IRAQ
Counterpunch: The Night After By URI AVNERY
The Easier the Victory, the Harder the Peace
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.
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
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.
Saturday, April 12, 2003
IRAQ
Zmag: Whose Standards? by Michael Albert
When a New York Times correspondent indicated on its front page of February 16th 2003, that there were now only two super powers in the world -- the U.S. and public opinion - dissidents everywhere trumpeted the article as recognizing activism's stature and importance. But did we understand the broader implications?
The Times observation indicates what we all should already have known -- that there is a war in the world. It is between an agenda that aggrandizes the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and weak - and a contrary agenda that diminishes differences in income, wealth, and power on the road to equity and self-management. Moreover, it isn't the policies of the disparate heads of state of France and Germany, Italy and Spain, Turkey and India, South Africa and Egypt, Chile and Bolivia, that ultimately matter most to people's daily life prospects. Nor is it the machinations of the separate corporate leaders of competing businesses around the world. What ultimately matters most to people's prospects now and into the future, is the struggle between the world's masters and its aroused citizens.
The conflict between these super powers rages in neighborboods, communities, counties, countries, and regions, and across the whole planet. Advocates of justice are getting stronger, but we cannot yet reverse the rising tides of repression, violence, and impoverishment. We cannot yet win big victories for peace, redistribution, and justice. And so if we go to bed each night measuring our day's labors by whether we have won major victories against the behemoth, then each night we will go to bed weeping over our inadequacy and moaning at the power of the world's centers of power and their ability to ignore our demands. Worse, our weeping and moaning will diminish our energies and make us unattractive to those we seek to reach. We will go to bed dumb as well, because we will be ratifying standards of measurement which stunt and curb our efforts, and which entirely lack reason.
This is the best of times. We have seen, in recent weeks, not only the largest simultaneous peaceful legal demonstrations worldwide in history, but massive civil disobedience, coordinated resistance, citywide, regional, and national teach-ins, protests, and marches, and what is ultimately most important, local outreach in towns, on streets, in schools, and everywhere.
More, the tone and tenor of this upsurge is diversifying. People are seeing the necessity to not only oppose this war, but to oppose all imperial war. People are seeing the need to not only seek peace now, but to seek pervasive and lasting peace, and not just peace but also justice. People are seeing the need to not only reject the barbaric, the colonial, and the domineering, but to propose and advocate positive alternatives to capitalism, patriarchy, and racism.
But this is also the worst of times. We have seen, in recent weeks, despite our activism, not only a gigantic assault on a defenseless country but a celebration of that assault as if it were a major human achievement. On top of missiles, bombers, helicopters, and tanks we have suffered a media that reports war like it was soccer, that obscures context and substance to highlight dismissive details, and that lies and denies and even fabricates news so that it is fit to print in the eyes of the masters.
Mainstream media presents what suits the masters. It obscures what doesn't. Media mystification so swamps the air waves, the sound waves, and the byways, that any person not directly plugged into alternative avenues of thought and not sustained by a community that ratifies true information and analysis, cannot help but to some degree succumb to the fear and loathing and triumphalism screaming forth from every orifice of society, It is no wonder that at least temporarily imperial thoughts occupy many people's minds, not only despite people having a social conscience, but even, amazingly, in pursuit of manifesting such a conscience.
"REVOLUTION NOW"
Zmag: Whose Standards? by Michael Albert
When a New York Times correspondent indicated on its front page of February 16th 2003, that there were now only two super powers in the world -- the U.S. and public opinion - dissidents everywhere trumpeted the article as recognizing activism's stature and importance. But did we understand the broader implications?
The Times observation indicates what we all should already have known -- that there is a war in the world. It is between an agenda that aggrandizes the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and weak - and a contrary agenda that diminishes differences in income, wealth, and power on the road to equity and self-management. Moreover, it isn't the policies of the disparate heads of state of France and Germany, Italy and Spain, Turkey and India, South Africa and Egypt, Chile and Bolivia, that ultimately matter most to people's daily life prospects. Nor is it the machinations of the separate corporate leaders of competing businesses around the world. What ultimately matters most to people's prospects now and into the future, is the struggle between the world's masters and its aroused citizens.
The conflict between these super powers rages in neighborboods, communities, counties, countries, and regions, and across the whole planet. Advocates of justice are getting stronger, but we cannot yet reverse the rising tides of repression, violence, and impoverishment. We cannot yet win big victories for peace, redistribution, and justice. And so if we go to bed each night measuring our day's labors by whether we have won major victories against the behemoth, then each night we will go to bed weeping over our inadequacy and moaning at the power of the world's centers of power and their ability to ignore our demands. Worse, our weeping and moaning will diminish our energies and make us unattractive to those we seek to reach. We will go to bed dumb as well, because we will be ratifying standards of measurement which stunt and curb our efforts, and which entirely lack reason.
This is the best of times. We have seen, in recent weeks, not only the largest simultaneous peaceful legal demonstrations worldwide in history, but massive civil disobedience, coordinated resistance, citywide, regional, and national teach-ins, protests, and marches, and what is ultimately most important, local outreach in towns, on streets, in schools, and everywhere.
More, the tone and tenor of this upsurge is diversifying. People are seeing the necessity to not only oppose this war, but to oppose all imperial war. People are seeing the need to not only seek peace now, but to seek pervasive and lasting peace, and not just peace but also justice. People are seeing the need to not only reject the barbaric, the colonial, and the domineering, but to propose and advocate positive alternatives to capitalism, patriarchy, and racism.
But this is also the worst of times. We have seen, in recent weeks, despite our activism, not only a gigantic assault on a defenseless country but a celebration of that assault as if it were a major human achievement. On top of missiles, bombers, helicopters, and tanks we have suffered a media that reports war like it was soccer, that obscures context and substance to highlight dismissive details, and that lies and denies and even fabricates news so that it is fit to print in the eyes of the masters.
Mainstream media presents what suits the masters. It obscures what doesn't. Media mystification so swamps the air waves, the sound waves, and the byways, that any person not directly plugged into alternative avenues of thought and not sustained by a community that ratifies true information and analysis, cannot help but to some degree succumb to the fear and loathing and triumphalism screaming forth from every orifice of society, It is no wonder that at least temporarily imperial thoughts occupy many people's minds, not only despite people having a social conscience, but even, amazingly, in pursuit of manifesting such a conscience.
"REVOLUTION NOW"
IRAQ
United Press International: Exclusive: Saddam key in early CIA plot
U.S. forces in Baghdad might now be searching high and low for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, but in the past Saddam was seen by U.S. intelligence services as a bulwark of anti-communism and they used him as their instrument for more than 40 years, according to former U.S. intelligence diplomats and intelligence officials.
United Press International has interviewed almost a dozen former U.S. diplomats, British scholars and former U.S. intelligence officials to piece together the following account. The CIA declined to comment on the report.
While many have thought that Saddam first became involved with U.S. intelligence agencies at the start of the September 1980 Iran-Iraq war, his first contacts with U.S. officials date back to 1959, when he was part of a CIA-authorized six-man squad tasked with assassinating then Iraqi Prime Minister Gen. Abd al-Karim Qasim.
United Press International: Exclusive: Saddam key in early CIA plot
U.S. forces in Baghdad might now be searching high and low for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, but in the past Saddam was seen by U.S. intelligence services as a bulwark of anti-communism and they used him as their instrument for more than 40 years, according to former U.S. intelligence diplomats and intelligence officials.
United Press International has interviewed almost a dozen former U.S. diplomats, British scholars and former U.S. intelligence officials to piece together the following account. The CIA declined to comment on the report.
While many have thought that Saddam first became involved with U.S. intelligence agencies at the start of the September 1980 Iran-Iraq war, his first contacts with U.S. officials date back to 1959, when he was part of a CIA-authorized six-man squad tasked with assassinating then Iraqi Prime Minister Gen. Abd al-Karim Qasim.
IRAQ
WorkingforChange: We said it would be a nightmare, And yes, that's exactly what it is
Baghdad's hospitals admit a hundred casualties an hour and have run out
of
anesthetics. Surgeons try to numb up mangled children with short-term
pain-killers, but even these are in dwindling supply. Iraqi families
who
fled into the desert face 100-degree temperatures and no water. U.S.
tanks
inflict mayhem and slaughter in Baghdad's streets. From Umm Qasr and
the
Faw peninsula, through Basra to Baghdad, it's a scene of devastation,
with
every bridge and guard post adorned with civilian cars riddled with
bullets
by jumpy U.S. soldiers. There's no "fog of war" where the disaster of
daily
life in Iraq (what's now swaddled in that virtuous bureaucratic phrase
"humanitarian crisis") is concerned. Reports confirm what all sane
forecasts predicted of a U.S. attack: It is a catastrophe for the Iraqi
people, particularly the poor.
A few days ago, the BBC featured a vivid interview with Patrick
Nicholson
of the British charity Catholic Agency For Overseas Development
(CAFOD).
He's just returned from Umm Qasr, where he found the humanitarian
effort in
the British-occupied area to be a "shambles." "From the TV pictures of
Umm
Qasr, I had been led to believe it was a town under control, where the
needs of the people were being met. The town is not under control. It's
like the Wild West. And even the most major humanitarian concern,
water, is
not being adequately administered.
WorkingforChange: We said it would be a nightmare, And yes, that's exactly what it is
Baghdad's hospitals admit a hundred casualties an hour and have run out
of
anesthetics. Surgeons try to numb up mangled children with short-term
pain-killers, but even these are in dwindling supply. Iraqi families
who
fled into the desert face 100-degree temperatures and no water. U.S.
tanks
inflict mayhem and slaughter in Baghdad's streets. From Umm Qasr and
the
Faw peninsula, through Basra to Baghdad, it's a scene of devastation,
with
every bridge and guard post adorned with civilian cars riddled with
bullets
by jumpy U.S. soldiers. There's no "fog of war" where the disaster of
daily
life in Iraq (what's now swaddled in that virtuous bureaucratic phrase
"humanitarian crisis") is concerned. Reports confirm what all sane
forecasts predicted of a U.S. attack: It is a catastrophe for the Iraqi
people, particularly the poor.
A few days ago, the BBC featured a vivid interview with Patrick
Nicholson
of the British charity Catholic Agency For Overseas Development
(CAFOD).
He's just returned from Umm Qasr, where he found the humanitarian
effort in
the British-occupied area to be a "shambles." "From the TV pictures of
Umm
Qasr, I had been led to believe it was a town under control, where the
needs of the people were being met. The town is not under control. It's
like the Wild West. And even the most major humanitarian concern,
water, is
not being adequately administered.
IRAQ-TURKEY-KURDISTAN
Guardian: 'Turks must swallow a bitter pill'
Ankara presses US to remove Kurds from oil-rich Kirkuk
Saturday April 12, 2003
The Guardian
KurdishMedia.com Editorial, April 10
"The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said he had reached an accord with Turkey to have Kurdish forces pull back from Kirkuk, the oil-rich city in northern Iraq. It appears that Kurds were only wanted for the 'dirty job'. After Kurds liberated Kirkuk, then their services are not required. The question for the US is this: why should Turkey, the one country that refused to help the US in the war against Iraq, have any say in the future of Iraq?
"This is the first reward that Kurds get for sacrificing their lives in the liberation of Iraq. Perhaps the US and Britain have more surprises for Kurds. By retreating from Kirkuk, Kurds will lose more than the most important city of Kurdistan; they lose their national pride and dignity."
Kamal Mirawdeli Kurdistan Observer, April 11
"Whatever happens, however [many] sacrifices we make for keeping Kirkuk, it is worth it. Thousands of Kurds in exile are prepared to go back to live or die in Kirkuk. The Kurdish people everywhere will oppose [Kurdish leaders] and dishonour them if they surrender to a simple threat by Turkish fascists.
"Stay in Kirkuk. Occupy and fortify all strategic positions. Ask tens of thousands of Kurds to join Kurdish people in Kirkuk. I sincerely hope and appeal to Kurdish leaders not to surrender to the Turkish threat and sell their dignity, honour and all their past history and struggle. This is the most defining moment in our history."
Taha Akyol Milliyet, Turkey, April 11
"Of course the US will give something in return to the Kurds, because they fought against President Saddam, but they will not be given Kirkuk or the oil. For Kirkuk to change hands would turn the region to hell. What will those who rejected the second motion [to allow US troops to be stationed in Turkey] be thinking now? If they had accepted the request, the US would not have been dependent on the [Kurdish] peshmergas, and Turkish and American soldiers would have entered northern Iraq together, preventing any ethnic chaos."
