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Letters to the Editor, April 19, 2003 This website is not related by any means to the Arabic Al-Jazeera TV station
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Saturday,
April 19, 2003 A
LETTER TO THE EDITOR The
US/UK’s invasion of Iraq dismantled the long despotic rule of Saddam
Hussein, but is unable to come to grips with the anarchy that has now
ruling the roost in the streets of Basra and Baghdad. World TV screens
were choked by scenes of men, women, children merrily carrying away
whatever they can lay their hands on--- from sacks of flour, to damaged
electric fan, trolley loads of sofa set wheeled away by old matrons,
wads of currency from looted banks --- the world was aghast at the
depravity of the Iraq people. They
had scant realization that their country's own freedom, sovereignty and
integrity were at stake. Suddenly,
the scene changes within days. Calls
go out from the mosques and the same looters bring back all loot and
deposit it in the courtyard of Masjids, to be retrieved by the original
owners after identification. People are seen dutifully returning all the
loot that was not to be theirs for the taking in the first place. Guns
and tanks did not back that call. Neither US nor UK nor UN, nor Saddam's
coercive security. A simple call from the local Mulla and instant order
was established. Who
can imagine in this day and age that looters will bring back and deposit
their loot to be returned back to their owners?
World
should realize that within the maze of overlaying sets of authority, the
most pervading within that old civilisation that is known as Iraq, the
native grass-roots authority is still held by the religion of Islam. This
should be noted especially by the neo-con cabal who pride themselves on
being professional planners for their self-centered vested interests.
They may even be good planners. But they are not the ultimate planner. GHULAM MUHAMMED
http://www.iraqjournal.org/ Andrew Triplett
The following op-ed article, "The
misadventures of neoconservatives" by ADC
In a recent interview with the "Discovery" channel, Prof. McGuire Gibson, Director of the Oriental Institute at Chicago Univ., USA, whose area of specialty is in the ancient Iraqi civilizations, said that the looting and destruction of the the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad is a crime beyond comprehension. Prof. Gibson also said that the American occupation of Iraq and the American government are totally responsible for this crime, as he warned the American administration about such criminal acts a long time before the war on Iraq had started on March 20, 2003. However, the American/British/Australian troops which invaded and are presently occupying Iraq did NOT make any efforts to protect the treasures of Iraq from looting and destruction. Now it t is well known that the occupying forces have protected only the Ministries of Petroleum and Interior (intelegence and police ministry), as well as the oil fields. Donald Rumsfeld, US Defense Secretary, said a few days ago, commenting on the looting and destruction of the Iraqi heritage, history and civilizations that go back to 7,000 years (the oldest dated civilization in mankind history): ["Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things" - Donald Rumsfeld. Reference: The Globe & Mail; Sat. April 12, 2003]
Hilmi Salem, PhD Read below ______________________________________________________________________
Bush Cultural Advisers Quit Over Iraq Museum Theft Thursday, April 17, 2003; 1:43 PM WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a U.S. presidential panel on cultural property has resigned in protest at the failure of U.S. forces to prevent the wholesale looting of priceless treasures from Baghdad's antiquities museum. "It didn't have to happen," Martin Sullivan said of the objects that were destroyed or stolen from the Iraqi National Museum in a wave of looting that erupted as U.S.-led forces ended President Saddam Hussein's rule last week. Sullivan, who chaired the President's Advisory Committee on Cultural Property for eight years, said he wrote a letter of resignation to the White House this week in part to make a statement but also because "you can't speak freely" as a special government-appointed employee. The president appoints the 11-member advisory committee. Another panel member, Gary Vikan, also plans to resign because of the looting of the museum. "Our priorities had a big gap," Sullivan told Reuters on Thursday. "In a pre-emptive war that's the kind of thing you should have planned for." The National Museum held rare artifacts documenting the early civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, and leading archeologists were meeting in Paris on Thursday to seek ways to rescue Iraq's cultural heritage. Earlier this week, antiquities experts said they had been given assurances from U.S. military planners that Iraq's historic artifacts and sites would be protected by occupying forces. U.S. archeological organizations and the U.N.'s cultural agency UNESCO said they had provided U.S. officials with information about Iraq's cultural heritage and archeological sites months before the war began. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has rejected charges the U.S. military was to blame for failing to prevent the looting, noting the country has offered rewards for the return of artifacts and information on their whereabouts. "Looting is an unfortunate thing. Human beings are not perfect," Rumsfeld said, earlier this month. "To the extent it happens in a war zone, it's difficult to stop." The Advisory Committee on Cultural Property convenes when a country requests U.S. assistance under the 1970 UNESCO Convention on international protection of cultural objects.
