in to meet timetable after their CIA-paid candidate turned down the job] After much debate, Iraq has chosen a new president. He's Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim tribal leader and the original choice of the Iraqi Governing Council.

The US opposed him, preferring another Sunni Muslim, Adnan Pachachi, instead. It was only after Mr Pachachi turned the job down that the Iraqis were able to get their way.

Why America Is Not Safe
[Reuters, Paul Sullivan, 06/01/04: Arabs know American history, but Republicans obviously don't and/or they're facist idiots] ...Contrary to the prejudicial policy advice given by some, poll after poll shows that Arabs and Muslims do not dislike the U.S. for its freedoms and prosperity. It is just the opposite. They want those freedoms in their own countries, but see the U.S. supporting the dictators who oppress them. Also, they are impressed with U.S. prosperity and would like to be more prosperous themselves. A widespread belief exists in the Arab and Muslim worlds that much of the aid given by the U.S. goes to the corrupt elites and dictators of their countries.
Torture scandal tipping UN toward voting US troops accountable for war crimes
[Reuters, Evelyn Leopol, 05/30/04: GOOD! Maybe an international court can punish Republicans!] The United States may not have enough UN votes to exempt American soldiers from prosecution by a new global criminal court, with China now questioning the action in view of the prison scandal in Iraq, diplomats said yesterday.
Both Bush And Kerry Support 'Myopic...Unjust...Unbalanced' Israel Policy
[NYT, NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, 05/26/04: On all foreign policy matters, neither candidate has the sense to come in out of the rain]
Pentagon says 37 detainee deaths are under investigation
[AP, Robert Burns, 05/23/04: Torture went a lot further than "sexual abuse"] The Army has undertaken criminal investigations into the deaths of at least 32 Iraqis and five Afghans held by US forces since August 2002, Pentagon officials said yesterday.

The deaths occurred in 33 separate cases, two of which involved more than one death. That is eight more cases than the Pentagon had publicly reported two weeks ago.

US wants International Criminal Court exemption renewed
[Aljazeera, 05/21/04: Let's see what threats and bribes are requires this time.] The US hopes to persuade the UN Security Council to renew a controversial resolution exempting American personnel from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court.
Dozens of Civilians Killed in U.S. Attack Near Syria; Target Disputed
[WP, Scott Wilson and Sewell Chan, 05/20/04: Oops, they did it again!] U.S. ground forces and aircraft attacked a village in Iraq's western desert before dawn Wednesday, striking what Iraqi witnesses said was a wedding celebration but U.S. officials called a way station for foreign infiltrators. More than 40 civilians, most of them women and children, were killed, according to witnesses, Iraqi police officers and provincial health officials.
Israel launches Gaza offensive Amnesty calls destruction of homes 'war crimes'
[BBC, Mark Hollingsworth, 05/18/04: Property destruction and theft continue to be a strategic Israeli objective: About 1,800 Palestinian houses in Gaza have been demolished by Israeli army since 2000] "In the vast majority of cases, it's wanton destruction - unnecessary, disproportionate, unjustified, and deliberate" Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International

[Related from the Guardian: 'There were rockets, shells. It was war. Then bulldozers destroyed everything'; and from the Village Voice: Bush White House checked with rapture Christians before latest Israel move]

Israel takes bloody revenge in Gaza for killing of soldiers Palestinians die and streets are blown up as troops search for remains of victims of bomb attack
[UK Guardian, Conal Urquhart, 05/15/04: It's hard to keep track of whose "rightful turn" it is to take revenge.]
Let us hope the darkness has passed India's real and virtual worlds have collided in a humiliation of power
[UK Guardian, Arundhati Roy, 05/15/04: A little bit of good news] When India went to the polls, we were negotiating the dangerous cross-currents of neo-liberalism and neo-fascism - an assault on the poor and minority communities. None of the pundits and psephologists predicted the results. The rightwing BJP-led coalition has not just been voted out of power, it has been humiliated. [Related coverage: Sonia Gandhi damns predictions with stunning win]
France wants time limit on foreign troops in Iraq
[Reuters, Evelyn Leopol, 05/14/04: Of course the Bushies want to stay FOREVER for their war-profiteer "friends"] France's wants the U.N. Security Council to set a time limit on a U.S.-led multinational force that could expire when Iraqis elect a new government next year, its envoys say.
US troops release 300 inmates from Abu Ghraib prison
[Itar-Tass, 05/14/04: Rumsfeld's visit had some benefit. But if they didn't hate us before, they certainly do now!]
British Army: Prisoner Abuse Photos Are Fake
[Deutsche Welle, 05/14/04: To bad the American ones weren't fakes] Britain has for the past week been debating the authenticity of pictures allegedly showing UK soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners. The government said Thursday the photos are fakes.
People's Court Pronounces U.S. Government Guilty of Committing War Crimes
[IPS-Inter Press Service, Haider Rizvi, 05/10/04: "This is an unjust war of aggression"] Still pictures taken by peace activists showed half-scarred bodies of children lying in broken hospital beds and under the debris of homes demolished by the occupying forces. Some images drove the audience to tears.

