Iraq Update
Wikileaks Founder Hunted By Pentagon Over Massive Leak
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is being hunted by Pentagon investigators who believe that he may be close to releasing classified State Department documents that "could do serious damage to national security," the Daily Beast reports.
According to Wired, Manning told Lamo of the leaked documents, "Hillary Clinton, and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning, and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public."
1 in 10 Soldiers Who Fought In Iraq May Be Mentally Ill
Between 2004 and 2007, researchers gave out anonymous surveys to four active duty brigade combat teams and two National Guardcombat team three months and 12 months after deployment. The surveys screened soldiers for PTSD, depression, alcohol misuse and aggressive behavior and asked them to report whether these problems impacted their ability to get along with others, take care of things at home or perform their job duties.
"A high number of those that had symptoms of PTSD and depression also reported some aspect of impairment," said Jeffrey L. Thomas, one of the study's co-authors. "The range was about 9 to 14 percent."
Most Guantanamo detainees low-level fighters, task force report says
About 10 percent of the 240 detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when President Obama took office were "leaders, operatives and facilitators involved in plots against the United States," but the majority were low-level fighters, according to a previously undisclosed government report. About 5 percent of the detainees could not be categorized at all.
The final report by the Guantanamo Review Task Force recommends that 126 of the detainees be transferred either to their homes or to a third country; that 36 be prosecuted in either federal court or a military commission; and that 48 be held indefinitely under the laws of war. A group of 30 Yemenis was approved for release if security conditions in their home country improve.
Record Marines attempt suicides in 2010
Marines are trying to kill themselves at a record pace this year despite a 2009 program aimed at stemming the problem, according to Marine Corps data.
Eighty-nine Marines tried to commit suicide through May, most commonly by overdose or lacerations, according to statistics and the Marine Corps suicide prevention program officer, Navy Cmdr. Aaron Werbel. At that rate, there could be more than 210 attempted suicides this year.
UK chiefs gag damning Iraq invasion findings
Highly critical comments by a senior army officer asked to conduct a study of the circumstances surrounding the invasion of Iraq have been suppressed on the orders of the country's top defence officials, the Guardian has learned.
The study, by Lt Gen Chris Brown, was commissioned in the light of mounting evidence of the failure to prepare properly for the invasion and its consequences.
Former senior military officers and defence officials have already described their anger and frustration about the failures in damning testimony to the Chilcot inquiry into the 2003 Iraq invasion. One of the inquiry's key objectives is to spell out the lessons that should be learned from what is widely regarded in Whitehall as an ill-conceived operation of dubious legality and, in foreign policy terms, a disaster comparable to the 1956 Suez crisis.
Fallujah Birth Defects Raise Specter Of U.S. Chemical-Weapons Use In Iraq (VIDEO)
A large and growing number of Iraqi children are suffering from severe birth defects, as shown in the heartbreaking CNN segment, and their parents blame alleged U.S. chemical-weapons attacks.
Lawyers representing the families have sued the British government for complicity in the alleged war crimes. But Iraq's deputy minister of health tells CNN there isn't enough evidence to prove causality, and in any case, the U.S. boycott of the International Criminal Court makes direct prosecution of the case unlikely, as do the nation's federal immunity laws.
Please WATCH the CNN segment in its entirety.
At least 99 killed in attacks across Iraq
18 U.S. Veterans Kill Themselves Every Single Day: Report
The suicide rate among war veterans is extraordinary, new data reveals.
Thirty try to commit suicide each day, on average, reports the Army Times. Eighteen succeed, roughly five of whom receive medical care from Veterans Affairs, rated one of the best health programs in the country.
"Of the more than 30,000 suicides in this country each year, fully 20 percent of them are acts by veterans,'' said VA Secretary Eric Shinseki at a VA-sponsored suicide prevention conference in January, Inter Press Service reported.
Bombs kill 69 in Iraq's deadliest day this year
The bloodiest day of the year in Iraq left at least 69 people dead in a series of bombings in mainly Shiite areas Friday — concerted attacks seen as demonstrating the resilience of the Sunni-led insurgency after the slaying of two al-Qaida leaders last weekend.
No one has taken responsibility for the blasts, but officials were quick to blame Sunni-led insurgent groups for attacking at a particularly fragile time as Iraq awaits formation of a new government and prepares for U.S. troops to go home by the end of next year.
4/5/2010
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4/3/2010
WHISTLEBLOWER VIDEO EXPOSES 'COLLATERAL MURDER' IN IRAQ
Calling it a case of "collateral murder," the WikiLeaks Web site today released harrowing until-now secret video of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter in Baghdad in 2007 repeatedly opening fire on a group of men that included a Reuters photographer and his driver -- and then on a van that stopped to rescue one of the wounded men.
None of the members of the group were taking hostile action, contrary to the Pentagon's initial cover story; they were milling about on a street corner. One man was evidently carrying a gun, though that was and is hardly an uncommon occurrence in Baghdad.
Reporters working for WikiLeaks determined that the driver of the van was a good Samaritan on his way to take his small children to a tutoring session. He was killed and his two children were badly injured.
In the video, which Reuters has been asking to see since 2007, crew members can be heard celebrating their kills.
"Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards," says one crewman after multiple rounds of 30mm cannon fire left nearly a dozen bodies littering the street.
A crewman begs for permission to open fire on the van and its occupants, even though it has done nothing but stop to help the wounded: "Come on, let us shoot!"
KBR mechanics worked as little as 43 minutes a month
How many hours do you think they worked?
According to an analysis by Mother Jones, based on a report by a Pentagon Inspector General, the 144 KBR mechanics worked as little as 43 minutes per month, on average.
Even KBR's internal figures tell a shocking story of military contract waste. The company says that of the workers they had, just 6.6 percent were being used at any given time, on average. KBR said that "worker utilization" rates ranged from a meager 3.97 percent in April 2009 to 9.65 percent in September 2008.
Feds Find Massive Fraud in Bush's $150 Billion Iraq Reconstruction; Also Looking at Afghanistan
Some suspects also tried to conceal foreign bank accounts in Ghana, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain, the investigators said, while in other cases, cash was simply found stacked in home safes.
There have already been dozens of indictments and convictions for corruption since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But the new cases seem to confirm what investigators have long speculated: that the chaos, weak oversight and wide use of cash payments in the reconstruction program in Iraq allowed many more Americans who took bribes or stole money to get off scot-free.
Iraq: 100+ Thousand Dead, $747.3 Billion Spent And Not Any Safer
Unemployment rate for young vets hit 21.1% - Military Daily News
The unemployment rate last year for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans hit 21.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough obstacle combat veterans face as they make the transition home from war. The number was well above the 16.6 percent jobless rate for non-veterans of the same ages, 18 to 24. As of last year, 1.9 million had deployed for the wars since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some have struggled with mental health problems, addictions, and homelessness as they return home. Difficulty finding work can make the adjustment harder. The just-released rate for young veterans was significantly higher than the unemployment rate of young veterans in that age group (14.1 percent) in 2008. Many of the unemployed are members of the Guard and Reserves who have deployed multiple times, said Joseph Sharpe, director of the economic division at the American Legion. Sharpe said some come home to find their jobs have been eliminated because the company has downsized. Other companies may not want to hire someone who could deploy again or will have medical appointments because of war-related health problems, he said. “It’s a horrible environment because if you’re a reservist and you’re being deployed two or three times in a five-year period, you know you’re less competitive,” Sharpe said. “Many companies that are already hurting are reluctant to hire you and time kind of moves on once you’re deployed.”
Waterboarding sessions brought detainees ‘close to death’: report
The waterboarding sessions that terrorist suspects were subjected to during the Bush administration were "administered with meticulous cruelty" and were in part designed so that detainees acted as "guinea pigs" for future interrogation sessions, says an exhaustive new report.
The report also shows that the interrogation methods were so harsh that some detainees "simply gave up and tried to let themselves drown."
Drawing on numerous documents about the CIA's torture program that have been released over the past year, Mark Benjamin at Salon.com reports that interrogators went to extreme lengths to ensure that detainees were pushed to their physical limits, including feeding the detainees a liquid diet to make them more capable of ingesting large quantities of water, and replacing their water with a saline solution that would keep detainees from dying when they ingested too much water.
The CIA forced such massive quantities of water into the mouths and noses of detainees, prisoners inevitably swallowed huge amounts of liquid – enough to conceivably kill them from hyponatremia, a rare but deadly condition in which ingesting enormous quantities of water results in a dangerously low concentration of sodium in the blood.
MI5 chief: US hid prisoner torture
The former head of MI5 has claimed US intelligence agencies "concealed" their mistreatment of terror suspects.
Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller said she only discovered alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded after retiring in 2007.
In a lecture at the House of Lords, she said the US had been "very keen to conceal from us what was happening".
Her comments follow controversy over UK agents' alleged collusion with US counterparts using torture techniques.
Last month it emerged that Binyam Mohamed, a British resident formerly held at Guantanamo Bay, had been subjected to "cruel, inhuman and degrading" treatment.
Despite deaths, Army awards $2.8 billion contract to KBR
The Houston-based company was charged with maintaining the barracks where Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth of Pittsburgh, a 24-year-old Green Beret, was electrocuted in 2008 while showering. The company has denied wrongdoing, and investigators said in August there was "insufficient evidence to prove or disprove" that anyone was criminally culpable in Maseth's death.
