<< ZIPCODE
LOOKUP"People whose lives are barren and insecure seem to show a greater willingness to obey than people who are self-sufficient and self-confident. To the frustrated, freedom from responsibility is more attractive than freedom from restraint. They are eager to barter their independence for relief of the burdens of willing, deciding and being responsible for inevitable failure. They willingly abdicate the directing of their lives to those who want to plan, command and shoulder all responsibility."
~Eric Hoffer “The True Believer”
Picked up from: TBRNews.org
The Republican’s Lost War:
The Harring Report: America’s Young Man’s Meat Grinder
by Brian Harring, Domestic Intelligence Reporter TBRNews.org brianharring@yahoo.com
Note: Viewers of TBR News who would like a copy of the original Department of Defense Supplemental Casualty lists from 2003 to mid-2005, showing facsimiles of the actual casualties, as opposed to the heavily redacted official listings, may write to Mr. Harring at brianharring@yahoo.com for a full copy of the original documents. This list is free of charge. As of June 3 ,2007, Mr. Harring has sent out 25, 892 lists Mr. Harring wishes his readers to note that he does not work for any American governmental agency.
Once it became evident that what had been expected to be a short, successful military campaign against Saddam Hussein had turned into a long drawn out and escalating guerilla war, the Department of Defense, acting on orders from the White House, began to reduce the daily public casualty list. Families and survivors of the dead were duly notified and the bodies were shipped back to the States for private burial but the numbers of the dead, and the wounded, were deliberately kept as low as possible for political reasons. For internal use only, a realistic, and accurate, monthly report was issued for those concerned but it was not made public. When this private report was located by outside sources and sent around the Internet, the site was immediately shut down.
This original listing showed that as of mid-2005, the death count in both Iraq and Afghanistan topped 10,000 with 20,000 seriously wounded. By 2007, the death toll has risen to over 15,000 (and rising daily) with officially reported serious woundings (required out of theater hospitalization) at 50,508 as per a report published in the New York Times of January 30, 2007.
1. Most soldiers are killed by increasingly deadly and powerful bombs located beside or under a road.
2. The effect of these powerful shaped charges on the occupants of the vehicles is to dismember said occupants.
3. When the shredded remains are finally identified, by ID tags or DNA, the Department of Defense then notifies the next of kin.
4. The names of some of the dead are then posted on the official website of the Department of Defense but the numbers of these publicly posted dead are much smaller than the numbers of the actual dead. The families are duly notified but not all names are made public.
Also not discussed are the over 19,000 desertions (from March, 2003 to date) Pentagon officials say the number of desertions overall has dropped since the war began in 2003. In that year, there were 6,729 desertions from the four military branches. In 2004, 4,494 people left. In 2005, because of much stricter controls put in place by military authorities and cooperative foreign governments, the figure was 3,921 and in 2006, the figure rose again to 4,219. Figures for 2007 are not currently available.
The Bush-Cheney & Congressional Butchers’ Bill
Officially 61 military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq from 1 July to 20 July, 2007 with a total of 4,569 total official casualties to date.
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Editor's Note: This person's take was according to his own eye witness view as he personally experienced it, in addition to what he was told by "the fellow who does casualty reports for transmitting back to the States".
Only One In Ten US Dead In Iraq Are Reported
Global Research, April 30, 2007 TBRNews.org - 04-25-2007
BAGHDAD -- "Six days ago, I was in an armed convoy driving through the McCain-safe streets of Baghdad when a non-existent rocket, made right here and not in Tehran, blasted into a truck carrying fifteen GIs. We had to stop, could not turn around because there were vehicles behind us, frantically trying to flee in all directions, and so I saw what were the shredded remains of all fifteen soldiers littering the street and smoldering. Not the sort of thing to look at, or smell, after breakfast or before lunch.
This crazy Bush 'surge 'is not working because we have had to withdraw all our troops from outlying provinces and they have been replaced with local religious crazies who shoot anything that moves. The insurgents have virtually destroyed the power grids so Baghdad gets electric power a few hours a day (at the very best); the water supply has been "interfered with" so the locals get shit-infested water from the river but we, who are Bringing Bush Democracy to the benighted heathens have our own generators and our own water, carefully filtered of shit and body parts, so we can cheerfully, and proudly, show the world how better the locals are off with our brand of vicious tyranny as opposed to Saddam's. They ought to bring Bush and Cheney over here, strip them buck naked and use them as decoys and then we'd see a rapid withdrawal for certaion! And hear loud cheers as the GIs would be struggling with the locals to pick up presidential and vice presidential body parts as souvenirs."
There was not a word of this in our media at home and the official casualty lists, posted on the net didn't mention any of them. There are fifteen that never got reported. Fellow in the next building from me does the casualty reports for transmitting back to the States and he says they publish the names of one in ten. This has been a very bad month with over 300 known dead! That doesn't cover those with faces missing or legs up on a local roof, feeding the birds. This place has become a living hell, what with occasional snipers shooting our men inside the "really safe" Green Zone, setting off bombs in the "heavily guarded" Iraqi government compound and blowing up the hand puppet legislators at lunch, mortar rounds from the "defeated insurgents'" slamming down at all times of the day and night, and so on.
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A Glimpse of The Past:
A War Crime or an Act of War?
Stephen C. Pelletiere - NYTimes 1-31-03
as posted at : Uruknet.info
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. - It was no surprise that President Bush, lacking smoking-gun evidence of Iraq's weapons programs, used his State of the Union address to re-emphasize the moral case for an invasion: "The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages, leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind or disfigured."
The accusation that Iraq has used chemical weapons against its citizens is a familiar part of the debate. The piece of hard evidence most frequently brought up concerns the gassing of Iraqi Kurds at the town of Halabja in March 1988, near the end of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. President Bush himself has cited Iraq's "gassing its own people," specifically at Halabja, as a reason to topple Saddam Hussein.
But the truth is, all we know for certain is that Kurds were bombarded with poison gas that day at Halabja. We cannot say with any certainty that Iraqi chemical weapons killed the Kurds. This is not the only distortion in the Halabja story.
I am in a position to know because, as the Central Intelligence Agency's senior political analyst on Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, and as a professor at the Army War College from 1988 to 2000, I was privy to much of the classified material that flowed through Washington having to do with the Persian Gulf. In addition, I headed a 1991 Army investigation into how the Iraqis would fight a war against the United States; the classified version of the report went into great detail on the Halabja affair.
This much about the gassing at Halabja we undoubtedly know: it came about in the course of a battle between Iraqis and Iranians. Iraq used chemical weapons to try to kill Iranians who had seized the town, which is in northern Iraq not far from the Iranian border. The Kurdish civilians who died had the misfortune to be caught up in that exchange. But they were not Iraq's main target.
And the story gets murkier: immediately after the battle the United States Defense Intelligence Agency investigated and produced a classified report, which it circulated within the intelligence community on a need-to-know basis. That study asserted that it was Iranian gas that killed the Kurds, not Iraqi gas.
The agency did find that each side used gas against the other in the battle around Halabja. The condition of the dead Kurds' bodies, however, indicated they had been killed with a blood agent - that is, a cyanide-based gas - which Iran was known to use. The Iraqis, who are thought to have used mustard gas in the battle, are not known to have possessed blood agents at the time.
These facts have long been in the public domain but, extraordinarily, as often as the Halabja affair is cited, they are rarely mentioned. A much-discussed article in The New Yorker last March did not make reference to the Defense Intelligence Agency report or consider that Iranian gas might have killed the Kurds. On the rare occasions the report is brought up, there is usually speculation, with no proof, that it was skewed out of American political favoritism toward Iraq in its war against Iran.
I am not trying to rehabilitate the character of Saddam Hussein. He has much to answer for in the area of human rights abuses. But accusing him of gassing his own people at Halabja as an act of genocide is not correct, because as far as the information we have goes, all of the cases where gas was used involved battles. These were tragedies of war. There may be justifications for invading Iraq, but Halabja is not one of them.
In fact, those who really feel that the disaster at Halabja has bearing on today might want to consider a different question: Why was Iran so keen on taking the town? A closer look may shed light on America's impetus to invade Iraq.
We are constantly reminded that Iraq has perhaps the world's largest reserves of oil. But in a regional and perhaps even geopolitical sense, it may be more important that Iraq has the most extensive river system in the Middle East. In addition to the Tigris and Euphrates, there are the Greater Zab and Lesser Zab rivers in the north of the country. Iraq was covered with irrigation works by the sixth century A.D., and was a granary for the region.
Before the Persian Gulf war, Iraq had built an impressive system of dams and river control projects, the largest being the Darbandikhan dam in the Kurdish area. And it was this dam the Iranians were aiming to take control of when they seized Halabja. In the 1990's there was much discussion over the construction of a so-called Peace Pipeline that would bring the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates south to the parched Gulf states and, by extension, Israel. No progress has been made on this, largely because of Iraqi intransigence. With Iraq in American hands, of course, all that could change.
Thus America could alter the destiny of the Middle East in a way that probably could not be challenged for decades - not solely by controlling Iraq's oil, but by controlling its water. Even if America didn't occupy the country, once Mr. Hussein's Baath Party is driven from power, many lucrative opportunities would open up for American companies.