Mehmet Ali Birand Posta, Turkey, April 11
"Everything at this stage is in the hands of the Americans. If Washington gives the green light, then the Kurds can take Kirkuk and do as they please. Any Turkish soldiers entering northern Iraq would come face to face with the US army. Trying to remove the Kurds from Kirkuk would probably mean clashing with the US, and put [Turkey] at great risk.
"But if Washington wants to maintain its long-term relations with Turkey it must exercise maximum caution to Ankara's sensitivities. Generally speaking, winning a military victory is easy. More difficult is dressing the wounds, winning the hearts and establishing a new order that is acceptable to everybody. That is the biggest task the coalition countries face."
Tehran Times Editorial, April 10
"[Kurds and Shia Muslims] still remember the failed Shia and Kurdish uprising of 1991. The US had initially expressed support for the uprising, but then US troops inexplicably stood by and watched as Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam killed approximately 250,000 Shia and 250,000 Kurds.
"Naturally, the Iraqi Kurds and Shia still bear a grudge against the US over the betrayal and are suspicious of US intentions in Iraq. This is one reason why US officials do not want to see a coalition of legitimate Iraqi opposition groups take control of Iraq. It seems that the US is still opposed to the will of the Iraqi people and the establishment of real democracy in Iraq."
Stavros Lygeros Kathimerini, Greece, April 11
"Nothing is settled, but the most likely scenario is that the Kurds will benefit, their quasi-state in northern Iraq made stronger and larger. The Americans will support them because they realise that the Kurds see them as liberators. Kurdistan will not only be a more friendly environment but a lever for exerting pressure on surrounding countries. Washington is trying to reassure the Turkish leadership. But everything points to the fact that the Turks will have to swallow a bitter pill. The only other option is outright recklessness."
Wall Street Journal Editorial, April 11
"One has to wonder about the wisdom in giving the green light to the Turkish military. It's not hard to imagine how a single incident involving a Turkish soldier and a Kurdish fighter could explode. Had Turkey allowed 60,000 US soldiers to be based in south-eastern Turkey for a move into northern Iraq those troops would now be keeping order in the region and Turkey would have a lot less to complain about."
Times Editorial, April 11
"Sensitive, but firm, policing by coalition troops will be needed. Turks and Kurds alike must find the resolve to keep the promises of restraint they made on the eve of war, and not to jeopardise the complex endgame now playing out. There is no plan for a new Kurdistan, and there must be no war within a war in northern Iraq. Wise words came [on Thursday] from the US president, when he pledged that 'the goals of our coalition are clear and limited' - an intention that should steady the nerves of Turks and Kurds alike."
Guardian: 'Turks must swallow a bitter pill'
Ankara presses US to remove Kurds from oil-rich Kirkuk
Saturday April 12, 2003
The Guardian
KurdishMedia.com Editorial, April 10
"The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said he had reached an accord with Turkey to have Kurdish forces pull back from Kirkuk, the oil-rich city in northern Iraq. It appears that Kurds were only wanted for the 'dirty job'. After Kurds liberated Kirkuk, then their services are not required. The question for the US is this: why should Turkey, the one country that refused to help the US in the war against Iraq, have any say in the future of Iraq?
"This is the first reward that Kurds get for sacrificing their lives in the liberation of Iraq. Perhaps the US and Britain have more surprises for Kurds. By retreating from Kirkuk, Kurds will lose more than the most important city of Kurdistan; they lose their national pride and dignity."
Kamal Mirawdeli Kurdistan Observer, April 11
"Whatever happens, however [many] sacrifices we make for keeping Kirkuk, it is worth it. Thousands of Kurds in exile are prepared to go back to live or die in Kirkuk. The Kurdish people everywhere will oppose [Kurdish leaders] and dishonour them if they surrender to a simple threat by Turkish fascists.
"Stay in Kirkuk. Occupy and fortify all strategic positions. Ask tens of thousands of Kurds to join Kurdish people in Kirkuk. I sincerely hope and appeal to Kurdish leaders not to surrender to the Turkish threat and sell their dignity, honour and all their past history and struggle. This is the most defining moment in our history."
Taha Akyol Milliyet, Turkey, April 11
"Of course the US will give something in return to the Kurds, because they fought against President Saddam, but they will not be given Kirkuk or the oil. For Kirkuk to change hands would turn the region to hell. What will those who rejected the second motion [to allow US troops to be stationed in Turkey] be thinking now? If they had accepted the request, the US would not have been dependent on the [Kurdish] peshmergas, and Turkish and American soldiers would have entered northern Iraq together, preventing any ethnic chaos."
Mehmet Ali Birand Posta, Turkey, April 11
"Everything at this stage is in the hands of the Americans. If Washington gives the green light, then the Kurds can take Kirkuk and do as they please. Any Turkish soldiers entering northern Iraq would come face to face with the US army. Trying to remove the Kurds from Kirkuk would probably mean clashing with the US, and put [Turkey] at great risk.
"But if Washington wants to maintain its long-term relations with Turkey it must exercise maximum caution to Ankara's sensitivities. Generally speaking, winning a military victory is easy. More difficult is dressing the wounds, winning the hearts and establishing a new order that is acceptable to everybody. That is the biggest task the coalition countries face."
Tehran Times Editorial, April 10
"[Kurds and Shia Muslims] still remember the failed Shia and Kurdish uprising of 1991. The US had initially expressed support for the uprising, but then US troops inexplicably stood by and watched as Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam killed approximately 250,000 Shia and 250,000 Kurds.
"Naturally, the Iraqi Kurds and Shia still bear a grudge against the US over the betrayal and are suspicious of US intentions in Iraq. This is one reason why US officials do not want to see a coalition of legitimate Iraqi opposition groups take control of Iraq. It seems that the US is still opposed to the will of the Iraqi people and the establishment of real democracy in Iraq."
Stavros Lygeros Kathimerini, Greece, April 11
"Nothing is settled, but the most likely scenario is that the Kurds will benefit, their quasi-state in northern Iraq made stronger and larger. The Americans will support them because they realise that the Kurds see them as liberators. Kurdistan will not only be a more friendly environment but a lever for exerting pressure on surrounding countries. Washington is trying to reassure the Turkish leadership. But everything points to the fact that the Turks will have to swallow a bitter pill. The only other option is outright recklessness."
Wall Street Journal Editorial, April 11
"One has to wonder about the wisdom in giving the green light to the Turkish military. It's not hard to imagine how a single incident involving a Turkish soldier and a Kurdish fighter could explode. Had Turkey allowed 60,000 US soldiers to be based in south-eastern Turkey for a move into northern Iraq those troops would now be keeping order in the region and Turkey would have a lot less to complain about."
Times Editorial, April 11
"Sensitive, but firm, policing by coalition troops will be needed. Turks and Kurds alike must find the resolve to keep the promises of restraint they made on the eve of war, and not to jeopardise the complex endgame now playing out. There is no plan for a new Kurdistan, and there must be no war within a war in northern Iraq. Wise words came [on Thursday] from the US president, when he pledged that 'the goals of our coalition are clear and limited' - an intention that should steady the nerves of Turks and Kurds alike."
WORLD WIDE PROTESTS
Guardian: Anti-war protesters march in London
Anti-war protesters have taken to the streets of London this afternoon, as organisers of the demonstration come up against criticism that they are "hijacking" public feeling for their own agenda.
Stop The War Coalition chairman Andrew Murray said it was important to continue protesting against the government's policy and to press for the US and UK "occupation" to end.
"Unless there is a peaceful and democratic end to the conflict the war might spread to other parts of the Middle East and we may be drawn into an endless conflict," warned Mr Murray.
However, Labour MP David Winnick, a strong supporter of the government's stance on Iraq, singled out Mr Murray for criticism, accusing him of leading an organisation whose agenda was very different from those actually demonstrating.
"I don't doubt the sincerity of most of the peace marchers who marched before and those who, for some reason, march today," said Mr Winnick. "They have a perfect right to do so but the fact remains that there are a number of the leading organisers whose commitment to parliamentary democracy is very remote indeed."
"Zuerst werden Kritiker ignoriert, dann werden sie dikreditiert und wenn das auch nichts nützt wird die Repressionmaschine angeworfen"
Guardian: Anti-war protesters march in London
Anti-war protesters have taken to the streets of London this afternoon, as organisers of the demonstration come up against criticism that they are "hijacking" public feeling for their own agenda.
Stop The War Coalition chairman Andrew Murray said it was important to continue protesting against the government's policy and to press for the US and UK "occupation" to end.
"Unless there is a peaceful and democratic end to the conflict the war might spread to other parts of the Middle East and we may be drawn into an endless conflict," warned Mr Murray.
However, Labour MP David Winnick, a strong supporter of the government's stance on Iraq, singled out Mr Murray for criticism, accusing him of leading an organisation whose agenda was very different from those actually demonstrating.
"I don't doubt the sincerity of most of the peace marchers who marched before and those who, for some reason, march today," said Mr Winnick. "They have a perfect right to do so but the fact remains that there are a number of the leading organisers whose commitment to parliamentary democracy is very remote indeed."
"Zuerst werden Kritiker ignoriert, dann werden sie dikreditiert und wenn das auch nichts nützt wird die Repressionmaschine angeworfen"
ISRAEL
Independent: Israeli army sniper leaves British peace activist brain-dead
A British peace activist was pronounced brain-dead yesterday after being shot in the head by an Israeli army sniper.
Tom Hurndall, 21, from London, was shot while trying to rescue Palestinian children from a street where they were pinned down by Israeli gunfire.
He is the third peace activist to be killed or seriously injured in the occupied territories in the past month.
His fellow activists were beginning to wonder aloud last night if they are a target of the Israeli army. Mr Hurndall was declared brain-dead on arrival at a Palestinian hospital in Rafah but there were some reports last night that his condition might be improving.
Independent: Israeli army sniper leaves British peace activist brain-dead
A British peace activist was pronounced brain-dead yesterday after being shot in the head by an Israeli army sniper.
Tom Hurndall, 21, from London, was shot while trying to rescue Palestinian children from a street where they were pinned down by Israeli gunfire.
He is the third peace activist to be killed or seriously injured in the occupied territories in the past month.
His fellow activists were beginning to wonder aloud last night if they are a target of the Israeli army. Mr Hurndall was declared brain-dead on arrival at a Palestinian hospital in Rafah but there were some reports last night that his condition might be improving.
IRAQ
Independent: A city in flames. A nation in chaos
Baghdad: Regime buildings are set ablaze; fears mount as looters run amok
Mosul: City captured by Kurdish forces; banks and shops ransacked by mob
Kirkuk: Marines take control of oilfields; anarchy as Kurdish troops begin pull-out
Basra: Looters shot dead by British forces
Chaos threatened to engulf Iraq yesterday, with American-led forces apparently unwilling or unable to deal with a storm of arson, looting, car-jacking, drunkenness and factional fighting that swept Baghdad, Mosul and other big cities.
The Red Cross, aid charities and Iraqi citizens pleaded with the US to honour its obligations under the Geneva Convention and protect the civilian population. But a senior commander said: "At no time do we really see [ourselves] becoming a police force."
After the capitulation of the northern city of Mosul – scene of some of the most frantic looting and destruction yesterday – a reported 2,000 US troops were deployed to secure the northern oilfields, bringing all of Iraq's oil reserves, the second largest in the world, under American and British protection. But US commanders in the field said they did not have the manpower, or the orders from above, to control the scenes on the streets of Baghdad and other cities
"Wenn Mr. Rumsfeld die Genfer Kovention ganz gelesen hätte wüsste er das eine Besatzungsmacht für den Schutz Zivilbevölkerung und die Aufrechterhaltung der Ordnung verantwortlich ist und nicht nur für den Schutz von Ölfeldern"
Independent: A city in flames. A nation in chaos
Baghdad: Regime buildings are set ablaze; fears mount as looters run amok
Mosul: City captured by Kurdish forces; banks and shops ransacked by mob
Kirkuk: Marines take control of oilfields; anarchy as Kurdish troops begin pull-out
Basra: Looters shot dead by British forces
Chaos threatened to engulf Iraq yesterday, with American-led forces apparently unwilling or unable to deal with a storm of arson, looting, car-jacking, drunkenness and factional fighting that swept Baghdad, Mosul and other big cities.
