Letters to the editor, April 12, 2003

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After Iraq: The Ongoing Crisis

by Dr. George Friedman



Summary

As the war in Iraq moves toward a conclusion, the expectations
are that the end of the war will bring at least a pause in
international tensions. We do not believe this will be the case.
Given U.S. war goals, crises -- inside Iraq, with nations along
Iraq's border and between Europe and the United States -- can be
expected to flow directly from war termination, whenever it
comes. As we have said, Iraq is a campaign in a much larger war
and not a war in itself. We now will see what that means.

Analysis

Stratfor has argued that the United States had two fundamental
reasons for invading Iraq:

1. To transform the psychology of the Islamic world, which had
perceived the United States as in essence weak and unwilling to
take risks to achieve its ends.

2. To use Iraq as a strategic base of operations from which to
confront Islamic regimes that are either incapable of or
unwilling to deny al Qaeda and other Islamist groups access to
enabling resources.

The war in Iraq is not over: There are extraordinarily complex
politico-military missions to confront. This is particularly true
in the north, where some substantial Iraqi forces appear to
remain and where the political situation among various players --
Kurdish, Turkish, Iranian and Syrian -- remains complex, dynamic
and opaque. Nevertheless, it is possible to make some assessment
of the intended and unintended consequences of the war.

There already has been a strong impact on the psychology of the
Arab world in particular. During the run-up to the war and until
the last week, there existed a sense of growing anger and
radicalization. With the collapse of resistance in Baghdad, this
has given way to a sense of stunned disbelief. The Arab press
appears to be filled with four themes:

1. A sense of denial, and an insistence that resistance continued
but was being hidden by the world press.

2. A sense of betrayal by Saddam Hussein, whose failure to resist
effectively was seen as a sign of corruption.

3. A sense of hopelessness, expressing the view that resisting
the United States is beyond the capacity of Arabs. This was
coupled at times with an expression of determination to rectify
the situation.

4. Bitterness at Europe -- particularly France and Russia, which
abandoned Iraq to its fate.

U.S. leaders understand that the result of the war will be
increased bitterness, although some argue that Arab bitterness
was already maxed out anyway. What they are driving for with this
operation is a psychological capitulation -- a sense that
accommodation with the United States is the only path.

The United States certainly has inflicted a massive blow on the
Arab, if not the Islamic, psyche. The only comparable moment was
in June 1967, when Israeli forces defeated the Egyptians, Syrians
and Jordanians. It should be remembered that the defeat had
unintended consequences: Not only did Egypt and Syria attack
Israel with some effect in 1973, but the consequences of the
defeat energized the Palestinian movement. The Israelis have
begun warning the Palestinians to think through the lessons of
Iraq. On the other side, the United States must carefully think
through the lessons of 1967.

The simplistic idea that resentment of the United States will
generate effective action by Arabs misses a crucial point. Two
scales are at work here: the radicalism scale and the hope scale.
On the radicalism scale, the level of radicalism and anti-
Americanism in the Arab world has been off the chart for months.
Increasing the level would be difficult. However, radicalism by
itself does not lead to action. There must also be hope -- a
sense that there are weaknesses in the U.S. position that can be
exploited, that there is some possibility of victory, however
distant. So long as the hope scale tends toward hopelessness,
radicalism can be intense.

The United States was prepared to allow the radicalism scale to
go deep into the danger zone, but Washington has been trying to
keep the hope scale deeply in the green zone. Israel's failure
after 1967 was inherent in its position: The Israelis depended
heavily on outsiders for national security. The Arab perception
was that the Israelis could be attacked by splitting them from
their patrons. This sense of vulnerability led to an active
response to defeat.

The task facing the United States now is to avoid projecting a
sense of vulnerability. This is easier for Washington than it was
for Israel. The United States comes out of the war less dependent
on others; it also has a strong domestic consensus in favor of
the war. The United States presents, at the moment, a seamless
face to the Arab world: It is hated but feared. Washington now
must act now to maintain the fear, while reducing hatred. How it
manages Iraq will determine the outcome. If the United States
loses control of the situation, it quickly could lead to a
perception of vulnerability. It must control the situation in
Iraq while maintaining a benign administration. This will not be
as easy it sounds: Where Washington can choose between
unrelenting strength and the risk of perceived weakness, it will
have to carefully choose strength. That is implicit in the
strategy.

From a geopolitical perspective, we already have seen the United
States transiting from the Iraqi war phase toward confrontation
with the surrounding states. Saudi leaders capitulated in
fundamental ways before the United States went to war, permitting
U.S. aircraft to fly air strikes against Iraq and allowing U.S.
forces to pass through Saudi territory. Jordan and Kuwait are not
problems. But there are three issues: Syria, Turkey and Iran.

* Syria: Syrian behavior has become unpredictable. The Syrians
have long understood that, as a consequence of the war, their
country would be surrounded by three enemies: the United States,
Turkey and Israel. Rather than trying to reach an accommodation
with the United States, Damascus stepped up its aggressive
behavior during the war, permitting volunteers to go into Iraq to
fight coalition forces and apparently permitting Iraqi personnel
to seek shelter in Iraq. The Bush administration has made it
clear that it finds Syrian behavior intolerable, and Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has refused to rule out assertive
action against Syria. There was no question but that the United
States was going to confront Syria at some point from its bases
in Iraq, but the Syrians seem to have chosen to accelerate the
process -- perhaps feeling that a better settlement could be
reached earlier in the game.

* Turkey: Washington needs to defuse the bad end to the pre-war
confrontation. Turkey is a geopolitical foundation of U.S.
strategy -- not only in the Middle East, but also north of the
Caucasus, in southeastern Europe and Iran. A permanent rift with
Turkey would be intolerable. Similarly, the United States remains
the foundation of Turkish national security policy. Without it,
Turkey has fundamental problems. The two countries may not be
friends at the moment, but they share fundamental interests. Both
nations now will attempt to extract themselves from the
unacceptable situation they created for each other. The key will
be limiting Kurdish expectations.

* Iran: the extraordinarily complex game that Tehran is playing
makes Syrian foreign policy transparent. Iran has positioned
itself in such a way that its pro-Iranian Shiite groups in Iraq
could wage a guerrilla war against the United States, while
Tehran holds open the possibility of reaching implicit
accommodations with the United States -- all at the same time.
Iranian subtlety notwithstanding, Washington regards Iran as the
single most potentially dangerous regime in the region, because
of both its resources and the complexity of its politics and
policies. Iran has positioned itself to be fundamentally
unpredictable -- and having achieved this goal, it concerns the
United States tremendously.

Therefore, if the goal of the United States was to create a base
of operations in Iraq from which to influence the dynamics of the
region internally, the game is in play even before the war is
formally ended. The Syrian situation will probably be contained,
but it represents a fundamentally destabilizing factor to the
region. The Iranian situation is much more difficult to predict
in the long run, even as the Iranians practice their
traditionally complex prudence in the short run.

In a similar sense, unintended consequences of the war must be
managed. The U.S. relationship with Britain is fundamental to
U.S. national strategy -- and Britain, for a host of its own
reasons, does not want an outright breach either with the Franco-
German bloc or with multilateral organizations like the United
Nations. The United States must accommodate the British without
losing control of the situation in Iraq.

