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The A-List Digest
Today's Topics:
1. Victor Cannon Brookes secret-service meida connections
(Salaam Blackmore)
2. Re: The anatomy of fascism, by Robert Paxton (Macdonald Stainsby)
3. Venezuela Orders US Military Off Bases After Coup Plotters
Arrested (Rick Rozoff)
4. Re: 'When will genocide end?'...& the nature of propaganda
(tony black)
5. Iraq: Pictures Of Death, Torture And Rape Scream Louder Than
Words (Rick Rozoff)
6. Occupied Iraq: 'Black Hole Sucking Up Middle East, The World'
(Rick Rozoff)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 18:35:12 +0200
From: "Salaam Blackmore" <salaamblackmore@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [A-List] Victor Cannon Brookes secret-service meida
connections
To: "A-List" <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <000701c43908$43b7b110$2101a8c0@homezvxzwwnjfk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Salaam Blackmore" <salaamblackmore@xxxxxxxxxx>
Newsgroups: alt.obituaries
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: Victor Cannon Brookesl secret-service worker
If "Cannon Brookes was the front man for several news agencies and
publishing firms, ostensibly quite independent, which spread round
the Near and Middle East notions of how the free world should run",
does anyone know exactly which agencies and publishers he fronted?
Salaam
> > From The Independent:
> > Solicitor who acted as secretary to SOE's Council and
> > continued secret work into the Cold War
> > 13 May 2004
> >
> >
> > Victor Montgomery Cannon Brookes, solicitor,
> > secret-service officer and publisher: born London 24 May
> > 1911; married 1935 Nancy Markham Carter (died 1994; two
> > sons); died Oxford 18 April 2004.
> >
> >
> > Victor Cannon Brookes, a solicitor, was the last survivor of
> > those who attended the Council of the Special Operations
> > Executive, the formidable body that directed the subversive
> > secret service's work. He did not belong to Council - all
> > those who did are now dead; but he was its secretary and
> > kept its minutes, once deadly secret, now in the National
> > Archives at Kew.
> >
> > His father was a London solicitor; his mother died, in the
> > Spanish flu epidemic that killed more people than died in
> > the First World War, in 1919 when he was a small boy. He was
> > brought up in East Anglia in what were then regarded as
> > Bohemian circles. From Bilton Grange preparatory school,
> > young Victor - he had an elder brother - went to Sherborne,
> > where he was a friend and contemporary of Alan Turing, the
> > cryptographic genius who helped break Enigma ciphers during
> > the next world war.
> >
> > From Sherborne in turn he moved on, by family tradition, to
> > Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he read Modern Languages and
> > Economics. In 1933 he went to stay in south Germany, to
> > improve his knowledge of the language, and was thus able to
> > observe at first hand the early stages of the Nazi
> > revolution at work in German society; as well as making
> > several friends in the German aristocratic opposition,
> > several of whom came to horrible ends in the last winter of
> > the war. He also met there several notable musicians,
> > including Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walther and Benjamin
> > Britten.
> >
> > Returning to England, he took up his lifelong career as a
> > family solicitor, working at first in Slaughter & May. In
> > 1935 he married Nancy Markham Carter, the cousin of a
> > Cambridge friend, his devoted wife for almost 60 years (she
> > died in 1994). As soon as he qualified, he joined the family
> > firm of Cannon Brookes & Odgers; but he received an
> > invitation, early in the Second World War, to join the
> > Ministry of Economic Warfare, where he did much for the
> > Finns during their winter war against the Soviet Union in
> > 1939-40. At MEW he again met Harry Sporborg, whom he had
> > known at Slaughter & May; and in late summer 1940 Sporborg
> > invited him to join the ministry's secret appendix, the
> > Special Operations Executive.
> >
> > In those early days, SOE had to recruit on the old-boy net;
> > its members invited those they knew and trusted already to
> > join them - there was no other safe way of staffing a new
> > secret service. Sporborg's choice of Cannon Brookes was
> > fully justified: as a solicitor, he understood already the
> > need to keep his mouth shut, he had a clear, trained head,
> > he knew something about the enemy, he was prepared to work
> > irregular hours, his personality was stable. He never rose
> > to high rank, but he never made an indiscretion, and nothing
> > surprised him - not even having to work briefly with Kim
> > Philby, whom he found disagreeable. Philby was soon removed
> > into a post with a rival secret service more interesting to
> > his Soviet masters.
> >
> > Cannon Brookes held a series of medium-ranking posts in SOE,
> > with a galaxy of cover initials, mainly as assistant to
> > Sporborg, who rose to be one of the two deputies on whom
> > General Colin Gubbins, SOE's last executive head, chiefly
> > depended. They dealt mainly with the always delicate problem
> > of relations with the governments in exile in London. All
> > these bodies were longing to see their countries liberated
> > from Nazi or Fascist occupation, but few of them (the Poles
> > were here an honourable exception) were prepared to risk the
> > casualties that were likely to be involved.
> >
> > In the winter of 1943-44, after Gubbins had taken overall
> > charge, Cannon Brookes succeeded Sporborg as principal
> > private secretary for SOE affairs for the Earl of Selborne,
> > whose cover was that he was Minister of Economic Warfare
> > (Selborne said that SOE took up about four-fifths of his
> > time; Parliament, Cabinet, MEW and his family estate
> > absorbed the rest).
> >
> > As such, it was Cannon Brookes's duty to attend SOE's
> > Council meetings - every Wednesday without fail, more often
> > (daily if necessary) when a crisis was running, as it often
> > was. It was his business to summon the members, keep and
> > circulate the minutes, and ensure that Council's decisions
> > were carried through: no light task, but one calmly and
> > efficiently performed.
> >
> > On SOE's abrupt winding-up in January 1946 Cannon Brookes
> > went back to Cannon Brookes & Odgers, and picked up as best
> > he could the threads of the business and family affairs he
> > had been running before the war. He was a trustee, and for
> > 26 years a governor, of Bilton Grange, his preparatory
> > school. As a devout Christian, he worked hard for the SPCK,
> > reorganising its finances; and when he retired to
> > Sunningdale he was for years Vicar's Warden at his local
> > church.
> >
> > The Foreign Office kept in touch with those few of SOE's
> > members whom it regarded as entirely reliable; he was one of
> > them. His Christian faith made him sternly anti-Stalinist;
> > and the researches at Company House of Peter Lashmar and
> > James Oliver have revealed in their 1998 book, Britain's
> > Secret Propaganda War, that Cannon Brookes was the front man
> > for several news agencies and publishing firms, ostensibly
> > quite independent, which spread round the Near and Middle
> > East notions of how the free world should run.
> >
> > He soldiered on, in fact, for nearly 30 years more, well
> > into the Cold War; while preserving his public face as a
> > genial, safe, reliable family man.
> >
> > M. R. D. Foot
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 10:00:09 -0700
From: Macdonald Stainsby <mstainsby@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [A-List] The anatomy of fascism, by Robert Paxton
To: The A-List <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <40A3A999.6040901@xxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=us-ascii
Michael Keaney wrote:
> But is the bitch that bore it in heat again? Surveying the recent
> manifestations of far right European politics - Pim Fortuyn, Jorge Haidar,
> Jean Marie Le Pen - Paxton is satisfied that they offer no immediate threat
> to democracy in western Europe. However, he isn't so sure about the east.
> Paxton argues that the Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic, can reasonably be
> called fascist. The national decomposition of the former Yugoslavia created
> fertile ground for extreme, emotional, anti-democratic nationalism. The
> economic and social disintegration of the ex-Warsaw Pact is similarly
> fertile.
This is where the theses loses anything of real content. If Paxton can
conceive that Franco, acting on behalf of the landed aristocracy of Spain
and on concert with all imperialism, particularly the German fascists, is
not a fascist-- while at the same time looking to a country beleaguered by
imperialism, with economic dominance of the country at the heart of the
conflict and calling that fascist, he knows nothing of the main
contradicition of imperialism.