Several witnesses said it was common for U.S. troops to target civilians. "During the siege in Falluja I saw American troops shooting at an ambulance," David Martinez, a film-maker who has just returned from Iraq told the tribunal. "There were no weapons inside. Just a doctor and a pregnant woman."

Aid workers feel fatal chill of new Cold War Humanitarian relief for the Third World is being jeopardised by changes to US and British foreign policy
[UK Independent, Kim Sengupta, 05/10/04: Everthing promised by the US & UK has failed] Three years after Tony Blair's pledge to the Afghan people after the war of "this time we will not walk away from you", in effect, that is what the US and Britain have done. Funds for redevelopment have dried up, security has unravelled, and the Taliban is resurgent again. And US troops are using aid as a bargaining chip to extract intelligence, putting workers for international agencies into the target area.
Experts fear `dirty bomb' attack in U.S., Europe It's not a matter of if but when, one official says
[Chicago Tribune, Douglas Frantz, 05/10/04: Why would anyone want to do that to us?] Concerns are growing that Al Qaeda or a related group could detonate a "dirty bomb" that would spew radioactive particles across an American or European city, according to intelligence analysts, diplomats and independent nuclear experts. [Constructive engagement to defuse this chaos is way overdue!]
Spain pulls out Iraq troops ahead of schedule
[WSWS, Keith Lee, 05/09/04: Spain gets it right, won't be led by corrupt and lying Americans!] 1,000 will remain behind in a non-combat role to dismantle military equipment. Defence Minister Jose Bono told relatives at Botoa that “the Brigade PlusUltra 11 was dissolved.” He said that by May 27 all troops will be gone from Iraq. Honduras and the Dominican Republic have also pledged to pull their troops out.
Iraq: it's all over now
[Jordan Times, Gwynne Dyer, 05/06/04: It is still not clear who ordered the siege of Fallujah [Bush, I bet], but it was a blunder that will be studied for decades to come!] The situation in Iraq is “disintegration verging on collapse”, said Richard Holbrooke, former US ambassador to the United Nations, on the last day of April. It was a month that saw more American troops killed than during last year's invasion, a decisive US defeat in the siege of Fallujah, and horrific revelations about the torture and sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners by both American and British soldiers. It may be years yet before the helicopters pluck the last Americans off the roof of the Baghdad embassy (or a post-Bush administration might still manage a more graceful exit), but basically the game is up.
Intelligence: Chalibi A Double Agent?
[Newsweek, Mark Hosenball, 05/03/04: Another "great job" by the Neocons!] Bush administration officials have been briefed on intelligence indicating that Chalabi and some of his top aides have supplied Iran with "sensitive" information on the American occupation in Iraq. U.S. officials say that electronic intercepts of discussions between Iranian leaders indicate that Chalabi and his entourage told Iranian contacts about American political plans in Iraq. There are also indications that Chalabi has provided details of U.S. security operations. According to one U.S. government source, some of the information Chalabi turned over to Iran could "get people killed."
US ‘crisis point’ as torture claims widen
[The Herald, MICHAEL SETTLE, 05/03/04: Iraq has been another huge mistake by an administration that manufactures big mistakes] THE row over the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by coalition forces intensified last night after David Kay, the coalition's former chief weapons inspector, said public outrage in America was likely to fuel demands for the US to withdraw its troops.

Dr Kay offered a bleak assessment of postwar Iraq, saying a civil rebellion was emerging and, due to a lack of proper intelligence, coalition forces were now on extraordinarily dangerous ground.