All that is needed to get us into war is one clear reason for acting, one that would be generally persuasive. But efforts to link the Iraqis directly to Osama bin Laden have proved inconclusive. Assertions that Iraq threatens its neighbors have also failed to create much resolve; in its present debilitated condition - thanks to United Nations sanctions - Iraq's conventional forces threaten no one.
Perhaps the strongest argument left for taking us to war quickly is that Saddam Hussein has committed human rights atrocities against his people. And the most dramatic case are the accusations about Halabja.
Before we go to war over Halabja, the administration owes the American people the full facts. And if it has other examples of Saddam Hussein gassing Kurds, it must show that they were not pro-Iranian Kurdish guerrillas who died fighting alongside Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Until Washington gives us proof of Saddam Hussein's supposed atrocities, why are we picking on Iraq on human rights grounds, particularly when there are so many other repressive regimes Washington supports?
Stephen C. Pelletiere is author of "Iraq and the International Oil System: Why America Went to War in the Persian Gulf."
Published on Friday, January 31, 2003 by the New York Times
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Baath statement
The petrol is the property of the people of Iraq,
and we shall sever the hands which cedes it to the US!The Arab Baath Socialist Party
Great Iraqi people masses!
Despite that our Party has times and again clarified its stand concerning the petrol question, what is going on en rapport to this requires to reconfirm our stand:
1- Controlling the oil of Iraq was one of the most important objectives to invade Iraq not only in order to loot more and in a gangster way the peoples' riches by the US brigands and bandits but also to use the petrol as a tool to blackmail the whole world, to enslave the big powers and establish the global US dictatorship.
2- Safeguarding the petrol nationalization is one of the most important objectives of the Iraqi Resistance, while leading the Armed Iraqi revolution against the Occupation! Therefore, to keep the petrol as an Iraqi possession, an Iraqi industry, an Iraqi decision, an Iraqi distribution and an Iraqi utility and services are one of the most important objectives of the Baath Combat and the Armed Resistance. We shall deal without any hesitation with any step which might threaten this patriotic, and fundamental Iraqi reality, and we shall stand firm and resolved against anybody who tries to get around the nationalization and we shall use every possible mean against him.. The most important patriotic criteria now, is to hold to the nationalization and to reject the return of the foreign multinationals to control our most important material and strategic riches.
3- Our Party warns anyone who is linked to ceding the petrol to the US by the Petrol bill which is a plan to cancel the nationalization.. This warning goes to those members of the so called (deputies council) for they will be tried for supreme treason even if some of them opposed the bill! Their mere participation and involvement in this committee will make them responsible for ceding the petrol to the Occupation.
4- Furthermore! The Baath and the Armed Resistance strongly warn the western multinationals, and specially the Norwegians which signed contracts with the Occupation puppet gangs imposed on the north of Iraq, from any participation into illegal acts. The north of Iraq is a part of Iraq and no one whatsoever can sign contracts to explore oil in the absence of the legitimate Iraqi government due to the Occupation, without any legal or national legitimacy or sign any agreement, as long as there is an Occupation controlling the puppet government.
The Norwegian government bears full responsibility for any harm which may attain Iraq due to these illegal agreements and we shall pursue them through legal means to get back all our rights including compensations for the damages Iraq suffered due to their deals with a gang governing the north of Iraq, protected by the US occupation.. We are absolutely resolved to make out of Norway and its near punishment an example for any government which doesn't respect the will of the peoples and the international law and exploit the Occupation to achieve egotistical gains.
5- The so called (Petrol and gas bill) is a new and an important indicator that the Occupation has been completely and utterly defeated and that it is trying before withdrawing to achieve what it failed to get through military means.. i.e. the petrol bill granting the US grave and dangerous facilities, such as usurping the Iraqi petrol for half a century with gains going beyond 70 per cent of the petrol resources.
Through this agreement the Occupation wants to say that it didn't fail to achieve one of its most important objectives after deposing the patriotic regime, which is to get strategic oil preferences. This have grave and dangerous consequences. In case the bill is signed, it will be considered as a legal matter backed by the US military and diplomatic force to apply it on the terrain, as it did with Cuba when signing an agreement with a government before Castro hiring Guantanamo for 99 years! When the revolution government came to power and wanted back its land, the US refused and said it had an agreement with an elected legitimate deposed Cuban government..
Under these pretexts, Cuban lands are still under the US control.. The US wants now to repeat the Guantanamo Bay experience in Iraq in the Petrol domain! All Iraqis should understand that this grave reality which will put liberated Iraq in front of a very big challenge, i.e. facing legal complication in order to cancel the oil agreement with the US after the liberation..For the world will not agree on this matter and the liberation of the oil will get complicated.
Our Party when mentioning this reasserts to the Iraqi and Arab masses and to all the Iraqi patriotic forces, that the nationalization of Iraq will stay as the priority number one of the independence of Iraq.. Therefore the military liberation of Iraq when achieved will not be complete unless with the liberation of the petrol. Based on this our Party warns the US government from undertaking any attempt to play again Guantanamo game in Iraq, for the liberated Iraq shall not surrender and it shall hurl an endless raging war to liberate its petrol..whatever high will the sacrifices be!
Liberated Iraq will not only use the Law but Iraq shall practice his natural right to get back his oil with every possible mean considering that the petrol is in the hands of the Iraqis and under their feet. The US must not forget that there is an essential difference in between Cuba and Iraq.. and must never forget that the Iraqis' iron will which humiliated the US in the front of the whole world, is capable to humiliate it again with ways, means and lessons the US knows by heart nowadays..
May the slogan and the war cry ( no liberated Iraq without a liberated petrol) be one of our most important strategic objectives!
Long live the perfumed remembrance of the nationalization hero, the martyrs' master the eternal leader Saddam Hussein!
Long live his comrade and his heir, the leader Mujahid Izzat Ibrahim Al Duri..
Long live the Iraqi Armed Resistance, the sole and only legitimate representative of the people of Iraq!
Iraq Leadership
Iraq Culture and Information Bureau
The Arab Baath Socialist Party Baghdad,
Baghdad, Martyr Saddam Hussein's Capital City
On the 10th July 2007
Degraded US bloodthirsty rogues out of the land of sanctity Iraq!
*Translated by Abu Assur. http://www.al-moharer.net
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Manifesto concerning
The birth of the Patriotic, National and Islamic Front for the Liberation of Iraq (PNIFLI):
Translation: Al Moharer.net July 2007
Considering the grave circumstances, dangers and challenges Iraq is facing while confronting the Occupation and its collaborators' projects, and deeply believing in the necessity to assemble forces, unite energies and patriotic efforts to defeat, expel the Occupation and liberate Iraq, the patriotic forces and Parties have agreed after a series of meetings, beginning July 2007 to announce, the birth of the Patriotic, National and Islamic Front for the Liberation of Iraq (PNIFLI).
During these meetings, the participants examined and agreed on various action papers en rapport to the establishment of the Front and its political program, its internal organization and its action lines inside Iraq and in the Arab and international milieus. Also the participants elected, in amongst them, a political Bureau and a Bureau president, President's deputies and a Front' spokesman.
The participants considered that the on going and pivotal phase is the gravest for the fate and the future of Iraq, due to the Occupation and its consequences. All the participants were concordant to holding on to the Resistance to end the Occupation in all its forms, liquidate its consequences and its different creations. For this reason they have decided to establish the Patriotic, National and Islamic Front for the Liberation of Iraq (PNIFLI) and open it to welcome any force or faction opposed or resisting the Occupation. Establishing the Front, activating its organizational, political and Media committees, are a top patriotic priority in these very harsh, complicated and challenging times..
The establishment of the Patriotic, National and Islamic Front, is a step in the right direction to unify all the forces, the factions, the committees and the personalities which oppose the Occupation. Furthermore, the Front's members address and salute with reverence and respect and congratulate the great people of Iraq, for its heroic stand and its legendary resistance in the face of the bloodthirsty Occupation and in the face of its monstrous crimes.. They salute the honorable stand of the people of Iraq while nurturing the heroic Resistance and giving her the means to continue, to be strong and to grow and they promise the Iraqi people to go ahead with the Jihad and the combat and to always rise the gun in the face of the Occupier until it leaves our beloved homeland.
The Front reasserts its commitment and its resolve to establish a political patriotic system in liberated Iraq based on pluralism, democracy and dialogue, away from any vendettas, and to ensure for all Iraqis with no distinction for matters of religious or ethnic background, the independence of the Justice and civil, economical, social, cultural liberties, Women rights and the political rights for the Kurdish people and the other minorities and the freedom of religion.
The Political Bureau
The Patriotic, National and Islamic Front for the Liberation of Iraq (PNIFLI)
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A statement on the occasion of the start of the Iraqi revolution in all Iraq districts
Translation: from Al Moharer.net July 5th 2007
On the occasion of the start of the Iraqi revolution in all Iraq districts, the Information and Media Revolution Center has issued the following slogans to be largely distributed hoping from all the brothers involved in this blessed revolution to copy and redistribute them in every village, city, town or school.. This a patriotic duty and a legitimate obligation, and may the Lord bless you all on the infidels lot.
