Friday, December 29, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, Decemeber is now the deadliest month this year for US troops, Ehren Watada finally appears in print in The Nation, is Sabrina Tavernise angling to be the new joke of the New York Times, and the US military reveals how little heart and compassion they have as they move to court-martial a soldier suffering from PTSD -- one they did nothing to help.
Starting with fatality news. Today the US military announced: "Three Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Thursday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province." Watch for the New York Times to ignore that or Little Man Marcs to report "One marine died" if the pattern this month holds true. The Times can't say they weren't warned when they decided to ignore fatalities and minimize the few that they covered but readers of the paper who depend on it to provide reality (no chuckles) may end up shocked when they discover that today December became the deadliest month for US troops. The three deaths up the total for the month to 107. Prior to this announcement, October had been the deadliest month with 106.
Some outlets report 105 and that has to do with the fact that the US military tends to hold the deaths a bit, and has the since the start of the war, waiting for those first of the month look back press accounts to be published and then noting a death or two afterwards. 106 is the number ICCC uses, 106 is the one we'll go with here. 107 is now the total number of US troops who have died in Iraq this month. The total number of US troops who have died since the start of the illegal war stands at 2996 -- four shy of the 3,000 mark.
US troops have not been the only military fatalities and England's Ministry of Defense notes:
"It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a UK serviceman was killed yesterday, Thursday 28 December 2006, in Basrah, southern Iraq. The soldier, from 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was taking part in a routine patrol in Basra City when the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle he was travelling in was targeted by a roadside bomb. He was very seriously injured and airlifted to the Field Hospital at Shaibah Logistics Base, but unfortunately died later as a result of his injuries." That death brought the total number of British troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 127.
Turning to the issue of war resistance and starting with The Nation magazine. On page 14 of the January 8/15 2007 issue (a double issue) Marc Cooper has an article entitled "Lt. Ehren Watad: Resister." The Nation makes the article availble online to subscribrs only for whatever reasons but seems unaware that they've published it for all (subscribers and non-subscribers) on Yahoo -- click here. Cooper describes Ehren Watada as "the lighning rod case of resistance" (Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq); and notes the speech he gave in August at the Veterans for Peace conference in Seattle (click here for text at CounterPunch and here at Truthout which offers both text and video of the speech) where Watada declared, "The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it."; and notes that, in January, "a 'Citizen's Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq,' featuring Daniel Ellsberg and Princeton professor emeritus Richard Falk will be convened in Tacoma, Washinginton, in support of Watada".
January 4th is the date scheduled for the military's pre-trial hearing and Feb. 5th is when the court-martial is scheduled to begin. The US military is attempting to force journalists to testify at the pre-trial hearing (see yesterday's snapshot).
Watada is part of a movement of resistance within the military that includes Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing (who was released from the military brig on Satuday) Mark Wilkerson, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress next month.
Resistance takes many forms in the peace movement. As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Cindy Sheehan was arrested in Crawford, Texas outside Bully Boy's ranchette along with four other activists. Sheehan called the action a "peace surge" to combat Bully Boy's notions of escalating the number of US troops in Iraq. The AP reports that Sheehan's attorney Robert Gottlieb believes the arrest will have no impact on the conditional verdict the judge issued this month in Manhattan. The Smoking Gun reports that, were Sheehan convicted, the maximum sentence is six months in prison and the maximum fine is $2,000.
In another mother for peace news, Theresa Hogue (Corvallis Gazette-Times) reported last week on Michelle Darr, a mother of six, who was arrested December 12th for attempting to get US Senator Gordon Smith to sign the Declaration of Peace (her third arrest this year for attempting to lobby Smith, she was arrested twice in September) and will face a tril in January. Darr told Hogue, "What they (her children) see me doing is as important as what they don't see me doing. If Im not using my voice and efforts in the cause of the common good, how can I expect them to take initiative when the need arises? I don’t want them to ever think oppression and genocide are acceptable, or that war is a way to solve problems."