Senkaku/Diaoyu Island Dispute Threatens Sino-Japanese Relations
[PINR, Charles K. Smith, 05/03/04: Claims on the unoccupied islands are weak, so it seems a no-brainer to mutually develop & share this oil field] While no development of oil resources under the Senkaku/ Diaoyu Islands is being seriously pursued at present, each party involved is eager to secure sovereignty over the islands as doing so will ensure tens of thousands of square kilometers of exclusive economic zone in the surrounding waters.
The electrodes' switch is in Washington
[UK Independent, Henry Porter, 05/02/04: George Bush's shocked reaction to the pictures look pretty hypocritical] The abuse, which is described by the US Army report as "sadistic, blatant and wanton", includes beatings, rape and serious assaults with chemical lights. To the Middle East, it all provides a stark symbol of subjugation....The Americans have been negligent in the extreme to allow this situation. Try as we might to forget these episodes, we can be sure that they will live on in Arab minds for a generation. Al-Qa'ida and Hamas could not have designed a better recruiting poster. [Related from the Guardian: Bush's Torture Chambers Are Run by Unaccountable Corporate Contractors: CACI International Inc and the Titan Corporation]
Bushians say sanctions can be imposed on Syria ‘very soon’
[Pakistan Daily Times, 05/02/04: To get one big mistake out the news they start another] WASHINGTON: The United States may slap sanctions on Syria “very soon” under a law meant to punish Damascus for allegedly supporting terrorism and seeking unconventional weapons, the White House warned on Friday.
Bushians on the brink of strategic defeat?
[Dawn, Jim Lobe, 05/02/04: I love it when deranged and corrupt "leaders" have to backdown] The defeat of the neo-conservatives, whose influence has been exercised primarily through the offices of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, has been made abundantly clear by the mandate the administration has given United Nations Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to essentially handpick the leadership of the new Iraqi government that will gain 'limited sovereignty', as one State Department official put it this week, after June 30. [Related from the UK Independent: 'Pockets' of Dissent? 56% of Iraqis Want US and British Troops to Leave the Country at Once!; from CS Monitor: Iraqi Insurgents are Not a 'Small Band of Thugs,' But a Rapidly Proliferating Nationalist Network; from The Nation: Mutiny in Iraq and the Collapsing Coalition]
'We Won': Fallujah Rejoices in Withdrawal
[WP, Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Naseer Nouri, 05/02/04: A major test will occur when US Marines convoy into the city - a real attack opportunity] As Iraqi militiamen drove through Fallujah in trucks and congregated on deserted street corners, residents flashed V-for-victory signs and mosques broadcast celebratory messages proclaiming triumph over the Americans. [Related from the Guardian: US Commits War Crimes in Falluja by Murdering Civilians; from the AP: AP Toll Says 1,361 Iraqis Killed in April; From Tom Paine: In Falluja, Ba'athists and Terrorists Win - and Neocons Lose]
Al-Sadr Forces Attack U.S. Convoy in Iraq
[AP, SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, 05/02/04: Cowboy & Indian Warfare is increasing] Shiite militiamen attacked a U.S. convoy in southern Iraq, killing two soldiers and setting vehicles on fire, even as mediators were trying Sunday to find a resolution to the U.S. standoff with the militia's leader. Two other American soldiers were killed in Baghdad.
al-Qaida Gunmen Kill Six at Saudi Oil Facility
[AP, ADNAN MALIK, 05/02/04: Increasing attacks are westerners (euro-americans)now also focus on oil facilities] Militants sprayed gunfire inside an oil contractor's office, killing at least six people — including two Americans and three other Westerners — and tying one of their victims to the bumper of a car and dragging it past horrified students at a high school in this western Saudi industrial town.
Shocking! Iraqis stripped by US army
[Times of India, 05/01/04: World is VERY Upset at the US. Look at all the bold type!] ... These are the images that have shocked the world. The infamous Abu Ghraib prison, where dictator Saddam Hussein and his men used to torture Iraqis is now being used by US troops to torture Iraqis. The so-called liberators have turned oppressors.
British troops torturing too
[UK Independent, Chris Bunting, 05/01/04: Did Brits attend "School of the Americas" too?] ...revelation that British soldiers may have been involved in torturing Iraqi detainees comes a day after the publication of a video of US troops abusing naked and hooded Iraqi prisoners. [Related: Seven Iraqis die in British custody. How many soldiers are charged? None; Soldiers say pictures are 'tip of the iceberg']
No concern for the lives of ordinary Iraqis
[The Herald, 04/30/04: US kills too many civilians and tortures prisoners, and it's like pulling teeth to get an apology] ...the massacres committed by the US military in Falluja indicate quite clearly that there has been no restraint on their part. But it is embarrassing for the US military to be pushed back by the resistance, so they reach for the excuse that this has only happened because they are fighting "with one arm tied behind their backs", a phrase which comes from right-wing explanations as to how America lost in Vietnam that seems to have resurfaced in a number of broadcast reports of the Falluja battle.
Hussein's Agents Are Behind Attacks in Iraq, Pentagon Finds
[NYT, THOM SHANKER, 04/29/04: Sounds right to me, also] A Pentagon intelligence report has concluded that many bombings against Americans and their allies in Iraq, and the more sophisticated of the guerrilla attacks in Falluja, are organized and often carried out by members of Saddam Hussein's secret service, who planned for the insurgency even before the fall of Baghdad....While the report cites specific evidence, other important assessments of American intelligence on Iraq have been challenged and even proven wrong.
Still at square one
[Asia Times, Jim Lobe, 04/27/04: A Must Read; you won't believe the NeoCon greed & stupidity] One year after invading...Bush appears to be back at square one, if not in negative territory, over how to ensure control in the short to medium term.