The slogans:
1 - Brother dignified officer, brother courageous military, the great Iraqi Revolution started from the first day of the Occupation, today our Revolution is at its highest glory, Forget not, you are a part of this resolution.
2 - The Great Iraqi Armed Revolution is the only way for all Iraqis to get rid of the US - UK -Iranian and Zionist occupations.
3 - Joining the Iraqi Armed Revolution ranks is a sacred patriotic duty and is a necessary legal obligation.
4 - Dignified Iraqi citizen, you must give your full support and backing to your Revolution: never deal with the Occupation! Cut every link with the puppet government agents! Reject them and never cooperate with them.
5 - Try to get information and gather intelligence about the Occupation, its bases, its plans, and about the puppet government forces, its intentions, and convey them to the Iraqi Revolutionaries.
6 - The tribes' sons and daughters are the greatest force of the Great Iraqi armed Revolution.
7 - Brother citizen, try to get the necessary ammunition for your weapon and you must know precisely your duty at the precise time and the hour H.
8 - Try to get informed about what the Internet web sites publish concerning the special directives of the Iraqi Armed Revolution and distribute this information widely.
9 - Coordinate and get in touch with the people of your neighborhood and set plans, affect duties for each at the announced time and the hour H.
10 - Choose your objectives according to their respective importance! Be extremely careful to not allow a single occupier-soldier or a traitor-collaborator who sold himself to the foreigner, to escape..11 - Ye dignified and noble Iraqi combatant, forget never our martyrs souls, our sons and daughters' shed innocent blood, our wounded' sighs and our children cries.. and have confidence in the Lord!
The second part of the slogans will follow ..so stay with us.
The Information and Media Center for the great Iraqi revolution
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The following excerpted from "On Islam and Iraq" by Husayn Al-Kurdi
July 6, 2007
The Resistance itself consists of scores of groups and parties of a wide variety of ideological inclinations and political backgrounds. It includes Shiites, Sunnis, Sufis, Kurds, Christians and non-believers, all of whose rights and contributions to the cause are respected and noted.
Shi'ites, along with Sunnis, Christians and all others in Iraq have a choice to make: betray Iraq to its historical enemies the Jews/Bankers and the USA/UK Crusader Imperialists who wish it nothing but harm OR participate in the definitive defeat of the Occupation forces and restore Iraq to the dignity and prosperity it was on the path to enjoying before they launched four wars of aggression whose strategic aim, proclaimed repeatedly by Jewish pundits and their American imitators, is the reduction and desolation and division of that ancient land.
I count the four wars as follows:Iran-Iraq 1980-1988 with some million or so killed; 1991 Desert Storm which directly massacred tens of thousands and broke most of the phony Geneva Convention rules of warfare, including the release of massive amounts of deadly depleted uranium which will be killing people and producing dead and deformed babies for centuries to come; The Sanctions regime of 1991-2003, accompanied by a variety of military assaults, subversions, crop destruction and livestock poisonings, whose direct results were at least a million Iraqi dead between 1991 and 2003; and the 2003 Invasion and subsequent Occupation.
The problem with the Persians is not Shi'ism as such: it is the ancient treachery of the Persians towards the Arabs, re-ignited by a corrupt and reactionary sectarian clergy seeking to impose itself in an unseemly manner on the congregation of believers in the Iranian mosques. Persian imperialism is still alive, including the idea that they have some right to rule Iraq!
Sincerely,
Yours for the liberation of the oppressed,
Husayn Faraj Allah Al-Kurdi
_________________________________
posted by Juan Cole @ 8/19/2007 06:04:00 AM
Ammar al-Hakim
The USG Open Source Center translates a recent speech of Ammar al-Hakim, who is functioning as acting leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council while his father is undergoing treatment for cancer. Via BBC World Monitoring
"July 22, 2007 Sunday
Iraq's Ammar al-Hakim addresses Martyr Day rally
21 July, 2007
[Speech by Ammar Abd-al-Aziz al-Hakim, secretary general of the Shahid al-Mihrab Foundation, on the occasion of "Martyr Day" in Baghdad -live]
Baghdad Al-Iraqiyah Television in Arabic at 0645 gmt on 21 July carries live from Baghdad a 32-minute speech by Ammar Abd-al-Aziz al-Hakim, secretary general of the Shahid al-Mihrab Foundation, on the occasion of "Martyr Day," which coincides with the fourth anniversary of the "martyrdom" of Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim. The video shows people waving Iraqi flags and holding pictures of Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim, in addition to other banners. They are heard shouting religious slogans with drums beating in the background.
Al-Hakim begins by invoking God's peace and blessings on Prophet Muhammad, Ali Ibn-Abi-Talib, Fatimah al-Zahra', the two imams Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn, all other imams of the Prophet's family, the imam for whose return the Shi'is are waiting, religious authorities, the martyr religious authority Shahid al-Mihrab [Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim], and all martyrs of Iraq who lost their lives during the era of the deposed regime or during the current violence and terrorism.
He praises the martyr's supporters for their "firm stand and confrontation of those who sought to turn Baghdad into a city of ghosts," and says: "Our people's massive march clearly shows that our people will not give in to terrorism, be subdued by the plots of enemies, abandon their great political project, or quit their accomplishments. They will not give in to frustration and retreat."
He salutes the citizens of Baghdad in their entire sectarian and political spectrum, and says: "You have been accustomed on this occasion every year to listen to the speech of Al-Sayyid Abd-al-Aziz al-Hakim who used to thank and salute you as well as to present to you our political view of the situation, but, due to his health condition, he is unable to be among you in person today. However, he called me a few minutes ago to ask me to convey to you his greetings, thanks, appreciation, and pride in you all." He adds that Al-Sayyid is anxious to be with you any time his physicians allow him to do so.
He says: "We are gathered here to eulogize Shahid al-Mihrab and all Iraq's martyrs and to renew loyalty and allegiance to Shahid al-Mihrab and his policy, one of moderation, tolerance, freedom, independence, and justice." He says that it is worth remembering on this day some of the martyr's thoughts and characteristics. He goes on to say that the martyr was a person of wide-ranging interests; he was a scholar, interpreter, historian, and knowledgeable of all religious and humanitarian matters. Besides, he was a distinguished political leader and an outstanding military commander as he fought the deposed regime with his brothers. He was also a good father who embraced his sons, and was methodical in his thoughts, the building of institutions, making of decisions, and in public performance. He used to depend on the nation with all its popular bases and masses in his political and social action because of his deep faith in it. Also, he was frank and transparent with his people in every detail of his moves to the extent that he lost his life for this frankness, which he never abandoned. The martyr was objective and a man of deep thinking. He never made a decision without reviewing all its consequences thoroughly. He never complimented any one at the expense of the common interest. He also defended the interests of the entire Iraqis.
He continues: "On this day, we should clearly address our brothers in the elected Iraqi Government to tell them that we support them, stand on their side, thank them for their efforts, and express our understanding of their circumstances, suffering, and siege. Yet, this should not prevent us from demanding the rights of our people." He adds: "We ask the government to respond positively to the demands of the families of martyrs, orphans, widows, and those who sacrificed themselves. We demand that they be aided, supported, and provided with the basics of a decent life. We cannot continue to watch the difficult and miserable circumstances which many of the martyrs' families are still facing after the lapse of four years. The institutions that were established by the esteemed government should play an effective role in taking care of the families of the martyrs, whether those who lost their lives during the deposed regimes' era or in the current violence and terrorism after the fall of the regime."
He says: "We are currently facing critical and enormous challenges, which threaten our Iraqi experiment. We cannot face, defy, or tackle these problems without taking the following steps: Rendering the political project in Iraq a success, strengthening national cohesiveness, reinforcing real partnership, providing equal opportunities for all Iraqis, and guaranteeing the rights of all Iraqis under the state's order and Constitution. We must focus on the crucial Iraqi people's will in determining their future through electoral polls. We will not accept or give in to any encroachment on the constitutional system. We stress the need for a national Iraqi solution that is independent, original, and a produce of all effective powers in the Iraqi arena. We also emphasize that the solution should be a comprehensive one that satisfies all sides under the authority of the law and Constitution and deals with the apprehensions and concerns of all parties under this authority. Additionally, we emphasize that any solution to the Iraqi problem should stem from bolstering the unity of Iraqis, not widening the gap or division between them. We must unite, because unity is the real key to resolving the many issues that we are facing today."
He adds: "Such a solution can only be reached or the handling of issues can only succeed when all effective Iraqi forces meet together, taking Iraq's interests into foremost consideration. With this in mind, a real partnership among all Iraqi forces and society components will then be concluded. The meeting of these forces should open opportunities for partnership for all Iraqis and lay down realistic solutions under the principles and within the frameworks to which we referred earlier. Furthermore, the Iraqi national, free, and independent will should be utilized in the process of reform."
Al-Hakim continues: "We welcome all the regional and international efforts, particularly those of the brother Arab states and the dear Islamic countries, provided that they conform with this view and principle and maintain the priorities that we have set for the sake of achieving political and security stability in our country, accomplishing development and construction, and providing services to the citizens, so that Iraq will regain its natural rank in the region and the entire world."