Breaking
News and Commentary from Citizens for
Legitimate Government
April 18, 2003 http://www.legitgov.org/
Pyongyang must dismantle nuclear
weapons: Bush --Dictator George Bush has instructed the team
that will negotiate with North Korea that the United States will not
settle for another freeze on the country's nuclear program.
U.S. official: N. Korea move 'insulting' --North Korea's announcement Friday that it has begun reprocessing spent fuel rods to make nuclear weapons has put talks scheduled among the U.S., North Korea and China next week in jeopardy, a senior Bush regime official tells CNN. Thousands of Iraqis Demand U.S. Withdrawal --Tens of thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on Friday to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, as the American military announced the arrest of another wanted associate of Saddam Hussein. Anti-US Protest Flares in Baghdad After Prayers --Muslims poured out of mosques and into the streets of Baghdad, calling for an Islamic state to be established, after the first Friday prayers since U.S. forces took control of the Iraqi capital. Iraqi demonstrators carry an anti-George Bush and anti-Saddam Hussein banner as they march after Friday prayers at the Abu-Hanifa mosque in Baghdad Friday, April 18, 2003. Thousands of Muslim demonstrators, both Sunni and Shiite, marched in Baghdad outside the mosque calling for the expulsion of American forces from Iraq. More troops set for Iraq --Australia is to contribute about 1200 troops to a peacekeeping and occupation force in Iraq, even though the Government has announced the withdrawal of most of its contribution to the coalition force led by the United States. U.S. Bombs Iranian Guerrilla Forces Based in Iraq --American forces have bombed the bases of the main armed Iranian opposition group in Iraq, a guerrilla organization that maintained thousands of fighters with tanks and artillery along Iraq's border with Iran for more than a decade. British Aid Plane Prevented from Entering Iraq --U.S. forces have refused a Save the Children plane permission to land in northern Iraq to deliver aid, breaching the Geneva Convention and "costing children their lives," the British aid agency said on Thursday. [Dictator Bush violates the Geneva Convention approximately every five pico-seconds. --Lori Price] Israel Approaches Turkey for Reactivation of Mosul-Haifa Pipeline --Israel has made an offer to Turkish contacting firms to reactivate the Mosul-Haifa pipeline, which has been closed for the last 55 years. Not only the Israeli government but also Israeli firms have reportedly approached Turkish companies for an oil pipeline that would provide transportation of 5 million barrels of oil from northern Iraq to the Israeli port of Haifa. [Holy Cui Bono, Batman!! --Lori Price] Israel wants strike on Syria while iron's hot --by Robert Novak "Coinciding with the Bush administration's tough talk about Syria, a senior Israeli official Monday exposed a smoking gun. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Tel Aviv newspaper Maariv: 'We have a long list of issues we are thinking of demanding of the Syrians, and it would be best done through the Americans.'" Hawkish Perle Calls For "Syrian Liberation Act" --As the U.S. has intensified its volley of scathing criticism against Syria, talk over war against the Arab country has emerged. Among the neoconservative hawks in the U.S. regime, Richard Perle pops up as a leading supporter for war against Syria after Iraq. Lebanon unveils most pro-Syrian cabinet ever amid US warnings to Damascus --Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri formed a new government, the most pro-Syrian yet since Damascus imposed its will on its smaller neighbor more than a decade ago, and amid US threats against Syria. Ex-Mufti Proposes Int'l Council Against U.S. Colonialism --Only three days after he was sacked as Mufti of Russia for urging Muslims to declare Jihad against the American occupation forces in Iraq, Tala't Tagudin called for establishing a world Shura (consultative) council to stand against Washington's colonial policies. Former U.S. official says CIA aided Iraqi Baathists --Roger Morris, former State Department foreign service officer who was on the National Security Council staff during the Johnson and Nixon administrations, says the CIA had a hand in two coups in Iraq during the darkest days of the Cold War, including a 1968 putsch that set Saddam Hussein firmly on the path to power. Hussein Sealed Betrayal Deal: Iraqi Diplomat --The U.S. occupation of Baghdad is the result of eight-hour tough negotiations held by the members of the Iraqi regime, who decided to give up Baghdad to the U.S. in return for providing safe haven for the Iraqi president and his top aides, an Iraqi diplomat in Paris told IslamOnline.net, but refused to be named. "The Americans ensured the safety of Saddam Hussein and helped him leave Baghdad," the diplomat said. [The We-Saw-This-One-Marching-Down-Broadway-A-Mile-Away article:] Bechtel Wins Iraq Reconstruction Contract --Bechtel Wins Iraq Reconstruction Contract That Could Be Worth Up to $680 Million --The government on Thursday awarded a big contract to evaluate and repair Iraq's power, water and sewage systems to Bechtel Restoration of San Francisco. [LOL, if it wasn't so pathetic. *See Ultimate Insiders --by Bob Herbert " The primary goal of Mr. [Donald] Rumsfeld's visit to Baghdad [in December, 1983] was to improve relations with Iraq. But another matter was also quietly discussed. The powerful Bechtel Group in San Francisco, of which Secretary Shultz had been president before joining the Reagan administration, wanted to build an oil pipeline from Iraq to the Jordanian port of Aqaba, near the Red Sea. It was a billion-dollar project and the U.S. government wanted Saddam to sign off on it."] U.S. Gives Bechtel a Major Contract in Rebuilding Iraq --The Bush dictatorship awarded the Bechtel Group of San Francisco the first major contract today in a vast reconstruction plan for Iraq that assigns no position of authority to the United Nations or Europe. Rumsfeld: Bioweapons May Be Hard to Find --The U.S. military's search for chemical and biological weapons is unlikely to succeed until Iraqis lead American forces to them, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday. "I don't think we'll discover anything, myself,'' Rumsfeld said at a town hall-style meeting with Pentagon employees. [LOL! I don't think so, either --that is, until Rumsfeld has the WMD planted in Iraq. --Lori Price] US should be "embarrassed" over failure to find WMDs: ex-spies --The US government should be "embarrassed" over the apparent failure to uncover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the main justification for going to war, retired intelligence officials said Thursday. Blair: I was ready to quit over Iraq --British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview published that he had instructed officials to prepare for his resignation if he lost a crucial parliamentary vote on war with Iraq. Sony Drops Bid to Trademark 'Shock and Awe' --Sony Corp. said its U.S. video game unit would withdraw an application to use "shock and awe" as a trademark, describing the move to capitalize on the catchword of the war in Iraq as "an exercise of regrettable bad judgment." [...just like the W-ar itself. --Lori Price] Bush Art Advisers Quit Over Iraq Looting --Three members of the White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee have resigned to protest the looting of Baghdad's National Museum of Antiquities. Bush Cultural Advisers Quit Over Iraq Museum Theft --Two cultural advisers to the Bush regime have resigned in protest over the failure of U.S. forces to prevent the wholesale looting of priceless treasures from Baghdad's antiquities museum. Looters May Have Destroyed Priceless Cuneiform Archive --Looters at Iraq's National Museum of Antiquities pillaged and, perhaps, destroyed an archive of more than 100,000 cuneiform clay tablets -- a unique and priceless trove of ancient Mesopotamian writings that included the "Sippar Library," the oldest library ever found intact on its original shelves. [All for Bechtel and the Exxon-Mobil...] Antiquities experts: Some looting was 'commissioned' --Experts call for ban on export of Iraqi cultural objects --A panel of antiquities experts said Thursday it suspected some of the recent looting of Iraqi museums had been "commissioned" by collectors who had anticipated the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. *See US accused of plans to loot Iraqi antiques (April 6, 2003) Fears that Iraq's heritage will face widespread looting at the end of the Gulf war have been heightened after a group of wealthy art dealers secured a high-level meeting with the US regime. Review of Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance authored by Harlan K. Ullman and James P. Wade --with L.A. "Bud" Edney, Fred M. Franks, Charles A. Horner, Jonathan T. Howe, and Keith Brendley --by Marta Steele "In choosing Iraq as a target of demolition, are they deliberately murdering history? Iraq is the sight of ancient Sumeria, the wellspring of western civilization. It is filled with archaeological artifacts. It is ancient Mesopotamia, the land between the ancient Tigris and Euphrates Rivers." http://www.legitgov.org/essay_steele_review_shock_and_awe_versionIII_020303.html U.S. Army dismisses more gay linguists --With 15 recent discharges, the Army continues to dismiss gay and lesbian linguists from the military, bringing the total to 24, with a majority trained in Arabic and Korean. Indonesia May Dump Dollar; Rest of Asia Too? --Pertamina, Indonesia's state oil company, dropped a bombshell recently. It's considering dropping the U.S. dollar for the euro in its oil and gas trades. Bush: It's Not Just His Doctrine That's Wrong --by Howard Dean "When Congress approved the President[sic]’s authorization to go to war in Iraq – no matter how well-intentioned – it was giving the green light to the President [sic] to set his Doctrine of preemptive war in motion. It now appears that Iraq was just the first step. Already, the Bush Administration is apparently eyeing Syria and Iran as the next countries on its target