The War in Iraq is far from over, even if the Administration wants to make believe that things have improved drastically. The reduction of 3′000 troops is announced, which brings the number of troops down to appr. 32′000 above pre-surge level. The security situation in Irag is said to have improved, however everyday life is still a struggle for Iraqis and US soldiers are still dying in Iraq.
In the “Independent on Sunday” the inimitable Robert Fisk is shedding light on the situation in the Middle East, namely Lebanon, prior to the middle east conference in Annapolis next week. Lebanon, which has tried and failed to elect a president this week is in trouble, but so is the rest of the region from Pakistan to the Mediterranean. Robert Fisk reports:
A woman friend of mine, married to a doctor at the American University Hospital, called me two days before. “Robert, come and see the building they are making next to us,” she said. And I took Abed and we went to see this awful building. It has almost no windows. All its installations are plumbing. It is virtually a militia prison. And I’m sure that’s what it is meant to be.
And on Iraq:
“‘A’adhamiya Knights’ is a new force that has started its task with the Americans to lead them to al-Qa’ida and Tawheed and Jihad militants. This 300-fighter force started their raids very early at dawn wearing their black uniform and black masks to hide their faces. Their tours started three days ago, arresting about 150 citizens from A’adhamiya. The ‘Knight’ leads the Americans to a citizen who might be one of his colleagues who used to fight the Americans with him. These acts resulted in violent reactions of al-Qa’ida. Its militants and the militants of Tawheed and Jihad distributed banners on mosques’ walls, especially on Imam Abu Hanifa mosque, threatening the Islamic Party, al-Ishreen revolution groups and Sunni endowment Diwan with death because these three groups took part in establishing ‘A’adhamiya Knights’. Some crimes happened accordingly, targeting two from Sunni Diwan staff and one from the Islamic Party.
“The Sunday Times” sheds more light on these militias. These are American funded thugs who “strut” the streets of Baghdad at a price of $ 300 a month. Armed with Kalashnikovs and outfitted by the US, they are spreading terror among the people and may yet be the core of another civil war.
Officials in the Shi’ite-led government also fear the burgeoning of fresh forces beyond its control. The question being asked in government circles is: have the Americans achieved a short-term gain in security at a cost of long-term pain that may be inflicted by the Sunni militias, which are already threatening to go to war against their Shi’ite counterparts?
Even if the War in Iraq has lost it’s prominence in the TV news shows and on the front pages of the newspapers, there is still ongoing violence and death. The solutions of the US military used to create a semblance of success, may well bear the seed of yet another increase in violence. Pandora’s box can’t be closed that easily.
“Europeanview” wishes you all, readers, lurkers, commenters and critters, a peaceful and safe sunday. Take care!
13 Comments
November 25, 2007 at 11:03 am
EV, thanks for your morning posts.
I think the ruling elite wants to keep the middle east from seeing peace for as long as possible.
As Orwell said, War is the only commodity which produces nothing but profits. Every tangible thing produced for war is manufacturred so it can be destroyed. And the more that is destroyed, the greater demand for war products, all of which come at a huge, unregulated markup.
Peace is a War Profiteers greastest enemy and greatest fear.
November 25, 2007 at 11:16 am
Thanks for the wake up call EV. BnF you hit the nail on the head. That’s what happens when profiteers think their own wallets are more precious than the lives of others.
November 25, 2007 at 11:34 am
BnF, as usual, right on the spot. I’m afraid it is just that.
November 25, 2007 at 11:52 am
In a nutshell:
Why did we go to war against Afghanistan?
Bin Laden was accused of masterminding the attacks on 9/11. Those attacks constituted a crime.
source-
Instead of providing evidence seeking extradition, the United States dropped bombs and went to war.
That action by the United States violated the United Nations Charter, Article 2, paragraph 3:
Why did we go to war against Iraq?
WMDs?
source-<http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:sT_dQzo0CIQJ:www.downingstreetmemo.com/docs/memotext.pdf+downing+street+memo&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us?
