Recently in War in Iraq 2003 Category

[ via our London correspondent, who has been reading Graydon Carter's new book, "What We've Lost" ]

Who said:

"People do not like war, but it is always possible to bring them to the bidding of their leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are under
attack, then denounce the pacifists as lacking in patriotism and exposing the country to danger."

So who said this .... ?

Was it Karl Rove or Alastair Campbell in an unguarded moment? Or even their bosses?

Nope ...

It was one Herman Goering, talking to a psychiatrist at the time of the 1946 Nuremberg Trials.

[ "What We've Lost", Graydon Carter, p. 28. ]

[ From our Arab correspondent in London ]

[ BBC has more info on the situation ]

Emergency Demonstration Against the Looming Attacks on Iraq's Cities.
SUNDAY 7TH NOVEMBER, LONDON

Meet 2pm, Parliament Square
Bring white flowers & come and make your protest in your own way!

'In the name of recapturing Iraqi cities so that polling can take place, US forces have already started - and are planning to widen - a campaign of air strikes which will probably cause more civilian casualties than last year's invasion' (Guardian, 9 Oct).

Bush's re-election makes immediate and sustained opposition to the escalation more urgent than ever.

A massive attack on Fallujah, where US forces massacred hundreds of Iraqis in April, is now imminent and will, in the words of one US official, be "very bloody and nasty" (Washington Post on-line edition, 16 Oct).

IT'S TIME
"Iraqis are resisting desperately for their lives and for their country and so far we in the anti-war movement have responded to their courage with deafening silence. Millions of us marched against the war on February 15th, but where were those voices when US tanks rolled into Najaf? I know we tell ourselves we have this power, that when the right moment comes we will really be able to mobilise. But that moment of truth is always deferred. If we have these weapons let us use them now. It's time." (Naomi Klein, 20 Aug)

BLAIR WAVERED
When the US attacked Fallujah in April, more than 600 Iraqis were killed in the first week and 'the vast majority of the dead were women, children and the elderly,' according to local medical sources (Guardian, 12 Apr). Publicly Tony Blair stood lock-step with the US Government 'den[ying] ... heavy-handedness by US forces' (Guardian, 20 Apr) and asserting that it was 'perfectly right and proper that [the US] take action' (BBC, 28 Apr). Privately, however, he 'appealed to Washington to halt the offensive.' Why? 'The Prime Minister had been under pressure for more than a year from an antiwar majority in his ruling Labour Party,' and civilian casualties were 'causing opposition to flare' (LA Times, 24 Oct).

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Popular protest here in the UK could help derail the planned attacks on Fallujah and other Iraqi towns. No US assault is inevitable. If an attack does take place, protests before, during and after the assaults can limit the damage and help to deter further attacks.

Please join us on the 7th November!

Called by Stop the Attacks - an ad hoc collection of anti-war activists old and new.
tel. 07818 651 124. e-mail: stoptheattacks@fastmail.fm

*********************************************
[B] CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR ACTION IF THE MASSIVE ATTACK ON FALLUJAH STARTS

* LONDON:
- Stop The War vigil on the night of the major onslaught (or the night after), 5pm-7pm, opposite Downing Street. Organised by the Stop the War Coalition: www.stopwar.org.uk.
- Nonviolent Direct Action. Meet 7pm at the statue of Edith Cavell (opposite the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery, north-east of Trafalgar Square). Called by an ad hoc collection of nonviolent activists.

* OUTSIDE LONDON. On day of onslaught (next day depending on timing):

- CARDIFF: 5.30pm- at Nye Bevan Statue, Queen Street.
- CREWKERNE, S SOMERSET: 12pm, front of Victoria Hall. Black clothes preferably, banners. Coordination Pat Read, 01460 74043.
- EDINBURGH: 5pm, Parliament Square (off the Royal Mile).
- EXETER: 5.30pm, Exe Bridges.
- LEEDS: 5-6pm, Dortmond Square, Headrow, Leeds town centre.
- MANCHESTER: 5pm-, Picadilly Gardens, City centre, Manchester.
- SOUTHAMPTON: 6pm, Outside the Civic Centre, opposite the Marlands.
- SHEFFIELD: 4.30pm, Outside Sheffield Town Hall.
- SWINDON: 6pm, Cenotaph, Regent Circus.
- YEOVIL: 11am following Saturday, Millenium Clock Tower, High St.