The uproar over his death triggered a review of 17 other electrocution deaths in Iraq and widespread inspections and repairs of electrical work in Iraq, much of it performed by KBR.
Despite 935 documented lies, Rove book defends Iraq war
Republican strategist Karl Rove says in a new memoir that the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq badly damaged the Bush administration's credibility and led to dwindling public support for the war.
The former White House political adviser blames himself for not pushing back against claims that President George W. Bush had taken the country to war under false pretenses, calling it one of the worst mistakes he made during the Bush presidency. The president, he adds, did not knowingly mislead the American public about the existence of such weapons.
In "Courage and Consequence," Rove argues that history will look favorably on Bush's two-term presidency, particularly his decision to invade Iraq. He calls the 2003 invasion the most consequential act of the Bush presidency and a justifiable response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, even though al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, not Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, were responsible.
In the run-up to the war, Bush and his national security team, including Vice President Dick Cheney, attempted to link Saddam to the attacks as a way to build support for the invasion.
Blackwater Investigation Blocked By State Department Interference, Official Says
An official at the United States Embassy in Iraq has told federal prosecutors that he believes that State Department officials sought to block any serious investigation of the 2007 shooting episode in which Blackwater Worldwide security guards were accused of murdering 17 Iraqi civilians, according to court testimony made public on Tuesday.
David Farrington, a State Department security agent in the American Embassy at the time of the shooting in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, told prosecutors that some of his colleagues were handling evidence in a way they hoped would help the Blackwater guards avoid punishment for a crime that drew headlines and raised tensions between American and Iraqi officials.
The description of Mr. Farrington’s account came in closed-door testimony last October from Kenneth Kohl, the lead prosecutor in the case against the Blackwater guards.
Iraq to reinstate 20,000 former Hussein army officers
After the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Iraqi Army was disbanded as the governing authority at the time, the American-led Coalition Provisional Authority, instituted a policy of de-Baathification. However, the move is now widely seen as helping fuel an insurgency. In 2004, there were efforts to bring many of the officers from Mr. Hussein’s time back into the army and many returned. However, thousands remained outside the fold.
Bush's torture psychologists wanted to use 'mock burials'
Psychologists working on the Bush administration's enhanced interrogation techniques pushed for the use of "mock burials" on terror suspects, according to documents released by the Department of Justice.Blogger Marcy Wheeler reports that the Department of Justice rejected a request from psychologists Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell to give the CIA the power to pretend to bury terror suspects during interrogations in the years after the 9/11 attacks.
A report (PDF, 289 pages) from the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, released last Friday, documents ten interrogation techniques approved by Bush administration lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo.
But Wheeler notes that the psychologists had requested twelve techniques. One of those two techniques has already been revealed to be prolonged diapering. Wheeler uncovers evidence that the other one was mock burial.
Blackwater used shell company to defraud US govt.
Blackwater set up a shell company to "defraud the government" by leading it to believe it wasn't contracting with the notorious security contractor, investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill says.
"In Afghanistan, they set up this shell company, Paravant, in collaboration with mammoth war giant Raytheon, which held the prime contract" for training Afghan security forces, Scahill told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
"And they set up this contract to try to hide the fact that the Pentagon was once again hiring Blackwater, this firm that's been under investigation by practically every federal entity in the United States," Scahill continued. "It's a shell company that was used to essentially defraud the government by convincing the Army that Blackwater was not getting the contract, but this company Paravant."
No More Iraqi Oilfields for Foreign Companies, Says Prime Minister
Iraq has no further plans to use foreign firms to develop its oilfields beyond ones auctioned off last year, the country's prime minister said on Saturday, ahead of a national election next month.
Analysts say that foreign companies may have accepted the tough terms in oilfield development contracts awarded in two rounds last year partly to secure an initial foothold in Iraq, with a view to possible access to other untapped reserves later.
Iraq has the world's third-largest crude reserves and is the world's 11th-biggest oil producer.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Iraq should start thinking about developing its national oil firms and warned of "staying captive in the hands of foreign oil firms."
Sunni party drops out of Iraq's national elections
The Sunni wing of Iraq's leading nonsectarian political coalition said Saturday it will drop out of next month's election as a result of alleged Iranian influence on a Shiite-led vetting panel that blacklisted hundreds of candidates.
VP Biden: Iraq War wasn't worth the 'horrible price'
Vice President Joe Biden still believes the Iraq war was a bad idea, a position he had held from the outset."I don't think the war was worth it in the sense that we paid a horrible price," Biden told NBC's David Gregory Sunday.
Gregory asked Biden about a statement he made that the resolution of the Iraq War would be viewed as one of President Barack Obama's great achievements.
"We are going to be in a position to bring home 90,000 combat troops by the end of the summer," he added.
Iraq orders guards linked to Blackwater to leave (AP)
Iraq has ordered hundreds of private security guards linked to Blackwater Worldwide to leave the country within seven days or face possible arrest on visa violations, the interior minister said Wednesday. The order comes in the wake of a U.S. judge's dismissal of criminal charges against five Blackwater guards who were accused in the September 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad.
It applies to about 250 security contractors who worked for Blackwater in Iraq at the time of the incident, Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani told The Associated Press.
Some of the guards now work for other security firms in Iraq, while others work for a Blackwater subsidiary, al-Bolani said. He said all "concerned parties" were notified of the order three days ago and now have four days left before they must leave. He did not name the companies.
Blackwater security contractors were protecting U.S. diplomats when the guards opened fire in Nisoor Square, a busy Baghdad intersection, on Sept. 16, 2007. Seventeen people were killed, including women and children, in a shooting that inflamed anti-American sentiment in Iraq.
French accuse Tony Blair of 'Soviet-style' propaganda in run-up to Iraq war
The Chilcot committee has obtained confidential phone records showing that then foreign secretary Jack Straw was told days before the crunch eve-of-war Commons vote not to misrepresent the French position on the need for UN approval.
The row began after Mr Blair seized on remarks by French president Jacques Chirac on 10 March 2003, that he would not back a second UN resolution authorising war in Iraq “whatever the circumstances”.
Mr Blair said the French were making clear they would use their Security Council veto “no matter what”. His claim was crucial in persuading wavering Labour backbenchers that the UN route was no longer possible and that the war had to go ahead.
Tony Blair lied and misled parliament in build-up to war
• Attorney general 'misled' government
• Brown 'marginalised and unhappy'
Clare Short, the former international development secretary, today accused Tony Blair of lying to her and misleading parliament in the build-up to the Iraq invasion.
Short, giving evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the war, also said that the 2003 conflict had put the world in greater danger of international terrorism.
Declassified letters between Short and Blair released today show she believed that invading Iraq without a second UN resolution would be illegal and there was a significant risk of a humanitarian catastrophe.
She told the inquiry that she had a conversation with Blair in 2002. He told her that he was not planning for war against Iraq and that the evidence has since revealed that he was not telling the truth at that point, she said.
She also said she was "stunned" when she read the 337-word legal advice on the war written by the then-attorney general Lord Goldsmith during a cabinet meeting on 17 March 2003, three days before the war began. She was forbidden by Blair from discussing it during the meeting.
Iraq inquiry 'gagged' after secret documents withheld
Crucial evidence about the reasons Britain went to war against Saddam Hussein is being kept secret it has emerged – leading to accusations that the Iraq inquiry has been “gagged”.
In an apparent breach of the Inquiry terms, Sir John Chilcot, head of the probe, expressed his “frustration” that he was unable to refer to key documents while questioning Lord Goldsmith, the former Attorney General, about why he gave the “green light” for war.
Lord Goldsmith also said that he was unhappy at being denied the opportunity to discuss documents including a letter from Jack Straw, then-former foreign secretary, about United Nations negotiations.
Gordon Brown has pledged that the inquiry team will have access to “all Government papers,” but the exchanges over Lord Goldsmith’s testimony make clear that they will be barred from discussing classified documents during evidence sessions.
Secret detention may amount to crime against humanity
In their first in-depth global study on the practice, the experts said the practice had spread to almost all regions of the world and was continuing.
The study, which is due to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in March, listed 66 states that have been involved in secret detentions, mainly over the past nine years.
In spite of international norms protecting individual rights, "secret detention continues to be used in the name of countering terrorism around the world," the report added.
1/3rd of US military women are raped
This problem is not confined to the US military either. This abuse is rampant among private defense contractors overseas as well, as recently highlighted by the recent press about Jamie Leigh Jones. Ms. Jones was in Iraq in 2005 when seven Halliburton/KBR employees drugged and brutally gang-raped her. Her injuries were so extensive that she had lacerations to her vagina and anus, her breast implants were ruptured, and her pectoral muscles torn. The response of KBR was to lock her in a shipping container with only a bed, and to deny her food, water, and medical treatment. The rape kit that was taken after she regained consciousness was mysteriously lost.
Details of Iraq whistleblower's 'suicide' (murder) to be kept secret for 70 years
Before we get into the latest astonishing developments, here is a quick summary of who Dr. Kelly was and what happened to him:
1. Dr. David Kelly worked for the Ministry of Defense/U.K. as an expert in bio-weapons. He was also one of the key UN weapons inspectors in Iraq.
2. He became concerned about the US/UK claims of WMD in Iraq in the build-up to the Iraq war in 2003. Much the same way that former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson became concerned about US claims of yellowcake uranium purchases by Iraq from Niger. Like Wilson, Dr. Kelly became an anonymous source for a journalist. In Kelly's case, he met with BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan.