What is anti-democratic nationalist about winning three elections all
declared basically free?
--
Macdonald Stainsby
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
--Brecht.
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 14:17:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [A-List] Venezuela Orders US Military Off Bases After Coup
Plotters Arrested
To: a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <20040513211724.30056.qmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
1) Venezuela Asks US Military To Leave Bases
2) US Military Commander Knew Of Plot To Use Colombian
Paramilitaries To Topple Government: Venezuela
1)
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aXRF4xIL8_w8&refer=latin_america
Bloomberg News
May 13, 2004
Venezuela Asks U.S. Military to Leave Bases, Nacional
Reports
-President Hugo Chavez said yesterday the U.S.
military knew about a plot by Colombian paramilitary
members to lead a coup and overthrow the government.
Venezuela asked the U.S. military to vacate offices on
military bases it has occupied for more than 50 years,
U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro said, according to El
Nacional.
The U.S. will maintain its military liaison offices in
other buildings, Shapiro said, according to the
newspaper.
President Hugo Chavez said yesterday the U.S. military
knew about a plot by Colombian paramilitary members to
lead a coup and overthrow the government. Shapiro
denied any U.S. involvement with a paramilitary plot.
Relations between Venezuela and the U.S. have been
tense since Chavez, who led a failed coup as an army
lieutenant colonel in 1992, took office in 1999.
Chavez says the U.S. helped plan a failed coup attempt
against him in 2002, a charge the U.S. denies.
-------------------------------------------------------
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2004/05/12/457157-ap.html
Associated Press
May 13, 2004
Venezuelan president: U.S. knew about plot
-Chavez said his government thwarted a sophisticated
international conspiracy with the arrest this week of
more than 80 suspected members of Colombia's
right-wing paramilitary groups....
-Chavez said Wednesday he suspected [U.S. army Gen.
James Hill, the commander of U.S. military operations
in Latin America] knew about the plan because of
comments the general made during a U.S. Senate
committee hearing in April.
CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused a
senior U.S. military commander Wednesday of knowing
about a purported conspiracy to send Colombian
paramilitary fighters to overthrow his government.
Although he acknowledged he didn't "have proof at this
moment," Chavez said he is "completely sure" U.S. army
Gen. James Hill, the commander of U.S. military
operations in Latin America, "knew about the plan that
was being prepared against Venezuela." Chavez stopped
short of accusing Hill of involvement.
Chavez said his government thwarted a sophisticated
international conspiracy with the arrest this week of
more than 80 suspected members of Colombia's
right-wing paramilitary groups, most of them at a farm
outside the Venezuelan capital Caracas.
Authorities detained 14 more alleged paramilitaries
near Caracas on Wednesday, Chavez announced.
Some opposition leaders have dismissed the arrests as
a government ploy to distract attention from efforts
to stage a referendum to recall Chavez.
Chavez said Wednesday he suspected Hill knew about the
plan because of comments the general made during a
U.S. Senate committee hearing in April. Hill, who
heads the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, accused
Chavez of pursuing anti-democratic policies that pose
a serious threat to the region.
Southern Command spokesman Raul Duany rejected the
allegation.
"We have had no relationship with, participation in or
knowledge of paramilitary groups or individuals
violating the sovereignty of another country," Duany
said.
Venezuela provides about 15 per cent of U.S. oil
imports but diplomatic relations are strained. U.S.
officials accuse Chavez of becoming increasing
autocratic, while Chavez accuses Washington of
supporting efforts to overthrow his government,
including a failed 2002 coup.
On Wednesday, a Venezuelan Defence Ministry spokesman
said the government ordered a U.S. military liaison
mission to vacate its offices in the Caracas Fort
Tiuna military base, arguing it needed the space for
an education program for poor pre-schoolers.
The ministry informed the U.S. Embassy on Friday the
mission has until May 31 to vacate the offices, the
spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
Embassy officials said they do not yet know where the
mission would relocate. In 2002, the government also
told the mission to leave but never followed through
on the order.
On Monday, Venezuelan soldiers seeking weapons raided
a warehouse used by the U.S. Embassy to store
furniture. The search turned up nothing.
Authorities have also detained three active-duty
Venezuelan military officials for allegedly
co-operating with the suspected paramilitaries.
Venezuelan officials have provided only vague
information about who the masterminds of the purported
conspiracy could be.
Robert Alonso, owner of the farm where most of the
arrests were made Sunday, denied involvement and said
he hasn't lived on the property for more than a year.
He told television stations he has been in hiding
since March, when government supporters accused him of
leading violent protests.
Alfredo Defendini, president of the opposition group
Bloque Democratico, acknowledged Alonso attended
several of the organization's meetings.
But Defendini insisted his group, a hardline coalition
of civil organizations pushing for a
civil-disobedience campaign against Chavez, denied the
group had anything do with the alleged plot and said
he doubted Alonso did either.
"We think this is a big set-up," Defendini said.
Without providing evidence, Chavez accused Pedro
Carmona, the businessman who became interim president
during a short-lived coup in 2002, of being involved.
On Tuesday, soldiers raided coffee farm owned by
billionaire Gustavo Cisneros, the owner of the Latin
American media conglomerate Cisneros Group. But
officials did not specify whether Cisneros was a
suspect.
A military tribunal ordered 86 of the suspected
paramilitary fighters to stand trial for military
rebellion, the Venezuelan news agency Venpres reported
Wednesday.
__________________________________
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http://movies.yahoo.com/showtimes/movie?mid=1808405861
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 19:34:08 -0400
From: "tony black" <tal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [A-List] 'When will genocide end?'...& the nature of
propaganda
To: "The A-List" <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <001d01c43942$ca3f3020$58805ad1@ciceronvv6jwd4>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
Anne,
Yes, please do keep an eye out....I actually don't much attend to the Spec
anymore...Ever since they stopped publishing my material I find so little of
substance there to read :)
As for the fact that this august institution (as with virtually the entire
corporate media) occasionally deigns to include a protest letter or article
is, I must point out, nevertheless, entirely in keeping with its propaganda
function.
How often, for instance, are we reminded by right-wing pundits that, in
fact, they *did* see a piece critical of this or that state or corporate or
imperial policy/action...somewhere...at some time..'Just the other month I
saw....'
The point, of course, is that propaganda finds its essence in the sheer
*volume* of false, distorted, partial or omitted information purveyed.
Repetition is at the heart of it and, clearly, one reasoned article on page
10 or impassioned letter on page 20 can never undo a thousand headlines on
page 1.
Indeed, the token reasoned article or letter can then, in due course, be
used by casuists in an attempt to exonerate the media from the charge of
bias. Even more effective is the function such anomalous content serves in
maintaining the rationalizations of the editors themselves, confirming their
belief that they are, after all, most certainly good and round fellows in
dogged pursuit of the truth....All bogus, naturally, but then,
transgressions of elementary logic are hardly inimical to the propagandist's
task.
After all, as Jacques Ellul elucidated so definitively many years ago (and
here, forgive me this excursus), propaganda does not operate at the level of
the intellect, but of the emotions and the subconscious. It does not
convince, it creates a myth, a sense of the sacred, a world-view and vision
of all that is true and just and good (i.e. the 'American Way'). At this
level argument gives way to conditioned emotional reflex. Naturally the
propagandee is partially *complicit* in all this.... Thus, why are the
'masses' so easily duped? Because we desire it. We desire it because we have
needs which, seemingly, only propaganda can fulfill. The need, for instance,
to have a simplified, dualistic picture of the world, to parse it in the
language of a fairytale. The need to belong, to transcend ourselves in the
group, to express vicariously via the State our repressed hates and longings
for power. To raise ourselves from the sludge of anonymity and passivity
that inform our lives unto the empyrean heights of National Purpose and
Collective Concern. To link our humdrum fate with the fate of Empire. These
and a thousand other urgings prompt us to conspire in our own encirclement
by propaganda; an enslavement which, far from simply being imposed from
above, is nurtured secretly from within.....