Along with courageous acts of resistance like Sheehan's and Darr's, demonstrations will take part around the United States to note the 3,000 mark for US fatalities in Iraq. United for Peace and Justice notes:
Another Grim Milestone -- 3,000 Deaths Too Many
More than 2,990 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. By the time you read this, the death toll may have reached 3,000. We must bear witness to this tragic milestone, even though many people are already beginning their celebrations of the new year. And when we do take action on this occasion, we must remind others that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children, women and men have also died in this outrageous war and occupation. Our call to end this war and to bring all the troops home now must be heard in every corner of the country! The killing must stop. Click here for some suggested ways to bear witness.
Military Families Speak Out notes:
MILITARY FAMILIES MOURN 3,000TH TROOP DEATH, PARTICIPATE IN NATIONWIDE VIGILS AND CALL ON CONGRESS TO END THE IRAQ WAR Family Members of Fallen Soldiers and Families of Troops Currently Deployed in Iraq Available for Interview Dec 29, 06 On the eve of the 3,000th troop death, the next horrific milestone in the Iraq war, Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), an organization of over 3,100 military families opposed to the war in Iraq, calls on the 110th Congress to honor the fallen and prevent further deaths by taking action to end the Iraq war. read more »
CODEPINK notes:
3000 Deaths Too Many As Bush considers sending thousands of additional troops to Iraq to control the violence, our troop death toll nears the 3,000 mark. It is crucial that we commemorate this grim milestone in Bush's disastrous war by pressuring Congress to bring the troops home NOW, and to stop this insanity NOW! Click here for CODEPINK suggested actions you can take.
Also refer to World Can't Wait's Protests & Vigils Planned the Day After the Number of US Troops Killed in Iraq Reaches 3,000
As the press continues to note that Bully Boy is seriously considering escalating the number of US troops on the ground in Iraq, Warren P. Strobel and Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) note: "Two attempts last summer to stabilize Baghdad by sending in more troops failed. The increased U.S. presence led to a brief drop in violence, but as soon as the troops left the neighborhoods where they'd deployed, the violence skyrocketed." That was the crackdown that cracked up and accomplished nothing. It began in June and by August, the US military was noting that, in July, attacks on US forces were up (double the January amount) and bombing attacks on civilians were up 10%. And last week Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) reported on the US Pentagon's findings "that the violence in Iraq soared this fall to its highest level on record" and this during the continued increase of US troops in Iraq. But like a greedy tele-evangilist, Bully Boy can just cry out, "Send more! Send more!"
Bombings?
CNN reports a bomber "waited near the house of Sheik Kadhim Hameed Qassim" in northern Bagdad and then detonated the bomb "when the clearic, his security and family members arrived after Friday prayers" leaving the Shi'ite cleric dead and also killing "his brother and severn others" and leaving 15 wounded.
Shootings?
Reuters reports two police officers were shot dead in Jurf al-Sakhar and seven more wounded.
AFP reports a police officer and "a bystander" were shot dead in Hindiya while, in Mussayib, a police officer was shot dead and five more wounded. KUNA reports four Iraqi soldiers were shot dead "southwest of Kirkuk" and a fifth Iraqi soldier was injured while, in nothern Iraq, "two employees who . . . worked for the Petroleum State Company" were shot dead.
Corpses?
KUNA reports that the corpse of a kidnapped police officer was discovered in Kirkuk.
Meanwhile, AFP reports on the increasing demise of communal baths in Baghdad from violence and financial costs: "In its glory days when Iraq was one of the most developed Arab countries in the Middle East, the hammam used to employ 16 people. Today only four permanent staff remains on the payroll as massive inflation takes hold." and quotes the owner of the bathhouse explaining, "The electricity is often down. Gas for heating has become too expensive. We pay 20,000 dinars ($14) for a bottle compared to 1,000 just two or three years ago. How do you expect me to carry on? There are days when it costs me more to open than doing nothing. I love my profession but it's disappearing."
In I-Schilled-for-the-U.S.-military-and-all-I-got-was-a-red-face news, Sabrina Tavernise's 'scoop' in the New York Times had holes blown through it earlier this week and has now fallen apart completely. The US military announced (to her and James Glanz of the New York Times) that they had been holding Iranian 'terrorists' and 'insurgents' since the 12th of December. In the latest development to rip the story of Iranian 'terrorists' to shreds, the BBC reports that the two diplomats who were held by US forces but in the country of Iraq at the invitation of Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, were released. On the detention of the two diplomats, AFP quotes the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hasan Kazemi Qomi, stating: "Fortunately with the effort exerted by the Iraqi officials, the US forces who firstly denied their arrest were obliged to admit it and under pressure from the Iraqi government to release them. The arrest of these diplomats was carried out contrary to international laws and the Geneva convention."