The primary purpose of the April 11-12 summit in St. Petersburg
between Russian, German and French leaders is to find a way to
limit the consequences of U.S. victory in Iraq. All of them
opposed the war, and the United States prosecuted it any way.
This demonstrated that Washington needs neither material support
from Europe nor political validation. For all three countries,
this represents a fundamental redefinition of their place in the
world. There had been a fixed assumption that in some sense, the
United States remained dependent on them, that they were
necessary enablers for global actions. Alliance for them was not
an American choice, but a necessity. Iraq represented a very
public demonstration that they were irrelevant to U.S.
policymaking, either individually or collectively. This
represents a geopolitical crisis of the first order to them.

These countries' solution will be to try to manipulate the United
States into accepting the United Nations as the primary manager
of Iraqi affairs. To do so, they will use the British desire to
maintain bridges to the Franco-German bloc as a means of forcing
the United States to shift policy. The United States cannot
abandon control of Iraq without abandoning the goals for which it
fought the war. This undoubtedly will lead to another round of
unpleasantness with the Euro Three, which would not bother
Washington a bit. U.S. President George W. Bush is positioned
domestically to take advantage of resentment -- particularly of
France -- so that their demand to participate in governing Iraq
will be taken as wanting the fruits of victory without taking the
risks. The British, however, will be another matter. We expect to
see growing strains between the two countries as Britain tries to
find balance.

What we are getting at is that no postwar lull is possible here,
even if there does emerge a clear-cut end to the war. The two
goals of the war need immediate management. The management of
Arab and Islamic public opinion requires exquisite care in the
management of internal Iraqi affairs. It also requires that U.S.
power in the region be perceived as irresistible. This means that
U.S. relations with Syria and Iran must be managed aggressively
but without crossing the line to unwarranted belligerence. It
means that the U.S.-Turkish relationship must be managed
dispassionately, in spite of underlying tensions. All of this is
urgent. None of it will wait. Finally, the pre-war battle with
the Europeans, while undoubtedly more subdued, still will define
much of the global rhetoric -- save that given its stakes in the
Islamic world, the United States will be even less able and less
inclined to cooperate with European demands.

Now things get really tricky.'

 

 


 

 
Israeli hate group comes to UC Berkeley

From the UC Berkeley, "Daily Cal" 4/10/03
Woman Spits on Palestinian Supporter

A woman dressed as a suicide bomber spat on a Pro-Palestinian student at a
rally on Sproul Plaza Wednesday, police said.

Susanna Klien was cited on suspicion of battery of UC Berkeley student
Mustafa Sheikh and told to leave campus for the day, said UC police Capt.
Bill Cooper.

The annual Students for Justice in Palestine-sponsored rally marked the
anniversary of the killing of Palestinians at Deir Yassin 55 years ago.

The incident began when Klien, who was wearing a Muslim head scarf and had
mock dynamite attached to her body, walked through a group of
Pro-Palestinian students participating in a die-in on Sproul.

She was chanting "Free Palestine" in a mocking way, Cooper said. She is a
member of the Pro-Israel student group DAFKA.

As Klien walked through the group, Sheikh put his arms out by his side to
stop Klien from going through the group, Cooper said.

Sheikh, a member of SJP, told police he was trying to keep people from
stepping on the students lying on the ground. He claims she took exception
to that and spat in his face, Cooper said.

Klien told police Wednesday she spat on Sheikh because she felt threatened
by Sheikh because he prevented her from passing.

Police are investigating whether the incident is a hate crime.

Klien also filed a complaint yesterday claiming she was a victim of battery
and felt threatened because she was not allowed to move freely through
Sproul. She also charged that another student had pulled off her head scarf
at the rally, Cooper said.

Police are investigating both claims.


     

 

 


 

 

After Iraq: Perpetual War and a Nuclear World

By Ian Williams, AlterNet
April 9, 2003

John Bolton is at it again. Just in case the Arabs were worried that the attack on Iraq is just the beginning of an American crusade, the Assistant Secretary of State for Disarmament Affairs rushed to confirm their worst fears. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15601

 
 

Apr 9 2003

By Peter Arnett

WHEN I heard the story Saddam may have been bombed I knew it had to be wrong intelligence. It had to be rubbish.

Clearly if he was hurt, or had been buried, there would have been security all over the place and no one would have got near it. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12825322&method=full&siteid=50143

 
Limbless Iraqi boy offered help
 
An Iraqi boy who had both arms blown off and was orphaned when a missile hit his Baghdad home has been offered help from around the world.

A former Indian royal Maharani Gayatri Devi from Jaipur said she would pay for a pair of artificial limbs for Ali Ismail Abbas, aged 12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2930813.stm

Editors blast Rumsfeld over 'reckless' US strike

Ciar Byrne
Thursday April 10, 2003

Representatives of editors in 115 countries have written to Donald Rumsfeld to condemn the "inexcusable" and "reckless" American attack on a hotel in Baghdad, which left two journalists dead and several injured.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/iraqandthemedia/story/0,12823,933242,00.html

Al-Jazeera's Basra hotel bombed

Jason Deans
Wednesday April 2, 2003

 
A hotel in Basra being used as a base by al-Jazeera's team of correspondents in the city was shelled this morning, the Arabic TV news channel has claimed.
 
 
The American people are not being shown the horrific devastation that the massive tons of bombs and missiles are causing to Iraqi civilians including its children. La Voz de Aztlan has collected many of the following pictures from the International media to show the horrible slaughter of Iraqi civilians.
 
 
 
Poor pay with their lives in cratered suburbia
Suzanne Goldenberg in Baghdad
Thursday April 3, 2003
The Guardian
 
 
Yesterday's strike took out two homes of an extended family of about a dozen. Tuesday's raid destroyed the local school, and on Monday a poor baklava seller, pitied by the entire neighbourhood, lost his wife, mother, sister, nephew, and two sons to American missiles.

Here in Sueb, 22 miles from the centre of Baghdad and just beyond the ring of burning crude oil that marks the outer reaches of the Iraqi capital, where urban sprawl ends and desert begins, a battle that has gone largely unseen has been raging for days.

 
 
Three killed as maternity hospital is hit by bombs
Owen Bowcott, agencies, and Jon Henley in Paris
Thursday April 3, 2003
The Guardian
 
A maternity hospital operated by the Red Crescent in Baghdad was severely damaged yesterday when a trade centre on the opposite side of the street was struck during bombing raids.

The clinic, which had largely been evacuated, was hit by flying glass and debris. Windows were blown in and the roof torn open. Three passers-by in the street were killed and 25 people injured, according to reports sent to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,928501,00.html

Amid Allied jubilation, a child lies in agony, clothes soaked in blood

By Robert Fisk in Baghdad

08 April 2003

They lay in lines, the car salesman who'd just lost his eye but whose feet were still dribbling blood, the motorcyclist who was shot by American troops near the Rashid Hotel, the 50-year-old female civil servant, her long dark hair spread over the towel she was lying on, her face, breasts, thighs, arms and feet pock-marked with shrapnel from an American cluster bomb. For the civilians of Baghdad, this is the real, immoral face of war, the direct result of America's clever little "probing missions" into Baghdad.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=395117

Syria now top US target for 'regime change'
By Toby Harnden in Washington
(Filed: 08/04/2003)

One of the main subjects on the agenda of the Belfast summit yesterday was Syria, the Pentagon's next likely target for "regime change" amid suspicions it allowed Saddam Hussein to transfer weapons of mass destruction within its borders.