...Finally, and as a bit of an aside, I am reminded by the foregoing of the
old saw, "You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the
people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the
time."
..I've always found this saying merely another weapon in the casuist's bag
of tricks, lending a spurious consolation to those not entirely convinced of
the official version of reality ...for the crux, the heart of the matter
seems to me, that you can fool *most* of the people..*most* of the time..
Tony
----- Original Message -----
From: "Anne Williamson" <annewilliamson@xxxxxxx>
To: "The A-List" <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 12:37 PM
Subject: Re: [A-List] 'When will genocide end?'
> Tony -
>
> Unlike Chris, I am not yet prepared to assume your excellent letter will
not
> be published. As a regular reader of The Spectator, I can say I have read
> many, many scathing letters of criticism that they have published, and
> therefore I hope for the best. I'll keep an eye out for yours, of course,
> but please do keep us informed as to your letter's fate. -A.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <bar@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "The A-List" <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 12:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [A-List] 'When will genocide end?'
>
>
> >
> > Real good but I think you will have to post as a "they refused to post
> > this". But it should be published. Nobody else is saying this obious
> > fact yet.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > > ...Any bets on whether they'll publish it?
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: tony black
> > > To: letters@xxxxxxxxxxx
> > >
> > > Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 2:40 PM
> > > Subject: 'When will genocide end?'
> > >
> > >
> > > To the editors:
> > >
> > > In last Saturday's edition the Spectator ran an editorial bemoaning
the
> > > seemingly endless procession of 'genocides' that have afflicted
> > > (especially) the last hundred years or so of world history. This
> > > world-weary sentiment clearly in response to the recently publicized
> > > human rights abuses committed in Iraq by American forces. When, it
> asked,
> > > will it all end?
> > >
> > > Let me proffer a partial answer by first reminding the Spectator that
in
> > > the weeks and months following 9/11 the Spec gave vent to such a
> sustained
> > > and grotesque outpouring of American jingoism, martial ardour and
> > > patriotic mass hysteria as to (in conjunction with the corporate media
> > > continent wide) create the very conditions for the prosecution of not
> one,
> > > but two illegal and immoral wars of aggression. Two lawless wars that
> have
> > > fostered, inevitably, two lawless and brutal occupations.
> > >
> > > And yet the media now feign both surprise (as they did following the
> > > 'revelation' that Iraq harboured no WMD) and disgust at the results.
> > >
> > > It was representative then that the Spec at that time (Sept./01),
having
> > > published most of my previous article submissions, declined at this
> > > 'sensitive' moment to print an essay I submitted critiquing not only
the
> > > mass hysteria they had created, but which also foreshadowed in almost
> > > every particular the likely consequences of the opportunistic
'policies'
> > > of Bush & Co. (i.e. the trashing of civil liberties, the attempt to
cow
> > > and suppress critics of economic 'globalization', the cynical use of
> 9/11
> > > as a pretext for American military expansionism, the destabilization
of
> > > world security in a nuclear age etc.).
> > >
> > > It is further worthy of note that my friends and family were actually
> > > frightened enough given the media-inspired climate of hysteria and
> > > fear...not from foreign 'terrorists' mind you, but from state security
> > > forces...to warn me against submitting the piece!
> > >
> > > As Hermann Goering once said,
> > >
> > > "Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to do the
bidding
> of
> > > the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are
> being
> > > attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and
> exposing
> > > the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
> > >
> > > So when will it all end? Certainly not before the mainstream media, on
> > > which the 'people' are supposed to depend for real information, are
> > > transformed into institutions capable of delivering, on the
fundamental
> > > issues of the day, something other than mere state 'manufactured
> consent'
> > > and elitist propaganda.
> > >
> > > At the very least, not before that....
> > >
> > > Antony Black
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 17:49:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [A-List] Iraq: Pictures Of Death, Torture And Rape Scream
Louder Than Words
To: a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <20040514004902.64599.qmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
1) Poll: 82% Of Iraqis Disapprove Of US, Other Western
Occupation Forces - Even Before Abuse, Torture Photos
2) US Assault On Shiite Holy City Of Najaf Leaves
Mosque Destroyed, Bodies Littering The Streets
3) Photographs Show Dead Iraqis, Torture And Rape
4) US Soldier's Video Diary: Iraqi Prisoners Shot By
American Guards
5) Iraq: Italian Commander Confirms US Prisoner Abuse
6) Danish Paramedics Witness British Abuse Of Iraqis,
Including Murder; Defense Minister 'Vigorously'
Condemns US, British Crimes
7) US Soldier Killed, Another Wounded In Baghdad
8) Iraq: Torture, Depravity Are No Aberrations
10) When Pictures Scream Louder Than Words
1)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-5-2004_pg4_4
Agence France-Presse
May 13, 2004
Eighty percent of Iraqis mistrust US-led coalition
WASHINGTON: Eighty percent of Iraqis mistrust the
coalition authority and 82 percent disapprove of US
and allied forces in their country, The Washington
Post said on Thursday quoting an poll conducted for
the authority.
The results of the survey, which has not been publicly
released, are disheartening for occupation and
Washington officials because they seem to indicate
that the US effort in Iraq is not winning over Iraqi
public opinion, said the daily.
Even more troubling is the fact that the residents of
Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Nasiriyah, Karbala and Ramadi
were polled in late March and early April, before the
surge in anti-coalition violence and the prisoner
abuse scandal, the daily said. The poll results were
provided to the Post by Donald Hamilton, a senior
advisor to US overseer in Iraq Paul Bremer. Although
he did not give the number of Iraqis consulted or
other methodological details, he said the poll was
generally reliable.
A large proportion of respondents in central and
southern Iraq ? 45 percent in Baghdad, 67 percent in
Basra ? said they backed radical Shiite Muslim cleric
Moqtada Sadr, who is leading a major uprising against
coalition forces and whom the United States wants to
kill or capture..
The Iraqi police received a 79 percent positive
rating, followed closely by the Iraqi army, with a 61
percent positive rating.
Sixty-three percent of all Iraqis said security was
the ?most urgent issue? facing Iraq ? in Baghdad it
was 70 percent who rated security their topmost
concern, up from 50 percent in January, 60 percent in
February and 65 percent in March.
------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/13/wirq13.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/05/13/ixnewstop.html
The Telegraph (Britain)
May 14, 2004
20 of Sadr's Mahdi army die in battle at mosque
By Oliver Poole in Baghdad
-It was reported that tank shells were fired, and
aircraft attacked the area.
Witnesses said the bodies of 14 Iraqis lay in
al-Jumhouriya Street and claimed that US snipers were
firing at anyone who broke cover.
-By daylight half the mosque - which is located a few
hundred yards from two of the holiest sites in Shia
Islam, the shrines of the martyrs Hussein and Abbas -
had been destroyed and several hotels were on fire.
Fighting raged in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala
yesterday, partly destroying a mosque and leaving
bodies scattered around the market, as American
soldiers killed at least 20 gunmen loyal to the
radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The battle emphasised the determination of the US
military to end a five-week Shia uprising.
Hundreds of troops moved in just before dawn after
members of Sadr's Mahdi army who were gathered around
the Mukhaiyam mosque began to fire mortar rounds at
the American force on the outskirts of the city.
Film from an embedded cameraman showed an armoured
vehicle trying to knock down a wall and the streets
were filled with smoke from a burning building.
It was reported that tank shells were fired, and
aircraft attacked the area.
Witnesses said the bodies of 14 Iraqis lay in
al-Jumhouriya Street and claimed that US snipers were
firing at anyone who broke cover.
A building behind the mosque was fired on, detonating
a substantial arms cache, and US soldiers stormed the
shattered mosque, chasing the insurgents into a hotel
and alley.
By daylight half the mosque - which is located a few
hundred yards from two of the holiest sites in Shia
Islam, the shrines of the martyrs Hussein and Abbas -
had been destroyed and several hotels were on fire.
Previously American forces had kept out of Karbala and
nearby Najaf, another holy city, after concerns that
their presence could further inflame Iraqi fury, which
is already outraged by the prisoner abuse photographs.