In the US, the AP reports: "Sgt. Edward W. Shaffer, 24, of Mont Alto, died Wednesday afternoon at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas" after being injured in November 13th bombing in Ramadi and quotes his grandfather, Edward Shaffer, stating that "All they could do was try to keep him comfortable. They couldn't do any more for him." 24 year-old Shaffer is among many troops who die from physical injuries recieved in Iraq but, due to dying after they are shipped out of Iraq, do not get included in the official body count.
Another war related death not included in the count is covered by Megan Greenwell (Washington Post), 29-year-old James E. Dean, who had served in Afghanistan and recently recieved orders to deploy to Iraq, barricaded himself in his father's house on Christmas day, and was killed in an exchange with police officers.
Yesterday, NPR's Daniel Zwerdling reported that the US army's crappy record on addressing PTSD within the ranks just got worse: the army is moving to court-martial Tyler Jennings who suffers from PTSD and was diagnosed with "Crying spells... hopelessness... helplessness... worthlessness" five months ago and received no assistance.
iraq
ehren watada
the washington post
ann scott tyson
the new york times
sabrina tavernise
cindy sheehan
nancy a. youssef
Friday, December 29, 2006
Other Items
How stupid is Little Man Marcs (Marc Santora) or how stupid does he think readers are? Today he writes another one of the New York Times' undercounts -- in so many ways. But let's just focus on US fatalities for the start. From Little Man Marcs' "A Suspect in the Killings of 2 Americans Is Captured in Iraq:"
Four Americans were killed in attacks on Wednesday, bringing the total number of Americans killed in December to 100, according to The Associated Press and making this one of the deadliest months for the military in the past three years.
There were five US troops announced dead by the US military yesterday, not four. You can check yesterday's snapshot or Nancy Trejos' "5 U.S. Troops Added To Death Toll in Iraq:
December's Number Steadily Edging Toward Highest Monthly Tally of '06" (Washington Post) today. Yes, four of them were killed on Wednesday, the fifth was killed on Thursday -- all deaths were announced by the US military on Thursday and should have been reported by the Times in today's paper. But Santora's proven the last two weeks that he can take five or six deaths and turn them into three in print repeatedly. This isn't an oversight with him, this is a continued pattern.
And as usual with the Times this month (as they attempt to sell the war yet again), they don't open with the reality, they bury it in the midst of an article. Santora's bad article wants to tell you that US forces may have (MAY HAVE) captured one of the people behind the deaths of US soldiers Kristian Menchaca, Thomas L. Tucker, and David J. Babineau in June. One of the parents of the three soldiers is quoted and we'll note her reaction:
Meg Tucker, Private Tucker’s mother, struggled to hold back tears when told the news about the capture. "I'm glad that they caught him if indeed they did, but it doesn’t bring my son back," she said. "We have just gone through the holidays. It has been really tough. We miss him very much. We still get cards and letters from all over the United States, and we appreciate that very much."
Now let's deal with the reality Little Man Marcs can't. The three were not accused of a crime or thought to have taken part in one. There is no indication of that. But they were abducted (Babineau was killed during the attempted abduction, the other two were abducted, tortured and killed) in response to what James P. Barker did to Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi and her family. (Four others are accused, Barker has confessed to his part in the war crimes.) Justin Watt came forward in June with the rumors and remarks he was hearing about what five US soldiers had done (gang raped and killed Abeer, killed her parents, killed her five-year-old sister and attempted to set Abeer's corpse on fire to destroy the evidence).
The three slaughtered in June were innocents who got targeted because Barker (who is no longer "alleged" -- having confessed in court) did to Abeer and her family and for what the four other suspects are alleged to have done.
As the Telegraph of London noted September 7th of this year (Akeel Hussein and Colin Freeman's "Two dead soldiers, eight more to go, vow avengers of Iraqi girl's rape"):
The American soldiers accused of raping an Iraqi girl and then murdering her and her family may have provoked an insurgent revenge plot in which two of their comrades were abducted and beheaded last month, it has been claimed.