3. The MoD leaked Kelly's identity (just like Valerie Plame Wilson's identity was leaked) to the press.
4. A Parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the planted intelligence on Iraq asked Kelly to testify, which he did.
5. Several days after his testimony and while preparing for a trip with his wife, Dr. Kelly was found dead in a park nearby his home, which was ruled a suicide. On the day he "committed suicide" he had sent an email to New York Times reporter Judith Miller in which he said "many dark actors playing games."
6. Leading physicians and first responders who arrived at the park and inspected Kelly's body did not think he committed suicide, even going so far as to sue the British government to prove their case.
Now here is the latest:
"Evidence relating to the death of Government weapons inspector David Kelly is to be kept secret for 70 years, it has been reported.
Iraqi prime minister backs ban on 500 election candidates
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki threw his support Saturday behind a decision to ban about 500 candidates from participating in Iraq's upcoming elections despite an outcry from the mostly Sunni and secular parties that are affected.
The decision by the Accountability and Justice Commission to bar the candidates has revived Sunni-Shiite sectarian tensions, called into question the Iraqi government's commitment to reconciliation and cast doubt over the likely inclusiveness of elections that U.S. officials are hoping will stabilize Iraq.
Iraq election chief: More candidates to be banned
Tony Blair was warned that invading Iraq was illegal in secret
Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw warned Tony Blair that invading Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein would be illegal and might make things worse for the Iraqi people.
The warning was delivered in 2002 - a year before the war - in a letter that was leaked yesterday to coincide with the former foreign secretary's appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry this week.
The letter will prompt questions about why Mr Straw did not do more to speak out at the time about the dangers of war.
Iraq invasion in 2003 was illegal: Dutch probe
The 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq lacked legitimacy under international law, an independent commission probing Dutch political support for the still controversial action said Tuesday.
"There was insufficient legitimacy" for the invasion for which the Netherlands gave political but no military backing, commission chairman Willibrord Davids told journalists in The Hague.
The commission's report said the wording of UN resolution 1441 "cannot reasonably be interpreted (as the Dutch government did) as authorising individual member states to use military force to compel Iraq to comply with the Security Council's resolutions."
UK interrogators 'routinely' used sexual abuse/torture
The allegations, which range from the use of pornography, masturbation, sexual humiliation and even male rape, bring the total number of complaints against the British army's Joint Forward Intelligence Team (JFIT) to 40.
"Interrogators are also accused of coercive practices outlawed in Britain, including threats and actual violence, the use of stress positions, sleep deprivation, exposure to heat and cold, hooding and threats to rape and murder detainees’ families," the paper noted.
Former UK prime minister slams motives for Iraq invasion
Former prime minister John Major said Saturday that the Iraq war inquiry appeared to be showing that the invasion was more about regime change than finding weapons of mass destruction.Criticising his successor Tony Blair over his presentation of the case for invading, Major told BBC radio that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain may have been a "bad man" -- but that was not a good enough reason to go to war.
He asked whether Blair's cabinet was aware of doubts about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before deciding to take military action. Britain joined in the March 2003 US-led invasion.
Blackwater Gets Off For 17 Murders/Massacre - Will Walk Free
...Iraq taking steps to 'bring Blackwater to justice'
Iraq said on Friday it had begun taking steps to "bring Blackwater to justice" over the deaths of 14 civilians in 2007, one of the bloodiest incidents involving a private security firm here.
A decision Thursday by a US court to drop the charges against five Blackwater security guards accused of the deaths has unleashed anger in Baghdad, where a cabinet minister expressed astonishment.
"The Iraqi government has started to take the necessary measures to bring Blackwater to justice for the killing of 17 Iraqi citizens," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
GUANTANAMO CLOSURE DELAYED BY A FULL YEAR
Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantánamo Bay prison.
As a result, officials now believe that they are unlikely to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer its population of terrorism suspects until 2011 at the earliest — a far slower timeline for achieving one of President Obama’s signature national security policies than they had previously hinted.
12 Guantanamo detainees freed; captive count at 8-year low
The captives released this week included six Yemenis, four Afghans and two Somali citizens. Their departures from Guantanamo brought the headcount there to 198, the first time the number of suspects at the prison camp for supposed terrorists has dropped below 200 since February, 2002. » read more
Tony Blair's Iraq War Admission Sparks Outrage, Calls For War Crimes Prosecution
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's recent admission that he would have invaded Iraq even if he knew from the start that it did not have weapons of mass destruction has sparked public outrage and calls for his prosecution for war crimes in the ongoing war inquiry, the AFP reported.
Blair's administration originally used WMDs to justify going to war, leaving the public feeling that the former minister had entered Iraq under false pretenses, using the language that was most convenient at the time.
Soldiers going AWOL for PTSD care
With a military health care system over-stretched by two ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, more soldiers are deciding to go absent without leave (AWOL) in order to find treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"It’s not just that we’re going to have an immensity of people coming back, but the system itself is thwarting their effective treatment," Manion explained.
According to the Army, every year from 2006 onwards there has been a record number of reported and confirmed suicides, including in 2009.
There has also been an escalation of soldier-on-soldier violence, as the Nov. 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood by Major Nidal Hassan indicates. In 2008 there was also a record number of suicides for the Marine Corps.
Baghdad blasts kill 127
Five massive vehicle-borne bombs rocked Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 127 people, including women and students, and wounding hundreds in the third co-ordinated massacre to devastate the city since August.
The attacks shattered a month of calm in the Iraqi capital and came hours before an official said the war-torn country's general election, the second since the US-led ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein, would be held on March 6.
Gitmo 'suicide' trio had rags stuffed down throats: report
The US military has long maintained that the deaths of three detainees at Guantanamo Bay in one night in 2006 were suicides, but to the authors of an exhaustive report on the incident, it looks like anything but.
One question that the authors of a report (PDF) from the Seton Hall University Law School have is just how -- and why -- three people who hanged themselves would have managed to stuff rags down their throats before they died. Another question is why neither the guards on duty nor the paramedics who showed up were interviewed; or, for that matter, why the paramedics who showed up didn't even ask the guards what had happened.
Iraqi cab driver was source for Iraq WMD claim, British MP says
A British parliamentarian claimed in an report published Tuesday that an Iraqi cab driver was the source of an infamous claim made by Prime Minister Tony Blair that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
The member of Parliament, a member of the conservative British Tory Party, claims that he was told by a British intelligence official that the claim actually came from an Iraqi taxi driver, and that it was considered highly unreliable but was tacitly backed by Blair's government in public statements anyway.
Blair was told Iraq war 'illegal': report
LONDON (AFP) – The government's chief legal advisor informed then British prime minister Tony Blair in 2002 that deposing Saddam Hussein would contravene international law, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
Peter Goldsmith, the Attorney General at the time, wrote to Blair eight months before the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, but the premier ignored the advice, the Mail on Sunday claimed.
The newspaper said a public inquiry into Britain's involvement in the war was in possession of Goldsmith's letter and he and Blair are likely to be questioned about it when they give evidence next year.
US scuttled efforts at Iraq war consensus: ambassador
US was 'hell-bent' on Iraq invasion, UK's ambassador says
The administration of George W. Bush was so dismissive of efforts to get UN approval for an invasion of Iraq that it effectively scuttled attempts at making the war legitimate, a former British ambassador to the UN says.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who was the UK's ambassador to the UN from 1998 to 2003, told Britain's Iraq war inquiry that the Bush administration was "decidedly unhelpful" as he struggled to gain support from UN member countries for a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq.
The UN passed resolution 1441 in November, 2002, mandating the return of weapons inspectors into Iraq. But the US and its allies invaded Iraq in March, 2003, without a second resolution that Britain had sought, which would have authorized the invasion. As a result, Greenstock said, the war was of "questionable legitimacy."
Condi set sights on Iraq as 9/11 unfolded: UK diplomat
A former British ambassador to the United States says then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice talked to him about Iraq and Saddam Hussein hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
Sir Christopher Meyer, who served as Britain's top diplomat in Washington from 1997 to 2003, also told an inquiry into the Iraq war that the timeline the US and Britain set to invade Iraq made it impossible for the UN to determine if Saddam Hussein had active weapons of mass destruction programs.
Blair knew Iraq had no WMD before war, official inquiry
UK considered Iran, Libya, North Korea bigger threats than Iraq
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was told ten days before the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programs likely remained "dismantled," but the prime minister continued to insist that Iraq was producing chemical and biological weapons, a British inquiry heard Wednesday.
US discussed Iraq regime change a month after Bush took office, senior officials
The chairman of the British Joint Intelligence Committee in 2001 told investigators Monday that elements of the Bush Administration were pushing for regime change in Iraq in early 2001, months before the 9/11 attacks and two years before President George W. Bush formally announced the Iraq war.
Gen. Wesley Clark's Advice: Get Out of Afghanistan
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark has some advice for Congress: Start planning an exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Speaking to the House Armed Services subcommittee on oversight and investigations, Gen. Clark said, "figure out where you’re going. How do we get out of here? Because our presence long term there is not a good thing. We’re playing into the hands of people who don’t like foreigners in a country that’s not tolerant of diversity. And that’s not going to change.”
Obama Admits Delay On Guantanamo
President Barack Obama admitted for the first time on Wednesday that the United States would miss the January 2010 deadline he set for closing the "war on terror" prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The US leader also said Americans should not be "fearful" of the prospect that five men accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks will go on trial in New York City, a notion that has sparked vocal domestic opposition.