If you are organising an action then please make make sure to send info. to the following e-mails when you publicise your event: office@stopwar.org.uk, iraqfocus@riseup.net and voices@voicesuk.org.

Whilst almost none of us can even begin to imagine the grief and torment that the Bigley family has been enduring in recent days and weeks, the recent outpouring of public "grief" in the UK, along with two minutes silence in Liverpool for the old chap, brings back to me very strong memories of the pathetic national outpouring of grief after Princess Diana died.

Ask your typical man on the street how many other of our fine countrymen died serving their country, or risking their lives to help make those of others better, over in Iraq in the last 18 months?

10? 20? 30?

How many of them do you remember? Can you name any of them? Do you think they deserve to be forgotten? If you're feeling in the mood for a bit of mourning, don't forget the following 82 people who also lost their lives in Iraq:

[ listed in Date Order, oldest first ]

Military
Colour Sergeant John Cecil
Lance Bombardier Karl Llywelyn Evans
Captain Philip Stuart Guy
Royal Navy Marin Sholto Hedenskog
Sergeant Les Hehir
Operational Mechanic Ian Seymour
Warrant Officer Mark Stratford
Major Jason Ward
Lieutenant Philip D. Green
Lieutenant Anthony King
Lieutenant Marc A. Lawrence
Lieutenant Philip West
Lieutenant James Williams
Lieutenant Andrew S. Wilson
Flight Lieutenant Kevin Barry Main
Flight Lieutenant David Rhys Williams
Sapper Luke Allsopp
Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth
Sergeant Steven Mark Roberts
Lance Corporal Barry Stephen
Corporal Stephen John Allbutt
Trooper David Jeffrey Clark
Lance Corporal Matty Hull
Major Steve Alexis Ballard
Lance Corporal Shain Andrew Brierley
Royal navy Marine Christopher R. Maddison
Staff Sergeant Chris Muir
Lance Corporal Karl Shearer
Lance Corporal Ian Keith Malone
Piper Christopher Muzvuru
Fusilier Kelan John Turrington
Lieutenant Alexander Tweedie
Lance Corporal James McCue
Private Andrew Kelley
Gunner Duncan Pritchard
Corporal David Shepherd
Leonard Harvey (Civilain - Defence Fire Service)
Sergeant Simon A. Jamilton-Jewell
Corporal Russell Aston
Corporal Paul Graham Long
Corporal Simon Miller
Lance Corporal Benjamin John M. Hyde
Lance Corporal Thomas Richard Keys
Captain James Linton
Private Jason Smith
Captain David Martyn Jones
Major Matthew Titchener
Warrant Officer Colin Wall
Corporal Dewi Pritchard
Fusilier Russell Beeston
Sergeant John Nightingale
Corporal Ian Plank
Private Ryan Lloyd Thomas
Major James Stenner
Sergeant Norman Patterson
Lance Corporal Andrew Jason Craw
Rifleman Vincent Calvin Windsor
Sapper Robert Thompson
Corporal Richard Thomas David Ivell
Fusilier Gordon Campbell Gentle
Flight Lieutenant Kristian Michel Alexander Gover
Private Christopher Gordon Rayment
Private Lee martin O'Callaghan
Private Marc Ferns
Lance Corporal Paul David Trevor Thomas
Fusilier Stephen Jones
Corporal Marc "Spud" Taylor
Gunner David Lawrence

Civilian
Terry Lloyd
Peter Rudorf
Ian Rimell
Scott Mounce
Christopher McDonald
Michael John Bloss
Brian Tilley
Andrew Harries
Mark Carman
Bob Morgan
Craig Dickens
Keith Butler
John Poole
Julian Davis

As you may now be aware, Donald Rumsfeld was giving a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, in New York, last Monday, where he stated that there was no link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein thus:

"To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two."

