Interesting blog from Iraq

An American-Iranian Ecological Disaster

Layla Anwar blogs (November 26^th):  have written before about the ecological disaster that has befallen Iraq following the American occupation in 2003. A multifaceted environmental crisis which has already produced some bitter fruits.

There is of course the million of years life span contamination of Iraqi soil and water with Depleted Uranium, and I suppose by now, the reader is familiar with the effects of D.U on Iraqi people and their health system, with the soaring birth defects, and cancer rates among children not sparing women, men nor the elderly. A quick search on Falluja and Basra will be a good reminder.

Besides D.U there is also the destruction of arable land. The Americans proceeded to burn entire agricultural fields, orchards and palm trees. By way of example, in the past Iraq had 350 different kinds of dates and used to export dates to the whole world, today it imports dates.

http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2010/11/iraq-american-iranian-ecological.html

So much for a "non-combat" role

CNN report (November 28^th): U.S. troops shot and killed an Iraqi man at Baghdad International Airport on Sunday morning, a U.S. military spokesman said. A military convoy attempted to stop the man, who they spotted driving a vehicle at high speed on an airport road, Col. Barry Johnson said.

The driver did not respond to U.S. hand signals before troops opened fire, he said.

Baghdad police said the man was an engineer working at the airport. They did not name him.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/28/iraq.violence/index.html

From the abyss of the Iraq War (1): 'Mom ... I have killed a man'

BY KAZUYA MATSUMOTO STAFF WRITER
"On April 18, 2006, I had my first confirmed kill. He was an innocent man. I don't know his name. ... During the incident (as) he walked back to his house, I shot him in front of his friend and father. The first round didn't kill him after I'd hit him in his neck. Afterward, he started screaming and looked right into my eyes. ... I said, 'Well, I can't let that happen.' I took another shot and took him out."

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201011210284.html

From the abyss of the Iraq War (2): 'I will die. But I am not sad'

BY KAZUYA MATSUMOTO STAFF WRITER
"Iraqi doctors are saying that more children are contracting leukemia due to the depleted uranium ammunition used since the Gulf War of 1991."


This ammunition uses depleted uranium, a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process for use as fuel in nuclear reactors and weapons. It gives off trace amounts of radiation, and increases the penetrative power of anti-tank rounds.
Kamata consulted with doctors and physicists and was told it is difficult to prove a causal association between low level radiation exposure and damage to health.
"If that's the case, then there is reason for me to become involved," he thought.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201011220289.html

From the abyss of the Iraq War (3): 'As much as I want to, I cannot go home'

BY KAZUYA MATSUMOTO STAFF WRITER
On May 1, U.S. president George W. Bush, 64, declared an end of major combat operations in Iraq.


However, the turmoil was far from over. Armed conflict intensified, the death toll showed no sign of abating, and conditions in Iraq deteriorated into a quagmire.
Iraqis say the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime did nothing to bring stability to their country; on the contrary, it ushered in a storm of disorder and violence.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201011230269.html

From the abyss of the Iraq War (4): Is a good friend one who always says yes?

BY KAZUYA MATSUMOTO STAFF WRITERKawabata says that the Iraq War was a test of Japan's status as an ally.

"For the United States, an ally that can truly be trusted is a country that either does only what it is told, or that only occasionally raises its voice in complaint."
The concerns expressed by Kawabata are reminiscent of the question asked by de Villepin at a news conference for American television in March 2003 on the eve of the Iraq War: "Is a good friend someone who always supports and says yes to the United States.?"
His words still speak to us today.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201011240262.html

Articles on Refugees

Iraqi Kids Struggle on Dangerous Edges

By Rebecca Murray
Growing up is hard for Iraqi children in Syria.
DAMASCUS, Nov 7, 2010 (IPS) - Leila, 17, presses her hijab-clad head against the front door and strains to hear outside. "There's nothing," she says cautiously, turning towards her mother Rawda, the head of the household, in their quiet basement apartment. Along the brocade couch sit her two sisters, Mona, 19, Nadja, 15, and 10-year-old brother Khaled.
read the article in full