He adds: "We will work together with the numerous and various national forces in Iraq to end foreign presence in the country and strengthen Iraqi sovereignty through peaceful and political resistance and by firmly building our security forces in terms of training, recruitment, armament, and all factors of success. We support the building of the Iraqi foundation on strong bases in order to fill the gap, not building alternative institutions that might widen the Iraqi crack or embarrass the Iraqi project in the future."
He continues: "The Saddamists, takfiris, and extremists are held responsible in the first degree for the Iraqis' suffering, killing, eradication, torturing, and violation of their honour and holy shrines. We will not allow or respond to the calls for the return of the Saddamist Ba'th Party. However, we have no problem coexisting with ordinary Ba'thists who have merged into society or those who have not yet merged, but want to, to play their part in society similar to other Iraqis. The Saddamist Ba'th should not have a sensitive role or rank in our country, and we will not allow it to happen.
He says: "The local and provincial popular committees that we are witnessing today are the strong fortress and big power that the Iraqi Government can utilize in the process of law enforcement and in monitoring the moves of those who infringe on the law. These committees are a critical mainstay and vital force to build Iraq and regain its security and stability. These committees are located in all areas and comprise the entire Iraqi spectrum, which, if they operate in cooperation with the Iraqi security institution and according to a certain mechanism that is laid down by this institution, will benefit the institution and contribute to the achievement of security and stability."
He adds: "The provinces of South Baghdad, Baghdad, Kurdistan, and other provinces in any Iraqi area are the alternative for which we opted, and the one that we will continue to adopt. We will establish a federal system in Iraq, because we believe that the system of provinces will open the door for tackling many of the issues that we are currently facing. This system will open real opportunities for all Iraqi citizens in all areas for an effective partnership in managing their affairs. It will also strengthen affiliation to the homeland through opening opportunities for a good life and real partnership for the citizens. Thus, the people will stand closer together and take into consideration the special needs of each area. This is why we believe that this system is the genuine solution to the problems that we are facing. I call on you, dear brothers, to be seriously prepared to form these provinces within the timeframe set by the Iraqi House of Representatives."
He continues: "Speaking on your behalf, we newly express our pressing desire and serious will to be open to Arab and Islamic regional countries as well as to the world community, because we believe in the principle of mutual interests, regional and international partnership, and in the actual interests that bind us to our brothers and dear ones. We renew our pressing desire for openness and joint action. We call on these states to come closer to Iraq, extend further cooperation, show understanding of its circumstances, and stand on the Iraqis' side. However big are the problems, they will one day be solved. Iraq and the Iraqis will continue to exist. We hope that these countries would take their strategic interests into consideration and extend their hands to our great people."
He says: "We call on our esteemed government to shoulder greater responsibilities in order to render services, establish security and stability, and proceed on the path of construction and implementing development projects. We are very concerned over the slow performance of some ministries and their negligence of the programmes and policies set for them to implement projects and spend the funds that were allocated for these projects."
He adds: "The issue of the religious authority will continue to be essential, representing a feature or image of this good country. It also represents a safety valve. At the top of this authority is Imam Al-Sistanti, may God keep him safe. I call on you dear brothers and on all the honourable people of Iraq to rally around this authority and adhere to its general directives, which all fall in the interest of the entire Iraqis and stem from national feelings, as you know well. Imam Al-Sistani is the one who always says that our Sunni brothers and kinfolk are akin to us. This is the logic of our religious authority."
He continues: "Samarra is the bleeding wound in the hearts of all honourable and national Iraqis. The Iraqi Government should shoulder its responsibilities in maintaining security on the road to and in the city of Samarra, and it should expedite the reconstruction of the two holy shrines. The government should hold the delinquent persons accountable for these disgusting crimes, whether they be terrorists, collaborators, or government officials."
He pledges to the Shahid al-Mihrab, saying: "We will continue to be loyal to this march and defend its accomplishments. We will not kneel, yield, or retreat, but will proceed cohesively forward day after day and extend the hands of love and fraternity to all Iraqis, the region's countries, and all the world's countries. We want to establish an ideal experiment and to strengthen our values in this country whose great people, with their deeply entrenched civilization and rich history, are capable of achieving this end, God willing."
He concludes his speech by thanking the masses that attended the rally.
Source: Al-Iraqiyah TV, Baghdad, in Arabic 0645 gmt 21 Jul 07"Labels: Iraq
posted by Juan Cole @ 8/19/2007 06:04:00 AM
SADDAM MADE IRAQ WORTH FIGHTING FOR
Malcom Lagauche June 29, 2006
It is preposterous to see how the eventual hanging of Saddam unfolded. A bunch one-time Iraqis who had not lived in the country for decades were flown into Iraq by U.S. to run the country. A bible-toting imbecile (Paul Bremer) changed the country’s laws and constitution, as well as took away state ownership of crucial industries. A fiction writer would not be able to write such an unlikely scenario.
Many ironies are involved in this debacle. For one, many of those Iraqis who opposed Saddam but never left the country and who are now cheering his death, benefited greatly from the programs instituted in Saddam’s time, such as the excellent education system and the finest healthcare system in the Middle East, as well as an economy (pre-1991) that ensured most Iraqis a comfortable living. They have short memories.
Before Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath Party came to power in Iraq, the country was indistinguishable from most other Arab countries. Sure, it had oil, but in those days, the world did not have the thirst for the commodity that it has today. In the 1970s, the government introduced many revolutionary aspects to Iraqi life: the equality of women; universal education; universal health care; much-improved public transportation; emphasis on science; etc.
By the 1980s, Iraq was thriving and was the crown jewel of the Middle East. But, along with the improvements came jealousy and greed. The U.S., because of its no-questions-asked affinity to Israel, had to take Iraq back a few notches. And, oil was now becoming a symbol of political world power, not just something to buy to keep a country’s power requirements in place.
In other words, Iraq was now worth fighting for. It no longer was the antiquated nation of a few decades ago. Saddam Hussein was the driving force behind the transformation of Iraq.
Gradually, the U.S., with other western powers, wanted some of Iraq’s action. Little-by-little, the country was degraded, beginning on January 17, 1991. Twelve years of an embargo weakened it further, but it did not kill Iraq. It took a disgusting invasion in March 2003 to finish the country off.
Today, Iraq has been totally destroyed, not just physically, but emotionally. All of Saddam’s enemies hold equal responsibility in the destruction. They not only murdered Saddam, but Iraq as well. But, they are not jubilant. Because of the tenacity of Saddam and much of the Iraqi population, they had to destroy everything before they took it over. Shortly after March 2003, some people and institutions, like Ahmed Chalabi and Haliburton, made a quick financial klling. Those days are gone. Today’s thieves in the stooge government can only count on small change to steal. The Iraqi people have already had everything they own, physically and emotionally, stolen.
Malaki may be happy today that he pushed Saddam’s execution by, along with U.S. collaboration, forming phony courts for mock trials. Soon, that mirth will give way to panic. Saddam Hussein made Iraq worth fighting for. The outsiders and the traitors dismantled his Iraq. However, there are many Iraqis (the resistance) who will now, a little at a time, rid the country of the stooges and the occupiers. Then, Iraq will again worth be fighting for, but the discredited purveyors of destruction will have been discredited and will not represent a threat. This will be Saddam Hussein’s legacy. The "mother of all battles" is far from over.
Saddam knew how his life would end. But, he also realized that his legacy would be part of the equation that will resurrect Iraq. He never sold out, even at the end, when he was offered many chances to be freed. He knew that if he sold out, he would have sold out Iraq. The new Iraq that will eventually come into being will have the same tenacity and pride that Saddam Hussein exhibited. The current resistance still has much housecleaning to perform, but the results are inevitable.
In conclusion, I would like to relay a story published by Iraq Screen a few days ago. The author interviewed an Iraqi officer of the Republican Guard who participated in the battle for the airport in Baghdad in April 2003. The officer recalled:
While I was busy shooting with my colleagues, all of a sudden, we found Saddam Hussein with a number of his assistants inside the airport, we were really surprised because we did not expect such a thing, but Saddam went forward and took an RPG and put it on his shoulder and began to shoot by himself. We gathered around him and begged him to stay aside and leave us fighting because if we would be killed, we are common officers, but if he is killed, we would lose our leader. Saddam turned to us and said, "Look, I am no better than any one of you and this is the high time to defend our great Iraq and it would be great to be killed as a martyr for the sake of Iraq."
<>Saddam is now a martyr, even more so than if he was killed in the airport battle. Those who hanged him are sellout stooges and confronted him as cowards, not warriors.
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Destroying once again the Two Imams' Shrines' Minarets in Samarra:
Who are the perpetrators? and why?