But it seems that in recent days negotiations with
local tribal and religious leaders have convinced
military leaders that many in the city would welcome
efforts to evict Sadr's militiamen.
On Tuesday several hundred Iraqis marched in Najaf to
demand Sadr's withdrawal and businessmen in both
cities expressed frustration at the collapse of the
local economy.
Whether the Americans have read the public mood
correctly will be crucial in determining the impact of
their strategy.
If a peaceful solution is not reached and US troops
are seen as being heavy-handed, it could turn public
opinion back Sadr's way. The coalition has made
concessions.
On Tuesday, the American-appointed governor in Najaf
suggested that US authorities were reconsidering their
stated goal of "killing or capturing" Sadr. The US
commander in the area said he was prepared to hand
over security of the city to a locally raised security
force that could include members of Sadr's Mahdi army.
Sadr said yesterday: "The dissolution of the Mahdi
army depends on the religious authorities. If they
issue an edict to disband then we will disband."
Seizing on the abuse scandal and foreign al-Qa'eda
militants in Iraq, he lashed out at Americans.
"Their presence in Iraq is not peace and will lead to
the spread of terrorism," he said. "Look at what your
army has done at the behest of its leaders - torture
of all kinds. Are those who came to remove Saddam
becoming just the same as Saddam?"
------------------------------------------------------
3)
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/13/1084289818093.html
The Age (Australia)
May 14, 2004
Photos show dead Iraqis, torture and rape
By Marian Wilkinson
United States Correspondent
Washington - Graphic new photographs and videotape of
the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison including images of
dead Iraqis, prisoners being brutalised, tortured and
forced to have sex, and female detainees being forced
to expose their breasts have stunned members of
Congress who saw them in a secure briefing room on
Capitol Hill.
"There were some awful scenes", said Democrat senator
Richard Durbin, "It felt you were descending into one
of the wings of hell and sadly it was our own
creation."
"There are a lot of dead people shown and a lot of
people brutalised," said independent senator Jim
Jeffords, formerly a Republican, but he said it was
unclear whether the Iraqis shown had died in combat or
after they were imprisoned.
"Take the worse case and multiply it several times
over," said Democrat senator Ron Wyden. "I expected
that these pictures would be very hard on the stomach
lining and it was significantly worse than anything
that I had anticipated."
Democrat senator Bill Nelson described for the first
time the videotape that he said included poor quality
images that may be evidence of attempts to sodomise
prisoners.
Of the more than 1800 images seized by army
investigators, many, according to the Pentagon, are
private photographs taken by the military personnel.
Some are innocuous while others show pornographic acts
between soldiers including some between Private
Lynndie England, who has already been charged, and a
partner. But there were also photos showing the sexual
abuse of prisoners.
Leading Republican senators backed the Pentagon's call
not to release the new photographs and videotape for
fear it would incite further violence against
Americans in Iraq, especially in light of the brutal
beheading of US citizen Nicholas Berg.
The US military has announced two more soldiers will
face court martial over the abuse of prisoners at Abu
Ghraib. Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick and
Sergeant Javal Davis, both reservists, were the second
and third of seven US Army military police guards who
have been charged in the affair.
- with Reuters
------------------------------------------------------
4)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/13/wtort13.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/05/13/ixnewstop.html
The Telegraph (Britain)
May 14, 2004
Iraqi prisoners 'shot by guards'
By Alec Russell in Washington
An American soldier's video diary detailing the chaos
at a jail in Iraq was broadcast last night as
Washington conceded the prisoner abuse scandal had
been a "body blow" for the country.
The woman soldier described the jail as out of control
with guards shooting prisoners to maintain order.
"I hate it here," said the soldier, who has not been
named. "We shot two prisoners today. One got shot in
the chest for swinging a pole against our people on
the feed team. The other got shot in the arm. We don't
know if the one we shot in the chest is dead yet."
The film about Camp Bucca prison, in southern Iraq,
was broadcast on the CBS programme, 60 Minutes II,
which first revealed the abuse.
In the video, the soldier described the hazards at
Camp Bucca saying: "This is a sand viper. One bite
will kill you in six hours. We've already had two
prisoners die of it, but who cares? That's two less
for me to worry about."
Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, described the
prisoner abuse scandal as "a body blow" for the US but
said enormous progress in Iraq was being ignored.
------------------------------------------------------
5)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1107955.htm
BBC News
May 13, 2004
Italian commander confirms prisoner abuse knowledge
The commander of the 3,000-strong Italian contingent
in Iraq has confirmed claims that American-trained
Iraqi police have mistreated prisoners.
But the Italian Defence Minister has denied he had any
knowledge of the mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq.
Although no members of the Italian military serving
with coalition forces in Iraq have been accused of
torturing prisoners, the general in command of the
3,000-strong Italian contingent has in a newspaper
interview contradicted the government line on torture.
The Berlusconi Government says it never received any
information about prisoner abuse from the
International Red Cross or from anyone else about the
mistreatment of detainees in Iraq.
The Italian contingent consists mainly of regular army
personnel and Carbinieri police.
------------------------------------------------------
6)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1538&u=/afp/20040513/wl_uk_afp/denmark_iraq_us_britain_040513230817&printer=1
Agence France-Presse
May 13, 2004
Two Danes witnessed results of brutal treatment of
Iraqis by British troops: Danish ministry
COPENHAGEN - Two Danish paramedics have reported
seeing the results of abusive treatment inflicted by
British soldiers on two Iraqis, one of whom was said
to have died as a result of injuries sustained during
questioning, the Danish defence ministry announced.
The assistant nurses were working in the British
military hospital in Iraq's southern capital Basra
when they were asked to assess the condition of the
two Iraqis who had been brought to the hospital after
allegedly enduring brutal treatment at the hand of
their British interrogators.
One of the Iraqis later succumbed to his injuries,
according to the Danish witnesses.
The Danish paramedics had reported the matter to a
Danish army legal adviser but news of the incident
only reached the Danish Defence Ministry on Thursday,
the ministry said.
Defence Minister Soeren Gade has asked the Danish
chief of staff to explain the delay in relaying the
information.
The ministry said that a British investigation was
underway.
Earlier this month Gade strongly condemned the
reported abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US and British
troops.
"I vigorously condemn these acts of abuse reported
with photos and in media images showing...
inexcusable... abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American
soldiers and perhaps British soldiers," Gade said
then.
------------------------------------------------------
7)
http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en64453&F_catID=&f_type=source
Hi Pakistan
May 13, 2004
US soldier killed in Baghdad
BAGHDAD: One US soldier was killed and another wounded
when a homemade bomb hit a convoy in Baghdad, the US
military said in a statement Thursday.
"One Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed and another
was wounded when an improvised-explosive device struck
a convoy Wednesday in Baghdad," the statement said.
The latest death brings to 776 the number of US
soldiers killed since the start of the Anglo-US led
invasion of Iraq in 2003.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.vnagency.com.vn/NewsA.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=34&NEWS_ID=99131
Viet Nam News Agency
May 13, 2004
UN staff union against sending UN personnel to Iraq
Washington - The UN staff union has expressed its
dismay at the Secretary-General's decision to continue
to send staff to Iraq despite the country's present
highly volatile and insecure environment.
In a newly-adopted resolution, the union called for
additional steps to address the serious flaws in the
security management system.
Last August, the UN headquarter in Baghdad was bombed,
resulting in the death of 22 people, including UN
envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. More than 150 others
were wounded in the bombing. The second bombing of UN
offices in September killed several Iraqi police
officers. The bombings led the UN to withdraw all its
staff from Iraq.
Most recently, the al-Qaeda group has even offered
rewards in gold for the killing of UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his special envoy to
Iraq.