"Guantanamo -- we had a specific deadline that was missed," Obama told US-based NBC television, in one of a flurry of interviews he gave in Beijing as his Asia tour winds down.
US officer: We may have to reconsider Iraq drawdown
The top US military officer in Iraq warned on Wednesday of attacks in the run-up to an expected January general election and said he would ask Washington to alter troop drawdown plans if necessary.
General Ray Odierno told reporters in Baghdad that although all American combat troops are due to pull out by August 2010, the plan could change between now and May if the security situation deteriorates.
Blair to face Iraq war inquiry
He will be among senior Labour figures to be publicly grilled just months ahead of an expected general election.
Mr Blair and the others may be quizzed again in more detail, but that will not happen until after the election, which must take place by June.
Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot has said his report will be published at the end of next year, or even 2011.
Fallujah's infants suffer from sharp rise in birth defects
The war-ravaged population center has seen an increase of up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants since pre-war levels, according to a report by the UK's Guardian. Documented statistics for birth defects in Fallujah have only emerged in recent months, but the rate of abormalities, including early-life cancers, is high enough to cause alarm at Fallujah's General Hospital.
Gates signs order barring release of torture photos
In order to withhold the photos, Gates simply had to certify, as he did in the court filing, that 'public disclosure of these photographs would endanger citizens of the United States, members of the United States Armed Forces, or employees of the United States Government deployed outside the United States.
Carnage and Corruption in Iraq
Ignored by the west, Iraqis continue to suffer as the US's 'exit strategy' begins to unravel.
It is tragic that Iraq hits the headlines only if there is a major explosion with hundreds killed and injured. Yesterday's carnage in Baghdad is the second of its kind in two months, and yet another horrific reminder that the Iraqi people are still paying with their blood for the US-led invasion and occupation of their country.
Iraq bombings show that the war isn't over
October has been a terrible month for Iraq. The country has been savagely attacked by a string of bombings, leaving scores dead and hundreds injured and maimed.
The bombings include:
- October 25: A pair of car bombs destroyed government buildings in Baghdad, killing 155.
- October 21: A roadside bomb near Kirkuk killed 2 journalists.
- October 20: A bombing in al-Hamiya killed a police officer.
- October 19: A roadside bomb exploded in Nineveh province, killing an American soldier.
- October 16: A Sunni mosque in Talafer, near Mosul was bombed, killing 14.
- October 13: A suicide bombing in a coffee house in Buhruz, near Baquba killed 8.
- October 11: A trio of bombings in Ramadi left 26 dead.
- October 7: A roadside bomb near Jalula killed 3 Iraqi police officers.
- October 6: A truck bomb exploded in front of restaurant in Amiriya, near Fallujah, killing 9.
- October 5: A suicide bomber at a funeral in Haditha killed 6.
Pentagon Pursuing New Investigation Into Bush Propaganda Program
The Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General is conducting a new investigation into a covert Bush administration Defense Department program that used retired military analysts to produce positive wartime news coverage.
12 killed as US soldier goes on rampage at Texas army base
A US Army officer, Major Malik Nadal Hasan, has gone on on a shooting spree at a military base in Texas, killing 12 people and wounding more than 30 others before he was shot dead by police.
Record 134 US Soldiers Commit Suicide
The October suicide figures mean that at least 134 active-duty soldiers have taken their own lives so far this year, putting the Army on pace to break last year's record of 140 active-duty suicides. The number of Army suicides has risen 37% since 2006, and last year, the suicide rate surpassed that of the U.S. population for the first time.
US deactivates army engineering arm in Iraq
Regional News for Iraq
Pentagon Used Psychological Operation on US Public: docs
A months-long review of documents and interviews with Pentagon personnel has revealed that the Bush Administration's military analyst program -- aimed at selling the Iraq war to the American people -- operated through a secretive collaboration between the Defense Department's press and community relations offices.
Raw Story has also uncovered evidence that directly ties the activities undertaken in the military analyst program to an official US military document’s definition of psychological operations -- propaganda that is only supposed to be directed toward foreign audiences.
At Least 85,000 Iraqis Killed From 2004 To 2008, Says Gov't
What remains unanswered is how many died in the 2003 U.S. invasion and in the months of chaos that followed it.
Iraq Index - Brookings Institution
The Iraq Index is a statistical compilation of economic, public opinion, and security data. This resource will provide updated information on various criteria, including crime, telephone and water service, troop fatalities, unemployment, Iraqi security forces, oil production, and coalition troop strength.
The index is designed to quantify the rebuilding efforts and offer an objective set of criteria for benchmarking performance. It is the first in-depth, non-partisan assessment of American efforts in Iraq, and is based primarily on U.S. government information. Although measurements of progress in any nation-building effort can never be reduced to purely quantitative data, a comprehensive compilation of such information can provide a clearer picture and contribute to a healthier and better informed debate.
Iraq Troops' PTSD Rate As High As 35% Analysis Finds
The Veterans' Administration should expect a high volume of Iraq veterans seeking treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, with researchers anticipating that the rate among armed forces will be as high as 35 percent, according to a new analysis.
US soldier gets life for Iraqi girl's rape, murders
U.S. Admits It Has No Case Against Teen Held At Guantanamo
The Justice Department conceded Friday that it lacks the evidence to hold a teenage Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant after a federal judge last week ruled that his confession was inadmissible. The Afghan government said Mohammed Jawad was 12 years old when he was seized by U.S. troops.
52% US Iraq/Afghan GIs Have Severe Brain Trauma
Some 52 percent of soldiers severely injured in Iraq and Afghanistan who have come to the U.S. Army's largest hospital for treatment have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), an internal study has found.
Cheney Wanted to Illegally Deploy US Troops in US Cities
Ex-CIA Agent McGovern: Could Dick Cheney Go to Prison?
Active duty Army suicide rate on record-setting pace
Govt. using torture confessions
Iraq celebrates US withdrawal
US Military: Gays not welcome; White supremacists 'OK'?
How The FBI Broke Saddam - Without Using Torture
The FBI’s newly-declassified interrogation files on Saddam Hussein, reported exclusively in yesterday’s Daily News, stand in contrast to the dark view espoused by Team Bush: only extreme interrogation techniques extract confessions from “high-value” detainees who resist questioning.
AP: Toxic chemical link to Iraq illnesses
Iraq braces for US troop withdrawals
Iraq opens fields; Exxon, Shell seek foothold
“Iraq is the big prize in the region,” said Raja Kiwan, a Dubai-based analyst at consultants PFC Energy. “It is one of the only remaining areas that provide the level of upside for companies who want to access reserves.”
Bombs Kill More Than 30 Across Baghdad Ahead Of US Pullout
PETRAEUS: US VIOLATED GENEVA CONVENTIONS
Iraq War Inquiry Could Disclose More Lies, Secrets
Bush, Blair plotted Iraq 'provocation'
A confidential record of a meeting between President Bush and Tony Blair before the invasion of Iraq, outlining their intention to go to war without a second United Nations resolution, will be an explosive issue for the official inquiry into the UK's role in toppling Saddam Hussein.
The memo, written on 31 January 2003, almost two months before the invasion and seen by the Observer, confirms that as the two men became increasingly aware UN inspectors would fail to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD) they had to contemplate alternative scenarios that might trigger a second resolution legitimising military action.
Bush told Blair the US had drawn up a provocative plan "to fly U2 reconnaissance aircraft painted in UN colours over Iraq with fighter cover". Bush said that if Saddam fired at the planes this would put the Iraqi leader in breach of UN resolutions.
TOP US GENERAL: WE MAY HAVE TO IGNORE IRAQ DEADLINE
The activities of al-Qaeda in two of Iraq’s most troubled cities could keep US combat troops engaged beyond the June 30 deadline for their withdrawal, the top US commander in the country has warned.
Iraqi Oil Chief Accused In Mother Of All Sell-Outs
Accused 9/11 Mastermind Says He Lied To CIA Under Torture
US Army suicides more than doubled in May!
Five US contractors arrested in Iraq for murder of colleague
Sixth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall marked by huge anti-American protests.
KBR Was Paid $83 Million in Bonuses for Work That Electrocuted US Soldiers
Iraqi Police Prepare for New Security Responsibilities
Yoo Admits He Fixed Law Around Bush's Torture Policy
Guantanamo Breakthrough: Europe Expects To Take 'Several Dozen' Detainees
UN expert: Rumsfeld to 'face difficulties'
General: Bush 'abandoned' troops
Cheney Led Briefings of Lawmakers to Defend Interrogation Techniques
Grim Milestone: 5,000 GIs Dead in Iraq, Afghanistan Wars
Cheney: No Link Between Saddam Hussein, 9/11
Top CIA officer in Pakistan under Reagan rebukes Cheney on torture, 'plots'
MULLEN: ARMY SUICIDES to hit record.