The Red Cross, aid charities and Iraqi citizens pleaded with the US to honour its obligations under the Geneva Convention and protect the civilian population. But a senior commander said: "At no time do we really see [ourselves] becoming a police force."
After the capitulation of the northern city of Mosul – scene of some of the most frantic looting and destruction yesterday – a reported 2,000 US troops were deployed to secure the northern oilfields, bringing all of Iraq's oil reserves, the second largest in the world, under American and British protection. But US commanders in the field said they did not have the manpower, or the orders from above, to control the scenes on the streets of Baghdad and other cities
"Wenn Mr. Rumsfeld die Genfer Kovention ganz gelesen hätte wüsste er das eine Besatzungsmacht für den Schutz Zivilbevölkerung und die Aufrechterhaltung der Ordnung verantwortlich ist und nicht nur für den Schutz von Ölfeldern"
IRAQ
Independent: Robert Fisk: Flames engulf the symbols of power
Baghdad is burning. You could count 16 columns of smoke rising over the city yesterday afternoon. At the beginning, there was the Ministry of Trade. I watched the looters throw petrol through the smashed windows of the ground floor and the fire burst from them within two seconds.
Then there was a clutch of offices at the bottom of the Jumhuriyah Bridge, which emitted clouds of black, sulphurous smoke. By mid- afternoon, I was standing outside the Central Bank of Iraq as each window flamed like a candle, a mile-long curtain of ash and burning papers drifting over the Tigris.
As the pickings got smaller, the looters grew tired and – the history of Baghdad insists that anarchy takes this form – the symbols of government power were cremated. The Americans talked of a "new posture" but did nothing. They pushed armoured patrols through the east of the city, Abrams tanks and Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles, but their soldiers did no more than wave at the arsonists. I found a woman weeping beside her husband in the old Arab market. "We are destroying what we now have for ourselves," she said to him. "We are destroying our own future."
After the West German and Slovak embassies and the Unicef offices, it was the turn of the French cultural centre to be looted.
I briefly mentioned the extent of the anarchy to a US Marine officer who promised to tell his colonel about it. When I saw him later, he said he'd seen the colonel – but hadn't had time to mention the looting and burning.
Just a week ago, it was the Iraqi army's oil fires that covered the city in darkness. Now it is the newly "liberated" Iraqi people who are cloaking their city in ash.
Independent: Robert Fisk: Flames engulf the symbols of power
Baghdad is burning. You could count 16 columns of smoke rising over the city yesterday afternoon. At the beginning, there was the Ministry of Trade. I watched the looters throw petrol through the smashed windows of the ground floor and the fire burst from them within two seconds.
Then there was a clutch of offices at the bottom of the Jumhuriyah Bridge, which emitted clouds of black, sulphurous smoke. By mid- afternoon, I was standing outside the Central Bank of Iraq as each window flamed like a candle, a mile-long curtain of ash and burning papers drifting over the Tigris.
As the pickings got smaller, the looters grew tired and – the history of Baghdad insists that anarchy takes this form – the symbols of government power were cremated. The Americans talked of a "new posture" but did nothing. They pushed armoured patrols through the east of the city, Abrams tanks and Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles, but their soldiers did no more than wave at the arsonists. I found a woman weeping beside her husband in the old Arab market. "We are destroying what we now have for ourselves," she said to him. "We are destroying our own future."
After the West German and Slovak embassies and the Unicef offices, it was the turn of the French cultural centre to be looted.
I briefly mentioned the extent of the anarchy to a US Marine officer who promised to tell his colonel about it. When I saw him later, he said he'd seen the colonel – but hadn't had time to mention the looting and burning.
Just a week ago, it was the Iraqi army's oil fires that covered the city in darkness. Now it is the newly "liberated" Iraqi people who are cloaking their city in ash.
IRAQ
Ny Times: Sniper Fire Greets G.I.'s in Big City in North
MOSUL, Iraq, April 11 — American Special Forces troops entered northern Iraq's largest city today, finding it engulfed by anarchy. Gunfire from Iraqi irregulars greeted the force of several dozen Americans, and the shots prompted them to pull back after spending only 30 minutes in the streets here.
The American incursion here came after the organized Iraqi resistance had fled and was the result of 24 hours of negotiations with tribal and Baath Party leaders intended to bring about the peaceful surrender of Iraq's third-largest city.
The brief fight here this afternoon reflected the enduring difficulties of the military situation in Iraq. An important center of resistance has formed in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, 110 miles north of Baghdad. The road south of Kirkuk, the other major northern city, has become a no man's land frequented by Iraqi irregulars, or fedayeen.
Ny Times: Sniper Fire Greets G.I.'s in Big City in North
MOSUL, Iraq, April 11 — American Special Forces troops entered northern Iraq's largest city today, finding it engulfed by anarchy. Gunfire from Iraqi irregulars greeted the force of several dozen Americans, and the shots prompted them to pull back after spending only 30 minutes in the streets here.
The American incursion here came after the organized Iraqi resistance had fled and was the result of 24 hours of negotiations with tribal and Baath Party leaders intended to bring about the peaceful surrender of Iraq's third-largest city.
The brief fight here this afternoon reflected the enduring difficulties of the military situation in Iraq. An important center of resistance has formed in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, 110 miles north of Baghdad. The road south of Kirkuk, the other major northern city, has become a no man's land frequented by Iraqi irregulars, or fedayeen.
Friday, April 11, 2003
IRAQ: CHAOS
Spiegel: ANARCHIE IN BAGDAD
Anarchie und Chaos im Irak nehmen grausame Züge an. Plünderer machen selbst vor Krankenhäusern nicht halt. Ärzte und Schwestern trauen sich nicht mehr an ihre Arbeitsplätze, Kranke und Verletzte bleiben unversorgt. Das Internationale Rote Kreuz appelliert an Amerikaner und Briten, endlich einzuschreiten.
Spiegel: ANARCHIE IN BAGDAD
Anarchie und Chaos im Irak nehmen grausame Züge an. Plünderer machen selbst vor Krankenhäusern nicht halt. Ärzte und Schwestern trauen sich nicht mehr an ihre Arbeitsplätze, Kranke und Verletzte bleiben unversorgt. Das Internationale Rote Kreuz appelliert an Amerikaner und Briten, endlich einzuschreiten.
US MEDIA CENSORED
Rense/tbrnews: In-House Memos On Television News Presentations
Part 1
It has long been the strong belief of many Americans that their print and television media is subject to certain government oversight and, finally, control.
Recently, a mid-level executive of one of the three major American television networks sent on over 1500 pages of memos from the corporate offices of his network in New York to the head of their television news division.
These memos contain a multitude of instructions concerning the presentation of national and international news for the network's viewers. Corporate is obviously subject to the opinions of various pressure groups, to include those of official Washington and the Jewish community.
It would be impossible to show all of these revealing documents but selections are certainly possible. What is not possible, obviously, is to reveal either the name of the conscience-stricken media executive nor the company that employs him. These comments, therefore, can be accepted or rejected by the reader as they see fit.
If the shoe fits, however, wear it.
(March 22) ...it is not conducive to maintaining an overall neutrality in the Palestine uprisings to show any pictures of the American peacenik that was run over by the Israeli army bulldozer. This is only to be mentioned as a ãtragic accidentä for which the IDF ãis truly saddened.ä
(Feb 10) ...It is not permitted at this point to use or refer to any film clips, stills or articles emanating from any French source whatsoever.
(Feb 26) It is expected that coverage of the forthcoming Iraqi campaign will be identical with the coverage used during Desert Storm. Shots of GIs must show a mixed racial combination...any interviews must reflect the youthful and idealistic, not the cynical point of view...the liberation of happy, enthusiastic Iraqis can be best shown by filming crowds of cheering citizens waving American flags. Also indicated would be pictures of photogenic GIs fraternizing with Iraqi children and handing them food or other non-controversial presents...of course, pictures of dead US military personnel are not to be shown and pictures of dead Iraqi soldiers should not show examples of violent death...also indicated would be brief interviews with English-speaking Iraqi citizens praising American liberation efforts...all such interviews must be vetted by either the White House or Pentagon before public airing.
(March 12) At this point in time, reference to North Korean military threats must be played down entirely. The Iraqi Freedom campaign has to be concluded in the public mind before proceeding with the next assault on the Evil Axis.
(March 26) US alliances with the Turkish/Iraqi Kurdish tribes should be played down. This is considered a very sensitive issue with the Turks and American arming and support of the Kurds could create a severe backlash in Ankara...Kurds should be depicted as 'Iraqi Freedom Fighters' and not identified as Kurds.
(March 2) ...further references to the religious views of the President are to be deleted...
"Ich hoffe mal das ist nicht wirklich wahr wobei ich mir nur zu gut vorstellen kann das es wirklich so gehandhabt wird"
Rense/tbrnews: In-House Memos On Television News Presentations
Part 1
It has long been the strong belief of many Americans that their print and television media is subject to certain government oversight and, finally, control.
Recently, a mid-level executive of one of the three major American television networks sent on over 1500 pages of memos from the corporate offices of his network in New York to the head of their television news division.
These memos contain a multitude of instructions concerning the presentation of national and international news for the network's viewers. Corporate is obviously subject to the opinions of various pressure groups, to include those of official Washington and the Jewish community.
It would be impossible to show all of these revealing documents but selections are certainly possible. What is not possible, obviously, is to reveal either the name of the conscience-stricken media executive nor the company that employs him. These comments, therefore, can be accepted or rejected by the reader as they see fit.
If the shoe fits, however, wear it.
(March 22) ...it is not conducive to maintaining an overall neutrality in the Palestine uprisings to show any pictures of the American peacenik that was run over by the Israeli army bulldozer. This is only to be mentioned as a ãtragic accidentä for which the IDF ãis truly saddened.ä
(Feb 10) ...It is not permitted at this point to use or refer to any film clips, stills or articles emanating from any French source whatsoever.
(Feb 26) It is expected that coverage of the forthcoming Iraqi campaign will be identical with the coverage used during Desert Storm. Shots of GIs must show a mixed racial combination...any interviews must reflect the youthful and idealistic, not the cynical point of view...the liberation of happy, enthusiastic Iraqis can be best shown by filming crowds of cheering citizens waving American flags. Also indicated would be pictures of photogenic GIs fraternizing with Iraqi children and handing them food or other non-controversial presents...of course, pictures of dead US military personnel are not to be shown and pictures of dead Iraqi soldiers should not show examples of violent death...also indicated would be brief interviews with English-speaking Iraqi citizens praising American liberation efforts...all such interviews must be vetted by either the White House or Pentagon before public airing.
(March 12) At this point in time, reference to North Korean military threats must be played down entirely. The Iraqi Freedom campaign has to be concluded in the public mind before proceeding with the next assault on the Evil Axis.
(March 26) US alliances with the Turkish/Iraqi Kurdish tribes should be played down. This is considered a very sensitive issue with the Turks and American arming and support of the Kurds could create a severe backlash in Ankara...Kurds should be depicted as 'Iraqi Freedom Fighters' and not identified as Kurds.
(March 2) ...further references to the religious views of the President are to be deleted...
"Ich hoffe mal das ist nicht wirklich wahr wobei ich mir nur zu gut vorstellen kann das es wirklich so gehandhabt wird"
IRAQ: PROPAGANDA
Informationclearinghouse: The photographs tell the story...
Is This Media manipulation on a grand scale?
April 6th: Iraqi National Congress founder, Ahmed Chalabi is flown into the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah by the Pentagon. Chalabi, along with 700 fighters of his "Free Iraqi Forces" are airlifted aboard four massive C17 military transport planes. Chalabi and the INC are Washington favorites to head the new Iraqi government. A photograph is taken of Chalabi and members of his Free Iraqi Forces militia as they arrive in Nasiriyah.
April 9th: One of the "most memorable images of the war" is created when U.S. troops pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Fardus Square. Oddly enough... a photograph is taken of a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to one of Chalabi's militia members... he is near Fardus Square to greet the Marines. How many members of the pro-American Free Iraqi Forces were in and around Fardus Square as the statue of Saddam came tumbling down?