* Translated by Abu Assur. http://www.al-moharer.net 6-13-07
It is becoming clearer every passing day that the sectarian strife or Fitna is one of the most important pillar of the US, Iranian and Zionist's plan, theoretically and practically.. and today's attack against Samarra's Imams Ali Al Hadi's and Hassan al Askari's shrines, comes within this framework. Now, a year and four months have passed since the first destruction took place uncovering the US -Iranian involvement in that destruction for the shrine was heavily guarded by two military and security US and Iraqi puppets belts! Despite that the explosion took place in a well studied technical way and with no obstacles.. This destruction bears the evident US - Iranian signature to fuel a sectarian war all over Iraq, and we know that those who undertook such action are Iran's agents and namely Jaber Soolagh, allowing Mahdi army to move to serve a US and Iranian plan to ethnically cleanse Baghdad and transform Iraq's Capital from a city for all Iraqis into a city for a specific sect only and for Persians imported from Iran, leading to the most horrible inter sectarian cleansing throughout all Iraq's history.
Despite these facts, and despite promising to establish an inquiry and sue those who undertook the criminal act in Samarra, the first destruction dossier was practically closed down when the puppet government precipitously accused Al Qaeda and those it calls Saddamists! The past days have showed that no effective measure has been taken and we were left hearing chaotic declarations. This ascertains that those who undertook this destruction were the same ones who have the security and military control over the shrine and nobody else.
Today, while a second explosion takes place after all the drawn lessons and after all the US and its puppet government promises to protect the shrine, it is impossible for even a naive individual, not to point the accusation finger towards the Occupation forces and the puppet government in Baghdad for they have a benefit from this crime! Remember how they claimed times and again taking the necessary measures to prevent such a crime to occur again..
The following observations are extremely important to determine the reasons and the parties behind this new destruction:
1 - The US-Iranian agreement on the 28th May 2007 in between the US and Iranian ambassadors in Iraq was an official crowning of the bilateral cooperation and entente, to renew, deepen their collaboration and solve their problems on Iraq's detriment from one hand and upgrade their collaboration to intensify their aggression in Iraq in new ways knowing that all their previous attempts to fuel al Fitna -sectarian strife, have collapsed due to the Iraqi people consciousness of their real aims and the ones behind. Yes! Indeed! Both agreed to try once more to turn the Iraqi patriot Armed Revolution against US and Iranian occupations, into a sectarian Fitna through starting formidable destruction in order to establish and develop plans like the ones in Al Adhamya, i.e. building walls around this neighborhood and turning it into a large prison. Didn't militant Al Basra network divulged a plan set by a commission headed by the criminal collaborator Ahmad Chalabi with the help of Iranian agents to turn some 50 Iraqi Resisting towns against the Occupation into large jails, isolated areas or protectorates.. as the ones invented by the racist South African Apartheid regime? Encircled by Al Mahdi Army and other collaborating militias with the Occupation and with Iran, and murdering, in a way or in an other, any one who carries an arm, and imposing the regime of large prisons upon the population. Yes! These plans need some big justifications and pretexts in particular when we saw how people rejected them in Al Adhamya and were condemned world wide.. Hence it was necessary to fabricate a big event to undertake a big plan ..and came the second destruction of both minarets in Samarra' shrine to put into practice the US and the Iranian ambassadors' scheme in Iraq.
2 - This destruction has been preceded by other destruction of Iraqi Islamic shrines such as the Abdel Qader al Gaylani's, Abu Hanifa's and Imam Ali's dome ( May Allah bless them all) and after an endless series of burning Iraqi mosques and Husseinyats and all these criminal acts were registered as the deed on an unknown perpetrators, while ready accusations were made again by the puppet government against Al Qaeda or what it calls the Saddamists..
The main question remained, who are behind these crimes?
3 - These crimes against the Iraqi religious sacro sanct places were accompanied by an aggressive and a grave Takfiri campaign against half of the Iraqi people through legally killing the Refusers. i.e. liquidating every Iraqi Shia patriot, faithful to his homeland, expelling him by force from his home. Furthermore this criminal campaign has attained even the patriots in amongst Iraq' Shias who were murdered by Iran gangs for refusing to trade their loyalty to the homeland and to Iraq against a sect, and were forced to leave their homes to other more secure areas.. Then the Takfiri gangsters murdered them and confiscated their belongings, humiliating their wives in a way contrary to the Islamic and Arab ethics. Our Party asserts again that the ones who issues these Fatwas to legalize the blood' shedding of Iraqi Shias or Iraqi Sunni, Iraqi Christians or Iraqi Mandeans, is a US occupation puppet or an Iranian agent. Yes these two, plus the Zionist Entity are the main beneficiaries from killing people according to their sectarian identity.
4 - These US - Iranian crimes were undertaken by Takfiri fatwas forcing the Mujahideens against the Occupation to choose either to support, join the Takfiris or to be liquidated and murdered.. and were followed by unfortunate fight in between the Mujahedeen who were victims not of the Occupation bullets but of some who claim combating it. This state of affairs has sent a shock wave in large Iraqi circles especially at a time when the Occupation has reached the highest degree of its decisive defeat .. and suddenly we witness these inter fight as a rescue buoy for the Occupation to achieve its most ever valuable objective, is to drive a wedge in between the ranks of the Iraqi Resistance which humiliated him, dragged its filthy nose into the mire and made out of its stay in Iraq a chaff blown by the wind.
5 - It becomes evident that the second destruction was timed with the fabricated and grave explosions to fuel sectarian ill feelings in other Arab countries.. such as Lebanon, where Fath al Islam came to light and insinuations here and there were heard to establish an Islamic emirate to compete with the Safawi pro Iranians and the Christians with a US -Zionist agenda.. while the pace for murdering Lebanese personalities, intensified.. These developments must be regarded as a one US -Iranian- Zionist plan to fuel sectarian strife to replace the liberation combat. The US' intention to establish military bases in northern Lebanon, under the pretexts of artificial worries and fears, will add more oil to the fire and will disrupt the peace in Lebanon.
Also what is happening in occupied Palestine such as the unfortunate in fight between Fath and Hamas has grave consequences despite being masked as a power struggle. This also is a part of the US-Zionist- Iranian plan to heighten tensions to include all the Arab Homeland and mainly the fundamental struggle areas.. One of these objectives is to sow desperation and conceal the positive fundamental phenomenon and specially the patriotic Armed Resistance against any occupations be US, Zionist or Iranian specially in Iraq and Palestine. Here we must draw attention on how the enemy Media started to criticize or to attack the Iraqi Armed Resistance and claim its undergoing a sectarian war instead of a liberation war. These Media, too, attack the Palestinian Resistance blaming it to struggle for power instead of combating the Zionist Occupiers.. while the West Bank and Gaza are still under the complete Zionist Occupation ! All these campaigns attempt to rob the Arab Resistance its liberation and responsible patriot character and accuse it to act thoughtlessly.
6 - The number one responsible for today's Samarra' destruction's is the Occupation, the Maliki puppet government, and Iran! Therefore confronting any of these acts must be first of all through continuing the combat against the US and Iranian occupations, wreck and reject the whole political process in Iraq, and bury the puppet government, completely and utterly rejecting any sectarian agenda whatever appearances it may take.
Based on the above fundamental observations, it is clear that what is happening in Iraq and in the region are criminal interconnected acts undertaken by enemy forces against the Arab nation and specifically the US, Iran and the Zionist Entity, to wipe out the Nation identity through liquidating its patriotic Resistance and replace it with a sectarian in-fight or a struggle for power.. to isolate and edge out it from the masses, while confronting this ferocious US - Zionist Entity -Iran unholy trinity and left with no choice but either to get wiped out or to collaborate with the Occupation.
Our Party while reminding these facts, requests from all the patriotic forces and specially inside the Armed Patriotic Resistance in Iraq, the followings:
1 - It is important, this very day and not tomorrow, to establish the global National Front to involve all the patriot Iraqis who reject the Occupation. The absence of this Front will help the Occupation to maneuver. Our objective, today, is to widen the Patriotic, National and Islamic Front in Iraq and to studiously act to involve all the patriots be organizations or individuals.
2 - Every heroic Iraqi Armed Resistance faction is invited to join this initiative, i.e. the unification of all the Jihadi factions into one Front which involves not only the Islamic organizations but all the combating national and patriotic organizations and that the Front should be based on a National program for liberation, away from any sectarian purpose, or any sectarian framework, a real National Program as far as its objectives, its identity or its characteristics are concerned and which incorporates all Iraq and embraces all the sons and daughters of Iraq and completely overcomes sectarianism and anti sectarianism behavior.This is the only way to shut the door in the face of any US-Iranian attempt to infiltrate the Iraqi Resistance.
3 - Whatever was said about some organizations who ranked with the Occupation, for participating only into its governments, our Party calls these who claim fighting the Occupation to proof that through cutting every links with the Occupation and with the sectarian Iranian agendas, to stop murdering and assassinating Iraq' symbols and to immediately enter a direct dialogue with the Patriotic Resistance and the Iraqi patriotic forces in order to incarnate all the Iraqis' hopes for liberation from US and Iranian colonialism.
4 - Our Party, which deeply and unshakably believes that liberating Iraq from the Occupation is the most important duty which overpasses any other, asserts again, and reminds once more about its Liberation strategy based on strong and permanent inalterable principle to establish a National Alliance government involving all these who fought and acted sincerely to defeat the Occupation, where there will be no room for power grabbing from any group, and where the final say will be for the election boxes.