Obama reversed on abuse pics after Iraqi PM 'went ballistic'
New Legal Battle In Guantanamo As War Crimes Court Meets
US deaths in Iraq rise sharply
US Army base shuts down after rise in suicides
Children raped at Abu Ghraib: U.S. General confirms
US War Crime Probes Inadequate: UN Expert
Iraq to arrest 1,000 'corrupt' officials
US prepared for 10 more years in Iraq
Baghdad Bomb Kills US Soldier, Making May Deadliest In 8 Months
US journo held in Iraq w/no charges
US Withdrawal From Iraq 'On Track' Despite Violence: Mullen
Iraqi resistance preps for battle
US: Iraq attacks down 50% in May
Car bomb in Baghdad kills at least 34 people
Ex-CIA Official: Agency Brass Lied to Congress About Interrogations
Tribunals To Return, Detainees To Have More Rights
Thug Squad Brutalizing Prisoners at Gitmo
Army suicides on track for record in '09
GI Kills Five Fellow Soldiers on Baghdad Base
CIA 'Terror' Suspects Kept Awake 11 Days
Iraqi PM tells Pelosi: US troops not needed in our cities
Some US Troops To Stay In Iraq Past Deadline
Record High Army Suicides Prompt Action
Iraq Update - April 2009
570 Dead, 1192 Wounded in Iraq in April 2009
Thursday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 25 Wounded - April 30th, 2009
Wednesday: 73 Iraqis Killed, 116 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 Iraqi Killed
Monday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded
Sunday: 17 Iraqis Killed, 8 Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 15 Iraqis Killed; 22 Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 93 Others Killed; 163 Wounded in Iraq
Thursday: 1 US Marine, 96 Killed; 157 Wounded in Iraq
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 10 Iraqis Killed; 30 Wounded
Tuesday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 3 Wounded
Monday: 19 Iraqis Killed, 11 Wounded
Sunday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 28 Wounded
Saturday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 7 Wounded
Friday: 1 US Marine, 8 Iraqis Killed; 19 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 61 Wounded
Wednesday: 16 Iraqis Killed, 27 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 Iraqi Killed, 10 Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 3 Iraqis Killed; 5 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 6 Iraqis Killed; 12 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 35 Wounded
Friday: 5 US Soldiers, 10 Iraqis Killed; 84 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded
Wednesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 27 Wounded
Tuesday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 45 Iraqis Killed; 176 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 34 Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Marine, 2 Iraqis Killed; 8 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 17 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 22 Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 15 Iraqis Killed; 25 Iraqis Wounded - April 1st, 2009
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
For more detailed information go to:
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13483
4 Soldiers Involved In Iraqi Rape, Murder Escape The Spotlight
Gonzales: US should be open to torturing again
Britain Was 'Dragged' Into Iraq War, Says Former Spy Chief
Iraq will not extend US withdrawal date
Iraq Fears Return To Sectarian Warfare Of 2006
'Scapegoats': Jailed GIs plan appeal after Bush memos
OBAMA MAY REVIVE MILITARY COMMISSIONS
50-100 Gitmo Inmates 'Can't Be Tried or Freed'
Surge in violence won't delay U.S. withdrawal from Iraq
UK ends Iraq combat ops
'Waterboarding was torture': Obama
DEMS SEEK PROSECUTOR ON TORTURE
Truth Commission moves forward
Iraq Bombings Kills More Than 40
Iraq PM: US 'breached' security pact
Torture Supporters Are The Ones Politicizing The Debate
FBI Interrogator Of Al Qaida Breaks Silence, Condemns Torture Tactics
Foreign Policy: The Torture Timeline
CIA never seriously assessed torture methods: report
Army Trying to Stem Increases in Soldier Suicides
U.S. Soldier Killed Herself -- After Refusing to Take Part in Torture
CIA Ignored Warnings From Soldiers That Torture Would Not Work
US to Keep Troops in Iraq if Violence Escalates
Brits Tortured, Killed 20 Iraqis And Covered It Up
Suicide Bombers Kill 150 In 24 Hrs In Iraq
General Who Probed Abu Ghraib Says Bush Officials Committed War Crimes
UN Torture Envoy: US Must Prosecute Bush Lawyers
Baghdad Bombings: Is Iraq Unraveling Again?
Dozens of CIA 'Ghost Prisoners' Missing
Pentagon to Release Up to 2,000 Photographs of Prisoner Abuse
Appeals Court Rules Gitmo Detainees Are Not 'Persons'
AP: Iraqi death toll more than 87K since '05
Jordan’s King Abdullah says U.S. tortured.
Military agency warned Bush administration in 2002 that its interrogation program was ‘torture.’
CIA Official: No Proof Harsh Techniques Stopped Terror Attacks
Bush Admin. Ignored Military's Strong Opposition to Torture Program
European Nations May Investigate Bush Officials Over Prisoner Abuse
Document: Cheney, Rice Signed Off on Interrogation Techniques
Torture pushed to find Iraq, Qaeda tie
SUICIDE BLASTS CLAIM at least 70...
No License, but Blackwater Is Still in Iraq
13 SOLDIER SUICIDES in March...
Report: Iraq air raids disproportionally kill women, children
Iraq: Executions lead cause of death
Desperate vets turn to suicide
Iraqi VP: Some US-backed militias are planning attacks
US troops could stay in Mosul past June 30
Iraq Government Claims Media Is Stoking Violence
Soldiers out of major Iraq cities by June 30
Army pressured docs to downgrade PTSD
Cost of Iraq War Will Surpass Vietnam's by Year's End.
Another suicide blast in Iraq; this one claims 9 lives
5 US Soldiers Killed In Mosul, Iraq Truck Bombing
Obama seeks $83.4 billion more for Iraq, Afghan wars
Multiple Car Bombs Kill Over 40 People
Report: Iraqi children for sale
Iraqis execute six gay men in past 10 days.
Brain injured troops may reach 360,000
Estimate represents 20% of US troops who served in Iraq, Afghanistan.
Iraqi Leaders Applaud US Troop Withdrawal Plan
Iraqi Leaders Applaud US Troop Withdrawal Plan
February 28, 2009
CNN
Iraqi leaders are applauding President Obama's plan to withdraw most U.S. troops from the country by August 2010.Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi's office released a statement Saturday saying he received a call from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton informing him of Obama's announcement of the withdrawal.
"Mr. al-Hashimi welcomed the American administration's commitment to withdrawing its troops from Iraq according to the agreed-on schedule and stressed that every possible effort should be exerted to increase the readiness of Iraqi security forces and improve their performance," the statement said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Obama called him to tell him about the plan Friday.
PM: US dominance over Iraq at end
PM: US dominance over Iraq at end
February 10, 2009
AFP
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that the era of US dominance in Iraq was over, in a broadside to Washington almost six years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
The Shiite premier, boosted by the strong showing of his allies in provincial elections, said Iraq was now taking charge of its own destiny and was making good progress towards rebuilding the war-torn country.
His remarks were a pointed rebuke to US Vice President Joe Biden, who last week said Washington would have to be "more aggressive" in pushing Baghdad towards faster political reform.
"The time for putting pressure on Iraq is over," Maliki told reporters when asked about Biden's comments.
Army Official - Suicides In January 'Terrifying'
Army Official - Suicides In January 'Terrifying'
February 5, 2009
CNN
Two dozen soldiers believed to have killed themselves in January, official says
The number of likely suicides more than those killed in combat last month
Army psychologist says long, cold months of winter might have contributed to spike
Army takes rare step of releasing figures for month rather than waiting till end of year
France Reportedly Drafts EU Plan for Guantanamo Inmates
France Reportedly Drafts EU Plan for Guantanamo Inmates
January 24, 2009
Deutsche Welle
France has drafted a plan for EU nations to take in 60 of 245 detainees remaining at the United States' Guantanamo Bay prison camp on Cuba, German news weekly Der Spiegel reported on Saturday, Jan. 24.
Germany welcomed on Friday plans by US President Barack Obama to close the camp, but has not yet offered to accept detainees.
Spiegel said France had sent the plan to EU capitals and would discuss it when EU foreign ministers meet on Monday in Brussels.
EU nations are divided about whether to admit the detainees, described by US authorities as not dangerous. Portugal and France appear willing while Sweden and the Netherlands have said no.
Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison to reopen - with new name
Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison to reopen - with new name
January 24, 2009
Reuters
Iraq will reopen its notorious Abu Ghraib prison next month, but will change the name which became synonomous with abuse under both Saddam Hussein's rule and U.S. occupation, a senior official said on Saturday.
Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim told Reuters that the prison -- which earned global notoriety after U.S. jailkeepers filmed themselves tormenting and sexually humiliating inmates -- had been renovated to international standards.
Iraq assumes control of Green Zone
Iraq assumes control of Green Zone
January 1, 2009
AFP
The United States handed over security control of the Green Zone, a potent symbol of the American occupation, to Iraq on Thursday as a UN mandate for foreign troops ran out and bilateral military accords took effect.
In another step towards full sovereignty, Iraq was also handed control of Basra airport by British forces, who have been using the facility as their main base in southern Iraq since the 2003 invasion.
Iraq approves US security pact
Iraqi parliament approves landmark US military pact
November 27, 2008
AFP
Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved a landmark military pact that will see all US troops withdraw by the end of 2011, ending the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and plunged the country into chaos.
After 11 months of hard-nosed negotiations with Washington and a flurry of 11th hour horse-trading leading up to the vote, the pact was approved by 144 members of the 198 who attended the session of the 275-member assembly.
Iraq to hold referendum on US troops pact
Iraq to hold referendum on US troops pact
November 27, 2008
AFP
Iraq plans to hold a July referendum on a controversial military pact allowing US troops to remain for another three years that parliament is expected to adopt on Thursday in a delayed vote.
"If the Iraqi people reject the agreement in the referendum the government will have two choices, either to cancel it or renegotiate it."
Iraq can cancel the agreement at any time as long as it gives the United States one year's notice, so if the agreement is rejected in the referendum and then cancelled it would not come to an end until the summer of 2010.
It can also be amended by mutual consent, according to the official Arabic version of the pact.