The problem, however, is that the administration lacks any comprehensive strategy and remains internally divided over precisely what to do.

Neo-conservative hawks centered in the Pentagon and Vice President Dick Cheney's office and their allies outside the administration remain strongly opposed to giving the United Nations a major substantive role in any aspect of the occupation or abandoning plans to ensure that their Iraqi collaborators, notably Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader Ahmed Chalabi, retain power in any transition.

Another oily setback for Washington
[Asia Times, Humberto Marquez, 04/27/04: How come foreign newspapers have so much more nitty-gritty content than the American ones?] ...The strategy of using Iraq as a front man for the US within OPEC has not worked. But it has brought lucrative business to US companies, especially "ones that have ties with the 'oil directorate' that is governing in Washington," said Poleo.

These companies include Halliburton, of which Cheney was chief executive officer before becoming vice president; ChevronTexaco, where Bush's National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was formerly an executive, and UNOCAL, Saic and Bechtel, which also have close ties to the Republican party. [Related: US: Procuring the world's oil]

Ex-diplomats warn Blair on Bush's doomed policy
[The Herald, MICHAEL SETTLE, 04/27/04: If Blair is like Bush he won't listen to Intelligent advise] In an unprecedented move, a roll call of 52 ex-ambassadors, high commissioners and governors, some of whom had served in Iraq and Israel, said it was time for the prime minister either to start influencing America's "doomed" policy in the Middle East, or to stop supporting it. [Related: The Independent: 'I have never seen such despair among diplomats' (Includes excerpts from the letter)]
Bushes and NeoCons Should Be Tried for War Crimes along with Saddam
[Guardian, George Galloway, 04/25/04: Bush's defeat at the polls is not good enough, not justice] If there were a genuine accounting for the many crimes committed in Iraq, it would be a trial not seen since Nuremberg. It would involve those who sold Saddam the gas he used at Halabja; those who encouraged him to invade Iran when its revolution threatened to sweep away the corrupt kings and puppet presidents of Arabia propped up and profited from by the west; those, like Donald Rumsfeld, who twice visited Saddam during that war to help him target the terrible weapons the west had sold him; and those whose hands are covered with the blood of all those buried in the biggest of all the mass graves in Iraq - slaughtered by sanctions.
Bush Rejects Democracies and Embraces Dictatorships But Bush says the opposite
[AP, Tom Raum, 04/25/04: Right-wing extremists are flowering under Bush] Across the world, it seems that U.S. diplomacy is breaking down. America's ties with Europe and the United Nations are frayed. The Arab world is furious over U.S. support for Israel on West Bank settlements. Pleas for help in stabilizing Iraq have found few takers. Troops from Spain, Honduras and the Dominican Republic are leaving. And coalition leaders still standing with President Bush face rising political dissent at home. In the other hand, relations are clearly improving with [Pakistan,] China and Libya. The U.S. overtures to these old totalitarian foes might have startled administration foreign policy hawks just a few years ago, but the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have produced some seismic shifts in global dynamics.
U.S., U.N. Seek New Leaders For Iraq Chalabi and Others Coalition Relied on May Be Left Out
[WP, Robin Wright and Walter Pincus, 04/24/04: But Chalabi has a potent survival weapon: the US "gave him" captured Iraqi files detailing the corruption in the U.N.'s oil-for-food program during Hussein's time.] At the top of the list of those likely to be jettisoned is Ahmed Chalabi, a Shiite politician who for years was a favorite of the Pentagon and the office of Vice President Cheney, and who was once expected to assume a powerful role after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, U.S. officials acknowledged....Washington is also seriously considering cutting off the $340,000 monthly stipend to Chalabi's party.... [Related from Josh Marshall: "...the real question is whether we should take this man (Chalabi) into custody now, while we are still the sovereign authority in the country, to ensure that he can be held to account for pocketing US taxpayer dollars and helping bamboozle the country into war with his phony intelligence findings."]
