|
Support AlterNet
Do you value the information you're getting from AlterNet? Please show your support with a tax-deductible donation.
Feedback
Tell us how we're doing.
War on Iraq
Iraqi Media: U.S. Building Airbase on Iran Border
Posted by Editors, Gorilla's Guides on July 19, 2008 at 1:02 PM.
The United States plans to build a military airport near the northern Iraqi town of Halabja, which borders Iran, Iraqi media reports.
Khadr Karim Mohammad, the mayor of Halajaba, speaking to Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Wednesday, explained how the construction would proceed.
He said the municipality has allocated an estimated 1500 acres of land east of the town for this purpose and provided the necessary maps for the major project.
Meanwhile, an anonymous Iraqi official said the project is likely to be a “cover” for an air base, which could serve the Americans in their military operations in the region.
When asked about the motives of the US in establishing such a large airport so close to the Iranian border, the mayor said that he was not privy to any further details of the project.
However, he did add, "All owners of the lands will be compensated according to the law."
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Bush Concedes, Embraces a 'General Time Horizon' For Iraq Troop Withdrawal
Posted by Satyam, Think Progress on July 18, 2008 at 5:02 PM.
When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki first requested a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, the Bush administration swiftly shot down his proposal. "Timelines tend to be artificial in nature," a Pentagon spokesperson remarked. "[W]e're looking at conditions, not calendars here," the State Department remarked.
But today, the White House has seemingly embraced a "general time horizon" for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq. The AP reports:
Iraqi officials, in a sign of growing confidence as violence decreases, have been pressuring the United States to agree to a specific timeline to withdraw U.S. forces. President Bush has adamantly opposed a timeline, and the White House said Friday that the timeframe being discussed would not be "an arbitrary date for withdrawal." [...]
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Afghan Ambassador Calls for More U.S. Troops
Posted by Adele M. Stan, Media Consortium on July 18, 2008 at 1:26 PM.
From the stage of a synagogue, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States last night called on the U.S. to supply more forces and a greater commitment to his nation, which has recently seen an abrupt upturn in insurgent attacks by members of the Taliban movement. At a an event taking place at the 6th & I Synagogue, a historic Washington, D.C., venue, Ambassador Said T. Jawad and his wife, Shamim, answered questions from Steve Coll, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning book, Ghost Wars, which chronicles the CIA's involvement in the Afghan civil war. Coll currently leads the New America Foundation.
"The NATO troops are not fighting as hard as they should," said Jawad, who also bemoaned the current capacity of U.S. and international forces.
Though Jawad's assessment of the situation in Afghanistan almost certainly stems from his first-hand experience of events in his country, his call for a greater U.S. commitment comes just days before Sen. Barack Obama, in the heat of the presidential campaign, is expected to arrive in Afghanistan on a Senate fact-finding mission. Obama contends that the war in Iraq diverted U.S. attention from where he believes it is most needed: Afghanistan.
Yesterday CNN reported, "Since May, the deaths of U.S. and allied troops have far outpaced the toll in Iraq. On Thursday, the toll in Afghanistan was 21, compared with six in Iraq."
Asked by Coll if a larger footprint by U.S. troops would serve to breed resentment among the Afghan people, Jawad emphatically said no. "The real intruders in Afghanistan are the Taliban," he said. "We are very pragmatic ... the U.S. presence in Afghanistan is the most important hope. The concern in Afghanistan is not how long [is the U.S.] going to be here; it's that [the U.S.] will leave before institutions are in place."
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
McCain in 2003: 'We Can Muddle Through in Afghanistan'
Posted by Jon Soltz, Think Progress on July 18, 2008 at 6:07 AM.
Today, video was unearthed in which Senator John McCain in 2003 says we can just “muddle through in Afghanistan.” Watch it:
The video offers a glimpse into the true thinking of those, like McCain, who backed launching the war in Iraq and committing our forces there indefinitely. Particularly, they believed that Afghanistan wasn’t a concern and we didn’t need to take it seriously. In fact, just a year earlier, on CBS’ Face the Nation, McCain said capturing Osama bin Laden wasn’t “that important.”
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
WTF? Newsweek Says We Should Pardon Officials Who Sanctioned Torture
Posted by Brad , Sadly No! on July 16, 2008 at 1:04 PM.
So I tried to escape the toxic levels of wingnuttery this evening by flipping through my roommate's copy of Newsweek. Amazingly, I flipped to page 36 and found this:
To get a full accounting of how U.S. interrogation methods were used, the president should give those accused of 'war crimes' a pass.
By Stuart Taylor Jr. | NEWSWEEK
Dark deeds have been conducted in the name of the United States government in recent years: the gruesome, late-night circus at Abu Ghraib, the beating to death of captives in Afghanistan, and the officially sanctioned waterboarding and brutalization of high-value Qaeda prisoners. Now demands are growing for senior administration officials to be held accountable and punished. Congressional liberals, human-rights groups and other activists are urging a criminal investigation into high-level "war crimes," including the Bush administration's approval of interrogation methods considered by many to be torture.