The up close action video of the statue being destroyed is broadcast around the world as proof of a massive uprising. Still photos grabbed off of Reuters show a long-shot view of Fardus Square... it's empty save for the U.S. Marines, the International Press, and a small handful of Iraqis. There are no more than 200 people in the square at best. The Marines have the square sealed off and guarded by tanks. A U.S. mechanized vehicle is used to pull the statue of Saddam from it's base. The entire event is being hailed as an equivalent of the Berlin Wall falling... but even a quick glance of the long-shot photo shows something more akin to a carefully constructed media event tailored for the television cameras.
CHECK IT
Informationclearinghouse: The photographs tell the story...
Is This Media manipulation on a grand scale?
April 6th: Iraqi National Congress founder, Ahmed Chalabi is flown into the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah by the Pentagon. Chalabi, along with 700 fighters of his "Free Iraqi Forces" are airlifted aboard four massive C17 military transport planes. Chalabi and the INC are Washington favorites to head the new Iraqi government. A photograph is taken of Chalabi and members of his Free Iraqi Forces militia as they arrive in Nasiriyah.
April 9th: One of the "most memorable images of the war" is created when U.S. troops pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Fardus Square. Oddly enough... a photograph is taken of a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to one of Chalabi's militia members... he is near Fardus Square to greet the Marines. How many members of the pro-American Free Iraqi Forces were in and around Fardus Square as the statue of Saddam came tumbling down?
The up close action video of the statue being destroyed is broadcast around the world as proof of a massive uprising. Still photos grabbed off of Reuters show a long-shot view of Fardus Square... it's empty save for the U.S. Marines, the International Press, and a small handful of Iraqis. There are no more than 200 people in the square at best. The Marines have the square sealed off and guarded by tanks. A U.S. mechanized vehicle is used to pull the statue of Saddam from it's base. The entire event is being hailed as an equivalent of the Berlin Wall falling... but even a quick glance of the long-shot photo shows something more akin to a carefully constructed media event tailored for the television cameras.
CHECK IT
WAR ON IRAK ANALYSIS
Aeronautics.ru: Final Letter
April 8, 2003, 1846hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow - Events of the last 2 days have made further work of Ramzaj group in its current format impossible.
With the embassy personnel and journalists having left Iraq and most of Iraqi information services evacuated from Baghdad, analysis of the situation in Baghdad and Iraq as a whole becomes ineffective.
The quickly changing course of street fights leaves any informational updates far behind. Direct TV broadcasts are far more evident than any analytics. At the same time, we do not have the right to reveal classified, “top secret” information.
Apart from that, our actions meet increasing opposition from the official quarts and in fact are turning into confrontation the outcome of which is not difficult to forecast.
Therefore we have to discontinue our work and thank everybody for taking part in the project.
In conclusion we would like to say:
All the “updates” came out from a compact group formed a few years ago in the framework of a special service. The group used to work for the government for a long time but all its members have left the service and now act as an independent analytical group that has kept some capabilities. This gives an answer to the most common question – about the sources of our information.
We participated in the ongoing events on a “non-profit” basis and had no object other than to stand the US-British informational blockade of the war in Iraq.
Our updates were not genuine materials from any of Russian or other special services, but rather an “intellectual product” of the group itself, product of its operative, informational and analytical abilities. But compiling the updates we used materials available from our friends from special information structures. The very form “operativnaya informatsiya” never claimed to be “military information updates” but served as additional data for self-dependent analysis.
The main goal of the project was to present intelligible military analytics on the war in Iraq, which is currently missing, to the informational space. We had both success and obvious fails along the way.
We are grateful to the iraqwar.ru and forum.vif2.ru administration that took the risk and burden of working with us and we understand how many problems they have to endure because of that.
With all responsibility we state that no messages, letters, appeals and other materials, apart from the daily “updates” on iraqwar.ru and forum.vif2.ru were made by Ramzaj group and any other statement in our name is nothing but mystification.
The author with the nickname “Kondor” is the only authorized source of information about the group and its “official contact person”. In cases of uncertainty or “nickname cloning” authentication is possible using his personal photo that supplements one of images published on iraqwar.ru and comes as its logical continuation.
With unfailing respect to all of you,
Ramzaj
Download all War on Irak Reports here: ZIP FILE
Aeronautics.ru: Final Letter
April 8, 2003, 1846hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow - Events of the last 2 days have made further work of Ramzaj group in its current format impossible.
With the embassy personnel and journalists having left Iraq and most of Iraqi information services evacuated from Baghdad, analysis of the situation in Baghdad and Iraq as a whole becomes ineffective.
The quickly changing course of street fights leaves any informational updates far behind. Direct TV broadcasts are far more evident than any analytics. At the same time, we do not have the right to reveal classified, “top secret” information.
Apart from that, our actions meet increasing opposition from the official quarts and in fact are turning into confrontation the outcome of which is not difficult to forecast.
Therefore we have to discontinue our work and thank everybody for taking part in the project.
In conclusion we would like to say:
All the “updates” came out from a compact group formed a few years ago in the framework of a special service. The group used to work for the government for a long time but all its members have left the service and now act as an independent analytical group that has kept some capabilities. This gives an answer to the most common question – about the sources of our information.
We participated in the ongoing events on a “non-profit” basis and had no object other than to stand the US-British informational blockade of the war in Iraq.
Our updates were not genuine materials from any of Russian or other special services, but rather an “intellectual product” of the group itself, product of its operative, informational and analytical abilities. But compiling the updates we used materials available from our friends from special information structures. The very form “operativnaya informatsiya” never claimed to be “military information updates” but served as additional data for self-dependent analysis.
The main goal of the project was to present intelligible military analytics on the war in Iraq, which is currently missing, to the informational space. We had both success and obvious fails along the way.
We are grateful to the iraqwar.ru and forum.vif2.ru administration that took the risk and burden of working with us and we understand how many problems they have to endure because of that.
With all responsibility we state that no messages, letters, appeals and other materials, apart from the daily “updates” on iraqwar.ru and forum.vif2.ru were made by Ramzaj group and any other statement in our name is nothing but mystification.
The author with the nickname “Kondor” is the only authorized source of information about the group and its “official contact person”. In cases of uncertainty or “nickname cloning” authentication is possible using his personal photo that supplements one of images published on iraqwar.ru and comes as its logical continuation.
With unfailing respect to all of you,
Ramzaj
Download all War on Irak Reports here: ZIP FILE
IRAK
Independent: Murdered in a mosque: the cleric who went home to act as a peacemaker
The 12 years of exile in Kilburn, in north-west London could not have prepared him for this. Abdul Majid al-Khoei had lived quietly there, running a charitable religious foundation.
He took part in polite interfaith dialogues. He was one of a number of Muslim leaders who met Tony Blair to offer advice on Islamic sensitivities to foster good race relations, at home and abroad.
Nothing in that could have hinted of what would happen yesterday – that he would be hacked to death by a crowd at one of Islam's holiest shrines.
It was, by terrible irony, the shrine holding the silver-covered tomb of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, who is honoured by Muslims as the first Islamic martyr. And now martyrdom came to Mr Khoei, who had returned to Iraq from exile in Britain only two weeks ago to act as a peace broker for Allied forces and help rebuild his country.
Mr Khoei, whose father was the pre-eminent spiritual leader of the Shia Muslim community in Iraq, was slain inside the Ali Mosque in Najaf, the third most sacred site for the world's 120 million Shias.
Witnesses said Mr Khoei, who had four children, was dragged outside the building and set upon by attackers armed with knives and swords. He tried to defend himself by firing his gun.
As bullets and insults flew, it took just moments for simmering tensions within Najaf's Shia community to explode into a killing.
The reasons for the killing remained unclear last night. Some said that Mr Khoei was the target of a political assassination by Saddam Hussein loyalists. Others said he had been caught up in a revenge attack on a cleric, reviled for his connections to the Iraqi regime, who was also killed.
The murders took place shortly after 10am as Iraq's leading Shia mullahs gathered for a meeting to decide control of the shrine, which had been occupied by Iraqi gunmen during fighting for Najaf.
Mr Khoei had arrived for the gathering with Haider al-Kadar, the imam who had been in charge of the mosque and was widely disliked as a member of President Saddam's Ministry of Religion. Their joint arrival was a gesture of reconciliation, according to Mr Khoei's supporters.
Ali Assayid Haider, a mullah who had travelled from the southern city of Basra for the meeting, said: "People attacked and killed both of them inside the mosque."
There were fears that the incident could trigger in-fighting among Iraq's Shias, who make up 60 per cent of the population.
Independent: Murdered in a mosque: the cleric who went home to act as a peacemaker
The 12 years of exile in Kilburn, in north-west London could not have prepared him for this. Abdul Majid al-Khoei had lived quietly there, running a charitable religious foundation.
He took part in polite interfaith dialogues. He was one of a number of Muslim leaders who met Tony Blair to offer advice on Islamic sensitivities to foster good race relations, at home and abroad.
Nothing in that could have hinted of what would happen yesterday – that he would be hacked to death by a crowd at one of Islam's holiest shrines.
It was, by terrible irony, the shrine holding the silver-covered tomb of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, who is honoured by Muslims as the first Islamic martyr. And now martyrdom came to Mr Khoei, who had returned to Iraq from exile in Britain only two weeks ago to act as a peace broker for Allied forces and help rebuild his country.
Mr Khoei, whose father was the pre-eminent spiritual leader of the Shia Muslim community in Iraq, was slain inside the Ali Mosque in Najaf, the third most sacred site for the world's 120 million Shias.
Witnesses said Mr Khoei, who had four children, was dragged outside the building and set upon by attackers armed with knives and swords. He tried to defend himself by firing his gun.
As bullets and insults flew, it took just moments for simmering tensions within Najaf's Shia community to explode into a killing.
The reasons for the killing remained unclear last night. Some said that Mr Khoei was the target of a political assassination by Saddam Hussein loyalists. Others said he had been caught up in a revenge attack on a cleric, reviled for his connections to the Iraqi regime, who was also killed.
The murders took place shortly after 10am as Iraq's leading Shia mullahs gathered for a meeting to decide control of the shrine, which had been occupied by Iraqi gunmen during fighting for Najaf.
Mr Khoei had arrived for the gathering with Haider al-Kadar, the imam who had been in charge of the mosque and was widely disliked as a member of President Saddam's Ministry of Religion. Their joint arrival was a gesture of reconciliation, according to Mr Khoei's supporters.
Ali Assayid Haider, a mullah who had travelled from the southern city of Basra for the meeting, said: "People attacked and killed both of them inside the mosque."
There were fears that the incident could trigger in-fighting among Iraq's Shias, who make up 60 per cent of the population.
IRAK
Independent: Robert Fisk: Baghdad: the day after
Arson, anarchy, fear, hatred, hysteria, looting, revenge, savagery, suspicion and a suicide bombing
11 April 2003
It was the day of the looter. They trashed the German embassy and hurled the ambassador's desk into the yard. I rescued the European Union flag – flung into a puddle of water outside the visa section – as a mob of middle-aged men, women in chadors and screaming children rifled through the consul's office and hurled Mozart records and German history books from an upper window. The Slovakian embassy was broken into a few hours later.
At the headquarters of Unicef, which has been trying to save and improve the lives of millions of Iraqi children since the 1980s, an army of thieves stormed the building, throwing brand new photocopiers on top of each other and sending cascades of UN files on child diseases, pregnancy death rates and nutrition across the floors.
The Americans may think they have "liberated" Baghdad but the tens of thousands of thieves – they came in families and cruised the city in trucks and cars searching for booty – seem to have a different idea what liberation means.
American control of the city is, at best, tenuous – a fact underlined after several marines were killed last night by a suicide bomber close to the square where a statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down on Wednesday, in the most staged photo-opportunity since Iwo Jima.
Independent: Robert Fisk: Baghdad: the day after
Arson, anarchy, fear, hatred, hysteria, looting, revenge, savagery, suspicion and a suicide bombing
11 April 2003
It was the day of the looter. They trashed the German embassy and hurled the ambassador's desk into the yard. I rescued the European Union flag – flung into a puddle of water outside the visa section – as a mob of middle-aged men, women in chadors and screaming children rifled through the consul's office and hurled Mozart records and German history books from an upper window. The Slovakian embassy was broken into a few hours later.