------------------------------------------------------
9)
http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en64399&F_catID=&f_type=source
Hi Pakistan
May 13, 2004
Iraq: torture is no aberration
By Praful Bidwai
The depravity shown by Iraq?s occupation forces in
inflicting nauseating forms of sexual torture upon
prisoners in Abu Ghraib jail has shocked the world. As
if the stories of detainees being kept in 3 feet X 3
feet cells without water or toilets and pictures of
"pyramids" of naked men and women weren?t repulsive
enough, even more sickening disclosures have come in,
including pictures of US soldiers setting German
shepherd dogs upon a terrified naked Iraqi, causing
deep wounds.
Equally degrading is the picture of a crawling, naked
prisoner tied to a leash, being dragged by a female
soldier. Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld himself says
"more terrible" disclosures may follow.
It?s becoming apparent that the sexual abuse was not
the work of mavericks acting on their own. Nor were
such practices confined to Abu Ghraib. By all
accounts, US troops have routinely been torturing
Iraqi prisoners. It won?t do to blame this upon "a few
bad apples".
The torturers weren?t exactly "bad apples" or
"rogues". Rather, they were acting under orders from
US military intelligence to "break down" prisoners and
extract information. The authorisation, disclose "The
New Yorker" and "The Washington Post", was similar to
the sanction granted in April last year for coercive
interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay,
including reversing the detainees? normal sleep
patterns and exposing them to heat, cold and "sensory
assault". The classified list of about 20 such
techniques was approved at the highest levels.
Clinching evidence that the Pentagon was aware of the
torture and yet refused to act comes from the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which
can scarcely be accused of an anti-US bias. The ICRC
made 29 visits to 14 detention centres in
March-October 2003. Its evidence of abuse "went beyond
exceptional cases and might be considered a practice
tolerated by" US forces. The ICRC "repeatedly
requested the US authorities to take corrective
action". This went unheeded for nine months.
The US?s failure to act has damaged Washington?s
credibility irreversibly - globally, not just in the
"Arab world" or "Muslim world", as the Western media
often emphasises. Defence Secretary Rumsfeld has
apologised and owned up "responsibility" for the
torture. From Washington?s standpoint, the simplest
way to cap the damage would be to sack him although
this won?t redress the systemic wrong. But the Bush
Cabinet seems to have rallied around him.
Vice-President Cheney has described him as "the best
Secretary of Defence the US has ever had"!
The Iraqi prisoners? sexual humiliation is closely
related to the nature of Iraq?s occupation. An
excellent report in "The Guardian", quoting British
military sources, reveals that it is "part of a system
of ill-treatment and degradation used by Special
Forces soldiers that is now being disseminated among
ordinary troops and contractors". The techniques
belong to a system called R2I - resistance to
interrogation.
R2I includes using sexual jibes, along with stripping
prisoners naked - a method taught on both sides of the
Atlantic to "prolong the shock of capture". Female
guards play an important role in sexually taunting
male prisoners. R21 techniques include keeping
prisoners naked most of the time, as well as hooding,
sleep deprivation, time disorientation and water and
food deprivation.
Crucial is the recent change in the relationship
between military policing and intelligence gathering
in Iraq?s prisons in favour of military intelligence,
reducing the military police to a subordinate,
supportive role. Matters have been complicated by the
presence of 20,000 mercenaries and employees of
military contractors like CAC International, over whom
even the Pentagon?s oversight is "inconsistent and
sometimes incomplete".
The torture is inseparable from the larger context set
by the post-September 11 consensus in the Bush
administration - namely that old rules cannot apply to
"the war against the terrorism". This is a special
kind of war against an unknown, yet all-powerful,
omnipresent enemy. Established rules of warfare can
only hamper it.
It?s this mindset that led Rumsfeld to repeatedly ask
his generals and admirals to act aggressively and
ruthlessly, and "take greater risks". One of his memos
said: "Our prerequisite of perfection for ?actionable
intelligence? has paralysed us. We must accept that we
may have to take action before every question can be
answered..." Rumsfeld wanted to give military protocol
the go-by. This was reflected in his contempt for the
global outrage over the torture of Guantanamo Bay?s
prisoners and in his cavalier dismissal of the Geneva
Conventions. The US has resisted attempts to define
their status as prisoners of war.
The assumption is that the Guantanamo-Abu Ghraib
detainees don?t deserve humane treatment because they
are sub-human. "Civilised" norms cannot apply to them.
Coercion and torture are "the only language they
understand". This is a horrendously racist way of
demonising people. Yet, such demonisation underlay the
post-1990 sanctions on Iraq, which led to the death of
1.3 million, including 500,000 children. Then,
Secretary Madeline Albright notoriously said the
"price is worth it".
The way the US and UK have conducted the year-long
occupation is fully consistent with demonisation. Over
10,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed, many of them
in indiscriminate, vengeful "retaliation". The
occupation forces? actions in Fallujah and Najaf have
earned them international notoriety.
The US has been sucked into a quagmire in Iraq, which
is worse than the 1991 situation. Cheney had then
described it thus to justify a quick withdrawal from
Iraq after the Kuwait invasion was vacated: "Once
you?ve got Baghdad, it?s not clear what you do with
it. It?s not clear what kind of government you would
put in place ... How much credibility is that
government going to have if it?s set up by the US
military? ... [I] think to have American military
forces engaged in a civil war inside Iraq would fit
the definition of quagmire, and we have absolutely no
desire to get bogged down in that fashion."
The US faces an insurgency from both the Sunni
Centre-North and the Shia South. The prospect for it
looks bleak. This situation is of Washington?s own
making - traceable to its lies about Iraq?s weapons of
mass destruction. It acted against the will of the
international community and manipulated the UN. The
occupation has turned out even more grotesque than the
war.
The US is now desperate for a "face-saver" through the
same UN. One formula is that of a "fully sovereign"
Iraqi government by June 30, to which it will
"transfer power". But there can be no sovereignty
until the occupation ends. After that, the Iraqis can
decide which peace-keeping force - all-Arab, UN-led,
or whatever - they need to make a transition to
constitutional democracy. The priority is to get US-UK
troops out NOW!
------------------------------------------------------
10)
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/0,4386,250890,00.html
Straits Times (Singapore)
May 13, 2004
When pictures scream louder than words
By Evelyn Goh
-Attempts to portray the offending military personnel
as 'rogue elements' engaged in 'vigilante justice' are
likely to fail. The offenders were official arms
bearers, sanctioned to use force on behalf of their
country, the most obvious front-line manifestations of
the American 'liberation' force in Iraq.
-[T]his episode is traumatic for the American people
precisely because it indicates to the American people
that the 'evildoers' they are fighting are not just
'others out there', but the boy or girl next door too,
who might be a perpetrator of atrocities.
Disconcertingly, the enemies of freedom, as it were,
are to be found a lot closer to home.
The photographs and reports of American soldiers'
abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib
constitute evidence that members of the United States
armed forces have violated the Geneva Convention on
prisoners' rights. Yet, this is not the first time
evidence has been presented for US violation of this
body of international law - recall the ongoing
controversy over the imprisonment of enemy combatants
at Guantanamo Bay, and the targeting of civilian
infrastructure during the 1990-1991 Gulf War and the
Kosovo campaign.
What makes this latest revelation such a big deal?
First, pictures scream louder than words. Reports
about alleged abuses have been around since last
November; the Red Cross forwarded them to the US
military command in Baghdad then. The Pentagon issued
statements to the press and Congress in January and
March on investigations under way into the abuses.
Yet, not many people digested the news. It took
pictures to make them sit up and take notice.
Second, this comes at a particularly bad time.
Militarily, more than a year after President George W.
Bush declared victory in Iraq, US forces continue to
battle insurgents. Politically, the Bush
administration is striving to cobble together a new
government in Iraq, working with Iraqi leaders, the
United Nations and other friendly nations. And, of
course, President Bush is gearing up for re-election
this November.
Third, the current controversy is a critical test of
American resolve on a number of levels. The key
concern is not so much over the deeds themselves -
repugnant as they are - but rather with how these
episodes will reflect on America's image, identity and
credibility.