Iraqi Official Threatens State of Emergency if Pact Rejected
Iraqi Official Threatens State of Emergency if Pact Rejected
November 23, 2008
Washington Post
Defense Minister Abdul Qadir Muhammed Jassim, a long-time supporter of the SOFA, has warned that the government will declare a “state of emergency” if parliament declines to approve the pact. He also cautioned about political parties that maintain their own armed militias, not mentioning any names but likely not intending to refer to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s own controversial Support Councils.
Iraq has imposed states of emergency on multiple occasions since the US invasion. Under the National Safety Law, the Prime Minister is empowered to impose curfews, restrict freedom of movement and assembly, and cordon off areas he deems “suspect.”
Iraq Dismisses Oversight Officials Despite Soaring Corruption
Iraq Dismisses Oversight Officials Despite Soaring Corruption
November 17, 2008
New York Times
The government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is systematically dismissing Iraqi oversight officials, who were installed to fight corruption in Iraqi ministries by order of the American occupation administration, which had hoped to bring Western standards of accountability to the notoriously opaque and graft-ridden bureaucracy here.
Iraqi approves U.S. troop agreement
Iraqi approves U.S. troop agreement
November 16, 2008
AFP
Iraq's cabinet defied fiery opposition from Shiite hardliners on Sunday and approved a wide-ranging military pact that includes a timetable for the withdrawal of all US troops by the end of 2011.
Baghdad and Washington have been scrambling for months to reach an agreement that will govern the status of more than 150,000 US soldiers stationed in some 400 bases across the country after their UN mandate expires on December 31.
The cabinet approved the agreement after a two and a half hour meeting, with 28 ministers out of 38 voting for it, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a government official said.
Iraq's lead negotiator Muwafaq al-Rubaie told AFP on Friday he believed the draft agreement was a "very good text" and expected it to be approved by parliament as well.
"This text will secure the complete, full, irrevocable sovereignty of Iraq," he told AFP.
The White House, too, was upbeat on Friday, describing the text of the accord as a "good agreement" that suits both nations.
The draft agreement includes 31 articles and calls for US troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by June 2009 and from the entire country by the end of 2011.
Source: Iraqi PM Maliki Now Supports US "Withdrawal Agreement"
Source: Iraqi PM Maliki Now Supports US "Withdrawal Agreement"
November 14, 2008
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has informed Iraq's presidency council that he now supports a security agreement with the United States, a Shiite Muslim legislator who's close to the premier said Friday.
Lawmaker Sami al Askari said that Maliki had declared his backing for the controversial accord at a meeting last week with Iraq’s president and vice presidents. The only person who dissented was the Sunni vice president, Tariq al Hashimi.
Askari said Maliki planned to address the nation in coming days to ask for the people's support of the agreement, which Iraqi officials now call the "withdrawal agreement."
Obama Plans Guantanamo Closing
Obama Plans Guantanamo Closing
November 10, 2008
Associated Press
President-elect Obama's advisers are crafting plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and prosecute terrorism suspects in the U.S., a plan that the Bush administration said Monday was easier said than done.
Under the plan being crafted inside Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and others would be charged in U.S. courts, where they would receive constitutional rights and open trials.
15 dead in Baghdad blasts, violence rising
15 dead in Baghdad blasts, violence rising
November 4, 2008
BAGHDAD — Bombs exploded at a bus station and a small market in Baghdad, killing 15 people Tuesday in an increase in bloodshed in the Iraqi capital after a week of relative calm, police and hospital officials said.
Maliki: Don’t call it a ‘security pact’; it’s ‘an agreement to withdraw’ U.S. troops.
Maliki: Don’t call it a ‘security pact’; it’s ‘an agreement to withdraw’ U.S. troops.
November 1, 2008
Today, the AP is reporting that according to a close aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi government “wants to eliminate any chance U.S. forces will stay” in Iraq “after 2011 under a proposed security pact.” But also yesterday, al-Maliki took issue with calling the agreement a “security pact”
Iraq to declare agreement void if US attacks Iraq neighbor
Iraq to declare agreement void if US attacks Iraq neighbor
October 29, 2008
Associated Press
Partly as a result of the U.S. raid into Syria last weekend, Iraqi government spokesman “said the Iraqis want the right to declare the agreement null and void if the U.S. unilaterally attacks one of Iraq’s neighbors.”
1 in 7 female vets violated: study
1 in 7 female vets violated: study
CBS News
October 28, 2008
For a soldier, the wounds of war can be felt long after a tour of duty ends, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports, and not all of them are inflicted by the enemy. Tuesday, researchers reported that an alarming number of female soldiers have sought treatment for sexual assault committed by fellow soldiers.
A Veterans Administration study found that one in seven female veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan seeking medical care from the VA suffered sexual trauma - everything from harassment to rape.
Iraq's Main Sunni Party Suspends Ties With US Over Raid
Iraq's Main Sunni Party Suspends Ties With US Over Raid
Associated Press
October 25, 2008
Iraq's largest Sunni party said Saturday that it has suspended official contacts with American military personnel and civilians after the killing of a man near Fallujah.
The Iraqi Islamic Party accused the raid of having a "hidden political motive" in an indication of rising tensions in Anbar province ahead of provincial elections, due to be held by the end of January.
A Puzzle Over Prisoners as Iraqis Take Control
A Puzzle Over Prisoners as Iraqis Take Control
New York Times
October 24, 2008
The latest draft of the security agreement between the nations, if passed, would make one change clear at least: in a drastic reduction of the United States military’s power to control security in Iraq, American soldiers, acting on their own, would no longer be able to arrest insurgent suspects after Dec. 31. Under the proposed new rules, the United States military would need Iraqi permission to make arrests and then would have to turn suspects over to the Iraqi authorities within 24 hours.
Less clear, however, is what will happen to those already in detention — about 17,000 people in all.
In theory, the United States would no longer have the right to continue to hold them. And with the United States seeking to slowly phase out its mission in Iraq, American commanders say they are eager to close down a system that has proved to be a drain on cash and, after the revelations of torture at Abu Ghraib, American credibility.
US Would Determine When GIs Have Immunity From Iraq Courts
US Would Determine When GIs Have Immunity From Iraq Courts
Fox News / Aswat al-Iraq
October 24, 2008
The most controversial article in the draft agreement is on troop immunity. While the U.S. gives up immunity for U.S. troops who are “off duty and off base” if they commit major or intentional crimes, the U.S. retains the authority to determine whether they were off duty.
Iraqi Prime Minister Won't Sign Completed US Troop Deal
Paper: Iraqi Prime Minister Won't Sign Completed US Troop Deal
McClatchy Newspapers
October 24, 2008
Fearing political division in the parliament and in his country, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki won't sign the just-completed agreement on the status of U.S. forces in Iraq, a leading lawmaker said Friday.
The new accord's demise would be a major setback for the Bush administration, which has been seeking to establish a legal basis for the extended presence of the 151,000 U.S. troops in country, and for Iraq, which won notable concessions in the draft accord reached a week ago.
Iraq Says It Won't Be Bullied Into Signing Pact
Iraq Says It Won't Be Bullied Into Signing Pact
AFP
October 22, 2008
Iraq warned on Wednesday it would not be bullied into signing a security pact with the United States despite US leaders warning of potentially dire consequences if it failed to approve the deal. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Washington had now agreed to listen to requested changes to the controversial deal, which aims to govern the long-term presence of US troops in Iraq beyond 2008.
To the apparent frustration of the Americans, the Iraqi cabinet decided on Tuesday to seek revisions to a deal that was originally supposed to have been sealed by the end of July.
But Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh lashed out at remarks by US military chief Michael Mullen who had said Baghdad risked significant security losses if an agreement is not concluded.
"It is not correct to force Iraqis into making a choice and it is not appropriate to talk with the Iraqis in this way," Dabbagh said.
Iraqis Top UN List Of Asylum Seekers Again
Iraqis Top UN List Of Asylum Seekers Again
UPI
October 22, 2008
The U.N. refugee agency said that despite a decline in the number of asylum-seekers from Iraq, the country continues to top the list. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in its most recent report that the number of asylum-seekers from Iraq dropped 18 points to 10 percent compared with 2007. Those numbers, however, still made up more than 12 percent of all asylum applications to industrialized nations, the report said.
Al-Qaeda Supporters Endorse McCain
Al-Qaeda Supporters Endorse McCain
Associated Press
October 21, 2008
Al-Qaida supporters suggested in a Web site message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the U.S. as a way to usher in a McCain presidency. The message, posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah Web site, said if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iraq Seeks Security Pact Rewrites, Right To Try American Soldiers
Iraq Seeks Security Pact Rewrites, Right To Try American Soldiers
Reuters
October 21, 2008
Washington does not want to alter a draft security pact with Iraq, despite demands for change from Baghdad where the document failed to win support from Iraqi political leaders, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.
Massive anti-occupation protest in Baghdad
Massive anti-occupation protest in Baghdad
AFP
October 18, 2008
Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqi lawmakers on Saturday to reject a planned US-Iraqi security deal as tens of thousands of his followers poured on to the streets of Baghdad in a massive anti-American protest.
"When the agreement is in your hands, the destiny of Iraq and its people is also in your hands," Sadr said in a statement, speaking to MPs, whose approval is necessary once the deal is signed by leaders of the two countries.