At the headquarters of Unicef, which has been trying to save and improve the lives of millions of Iraqi children since the 1980s, an army of thieves stormed the building, throwing brand new photocopiers on top of each other and sending cascades of UN files on child diseases, pregnancy death rates and nutrition across the floors.
The Americans may think they have "liberated" Baghdad but the tens of thousands of thieves – they came in families and cruised the city in trucks and cars searching for booty – seem to have a different idea what liberation means.
American control of the city is, at best, tenuous – a fact underlined after several marines were killed last night by a suicide bomber close to the square where a statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down on Wednesday, in the most staged photo-opportunity since Iwo Jima.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
IRAQ
Spiegel: Selbstmordanschlag vor dem "Palestine"
Einen Tag nach der Einnahme Bagdads durch US-Truppen gab es offenbar das erste Selbstmordattentat gegen die Amerikaner. An einem Checkpoint vor dem Journalistenhotel "Palestine" soll sich ein Attentäter in die Luft gesprengt haben. Mehrere US-Soldaten sollen getötet worden sein.
Spiegel: Selbstmordanschlag vor dem "Palestine"
Einen Tag nach der Einnahme Bagdads durch US-Truppen gab es offenbar das erste Selbstmordattentat gegen die Amerikaner. An einem Checkpoint vor dem Journalistenhotel "Palestine" soll sich ein Attentäter in die Luft gesprengt haben. Mehrere US-Soldaten sollen getötet worden sein.
INDIA-PAKISTAN
Times of India: India's pre-emptive strike remark taken seriously: US
ISLAMABAD: The US has said it has taken "seriously" India's assertion that it reserved the right to launch a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan and advised the two countries to ensure that the situation does not "get out of hand".
A senior unnamed US State Department official, quoted by Dawn newspaper, also said the infiltration of militants into Jammu and Kashmir "has not stopped as yet and it is something we have said needs to stop."
About External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha's remarks that India reserved the right to launch a pre-emptive attack against Pakistan just as the US did against Iraq, the official said Washington is "in pretty regular touch with both governments to ensure that the situation does not get out of hand. Threats of war are always something taken seriously
Times of India: India's pre-emptive strike remark taken seriously: US
ISLAMABAD: The US has said it has taken "seriously" India's assertion that it reserved the right to launch a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan and advised the two countries to ensure that the situation does not "get out of hand".
A senior unnamed US State Department official, quoted by Dawn newspaper, also said the infiltration of militants into Jammu and Kashmir "has not stopped as yet and it is something we have said needs to stop."
About External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha's remarks that India reserved the right to launch a pre-emptive attack against Pakistan just as the US did against Iraq, the official said Washington is "in pretty regular touch with both governments to ensure that the situation does not get out of hand. Threats of war are always something taken seriously
IRAQ
Independent: Surgeons using headache pills instead of anaesthetic
At Al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad yesterday, stocks of painkillers had run so low that surgeons were operating on patients anaesthetised with headache pills.
At the Medical City hospital complex, which has 650 beds, overflowing wards were without electricity or water. Of the 27 operating theatres in the four hospitals in Medical City, just six were functioning, with the help of a back-up generator that has worked non-stop for 72 hours and could fail at any time.
Aid agencies said Baghdad's casualty units were being run by a skeleton staff of doctors and nurses who had struggled to work through the fighting. Most had worked solidly for three days, snatching a few minutes' rest between emergencies.
And all the while a steady stream of civilian casualties flowed into the city's 12 main hospitals in the back of pick-ups or carried by their families.
Independent: Surgeons using headache pills instead of anaesthetic
At Al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad yesterday, stocks of painkillers had run so low that surgeons were operating on patients anaesthetised with headache pills.
At the Medical City hospital complex, which has 650 beds, overflowing wards were without electricity or water. Of the 27 operating theatres in the four hospitals in Medical City, just six were functioning, with the help of a back-up generator that has worked non-stop for 72 hours and could fail at any time.
Aid agencies said Baghdad's casualty units were being run by a skeleton staff of doctors and nurses who had struggled to work through the fighting. Most had worked solidly for three days, snatching a few minutes' rest between emergencies.
And all the while a steady stream of civilian casualties flowed into the city's 12 main hospitals in the back of pick-ups or carried by their families.
USA
Newswithviews: S.A.R.S.: SIMPLY ANOTHER RIDICULOUS SCAM
Mary Starrett
April 8, 2003
NewsWithViews.com
Those photos of Asians wearing masks have been effective, haven't they? By now you probably wring your hands every time someone near you sneezes.
Maybe you've canceled a plane trip or decided to stay away from large groups of people…just to be safe.
Good thinking. Just stay in, watch the war on TV (Operation Iraqi Freedom Ta Da!) and nurse that fear and anxiety you've been feeling. Unless of course, like me, your THERE'S MORE TO THIS THAN WE'RE BEING TOLD radar went off the very first time you heard about this "mysterious" disease called S.A.R.S. - short for severe acute respiratory syndrome. Relax, the mega public health "experts" are working feverishly to try and figure out just what this coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath "disease" is.
In the meantime you can be comforted by the Executive Order President Bush signed Friday afternoon saying "health authorities" can hold you against your will if they even think you have this "virus". The E.O. Specifically made provisions for "apprehension, detention or conditional release" (.i.e. "be a good little citizen and take your vaccine/ medicine and we'll let you go")... "of individuals who refuse hospitalization and isolation".
Oh, you missed the announcement of that executive order? That's understandable. See, it's standard operating procedure for any risky political move ; you sign it, pass it, cram it down our collective throats right before a holiday or on a Friday, after everyone's gone home for the weekend to worry about stuff like whether to order in or go out for pizza.
And exactly how much media attention did this executive order to QUARANTINE Americans receive? A tiny blurb at the bottom of a page is where I found it. S.A.R.S is really at this point just a collection of vague symptoms that anybody can have a number of times a year. This "disease" is the first to be added to the quarantine list in over 20 years The last large-scale quarantine in this country was in 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic.
Some preliminary research into the symptoms and likely cause of this pneumonia-like virus (of which there are over 50 strains, by the by) shows a number of reasons why this has all the earmarks of an effort to control the masses and none of the markers for a bona fide pandemic......
Newswithviews: S.A.R.S.: SIMPLY ANOTHER RIDICULOUS SCAM
Mary Starrett
April 8, 2003
NewsWithViews.com
Those photos of Asians wearing masks have been effective, haven't they? By now you probably wring your hands every time someone near you sneezes.
Maybe you've canceled a plane trip or decided to stay away from large groups of people…just to be safe.
Good thinking. Just stay in, watch the war on TV (Operation Iraqi Freedom Ta Da!) and nurse that fear and anxiety you've been feeling. Unless of course, like me, your THERE'S MORE TO THIS THAN WE'RE BEING TOLD radar went off the very first time you heard about this "mysterious" disease called S.A.R.S. - short for severe acute respiratory syndrome. Relax, the mega public health "experts" are working feverishly to try and figure out just what this coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath "disease" is.
In the meantime you can be comforted by the Executive Order President Bush signed Friday afternoon saying "health authorities" can hold you against your will if they even think you have this "virus". The E.O. Specifically made provisions for "apprehension, detention or conditional release" (.i.e. "be a good little citizen and take your vaccine/ medicine and we'll let you go")... "of individuals who refuse hospitalization and isolation".
Oh, you missed the announcement of that executive order? That's understandable. See, it's standard operating procedure for any risky political move ; you sign it, pass it, cram it down our collective throats right before a holiday or on a Friday, after everyone's gone home for the weekend to worry about stuff like whether to order in or go out for pizza.
And exactly how much media attention did this executive order to QUARANTINE Americans receive? A tiny blurb at the bottom of a page is where I found it. S.A.R.S is really at this point just a collection of vague symptoms that anybody can have a number of times a year. This "disease" is the first to be added to the quarantine list in over 20 years The last large-scale quarantine in this country was in 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic.
Some preliminary research into the symptoms and likely cause of this pneumonia-like virus (of which there are over 50 strains, by the by) shows a number of reasons why this has all the earmarks of an effort to control the masses and none of the markers for a bona fide pandemic......
IRAQ
ALternet: The New Christian Crusaders
After 9/11, pundits quickly relegated "irony" to history's dust bin. There was nothing left to laugh about. Several months later, there were no hosannas or fanfare when irony slithered back into our lives. These days, irony is alive and well, thank you, as recently embodied by several post-war proselytizing-in-Iraq proposals announced by fundamentalist Christian organizations.
With each passing day the U.S. rains down more death and destruction on the people of Iraq. Outrage within the Muslim world is rapidly growing. When the war against Iraq is over and occupation begins, the Bush Administration plans to establish an American-led government – with ample benefits reaped by the president's long-time political supporters and oil industry cronies. Closely behind these grim reapers there will follow a host of fundamentalist Christian leaders, plowing the sand for new recruits.
Over the past 10 days, several fundamentalist Christian organizations announced plans to prop further open the window of opportunity by participating in the rebuilding of Iraq. Before the war, none seemed particularly interested in working to avoid the situation the Bush Administration has caused in the country, and now, none seems interested in whether or not they're invited or even desired by the people of Iraq.
ALternet: The New Christian Crusaders
After 9/11, pundits quickly relegated "irony" to history's dust bin. There was nothing left to laugh about. Several months later, there were no hosannas or fanfare when irony slithered back into our lives. These days, irony is alive and well, thank you, as recently embodied by several post-war proselytizing-in-Iraq proposals announced by fundamentalist Christian organizations.
With each passing day the U.S. rains down more death and destruction on the people of Iraq. Outrage within the Muslim world is rapidly growing. When the war against Iraq is over and occupation begins, the Bush Administration plans to establish an American-led government – with ample benefits reaped by the president's long-time political supporters and oil industry cronies. Closely behind these grim reapers there will follow a host of fundamentalist Christian leaders, plowing the sand for new recruits.
Over the past 10 days, several fundamentalist Christian organizations announced plans to prop further open the window of opportunity by participating in the rebuilding of Iraq. Before the war, none seemed particularly interested in working to avoid the situation the Bush Administration has caused in the country, and now, none seems interested in whether or not they're invited or even desired by the people of Iraq.
IRAQ/ISRAEL
BBC: Israel eyes Iraqi oil
An Israeli minister says he wants to reopen a pipeline which has been closed for more than fifty years to bring Iraqi oil through Jordan to Israel's Mediterranean coast.
A spokesman for the infrastructure minister, Joseph Paritzky, said the move would cut fuel costs in Israel and help regenerate the port city of Haifa.
There has been no official comment yet from Jordan, but any suggestion that Israel might benefit from the fall of Saddam Hussein is likely to enrage many people in Arab countries.
The pipeline was built after Britain took control of Iraq, Jordan and what was then British mandate Palestine after the First World War.
The section from Iraq to Jordan is still functioning, but the route from Jordan to the port of Haifa, which is now in Israel, was cut in 1948 when the British pulled out.
BBC: Israel eyes Iraqi oil
An Israeli minister says he wants to reopen a pipeline which has been closed for more than fifty years to bring Iraqi oil through Jordan to Israel's Mediterranean coast.
A spokesman for the infrastructure minister, Joseph Paritzky, said the move would cut fuel costs in Israel and help regenerate the port city of Haifa.
There has been no official comment yet from Jordan, but any suggestion that Israel might benefit from the fall of Saddam Hussein is likely to enrage many people in Arab countries.
The pipeline was built after Britain took control of Iraq, Jordan and what was then British mandate Palestine after the First World War.
The section from Iraq to Jordan is still functioning, but the route from Jordan to the port of Haifa, which is now in Israel, was cut in 1948 when the British pulled out.
IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN
Guardian: Iraqis have paid the blood price for a fraudulent war
The crudely colonial nature of this enterprise can no longer be disguised
On the streets of Baghdad yesterday, it was Kabul, November 2001, all over again. Then, enthusiasts for the war on terror were in triumphalist mood, as the Taliban regime was overthrown. The critics had been confounded, they insisted, kites were flying, music was playing again and women were throwing off their burkas. In parliament, Jack Straw mocked Labour MPs who predicted US and British forces would still be fighting in the country in six months' time.
Seventeen months later, such confidence looks grimly ironic. For most Afghans, "liberation" has meant the return of rival warlords, harsh repression, rampant lawlessness, widespread torture and Taliban-style policing of women. Meanwhile, guerrilla attacks are mounting on US troops - special forces soldiers have been killed in recent weeks, while 11 civilians died yesterday in an American air raid - and the likelihood of credible elections next year appears to be close to zero.