Iraqi refugees torn between homesickness and fear

More than 2.5 million Iraqi refugees choosing discomfort over dangerous return.
By Michaela Yule (Dartmouth College) Student Correspondent Corps


Published: November 23, 2010 19:18 ET in Study Abroad
DAMASCUS, Syria — Thirty-eight-year-old Um Mustafa* enters the living room of her Damascus apartment carrying a tray with tea and biscuits for each of her guests. Handing them out, she laughs as she explains that this July day is the third anniversary of her family’s flight from Iraq to Syria.
read article in full
 

Phil Shiner's speech at the Baha Musa Memorial Lecture

Organised by Public Interest Lawyers in cooperation with the Law Society and Solicitors International Human Rights Group (SIHRG).

7pm on Tuesday 16 November 2010 at the Law Society, 110-113 Chancery Lane, LONDON WC2A.
Who was Baha Mousa?

Baha Mousa was an Iraqi civilian who died after 36 hours in British custody in Iraq. Baha Mousa was hooded, along with nine other Iraqi civilians, and deprived of sleep and food. A post mortem examination found that he had suffered at least 96 injuries before death. In a landmark ruling in the case of Al Skeini the House of Lords held that there was jurisdiction for the purposes of Article 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights at the place of UK detention and that the Secretary of State for Defence was therefore liable for breaches of the Human Rights Act in refusing to hold a public inquiry into his death. The Government announced the Baha Mousa Inquiry in May 2008 which is due to finish this Autumn and report back later in the year or early 2011. http://www.bahamousainquiry.org/
This lecture series is being held in the memory of Baha Mousa so that his and others’ suffering is not forgotten. The inaugural Baha Mousa lecture in 2009 was given by Professor William Schabas.

The speech given by Phil Shiner on the 16th Nov 2010 can be heard on the link below:

http://blip.tv/file/4400796

Iraq Occupation Focus Newsletter no 160

Iraq Occupation Focus Newsletter no 160

23rd Nov 2010

http://www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk/

Businessmen win £1m in belated arms-to-Iraq payouts

The Guardian
Richard Norton-Taylor

Saturday 20 November 2010

The money was paid to Paul Henderson, former managing director of the Coventry-based machine tool company Matrix Churchill, who provided information to MI6 about Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons programme, and John Paul Grecian, former managing director of Ordtec, justice ministry figures show.


Henderson was acquitted of breaching trade embargos in 1992 after evidence revealed the government knew about the exports but turned a blind eye to them. It emerged during his trial that he spied for MI6 during his visits to Baghdad.

The trial collapsed after Alan Clark, the former Conservative trade and defence minister, told the court he connived in the exports.
 
Full article

More evidence of smoke and mirrors...

US scheming to extend Iraq adventure

Asia Times reports (November 17^th): A special envoy from President Barack Obama raised the possibility in a secret meeting with senior Iraqi military and civilian officials in Baghdad on September 23 that his administration would leave more than 15,000 combat troops in Iraq after the 2011 deadline for US withdrawal, according to a senior Iraqi intelligence official familiar with the details of the meeting.

But the White House official, Puneet Talwar, special assistant to the president and senior director for the Gulf States, Iran and Iraq on the National Security Council (NSC) staff, said the deployment would have to be handled in a way that was consistent with the president’s pledge to withdraw US troops completely from Iraq under the 2008 agreement, the official said.

Talwar suggested that the combat troops could be placed under the cover of the State Department’s security force, the Iraqi intelligence official told Inter Press Service (IPS).

http://info-wars.org/2010/11/17/us-scheming-to-extend-iraq-adventure/

From The Guardian

Iraq's disappearing Christians are Bush and Blair's legacy

 

William Dalrymple writes for The Guardian (November 12^th): This week saw new levels of violence directed at Iraq's Christians. Eight days after the attack on Baghdad's main Catholic church that left more than 50 worshippers dead, militants detonated more than 14 bombs in Christian suburbs, killing at least four and wounding about 30. 