Depose a dictator, spread democracy? Those two justifications for invading a sovereign country violate international law.
source-United Nations Charter, Article 2, paragraph 4
Our young men and young women in the armed services are being misused to fight illegal wars. Those that walk the halls of power in this country are curiously silent about this issue, as is the Mainstream Media.
Something to think about.
November 25, 2007 at 11:59 am
Our young men and young women in the armed services are being misused to fight illegal wars. Those that walk the halls of power in this country are curiously silent about this issue, as is the Mainstream Media.
Bnf, of course this is an illegal war, impeachment would be the only answer and subsequently a trial at the Hague. Us Europeans have suspected that something badly illegal was afoot, when the Bush administration worked hard to keep American citizens from being prosecuted by international crime tribunals. Guess we were right.
November 25, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Good Morning EV, BnF and all…..Great post’s as alway’s…Not enough time to post my lengthy comment’s…..On my way out the door to meet my contact’s in the Kucenich campaign…They work all week, long hour’s and we are meeting at my local supermarket….Will weigh in with some comment’s when I return…Blessings and Peace
November 25, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Excellent analysis, BnF. IMHO, the reason the international cimmunity doesn’t do their part to stop Bush is because he has already shown them that he can be a vindictive, spoiled child when he’s not allowed to have his way. He would cut off foreign aid or other forms of asssistance if they didn’t let him do what he wanted. And they know his terms in office are constitutionally limited, so they figure they can ride him out. O, ye of too much faith. Will they never learn?
November 25, 2007 at 12:20 pm
BnF, I have to disagree. I am convinced that this government (and all the preceding governments) want nothing more than stability in the Mideast, but a “stability” that has no room for democracy, because democracy is messy and turbulent.
American foreign policy has always been about stability anywhere “we” need to extract resources, and most often that stability is achieved by installing or supporting elites willing to allow US corporations unfettered access, while enriching themselves. In Latin America, that has generally meant dividing the land up among the small ruling class to produce monocultures (coffee, fruit, flowers) to be sold cheaply in North America. In other parts of the world, the resources are minerals, rubber, whatever, and the most acceptable “stability” is a military dictatorship.
The defense industry never gets left out, because those dictatorships require vast quantities of advanced weapons to suppress their people and wage occasional territorial wars (or simply threaten others, like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, & Israel) and, of course, have lots of money to spend. Or, we give them the money from tax dollars, so they can spend it on weapons systems.
November 25, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Where’s the good news? January 20, 2009 cannot come quick enough.
November 25, 2007 at 12:26 pm
We didn’t bomb Afghanistan because of Bin Laden, he just provided the pretense. We told the Taliban we were going to be bombing them by October during July of 2001 at a meeting in Berlin, and it was over control of the oil pipeline.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1115-06.htm
” Until now, says the book, ”the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia have been controlled by Russia. The Bush government wanted to change all that”.
But, confronted with Taliban’s refusal to accept U.S. conditions, ”this rationale of energy security changed into a military one”, the authors claim.
‘At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S. representatives told the Taliban, ‘either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs’,” Brisard said in an interview in Paris.”
Another source (Paul Thompson of “The Terror Timeline”) says:
“Former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Niaz Naik later says he is told by senior American officials at the meeting that military action to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan is planned to ‘take place before the snows started falling in Afghanistan, by the middle of October at the latest’. The goal is to kill or capture both bin Laden an Taliban leader Mullah Omar, topple the Taliban regime and install a transitional government of moderate Afghans in its place.”
9/11 allowed them to be able to do this with the full support of the country. We started bombing Afghanistan October 7, 2001.
November 25, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Complete and utter failure are the hallmarks of the Bushco regime. More mercenaries wander the streets of Baghdad, the central ‘democratic’ government loses even more control.
All according to plan.
November 25, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Here is what I am trying to do about it…..
This is a request to file criminal charges against the Speaker of the House, of the Congress of the United States of America, Nancy Pelosi for the partial list of crimes listed below. Since Ms. Pelosi is preventing Impeachment charges from being voted on, she is preventing criminal charges being introduced against Bush. This action signals that she supports Bush’s actions and is doing all she can to help him with his criminal acts.