Attempts to portray the offending military personnel
as 'rogue elements' engaged in 'vigilante justice' are
likely to fail. The offenders were official arms
bearers, sanctioned to use force on behalf of their
country, the most obvious front-line manifestations of
the American 'liberation' force in Iraq.
The only way to dissociate the US, to some extent,
from these actions, is by demonstrating that political
leaders and the military chain of command do not
approve and will punish these reprobates. On this
score, the emerging testimony of military commanders
in Congress in fact suggests that coercive practices
were used systematically as part of military
intelligence collection. Blame thus shifts further up
the chain of command.
Even so, this apparent obsession with finger-pointing
and with establishing exactly who knew what when and
told whom, detracts from the main issue that this saga
has thrown up.
The main trouble lies not in the contradiction between
those acts of abuse and President Bush's avowed moral
agenda in deposing a despotic leader and bringing
freedom, justice and dignity to the Iraqi people.
The central image problem is that the very values that
the US has held itself to stand for have now been
called into question. Some fundamental boundaries have
been blurred: the self-professed liberators, or
redeemers, now contain elements which are readily
recognised as 'enemies of freedom'.
ASSAULT ON THE SENSES
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld put his finger on
the heart of the issue when he told Pentagon personnel
that the abusive actions 'ought not be allowed to
define us' because 'we know who we are'.
As Straits Times columnist Janadas Devan has pointed
out, this episode is traumatic for the American people
precisely because it indicates to the American people
that the 'evildoers' they are fighting are not just
'others out there', but the boy or girl next door too,
who might be a perpetrator of atrocities.
Disconcertingly, the enemies of freedom, as it were,
are to be found a lot closer to home.
In the last three days, the American people have been
subject to more gruesome pictures - this time the
taped beheading of an American prisoner by
Al-Qaeda-linked extremists. Given that pictures
clearly speak louder than words, this could represent
a new side-war aimed at the attrition of public
sensibilities.
The terrorists will be working on the calculation that
the US public will be the first to lose its collective
stomach for such a fight. The heart of US foreign
policy has always lain within domestic politics, and
the most worrying aspect of the current crisis is not
the possibility that US troops will be withdrawn from
Iraq soon. Rather, this assault on the American
public's sense of self and its sense of purpose may
tip the scales significantly against the Bush
administration in the months to come.
Heightened public uncertainties about the rationale
for the war have so far translated into falling
approval ratings for the President. If other
controversies should subsequently arise regarding the
war, this public confusion may well turn into a
significant weakening of resolve, not on the part of
the administration, but crucially, on the part of the
electorate.
The writer is an assistant professor at the Institute
of Defence and Strategic Studies [Singapore].
__________________________________
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------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 18:59:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [A-List] Occupied Iraq: 'Black Hole Sucking Up Middle East,
The World'
To: a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <20040514015946.90153.qmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
1) French Foreign Minister: Iraq Is 'Black Hole
Sucking Up Middle East And, Beyond That, The World'
2) US Military Assault On Karbala Threatens Shiism's
Holiest Shrines
3) Two US Troops Killed, Insurgents Storm Najaf Police
Station
4) Iraqi Prisoners Spurn Rumsfeld's Publicity Stunt
5) With 71% Of Populace Opposed To Iraq Deployment,
Portugal To Reassess Military Mission
6) Spanish Parliament Approves Iraq Troop Withdrawal
7) 'Horror And Shock': Italian Opposition Parties
Prepare Demand For Iraq Troop Recall
8) More Bulgarian Troops Opt Out Of Iraq Deployment
9) Ukraine: Communist Parliamentarians To Filibuster
Until Troops Are Brought Back From Iraq
10) Commentary: Thousands Of Filipinos Must Be
Returned From Iraq Amid 'General Uprising, Turkey
Shoot'
1)
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1526575,00.html
News 24 (South Africa)
May 13, 2004
Iraq like a 'black hole'
-"We must get out of this black hole that is sucking
up the Middle East and, beyond that, the world."
Paris - Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, in an
interview published on Thursday, compared Iraq to a
"black hole that is sucking up" the world and said
France would at no time send in troops.
Barnier, who travels to the United Nations on Friday
for talks on Iraq, expressed alarm about "the spiral
of horror" that is gaining ground and the loss of
human dignity as violence progresses.
In an interview with the daily Le Monde, he made a
"call to reason and conscience". He also stressed that
Iraqis must be given authentic sovereignty after the
transition of power June 30 from American to Iraqi
hands.
"We must get out of this black hole that is sucking up
the Middle East and, beyond that, the world" Barnier
was quoted as saying.
"What shocks me is the spiral of horror, the blood,
the inhumanity that we see now on all fronts, in
Fallujah like in Gaza or through the terrible images
of the assassination of this unfortunate American
hostage.
"All of this gives the impression of a total loss of
bearings" he added.
"What is in question on all sides is this fundamental
value at the heart of all religions, all
civilizations: human dignity".
Barnier said that it is "out of the question" that
France send troops to Iraq.
"There will be no French soldiers in Iraq, not now and
not later".
Pushing for Iraq conference
France, which opposed the US-led campaign that toppled
Saddam Hussein, has refused to participate in the
multinational force responsible for security in Iraq
since the official end of the war.
The Security Council is struggling to come up with a
resolution to endorse the June 30 transition of power
to Iraqi hands.
Paris is pushing for an Iraqi conference, with the
support of the United Nations and countries in the
region, to help create the caretaker government. The
convening of a conference should be contained in any
UN resolution on the power transfer, though it would
probably require persuading the Americans to go along,
Barnier said.
Limited sovereignty will be restored to Iraqis on June
30, with a transitional government in power until a
general election is held by the end of January 2005.
France has insisted on a new leadership that puts
genuine power into the hands of Iraqis, not Americans.
"The real question is whether they (the United States)
are ready to accept responsibility for the
deteriorating situation by accepting authentic Iraqi
sovereignty" Barnier said. "The time has come for a
bold initiative in order to get out of this Iraqi
tragedy".
The government elected in 2005 should have the power
to decide whether the multinational force stays or
goes, Barnier said.
The interim government should have a say in security
in addition to authority over Iraqi forces and be
consulted on actions taken by coalition forces, he
added.
Edited by Anthea Jonathan
------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,250806,00.html
Associated Press
May 13, 2004
Fighting threatens shrines
KARBALA (Iraq) - American forces battled Iraqi militia
yesterday near one of the most sacred of Shi'ite
sites. Fighters loyal to radical cleric Moqtada
Al-Sadr pulled back and regrouped in alleyways north
of Imam Hussein shrine, while United States troops
were positioned west and south of the site.
Fighting also raged near the city's Imam Abbas shrine
with American forces concerned that damage to the two
shrines could enrage Iraq's majority Shi'ite
population as the US tries to stabilise Iraq ahead of
a transition to sovereignty on June 30.
Elsewhere, one person was injured when insurgents
fired two mortar rounds in central Baghdad yesterday,
and a rocket which hit part of the city's Dora oil
refinery injured a worker and triggered a fire.
-----------------------------------------------------
3)
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=9978
Middle East Online
May 13, 2004
Two US soldiers killed in Iraq
-The latest deaths brings to 777 the number of US
soldiers killed since the start of the invasion of
Iraq in March 2003.
-Members of Sadr's Mehdi Army blocked off streets
around the headquarters before 10 men broke into the
building, seized 40 assault rifles and ammunition, and
dragged away the deputy police chief....
General Hassan Lilu was led away with a
rocket-propelled grenade launcher to his back and a
gun to his head.
BAGHDAD - A US soldier was killed in Baghdad and a
marine died of wounds sustained in the western
Al-Anbar province, the US-led coalition announced
Thursday.
"One Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed and another
was wounded when an improvised explosive device struck
a convoy Wednesday in Baghdad," the US military said
in a statement.
A separate statement reported that a member of the 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force "died May 12 from wounds
received earlier that day in the Al-Anbar Province
while conducting security and stability operations."