Of the 800,000 Christians still in Iraq when Dubya unleashed the US army on Saddam for the second time, two thirds have fled the country. In 2006, a priest was kidnapped, then found beheaded and dismembered; 15 churches have been bombed and many other priests killed. Iraqi refugees tell me that Christian women have suffered kidnap and rape, little of which has been reported.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/12/backfiring-of-bush-crusade

Christians in Iraq living in fear of 'pogrom' after bomb attacks

 

The Guardian reports (November 12^th): "It's hard to be accurate about how many of us are left," said Abdullah al-Noufali, the head of Iraq's Christian Endowment Fund. "But we numbered around 1 million before 2003 and are around 500,000 now.

"Things have changed this week," he added. "These days it is hard to find a Christian who will tell you he wants to stay in Iraq. The church attack was the worst [crisis] in our history. For thousands of years we have stood alongside other sects here, fought in wars and endured all types of disasters. And now this."

There is barely an Iraqi Christian family in which some members do not live abroad. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/12/christians-iraq-living-fear-pogrom

Statement: Enough is enough hands of our Christians, hands off our people

We Women of WSIUI are outraged and appalled to see our Christians being singled out and targeted by terrorists, claiming Islam and serving the Zionist agenda in the region.

Our people are foiling the occupiers' plans and despite sixty years of atrocities and aggression, the Palestinians have never given up the fight for their right for independence and self determination.

This is another stage in the plan to fragment Iraq that started with the invasion of 2003. Keeping Iraq unstable and divided prevents it from taking up its role in the region and leaves it an easy target for malevolent forces in the region and beyond.

This is all part of the plan to plunge the whole region into sectarian and religious futile conflicts, in order to guarantee the safety and security of Israel.

We would like to remind people that the first attack on a place of worship in the history of modern Iraq, took place in 1951 on the Baghdad Synagogue. Mossad has already acknowledged responsibility for this act of terrorism.

We hold the occupiers and the ‘very expensive’ and useless occupation government of the ‘Green Zone’ legally and morally responsible for the attacks on our defenceless people.

The only way we can save our people is to resist the occupiers and their plans.

We mourn our martyrs and vow to continue our campaigning in support of the struggle of our people against the imperialist aggression on our country.
 
Women Soldiarity for an Independent and Unified Iraq
http://solidarityiraq.blogspot.com/
Witness testimony re the massacre in the Church of our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad with English translation

Robert Fisk: Only justice can bring peace to this benighted region

Saturday, 6 November 2010

The Indepenmdent

No one in their right mind would think that al-Qa'ida would burn its energies on such a petty – though revolting – act in Lebanon. But al-Qa'ida does exist in Lebanon. We have President Bashar al-Assad's word on that. Indeed, it's interesting to hear what Assad actually said on the subject last week – since his relationship with Shia Hezbollah and Shia Iran makes him no friend of bin Laden's outfit. In an interview with Al-Hayat newspaper, he said "We talk about al-Qa'ida as if it exists as a well-structured, unified organisation. This isn't true. It acts more as a current of thought that calls itself al-Qa'ida. This organisation is the result (of a situation) and not the cause. It is a result of chaos, of weak development. It is a result of political errors and a kind of political direction." To say that this organisation "exists everywhere, in Syria as in all Arab and Islamic countries, does not mean that it is widespread or popular".

The full article

Iraq : Destroying a Country: War Crimes and Atrocities - Part II

by Felicity Arbuthnot

Global Research, November 8, 2010

"The abused are only Iraqis", a US General to General Antonio Taguba.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the latest, vast cache of documents from Wikileaks, is that anyone was surprised at the revelations. For Iraqis, Afghans and the region, and Iraq and Afghanistan watchers across the globe, countless millions of words have been written and eye witness reports sent since day one of the highly questionable legality of the Afghan invasion the absolute illegality of that of Iraq.