Anxious Poland may follow Spain's lead
[Guardian, Ian Traynor & Suzanne Goldenberg, 04/22/04: The wonder is they believed Bush's lies to begin with!] George Bush's staunchest ally in continental Europe yesterday signalled cold feet over its military presence in Iraq.
Jordan's king snubs Bush, cancels meeting Key Mideast ally "irked" over US support for Sharon's territorial claims
[CS Monitor, Matthew Clark, 04/21/04: Jordan gets it right!] King Abdullah of Jordan abruptly postponed a visit with US President George Bush scheduled for Wednesday. Jordanian officials said the meeting had become impossible because of Mr. Bush's recent support for "Israel's territorial claims in the West Bank,"
Soldiers And Fortune
[Tom Paine, Barry Lando, 04/20/04: More and more, its the stateless mercenaries vs. stateless terorists. But who is who depends on your perspective.] Who's the United States' major ally today in Iraq? Hint: it may not be part of the "Coalition of the Willing." You might instead label them the "Brotherhood of the Extremely Well Paid": mercenaries working for private security firms in Iraq. Estimates of their number run from 5,000 to 15,000. And while no one really knows how many there are, thousands more are due to join them. [Related: Outsourcing the Occupation]
By Endorsing Ariel Sharon's Plan George Bush Has Legitimised Terrorism What better recruiting sergeant could Bin Laden have than the President of the United States?
[Truthout-Independent, Robert Fisk, 04/20/04: Our Mafia-Don/President is a real stunner] So President George Bush tears up the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and that's okay. Israeli settlements for Jews and Jews only on the West Bank. That's okay. Taking land from Palestinians who have owned that land for generations, that's okay. UN Security Council Resolution 242 says that land cannot be acquired by war. Forget it. That's okay.

Does President George Bush actually work for al-Qa'ida?

Their beliefs are bonkers, but they are at the heart of power US Christian fundamentalists are driving Bush's Middle East policy
[Guardian, George Monbiot, 04/20/04: In the United States, several million people have succumbed to an extraordinary delusion.] To understand what is happening in the Middle East, you must first understand what is happening in Texas. To understand what is happening there, you should read the resolutions passed at the state's Republican party conventions last month...[amazing!]...We can laugh at these people, but we should not dismiss them. That their beliefs are bonkers does not mean they are marginal. American pollsters believe that 15-18% of US voters belong to churches or movements which subscribe to these teachings. A survey in 1999 suggested that this figure included 33% of Republicans.
Polish Foreign Minister criticises US offensive
[BBC, 04/19/04: Bush says God (or is it Jesus?) tells him to do these things] Hundreds of people died when US troops launched attacks against insurgents in response to the killing and mutilation of four American contractors. Atrocities had been committed on both sides but this would not solve Iraq's political problems, the minister said.
Spain to pull troops out 'as soon as possible'
[Guardian, Giles Tremlett and David Teather, 04/19/04: Spain does what its people wants] Spain announced last night it was expediting the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, jolting its coalition partners after another weekend of heavy losses and setbacks.
Jordan 'was chemical bomb target'
[BBC, 04/18/04: Killing is such fun] Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists planned a chemical attack on Jordan's spy headquarters that could have killed 20,000 people, officials have said.
Hamas Vows Revenge Against Israel for Slaying Rantisi
[Bloomberg, Jonathan Ferziger, 04/18/04: It is widely believed the idiot Bush approved of Rantisi's assassination, as he earlier did of Yassin. The heinous policies of Sharon and Bush are stunning] Hamas promised ``a volcano of revenge'' after Israel killed the militant Palestinian organization's leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, in the Gaza Strip. Israel moved its security forces to a state of high alert.