list. The Bush Doctrine must be stopped here." Another Sign of the "End Times" for American Journalism --Lap Dogs to Power in a Climate of Fear --by Wayne Madsen "It is a sad state of affairs when a movie actor must tell a group of assembled journalists that they missed the mark on covering a huge voting scandal in Florida's 2000 presidential election. Speaking at the National Press Club on April 15, actor Tim Robbins exhorted the media to investigate why 50,000 mostly African-American voters were scrubbed from the electoral rolls before Election Day." Sarandon Thaws and Talks Politics --At the end of the day, Susan Sarandon is happier talking about politics, even if gets her in trouble. The actress has been in the middle of a storm for months, as one of the most outspoken liberals in a creative community of outspoken liberals, and has experienced a backlash in unexpected ways. Judges question Bush regime's attempt to block lawsuit against Cheney --The Bush dictatorship ran into strong opposition in federal appeals court Thursday as government lawyers tried to stop a lawsuit delving into Vice pResident Dick Cheney's contacts with energy industry executives and lobbyists. 'Time-Traveler' Busted For Insider Trading --Federal investigators have arrested an enigmatic Wall Street wiz on insider-trading charges -- and incredibly, he claims to be a time-traveler from the year 2256. [Too bad the SEC doesn't do it's job and arrest Dick Cheney, et al., instead of 'time-travelers'. --Lori Price] Lawmaker Urges Probe of Philip Morris E-Mails --The top Democrat on a U.S. House of Representatives government oversight committee on Thursday called for a probe into destruction of Philip Morris documents related to a $289 billion federal lawsuit. American's Pension Move Angers Employees --American Airlines, which dodged bankruptcy this week, finds itself in the middle of another firestorm as employees facing huge pay cuts reacted angrily to news that top executives were promised big bonuses. American Airlines deal in jeopardy --Unions outraged by executive pension arrangements --The union that represents 35,000 American Airlines ground staff said Thursday it would not sign a deal to help save the ailing air carrier after finding out about a special arrangement that would preserve some top executives’ pensions even if the airline went bankrupt. County Nixes Coffee Breaks for Workers (NY) In an effort to squeeze more work hours from public employees, a county executive has canceled all coffee breaks for employees. Disabling Organized Labor --by E. J. Dionne Jr "Now comes a group of 28 House Republicans who think that the administration should pull away from its assault on the American labor movement... American workers deserve honest unions. That means they also deserve an administration that doesn't see disabling the labor movement as one of its essential political goals." 10 New Nations Join European Union --In the heart of the city that gave birth to European democracy, leaders of 25 nations signed treaties Wednesday sweeping away the 20th century's Iron Curtain divide. Probe: British army, police aided Protestant killers in Belfast --Intelligence agents of the British army and police helped Protestant extremists kill Catholics in the late 1980s, including a lawyer well-known for defending IRA suspects, a four-year official investigation concluded Thursday. Lawyer: Neil Bush, wife reach divorce settlement --The dictator's younger brother and his estranged wife signed an "amicable, irrevocable" mediated divorce settlement ending 23 years of marriage, Neil Bush's lawyer said today.
[April 17 lead stories:] Venezuela
has proof Washington was behind failed coup, general --A senior
Venezuelan army general said the government of the South American
country has proof the United States was involved in a short-lived
coup against President Hugo Chavez last year.
War crimes case planned against U.S. --A coalition of lawyers and human rights groups yesterday unveiled a bid to use the UN's new International Criminal Court as a tool to restrain American military power. Blair's Former Minister Hits Out at Bush Alliance --Former British Foreign Minister Robin Cook, who resigned from the cabinet last month in protest against the government's stance on Iraq, urged Prime Minister Poodle Tony Blair on Thursday to distance himself from Washington. France left out of Iraq stability force --The rift in Europe over Iraq reopened last night after America's friends began to assemble a stabilisation force to back coalition troops, but left out France.
There has been much talk about Syria in the news here lately: As
everyone in the U.S. knows, in an act approaching-treason, the
"Amen Corner" (i.e., Bush's puppetmasters--Perle,
Wolfowitz, Abrams, et al.) are now trying to get America to fight
Syria for Israel's sake (and no other).
Remember, it was Syria that assisted America and other nations
against Iraq in the first Gulf War. It was Syria who sent out
condolences and asked if it could assist America after 9-11.
Yet, the Zionist
supremacists in Israel are trying to promote an American-Syrian war.