Pte Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Pte Thomas Tucker, 25, were snatched from a checkpoint near the town of Yusufiyah on June 16 in what was thought at the time to be random terrorist retaliation for the killing of the al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an American air strike two days earlier.
Now, however, residents of the neighbouring town of Mahmoudiyah have told The Sunday Telegraph that their kidnap was carried out to avenge the attack on a local girl Abeer Qassim Hamza, 15, and her family. They claim that insurgents have vowed to kidnap and kill another eight American troops to exact a 10-to-one revenge for the rape and murder of the girl.
The New York Times was never interested in Abeer, they couldn't even name her when the Article 32 hearing took place into her rape and murder -- they (Robert F. Worth and Carolyn Marshall) could present the defense's 'novel' argument (one that was "not a defense known to the law" according to one military law expert) before even the defense could present it in court, but they couldn't tell you about Abeer. So Little Man Marcs continues the paper's long tradition of rendering Abeer invisible today. He wants to tell you about the June killings but not tell you why they happened. It's a funny sort of reporting.
We'll note this section from Trejos:
On Thursday, one soldier died and another was wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near their patrol north of Baghdad, the military said. A day before, the soldiers had been involved in the capture of four suspected insurgents believed to have planted a rocket on a main road, according to the military.
On Wednesday, a roadside bomb detonated near a patrol southwest of the capital. Two soldiers were killed and one was wounded, the military said. The unit had detained five suspected insurgents the week before after watching them place a bomb in a road.
Polly notes this from the BBC:
A British soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb in Basra, southern Iraq, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The soldier, from the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was killed while taking part in a routine patrol in Basra City.
The Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle which he was travelling in was targeted by a roadside bomb.
That brings the total number of British troops killed in the Iraq war to 127. The total number of US troops killed in the illegal war is 2992 currently.
And Pru notes, "The New York Times story has imploded on them." She's referring to the fluff Sabrina Tavernise was pushing hard and Pru steers us to the BBC as well for this:
US forces in Iraq have released two Iranian diplomats detained in a raid in Baghdad last week, the Iranian state-run news agency says.
The diplomats were handed over to the Iranian embassy in the city on Friday, the IRNA agency said.
The Iranians were among a number of people held during the raid on suspected insurgents.
US officials, who announced earlier this week they were holding the men, have made no comment on their release.
'Iraqi government pressure'
The Iranian diplomats were in Iraq at the invitation of Iraq's president as part of an agreement to improve security between the two countries, according to Iranian officials.
"The American forces admitted, despite their initial denial, they had detained Iranian diplomats and pressure from the Iraqi government for their release fortunately bore results," said Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi.
For chuckles, you can read Tavernise and James Glanz' December 25th story and for loud belly laughs you can read Tavernise's December 27th report that should be entitled, "YES, IT'S TRUE! I SWEAR ON MY REPUTATION IT IS!" written as the cover story was falling apart and Tavernise was bound and determined to hang on to her scoop -- reality be damned. Surveying 2002 and 2003, Tavernise should be well aware that a woman caught spinning gets bashed and a man generally gets a pass (the real lessons of Judith Miller) so she might want to be a bit more careful before rushing US military fed 'scoops' into print next time.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
the new york times
marc santora
sabrina tavernise
the washington post
nancy trejos
Four Americans were killed in attacks on Wednesday, bringing the total number of Americans killed in December to 100, according to The Associated Press and making this one of the deadliest months for the military in the past three years.
There were five US troops announced dead by the US military yesterday, not four. You can check yesterday's snapshot or Nancy Trejos' "5 U.S. Troops Added To Death Toll in Iraq:
December's Number Steadily Edging Toward Highest Monthly Tally of '06" (Washington Post) today. Yes, four of them were killed on Wednesday, the fifth was killed on Thursday -- all deaths were announced by the US military on Thursday and should have been reported by the Times in today's paper. But Santora's proven the last two weeks that he can take five or six deaths and turn them into three in print repeatedly. This isn't an oversight with him, this is a continued pattern.