The attack on Rantisi, who died after his car was hit in an Israeli air strike yesterday, came less than a month after Israel killed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin... [Yassin was blind and had been a quadriplegic since age 17.]

Republican group meddles in Cambodia
[Asia Times, Andrew Wells-Dang, 04/18/04: More dabbling to control the world!] A not-so-fine line exists between foreign support to foster democratization and the direct funding of a single political party. The first type of democracy promotion helps create a level playing field for governing and opposition parties alike; the second undermines democracy by interfering in the process from afar. In Cambodia, the International Republican Institute (IRI) has crossed far over this line in its support of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). [Note: IRI is funded (mostly) by right-wing foundations in the US.]
USA-backed Colombian invasion of Venezuela imminent? What could be behind the Colombian senate resolution?
[VHeadline.com, Philip Stinard, 04/18/04: Right-wingers are busy little devils, aren't they! Meanwhile thousands of poor innocents die while oil-fascists play their game of RISK.] ...Even mainstream Latin American history books (e.g. A History of Latin America, by Keen and Haynes, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2004) state that Plan Colombia is not so much about US anti-drug policy as it is about securing the Colombian oil industry that had been under attack by leftist guerrillas. Besides outsourcing the task of taking back control of guerrilla-controlled areas to paramilitary death squads responsible for the slaughter of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocents, and providing juicy multimillion dollar contracts to US companies such as Monsanto and DynCorp, there have been few visible accomplishments for Plan Colombia.

It is not inconceivable that part of Plan Colombia would be to destabilize and overthrow the Chavez government and install puppet leaders to make US access to Venezuelan petroleum resources easier and cheaper.

U.S. Reporters Unable to Probe Killings in Fallujah
[Editor & Publisher, 04/14/04: "American reporters may be eager to provide some objective answers, but most are unable or unwilling to venture out of the relative security of downtown Baghdad."] The accusations of mass killings in Fallujah, and on a smaller scale in other cities in the past week, have led some Iraqi Governing Council members to criticize the U.S. military and threaten to resign. It has also fed rising anti-American anger in the country. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both expressed concerns about the civilian toll.
New Reports on U.S. Planting WMDs in Iraq
[Mehr News Agency, 04/14/04: This B-movie (or is it a comic book?) just keeps going on and on...] Fifty days after the first reports that the U.S. forces were unloading weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in southern Iraq, new reports about the movement of these weapons have been disclosed. [Just gossip?]
Fallujah Gains Mythic Air
[WP, Karl Vick and Anthony Shadid, 04/13/04: Excessive use of force in Fallujah is like a giant "terrorist" recruitment campaign] The U.S. Marine siege of Fallujah, designed to isolate and pursue a handful of extremists in a restive town, has produced a powerful backlash in the capital. Urged on by leaflets, sermons and freshly sprayed graffiti calling for jihad, young men are leaving Baghdad to join a fight that residents say has less to do with battlefield success than with a cause infused with righteousness and sacrifice.
General asks Pentagon to send 10,000 more troops
[UK Independent, Patrick Cockburn, 04/13/04: General Abizaid also said that some US-trained Iraqi policemen had defected to the insurgent forces of the radical Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr, while other Iraqi security forces had failed to fulfill their duties.] The US-led forces in Iraq have lost 70 soldiers this month and killed 10 times as many Iraqi insurgents in by far the bloodiest period since the end of the war [Note: many "insurgents" were cleverly disguised as women, small children and the elderly]
Falluja toll tops 600
[Aljazeera, 04/12/04: ...the vast majority of the dead were women, children and the elderly....] An assessment by five international non-governmental organisations on Friday said 470 people had been killed in Falluja.

Of 1200 injured, it said 243 were women and 200 children. The groups warned their estimate might be too low.

'Coalition' unravelling as rampant violence daunts Allies
[Independent, David Usborne, 04/11/04: The "coalition of the willing" - assembled through US bullying - is coming apart] The increasing fractures in the coalition present unpalatable new challenges to American military commanders as they come to terms with sending US soldiers to new areas of Iraq that they had expected to leave in the care of troops from other countries.