Although President George W Bush did not include Syria in his "axis of evil" of Iran, Iraq and North Korea in January 2001, since then American officials say they have seen growing evidence of support for terrorism by Damascus.

American officials stress, however, that regime change can be achieved without military action. There are strong hopes in Washington for a popular revolution in Iran by democratic opposition groups inspired by what has happened in Iraq.

President Bashar Assad, Syria's leader, has led Arab opposition to the Iraq war, stating that he hoped Saddam would remain in power. Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, recently accused Syria of providing military equipment to Saddam.

Some US officials are also convinced that Mr Assad has actively collaborated with Saddam and agreed to take weapons, including Scud missiles, from him so they would not be discovered in Iraq by United Nations inspectors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/08/wsyria08.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/04/08/ixportal.html

Descent into a charnel-house hospital hell

April 10 2003

A searing visit to a trauma ward has Paul McGeough questioning the very essence of humanity.

There's a man who goes up to his roof terrace every time the fighting starts. Often in his underwear, he watches with his hands spread nonchalantly on the parapet wall. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/09/1049567748685.html

 
CNN's Aaron Brown on the network's coverage of the anti-war movement, the media's sanitization of the invasion of Iraq and why he believes this is an inappropriate time for reporters to ask questions about war. http://www.democracynow.org/aaronbrown.htm
 
 
 
Why the Iraqis May Resist the Peace
Seven reasons why Iraqis didn't welcome the troops at first--and why they'll be halting partners in a new Iraq
As the invasion of Iraq reaches its climax with the sieges of Baghdad and Basra, some have been surprised that Iraqi civilians have not welcomed our troops as liberators. American officials blame the restrained reaction on fear of the regime. But there are other factors as well, not discussed by the military pundits, that contribute to Iraqi ambivalence and may matter even more during the long occupation than during the short war.
 

Experts say U.S. `discovery' of nuclear materials in Iraq was breach of U.N.-monitored site

By William J. Kole, Associated Press, 4/10/2003 19:43
 
VIENNA, Austria (AP) American troops who suggested they uncovered evidence of an active nuclear weapons program in Iraq unwittingly may have stumbled across known stocks of low-grade uranium, officials said Thursday. They said the U.S. troops may have broken U.N. seals meant to keep control of the radioactive material.
 




 

 

WAR PROFITEERS

Haliburton could make $7 billion from former boss' war

STEPHEN GLAIN, BOSTON GLOBE - A subsidiary of oil giant Halliburton Co., the

company formerly chaired by Vice President Dick Cheney, won a contract that

could run as high as $7 billion to put out oil-well fires in Iraq, according

to a Pentagon official. The potential payout is 10 times what it cost to

douse the inferno of burning Kuwaiti wells at the end of the Gulf War. In a

letter to Representative Henry A. Waxman, a US Army Corp of Engineers

officer said the Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root Services of

Houston, was awarded the two-year contract to extinguish oil-well fires and

to evaluate the state of Iraq's petroleum fields. . .

So far, the conflict in Iraq has produced minimal harm to the country's oil

wells. By contrast, it took engineers nine months and about $700 million to

put out the petroleum fires in Kuwait torched by retreating Iraqi forces at

the end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. "There's gotta be something more

to this than putting out a few wells," said Ed Porter, a senior researcher

at the American Petroleum Institute. "I've never seen a contract [summary]

like this. There's really not much information there.". . .

In a March 26 letter to Flowers, Waxman singled out the contract to Kellogg

Brown & Root for having "no set time limit and no dollar limit and is

apparently structured in such a way as to encourage the contract to increase

its costs and, consequently, the costs to the taxpayer." Flowers wrote that

the $7 billion ceiling reflected the difficulty in predicting the extent of

the damage to Iraqi wells and stressed that the actual value of the deal

will depend on the cost of the orders placed under it. Awarding the

contract, he wrote, "was justified and approved under laws providing

exceptions to full and open competition."

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/101/nation/Halliburton_unit_could_make_7b+.shtml

 


 

 

Bush's Propaganda Mill Is at It again with the Cheering Iraqis: U.S. Citizens Have Been Hoodwinked and Bushwhacked by the Neoconservatives' Lies


By Mark Franklin, April 11, 2003

 

 
 
I thought I had heard it all.  U.S. President George W. Bush told us that the International Atomic Energy Commission had issued a report several years back that said Iraq was months away from developing a nuclear bomb.  U.S. President George W. Bush told us that Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons.  Bush said that Saddam Hussein had gassed his own people before.  Iraq has violated over 14 United Nations resolutions.  And there were those mean Iraqi soldiers who were dressing up as civilians--how could they?  Lately, we have seen images of Iraqis giving U.S. troops flowers and cheering as Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled.  It seemed that all of these were valid reasons for the war; it turns out that they were all lies or invalid reasons at best.
 
First, we heard about the report issued by the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC).  It later turned out that the IAEC issued no such report about Iraq being months away from developing an atomic bomb.  The head of this agency said that it had never said anything like that, and that it could not be predicted how far or close a country was to developing an atomic bomb.
 
U.S. President George W. Bush said that Hussein had gassed his own people.  Now, it turns out that there is a report that showed these people were actually gassed by Iran.  Accordingly, there were some Iraqis who were caught in the crossfire between Iraq and Iran.  Iraq was using mustard gas, whereas Iran was using a cyanide gas.  Later, scientists reportedly determined that the people who lived in Iraq died as a result of the cyanide gas that Iran had used against Iraq, not the mustard gas that Iraq had been using.
 
We were also told that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, which he was not currently using nor making threats to use.  Never mind that Israel has weapons of mass destruction and has threatened to use nuclear weapons against European countries, even the sprawling city Rome.  Never mind that Israel has used internationally banned napalm on American soldiers before (for example, the U.S.S. Liberty's crew, 34 of whom were murdered by the Israelis, which was done deliberately according to the former heads of the CIA and NSA).  Never mind that Israel has used banned weapons against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. 
 
Amid the accusations against Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, Hussein allowed internationally recognized inspectors.  Nothing was found.  Amid accusations, Hussein destroyed several dozen missiles that were said to have gone too far (something like 3 miles over the limit, which was questionable because the missiles were tested without the normal equipment that was used to direct them).  Why couldn't the weapons inspectors have continued?  Certainly, if Hussein had such weapons, they would have found them.  The war has been going on for about a month, and the only thing I've heard that was discovered for certain may very well be bug spray (which was carted away ever-so conveniently to be examined by the U.S. government).  Hussein has not used one chemical weapon thus far, which demonstrates that even if he has such weapons he has used remarkable restraint during a war.  Meanwhile, we're still patiently waiting for this "smoking gun."
 