These charges do not encompass the entire set of criminal acts that have been performed by Ms. Pelosi, but they do represent the most serious of crimes committed so far. The list below is not in any particular order and is only meant as a record of the crimes not a sequential account of them.
1) Knowledge of ILLEGAL Wiretapping, post and PRE 9/11:
It has been shown, in documents that were once on the web that this spying began well before 9/11. The whistleblower has documents and has stated publicly that these rooms were being built BEFORE 9/11. This whistleblower has shown that Bush began speaking with AT&T only WEEKS after getting into the White House regarding spying on Americans. This makes the crime premeditated and by Ms. Pelosi not performing her Constitutionally mandated job, and by not taking legal action she has stated indirectly that she supports Bush’s illegal actions.
2) Knowledge of Torture:
By allowing Bush to perform torture on people such as German, Canadian, and many others, including American Citizens, she has condoned the action and has made herself a party to the crimes by the very stance of refusing to perform the ONLY legal path available to the people against the Crimes Bush has performed.
3) Knowledge of denying American Citizens Habeas Corpus:
By allowing Bush to detain American Citizens, without providing them their Constitutionally mandated rights. By not speaking up for this American Citizen and Demanding that Bush provide all information about why he held him without granting him his Constitutional rights is just as criminal as Bush for doing it.
4) Knowledge of Dereliction of Duty by Bush on OBL (Osama Bin Laden):
(Using Bush’s own words. “I don’t know where he is….. I just don’t think about him much”) By Bush’s own admittance, he has stated that he is not interested in protecting America against its enemies. By Ms. Pelosi’s failure to Impeach Bush for his crimes, she has again stated that she in-fact supports Bush’s actions and is therefore a party to the Crimes of Bush.
5) Knowledge of the ILLEGAL creation of Homeland Security by an Executive Order:
Only the Congress can create such organizations through law, and the Constitution specifically states who has the power to do that and that is the Congress. The president has no power to create such organizations, and by the Congress standing back and doing nothing about this criminal act, they are stating that they support the crime; As Speaker of the House Ms. Pelosi is responsible for this action by the House of Congress.
6) Knowledge of the outing of a CIA NOC:
It has been proven that Mrs. Plame was in fact a Covert officer and that her cover, and the company she used as a cover, was blown by this administration as revenge against her husband for demonstrating the lies of this administration about the Iraq pre-war information being distributed to the American people. Ms. Pelosi has done nothing about this criminal action, which is in fact traitorous and is punishable by execution. To quote George H. W. Bush: “I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.” [Speech at CIA, 4/26/99]
At any time the AG needs to have further, and more detailed, information regarding the partial list above, then I may be contacted from the information listed at the top and I will provide the requested information within two weeks.
The actions by the Congress, and driven by Ms. Pelosi, are criminal and legal action is demanded by the Constitution of the United States of America in order to re-establish our legal standing with this document.
If the Attorney General of Michigan does not pursue criminal charges against Ms. Pelosi, then Mr. Cox is also a party to the crime and is also aiding and abetting these crimes. I hope that Mr. Cox realizes that he to took an oath to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America” and that this oath is more than just words uttered at a ceremony. Those words are what true patriots, and citizens, of America stand by, whether it is easy or difficult.
The Constitution specifically allows, and demands that, charges be pursued against Ms. Pelosi. Amendment 10 – Powers of the States and People. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
I strongly encourage the Michigan AG, Mr. Cox, to immediately begin criminal charges in the items listed above.
Sincerely,
November 25, 2007 at 4:06 pm
RB,
I appreciate you effort, however, there is one major problem with your approach: jurisdiction. Ms. Pelosi hales from California, not Michigan. You’re essentially alleging conspiracy, but the acts most likely occurred in D.C. not Michigan.
Sorry to burst your bubble.
The greatest challenge is the fact that the only recourse we have, short of a Jeffersonian revolution, is the ballot box. And even that recourse has been compromised.