Soldiers have put "trophy" photographs of the dead, mutilated, tortured on the internet. In August the BBC's documentary: "The Wounded Platoon", aired interviews with soldiers who admitted shooting Iraqi civilians and "keeping scores." (1) Abu Ghraib's particular testimony to freedom, democracy and liberation's bounties, will likely remain the mental monument to the U.S., military in Iraq, which will ring down the generations.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tareq Aziz and his colleagues await an Inquistitional, mediaeval end on a hangman's noose, under America's watch (with the U.K., since still in coalition.) Charges include crimes against humanity. Yet the perpetrators of nearly seven years of near indescribable crimes against humanity in Iraq - and near a decade in Afghanistan, return home to heroes' welcomes.

Full article
* Part I of this article at http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21545

How our taxes are spent by the Ministry of Defence

Iraqi prisoners were abused at 'UK's Abu Ghraib', court hears

The Guardian reports (November 6^th): Evidence of the alleged systematic and brutal mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at a secret British military interrogation centre that is being described as "the UK's Abu Ghraib" emerged during high court proceedings brought by more than 200 former inmates.

The court was told there was evidence that detainees were starved, deprived of sleep, subjected to sensory deprivation and threatened with execution at the shadowy facilities near Basra operated by the Joint Forces Interrogation Team, or JFIT.

It also received allegations that JFIT's prisoners were beaten, forced to kneel in stressful positions for up to 30 hours at a time, and that some were subjected to electric shocks. Some of the prisoners say that they were subject to sexual humiliation by women soldiers, while others allege that they were held for days in cells as small as one metre square.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/06/iraq-prisoner-abuse-court

Oct 2010 stats: Iraq monitor of constitutional feedom and bill of rights

انخفاض باعمال العنف خلال شهر تشرين الاول 2010والحصيلة 279 قتيل و601 مصاب و1405معتقل

A drop in voilence during Oct 2010: 279 killed, 601 injured and 1405 arrested
MRFC calls on the security forces in Iraq to live up to its responsibilites.
1. ضحايا القتل جراء (انفجارات العبوات الناسفة واللاصقة والمفخخات والقنابل ) وصلت إلى وقوع مالا يقل عن ( 279 ) ضحية من المدنيين وكانت أشدها في كل من المحافظـــات (البصرة–- نينوى – بغداد – ديالى –- الانبار ).


Victims of car bombs, explosions and  bombings: 279 deaths

2. وقوع ( 35 ) ضحية من ( أجهزة الشرطة والجيش ) وكانت أشدها فــي محافظة ( نينوى- بغداد – الانبار – ديالى ) .
35 non civilian deaths (Ninveh, Baghdad, Anbar and Diyala)

3. أما ضحايا القتل ( الجثث المجهولة الهوية ) وصلت إلى مالا يقل عن ( 26 ) جثه مجهولة الهوية وكانت أشدها في (نينوى – بغداد – ديالى )
vicitms of murder (unidentifieed bodies) 26 (Ninveh, Baghdad and Diyalah)

4. وأخيرا ضحايا (الاغتيالات ) وصلت إلى مالا يقل عن ( 19 ) ضحية وكانت أشدها في (نينوى – بغداد - الانبار )
Assassinations : 19 (Ninveh, baghdad and Diyalah)

 وصلت أعداد ضحايا المصابين من (الانفجارات ) إلى وقوع مالا يقل عن ( 563 ) ضحية وكانت أشدها في كل من المحافظات ( نينوى- بغداد - بابل – البصرة – ديالى - صلاح الدين – كركوك )

563 victims of bombs (Ninveh, Baghdad, Babel, Basra, Diyala, Salahidin and Kirkuk)