Reports from Falluja say food and medical supplies are low
US forces offer truce in Falluja
[BBC, 04/10/04: City of half million under seige since Monday] Hundreds of civilians are reported to have been killed in Falluja, and women and children are trying to leave the city after six days of violence.
Getting Us Out Or Further In?
[Tom Paine, Robert Dreyfuss, 04/10/04: An accurate portrayal of the dumbest leadership our country has ever had] The neocons, though weakened, are still calling the shots. Any chance that Bush will break with the war party on his own is zero. Here's why: First, Bush is notorious for thinking in black and white terms, eliminating the possibility that he could consider a more complex solution to the quagmire in Iraq. So he is likely to heed those who want to hit back, and hard. Second, the U.S. military, whose leaders never supported Bush's war, is now in full hoo-ah mode since Fallujah, and wants revenge. So the brass isn't likely to be looking for an exit strategy, only bloodletting. And the neocons themselves are out for blood, demanding what Bill O'Reilly calls the 'second war in Iraq.'... So America is firebombing mosques, surrounding entire cities with armor and barbed wire, and turning a whole nation into a free-fire zone. Bush has unleashed demons that perhaps can't any longer be controlled. [Editor's note: As a teenager, Bush enjoyed shoving firecrackers up frogs' butts and blowing them up!]
One year on: From liberation to jihad
[Asia Times, Pepe Escobar, 04/09/04: EXCELLENT REVIEW OF THE CURRENT SITUATION] Sunnis and Shi'ites are united in Baghdad, under the same nationalist impulse. Sheikh Raed al-Kazami, Muqtada's man in the Shi'ite-majority Kazimiya neighborhood, is not very far from the truth when he says: "All of Iraq is behind Muqtada al-Sadr; we are but one body, one people." On the other side of the Tigris, Sunni-majority Adhamiya is now aligned with Kazimiya, as well as Fallujah, Ramadi and even Mosul, against the "American invaders". The popular justification is always the same: this is now a jihad, regardless of whether one is Sunni or Shi'ite. People will fight in their neighborhoods, even if they don't join the Mahdi Army. [Related: More than 280 Iraqis have been killed and 400 wounded this week in the U.S. Marines' siege of insurgents in this city west of Baghdad, the director of Fallujah's hospital said Thursday.]
Afghan Warlord's Troops Take Province Capital
[AP, STEPHEN GRAHAM, 04/09/04: The Afghans are soooo much better off then before...] Forces of a northern strongman overran the capital of a remote Afghan province Thursday...
Uprising Could "Tip" Iraq into Civil War
[LAT, John Hendren, 04/09/04: Trouble spots include: Ramadi, Fallouja, Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf, Kut, Amarah, Nasiriya and Basra] "We're at a tipping point in Iraq, with a real danger of losing control of the situation," Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, who was national security advisor to President Clinton, said in a National Public Radio interview.

The military setbacks have also generated comparisons with Vietnam and calls to consider leaving.

"It's time to bail out," said Charles V. Peña, director of defense policy studies at the Cato Institute, a conservative Washington think tank. "If it wasn't obvious beforehand, it ought to be more obvious now that we are in a situation that is no longer in control, and we can't make the fairy tale outcome that we would like to see happen in Iraq."

Riyadh: Rooting Out Al Qaeda
[Middle East Institute, Edward S. Walker and Wyche Fowler, 04/08/04: Instead of never ending war, why doesn't the US support peaceful transition of the corrupt Saudi government to absorb and deal with ALL contentious and festering issues and splinter groups. The "average of their views" would be less extreme than Al Qaeda, alone.] Let's be clear on Al Qaeda's goals....Al Qaeda is intent on the overthrow of the House of Saud. It seeks control over the holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, the site of recent shoot-outs and self-immolations, the work of its adherents. Its motive is to replace the existing government and lifestyle with an ultra Islamic regime that is reminiscent of the Taliban, and has nothing in common with the current reform programs of the Kingdom's rulers. Finally, it would harness Saudi oil resources as a strategic weapon in the war against the West.
'Al-Qaeda has got it wrong' And so does the US
[Asia Times, Ritt Goldstein, 04/08/04: This war without end lacks reason] Striking a tone similar to al-Jama'ah's criticism of al-Qaeda's World Front, a report entitled "Bounding The Global War On Terrorism" faulted the Bush administration for subordinating "strategic clarity to the moral clarity". In so doing, the administration is said to have placed the United States on a "course of open-ended and gratuitous conflict with states and nonstate entities that pose no serious threat".
BUSH AND THE UZBEK COMMUNISTS
[Axis Of Logic, Eric S. Margolis, 04/06/04: "Uzbekistan plays a key role in White House plans to dominate key Central Asian oil producing states — the region I call `Petrolistan.'"] Uzbekistan...is a favored US ally and aid recipient [like the 'favored' Pakistan, exporter of nuclear bomb manufacturing to unstable 3rd-world countries]....