We were told that Iraq had violated over a dozen United Nations resolutions.  This is true.  It has.  But we in the U.S. have violated international laws too.  When reporters here paraded captured war prisoners from Afghanistan on TV, it was a violation of the Geneva Convention.  And we started the war in Iraq, knowing full well that if a vote had been allowed, there is no way that the resolution would have been passed, even if Russian and France had not vetoed it.  This is why the U.S. government started the war without the United Nation's approval: because it would have been given advance disapproval, which is much worse than no organized disapproval.  Rather than allow this, Bush and his Zionist cohorts decided to do their own thing. 
 
One might argue that the U.S. has not violated over a dozen UN resolutions. This might be because we have veto status too.  More importantly, others have violated more than this.  For instance, Israel has violated approximately 600 percent as many UN resolutions since it was formed as Iraq has, yet no consideration is given to Zionist War Crimes (because George W. Bush is on the "take" from the Zionists, having unethically received much financial election campaign support from the bandit state of Israel).  If George W. Bush stands before an international tribunal some day for war crimes, he will only have himself and his Zionist comrades to blame.  (If you're curious about who these "Zionist comrades" are, please see one of my previous articles, mentioned at the end of this article.)
 
Most recently, many of us have seen the images of Iraqis giving flowers and greeting American troops.  There are some Iraqis who joyously give Americans the peace sign (which, oddly enough, is viewed in most of Europe as something pornographic, similar to "flipping the bird" here).  I saw pictures of Iraqis giving these flowers myself.  I saw the Iraqis breaking up the statue of Hussein with a sledgehammer.  And I have to admit, after seeing these pictures, I thought to myself, "Well, I guess I was wrong about how some people felt in Iraq."  I even mentioned it in my previous article about how I was in "shock" (and awe, too) over this.
 
I just couldn't figure it out.  Something just didn't seem right.  Sure, I realize that not all Iraqis may like Hussein.  Some may even hate him.  I understand that he ruled the land with an iron grip.  Nevertheless, I thought to myself, before seeing these pictures, the Iraqis probably like us less.  After all, we're invading their land.  We've been bombing Iraq for the past decade on a regular basis when ever something comes up (like Clinton's Lewinsky-scandal, for example, which momentarily distracted our attention).  It's been noted by others that over 500,000 children--maybe as many as 1 million--have died as a result of U.S.-promoted sanctions against Iraq.  Water purification is something that has been forgotten due to the inability to buy parts for them as a result of sanctions.  Hubcaps, beads, ashtrays, candles, combs, dolls, forks, glue, jackets, gowns, pens, toothpicks, tissue paper, and wax--these are just a few of the items that have been banned from Iraq due to U.N. sanctions.  And now, we're telling the Iraqis who they can have as President.  (Yes, Hussein was the overwhelmingly elected leader of Iraq.  Now, some may find fault with that.  However, I have to wonder, having been fed so many lies as it is, if I can believe the comments I've been told about the voting process there being corrupt.  And what if we bring a "democracy" there, and he is re-elected?)
 
When the invasion of Iraq initially started--given the noble sobriquet, "Operation Iraqi Freedom" or something to that effect--I was not surprised like the U.S. troops who were sent over there.  The troops here had been deceived: They thought that the Iraqis would be greeting U.S. troops with flowers (as we saw the other day) and that the Iraqis would be joining in the campaign to liberate themselves (as we saw the other day with the statue).  On the other hand, I thought that the Iraqis, while technologically outmatched, would be taking pot shots with AK-47s every chance they got.  I was told that Iraqi soldiers were dressing up as civilians; I thought that it was probably "real" Iraqi civilians who were not too happy with the fact that they were being "liberated."  As time progressed, my version initially appeared true.  Consequently, our leaders here told us that Iraqis were not being helpful because they were too fearful of Hussein at the time; that these Iraqis would be cooperating more with American troops as time progressed.  Call me the skeptic; but, again, I just didn't buy it.
 
It turns out that we've been hoodwinked and bushwhacked.  If you've seen the pictures circulating around, one of which was sent to me, you know what I mean.
 
That Iraqi who was giving our troops the peace sign--a sign that isn't typically used over there just like Europe--it turns out that he was not living in Iraq at the time.  He had emigrated to the U.S. some time back and was now a U.S. citizen. 
 
The Bush administration seems to be behind the whole affair.  Apparently concerned that the media campaign was not going over very well, despite the incessant propaganda given by the Jewish Media Barons (see my article on this topic too, described in the article's link that follows this article), Bush and his Zionist cohorts sent over approximately 700 former Iraqis who didn't like Hussein for one reason or another.  How much did the U.S. government pay these former Iraqis for the media blitzkrieg, if any, remains unknown? 
 
While a U.S. tank pulled the statue of Hussein down, many of these American Iraqis rejoiced.  From pictures taken aback of the whole affair, you can see that it was only a handful of these American Iraqis in the square.  Meanwhile, several American tanks stood on the outside of the square, preventing true Iraqis from protesting the dismantling of the statue. 
 
Lately, there is talk about a new campaign being unleashed on American troops by "other" Iraqis, not the ones that we saw "celebrating."  Apparently, the real Iraqis aren’t too happy with this whole scenario.  It seems that honesty is still cherished in other lands.

-------------------
Mark Franklin is the producer of the controversial video "Zionist War Crimes: The Case for the Prosecution." 
 
To see an online streaming video excerpt from this video (for a 56K modem), go to -
http://www.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/zwcesad.wmv
 
To see an online streaming video excerpt from this video (for a 112K modem or faster), go to -
http://www.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/zwc-ad-e-med.wmv
(sm. Video – Windows Media Video - 4 minutes download with 56K)

To read about this video, see the following (one continuous) link:
(If you want, feel free to copy the above article and post it.  No copyright.)
 
The above article is also shown here, but the quotes are messed up (seems to always mess up true-type quotes, continuous link):
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=308008&group=webcast
 
If you would like to get on my mailing list, please respond to me at nonzion@yahoo.com with the comment "Zionists suck" in the header.
 


If you would like to get on this mailing list, respond to this e-mail with the comment "Zionists suck" in the header.

If you would like to get off it, respond to this e-mail with the comment "Zionists are God's chosen people" in the header.

See the video shocking the nation, "Zionist War Crimes: The Case for the Prosecution." Read about it:
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=308008&group=webcast
Online video, 56K modem: http://www.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/zwcesad.wmv


 

 


 

 

Islamic Institute Calls for Pipes to Apologize or Decline Nomination

Friday April 11, 2003

The Islamic Institute, a Washington, DC-based advocacy group today called on Daniel Pipes to retract his many offensive and bigoted statements and to apologize for his promotion of racial, religious, and ethnic stereotyping and hatred. Daniel Pipes, the founder of the Middle East Forum, was nominated last week to the board of directors of the U.S. Institute for Peace, a federally-funded think tank created by Congress to promote the prevention and peaceful resolution of international conflicts.

Khaled Saffuri, Executive Director for the Islamic Institute, stated, "If Pipes fails to do apologize for his many bigoted statements and writings, he should withdraw his nomination from the US Institute for Peace. Daniel Pipes has made it his mission to promote hate and bigotry and to divide people. The US Institute for Peace needs a person who brings the many cultures, religions and ethnicities of our diverse world together, not someone who seeks to divide people based on race or religion."