· وصلت أعداد ضحايا أعمال الخطف إلى وقوع مالا يقل عن ( 18 ) مختطف وتركزت فــــي (بغداد – كركوك- الانبار )
Victims of kidnapping:18 (Baghdad, Kirkuk and Anbar)
· الاعتقالات :
Detention: 1405
استمرار عمليات الاعتقالات مع استمرار أعمال العنف وتزايدها والتي يقع جزء منها بصوره عشوائية وغير قانونيه , وقد وصلت أعداد المعتقلين خلال هذا الشهر إلى ( 1405 ) معتقل في عموم محافظات العراق.

· اما عمليات اطلاق السراح : فقد وصلت إلى إطلاق سراح مالا يقل عن ( 167 ) معتقل في عموم محافظات العراق وتركزت في ( بغداد – نينوى – كركوك – ميسان ) .
Released: 167

· اما احكام الاعدام : صدرخلال هذا الشهر ( 7 ) حكم إعدام وذلك في محافظة (بغداد – صلاح الدين - نينوى )

7 new death sentences: Baghdad, Salahidin and Ninveh)

- اما المداهمات فقد شكلت ارتفاعا ملحوظا خلال هذا الشهر فقد وصل عدد حالات المداهمات الى ما يقارب ( 450 ) مداهمة وتركزت في محافظات ( بغداد _ البصرة – كركوك – ذي قار – ديالى – صلاح الدين – الانبار )
450 house raids higher than last month (Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk, Thi qar, Diyala, Salahidin and Anbar
http://iraqimrfc.org/innerpage.php?name=taqareer&x=89

Iraqis Want UK 'Torture And Abuse' Probe

SkyNews
5th Nov 2010
Human rights lawyers are at the High Court to push for a full public inquiry into claims more than 140 Iraqi civilians were abused by British troops serving there.

It is claimed the detainees were beaten and suffered sexual abuse in camps run by British soldiers between March 2003 and December 2008.

Their lawyers are challenging a refusal by Defence Secretary Liam Fox to order the sort of investigation they say is now necessary "to bring the full facts to light".

The lead claimant is Ali Zaki Mousa, from Basra, who alleges he suffered months of beatings and other abuse in the custody of British soldiers in 2006/07.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Iraqi-Abuse-Detainees-Lawyer-Phil-Shiner-At-High-Court-Urges-New-Public-Inquiry-For-Ex-Detainees/Article/201011115795602?lpos=UK_News_Carousel_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15795602_Iraqi_Abuse_Detainees%3A_Lawyer_Phil_Shiner_At_High_Court_Urges_New_Public_Inquiry_For_Ex-Detainees

Closing down Al Baghdadiya satellite TV channel

JFOiraq.org
2nd Nov 2010
Iraqi government closed the offices of Baghdadiya TV station (Muntadhar Al Zaidy used to work for) and is actively preventing them from conducting any media work. The statement by JFO considers this decision to be a new blow for the freedom of the press.
JFO condemns this unecplained decision, that came straight after the TV channel established a link with the hostage takers inside the church on Sunday 31st Oct 2010

Mounting evidence of British war crimes

3 November 2010

Chris Marsden
wsws.org

A preliminary high court ruling in July found, “There is an arguable case that the alleged ill-treatment was systemic, and not just at the whim of individual soldiers”. The court was presented with evidence on behalf of 102 Iraqis held as prisoners by the British military in an action by Public Interest Lawyers headed by solicitor Phil Shiner. The evidence lists the cases of 59 Iraqi civilians who say they were hooded by British troops, 11 subjected to electric shocks, 122 alleging that ear muffs were used for sound deprivation, 52 deprived of sleep, 39 who were subjected to enforced nakedness, and 18 forced to watch pornographic

The article in full

In a week when 113 Iraqis are killed by bomb attacks....