In Baghdad and Basra, perhaps the cheering crowds have been a bit thinner on the ground than Tony Blair and George Bush might have hoped - and the looters and lynchers more numerous. But it would be extraordinary if many Iraqis didn't feel relief or euphoria at the prospect of an end to a brutal government, 12 years of murderous sanctions and a merciless bombardment by the most powerful military machine in the world. Afghanistan is not of course Iraq, though it is a salutary lesson to those who believe the overthrow of recalcitrant regimes is the way to defeat anti-western terrorism. It would nevertheless be a mistake to confuse the current mood in Iraqi cities with enthusiasm for the foreign occupation now being imposed. Even Israel's invading troops were feted by south Lebanese Shi'ites in 1982 - only to be driven out by the Shi'ite Hizbullah resistance 18 years later.
Guardian: Iraqis have paid the blood price for a fraudulent war
The crudely colonial nature of this enterprise can no longer be disguised
On the streets of Baghdad yesterday, it was Kabul, November 2001, all over again. Then, enthusiasts for the war on terror were in triumphalist mood, as the Taliban regime was overthrown. The critics had been confounded, they insisted, kites were flying, music was playing again and women were throwing off their burkas. In parliament, Jack Straw mocked Labour MPs who predicted US and British forces would still be fighting in the country in six months' time.
Seventeen months later, such confidence looks grimly ironic. For most Afghans, "liberation" has meant the return of rival warlords, harsh repression, rampant lawlessness, widespread torture and Taliban-style policing of women. Meanwhile, guerrilla attacks are mounting on US troops - special forces soldiers have been killed in recent weeks, while 11 civilians died yesterday in an American air raid - and the likelihood of credible elections next year appears to be close to zero.
In Baghdad and Basra, perhaps the cheering crowds have been a bit thinner on the ground than Tony Blair and George Bush might have hoped - and the looters and lynchers more numerous. But it would be extraordinary if many Iraqis didn't feel relief or euphoria at the prospect of an end to a brutal government, 12 years of murderous sanctions and a merciless bombardment by the most powerful military machine in the world. Afghanistan is not of course Iraq, though it is a salutary lesson to those who believe the overthrow of recalcitrant regimes is the way to defeat anti-western terrorism. It would nevertheless be a mistake to confuse the current mood in Iraqi cities with enthusiasm for the foreign occupation now being imposed. Even Israel's invading troops were feted by south Lebanese Shi'ites in 1982 - only to be driven out by the Shi'ite Hizbullah resistance 18 years later.
WAR ON IRAK
Teheran Times: Dictators' Collusion
Almost 10 days ago, there was a halt in U.S.-British operations in Iraq. However, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the chief of the U.S. Central Command, General Tommy Franks, in their interviews with the media never elaborated on the issue, but instead tried to mislead world public opinion in order to hide a greater secret decision from them.
Suspicions rose on the same day when U.S. troops, that had been stopped at the Euphrates, immediately were able to advance toward the heart of Baghdad without any significant resistance by Iraqi forces. Nobody asked why Tikrit, that was once called the ideological heart of Saddam's government and the last possible trench of the Iraqi army, was never targeted by U.S. and British bombs and missiles. Or why when the elite Iraqi forces arrived in eastern Iraq from Tikrit, the pace of the invaders advancing toward central Baghdad immediately increased. Also, it has been reported that over the past 24 hours, a plane was authorized to leave Iraq bound for Russia. Who was aboard this plane?
All these ambiguities, the contradictory reports about Saddam's situation, and the fact that the highest-ranking Iraqi officials were all represented by a single individual -- Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed al-Sahhaf -- and the easy fall of Baghdad shows that the center of collusion had been Tikrit, where Saddam, his aides, and lieutenants from the Baath Party had been waiting for al-Sahhaf to join them so that they could receive the required guarantees to leave the country in a secret compromise with coalition forces.
Teheran Times: Dictators' Collusion
Almost 10 days ago, there was a halt in U.S.-British operations in Iraq. However, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the chief of the U.S. Central Command, General Tommy Franks, in their interviews with the media never elaborated on the issue, but instead tried to mislead world public opinion in order to hide a greater secret decision from them.
Suspicions rose on the same day when U.S. troops, that had been stopped at the Euphrates, immediately were able to advance toward the heart of Baghdad without any significant resistance by Iraqi forces. Nobody asked why Tikrit, that was once called the ideological heart of Saddam's government and the last possible trench of the Iraqi army, was never targeted by U.S. and British bombs and missiles. Or why when the elite Iraqi forces arrived in eastern Iraq from Tikrit, the pace of the invaders advancing toward central Baghdad immediately increased. Also, it has been reported that over the past 24 hours, a plane was authorized to leave Iraq bound for Russia. Who was aboard this plane?
All these ambiguities, the contradictory reports about Saddam's situation, and the fact that the highest-ranking Iraqi officials were all represented by a single individual -- Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed al-Sahhaf -- and the easy fall of Baghdad shows that the center of collusion had been Tikrit, where Saddam, his aides, and lieutenants from the Baath Party had been waiting for al-Sahhaf to join them so that they could receive the required guarantees to leave the country in a secret compromise with coalition forces.
AFRICA
Independent: 40 million starving 'as world watches Iraq'
UN agency accuses west of pledging to feed victims of Gulf war while concern for plight of hungry Africans fades
Rory Carroll in Kanywambizi, Zimbabwe
Wednesday April 9, 2003
The Guardian
Forty million Africans are at risk of starving but are not getting enough aid because the world is distracted by Iraq, the World Food Programme has warned.
In an impassioned appeal to the United Nations security council, James Morris, the UN agency's executive director, accused the west of double standards.
"How is it we routinely accept a level of suffering and hopelessness in Africa we would never accept in any other part of the world? We simply cannot let this stand."
Independent: 40 million starving 'as world watches Iraq'
UN agency accuses west of pledging to feed victims of Gulf war while concern for plight of hungry Africans fades
Rory Carroll in Kanywambizi, Zimbabwe
Wednesday April 9, 2003
The Guardian
Forty million Africans are at risk of starving but are not getting enough aid because the world is distracted by Iraq, the World Food Programme has warned.
In an impassioned appeal to the United Nations security council, James Morris, the UN agency's executive director, accused the west of double standards.
"How is it we routinely accept a level of suffering and hopelessness in Africa we would never accept in any other part of the world? We simply cannot let this stand."
WAAR ON IRAK
Radio Netherland: Where are the weapons?
With the battle for Baghdad fizzling out without the use of chemical weapons by Iraqi troops, Washington's critics are demanding to know what has happened to Saddam Hussein's purported weapons of mass destruction. Former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq Scott Ritter is one of those who has heaped scorn upon President George Bush's administration for going to war. In this interview with RN's Saskia van Reenan, Mr Ritter, a former US marine officer, explains why he sees US justifications for waging war as dishonest excuses for empire-building.
"The threat that Iraq poses from weapons of mass destruction I think has been clearly exposed as a lie. We were told to expect chemical weapons to rain down on troops as soon as they crossed over the border from Kuwait into Iraq, but that didn't happen. We were then told that as we closed in on the so-called ‘red line' around Baghdad – the 50-mile circle – that as soon as we breached that, chemical weapons would be used. That didn't happen. Then we said chemical weapons would be used as a last-gasp defence of Baghdad but that didn't happen. What chemical weapons? We were told that the presidential palaces were brimming over with weapons of mass destruction, but we now occupy many of the presidential palaces and we've found nothing."
Radio Netherland: Where are the weapons?
With the battle for Baghdad fizzling out without the use of chemical weapons by Iraqi troops, Washington's critics are demanding to know what has happened to Saddam Hussein's purported weapons of mass destruction. Former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq Scott Ritter is one of those who has heaped scorn upon President George Bush's administration for going to war. In this interview with RN's Saskia van Reenan, Mr Ritter, a former US marine officer, explains why he sees US justifications for waging war as dishonest excuses for empire-building.
"The threat that Iraq poses from weapons of mass destruction I think has been clearly exposed as a lie. We were told to expect chemical weapons to rain down on troops as soon as they crossed over the border from Kuwait into Iraq, but that didn't happen. We were then told that as we closed in on the so-called ‘red line' around Baghdad – the 50-mile circle – that as soon as we breached that, chemical weapons would be used. That didn't happen. Then we said chemical weapons would be used as a last-gasp defence of Baghdad but that didn't happen. What chemical weapons? We were told that the presidential palaces were brimming over with weapons of mass destruction, but we now occupy many of the presidential palaces and we've found nothing."
WAR ON IRAK
Independent: Robert Fisk: A day that began with shellfire ended with a once-oppressed people walking like giants
The Americans "liberated" Baghdad yesterday, destroyed the centre of Saddam Hussein's quarter-century of brutal dictatorial power but brought behind them an army of looters who unleashed upon the ancient city a reign of pillage and anarchy. It was a day that began with shellfire and air strikes and blood-bloated hospitals and ended with the ritual destruction of the dictator's statues. The mobs shrieked their delight. Men who, for 25 years, had grovellingly obeyed Saddam's most humble secret policeman turned into giants, bellowing their hatred of the Iraqi leader as his vast and monstrous statues thundered to the ground.
"It is the beginning of our new freedom," an Iraqi shopkeeper shouted at me. Then he paused, and asked: "What do the Americans want from us now?' The great Lebanese poet Kalil Gibran once wrote that he pitied the nation that welcomed its tyrants with trumpetings and dismissed them with hootings of derision. And the people of Baghdad performed this same deadly ritual yesterday, forgetting that they – or their parents – had behaved in identical fashion when the Arab Socialist Baath Party destroyed the previous dictatorship of Iraq's generals and princes. Forgetting, too, that the "liberators" were a new and alien and all-powerful occupying force with neither culture nor language nor race nor religion to unite them with Iraq.
You'll see the celebrations and we will be happy Saddam has gone," one of them said to me. "But we will then want to rid ourselves of the Americans and we will want to keep our oil and there will be resistance and then they will call us "terrorists". Nor did the Americans look happy "liberators". They pointed their rifles at the pavements and screamed at motorists to stop – one who did not, an old man in an old car, was shot in the head in front of two French journalists.
Independent: Robert Fisk: A day that began with shellfire ended with a once-oppressed people walking like giants
The Americans "liberated" Baghdad yesterday, destroyed the centre of Saddam Hussein's quarter-century of brutal dictatorial power but brought behind them an army of looters who unleashed upon the ancient city a reign of pillage and anarchy. It was a day that began with shellfire and air strikes and blood-bloated hospitals and ended with the ritual destruction of the dictator's statues. The mobs shrieked their delight. Men who, for 25 years, had grovellingly obeyed Saddam's most humble secret policeman turned into giants, bellowing their hatred of the Iraqi leader as his vast and monstrous statues thundered to the ground.
"It is the beginning of our new freedom," an Iraqi shopkeeper shouted at me. Then he paused, and asked: "What do the Americans want from us now?' The great Lebanese poet Kalil Gibran once wrote that he pitied the nation that welcomed its tyrants with trumpetings and dismissed them with hootings of derision. And the people of Baghdad performed this same deadly ritual yesterday, forgetting that they – or their parents – had behaved in identical fashion when the Arab Socialist Baath Party destroyed the previous dictatorship of Iraq's generals and princes. Forgetting, too, that the "liberators" were a new and alien and all-powerful occupying force with neither culture nor language nor race nor religion to unite them with Iraq.
You'll see the celebrations and we will be happy Saddam has gone," one of them said to me. "But we will then want to rid ourselves of the Americans and we will want to keep our oil and there will be resistance and then they will call us "terrorists". Nor did the Americans look happy "liberators". They pointed their rifles at the pavements and screamed at motorists to stop – one who did not, an old man in an old car, was shot in the head in front of two French journalists.
WAR ON IRAK
Independent: Arab world dismayed at 'new colonialism'
The West may have watched the pictures of jubilant crowds in Baghdad with joy, but in the Arab world most people watched with dismay. Many turned their televisions off, unable to watch any more.
Many Arabs who opposed Saddam Hussein's regime saw in the television pictures not the toppling of a ruthless tyrant, but the conquest of Iraq by a foreign occupying army. The most telling moment came when American soldiers briefly draped a statue of President Saddam with a US flag. "This is a new colonialism," was one Palestinian's reaction.