It's a bad idea. In fact, President George W. Bush ought to pardon any official from cabinet secretary on down who might plausibly face prosecution for interrogation methods approved by administration lawyers.
Question: why did we ever develop the Geneva Conventions in the first place? Why does the Constitution ban cruel and unusual punishment? Hell, for that matter, why did we ever sign the goddamn Magna Carta*? Because what Stuart Taylor, Jr. is telling us is that government officials should simply be able to break the fucking law. And not just the laws against lying about blowjobs under oath -- we're talking about laws against goddamn torture. We're talking about laws that for years have prohibited the government from performing cruel and heinous acts on prisoners. This is important shit. But to Stuart Taylor? Pfffffft, yeah it's bad, but so what? We'll only learn the truth about this stuff if we just pardon everyone beforehand. Because fuck it, laws are only meant to be obeyed by the little people.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
MoveOn from Iraq, McCain
Posted by MoveOn.org on July 16, 2008 at 10:55 AM.
With Iraq's own Prime Minister demanding a timeline for withdrawal, MoveOn.org has released this ad reminding us of McCain's painful foreign policy positions.
If you like this ad and think more people should see it, you can donate money to get it on television here.
Scenes From an Iraqi Childhood (or, Why They Hate Us and Why We Must Leave)
Posted by Mohammed Ibn Laith, Gorilla's Guides on July 16, 2008 at 6:00 AM.
Editor's note: George Bush has talked of the importance of bypassing the media's "filter." One of the best ways to do that is to read the -- an Iraqi group blog with posts in English and Arabic -- every day. But fair warning: if you believe our troops are doing more good than harm to the Iraqi people, the blog can be jarring. The posts are, of course, only the opinions of the Iraqi bloggers who contribute, but public opinion data shows that about eight out of ten Iraqis want a timetable for a complete U.S. withdrawal, and they want it soon. Gorilla's Guides help us understand why.
A boy runs from his home as American soldiers drag his father outside - Sadr City July 12th 2008
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
NPR Has a Good Laugh Over Torture
Posted by Steve M., No More Mister Nice Blog on July 16, 2008 at 6:00 AM.
We can sneer at Rush Limbaugh and his Club G'itmo, but this morning on The Takeaway, public radio's insipid new morning pseudo-news show, a significant amount of airtime was devoted to a segment called "The Songs That Torture Us" -- a response to the well-known list of songs blasted at detainees in U.S. military prisons, which Mother Jones recently published as a sidebar to some serious articles on torture. This means that for many minutes this morning, all us good liberals in the public radio audience were regaled by a discussion of torture that reduced the issue to "Which would be a more effective song to torture you -- 'Billy, Don't Be a Hero" or 'You Light Up My Life'?"
(Listen here.)
Judging from the e-mails to the show, it appears that more listeners happily played along than objected to the segment.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Unfiltered, Unedited: Obama's Big Foreign Policy Speech
Posted by AlterNet Staff, AlterNet on July 15, 2008 at 12:28 PM.
Here are Senator Obama's remarks as prepared for delivery. What do you think? Discuss it in the comments.
Sixty-one years ago, George Marshall announced the plan that would come to bear his name. Much of Europe lay in ruins. The United States faced a powerful and ideological enemy intent on world domination. This menace was magnified by the recently discovered capability to destroy life on an unimaginable scale. The Soviet Union didn’t yet have an atomic bomb, but before long it would.
The challenge facing the greatest generation of Americans – the generation that had vanquished fascism on the battlefield – was how to contain this threat while extending freedom’s frontiers. Leaders like Truman and Acheson, Kennan and Marshall, knew that there was no single decisive blow that could be struck for freedom. We needed a new overarching strategy to meet the challenges of a new and dangerous world.
Such a strategy would join overwhelming military strength with sound judgment. It would shape events not just through military force, but through the force of our ideas; through economic power, intelligence and diplomacy. It would support strong allies that freely shared our ideals of liberty and democracy; open markets and the rule of law. It would foster new international institutions like the United Nations, NATO, and the World Bank, and focus on every corner of the globe. It was a strategy that saw clearly the world’s dangers, while seizing its promise.
As a general, Marshall had spent years helping FDR wage war. But the Marshall Plan – which was just one part of this strategy – helped rebuild not just allies, but also the nation that Marshall had plotted to defeat. In the speech announcing his plan, he concluded not with tough talk or definitive declarations – but rather with questions and a call for perspective. “The whole world of the future,” Marshall said, “hangs on a proper judgment.” To make that judgment, he asked the American people to examine distant events that directly affected their security and prosperity. He closed by asking: “What is needed? What can best be done? What must be done?”
What is needed? What can best be done? What must be done?
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Canada to Deport U.S. War Resister Today
Posted by Liliana Segura, AlterNet on July 15, 2008 at 11:56 AM.
This is a release from Project Safe Haven.
Today, the minority Conservative government of Canada will achieve one of its long sought goals: the deportation of a U.S. war resister who would not fight in Iraq. Despite polls showing that nearly two-thirds of Canadians want to grant sanctuary to Iraq War refusers, and the passage of a Parliamentary motion that would allow them to immigrate to Canada, the Canadian Border Service Agency in British Columbia will bring war resister Robin Long to the border today and turn him over to U.S. authorities.