And as usual with the Times this month (as they attempt to sell the war yet again), they don't open with the reality, they bury it in the midst of an article. Santora's bad article wants to tell you that US forces may have (MAY HAVE) captured one of the people behind the deaths of US soldiers Kristian Menchaca, Thomas L. Tucker, and David J. Babineau in June. One of the parents of the three soldiers is quoted and we'll note her reaction:
Meg Tucker, Private Tucker’s mother, struggled to hold back tears when told the news about the capture. "I'm glad that they caught him if indeed they did, but it doesn’t bring my son back," she said. "We have just gone through the holidays. It has been really tough. We miss him very much. We still get cards and letters from all over the United States, and we appreciate that very much."
Now let's deal with the reality Little Man Marcs can't. The three were not accused of a crime or thought to have taken part in one. There is no indication of that. But they were abducted (Babineau was killed during the attempted abduction, the other two were abducted, tortured and killed) in response to what James P. Barker did to Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi and her family. (Four others are accused, Barker has confessed to his part in the war crimes.) Justin Watt came forward in June with the rumors and remarks he was hearing about what five US soldiers had done (gang raped and killed Abeer, killed her parents, killed her five-year-old sister and attempted to set Abeer's corpse on fire to destroy the evidence).
The three slaughtered in June were innocents who got targeted because Barker (who is no longer "alleged" -- having confessed in court) did to Abeer and her family and for what the four other suspects are alleged to have done.
As the Telegraph of London noted September 7th of this year (Akeel Hussein and Colin Freeman's "Two dead soldiers, eight more to go, vow avengers of Iraqi girl's rape"):
The American soldiers accused of raping an Iraqi girl and then murdering her and her family may have provoked an insurgent revenge plot in which two of their comrades were abducted and beheaded last month, it has been claimed.
Pte Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Pte Thomas Tucker, 25, were snatched from a checkpoint near the town of Yusufiyah on June 16 in what was thought at the time to be random terrorist retaliation for the killing of the al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an American air strike two days earlier.
Now, however, residents of the neighbouring town of Mahmoudiyah have told The Sunday Telegraph that their kidnap was carried out to avenge the attack on a local girl Abeer Qassim Hamza, 15, and her family. They claim that insurgents have vowed to kidnap and kill another eight American troops to exact a 10-to-one revenge for the rape and murder of the girl.
The New York Times was never interested in Abeer, they couldn't even name her when the Article 32 hearing took place into her rape and murder -- they (Robert F. Worth and Carolyn Marshall) could present the defense's 'novel' argument (one that was "not a defense known to the law" according to one military law expert) before even the defense could present it in court, but they couldn't tell you about Abeer. So Little Man Marcs continues the paper's long tradition of rendering Abeer invisible today. He wants to tell you about the June killings but not tell you why they happened. It's a funny sort of reporting.
We'll note this section from Trejos:
On Thursday, one soldier died and another was wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near their patrol north of Baghdad, the military said. A day before, the soldiers had been involved in the capture of four suspected insurgents believed to have planted a rocket on a main road, according to the military.
On Wednesday, a roadside bomb detonated near a patrol southwest of the capital. Two soldiers were killed and one was wounded, the military said. The unit had detained five suspected insurgents the week before after watching them place a bomb in a road.
Polly notes this from the BBC:
A British soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb in Basra, southern Iraq, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The soldier, from the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was killed while taking part in a routine patrol in Basra City.
The Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle which he was travelling in was targeted by a roadside bomb.
That brings the total number of British troops killed in the Iraq war to 127. The total number of US troops killed in the illegal war is 2992 currently.
And Pru notes, "The New York Times story has imploded on them." She's referring to the fluff Sabrina Tavernise was pushing hard and Pru steers us to the BBC as well for this:
US forces in Iraq have released two Iranian diplomats detained in a raid in Baghdad last week, the Iranian state-run news agency says.
The diplomats were handed over to the Iranian embassy in the city on Friday, the IRNA agency said.
The Iranians were among a number of people held during the raid on suspected insurgents.
US officials, who announced earlier this week they were holding the men, have made no comment on their release.
'Iraqi government pressure'
The Iranian diplomats were in Iraq at the invitation of Iraq's president as part of an agreement to improve security between the two countries, according to Iranian officials.
"The American forces admitted, despite their initial denial, they had detained Iranian diplomats and pressure from the Iraqi government for their release fortunately bore results," said Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi.