Daniel Pipes has made a series of statements considered offensive by Muslims, African-Americans, and immigrants. In some instances, Pipes has even attempted to "reeducate" Muslims about what he believes they should believe as followers of Islam (please se below).

Congress established the US Institute for Peace in 1984. The 15 Board members meet six times a year and are confirmed by the US Senate.

###

"Muslims are flourishing and in some cases are privileged," said Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum, a critic of U.S. Muslim political advocacy on Middle East issues. "My impression is that the leadership asks for these privileges, not ordinary Muslims."

Privilege, he said, is evident in the easy ability of Muslims to win legal disputes with financial penalties, payments from corporations who offend Islam, retractions from newspapers and favors from government.

"I don't see any Hindu stamps, and I don't see Hindus filing so many complaints," he said. "American Muslims a New Force," Larry Witham The Washington Times 11/28/2000

http://www.hvk.org/articles/1100/99.html

"The Koran is a not 'a product of Muhammad or even of Arabia,' but a collection of earlier Judeo-Christian liturgical materials stitched together to meet the needs of a later age...A few scholars go even further, doubting even the existence of Muhammad." - Daniel Pipes, The Jerusalem Post, 5/12/2000

"The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem," Daniel Pipes Middle East Quarterly, September 2001

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/84

"Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene...All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most." National Review 11/19/90

"(The) increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims...will present true dangers to American Jews." American Jewish Congress Convention, 10/21/01

"The Palestinians are miserable people...and they deserve to be." Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2001

"Iranians and Pakistanis, to take two groups of non-Arabs, re at least as widely conspiracy-minded and as anti- Semitic as, say, Tunisians and Kuwaitis." Commentary 9/1/99

"There is no escaping the unfortunate fact that Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military, and the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism, as do Muslim chaplains in prisons and the armed forces. Muslim visitors and immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches, synagogues and temples. Muslim schools require increased oversight to ascertain what is being taught to children…" - Daniel Pipes, "The War's Most Agonizing Issue," Jerusalem Post, 1/22/03

"...black converts [to Islam] tend to hold vehemently anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-Semitic attitudes." Commentary, 6/1/2000

 

 


 

 

US bomb mosque - believe Saddam is hiding in it

Reuters via SABC News

April 11, 2003

http://www.sabcnews.com/world/north_america/0,1009,56812,00.html

Where is Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi President?

A US missile slammed into a mosque in Baghdad thought to be sheltering

key Iraqi officials, and possibly Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president,

himself.

One day after jubilant Iraqis, with the help of US troops, brought down a

statue of Saddam in the centre of Baghdad, a fierce gunfight took place

at a mosque believed to be sheltering Iraqi officials.

Iraqi fighters in northern Baghdad's Imam Mosque fought bitterly with US

marines. US marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force received a

tip that regime leaders were meeting at the house of a senior Baath Party

official. Military officials still have no idea if Saddam was among them.

The "intense fighting" took place near the Az Amihyah Palace. One marine

was killed and up to 20 others were wounded; the mosque was left in good

condition. - Reuters

 

http://www.sabcnews.com/world/north_america/0,1009,56812,00.html

 


 

 

Thank you, there's the door'

AFX via News 24

April 10, 2003

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1346107,00.html

Baghdad - The people of Baghdad on Thursday were still savouring their

liberation by American troops, but said they will also be pleased to see

them leave quickly.

After the ecstatic scenes the day before welcoming US marines rolling

through the city centre and toppling President Saddam Hussein's most

cherished statue, there were few outbursts of joy for the American guests

on Thursday.

Many Baghdadis were outraged to watch US troops settle in at city

intersections while their fellow Iraqis looted with impunity.

"We are free and I had my first fearless night in years," said Muafak

Ali, a 30-year-old shop assistant.

"We thank the Americans for liberating us. But we want to see them

replaced quickly by a government because the city is lawless right now.

There are no police, there is only stealing."

As the United States talks about taking the reins for six months or more

before handing over power to Iraqis, many in Baghdad said this first

taste of freedom has been too sweet to give up already.

"I feel like I have been reborn. We are very happy. The Americans have

liberated us, but now we need a purely Iraqi government that protects our

freedoms," said Abdallah Jelem, a 30-year-old factory worker buying fruit

at one of the stalls open for business in the Karada district of downtown

Baghdad.

Amjad Saad, an interpreter, also had mixed feelings. "This is a

bittersweet day," he said.

"It is happy because we have been freed from a brutal tyrant, but at the

same time sad because a foreign army is occupying my country. I hope they

will leave as soon as possible."

In the bakery where he works, Haidar Abed, 18, was nervous about what the

future would bring.

"If they don't leave now, there will be a civil war because without a

real government, people will fight among themselves. Look at what has

already happened," he said, referring to the looting.

The city only slowly came back to life on Thursday with a few stores

opening their metal shutters and cigarette vendors manning their stalls.

At the house of Saddam's favourite daughter, Hala, one of the looters

takes a moment to speak to a journalist.

"I hate Saddam Hussein and I came to take what he stole from us. But if

the Americans want to put an administration in place directly, we Iraqis

will fight them," said Mohamad Haidari.

'We have lost our country'

Down the road, Mander Mohamad, a 68-year-old businessman, looks incensed

by the advancing American troops.

"This is a very sad day. We have lost our country. The Americans want us

to disappear from the map," he said.

"The Americans will never leave. They did not come here with troops like

this to have a picnic. This is an occupation, pure and simple."

One of his neighbours, who asked not to be named, agreed.

"In seeing all these looters do what they want before their eyes, I

suspect they will set up a government of thieves and outlaws. That is all

that will change," he said.

These feelings of relief apprehension are widespread, with a clear

mistrust of American intentions.

"They did not come to make us happy. They want to profit from our wealth.

It would be great if Saddam disappeared forever, but I hope they won't

put someone else in with another name to do what they want at the expense

of our freedoms," said Salah Mohamad, a 39-year-old shopkeeper.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1346107,00.html

 

 


 

 

20 Bodies litter streets of Baghdad suburb

Dead bodies of children could be seen lying on side of road between

Al-Dora and international airport.

Middle East Online

April 10, 2003

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=5101

------------------------------------------

photo:

http://www.middle-east-online.com/pictures/big/_5101_charred-body-baghdad-10-4-2003.jpg

Charred bodies buried in mass grave

------------------------------------------

 

BAGHDAD - Around 20 bodies and burnt-out cars littered the streets of the

southwestern Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Dora on Thursday, a photographer

reported.

Bodies, including those of children, were still strewn over the road

between Al-Dora and the international airport, which is under the control

of US forces.

The putrid, fly-covered corpses were being buried in a mass grave along

the side of the road by volunteers whose noses were covered with scarves

against the stench, according to the photographer.

Some of the corpses were in or under the charred vehicles. Dead children

lay on the side of the road, covered in sheets.

One family, two of whose members were completely incinerated, died in the

back of a pick-up truck.

"If the price of freedom is this, we don't want it," said one Iraqi

helping at the scene.

A gutted white Mercedes car sat at the roadside, a white flag still

fluttering from its antenna.

A US officer at the scene said Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary militia

attacked an American convoy which retaliated, causing the deaths on

Monday.