What has Syria done to America? Syria has never done anything to
America--unless you consider defending itself (and Lebanon) against
the Israeli terrorists to be something wrong.
Therefore, a better question might be
asked: What has Israel done to America?
Aside from violating six times as many UN
resolutions as Iraq, Israel has intentionally bombed and murdered
Americans (the USS Liberty, resulting in dozens of murders and serious
injuries), bombed American interests in Egypt (the LaVon Affair),
bombed America's allies interests (England's King David Hotel),
bulldozed to death a beautiful American college student (Rachel Corrie),
shot in the head a British college student recently, murdered Lord
Moyne and UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte, and numerous other
transgressions. More importantly, Israel regularly murders
innocent civilians in government-sanctioned terrorism. Israel is
a terrorist-nation, if there ever was one.
IMark
Franklin
Double
standards in reporting casualties Sent by Close
Encounters
__________________________________________________________
Sent by Hilmi Salem
Pressuring Syria WASHINGTON -- Coinciding with the Bush administration's tough talk about Syria, a senior Israeli official Monday exposed a smoking gun. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Tel Aviv newspaper Maariv: "We have a long list of issues we are thinking of demanding of the Syrians, and it would be best done through the Americans." Mofaz's Hebrew-language interview was not widely distributed in Washington, but a few members of Congress who learned of it were stunned by its audacity. With Prime Minister Ariel Sharon long having urged changing Iraq's regime by force of U.S. arms, his government now hopes to ride the emerging American imperium to regional reconstruction along Israeli lines. That is the goal of prominent Pentagon civilian officials who see virtual identity between U.S. and Israeli interests. Sharon's hopes for his agenda are buoyed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's emergence. Vindicated by the spectacular success of American arms, Rumsfeld is the strongman of the Bush Cabinet who is directing the postwar transformation of the Middle East. Gen. Mofaz, a career officer before becoming defense minister last October, is a plain-spoken paratrooper who has now revealed his country's grand design of riding American power to reach old goals. While Israel's military is the region's strongest, it has been unable to achieve Mofaz's long, unspecified wish list: removal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, ending Syrian support of anti-Israeli terrorist groups and effective Syrian disarmament. The biggest political-military failure in Israel's brief history was its Lebanese intervention. Israel's goals conceivably can be "done through the Americans" in the wake of the awesome U.S. military performance. Syria's Bashar Assad is unlikely to follow Saddam Hussein's suicidal course of confrontation with Washington. Not supplied militarily by Moscow since the end of the Cold War, Syria's armed forces look weaker than Iraq's. The problem is how to justify pressuring Syria. If it was hard to prove Iraq a clear danger to the U.S., making the case for Syria is much tougher. After the fall of Baghdad, warnings to Damascus were based on unverified complaints that weapons of mass destruction and Iraqi leaders had crossed the porous Iraqi-Syrian border. "There is no evidence," Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said last week, that such weapons were taken out of Iraq. Syria for a decade or more has been building its own chemical weapons, apparently as a puny counterweight against Israel's nuclear arsenal. Actually, military experts do not consider them weapons of mass destruction. Nor does their possession violate international law since Syria has never signed the chemical weapons ban treaty. But President Bush is not invoking international law, as he did when seeking United Nations sanction for military intervention in Iraq. "Syria just needs to cooperate with us," the president said Sunday, without citing international authority. Secretary of State Colin Powell muffled war drums a little Tuesday, telling reporters: "There is no war plan right now to attack somewhere else." However, neither Bush nor Rumsfeld made any such assurance. Furthermore, the Joint Chiefs of Staff two weeks ago ordered the U.S. European Command to prepare a plan for Syria. All this has frightened Syria and the entire Arab world. That was the intent of Rumsfeld but not Powell, who wants a postwar return to diplomacy by the president. Powell's principal asset is Bush's "road map" for coexisting Jewish and Palestinian states, a concept not popular with the Sharon government or its friends at the Pentagon. Arabs are skeptical, perceiving a road map that leads to fruitless, endless negotiations. Nothing has so demonstrated to Arabs their political impotence than Rumsfeld's selection of retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner as Iraq's interim military governor. Now a defense contractor, he helped develop the Arrow missile-defense system for Israel. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Garner visited Israel as guest of the hard-line Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and signed that organization's letter praising Sharon's treatment of Palestinians. "Out of the 270 million Americans," said Syrian Deputy Ambassador Imad Moustapha on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, "you choose a military ruler to rule Iraq who is closely related to the extremist factions in Israel." That is the price of losing the clash of civilizations, when you appear to be the next target.
Sent by Tim Stinson
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