For chuckles, you can read Tavernise and James Glanz' December 25th story and for loud belly laughs you can read Tavernise's December 27th report that should be entitled, "YES, IT'S TRUE! I SWEAR ON MY REPUTATION IT IS!" written as the cover story was falling apart and Tavernise was bound and determined to hang on to her scoop -- reality be damned. Surveying 2002 and 2003, Tavernise should be well aware that a woman caught spinning gets bashed and a man generally gets a pass (the real lessons of Judith Miller) so she might want to be a bit more careful before rushing US military fed 'scoops' into print next time.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
the new york times
marc santora
sabrina tavernise
the washington post
nancy trejos
NYT: "Crisis in Housing Adds to Miseries of Iraq Mayhem" (Michael Luo)
Along with its many other desperate problems, Iraq is in the midst of a housing crisis that is worsening by the day.
It began right after the toppling of Saddam Hussein, when many landlords took advantage of the removal of his economic controls and raised rents substantially, forcing out thousands of families who took shelter in abandoned government buildings and military bases. As the chaos in Iraq grew and the ranks of the jobless swelled, even more Iraqis migrated to squalid squatter encampments. Still others constructed crude shantytowns on empty plots where conditions were even worse.
Now, after more than 10 months of brutal sectarian reprisals, many more Iraqis have fled their neighborhoods, only to wind up often in places that are just as wretched in other ways. While 1.8 million Iraqis are living outside the country, 1.6 million more have been displaced within Iraq since the war began. Since February, about 50,000 per month have moved within the country.
Shelter is their most pressing need, aid organizations say. Some have been able to occupy homes left by members of the opposing sect or group; others have not been so fortunate. The longer the violence persists, the more Iraqis are running out of money and options.
Shatha Talib, 30, her husband and five children, are among about a thousand struggling Iraqi families that have taken up residence in the bombed-out remains of the former Iraqi Air Defense headquarters and air force club in the center of Baghdad. "Nobody should live in such a place," she said. "But we don’t have any other option."
With many families in such encampments or worse, and many others doubled or tripled up in friends' or relatives' homes, the deputy housing minister, Istabraq al-Shouk, puts the shortage at two million dwellings across Iraq.
The above is from Michael Luo's "Crisis in Housing Adds to Miseries of Iraq Mayhem" in this morning's New York Times. It's the article read -- in a week when it's been hard to say that about anything the paper of little record has offered -- but it's by Luo so that demands a qualifier: Read it print or use the link, but do not attempt to hunt it down at the website later today.
For those confused, in one of the more shameful events of 2006 at the paper, when Luo wrote a very straightforward, very strong news article, the reward for that from New York (after complaints came in -- and no, not readers complaints, the Times doesn't give a damn about the average reader) was to allow a New York based writer to rewrite the piece and water it down -- a piece about Iraq was rewritten by a writer who wasn't in Iraq, didn't know what he was writing about, and Luo's original piece 'disappeared' from the website's "Middle East" listing. (See the snapshot for October 17th.)
So read it in print or use the link, but don't be surprised, if mid-day, you have trouble finding it but can find some watered down version of it by John O'Neil at the website.
The removal of the economic controls didn't just happen, that was part of the US government's attempts to 'shock the system' that Naomi Klein covered in "Baghdad Year Zero" (Harper's magazine). The attacks on the subsidy programs were also a part of that as the US government tried to destabilize the economic system.
The encampments are noted and they include people who once resided in, among other places, Falluja which was slaughtered in November of 2004 and has never been made hospitable again -- though there are six check points, with biometric devices, all around the city. Depleted uranium and white phosphorus were among the weapons used on the city. In the immediate aftermath, though Dexy Filkins couldn't tell readers this, corpses were left in the streets and dogs fed on them. The majority of the people who once lived in the city, those lucky enough to depart before the slaughter (remember that young boys attempting to leave as the slaughter was about to begin were forced back into the city by US forces) have been in encampments ever since. Giuliana Sgrena (Italian journalist) was visiting one such encampment when she was kidnapped. From her book Friendly Fire [pp. 34-35]:
Picture a city of more than 250,000 residents at the gates of Baghdad, on the road to Jordan. This position allowed the Fallujans to develop thriving construction and commercial transportation industries. Thanks to these floursing activities, the city was expanding, with neighborhoods full of new homes and wide, dusty boulevards. This city was almost razed to the ground in the attack of November 2004. According to official Iraqi government sources, 36,955 houses were hit, 3,600 demolished, 2,000 burned, 21,000 occupied. As for the stores and business: 1,800 were completely destroyed, 8,400 were damaged, 250 factories were burned. In addition to these damages, according to Doctor Hafid al Dulaimi, head of the Commission for Compensation of Falluja Citizens, 60 daycare centers and schools were hit and 65 mosques and religious sites were damaged. As if this were not enough, the bombing created environmental problems: among other effects, the city's drinking water was contaminated by sewage. Damages calculated by another member of the commission amount to $600 million but then premier Iyad Allawi recognized only 20 percent, and as of June of last year [2005], had only allocated funds to cover 10 percent. According to Mohammed Hadeed, a Falluja doctor, at least 31,000 city residents are still waiting to be compensated.