Witnesses, however, said that US soldiers opened fire on cars carrying

civilians they thought posed a threat on Wednesday morning.

Two Iraqis were killed and three others wounded Wednesday when US troops

shot at an ambulance on a central Baghdad street, a doctor said.

"The American troops just mowed down the ambulance which was transporting

wounded people from the Saddam Center for Plastic Surgery to another

hospital," said Belgian doctor Geert Van Moorter.

The driver was wounded in the stomach and the co-pilot in his legs, said

Van Moorter, from the Belgian association Medical Aid for the Third

World.

The ambulance had been carrying three men wounded by exchanges of fire in

the city, he said, adding that two of them were among the dead.

"This is completely unacceptable, and when I went up to a US officer to

denounce such behavior, he just said: 'The ambulance could contain

explosives,'" said Van Moorter.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=5101

 


 

 

DON'T THINK IT'S ALL OVER

By Abdel Bari Atwan, Editor of UK-based Arabic paper al-Quds

Daily Mirror

April 11, 2003

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12833498&method=full&siteid=50143

----------------------------------------------

photos:

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/mirror/apr2003/2/3/000247C6-0B7A-1E96-B25F80C328EC0000.jpg

BITTERNESS: The Union Jack is burnt at an anti-war rally in Damascus

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/mirror/apr2003/3/2/000994F4-03D5-1E96-B25F80C328EC0000.jpg

WARNING: Arab expert Abdel Bari Atwan

----------------------------------------------

 

WHILE most viewers in America and the UK celebrated the fall of Baghdad –

and of the statues of Saddam Hussein – in Arab homes it was greeted with

frustration and anger.

Frustration because Baghdad fell without a fight. Anger because Iraq is

now effectively under US and British occupation.

The Americans and their British allies have now come face to face with

the Iraqi people, with all their complexities and racial, sectarian and

religious mosaic.

Certainly, those who danced in the streets in front of the cameras are

few, perhaps 1,000 persons.

They do not represent the overwhelming majority of Iraqis.

The same may be said of those robbing and looting before the eyes of the

US Marines in Baghdad and the British in Basra.

Iraq is now passing through a transitional stage and still living through

a state of shock and imbalance.

They lived under the sway of the Ba’ath regime and Saddam Hussein for

more than 30 years during which they had known nothing else.

They will require a long period to adapt to, and accept, the new reality

– to sense a likely future.

The shift from transitional to permanent may not be smooth.

After all, if the Americans under the leadership of George Washington

rose against British occupation, why does anyone think the Iraqis will be

different?

Saddam Hussein divided the Iraqis. His downfall may bring them together,

or unite the overwhelming majority of them, but this time by confronting

the US.

Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda only emerged because of the presence of US

troops on Saudi soil; a presence the Muslims perceive as humiliating for

them and desecrating for Islamic shrines. Disagreements have begun to

show in the opposition factions. What is certain is the Sunnis, who are

counted as supporters of

Saddam’s regime, will turn into an opposition because they are

secularists who mostly believe in Arab nationalism.

But perhaps the most serious development is the transformation of the

Shi’ites, who are supposed to be most hostile to Saddam, into a

resistance movement that employs suicide operations as weapons against

the coalition.

Lebanese Shi’ite sources close to Hizbollah have confirmed to me an Iraqi

Hizbollah is being founded.

Elements of this group, who are trained to carry out resistance in South

Lebanon, have been infiltrating Iraq and will begin their operations

against the US and British troops.

The intrusion of the US troops into Najaf and Karbala, the two most

sacred cities for 60million Shi’ites in Iran, is considered a

humiliation.

The Iraqi borders with Iran are more than 1,000km long and so are those

with Syria.

Don’t be surprised to see weapons smuggling and recruits volunteering to

fight, especially in the wake of threats by US Defence Secretary Donald

Rumsfeld against both countries.

Officials in Syria and Iran firmly believe they are next in line.

Iraq is proceeding rapidly not in the direction of a democratic model,

but one of anarchy and confusion, just as in Somalia, Afghanistan and the

Balkans.

It is now the most fertile soil for radicalism, and it will attract

radicals and extremists from all sides.

They will all embrace the call for jihad against the occupation.

The American and British honeymoon in Iraq may be a short one. But if it

drags on it is only likely to be bloody.

Hence, it is rather premature to celebrate the fall of Baghdad despite

the end of Saddam Hussein.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12833498&method=full&siteid=50143

 

 

 


 

 

"Catastrophic" Situation At Baghdad Hospital: ICRC

Islam Online

April 11, 2003

http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/article03.shtml

 

-----------------------------------

photos:

http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/images/pic03.jpg

"The situation (at al-Kindi) is chaotic and catastrophic," ICRC

http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/images/pic03a.jpg

Looting and chaos prevailed in Iraq

-----------------------------------

 

BAGHDAD, April 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A Baghdad hospital

visited Friday, April 11, by a team of the International Committee of the

Red Cross (ICRC) was in "catastrophic" state, an ICRC official said.

"The situation is chaotic and catastrophic," ICRC medical coordinator

Peter Tarabula told Agence France-Presse (AFP), at Al-Kindi hospital, one

of the biggest medical centers in Baghdad.

The hospital was looted after Saddam Hussein's authority crumbled

Wednesday, April 9, and U.S. occupation troops rolled into central

Baghdad.

It was the first time in several days that the ICRC had inspected a

hospital in the occupied Iraqi capital, amid the uncertain security

situation in the Iraqi capital.

Twenty-five people were admitted to the hospital Friday after suffering

gunshot wounds in clashes during looting in the Iraqi capital, hospital

sources also told AFP.

The hospital in the east of the city has been ransacked and all staff

have fled with the exception of two doctors who administer first aid but

do not carry out operations.

All patients have left the hospital, one of Baghdad's largest, and Shiite

fighters from the southern city of Najaf under the leadership of Sheikh

Abbas al-Zubaidi have set up camp there.

Shopkeepers Open Fire

 

As the UN accused U.S.-led forces of being “unable” to prevent anarchy

and chaos, shopkeepers in central Baghdad opened fire on looters Friday

for the first time since U.S. troops entered the city, as the widespread

chaos left 25 people injured.

In Al-Rasafi market, merchants fired pistols in the air outside a

seven-story garment store, while at Al-Arabi market shopkeepers fired

Kalashnikov rifles toward approaching looters.

"We want the law to rule and if the Americans don't defend us then we'll

defend ourselves with our own weapons," said merchant Khazen Hussein.

Young people were also seen with iron bars running after potential

thieves. Baghdad has seen rampant looting since U.S. troops rolled in

Wednesday and the two-and-half-decade authority of Saddam Hussein

crumbled.

Almost everything has been considered fair game, from the luxury homes of

senior regime figures to European diplomatic missions.

Twenty-five people were admitted to Baghdad's Al-Kindi hospital on Friday

after suffering gunshot wounds in clashes during the looting.

But the hospital, Baghdad's largest, can provide little help as it has

been looted itself.

All staff have fled Al-Kindi hospital with the exception of two doctors

who administer first aid but do not carry out operations. "The doctors

have all left," said nurse Jawad al-Jabiri.