Let's all stand united against the new US-Iranian aggression!
Long live the Iraqi Revolution our big hope to liberate Iraq from the Occupation!
Glory and eternity for the Arab Nation's and Iraq's martyrs and above all the Martyrs' master Saddam Hussein!
Shame and dishonor to all the sectarian strife heralds!
Long live the Mujahideen in the Patriotic, National, and Islamic factions and above all the grand Mujahid Izzat Ibrahim al Duri.
Iraq Leadership
Iraq Culture and Information Bureau
The Arab Baath Socialist Party Baghdad
________________________________
Washington behind attack on holy Shia shrines in Samarra to help topple Maliki government.
According to Source, John Negroponte behind Samarra blast
Global Research, June 18, 2007 http://www.presstv.ir/ - 2007-06-17
Maliki government... and Negroponte would certainly be doing what he's always done best...
We are however US "allies"... so... let's keep our heads burried..
The US Deputy Secretary of State reportedly planned the attack on the holy Shia shrines in Samarra to help topple the Iraqi government.
According to an informed source John Negroponte plotted the attack during an unannounced trip to Iraq on June 12 in order to fuel insecurity and sectarian violence in the country.
Negroponte's motive was to overthrow Iraq's legitimate government, the same source added.
Negroponte, who was a staunch supporter of right-wing death squads in Central America during the 1980s, held several informal meetings with Iraqi officials prior to the June 13 terrorist attack on the revered Shia shrines in Samarra, the source said.
During his meetings, Negroponte reportedly strongly cautioned that the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must change.
Negroponte also asked several Iraqi officials, including Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, to resign- a move the source said was aimed at paving the way for al-Maliki's government to eventually 'topple'.
The source said Negroponte made “empty promises” to the Iraqi officials, saying they would be appointed to key governmental posts.
But the US still wants to return the Baathists, the loyalists of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, to power.
The blast in Samarra which destroyed the minarets of the sacred shrines of the Shia Imams was performed with the assistance of the former Saddam regime's security agents, the source added.
As ambassador to Honduras, Negroponte played a key role in US aid to the Contra death squads in Nicaragua and in shoring up the brutal military dictatorship of General Gustavo Alvarez Martinez in Honduras.
During his term as ambassador there, diplomats alleged that the embassy's annual human rights reports made Honduras sound more like 'Norway than Argentina.'
However, according to a four-part series in the Baltimore Sun, in 1982 alone the Honduran press ran 318 stories of murders and kidnappings by the Honduran military.
HA/MR/NN
______________________________
Iran: Coalition Intelligence attacked Shiite Holy site,
not Sunnis
Global Research June 18, 2007
Iranian leaders say that the recent attacks on Shia Muslims in Samarra is not the act by Sunni Muslims, but the work of US and British intelligence.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has said the bombing of the holy Shia shrines in Samarra is aimed at provoking sectarian violence.
In a message on the recent bombing of the shrines of the two revered Shia Imams in the Iraqi town of Samarra, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei blamed the intelligence services of the Zionist regime and the occupation forces in Iraq for the bombing, saying such terrorist acts are meant to intensify sectarian violence in the Muslim world.
The Leader urged the Muslims particularly the Iraqi people to remain vigilant in the face of the plots hatched to create sectarian strife between Shias and Sunnis.
He noted the holy shrines of the two revered Shia Imams in the Sunni town of Samarra, had been respected throughout history, whereas the recent event marks the second desecration of these holy sites since the invasion of Iraq by foreign troops.
He emphasized that the occupying forces are instigating insecurity in Iraq and leaving enough space for terrorist movements in order to justify the ongoing illegitimate occupation of the country and to debilitate the government of Iraq.
Calling for Sunni scholars to condemn the sacrilege of the holy sites and Shias to remain calm, Ayatollah Khamenei said our Shia and Sunni brothers in Iraq should beware of the conspiracy against the Muslim unity.
___________________________________
1rst June 2007, Excerpt from:
The Oil nationalization
has sparked today's Arab battle for existence!
The primary US plan into invasion Iraq was to reformat Iraq again as to be the number one strategic center for the US on the regional and the global level, make the Iraqi oil industry the most important in the world and use it as the principal mean for the US' hegemony.The Party and its Resistance, however, wrecked this plan by another anti plan and adopted a two main pillars well thought strategy to prevent the Occupation from succeeding. The first was to prevent the US from using the Iraqi oil, to finance its war, and to blackmail the world through controlling the petrol sources.. The second pillar was to prevent the establishment of a puppet government backed by a strong apparatus, to be used as an Iraqi human shield to protect the US from a killer attrition war, and helps it to continue or to succeed.
The designed and preset Resistance, has wrecked the US plan, preventing the US from commercially benefiting from the Iraqi petrol, foiling its export and the rehabilitation of the petrol' installation purposely destroyed by the US! Therefore the petrol exports didn't surpass, four years after the invasion, half what was being exported before the invasion despite all the US security efforts and plans to increase the export quantities. This fact has forced the US to confront an almost impossible mission: how to finance Iraq's invasion, while the original plan was to fund the invasion with the Iraqi petrol. This was indeed the biggest US' failures in Iraq and its most difficult problem.
Consequently the Iraqi Resistance succeeded almost completely to wreck the US endeavor to establish an Iraqi shield (a puppet army, a puppet police corps, puppet national guards, and puppet security services) to protect itself from the patriotic Resistance and to provide it with the necessary human and material forces to go ahead with squashing Iraq and its Resistance..
______________________________
A MATTER OF PRIDE
by Malcom Lagauche June 18, 2007
With information about many murders and the destruction of mosques and bridges in Iraq being disseminated daily, it is no wonder that the majority of people have forgotten the totality of the "mother of all battles." What occurs today is an extension of the hostilities that began on January 17, 1991. Much of the public of many countries wrongly believe that there were two Iraq wars vs. the U.S. - one in 1991 and the other in 2003. The war has been raging consistently for almost 17 years.
I mention this because of incidents that happened during the 1991 military action against Iraq and how they differ, yet remain the same today. For instance, the U.S. destroyed the entire electrical grid of Iraq in 1991, yet within a few months, the system was up and running. It was repaired by Iraqis using Iraqi materials. And, something else came into play that can not be measured: Iraqi pride.
The 1991 bombing of Iraq was probably more devastating than the aerial campaign of 2003. Water systems, electricity, the infrastructure: all were completely destroyed. The U.S. has admitted that its goal was to destroy the country in such a manner that its people would overthrow the government. To Washington’s surprise, the Iraqis fought back and did not do away with their leaders.
You name it and it was destroyed. For instance, on February 13, 1991, television stations worldwide were broadcasting the pictures of the Amiriyah civilian bomb shelter that had been hit by two U.S. bombs; bombs specifically made to burrow deep into the target.
Dick Cheney, then Secretary of Defense, took to the microphone and stated, "I blame the Iraqi leadership for putting civilians in harm's way." Brilliant. A bomb shelter is supposed to protect civilians, not be a magnet for bombs.
Hundreds of people died in the bombing of the shelter, yet the U.S. attempted to blame the destruction on Saddam Hussein. Supermarkets, hospitals, clothing factories, mosques: you name it and the U.S. bombed it.
I bring up these instances because many people have forgotten them. We must remember that they are just as relevant today as they were then.
Now, let’s go to 2003. The U.S. again destroyed the Iraqi electrical grid. But, it has never been fixed. More than two years after the invasion, electricity is still a part-time luxury for many Iraqis.
The U.S. has no excuse. It is occupying the country and there is no embargo in place. The richest country on the planet with access to the most advanced technology can not put Iraq together again. But, in 1991, Iraq put itself together with no outside assistance.
In 1991, the Iraqis who restructured their country had pride. In 2003, most of the same people who performed the work more than a decade earlier were left out under the De-Baathification program set forth by Paul Bremer. The U.S. hired its own people to re-construct the country, but they only work for money, not pride.
The reconstruction effort of 1991, led by the Ba'ath government was nothing short of magnificent. Ingenuity and pride prevailed.
The ongoing reconstruction of Iraq today is a fiasco. Pride does not enter the picture. Only money paid to U.S. firms who overcharge for their services.
Let's go back to July 19, 1992 and see what the Baghdad Observer had to say about re-building Iraq in those days. Here is the editorial for that day when the country was undergoing an embargo, but at least was still independent and filled with pride.
THE WRONG CONCLUSION
When the ceasefire was announced in the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq, boastful U.S. politicians appeared on TV networks around the world to say that they have achieved what had meant to be a deadly blow to roll Iraq back to a pre-industrial era.
During the U.S.-led aggression, the unprecedented 30-state coalition embarked on destroying almost all of the country’s infrastructure, including water and power supply networks which bore the brunt of assiduous air attacks. Consequently, all that had been the pivot of Iraq’s life system had come to a standstill. The Western nations thought that the war succeeded in nipping in the bud Iraq’s determination to face up to the challenges and hegemony. Hence, Iraq, they thought, could no more stand against any future threat.
U.S. experts and technicians placed their bets and succeeded in misleading the world into believing that it would not be less than 10 years before Iraq could reoperate its war-torn power plants or provide its people with potable water.