Iraqi anger at lawmakers' 'lavish' salaries

AP reports (November 2^nd): Iraqi lawmakers have collected their £56,000 stipend, they're raking in £14,000 a month in salaries and allowances, and they're spending free nights in Baghdad's finest hotel – and they've only worked about 20 minutes this year, without passing a single law.

As the parliament prepares to hold what will be only its second session since the inconclusive election in March, lawmakers' lavish salaries and privileges are deepening resentment among Iraqis struggling to make ends meet.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraqi-anger-at-lawmakers-lavish-salaries-2122635.html

HRW:Iraqi Kurdistan: Journalists Under Threat

Ensure Open, Thorough Investigation Into Killing of Young Reporter


October 29, 2010

(New York) - Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan who criticize the regional government have faced substantial violence, threats, and lawsuits in recent months, and some have fled the country, Human Rights Watch reported today.


Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government needs to ensure an independent and transparent inquiry into the killing of journalist Sardasht Osman in May 2010, that will lead to the identification and prosecution of all those responsible, Human Rights Watch said. An investigation by an anonymous committee appointed by President Masoud Barzani did not substantiate its findings, Human Rights Watch added.
"This secret investigation into Sardasht Osman's murder is exactly the opposite of what's needed," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The Kurdistan government needs to get to the bottom of this killing with an open and independent inquiry that will include looking into allegations of government involvement."

The anonymous inquiry concluded that an Islamist armed group, Ansar al-Islam, was responsible for Osman's abduction and murder after he wrote articles criticizing government officials, including the regional government's president. The committee's 430-word statement did not substantiate its findings beyond referring to a confession from one of the alleged perpetrators. The identity of the committee members remains secret, and the committee did not interview Osman's family or those close to him. Since the release of the statement on September 15, Osman's family say they have been threatened by government forces and party members after speaking out against the committee's findings.

Read the rest of the press release

Wikileaks Iraq War Logs: Legal Action is Unavoidable

Despite US manoeuvres, the United States administration and the government of Iraq stand equally accused. Neither can be trusted to investigate the facts contained in the classified documents Wikileaks has brought into the public domain. the United States administration and the government of Iraq stand equally accused. Neither can be trusted to investigate the facts contained in the classified documents Wikileaks has brought into the public domainOnly action that invokes the universal jurisdiction of the conventions the US and Iraqi governments have violated in Iraq can be satisfactory and objective. And only by stepping back and reviewing the whole period, from 1990 through until now, can one adequately situate the Wikileaks Iraq War Logs and understand their importance.


Wikileaks has done a tremendous service to truth in times of war, and has placed before us raw evidence that is compelling, undeniable, and that tells — in part — the story of the Iraq war in a way until now untold. We salute Wikileaks and its sources for the courageous act of releasing the classified Iraq War Logs. We call on all lawyers, judges and juridical institutions to display equal courage, and in coalition to work towards the swift prosecution of US and UK war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Iraq. We believe that only by coordinated action can those responsible for grave crimes and rights violations in Iraq be held accountable.

We therefore call for the formation of an international coalition of lawyers, legal specialists and antiwar and anti-occupation progressive forces to realise this obligation.
We are ready to cooperate with and join any effort that aims to ensure redress and reparations for Iraqi victims of US and UK crimes.

There is no excuse now for failing to take legal action everywhere it is feasible, both at the national level — where the universal jurisdiction of international conventions permits — and beyond. But legal action must be informed by an analysis of the nature of the war as a whole, and by the testimony not only of the US Army, but also Arab and international solidarity groups and associations, and foremost the Iraqi people — the victims of the US-led war of aggression on Iraq.

Ad Hoc Committee for Justice for Iraq
We are not taking signatures for this call to action; rather we ask those with requisite skills to commit to building a new coalition to pursue legal action, which we also commit to join. Please inform us of your efforts, in the hope that together we can build towards effective legal action:

info@USgenocide.org
Read the full press release