US-Iraq Withdrawal Plan Reached, Mirrors Obama's Plan
US-Iraq Withdrawal Plan Reached, Mirrors Obama's Plan
The Independent UK
October 16, 2008
Iraq and the United States have finally agreed on a security pact which would mean that US forces would withdraw from Iraq by 2011, American and Iraqi officials said yesterday.
The accord became a major test of strength between the Iraqi government and Washington since negotiations began in March with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, pictured below, demanding US concessions on the date of the troop withdrawal and immunity for US troops. The pact replaces the UN Security Council resolution enacted after the American invasion of 2003.
The agreement still needs to be approved by the council of Iraqi leaders, the cabinet and the Iraqi parliament. Mr Maliki saw the highly influential Shia religious leader, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, last week and was assured that he would not stand in the way of the pact if approved by parliament.
White House Endorsed Waterboarding In Secret Memos
White House Endorsed Waterboarding In Secret Memos
Washington Post
October 15, 2008
The Bush administration issued a pair of secret memos to the CIA in 2003 and 2004 that explicitly endorsed the agency's use of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding against al-Qaeda suspects -- documents prompted by worries among intelligence officials about a possible backlash if details of the program became public.
This of course means President Bush lied when he said he knew nothing about it & that it was just a few bad apples.
Iraq: US troops to be out by end of 2011
Iraq: US troops to be out by end of 2011
Reuters
October 15, 2008
A draft agreement with the United States requires U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011 unless asked to stay, and gives Iraq the right to try them for felonies committed while off duty, Iraq said on Wednesday.
The long-awaited security deal between Washington and Baghdad is needed to provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq after a U.N. Security Council resolution expires at the end of this year.
Iraq Update - March 2009
439 Dead, 837 Wounded in Iraq in March 2009
Tuesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 58 Wounded March 31, 2009
Monday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded
Sunday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 72 Wounded
Saturday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded
Friday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 1 Wounded
Thursday: 1 US Soldier, 28 Iraqis Killed; 51 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded
Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 6 Wounded
Monday: 45 Iraqis Killed, 96 Wounded
Sunday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 8 Wounded
Saturday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 11 Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 3 Iraqis Killed; 6 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 17 Iraqis Killed, 3 Wounded
Wednesday: 12 Iraqis Killed, 12 Wounded
Tuesday: 8 Iraqis Killed; UN Observes Halabja Anniversary
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 11 Iraqis Killed; 7 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 9 Iraqis, 4 PKK rebels Killed; 3 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded
Friday: 1 US Sailor, 6 Iraqis Killed; 8 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Wednesday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 42 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 Marine, 1 Pakistani, 37 Iraqis; 84 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 12 Iraqis Killed, 20 Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Contractor, 61 Iraqis Killed; 84 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 11 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 4 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 73 Wounded
Wednesday: 16 Iraqis Killed, 40 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 15 Iraqis Killed; 11 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 10 Iraqis Killed; 32 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 8 Wounded
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
For more detailed information go to:
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13483
Iraq Update - February 2009
384 Dead, 665 Wounded in Iraq in February 2009
February 28, 2009
Saturday: 1 Marine, 3 Iraqis Killed; 19 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 4 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded
Wednesday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 15 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 3 US Soldiers, 11 Iraqis Killed; 23 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded
Saturday: 2 U.S. Soldiers, 4 Iraqis Killed; 9 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 3 Wounded
Thursday: 20 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Wednesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 2 Wounded
Tuesday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Monday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 41 Wounded
Sunday: 2 US Soldiers, 25 Iraqis Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded; 40 Bodies in Mass Grave
Friday: 1 UK Soldier, 45 Iraqis; 91 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 1 US Soldier, 22 Iraqis Killed; 53 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 31 Iraqis Killed, 94 Wounded
Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 15 Wounded
Monday: 4 US Soldiers, 9 Iraqis Killed; 29 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 8 Iraqis Killed; 25 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 13 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded
Thursday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded
Wednesday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 15 Wounded
Monday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 14 Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier Killed, 3 Iraqis Wounded February 1, 2009
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
For more detailed information go to:
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13483
Iraq Update - January 2009
327 Dead, 1259 Wounded in Iraq in January 2009
January 31, 2009
Saturday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed, 20 Wounded
Thursday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded
Wednesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded
Tuesday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded
Monday: 4 US Soldiers, 4 Iraqis Killed; 25 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 2 Iraqis killed, 8 Wounded
Saturday: 2 US Soldiers, 12 Iraqis Killed; 33 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 11 Iraqis Killed; 3 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 3 Wounded
Wednesday: 33 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded
Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 35 Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 21 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 3 Iraqis Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 6 Iraqis Killed; 6 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 16 Wounded
Thursday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 6 Wounded
Wednesday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 13 Wounded
Tuesday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded
Monday: 2 GIs, 10 Iraqis Killed; 39 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 9 Iraqis Killed; 11 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 6 Wounded
Friday: 12 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded
Thursday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 15 Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 3 Iraqis Killed; 11 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 1 Marine, 15 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 45 Wounded
Sunday: 27 Iraqis, 16 Iranians Killed in Iraq; 89 Wounded
Saturday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 20 Wounded
Friday: 35 Iraqis Killed, 123 Wounded
Thursday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
For more detailed information go to:
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13483
Iraq Update - December 2008
546 Dead, 1075 Wounded in Iraq in December 2008
December 31, 2008
Wednesday: 2 US Soldiers, 14 Iraqis Killed; 70 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 7 Wounded
Monday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Sunday: 2 GIs, 10 Iraqis Killed; 36 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 26 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded
Thursday: 1 US Soldier, 10 Iraqis Killed; 47 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 4 GIs, 4 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 12 Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 2 Iraqis Killed; 6 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 2 GIs, 7 Iraqis Killed; 4 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 5 iraqis Killed, 7 Wounded
Friday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 8 Wounded
Thursday: 11 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Wednesday: 35 Iraqis Killed, 70 Wounded
Tuesday: 19 Iraqis Killed, 50 Wounded
Monday: 24 Iraqis Killed, 36 Wounded
Sunday: 1 Iraqi Killed, 19 Wounded
Saturday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Friday: 1 British Soldier Killed
Thursday: 58 Iraqis Killed, 120 Wounded
Wednesday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 7 Wounded
Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 20 Iraqis Killed
Sunday: 12 Iraqis Killed, 65 Wounded
Saturday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 51 Wounded
Friday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
Thursday: 2 GIs, 1 UK Soldier, 98 Iraqis Killed; 177 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 16 Wounded
Tuesday: 18 Iraqis Killed, 49 Wounded
Monday: 58 Iraqis Killed, 112 Wounded
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
For more detailed information go to:
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13483
Iraq Update - November 2008
599 Dead, 1139 Wounded in Iraq November 2008
November 30, 2008
Sunday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 2 Wounded
Saturday: 44 Iraqis, 3 Contractors Killed; 32 Iraqis, 14 Contractors Wounded
Friday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 58 Wounded
Thursday: 8 Iraqis Killed; 43 Wounded
Wednesday: 35 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Tuesday: 3 GIs, 6 Iraqis Killed; 10 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 34 Iraqis Killed, 31 Wounded
Sunday: 11 Iraqis Killed, 37 Wounded
Saturday: 12 Iraqis Killed, Mass Grave Found
Friday: 3 GIs, 3 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 39 Wounded
Wednesday: 11 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded
Tuesday: 23 Iraqis Killed, 35 Wounded
Monday: 18 Iraqis Killed, 45 Wounded
Sunday: 37 Iraqis Killed, 30 Wounded
Saturday: 4 US GIs, 16 Iraqis Killed; 75 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 3 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: One US Soldier, 12 Iraqis Killed; 40 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 2 US Soldiers, 34 Iraqis Killed; 108 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 51 Wounded
Monday: 45 Iraqis Killed, 101 Wounded
Sunday: 18 Iraqis Killed, 63 Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 17 Iraqis Killed; 28 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 10 Iraqis Killed; 15 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 34 Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 13 Iraqis Killed; 23 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 36 Iraqis Killed, 69 Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 23 Iraqis Killed; 58 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 25 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Saturday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded November 1, 2008
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
For more detailed information go to:
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13483
Iraq Update - October 2008
636 Dead, 863 Wounded in Iraq October 2008
McCain 8/28: "Iraq is A Peaceful And Stable Country Now" - Time Magazine
636 Dead, 863 Wounded in Iraq October 2008
October 31, 2008
Friday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 12 Wounded - October 31, 2008
Thursday: 1 American Civilian, 7 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 20 Iraqis Killed; 73 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 36 Iraqis Killed, 63 Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 20 Iraqis Killed; 29 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 11 Iraqis Killed, 28 Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 21 Iraqis Killed; 17 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 2 Wounded
Thursday: 23 Iraqis Killed, 43 Wounded
Wednesday: 44 Iraqis Killed, 14 Wounded; Mass Grave Found
Tuesday: 27 Iraqis Killed, 56 Wounded
Monday: 1 Marine, 28 Iraqis Killed; 16 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 10 Iraqis Killed; 25 Wounded
Saturday: 25 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded
Friday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded
Thursday: 2 US Soldiers, 12 Iraqis Killed; 24 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 41 Iraqis Killed; 60 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 6 Iraqis Killed; 12 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 2 Iraqis Killed; 12 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 25 Iraqis Killed, 46 Wounded
Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 14 Iraqis Killed; 15 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 40 Iraqis Killed; 88 Wounded
Thursday: 26 Iraqis Killed; 35 Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 19 Iraqis Killed; 34 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 2 US Soldiers, 14 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 1 Wounded
Sunday: 26 Iraqis Killed, 13 Wounded
Saturday: 7 Iraqis Killed; 2 Iraqis Wounded; 2 US Black Hawks Crash
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 3 Iraqis Killed; 3 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 39 Iraqis Killed, 65 Wounded
Wednesday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 37 Wounded - October 1, 2008
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
For more detailed information go to:
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13483
Iraq Update - September 2008
729 Dead, 1348 Wounded in September 2008
729 Dead, 1348 Wounded - Iraq September 2008
McCain 8/28: "Iraq is A Peaceful And Stable Country Now" - Time Magazine
September 30, 2008
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 3 Iraqis Killed; 3 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 39 Iraqis Killed, 65 Wounded
Wednesday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 37 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 9 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 8 Iraqis Killed; 15 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 51 Iraqis Killed, 138 Wounded
Saturday: 1 U.S. Soldier, 13 Iraqis Killed; 29 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier,11 Iraqis Killed;13 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 1 US Soldier, 15 Iraqis Killed; 24 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 43 Iraqis Killed: 35 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 19 Iraqis Killed; 27 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 40 Iraqis Killed; 18 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 20 Iraqis Killed, 114 Wounded
Saturday:16 Iraqs Killed, 41 Wounded
Friday: 16 Iraqis Killed, 20 Wounded
Thursday: 20 Iraqis Killed, 34 Wounded
Wednesday: 10 US Soldiers, 18 Iraqis Killed; 79 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 12 Iraqis Killed, 46 Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 38 Iraqis Killed; 68 More Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 17 Iraqis Killed; 24 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 28 Iraqis Killed, 49 Wounded
Friday: 44 Iraqis Killed, 99 Wounded
Thursday: 27 Iraqis Killed, 28 Wounded
Wednesday: 11 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Tuesday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded
Monday: 26 Iraqis Killed, 52 Wounded
Sunday: 20 Iraqis Killed, 26 Wounded
Saturday: 25 Iraqis Killed, 60 Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 7 Iraqis Killed; 17 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 2 US Soldiers, 8 Iraqis Killed; 13 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 28 Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 20 Iraqis Killed; 43 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Data compiled from the US Military, the Iraqi Military, the Iraqi Government, morgues, & hospitals.