Read the story in the Globe & Mail.
"This is a gift from Stephen Harper to George Bush," says Gerry Condon of Project Safe Haven, referring to the conservative heads of state of Canada and the U.S. "And it is a gift to the headline writers, who will trumpet that Canada is no longer a safe haven for AWOL GIs.
"But it is an illusion," says Condon, "because this is not the first of many deportations. It may be the first and the last. A minority government that ignores the will of its people and its Parliament will not be allowed to rule much longer." Federal elections are expected to take place in Canada this fall.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Share and save this post:
Got a tip for a post?:
Email us | Anonymous form
Brits Accused of Sickening Sex Assault on 14 Year-Old Iraqi Boy
Posted by AlterNet Staff, AlterNet on July 15, 2008 at 8:11 AM.
Some excerpts from a report by The Independent ...
British soldiers forced a boy of 14 to carry out an act of oral sex on a fellow male prisoner in Iraq, according to shocking new allegations made about the behavior of British troops.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed yesterday that the Royal Military Police (RMP) have launched an investigation. If the allegations are proved, it would mark a sordid low in the behavior of British troops in Iraq, and damage further the reputation of Britain in the Middle East.
The victim, now 19, whom The Independent on Sunday has agreed to identify only as Hassan, says he was rounded up with a friend while trying to steal milk cartons from a food distribution center. He was whipped, beaten and forced to strip naked.
Court action is ongoing over a series of allegations surrounding the British base Camp Breadbasket and incidents that took place there in May 2003. There have been allegations of simulated sexual abuse of Iraqis by British troops, but this, if true, would be the first example of actual sexual abuse.
Soldiers rounding up looters as part of an operation codenamed Ali Baba took photographs of prisoners suspended in nets from forklift trucks and others forced to strip naked and adopt simulated sex positions.
The MoD last Thursday reiterated its official line that abuse was isolated to just a few rogue soldiers, after agreeing to pay nearly £3m compensation to the father of Baha Mousa, 26, a hotel receptionist beaten to death by British soldiers while in custody in a separate incident in September 2003, and nine other Iraqis beaten at the same time.
Mazin Younis, of the Iraqi League, who has traveled in Basra collecting witness statements of allegations of abuse, says he now has "more than 80" cases involving allegations against British troops.
"Every single time I uncover a personal story of torture and humiliation in Iraq, I think to myself that I have seen the worst there is," Mr Younis added. "Then I hear the next story.
Hassan's statement after the flip ....
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Investigation Confirms Army Taking More and More Recruits with Criminal Histories
Posted by Greg Mitchell, Huffington Post on July 15, 2008 at 3:53 AM.
It has been rumored for some time that the U.S. Army has had to lower its standards to get enough recruits for its expanded war-fighting needs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now firm evidence has emerged, and it is not pretty.
For instance: The percentage of Army recruits receiving "moral conduct" waivers jumped from 4.6 percent in 2003 to 11.2 percent in 2007. Many of them in this group have criminal backgrounds, yet are still allowed in the military, to carry a gun and engage in what is essentially "police work" in Iraq.
Not surprisingly, trouble often follows them in the service. Their rate of misconduct, at 6%, is almost twice the average.
In 2007, almost 10,000 recruits were granted waivers for past misdemeanors. Over 2100 for "serious criminal misconduct" -- over four times the 2003 rate -- and almost 1500 for drug or alcohol abuse.
These revelations come in part one of a four-part series starting today in the Sacramento Bee by Russell Carollo, which is also being carried by other McClatchy papers.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
KBR Charged with Homicide by Mother of Electrocuted Soldier
Posted by Greg Mitchell, Al Jazeera on July 14, 2008 at 2:21 PM.
I've written often here about my friend Cheryl Harris, whose son Ryan Maseth was electrocuted and died in Iraq. You remember: the military lied and told her he had carried an electrical appliance into the shower. I helped her trace a total of at least a dozen other electrocutions and she had been instrumental in getting Congress, and the Pentagon, to probe the issue -- and she finally testified before Democrats (and some Republicans) in Congress yesterday.
She is also suing KBR, the contractors in charge, and two former KBR people also blew the whistle yesterday. Another mother, Larraine McGee, who lost a son in Iraq accused KBR of "homicide" yesterday.
"It is about time we got some answers ... at long last," said Sen. Robert Casey Jr., D-Pa. He released a letter to Gen. David Petraeus asking why his command had only recently ordered "theaterwide" technical inspections of military facilities despite being alerted to widespread wiring problems in Iraq installations more than three and a half years ago in a report filed by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers safety specialist.
Cheryl Harris accused KBR yesterday of "extreme recklessness and a total disregard for public safety." I've written so much about Cheryl and her heroic quest, let me concentrate here on the two former KBR electricians who accuse the company of shoddy and negligent management practices in its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
EMAIL
PRINT
COMMENT NOW
PERMALINK