The statement did not say how the US marine was
wounded, saying that "the release of more details
about the incident could place our personnel at
greater risk."
"1 MEF force protection measures preclude the release
of any information that could aid enemy personnel in
assessing the effectiveness or lack thereof with
regard to their tactics, techniques and procedures,"
the statement said.
The latest deaths brings to 777 the number of US
soldiers killed since the start of the invasion of
Iraq in March 2003.
Meanwhile militiamen loyal to Shiite Muslim radical
leader Moqtada Sadr ransacked police headquarters in
the central holy city of Najaf and seized a senior
officer at gunpoint overnight, prompting clashes that
left three Iraqis dead, police and medics said
Thursday.
Members of Sadr's Mehdi Army blocked off streets
around the headquarters before 10 men broke into the
building, seized 40 assault rifles and ammunition, and
dragged away the deputy police chief, officers said on
condition of anonymity.
They said General Hassan Lilu was led away with a
rocket-propelled grenade launcher to his back and a
gun to his head.
The militiamen took him to their stronghold around the
mausoleum of Imam Ali in the city center where he was
beaten up before being released a few hours later.
They also stole three police vehicles in the raid at
about 10:00 pm (1800 GMT) Wednesday as a rapid
reaction team of US tanks and armored vehicles rumbled
into 1920 Revolution Square, less than two kilometers
(one mile) from the mausoleum, Najaf's holiest shrine.
Fierce fighting broke out for about three hours which
left three Iraqis dead and seven wounded, hospital
staff and witnesses said.
"We have three people killed and seven wounded, three
of them seriously," said Hassan Toufaili, a doctor at
the city's Hakim hospital.
"Most of the casualties are civilians."
Among the wounded was a bearded man dressed in black,
a hallmark of Sadr's militiamen. Bloodied young men
were seen being wheeled into the emergency room.
Captain Brandon Anderson, a US military officer,
confirmed the ransacking of police headquarters.
He said it was not yet clear how many people had been
killed.
The remains of one burnt vehicle stood off the square
and cut-off power lines littered the streets.
"I saw militia hiding in the cemetery firing at a US
tank, which then responded by firing at them," said
Muslim Jaber, a 42-year-old Najaf resident.
Overnight, bullets and other projectiles were seen
whizzing over the city's vast cemetery, adjacent to
the square. A building in the area was set alight.
....
On Wednesday, Sadr vowed to carry on fighting the
US-led occupying forces and die a martyr, shortly
after Shiite leaders said they had agreed on a plan to
end the violence that has shaken much of central and
southern Iraq.
------------------------------------------------------
4)
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1526600,00.html
News 24 (South Africa)
May 13, 2004
Rumsfeld gets frosty reception
-Some of the prisoners gestured a thumbs-down to their
surprise visitor, others held aloft a tattered Iraqi
flag. Most stood in silence with their arms folded as
they were paraded for their US guest.
Abu Ghraib - Iraqi prisoners gave US Defence Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld a frosty reception on Thursday as he
toured the Baghdad jail at the centre of revelations
of abuses by US troops, during a surprise visit to
Iraq.
Hundreds of Iraqi security detainees watched from
behind a concertina-wire perimeter fence as Rumsfeld
toured the facility in a Rhino Runner armoured
vehicle.
Some of the prisoners gestured a thumbs-down to their
surprise visitor, others held aloft a tattered Iraqi
flag. Most stood in silence with their arms folded as
they were paraded for their US guest.
Rumsfeld had told reporters he wanted to hear from
those involved in the day-to-day work of detainee
operations.
"We care about the detainees being treated right. We
care about soldiers behaving right. We care about
command systems working" he told journalists
travelling with him from Washington.
Edited by Anthea Jonathan
------------------------------------------------------
5)
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040513172939.85p8iuo1.html
Agence France-Presse
May 13, 2004
Portugal to reassess Iraq mission after June transfer
date
- Nearly three out of four Portuguese, or 71 percent,
want the national guards to be withdrawn, a poll
published last month found.
LISBON - Portugal will reevaluate the continuation of
its national guard contingent in Iraq after the
planned June 30 handover of sovereignty to Iraqis,
Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said
Thursday.
"What we plan to do in June, when a new government
takes over in Iraq, is reevaluate the situation," he
told reporters when asked about the mission.
"We want to get to know the way of thinking of the new
Iraqi authorities, but that obviously can only be done
after that government exists, not before."
On Tuesday Interior Minister Antonio Figueiredo Lopes
said Portugal would keep its national guard mission in
Iraq for another six months.
Lisbon dispatched 128 national guards, a militarized
police force, to Iraq on November 12 to serve as part
of a multinational force providing security in the
southern city of Nasiriyah under British command.
Durao Barroso has been under growing pressure at home
to withdraw the guards from Iraq since Spain's new
government announced in March it would withdraw its
troops from the war-ravaged country.
Nearly three out of four Portuguese, or 71 percent,
want the national guards to be withdrawn, a poll
published last month found.
------------------------------------------------------
6)
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040513124711.08xnoel2.html
Agence France-Presse
May 13, 2004
Spanish parliament approves withdrawal of troops from
Iraq
MADRID - Parliament voted Thursday by 186 in favour to
141 against the withdrawal last month of the 1,430
Spanish troops from the US-led occupation force in
Iraq on the orders of Socialist Prime Minister Jose
Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
The last Spanish combat troops left Iraq on April 28
and Defence Minister Jose Bono said this week that
those in charge of shipping out military materiel
might leave sooner than May 27, the scheduled date for
handing over their base to the US army.
The conservative Popular Party, whose former leader
Jose Maria Aznar sent the troops to Iraq last year
when he was prime minister, was the only parliamentary
group to vote against their withdrawal.
Opposition spokesman for international affairs Gustavo
de Aristegui complained that Zapatero had not allowed
time for a possible replacement of the US-led force by
a United Nations contingent.
Zapatero told parliament on Wednesday that he was
"increasingly satisfied" with his decision with "every
passing day" in Iraq.
------------------------------------------------------
7)
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200405131944-1245-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia
Agenzia Giornalistica Italia
May 13, 2004
IRAQ: LEFT WING JOINT TICKET TO ASK FOR WITHDRAWAL
-[T]he joint ticket will present a motion for the
withdrawal of the Italian troops. In today's
statement, the ticket expresses "horror and shock,
faced with the serious abuses and tortures in the
Iraqi jails and detention camps by occupation forces,"
saying that these facts "are a terrible shame on the
West and the Untied States," and moreover betray "the
traditions of Italian democracy...."
Rome - The final document put together at the end of
the national committee of the left wing joint ticket
places conditions to avoid the request of the
withdrawal of the Italian contingent from Iraq.
"Conditions that with all probability will not be
discussed by PM Silvio Berlusconi in his meeting with
George Bush." Therefore, on May 20, during the
Parliamentary debate, the joint ticket will present a
motion for the withdrawal of the Italian troops. In
today's statement, the ticket expresses "horror and
shock, faced with the serious abuses and tortures in
the Iraqi jails and detention camps by occupation
forces," saying that these facts "are a terrible shame
on the West and the Untied States," and moreover
betray "the traditions of Italian democracy,
irreversibly hit the credibility that started the war
in Iraq, and weaken the fight against terrorism, which
remains a priority, and the alliance with moderate
Arab nations against terrorism." The statement defines
it "indispensable" that those responsible for torture
undergo "rigorous justice," and it is believed "a duty
that Italy ask the United States a change in the
defence administration (in substance the resignation
of Donald Rumsfeld), as political leader of the armed
forces present in Iraq." The statement also reasserted
the need for "the UN to take the lead in the Iraqi
transition, without waiting for June 30, but starting
the procedures for installing a new government in
Baghdad in the next few days, according to the Brahimi
plan, and to substitute as soon as possible the
occupation troops with a multinational force of
stability that acts under a UN mandate and responds to
the UN Secretary General." These are the "promises,
deadlines, and concrete acts" that Berlusconi must
receive from Bush in his next trip in the United
States. If this does not happen, the joint ticket
"believes that military presence in Iraq does not have
any acceptable significance," and therefore,
parliamentary groups of the party "will propose, in
the parliament debate of May 20, the withdrawal of the
Italian troops present in Iraq."