Russians, however, have long called the communist despots who rule Soviet Central Asia `Red Mafia' and `Red Sultans.' Aptly, because these regimes combine Stalinism's extreme brutality with the Mafia's criminality, clannishness and rapacity. [The 'Texas Oil Mafia' has merged with the 'Red Mafia.' Get it?]

On the brink of anarchy • US fight on two fronts • Arrest warrant for Shia radical • Bush firm on Iraq handover
[Guardian, Julian Borger and Jonathan Steele, 04/06/04: US forces use Apache gunships to attack targets in Baghdad...] The Bush administration was last night facing a nightmare scenario in Iraq, fighting on two fronts against Sunni and Shia militants less than three months before it is due to hand over power to an Iraqi government.
THE OTHER WAR Why Bush’s Afghanistan problem won’t go away
[The New Yorker, SEYMOUR M. HERSH, 04/06/04: Why are Al Qaeda and the Taliban thriving? Why is Opium production at record levels?] A year and a half later, the Taliban are still a force in many parts of Afghanistan, and the country continues to provide safe haven for members of Al Qaeda. [Related: AMY DAVIDSON interviews Hersh: Bush’s Afghanistan Problem]
India bristles over Pakistan's new U.S. status Delhi feels insult after Powell visit
[Chicago Tribune, 04/06/04: How can the Bush administration REWARD Pakistan after Pakistan sold nuclear bomb manufacturing secrets and equipment to so many unstable countries?] The news hit New Delhi with the force of a bombshell. In diplomatic parlance, a major non-NATO ally is clearly superior to a strategic partner, Indian officials say. The new status will put Pakistan on a par with long-standing U.S. allies such as Israel and Japan, making it eligible for certain military equipment and supplies and perhaps tilting the power balance on the subcontinent in Pakistan's favor.
US faces Iraqi revolt • Warrant issued for Shia cleric • US seals off Falluja • Worst unrest since Saddam fell
[Guardian,Mark Oliver, George Wright, 04/05/04: Trying to de-fuse an explosive situation] An Iraqi judge has issued an arrest warrant for the Shia leader blamed for violent demonstrations against coalition control
Iraqi Shias attack US-led forces
[BBC, 04/05/04: Is this the beginnings of a 3-way Civil War?] Seven American soldiers have been killed in Baghdad in the latest round of clashes between Shia Muslim militia and US-led occupying forces in Iraq.
Coalition of the Mercenaries Occupiers Spend Millions on Private Army of Security Men
[AntiWar.com, ROBERT FISK and SEVERIN CARRELL, 04/03/04: Thousands have been brought in at high pay to bolster military strength - on what basis are these contracts awarded? Who benefits? The Carlyle Group, perhaps?] An army of thousands of mercenaries has appeared in Iraq's major cities, many of them former British and American soldiers hired by the occupying Anglo-American authorities and by dozens of companies who fear for the lives of their employees.
Iraqi Council Bars UN from Overseeing Elections
[AntiWar.com, by Juan Cole, 04/02/04: Looks like Chalabi's "work"] ...the Interim Governing Council (IGC) is rejecting any role for the United Nations in overseeing Iraqi elections save that of 'help and consultation'...
Iraqi Intellectuals Flee 'Death Squads'
[Aljazeera, Ahmed Janabi, 04/01/04: Isn't it wonderful Bush invaded...] In recent months assassinations have targeted engineers, pharmacologists, officers, and lawyers.

More than 1000 leading Iraqi professionals and intellectuals have been assassinated since last April, among them such prominent figures as Dr Muhammad al-Rawi, the president of Baghdad University.

In Iraq, Looking Through The Unfiltered Lens of Hatred
[WP, Philip Kennicott, 04/01/04: How can we un-click Bush's 'death switch?'] Surgeons, pathologists, embalmers and even the corner butcher know about the little click, in the brain, that lets them look dispassionately at a living or once-living being and see, instead, just flesh, a thing, or meat. Without this shift in the moral vision, we could not heal the sick, bury the dead or eat a steak. And yet a closely related power of objectification is also the root of cruelty. To see a human being only as an object -- an enemy, an occupier or an animal -- unlocks the possibility for war, revolution and genocide.

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