For more detailed information go to:
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13483
FYI: The Department of Defense (aka DOD/Pentagon) has admitted that we (the USA) have accidentally murdered over 100,000 innocent civilians in Iraq. Keep in mind that all the "intel" to invade was falsified to fool the Congress, the UN, & the public, plus Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 which murdered 3,000 innocent civilians (as a comparison).
And the claim to bring democracy... well we (the USA) have supported the dictatorships of Pakistan (& did not support the recent elections), Kuwait, & Saudi Arabia to name a few in the region.
Before the Iraq invasion no oil contracts were allowed with Western oil companies, it was strictly nationalized. Since the invasion & occupation there are many Iraqi oil contracts with Western nations. Iraq has probably the second largest/cheapest oil supply in the world.
As leaked by a former Cheney aide, when VP Cheney held his secret energy policy meetings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Task_Force) with the heads of the major Western oil companies, a large detailed map was laid out of the Iraqi oil fields. This was previous to the invasion of Iraq. To this date, Cheney will not release any information on the meetings regarding our US energy policy or the White House records of who attended those meetings. But many sources have been able to verify that the heads of the Western world's oil companies did attend.
The latest estimates are that the Iraq war will cost over $3 trillion tax dollars. And of course more than 4,000 US soldiers (plus more contractors) have died, plus over 30,000 soldiers have been wounded. The cost of Iraqi lives is not measured by the US, but the Pentagon says probably over 100,000 civilians have been killed & estimates by legitimate humanitarian groups polling morgues & hospitals place a total of over 1,000,000 million deaths (combatants & civilians).
Iraq Update - August 2008
874 Dead, 1601 Wounded, 9 Kidnapped in August 2008
McCain 8/28/08: "Iraq is A Peaceful And Stable Country Now"
Time Magazine
874 Dead, 1601 Wounded, 9 Kidnapped - Iraq August 2008
Here is the peace & stability of Iraq as of August 30, 2008
Saturday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 4 Wounded; 3 Turks Wounded - 8/30/08
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 9 Iraqis Killed; 1 Iraqi Wounded
Thursday: 2 US Soldiers, 7 Iraqis Killed; 14 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 14 Iraqis Killed; 47 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 47 Iraqis Killed, 79 Wounded
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 16 Iraqis Killed; 14 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 49 Iraqis Killed, 90 Wounded
Saturday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 14 Wounded, 9 Kidnapped
Friday: 1 Marine, 6 Iraqis Killed; 8 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 14 Wounded
Wednesday: 1 Marine, 9 Iraqis Killed; 8 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 66 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 34 Wounded
Sunday: 19 Iraqis Killed, 40 Wounded
Saturday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 16 Wounded
Friday: 2 GIs, 22 Iraqis Killed; 68 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 40 Iraqis Killed, 111 Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 12 Iraqis Killed; 43 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 1 Marine, 16 Iraqis Killed; 23 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 16 Iraqis Killed, 38 Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 21 Iraqis Killed; 113 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 2 U.S. Soldiers, 28 Iraqis Killed; 22 Iraq Wounded
Friday: 2 Marines, 27 Iraqis Killed; 81 Wounded
Thursday: 22 Iraqis Killed, 36 Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 27 Iraqis Killed; 22 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 2 US Soldiers, 21 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 3 US Soldiers, 21 Iraqis Killed; 31 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 36 Iraqis Killed; 63 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 16 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded
Friday: 1 American, 11 Iraqis Killed; 6 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 2 US Soldiers, 20 Iraqis Killed; 21 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 1 US Marine, 8 Iraqis Killed; 12 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded
Monday: 87 Iraqis Killed, 288 Wounded
Sunday: 18 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded
Saturday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded
Friday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 12 Wounded
Thursday: 20 Iraqis Killed, 39 Wounded
Wednesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded
Tuesday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 29 Wounded
Monday: 24 Iraqis Killed, 32 Wounded
Based on hospital & US records
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/
McCain: Iraq is ‘A Peaceful And Stable Country Now’
874 Dead, 1601 Wounded, 9 Kidnapped - Iraq August 2008
Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008
Time Magazine
Today, Time Magazine published an interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that it conducted aboard McCain’s campaign airplane. Reporters James Carney and Michael Scherer described McCain as “prickly” and “at times, abrasive” during the course of the interview.
Carney and Scherer noted to McCain that the Iraqi government is calling for a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq even though McCain’s previously stated definition of “victory” — “a peaceful, stable, prosperous democratic state” — has not been achieved. The Arizona senator dismissed their characterization of the situation, saying that Iraq is “a peaceful and stable country now”:
Q: Some members of the [Iraqi] government have made it clear in the last month or two that they might want to withdraw before complete stability, before totally secure borders, before some of the completeness of victory as you described. Is there any change, do you think there is some wiggle room there because what you described with Petraeus was an end point that was rather complete — a peaceful, stable country.
MCCAIN: Its a peaceful and stable country now.
Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1mesjvN42c&eurl=http://thinkprogress.org/
The War in Iraq Costs so far.. 8/30
$549,859,407,791
Consider the costs...
$4,681 per household.
$1,721 per person.
$341.4 million per day.
Two-thirds of US links McCain to Bush policies
USA Today - September 01, 2008
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/09/two-thirds-link.html?csp=34
Republicans Extend 9/11 National Emergency Yet Again
Global Research - September 4, 2008
320,000 Vets Have Brain Injuries
AP News - Apr 17, 2008
18 Vet Suicides Per Day?
CBS News - April 21, 2008
Journalist deaths total 171 for the year (of 2007)
guardian.co.uk - December 31 2007
The invasion of Iraq started March 20, 2003
Well over half a trillion tax dollars spent,
Zero WMDs, No connection to 9/11
“Information is the currency of democracy.”
Thomas Jefferson
Photos of Iraq
What is the difference between a terrorist, an insurgent, & a freedom/Democracy fighter?
Terrorism is a tactic used by all sides in a war, there is no difference. The question is who started the war? Who was the aggressor? And therefore who was in defense?
Often native people fight for their community against aggressors/invaders, occupation to their homeland/territory. Often invaders/occupiers use similar tactics, as US forces have been proven to use with the US invasion of Iraq, but also in many previous conflicts & wars as well.
Iraq ignored 18 UN resolutions (most based on false intel created & cherry-picked by our Republican administration), which was & is still the excuse for the invasion & ongoing war.
Yet Israel has ignored over 70 UN resolutions, yet we don't invade them. And they have WMDs, ICBMs, has never let the IAEA do ANY inspections (Iran did), did not sign the NPT (Iran did), & has always been consistently overly hostile & militaristic towards is neighbors.
Stop the hypocrisies, start the Democracies.
Jefferson quotes
“If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.”
Thomas Jefferson
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.”
Thomas Jefferson
“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms (of government) those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny”
Thomas Jefferson
“Information is the currency of democracy.”
Thomas Jefferson
"Law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”
Thomas Jefferson
“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”
Thomas Jefferson
“To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education”
Thomas Jefferson
“Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.”
Thomas Jefferson
“When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.”
Thomas Jefferson
“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
Thomas Jefferson
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear."
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"
Thomas Jefferson
"Democracy - two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner."
Thomas Jefferson