But, to the 30-country coalition’s disappointment, Iraq's relentless drive of reconstruction dubbed ill-put calculations as wrong. Within the span of less than one year, 90 percent of Iraq's pre-war electricity generation capacity was restored and the war-devastated oil industry came back to normal at a speed which surprised all its enemies. What was intended to be a complete collapse surely backfired.
Power alone will surely fail to justify U.S. actions as the world policeman. As the battle is not over yet, determination to counterbalance the Western hegemony.
_________________________________
IRAQIS WANT AMERICANS TO GO HOME; BUSH THE BLOODTHIRSTY PRESSING ON
By Bill Gallagher Niagara Falls Reporter July 17 2007
DETROIT -- President George W. Bush's contempt for the American and Iraqi people is boundless. He insists on sending more American troops and Iraqi civilians to their deaths in his futile war waged only to stroke his megalomania and try to control Iraq's oil reserves.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki now says flat-out that his army is capable of handling security in his shattered nation when U.S. troops withdraw "any time they want."
The prime minister welcomed the U.S. forces to leave two days after a news conference where Bush ranted like an automaton on speed, defending the indefensible and demanding that he alone should decide what is the proper course in Iraq, rejecting any role for Congress.
Only the great "decider," the "commander guy," the "bring 'em on" boy knows how to extricate America from the fiasco in Iraq his arrogance, incompetence and intransigence have created. Be patient and wait, he demands -- a command only soldiers who have no choice and fools will obey.
Now, with the Iraqi leader giving the OK for a U.S. withdrawal and growing evidence that the surge in U.S. troops is simply repositioning insurgent violence, the only justification for American military presence in Iraq is Bush's unspoken agenda, the real reasons for the disastrous invasion and occupation in the first place.
Bush wants the Iraqi parliament to pass an oil revenue-sharing law, clearing the way for American and British companies to start pumping crude and grabbing claims to vast, untapped Iraqi oil resources.
Bush and the neocon nuts he listens to want permanent American military bases in Iraq to protect the oil, to become the entrenched regional bully, strategically positioned to launch attacks on other nations in the neighborhood, notably Iran and Syria.
Bush's incessant claim that we cannot "quit Iraq before the job is done" has nothing whatsoever to do with the protection and security of the Iraqi people. It's all about what is under the ground these suffering people walk on. In a speech before the West Virginia Air National Guard on the Fourth of July, Bush made a brief but telling mention of the war- for-oil strategy. But first he had to tell the military volunteers how much he appreciated their repeated deployments to Iraq.
Bush -- whose own Air National Guard record includes an entire year AWOL and his failure to take a mandatory flight physical and undergo drug testing -- apparently saw no irony in being there to honor those "who in the face of danger wear the uniform of the United States of America and step forward in freedom's defense."
Bush's Air National Guard service was distinguished by his successful quest not to wear his uniform, to duck danger and step back from even casual duty. Real danger is not required for the pampered children of the powerful and the privileged.
Mark my words: No relative of Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, supporters of the war in Congress, College Young Republicans or right-wing pundits who sold the aggression will die in Iraq.
Bush said sacrifice in Iraq is imperative to confront the terrorists, because if we don't, "they would follow us here." And with a foothold in Iraq, "they would control a nation with massive oil reserves."
That brief lapse of truth was the most honest utterance Bush has made. American troops and Iraqi civilians must die indefinitely because "we," not "they," must control "massive oil reserves."
The Australians are among the few left in the "coalition" occupying Iraq. Although they only have 1,500 soldiers there, the largely symbolic contribution is sure to pay off in oil. At least that's why they are there.
The same day Bush spit out the oily truth, Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson offered a candid explanation for continuing the bloodshed. Nelson told the Australian Broadcasting Company, "Energy security is extremely important to all nations throughout the world, and of course, in protecting and securing Australia's interests."
And from deep down under, Nelson blurted out the only real reason for this horrible war: "Obviously the Middle East itself, not only Iraq, but the entire region is an important supplier of energy, oil in particular, to the rest of the world. Australians and all of us need to think what would happen if there were a premature withdrawal from Iraq."
At least the Aussies are acknowledging the self-evident truth. Bush is incapable of admitting why we are waging what he himself now calls "an ugly war." He is desperately trying to replay the old al-Qaeda tune, and many in the echo chamber of the mainstream media dutifully plug the recording.
At last week's news conference, Bush mentioned al-Qaeda in Iraq 30 times. In a shameless lie, absurd rewriting of history and deliberate distortion of the timeline of the carnage in Iraq, Bush boldly claimed, "The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on Sept. 11, and that's why what happens in Iraq matters to the security here at home."
Leave it to the intrepid Helen Thomas, the gutsiest member of the White House press corps, to prick Bush's bubble of deceit. "Mr. President, you started this war, this war of your choosing, and you can end it alone today, at this point," she said with righteous indignation for Bush's transparent lie.
Then Thomas threw a bucket of cold truth on a man who bathes in lies, with the crunch question: "Don't you accept, don't you understand we brought al-Qaeda to Iraq?"
The smirking, befuddled Bush reached for the only arrow in his quiver -- a lie. He blamed Saddam Hussein. Saddam "chose the course," Bush claimed, and the United States was compelled to invade Iraq because Saddam was ignoring United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Bush's writers twisted the U.N. position into an oft-repeated, cutesy phrase he brought out of retirement to try to fend off Thomas. Saddam had been warned, Bush reminded us, to "disclose, disarm or face serious consequences" Saddam had nothing to disclose or disarm. Bush was simply hell-bent to use the "serious consequences" part of his pat line. In his delusional world, Bush now wants us to believe Saddam is responsible for al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Even U.S. military intelligence pegs al-Qaeda as representing at most 15 percent of the forces carrying out violent assaults in Iraq. Overwhelmingly, Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias, not al-Qaeda, foster the still largely sectarian, indigenous violence.
Yes, al-Qaeda is dangerous in Iraq, but Bush is inflating its role there and again conflating his war of choice with Sept. 11. The New York Times came up with a couple of crisp declarative sentences capturing the essence of Bush's distortion: "Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia did not exist before the Sept. 11 attacks. The Sunni group thrived as a magnet for recruiting and a force for violence largely because of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, which brought an American occupying force of more than 100,000 troops to the heart of the Middle East and led to a Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad."
This week, the Senate will take up another measure aimed at changing the U.S. role in Iraq. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., are looking for bipartisan support for a proposal to require the president to develop a plan by October that would significantly narrow the U.S. mission in Iraq.
Other bipartisan plans call for putting into law the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, a report Bush has thoroughly rejected. In fact, in many key areas he has done just the opposite of the strategy outlined by the panel.
Even with pressure from Congress, Bush will do as he pleases.
He will not hesitate to defy the law, if lawmakers ever do pass a veto-proof bill with a timetable for withdrawal. Bush is a war president, anointed by God to transform the Middle East and protect oil.
The American and Iraqi people want U.S. troops out of Iraq. Bush doesn't give a damn. It's his war and his oil.
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Bill Gallagher, a Peabody Award winner, is a former Niagara Falls city councilman who now covers Detroit for Fox2 News. His e-mail address is gallaghernewsman@sbcglobal.net.
The
national popular resistance in Iraq, in defending the whole of humanity
against a culture of force, deserves our recognition and support,
writes Hana Abdul Ilah Al-Bayaty
The illegal
invasion and destruction of Iraq is not only the biggest crime of
recent history, it is the original sin of the 21st century, a
depravity. In its war on Iraq, the United States has sought to destroy
Iraq as both a state and a nation.
It has decimated an
entire class — the progressive middle class of Iraq that had proven its
capacity to manage Iraqi resources independently and to the benefit of
all; it killed nearly a million while sending millions more into exile;
it orchestrated death squads and looting and invented new horrors in
torture and rape; in the name of bringing democracy, it brought
material destruction on a mass scale to a people, aiming also to erase
their identity, memory, culture, social fabric, institutions and forms
of administration, commerce, and everyday life; it even attacked Iraq’s
unborn generations with the 4.7 billion-year death of depleted uranium.
It has engaged in civilisational genocide as well as its own
moral suicide. Force, however, does not dictate right. The brutality of
power and imperialism has been definitively exposed while the project
for a new American century has utterly failed. The consequences for
American and international history are conclusive. The world order that
formed around erstwhile US liberal values has evaporated.
The US invasion and occupation of Iraq is a
military, economic, political, moral and cultural disaster for
Americans and the world.
US military failure has been
demonstrated by the inability of the best funded and most sophisticated
armed force in the world to defeat the resistance of a small country
and its poor people tired of 13 years of sanctions, exposing war as
useless.
While the Americans may attempt to secure their
presence in Iraq, they cannot destroy the belief of Iraqis that they
have the right to live as any other people in the world, free and
independent and sovereign in their land and over their resources.
Occupying
Iraq is an economic disaster because the costs of the war for the
United States have increased beyond any economic gain it could have
from controlling Iraqi oil.
Politically, the occupation is a
disaster for the United States because no one in the world can argue
that it is playing a progressive role. The occupation is also a moral
and cultural disaster for the US. Following the enormous human
suffering of World War II, the world — Americans included — established
international law and human rights law that set the standard for
civilised societies.