Few patients have remained at the hospital since the looting Thursday, in

which armed men stole two ambulances and medicine from the facility.

U.S. troops called to assist them replied that they had no orders to

intervene and medical staff said they were powerless to stop the thieves.

Kirkuk In Chaos

Meanwhile, the situation in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, captured

by Kurdish and U.S. forces Thursday, is spiraling out of the control of

local Kurdish chiefs, and several people have been killed, the city's

Kurdish governor, Rizgarali Hamgam, told AFP.

Pillaging and score-settling had begun after the fall of the city and

carried on through the night, Hamgam said Friday, adding that a number of

people were killed or wounded. He did not give details.

http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/article03.shtml

 


 

 

Children shot at checkpoint, traders fire on looters

Sydney Morning Herald

April 11, 2003

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/11/1049567873069.html

US Marines said they killed two children at a checkpoint in Iraq today

when the driver of the vehicle in which the youngsters were travelling

ignored warnings to stop, creating fears of a suicide attack.

Captain Jay Delarosa, spokesman for the 15th US Marine Expeditionary Unit

in the southern city of Nasiriyah, said nine other people in the minivan

were wounded in the incident.

"Our Marines took action to protect themselves against what they thought

was a suicide bomber," Delarosa told Reuters correspondent Adrian Croft

in Nasiriyah, adding that the driver had ignored repeated warnings to

stop.

"Currently, we are providing the best available medical assistance to

those injured," he said, adding that no weapons had been found in the

vehicle. "It was a regrettable mistake."

 

Meanwhile, an AFP correspondent reports that shopkeepers in central

Baghdad opened fire today for the first time on looters, as the city

descended into chaos.

In two separate incidents, shopkeepers armed with assault rifles, pistols

or iron bars opened fire on groups trying to ransack their shops.

Twenty-five people were admitted to Baghdad's Al-Kindi hospital after

suffering gunshot wounds in clashes during looting, hospital sources told

AFP, although it was unclear if they were wounded in these incidents.

In the al-Rasafi market, merchants fired pistols in the air outside a

seven-storey garment store, while at the al-Arabi market shopkeepers

fired Kalashnikov rifles toward approaching looters.

Young people were also seen with iron bars running after potential

thieves.

"We want the law to rule and if the Americans don't defend us then we'll

defend ourselves with our own weapons," said Khazen Hussein.

Baghdad has seen widespread looting since US troops rolled in on

Wednesday and the two-and-half-decade authority of Saddam Hussein

crumbled.

In London, the head of Britain's aid agency said today US troops

occupying Baghdad should make a "massively bigger effort" to bring law

and order to the Iraqi capital and make its hospitals safe.

"There must be a much bigger effort to stop all this looting and

violence," International Development Secretary Clare Short told British

Broadcasting Corp radio. "We need a massively bigger effort. It should

focus on hospitals."

The collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime led to mass looting in Baghdad, a

city of 5 million occupied by thinly stretched US forces, and earlier in

Basra, where British forces are in charge.

US battalion commanders have pledged patrols to at least stop the looting

of hospitals, which Short said lacked electricity, drugs and water

supplies.

"It's an absolute priority that US troops should bring order to Baghdad,"

Short said. "An occupying power has a duty to make sure that civilians

are cared for, to keep order and to keep civilian administration ticking

over."

British military spokesman Group Capt Al Lockwood said law and order were

slowly being restored to Basra.

"The incidents of looting are dying out," Lockwood told BBC TV from

Qatar. "Hopefully the local leaders who wish for law and order to be

restored are asking their people to stop the looting."

AFP/AP and Reuters

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/11/1049567873069.html

 

 


 

 

Hope fades at Basra hospital

AFX via Channel 24

April 11, 2003

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,6119,2-10-1460_1346585,00.html

Basra - She cradled her newlywed son, waved swarming flies away for the

hundredth time and wept with every breath he took.

In three days, he will be dead. Maybe two.

Medical staff at Basra General Hospital can do little but stand and

watch, stripped of the medicines and blood supplies that would save his

life.

The man is Nagim Abdul Nabiy, a 25-year-old Iraqi architect, who has been

at the hospital for four months, arriving just weeks after he was

married.

He lies in a semi-conscious state viewing the stifling Ward 15 through

runny bloodshot eyes. The bed is propped up by makeshift repairs, the

temperature approaches 100 degrees Farenheit by mid-afternoon and the

tiger-print sheets are already soaked with sweat.

Paint peels off the walls, open windows invite more flies and the floor

is littered with dust and debris.

Nagim is suffering from a bone disease described by doctors, who have

long since left for the day, as chronic.

"There is no medication at all," said ward assistant Ali Haffat. "We have

a blood bank, but no blood.

"Since the war started, we have had no power so he's just getting worse.

"A specialist came down from Baghdad and diagnosed him. We were keeping

him alive with transfusions before, but now there is no blood, no power,

no hope.

"He will last another two or three days. It's very sad, but really, what

can we do? We have given him all the analgesic we had, but now..."

Nagim's father, Abdul Nabiy, rose from the bedside where he had clutched

his son's hand and reassured him quietly.

He wiped away tears, grabbed our interpreter by the arm and told us: "He

is my only son. He is a good man, a proud man, an educated man.

Too young to die

"He is a family man with a wife, but not even any children yet. He is too

young to die like this."

He slumped back into his bedside vigil with a shake of his head and a

comforting arm from his weeping wife Bahiya Mathood.

There are only 90 patients in the crumbling 400-bed complex, built by the

British in 1921 and known as Republican Basra Hospital until last week.

The faded images of Saddam Hussein at the main gates survived until the

arrival of coalition soldiers.

An accompanying promise that "the confidence the Iraqi people have in

their President will burn the American hopes" can still be read but "only

because we can't find any paint" said one bystander, who took out a

banknote from his pocket and gleefully spat on the president's grinning

image.

Inside the main reception, painted murals show children undergoing

surgery while soldiers stand guard and Saddam smiles down from a

messianic pose.

In the harsh reality of the wards there are still children, but none are

getting surgery. There are no guards and few nurses.

Many of the doctors only stay a few hours. They check to see whether any

power supply has been set up, they check on their few remaining patients

and then they retire to their private practices, thriving with wartime

injuries.

Many of those wounded in fighting and B-52 bombing raids over the past

three weeks decided they would be better treated at home rather than the

hospital.

No power

The X-ray department door was open, with around 25 people milling around

outside, but the official attendant said: "They come here every day and

wait, then they go home at night. I've told them there is no power so no

X-rays, but maybe they think the British will turn it on again today."

However, electricity may not cure all the ills at Basra General.

Rumours abound that doctors are stealing medical aid intended for the

hospital and charging exorbitant rates to dispense it from their private

clinics.

"We have heard the reports and we will investigate them," said Lieutenant

Colonel John Nash, of the British Royal Logistic Corps, overseeing a

delivery of drinking water to the hospital.

"The facilities here can be restored. We are making the first steps with

medical aid ready to be delivered within the next few days, then aid

organisations will take over."

Back in Ward 15, Nagim Nabiy will not survive to see this new era take

shape.

His carer, Ali Haffat, shook his head. "We need everything you can give

us; water, medicine, food and electricity. If we don't get these things

soon this will not be a hospital. It will be a morgue."