------------------------------------------------------
8)
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=34636
Novinite (Bulgaria)
May 13, 2004
15 Dropouts of Bulgaria's Next Iraq Unit
A total of fifteen Bulgarian soldiers from the
country's third Iraq unit, scheduled to leave in
August, have stated their will to quit.
The news was broken by Bulgarian Darik radio. A total
of 450 military men are already part of Bulgaria's
next peacekeeping unit for Iraq.
The same problem bothered the country's Defense
Ministry in December. Soldiers from Bulgaria's second
unit decided to quit following the December 27 attack
that claimed the life of five Bulgarians in Iraq.
Those were Bulgaria's first casualties in Iraq.
After Senior Sergeant Dimitar Dimitrov was killed in
an ambush in Karbala in April many soldiers from the
second battalion that is already in Iraq filed reports
to return to Bulgaria. Last week, however, Bulgaria's
Army Chief Gen. Nikola Kolev explained that the
soldiers that decide to quit their mission in Iraq
should be punished.
------------------------------------------------------
9)
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=809736&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass (Russia)
May 13, 2004
Ukrainian Communists seeking pullout of peacekeepers
from Iraq
-There are more than 1,600 Ukrainian peacekeepers in
Iraq. Six of them have died.
KIEV - Leader of the Ukrainian Communists in
parliament Pyotr Simonenko said they would block
lawmakers' work until the legislators considered the
issue of pulling out Ukrainian troops from Iraq.
"We'll continuously demand that the issue be urgently
considered," Simonenko told reporters on Thursday.
He emphasized that the matter concerned the lives of
the Ukrainian citizens in Iraq, not a trivial blocking
of the parliament's work but
"Our peacekeepers should be promptly brought home," he
underlined, reiterating that the Communists had been
opposed to this mission from the beginning.
The Ukrainian servicemen went there not to defend the
Ukrainian people, but to side with the aggressors,"
Simonenko stated.
"The society is against the ignominious sending of
servicemen to Iraq," he added.
The morning session of the Ukrainian parliament closed
as the Communists blocked the rostrum, demanding that
the issue be put on the agenda.
There are more than 1,600 Ukrainian peacekeepers in
Iraq. Six of them have died.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?oid=50930&Section=Opinion
ABS CBN News [Philippines]
May 14, 2004
Pull out the OFWs in Iraq now
-The Filipinos in US military camps in Iraq are about
as secure as fish in the proverbial barrel.
-What the United States, the United Kingdom and the
rest of the Coalition of the Willing confront in Iraq
is a general uprising, where the prime targets are the
forces and installations of, as most Iraqis see it,
the invaders of their homeland.
-[T]he safety of cooks and laundrymen from the
Philippines is likely to be a low priority among US
military officials who now find their hands full
trying to keep their own troops from getting killed or
wounded....
-[T]he government is under obligation to take the
Filipinos in Iraq out of harm?s way. It was, after
all, responsible for putting them right in the middle
of the human equivalent of a turkey shoot....
Just days ago officials of the Arroyo administration
were saying that the Filipinos in Iraq were relatively
safe because most of them were located inside US
military camps. It now turns out those camps are the
least safe places in that war-torn country. The
Filipinos in US military camps in Iraq are about as
secure as fish in the proverbial barrel.
The two Filipinos reported killed Wednesday became
vulnerable to attack precisely because they were
inside Camp Anaconda. Their deaths brought to three
the number of Filipino fatalities in Iraq. The first
was a truck driver who was ambushed as he was
delivering supplies to American forces.
What the United States, the United Kingdom and the
rest of the Coalition of the Willing confront in Iraq
is a general uprising, where the prime targets are the
forces and installations of, as most Iraqis see it,
the invaders of their homeland. The Americans and the
British, in particular, are taking a severe beating
whether or not their political leaders in Washington
and London care to admit it. When Filipinos are
located close to the US and UK military, they are in
the gravest danger.
This paper had warned not too long ago that Filipinos
were bound to get sucked into the fighting whether
they are members of the country?s humanitarian
contingent or workers of contractors servicing the
requirements of the allied military forces in Iraq. We
are sad that this prediction has come to pass, but we
are also angry that the Philippine government -- whose
Chief Executive was too busy campaigning for a fresh
electoral mandate -- chose to ignore the many warnings
about the perils our compatriots face in Iraq.
Camp Anaconda, where 1,300 Filipinos (returning OFWs
insist there are actually 4,000 Filipinos in Anaconda
and nearby US outfits) were last reported to be
working for a British contractor that provides
commissary and laundry services to US troops, was
visited three times before Wednesday?s tragedy. And
after each of those visits, officials of the so-called
Team Iraq declared the camp to be safe because it had
underground bunkers where the camp?s soldiers and
other personnel could run for cover in case of an
attack. None of those officials obviously considered
that the Filipinos work aboveground and that Iraqi
militants do not announce their plans to launch
rocket-propelled grenades beforehand.
In Manila, President Arroyo, smart enough to preempt
the usual critics of her pro-US policy in Iraq,
quickly demanded ?the best protection? for the
Filipinos hours after Wednesday?s attack. But the
safety of cooks and laundrymen from the Philippines is
likely to be a low priority among US military
officials who now find their hands full trying to keep
their own troops from getting killed or wounded -- and
US civilians from being abducted and decapitated by
Iraqi militants.
And since the Philippines is part of the willing
coalition, too, it should not discount the possibility
of one of its citizens suffering the same fate as the
hapless Nick Berg. The invasion of their country has
driven not a few Iraqis to resort to extreme, even
barbarous, measures to express their resistance. And
in this cauldron of an entire nation?s outrage boiling
over, we fear that more Filipinos are bound to get
burned.
Just as disturbing are reports that many of the
Filipinos hired on six-month contracts by US and
British private contractors do not have insurance
coverage and do not get hazard pay. Six hundred
dollars a month may seem like a fortune for Filipinos,
but it is a measly sum when compared to the hazards
and very real possibility of death they have to face
-- especially when it?s all they?re getting. According
to one returning OFW, ?the typical Filipino worker
will always be willing to risk his life for his
family, but not when he knows his family won?t be
getting anything by way of additional benefits when he
dies; it just isn?t worth it. More, it?s even stupid
to stay.?
We don?t know if repatriation or, at the very least,
withdrawal to more secure locations in the Middle
East, as Team Iraq proposes, will prevent any more
Filipinos from getting killed in Iraq. Because it has
taken so long to make a decision, the Philippine
government could actually be exposing our countrymen
to even greater peril by moving them en masse out of
US Army camps. The Iraqi employees of US troops whom
our OFWs have befriended (indeed, Pinoys have a talent
for making friends everywhere, especially among poor
Iraqi blokes desperate for jobs like them, and who
have now become, like them, cannon fodder in the
deadly war between the GIs and the Iraqi rebels) have
been warning our compatriots of talk in the grapevine
about attacks being stepped up before next month?s
Iraq elections; and lately, of land mines being
planted around US bases. But it seems both US and
Filipino officials have chosen to ignore such
important intelligence on the ground - at the great
peril of hapless young GIs and the Third World workers
who service their needs.
Still, the government is under obligation to take the
Filipinos in Iraq out of harm?s way. It was, after
all, responsible for putting them right in the middle
of the human equivalent of a turkey shoot.
By the way, at the very least, the government should
help these workers by shouldering the $500 ?penalty?
each that their foreign employers are demanding for
cutting short their contracts. At $500 per head,
that?s $650,000 for 1,300 OFWs, or roughly P36
million. Jesus, that?s just a tiny fraction of what
this administration splurged in the just-finished
campaign. Tapos na ang gimikan, alalahanin niyo naman
ang mga bagong bayani.
__________________________________
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End of A-List Digest, Vol 8, Issue 28
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