US neoconservatives and imperialists are
trying to destroy this civilisation, refusing to be subject to
international law and replacing it with the law of the jungle. How can
the world — Americans included — be identified with such a savage
enterprise as the war on and occupation of Iraq?
Arabs are not strangers to neo-imperial attempts to prevent their development. They recall the systematic demonisation of their popular movements: the attempted toppling of the democratically elected Syrian government in 1956 for being “communist”, the characterisation of Nasser as a “fascist” when he nationalised the Suez Canal, the criminalisation of the Iraqi Baath Party, referred to as “Nazis”, when it refused to surrender control over Iraq’s resources. Even the Palestinian and Lebanese people who heroically struggle against occupation are considered “terrorists”. We know well what are colonial policies in general and in this region in particular. The US always pretends to defend the rights of a minority — whether its demands are justified or not — in order to control the majority. In Iraq, since 1991, the US appealed to Kurds and Shias to rebel, trying to insinuate that those who govern them are Sunnis. Anyone with intellectual honesty knows that the Baath Party was neither sectarian in its thinking nor in its membership.
US-Israeli plans, based on creating divisions
among
Arabs in one country, or between countries, have failed. In Iraq, the
policy of charming some groups of the Iraqi Resistance or their
supporters in order to divide them and isolate the resistance has
failed completely.
Despite repeated declarations made by war
criminal Jalal Talabani, resistance groups are united in their
position. Second, the policy of dividing Iraqi movements into Shia,
Sunni and Kurd, is disintegrating: large movements of opinion insist on
the unity of Iraq and the common interest of its people. Ever more
groups in the south enter the struggle against the occupation and its
local puppet government.
The unity of Turkomen, Assyrians and
Arabs on the fate of Kirkuk is an example of underlying unity, as is
the deepening of tribal solidarity, spreading demands for a large
political national front, demonstrations in the north, and ever
unifying positions concerning the future of Iraq’s oil wealth.
Where the Sumerians invented writing, the Babylonians invented law, followed by the Abbasid who introduced the idea of a state of all its citizens and of social solidarity in society, opening the path for the unifying Arab-Muslim civilisation that survives proudly to this day. The Iraqi people are the expression of this heritage, regardless of their religion or ethnicity. Never in history could two states cohabitate the area that is now Iraq. It has always been in the interest of the peoples who settled in the Iraq basin to organise together a common geopolitical future.
There have been many unsuccessful imperial attempts to divide this natural entity. No form of aggression, regardless of how criminal or vengeful, can destroy the Arab-Muslim identity of Iraq or Iraq’s geopolitical unity. In its attempts to destroy this civilisation and reality, the US administration has thrown the entire idea of the so-called West into disarray. Definitively exposed are all the racist and condescending attitudes that had remained latent or covert. The “West” — and the United States in particular — stands naked as a culture of force. The moral accounting, which will develop inexorably, will change world history. It is the resistance of the Iraqi people that demands it.
Attempts to choke Arab development cannot but
fail.
The three main socio-economic and political currents developed by Arab
societies — nationalists, Islamists and leftists — are intrinsically
anti-imperialist and therefore opposed to US-Israeli regional designs.
For
nationalists, retaining control of national resources to serve the
general interest is sacrosanct. For leftists, opposing the
international chains of imperialism and globalisation is a baseline.
For Islamists, resistance to foreign occupation, as written in the
Quran, is a duty. Their interest lies currently in achieving unity in
struggle. They are united by their Arabo-Muslim identity. They share
common principles and values as follows: natural resources, material
heritage, and the riches of culture and civilisation are the property
of the totality of the people; the totality of citizens constitutes the
people; the people are the sole source of sovereignty and of
constitutional, political and judicial legitimacy; government is
responsible for and accountable to all citizens; solidarity between
citizens — between generations, the able and ill, the elderly and
young, the orphan and every human being who finds himself in a state of
weakness — should form the basis of any government’s social policy.
The
general interest is the justification and basis for the operation of
the state, with every citizen, free of all forms of discrimination,
sharing in the fruits of national wealth and social development.
The United States established a collision
course
confrontation with Iraqi society when it liquidated the Iraqi state,
destroying its accomplishments and erasing its memory. It was oblivious
to the simple truth that society is not a political movement or head of
state that can be conquered, apprehended, bribed or killed; rather, it
is all the living people in a given country.
Like other live
societies, Iraqi society possesses huge capabilities — a sophisticated
legacy based on ancient civilisations and an experienced patriotic
movement. Occupation forces faced from the first day a resolute
resistance, culminating in an uprising by all Iraqi movements and
organisations, including those defending women or unemployed youth,
human rights organisations, trade unions, professional syndicates,
agencies defending Iraq’s environment and the rights of prisoners, and
all other cultural and political organisations, side-by-side with
provincial and tribal communities and peaceful and armed resistance
groups. A national popular movement, opposed to occupation and
sectarianism, developed taking various forms, from civil to armed
resistance.
In struggling against military-imperial powers,
Iraqis fight in defence of values around which a majority in the world
gathers in consensus.
In contrast, the sheer level of force to
which Iraqis have been subjected by imperial powers — from systematic
murder and rape, the desecration of religious and cultural sites and
the destruction of Iraq’s historic heritage, the poisoning of Iraq’s
landscape and rivers by radioactive weapons that will mark the lives of
its future generations for hundreds if not thousands of years, the
terrorising of a whole national population and its attempted division
along lines leading to all out civil war, the plunder of its resources
— prove the decadence and utter immorality of the
neoliberal/neoconservative agenda.
The struggle of Iraq is a
struggle for civilisation, for culture, for justice, and for not
reducing human life to mere production and consumption or the conquest
of others. Indeed, the present uprising of Iraqis is not only a part of
the wider struggle against savage globalisation and “free” capital, it
is its forefront battle. It is because the Iraqis refuse to surrender
their sovereignty to multinational corporations that Iraq is being
destroyed so viciously.
While the occupation is a disaster for the
United
States, for Iraqi society it is a catastrophe. With the aid of
its allies, the US has destroyed all that Iraqis built in modern
times.
It should come as no surprise that Iraqis will continue
struggling against the occupation in order to restore their society.
The large educated and marginalised middle class, along with the
impoverished working class and unemployed youth deprived of state
subsidies, have no interest in collaborating with the US policy of
creating a class of blood-soaked feudal warlords. Resistance is the
only path for Iraqis to true liberty, democracy, peace, dignity
and achieving their interests, both as individuals and as a people. The
US administration has succeeded in nothing but destruction, bloodshed
and lies.
The Iraqi Resistance is by definition democratic as
it is the spontaneous expression of a people who took its destiny into
its hands, and is by definition progressive as it defends the interests
of the people.
While Western societies pose as being
democratic,
street action and popular consensus over the past four years has proven
that Western structures of political governance are impervious to
popular will. Despite its failure to solidify our trust in our ability
to change history, the anti-war and anti-globalisation movement, in its
various forms of expression, proves that the people understand the
current divorce between their aspirations and the individuals, parties
and institutions that are supposed to represent and defend them and
their interests.
New ways of civil struggle must be found, and
urgently. While its failure is comprehensive, this US administration
shows no sign of changing course. Iraq and the world cannot wait until
November 2008, by which time this US administration and its local
collaborators could have killed another one million Iraqis on top of
the one million killed since 2003. Rigorous action is needed, including
the impeachment and prosecution of responsible state leaders and
officials for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of
genocide.
We should support the call of Tun Dr Mahatir
Mohammed to criminalise war as a means of resolving disputes among
nations. We should support this call not only because war is a crime,
but also because war again has been proven useless. Iraq cannot be
broken and cannot be subjugated.
The defeat of the United
States and the occupation should be a lesson; that never again a
military force tries to subjugate the people of another country. The US
did not and cannot achieve its goals, even if it exterminates whole
sections of Iraqi society. To succeed in stopping this insanity, the
anti-war movement must revise all its terminology and refuse the terms
dictated by the occupation.
We must condemn the ignorance that
accepts the dehumanising of the other. We must refuse the word
“insurgency” and substitute it for what exists in reality: legitimate
and legal resistance against vicious foreign occupation. Occupation is
a de facto condition, not a de jure determination. With
around 200,000 foreign forces on Iraqi soil, Iraq cannot be but
described as an occupied country. Detainees in Iraq should thus be
considered prisoners of war, with all the protected rights the Third
Geneva Convention assures them.
We ought all to be humbled by the loses this
people
has been prepared to endure for our sake and demand the complete,
unconditional and immediate withdrawal of occupation forces from Iraqi
soil, along with the cancellation of any law, treaty, agreement or
contract passed under occupation and the fair payment of reparations
and compensations for the tragic human and material loses the Iraqis
have suffered in defence of civilisation.
We must refuse in
total the culture of the military-imperial state if we are to
contribute to the wave of resistance rising worldwide in defence of
civilisation, justice, independence and coexistence.
We must
retrieve recognition from any entity imposed by the United States and
that claims to represent the people of Iraq. Long live the Iraqi people
and its sole representative, the Iraqi Resistance.
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