Re: US Troops in Iraq: "License to kill"

["illonph" <illonph@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

We never did elect these thugs, they were selected by a Supreme Court packed
with their own appointees, such as the real braniac: Clarence Thomas!.

Paul H. Dillon

----- Original Message -----
From: Kenneth Campbell <kkc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 6:39 AM
Subject: US Troops in Iraq: "License to kill"


> What a mess...
>
> The Times nailed the lead of this story right. Out of all the items
> included, and all the things Bremer is announcing, the Times properly
> put the most "explosive" item at the top of the story: Bremer gives U.S.
> troops a "007-license-to-kill."
>
> I can think of fewer more unifyingly anti-American images than that of
> U.S. military troops machine-gunning kids who are stealing in a time of
> economic chaos.
>
> That's some administration you guys elected down there... Real
> brainiacs...
>
> Ken.
>
> --
> You must first have a lot of patience to learn to
> have patience.
>           -- Stanislaw W. Lec
>
>
>
> --- cut here ---
>
> New Policy in Iraq to Authorize G.I.'s to Shoot Looters
>
> By PATRICK E. TYLER
> New York Times
>
>
> BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 13 — United States military forces in Iraq will have
> the authority to shoot looters on sight under a tough new security setup
> that will include hiring more police officers and banning ranking
> members of the Baath Party from public service, American officials said
> today.
>
> The far more muscular approach to bringing order to postwar Iraq was
> described by the new American administrator, L. Paul Bremer, at a
> meeting of senior staff members today, the officials said. On Wednesday,
> Mr. Bremer is expected to meet with the leaders of Iraqi political
> groups that are seeking to form an interim government by the end of the
> month. "He made it very clear that he is now in charge," said an
> official who attended the meeting today. "I think you are going to see a
> change in the rules of engagement within a few days to get the situation
> under control."
>
> Asked what this meant, the official replied, "They are going to start
> shooting a few looters so that the word gets around" that assaults on
> property, the hijacking of automobiles and violent crimes will be dealt
> with using deadly force.
>
> How Iraqis will be informed of the new rules is not clear. American
> officials in Iraq have access to United States-financed radio stations,
> which could broadcast the changes.
>
> A tougher approach over all appears to be at the core of Mr. Bremer's
> mandate from President Bush to save the victory in Iraq from a descent
> into anarchy, a possibility feared by some Iraqi political leaders if
> steps are not taken quickly to check violence and lawlessness.
>
> But imposing measures that call for the possible killing of young,
> unemployed or desperate Iraqis for looting appears to carry a certain
> level of risk because of the volatile sentiments in the streets here.
> Gas lines snake through neighborhoods, garbage piles up, and the
> increasing heat frequently provides combustion for short tempers, which
> are not uncommonly directed at the American presence here.
>
> Mr. Bremer did not spell out to senior members of the American and
> British reconstruction team whether his authority would supersede that
> of Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan, the land forces commander in the
> country.
>
> But in tackling the security problem, Mr. Bremer will confront the need
> for a police force, and the difficulty of building a credible one on the
> wreckage of Saddam Hussein's hated security establishment.
>
> The officials said Mr. Bremer told his staff that his urgent priority
> was to rebuild a police force, especially in Baghdad, so it could become
> visible and available "on the streets."
>
> Another tough measure that the officials said Mr. Bremer was eager to
> make public is a decree on de-Baathification, the process of weeding out
> senior members of Mr. Hussein's political establishment to ensure that
> the totalitarian principles on which the Baath Party ruled are not
> perpetuated.
>
> American officials said the decree on the Baath Party will prohibit its
> officials above certain ranks from serving in future governments.
> Rehabilitation procedures will be created for some high-ranking
> officials, but they will still be excluded from government service, the
> officials said.
>
> Mr. Bremer appeared before the senior staff of the reconstruction
> administration with Jay Garner, the retired lieutenant general who has
> been in charge of the rebuilding mission under military command.
> Administration officials say General Garner will leave his post after a
> few weeks.
>
> Today, according to people who attended the closed meeting, Mr. Bremer
> praised General Garner's performance with words that were greeted with
> sustained applause.
>
> Nonetheless, questions linger about the Bush administration's decision
> to replace General Garner and abruptly call home one of his top
> assistants, Barbara K. Bodine.
>
> General Garner and Ms. Bodine, one of the most experienced Iraq
> specialists on his staff, were unable to decide on how to create any new
> authority in Baghdad, and clashed as personalities, officials said. "It
> was not a good fit," one commented today.
>
> Mr. Bremer made no public appearance today, but he is scheduled to meet
> with Iraqi leaders on Wednesday, some of whom have misgivings about
> whether he will change the course that General Garner had set toward
> quickly forming an interim government of Iraqis and turning over
> substantial power to it.
>
> The wisdom of a speedy turnover was questioned today by some officials,
> who noted the acute crisis over crime and security in the capital.
>
> Other countries, meanwhile, declared themselves willing to join in the
> effort to remake Iraq.
>
> Romanian officials said they would send about 500 soldiers to help
> police Iraq. The foreign minister, Mircea Geoana, told reporters today
> that Romania would prefer to act under a United Nations resolution.
>
> "The idea is for Romania to send a contingent of a few hundred, most
> likely under British command," Mr. Geoana said in Bucharest.
>
> Meanwhile in Geneva today, the World Bank president, James Wolfensohn,
> said the bank would send a team to assess reconstruction needs in Iraq
> as soon as security permitted, another sign that the lack of security is
> delaying the first important steps toward recovery.
>
> In central Iraq today, a prominent Shiite cleric said that redressing
> the Shiites' long exclusion from political power was necessary.
>
> But the cleric, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim, also said there was no
> single demand for a new political system from Shiites, who are a
> majority in Iraq.
>
> "They have divergent views and that's what democracy is all about,"
> Ayatollah Hakim said.
>
> The ayatollah returned to his hometown of Najaf on Monday after years in
> exile in Iran as the leader of the opposition Supreme Council for the
> Islamic Revolution in Iraq. He has already met resistance from one group
> of clerics, led by Sheik Moktada al-Sadr, who have promoted themselves
> as the representative of long-suppressed Shiites.
>
> Ayatollah Hakim, at a news conference, shrugged off questions about
> Sheik Sadr, saying he would not comment on the rivalry. "I don't talk
> about these people," he said.
>
> He was also elusive on the subject of the Badr Brigade, his armed
> militia that was financed by Iran, saying only that it would switch to
> providing security in Iraq. Asked if the group would be disarmed, as an
> anti-Iran militia in Iraq will be, Ayatollah Hakim said, "Security means
> they should carry weapons."
>
> Security in Najaf, as in other Iraqi cities, has become a major worry
> for residents, who have to ward off looters and other criminals with
> neighborhood committees in the absence of working police forces.
>
> But Ayatollah Hakim refused to say whether American forces had granted
> the Badr Brigade the job of policing Najaf, which his now administered
> by a self-appointed mayor who is a retired Iraqi military officer.
>
> He also said he did not sanction the use of force to resist the American
> occupation of Iraq, but would resist it politically.
>
> The ayatollah and his movement have, however, been part of the Iraqi
> National Congress, which has been cooperating with the United States for
> several years as an outside opposition to Saddam Hussein.