Independent: Arab world dismayed at 'new colonialism'
The West may have watched the pictures of jubilant crowds in Baghdad with joy, but in the Arab world most people watched with dismay. Many turned their televisions off, unable to watch any more.
Many Arabs who opposed Saddam Hussein's regime saw in the television pictures not the toppling of a ruthless tyrant, but the conquest of Iraq by a foreign occupying army. The most telling moment came when American soldiers briefly draped a statue of President Saddam with a US flag. "This is a new colonialism," was one Palestinian's reaction.
Monday, April 07, 2003
WAR ON IRAK
Independent: The Twisted Language Of War Used To Justify The Unjustifiable
Why do we aid and abet the lies and propaganda of this filthy war? How come, for example, it's now BBC "style" to describe the Anglo-American invaders as the "coalition". This is a lie. The "coalition" that we're obviously supposed to remember is the one forged to drive Iraqi occupation troops from Kuwait in 1991, an alliance involving dozens of countries ö almost all of whom now condemn President Bush Junior's adventure in Iraq. There are a few Australian special forces swanning about in the desert, courtesy of the country's eccentric Prime Minister, John Howard, but that's it.
So, who at the BBC decreed this dishonest word "coalition"? True, there's a "coalition of the willing", to use Mr Bush's weird phrase, but this is a reference to those nations that have given overflying rights to the United States or have given political but not military support. So the phrase "coalition forces" remains a lie.
Then there's the historical slippage to justify the unjustifiable. When Jonathan Charles, an "embedded" journalist, reported in the early days of the invasion that the British army outside Basra was keeping a watchful eye on the Iranian border because the Iranians had "stirred up" an insurrection in the city in 1991, his dispatch was based on a falsehood. The Iranians never stirred up an insurrection in Basra. President Bush Senior did that by calling for just such a rebellion ö and then betraying the Shia Muslims who followed his appeal. The Iranians did everything they could to avoid involvement in the uprising.
Independent: The Twisted Language Of War Used To Justify The Unjustifiable
Why do we aid and abet the lies and propaganda of this filthy war? How come, for example, it's now BBC "style" to describe the Anglo-American invaders as the "coalition". This is a lie. The "coalition" that we're obviously supposed to remember is the one forged to drive Iraqi occupation troops from Kuwait in 1991, an alliance involving dozens of countries ö almost all of whom now condemn President Bush Junior's adventure in Iraq. There are a few Australian special forces swanning about in the desert, courtesy of the country's eccentric Prime Minister, John Howard, but that's it.
So, who at the BBC decreed this dishonest word "coalition"? True, there's a "coalition of the willing", to use Mr Bush's weird phrase, but this is a reference to those nations that have given overflying rights to the United States or have given political but not military support. So the phrase "coalition forces" remains a lie.
Then there's the historical slippage to justify the unjustifiable. When Jonathan Charles, an "embedded" journalist, reported in the early days of the invasion that the British army outside Basra was keeping a watchful eye on the Iranian border because the Iranians had "stirred up" an insurrection in the city in 1991, his dispatch was based on a falsehood. The Iranians never stirred up an insurrection in Basra. President Bush Senior did that by calling for just such a rebellion ö and then betraying the Shia Muslims who followed his appeal. The Iranians did everything they could to avoid involvement in the uprising.
SCIENCE
Times Online: Oil industry suppressed plans for 200-mpg car
THE original blueprints for a device that could have revolutionised the motor car have been discovered in the secret compartment of a tool box.
A carburettor that would allow a car to travel 200 miles on a gallon of fuel caused oil stocks to crash when it was announced by its Canadian inventor Charles Nelson Pogue in the 1930s.
But the carburettor was never produced and, mysteriously, Pogue went overnight from impoverished inventor to the manager of a successful factory making oil filters for the motor industry. Ever since, suspicion has lingered that oil companies and car manufacturers colluded to bury Pogue’s invention.
Now a retired Cornish mechanic has enlisted the help of the University of Plymouth to rebuild Pogue’s revolutionary carburettor, known as the Winnipeg, from blueprints he found hidden beneath a sheet of plywood in the box.
The controversial plans once caused panic among oil companies and rocked the Toronto Stock Exchange when tests carried out on the carburettor in the 1930s proved that it worked.
Patrick Davies, 72, from St Austell, had owned the tool box for 40 years but only recently decided to clean it out. As well as drawings of the carburettor, the envelope contained two pages of plans, three test reports and six pages of notes written by Pogue.
They included a report of a test that Pogue had done on his lawnmower, which showed that he had managed to make the engine run for seven days on a quart (just under a litre) of petrol.
The documents also described how the machine worked by turning petrol into a vapour before it entered the cylinder chamber, reducing the amount of fuel needed for combustion.
Mr Davies has had the patent number on the plans authenticated, proving that they are genuine documents.
"SKANDAL"
Times Online: Oil industry suppressed plans for 200-mpg car
THE original blueprints for a device that could have revolutionised the motor car have been discovered in the secret compartment of a tool box.
A carburettor that would allow a car to travel 200 miles on a gallon of fuel caused oil stocks to crash when it was announced by its Canadian inventor Charles Nelson Pogue in the 1930s.
But the carburettor was never produced and, mysteriously, Pogue went overnight from impoverished inventor to the manager of a successful factory making oil filters for the motor industry. Ever since, suspicion has lingered that oil companies and car manufacturers colluded to bury Pogue’s invention.
Now a retired Cornish mechanic has enlisted the help of the University of Plymouth to rebuild Pogue’s revolutionary carburettor, known as the Winnipeg, from blueprints he found hidden beneath a sheet of plywood in the box.
The controversial plans once caused panic among oil companies and rocked the Toronto Stock Exchange when tests carried out on the carburettor in the 1930s proved that it worked.
Patrick Davies, 72, from St Austell, had owned the tool box for 40 years but only recently decided to clean it out. As well as drawings of the carburettor, the envelope contained two pages of plans, three test reports and six pages of notes written by Pogue.
They included a report of a test that Pogue had done on his lawnmower, which showed that he had managed to make the engine run for seven days on a quart (just under a litre) of petrol.
The documents also described how the machine worked by turning petrol into a vapour before it entered the cylinder chamber, reducing the amount of fuel needed for combustion.
Mr Davies has had the patent number on the plans authenticated, proving that they are genuine documents.
"SKANDAL"
WAR ON IRAK
Rense: Arabs Fight US Troops Near Baghdad
Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians are fighting alongside Iraqi troops against US forces moving on Baghdad, using tactics including suicide bombings which left two Marines dead, US officers said yesterday.
One officer with the 1st Marine Division told AFP US troops fought a 10-hour battle with hundreds of such fighters southeast of Baghdad on Friday.
"We were ambushed twice, and there were four suicide car bombings against tanks," the officer said.
"There were nine casualties, including two Marines killed."
The officer said contact was initially with some 150 black-clad fighters, but by the end of the battle around midnight 300 to 400 had been killed. "They kept bringing them in by the busload," he said. "It's a whole conglomerate of freedom fighters."
Rense: Arabs Fight US Troops Near Baghdad
Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians are fighting alongside Iraqi troops against US forces moving on Baghdad, using tactics including suicide bombings which left two Marines dead, US officers said yesterday.
One officer with the 1st Marine Division told AFP US troops fought a 10-hour battle with hundreds of such fighters southeast of Baghdad on Friday.
"We were ambushed twice, and there were four suicide car bombings against tanks," the officer said.
"There were nine casualties, including two Marines killed."
The officer said contact was initially with some 150 black-clad fighters, but by the end of the battle around midnight 300 to 400 had been killed. "They kept bringing them in by the busload," he said. "It's a whole conglomerate of freedom fighters."
WAR ON IRAK ANALYSIS
Aeronautics.ru: April 6th
April 6, 2003, 2000hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow - By the morning of April 6th an uncertain and quickly changing situation has developed. Coalition divisions are continuing to advance toward the city outskirts. The 22nd and 15th expeditionary marine squadrons are trying to break into the region of military airport “Rashid” from south-east. Iraqis are holding the line along the Diyala river and currently the marines cannot capture beach-heads on the right bank.
A hard situation has formed near the international airport. The day before yesterday the Iraqi minister of propaganda claimed that the coalition forces in this region would have been eliminated by this morning, and the Iraqi command ordered to storm the airport. At 10am it was attacked by 3 Republican Guards battalions enforced with militia troops. Americans requested artillery and aviation support. The battle lasted for almost 6 hours. After several unsuccessful attacks Iraqis managed to drive Americans back from the second runway to the airport building. Currently the coalition forces control the building itself and the new runway bordering to it. During the day the foes had to increase their strengths and deploy reinforcements. By the evening up to 2 regular Iraqi brigades and 2 thousand militiamen were fighting for the airport. Americans had to use all available forces of the 3rd Mechanized Division and 101st Airborne Division to repulse the attacks. Only assault aircraft and battle helicopters made more than 300 operation flights to this region.
During the fight Iraqis lost up to 20 tanks, 10 APC, about 200 men killed and up to 300 wounded. The American losses were up to 30 men killed, about 50 wounded, at least 4 tanks, 4 APC and 1 helicopter. But it is impossible to obtain the exact data yet. By this hour there have been more than 20 flights for evacuation of killed and wounded coalition soldiers and the command have requested ambulance aviation again.
The combat was so intense that commander of the 3rd Mechanized Division general-major Bufford Blunt had to issue an order to organize a false strike. Around 8am from Khan-Azad road junction an attack was organized in order to demonstrate tank vanguards of a large subdivision advancing toward Al-Daura from south. The group was able to reach the outskirts of the town near the Avajridge village. After entering the village the group was met by Republican Guards. In direct combat the group lost 2 tanks, 3 APC, 3 men killed, up to 10 wounded and, after two hours of fighting, withdrew to the main forces. Iraqis lost 4 tanks, 2 APC and up to 30 men killed.
By the evening the foes reduced their activity and were regrouping during the last night. Americans are rapidly fortifying their defense positions and deploying reinforcements to the airport region, increasing their forces at Khan-Azad and Abu-Harraib. Iraqis are moving anti-armor divisions closer to the city outskirts.
Despite the exchange of strikes there are no reasons to expect any serious attempts to capture the city in the nearest future. By numerical strength the coalition troops that have reached the city borders do not meet even the minimal requirements for storming and heavy urban fights. Coalition forces by Baghdad number up to 18-20 thousand men and can be enforced with no more than 3-5 thousand men while the minimal force necessary to capture a city like Baghdad equals from 80 to 100 thousand soldiers.
According to weather forecasts, in the coming day the weather may abruptly change to the worse. The wind is expected to intensify, visibility may reduce to 200-300 m.
All the claims made by aviation commander of the coalition, general Michael Mosley, about “…Iraqi army, as an organized structure consisting of large units, exists no longer…” are contrary to fact and, according to analytics, are probably connected with severe pressure put on the military command by American financial groups that desperately needed good news from the US-Iraqi front by the end of the financial week. In fact, the Republican Guards defending Baghdad have not lost even 5% of their numerical strength and military equipment. Most of those losses were due to bombardments and not land combats. The total losses of Iraqi army since the beginning of the war have not exceeded 5-8% of their defensive potential. This means the main battles are still to be seen.
The situation in other sectors of the US-Iraqi front will be summarized closer to this evening.
April 6, 2003, 2000hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow UPDATE - Around Baghdad skirmishes between coalition forces and Iraqi divisions are going on. As we said before, during the next two days the coalition troops will extend the zone of blockade to the west and north-west using local strikes. Currently a part of the 1st brigade of the 3rd Mechanized Division is outflanking the city from Abu-Harraib, trying to reach the south outskirts and seize a strategic bridge across the Tigris at the north of the Tunis area (Salakh-Khasan).
Fire has not stopped near the Airport, both sides are using artillery. According to the most recent data the rush of the coalition forces toward to the southern borders of Baghdad, though expected by the Iraqi command, was tactically surprise. Hidden in the interiors of the city, parts of the Iraqi army were unable to leave their covered positions, advance and face the enemy. There arouse confusion that led to disorganization of the Iraqi squadrons that engaged their rivals “on the move”, without proper reconnaissance and concentration of forces. According to specified information in different conflicts and during the assault of the airport up to 400 Iraqi soldiers were killed, 25 tanks and 12 guns were lost.