Slaughter in November 2004, 2 years and one month later and still residents live in encampments (think tents -- think of it as tent city). 'Democracy' at the end of a gun barrel or 'liberation' via a bomb. Dexy's rah-rah reporting shouldn't have won an award not just because it was laughable and had no relation to reality, but also because it missed capturing this moment for what it was, the end of all hopes for winning hearts and minds. The innocents shot at check points, the nightime house raids, all the daily humiliations would continue to feed into the anger of the slaughter of Falluja.
A similar plan was intended for Ramadi in Al-Anbar province this summer but the so-called crackdown in the capital necessitated pulling US forces in June and after. Which is why the escalation promises more troops not only in Baghdad but also in Ramadi -- what can't be 'won' will be destroyed and that's the reality of the illegal war.
On that point, we'll note David S. Cloud and Jeff Zeleny's "Bush Considers Up to 20,000 More Troops for Iraq:"
The Bush administration is considering an increase in troop levels in Iraq of 17,000 to 20,000, which would be accomplished in part by delaying the departure of two Marine regiments now deployed in Anbar Province, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
The option was among those discussed in Crawford, Tex., on Thursday as President Bush met there with his national security team, and it has emerged as a likely course as he considers a strategy shift in Iraq, the officials said.
Most of the additional troops would probably be employed in and around Baghdad, the officials said.
With the continuing high levels of violence there, senior officials increasingly say additional American forces will be needed as soon as possible to clear neighborhoods and to conduct other combat operations to regain control of the capital, rather than primarily to train Iraqi forces.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
the new york times
michael luo
david s. cloud
jeff zeleny
giuliana sgrena
naomi klein
It began right after the toppling of Saddam Hussein, when many landlords took advantage of the removal of his economic controls and raised rents substantially, forcing out thousands of families who took shelter in abandoned government buildings and military bases. As the chaos in Iraq grew and the ranks of the jobless swelled, even more Iraqis migrated to squalid squatter encampments. Still others constructed crude shantytowns on empty plots where conditions were even worse.
Now, after more than 10 months of brutal sectarian reprisals, many more Iraqis have fled their neighborhoods, only to wind up often in places that are just as wretched in other ways. While 1.8 million Iraqis are living outside the country, 1.6 million more have been displaced within Iraq since the war began. Since February, about 50,000 per month have moved within the country.
Shelter is their most pressing need, aid organizations say. Some have been able to occupy homes left by members of the opposing sect or group; others have not been so fortunate. The longer the violence persists, the more Iraqis are running out of money and options.
Shatha Talib, 30, her husband and five children, are among about a thousand struggling Iraqi families that have taken up residence in the bombed-out remains of the former Iraqi Air Defense headquarters and air force club in the center of Baghdad. "Nobody should live in such a place," she said. "But we don’t have any other option."
With many families in such encampments or worse, and many others doubled or tripled up in friends' or relatives' homes, the deputy housing minister, Istabraq al-Shouk, puts the shortage at two million dwellings across Iraq.
The above is from Michael Luo's "Crisis in Housing Adds to Miseries of Iraq Mayhem" in this morning's New York Times. It's the article read -- in a week when it's been hard to say that about anything the paper of little record has offered -- but it's by Luo so that demands a qualifier: Read it print or use the link, but do not attempt to hunt it down at the website later today.