 

 


 

 

USS Cole Attack Suspects Escape

Islam Online

April 11, 2003

http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/article09.shtml

-----------------------------------

http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/images/pic09.jpg

The port side of the USS Cole after the 2000 bombing in Yemen

-----------------------------------

 

SANAA, April 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Ten Yemenis awaiting

trial on charges of involvement in the October 2000 attack on the USS

Cole destroyer with an explosives-laden boat sneaked out of a jail in the

southern port of Aden Friday, April 11.

The men cut open the bars over one of the prison windows and slipped out

around 5:00 am (0200 GMT), reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Prison authorities realized one hour later that they were gone, said

officials, who requested anonymity.

Among those who escaped was Jamal Badawi, one of the principal suspects

held on connection with the deadly blast which killed 17 U.S. sailors and

was claimed by Al-Qaeda network.

Local officials said seven other suspects in the Cole case remained in

prison.

Police who inspected the facility after the escape found no trace of the

fugitives.

Authorities announced a manhunt for the suspects, distributing their

pictures to police stations around the Aden area.

Yemeni police have finished their investigation of the 17 men, carried

out in collaboration with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),

and have sent their case to prosecutors.

But the suspects, who could potentially face the death penalty, have not

been formally charged.

Yemeni officials say the United States wanted to delay the trial until

prosecution of other key al-Qaeda figures.

Seventeen US sailors were killed and 38 others wounded in the October 12,

2000 suicide attack, in which men rammed an explosives-laden boat into

the hull of the destroyer in Aden.

Yemen, known for its tribal structure and widespread ownership of

weapons, has long been seen as a key recruiting ground for al-Qaeda.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Yemen is the ancestral home of

the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.

Yemen's government rounded up more than 100 suspects after the September

11, 2001 attacks on the United States, although dozens have since been

released for lack of evidence.

At the request of Washington, Yemeni police and armed forces began in

late 2001 tracking down suspected al-Qaeda members in the unruly

provinces.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has deployed troops mainly around suspected

al-Qaeda strongholds in the country's northeast, while the U.S. military

has been sent to assist in the training of the Yemeni army.

A Yemeni man wanted by the FBI as a key planner of the Cole attack, Ali

Qaed Sunian al-Harithi, was killed with five other people in November

when a U.S. missile blew up his vehicle in eastern Yemen.

 

 

 


 

 

PHOTOS: THOMAS HURNDALL, MURDERED BY ZIONAZIS WHILE PROTECTING CHILDREN

FROM THEIR GENOCIDAL MANIA

Associated Press

April 11, 2003

http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=hurndall&n=100&c=news_photos

ISLAMIC COMMUNITY NET

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamiccommunitynet

URGENT APPEAL FOR GULF WAR II VICTIMS from Human Concern International

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TRANSLATIONS OF THE MEANING BY HILALI/KHAN FROM THE HOLY QURAN OF SURAHS

1, 112, 113, AND 114 AND AYAT AL-QURSI

Surah 1

Al-Fâtihah

1. In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

2. All the praises and thanks be to Allâh, the Lord of the 'Alamîn

(mankind, jinns and all that exists).

3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense

(i.e. the Day of Resurrection)

5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and

everything).

6. Guide us to the Straight Way

7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way)

of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went

astray (such as the Christians).

 

Ayat al-Kursi

Surah 2

Al-Baqarah

In the Name of Allâh, the Most

Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

255. Allâh! Lâ ilâha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but

He), the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists.

Neither slumber, nor sleep overtake Him. To Him belongs whatever is in

the heavens and whatever is on earth. Who is he that can intercede with

Him except with His Permission? He knows what happens to them (His

creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter.

And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which

He wills. His Kursî extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels

no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the

Most Great. [This Verse 2:255 is called Ayat-ul-Kursî.]

 

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Surah 112

Al-Ikhlâs or At-Tauhîd

In the Name of Allâh, the Most

Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

1. Say (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)): "He is Allâh, (the) One.

2. "Allâh-us-Samad (The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need,

He neither eats nor drinks).

3. "He begets not, nor was He begotten;

4. "And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him."

 

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Surah 113

Al-Falaq

In the Name of Allâh, the Most

Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

1. Say: "I seek refuge with (Allâh) the Lord of the daybreak,

2. "From the evil of those He has created;

3. "And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its

darkness; (or the moon as it sets or goes away).

4. "And from the evil of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots,

5. "And from the evil of the envier when he envies."

 

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Surah 114

An-Nâs

In the Name of Allâh, the Most

Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

1. Say: "I seek refuge with (Allâh) the Lord of mankind,

2. "The King of mankind,

3. "The Ilâh (God) of mankind,

4. "From the evil of the whisperer (devil who whispers evil in the hearts

of men) who withdraws (from his whispering in one's heart after one

remembers Allâh),

5. "Who whispers in the breasts of mankind,

6. "Of jinns and men."

---

 

"You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace

unless he has his freedom."

"Prospects for Freedom in 1965," speech, Jan. 7 1965, New York City

(published in Malcolm X Speaks, ch. 12, 1965).

 

 

 


 

 

The Night After
 
The Easier the Victory, the Harder the Peace
 
By URI AVNERY
 
It is now fashionable to talk about "the day after". Let's talk about the night after.
 
After the end of hostilities in Iraq, the world will be faced with two decisive facts:
 
First, the immense superiority of American arms can beat any people in the world, valiant as it may be.
 
Second, the small group that initiated this war--an alliance of Christian fundamentalists and Jewish neo- conservatives--has won big, and from now on it will control Washington almost without limits.
 
The combination of these two facts constitutes a danger to the world, and especially to the Middle East, the Arab peoples and the future of Israel. Because this alliance is the enemy of peaceful solutions, the enemy of the Arab governments, the enemy of the Palestinian people and especially the enemy of the Israeli peace camp.
 
It does not dream only about an American empire, in the style of the Roman one, but also of an Israeli mini- empire, under the control of the extreme right and the settlers. It wants to change the regimes in all Arab countries. It will cause permanent chaos in the region, the consequences of which it is impossible to foresee.
 
Its mental world consists of a mixture of ideological fervor and crass material interests, an exaggerated American patriotism and right-wing Zionism.
 
That is a dangerous mixture. There is in it something of the spirit of Ariel Sharon, a man who has always had grandiose plans for changing the region, consisting of a mixture of creative imagination, unbridled chauvinism and a primitive faith in brute force.
 
Who are the winners?
 
They are the so-called neo-cons, or neo- conservatives. A compact group, almost all of whose members are Jewish. They hold the key positions in the Bush administration, as well as in the think- tanks that play an important role in formulating American policy and the ed- op pages of the influential newspapers.
 
For many years, this was a marginal group that fostered a right-wing agenda in all fields. They fought against abortion, homosexuality, pornography and drugs. When Binyamin Netanyahu assumed power in Israel, they offered him advise on how to fight the Arabs.
 
Their big moment arrived with the collapse of the Twin Towers. The American public and politicians were in a state of shock, completely disoriented, unable to understand a world that had changed overnight. The neo-cons were the only group with a ready explanation and a solution. Only nine days a