But the coalition command also faced serious problems. Powerful Iraqi attacks aimed at the airport immobilized most of the force breaking towards Baghdad and it turned out necessary to bring reinforcements from other sectors of the front in order to succeed. In particular, up to 2 battalions of the 101st Airborne Division located by An-Nasiriya and An-Najaf and at least 1 battalion of the 82nd Division were moved there. Americans tolls at the south and south-east of Baghdad for the last 24 hours amount to: up to 30 men killed and at least 80 wounded, 15 soldiers are known to be missing. The Americans lost at least 8 tanks and 5 APC.
Marine squadrons are still incapable of breaking down defenses by the Diyala river. Currently the vanguards are trying to outflank the city from east and seize the bridge in the New Baghdad region.
There are not enough coalition forces to block such a city, and the troops blocking An-Nasiriya, An-Najaf, Al-Kut and Al-Diwaniya were given categorical orders to break down the Iraqi resistance in the next 3 days, take control of those areas and advance toward Baghdad to join the blockade.
To organize offensive against Karbala the blocking troops were enforced with one expeditionary marine squadron, and another storm started this morning. There is no information about casualties from this region yet.
Analogous tasks were set before the British command at the south of Iraq near Basra.
For the past 2 days the British have tried to overcome Iraqi defenses from An-Zubair and the Manavi regions 3 times, but they still cannot break down the resistance. This morning an armored column was able to come up to a strategic cross-road near Akhavat-Rezan, but got under heavy fire and had to retreat.
Yesterday and during this morning the British lost at least 3 armored units, 2 men killed and 6 wounded.
The coalition command and the foreign policy departments of Russia and USA are now making every effort to close all the information related to the Russian embassy getting fired near Baghdad.
Sources claim that the embassy ceased its activities in many respects because of the danger of an air strike on the embassy. The American command was utterly irritated by the presence of the Russian embassy in Baghdad and believed that some technical intelligence equipment was deployed there that provided the Iraqis with information. Moreover, some officers in the coalition HQ in Qatar openly claimed that it was on the territory of the Russian embassy that the “jammers” hampering the high-precision weapons around Baghdad were operated.
Yesterday morning the Secretary of State Colin Powell demanded of immediate evacuation of the embassy from the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov. Yesterday evening the Russian minister informed the Americans that on the 6th of April the embassy column would be leaving Baghdad heading for the Syrian border. This gave rise to dissatisfaction among the State Department officials who suggested that the column should move to Jordan.
The coalition special operations HQ were sure that the embassy column would contain secret devices taken from military equipment captured by Iraqis. In this connection one cannot shut out the possibility of “revenge” from the coalition command.
Moreover, experts claim that the purpose of this armed assault could be to damage a few cars where the Russians would have to leave some of the salvage. This is also indicated by the fact that neither the ambassador himself nor journalists in the column were among the injured. In this case we can expect that this action was committed by coalition special forces and the column was shot using Russian-made weapons to conceal the origin of the attackers to blame the Iraqis afterwards.
According to the most recent data the column got ambushed almost 30 km to the west from the city on the territory occupied by the coalition, but moving fast it escaped from fire and made a few more kilometers where it was blocked by military jeeps. On attempting to establish contact with their crews it received fire again, then the jeeps vanished.
Today at 5pm a phone conversation between president of Russia Vladimir Putin and president of the USA George W. Bush took place. Before this conversation, his assistant for National Security Affairs Condoleezza Rice, who came into Moscow today, had consulted Bush. At this time Rice is meeting Igor Ivanov, the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The details of this meeting are unknown so far, but we can suppose that very soon some “unknown squadrons” will be made responsible for the incident and the situation will be dampened to the maximum.
Analysts reckon that the situation with the nuclear submarine “Kursk”, when a whole series of private contacts between top Russian officials and American representatives brought more questions than answers, is about to occur again to some extent.
4th April
5th April
Aeronautics.ru: April 6th
April 6, 2003, 2000hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow - By the morning of April 6th an uncertain and quickly changing situation has developed. Coalition divisions are continuing to advance toward the city outskirts. The 22nd and 15th expeditionary marine squadrons are trying to break into the region of military airport “Rashid” from south-east. Iraqis are holding the line along the Diyala river and currently the marines cannot capture beach-heads on the right bank.
A hard situation has formed near the international airport. The day before yesterday the Iraqi minister of propaganda claimed that the coalition forces in this region would have been eliminated by this morning, and the Iraqi command ordered to storm the airport. At 10am it was attacked by 3 Republican Guards battalions enforced with militia troops. Americans requested artillery and aviation support. The battle lasted for almost 6 hours. After several unsuccessful attacks Iraqis managed to drive Americans back from the second runway to the airport building. Currently the coalition forces control the building itself and the new runway bordering to it. During the day the foes had to increase their strengths and deploy reinforcements. By the evening up to 2 regular Iraqi brigades and 2 thousand militiamen were fighting for the airport. Americans had to use all available forces of the 3rd Mechanized Division and 101st Airborne Division to repulse the attacks. Only assault aircraft and battle helicopters made more than 300 operation flights to this region.
During the fight Iraqis lost up to 20 tanks, 10 APC, about 200 men killed and up to 300 wounded. The American losses were up to 30 men killed, about 50 wounded, at least 4 tanks, 4 APC and 1 helicopter. But it is impossible to obtain the exact data yet. By this hour there have been more than 20 flights for evacuation of killed and wounded coalition soldiers and the command have requested ambulance aviation again.
The combat was so intense that commander of the 3rd Mechanized Division general-major Bufford Blunt had to issue an order to organize a false strike. Around 8am from Khan-Azad road junction an attack was organized in order to demonstrate tank vanguards of a large subdivision advancing toward Al-Daura from south. The group was able to reach the outskirts of the town near the Avajridge village. After entering the village the group was met by Republican Guards. In direct combat the group lost 2 tanks, 3 APC, 3 men killed, up to 10 wounded and, after two hours of fighting, withdrew to the main forces. Iraqis lost 4 tanks, 2 APC and up to 30 men killed.
By the evening the foes reduced their activity and were regrouping during the last night. Americans are rapidly fortifying their defense positions and deploying reinforcements to the airport region, increasing their forces at Khan-Azad and Abu-Harraib. Iraqis are moving anti-armor divisions closer to the city outskirts.
Despite the exchange of strikes there are no reasons to expect any serious attempts to capture the city in the nearest future. By numerical strength the coalition troops that have reached the city borders do not meet even the minimal requirements for storming and heavy urban fights. Coalition forces by Baghdad number up to 18-20 thousand men and can be enforced with no more than 3-5 thousand men while the minimal force necessary to capture a city like Baghdad equals from 80 to 100 thousand soldiers.
According to weather forecasts, in the coming day the weather may abruptly change to the worse. The wind is expected to intensify, visibility may reduce to 200-300 m.
All the claims made by aviation commander of the coalition, general Michael Mosley, about “…Iraqi army, as an organized structure consisting of large units, exists no longer…” are contrary to fact and, according to analytics, are probably connected with severe pressure put on the military command by American financial groups that desperately needed good news from the US-Iraqi front by the end of the financial week. In fact, the Republican Guards defending Baghdad have not lost even 5% of their numerical strength and military equipment. Most of those losses were due to bombardments and not land combats. The total losses of Iraqi army since the beginning of the war have not exceeded 5-8% of their defensive potential. This means the main battles are still to be seen.
The situation in other sectors of the US-Iraqi front will be summarized closer to this evening.
April 6, 2003, 2000hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow UPDATE - Around Baghdad skirmishes between coalition forces and Iraqi divisions are going on. As we said before, during the next two days the coalition troops will extend the zone of blockade to the west and north-west using local strikes. Currently a part of the 1st brigade of the 3rd Mechanized Division is outflanking the city from Abu-Harraib, trying to reach the south outskirts and seize a strategic bridge across the Tigris at the north of the Tunis area (Salakh-Khasan).
Fire has not stopped near the Airport, both sides are using artillery. According to the most recent data the rush of the coalition forces toward to the southern borders of Baghdad, though expected by the Iraqi command, was tactically surprise. Hidden in the interiors of the city, parts of the Iraqi army were unable to leave their covered positions, advance and face the enemy. There arouse confusion that led to disorganization of the Iraqi squadrons that engaged their rivals “on the move”, without proper reconnaissance and concentration of forces. According to specified information in different conflicts and during the assault of the airport up to 400 Iraqi soldiers were killed, 25 tanks and 12 guns were lost.
But the coalition command also faced serious problems. Powerful Iraqi attacks aimed at the airport immobilized most of the force breaking towards Baghdad and it turned out necessary to bring reinforcements from other sectors of the front in order to succeed. In particular, up to 2 battalions of the 101st Airborne Division located by An-Nasiriya and An-Najaf and at least 1 battalion of the 82nd Division were moved there. Americans tolls at the south and south-east of Baghdad for the last 24 hours amount to: up to 30 men killed and at least 80 wounded, 15 soldiers are known to be missing. The Americans lost at least 8 tanks and 5 APC.
Marine squadrons are still incapable of breaking down defenses by the Diyala river. Currently the vanguards are trying to outflank the city from east and seize the bridge in the New Baghdad region.
There are not enough coalition forces to block such a city, and the troops blocking An-Nasiriya, An-Najaf, Al-Kut and Al-Diwaniya were given categorical orders to break down the Iraqi resistance in the next 3 days, take control of those areas and advance toward Baghdad to join the blockade.
To organize offensive against Karbala the blocking troops were enforced with one expeditionary marine squadron, and another storm started this morning. There is no information about casualties from this region yet.
Analogous tasks were set before the British command at the south of Iraq near Basra.
For the past 2 days the British have tried to overcome Iraqi defenses from An-Zubair and the Manavi regions 3 times, but they still cannot break down the resistance. This morning an armored column was able to come up to a strategic cross-road near Akhavat-Rezan, but got under heavy fire and had to retreat.
Yesterday and during this morning the British lost at least 3 armored units, 2 men killed and 6 wounded.
The coalition command and the foreign policy departments of Russia and USA are now making every effort to close all the information related to the Russian embassy getting fired near Baghdad.
Sources claim that the embassy ceased its activities in many respects because of the danger of an air strike on the embassy. The American command was utterly irritated by the presence of the Russian embassy in Baghdad and believed that some technical intelligence equipment was deployed there that provided the Iraqis with information. Moreover, some officers in the coalition HQ in Qatar openly claimed that it was on the territory of the Russian embassy that the “jammers” hampering the high-precision weapons around Baghdad were operated.
Yesterday morning the Secretary of State Colin Powell demanded of immediate evacuation of the embassy from the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov. Yesterday evening the Russian minister informed the Americans that on the 6th of April the embassy column would be leaving Baghdad heading for the Syrian border. This gave rise to dissatisfaction among the State Department officials who suggested that the column should move to Jordan.
The coalition special operations HQ were sure that the embassy column would contain secret devices taken from military equipment captured by Iraqis. In this connection one cannot shut out the possibility of “revenge” from the coalition command.
Moreover, experts claim that the purpose of this armed assault could be to damage a few cars where the Russians would have to leave some of the salvage. This is also indicated by the fact that neither the ambassador himself nor journalists in the column were among the injured. In this case we can expect that this action was committed by coalition special forces and the column was shot using Russian-made weapons to conceal the origin of the attackers to blame the Iraqis afterwards.
According to the most recent data the column got ambushed almost 30 km to the west from the city on the territory occupied by the coalition, but moving fast it escaped from fire and made a few more kilometers where it was blocked by military jeeps. On attempting to establish contact with their crews it received fire again, then the jeeps vanished.
Today at 5pm a phone conversation between president of Russia Vladimir Putin and president of the USA George W. Bush took place. Before this conversation, his assistant for National Security Affairs Condoleezza Rice, who came into Moscow today, had consulted Bush. At this time Rice is meeting Igor Ivanov, the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The details of this meeting are unknown so far, but we can suppose that very soon some “unknown squadrons” will be made responsible for the incident and the situation will be dampened to the maximum.
Analysts reckon that the situation with the nuclear submarine “Kursk”, when a whole series of private contacts between top Russian officials and American representatives brought more questions than answers, is about to occur again to some extent.
4th April
5th April
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