For those confused, in one of the more shameful events of 2006 at the paper, when Luo wrote a very straightforward, very strong news article, the reward for that from New York (after complaints came in -- and no, not readers complaints, the Times doesn't give a damn about the average reader) was to allow a New York based writer to rewrite the piece and water it down -- a piece about Iraq was rewritten by a writer who wasn't in Iraq, didn't know what he was writing about, and Luo's original piece 'disappeared' from the website's "Middle East" listing. (See the snapshot for October 17th.)
So read it in print or use the link, but don't be surprised, if mid-day, you have trouble finding it but can find some watered down version of it by John O'Neil at the website.
The removal of the economic controls didn't just happen, that was part of the US government's attempts to 'shock the system' that Naomi Klein covered in "Baghdad Year Zero" (Harper's magazine). The attacks on the subsidy programs were also a part of that as the US government tried to destabilize the economic system.
The encampments are noted and they include people who once resided in, among other places, Falluja which was slaughtered in November of 2004 and has never been made hospitable again -- though there are six check points, with biometric devices, all around the city. Depleted uranium and white phosphorus were among the weapons used on the city. In the immediate aftermath, though Dexy Filkins couldn't tell readers this, corpses were left in the streets and dogs fed on them. The majority of the people who once lived in the city, those lucky enough to depart before the slaughter (remember that young boys attempting to leave as the slaughter was about to begin were forced back into the city by US forces) have been in encampments ever since. Giuliana Sgrena (Italian journalist) was visiting one such encampment when she was kidnapped. From her book Friendly Fire [pp. 34-35]:
Picture a city of more than 250,000 residents at the gates of Baghdad, on the road to Jordan. This position allowed the Fallujans to develop thriving construction and commercial transportation industries. Thanks to these floursing activities, the city was expanding, with neighborhoods full of new homes and wide, dusty boulevards. This city was almost razed to the ground in the attack of November 2004. According to official Iraqi government sources, 36,955 houses were hit, 3,600 demolished, 2,000 burned, 21,000 occupied. As for the stores and business: 1,800 were completely destroyed, 8,400 were damaged, 250 factories were burned. In addition to these damages, according to Doctor Hafid al Dulaimi, head of the Commission for Compensation of Falluja Citizens, 60 daycare centers and schools were hit and 65 mosques and religious sites were damaged. As if this were not enough, the bombing created environmental problems: among other effects, the city's drinking water was contaminated by sewage. Damages calculated by another member of the commission amount to $600 million but then premier Iyad Allawi recognized only 20 percent, and as of June of last year [2005], had only allocated funds to cover 10 percent. According to Mohammed Hadeed, a Falluja doctor, at least 31,000 city residents are still waiting to be compensated.
Slaughter in November 2004, 2 years and one month later and still residents live in encampments (think tents -- think of it as tent city). 'Democracy' at the end of a gun barrel or 'liberation' via a bomb. Dexy's rah-rah reporting shouldn't have won an award not just because it was laughable and had no relation to reality, but also because it missed capturing this moment for what it was, the end of all hopes for winning hearts and minds. The innocents shot at check points, the nightime house raids, all the daily humiliations would continue to feed into the anger of the slaughter of Falluja.
A similar plan was intended for Ramadi in Al-Anbar province this summer but the so-called crackdown in the capital necessitated pulling US forces in June and after. Which is why the escalation promises more troops not only in Baghdad but also in Ramadi -- what can't be 'won' will be destroyed and that's the reality of the illegal war.
On that point, we'll note David S. Cloud and Jeff Zeleny's "Bush Considers Up to 20,000 More Troops for Iraq:"
The Bush administration is considering an increase in troop levels in Iraq of 17,000 to 20,000, which would be accomplished in part by delaying the departure of two Marine regiments now deployed in Anbar Province, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
The option was among those discussed in Crawford, Tex., on Thursday as President Bush met there with his national security team, and it has emerged as a likely course as he considers a strategy shift in Iraq, the officials said.
Most of the additional troops would probably be employed in and around Baghdad, the officials said.
With the continuing high levels of violence there, senior officials increasingly say additional American forces will be needed as soon as possible to clear neighborhoods and to conduct other combat operations to regain control of the capital, rather than primarily to train Iraqi forces.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
the new york times
michael luo
david s. cloud
jeff zeleny
giuliana sgrena
naomi klein
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