He has since published a statement saying that he was misunderstood, so here for all is his clarification:

"Then there are things that you knew that you know that you now know that you knew that you don't know"

Quite.

[thanks to the telegraph political cartoonist for that one]

Today's news roundup from our Iraq correspondent:

The U.S. general formerly in charge of Abu Ghraib prison said that abuse of Iraqi prisoners was hidden in a cover-up that may reach all the way to the Pentagon or whitehouse.

A roadside bomb has killed a local police chief in Baghdad, and another officer today, in continued attacks from insurgent's on Iraq's undermanned police forces. Also, two US soldiers were killed in bomb in Baghdad late on Monday, and a marine died today west of Baghdad.

The killing of the marine today has brought the total of U.S. service personnel to at least 915 dead since the start of Military Operations.

The Muslim chaplin, James Yee, acused of being a spy at the Guantanamo Navy base has submitted a letter of resignation yesterday, saying that he had never received an apology for being locked up for 76 days, and that the allegations against him "irreparably injured my person and professional reputation and destroyed my prospects for a career in the United States Army."

The Iraqi Governor of Al-Anbar province has offered to resign in an effort to secure the release of his kidnapped sons' and to comply with the demands of the kidnappers.

There have been a large and growing number of attacks of Christian churches in Iraq in recent weeks, forcing many Christians to rethink their plans to stay in the country. Iraq's christian community is one of the oldest in the world.

Finally, video footage of a Turkish hostage, blindfolded and shot three times in the head, has been released on "Islamic websites". News of the execution has prompted a major Turkish truckers' organisation to announce that it would stop working for the US armed forces in Iraq.

I was passed a link to an interesting website yesterday, entitled "Reconsidering the War in Iraq: Conservative Reflections, Reservations & Dissent". Nice to know there actually some republicans out there that are capable of thinking and not blinding following the chimp in chief. It's actually sobering to realise that the majority (well ok it used to be a majority) of americans support the war, not through any moral conviction, but because they trust what their president says. As someone whose blog I read would call 'em - sheeple!

They write:

"Prominent among the myths regarding the war in Iraq is the proposition that the pro-war interventionist position is universally supported by pro-American conservatives, and that opposition to the war is a left-wing position."

Here are some quotes from the site

“With the benefit of minute hindsight, Saddam Hussein wasn't the kind of extra-territorial menace that was assumed by the administration one year ago. If I knew then what I know now about what kind of situation we would be in, I would have opposed the war.”
William F. Buckley, June 29, 2004

[ from an article by Seymour Hersh in this week's New Yorker]

The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld’s decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of élite combat units, and hurt America’s prospects in the war on terror.

I was going to write an article regarding the difference between a bunch of redneck soldiers (possibly under orders) "torturing" Iraqi Prisoners and the killing of a civilian by Islamic fundamentalists. Both of which have been dominating the news in recent weeks.

It was my aim to have a photo from both categories, but in order to find a photo of the latter, I had to obtain a copy of the video of the beheading.

There is very little that shocks me these days, but this was one of those things.

Yes, Donald Rumsfeld should fall for what has happened under his command (elqouently put by our chums at the Economist), but our dear fundamentalist friends (or as chenapan said "camel fuckers"), don't you realise that the poor non-military american that was in your country was there to try and help you out?

Put on your uniforms and fight the coalition like real men, but to kidnap and kill an innocent? Are you yourselves not stooping even lower than the level you accuse your opponents of.

How terribly cowardly.

[ this was translated from the original french and passed to me today by our foreign correspondent, Chenapan. It'll be interesting to see how this story develops]

Canal+ will air tonight Tuesday 4th May images stolen from a US army base depicting a US helicopter killing three Iraqis who do not appear threatening. One of them is injured but finished off in cold blood.

The programme "Merci pour l'info" (Thanks for the info) got hold of the tape after a "European employee of a company subcontracting for the US army" left Iraq two weeks ago after having stolen the tape from a US army base where he was working.

The tape, dated 1st December 2003, filmed in an undisclosed location, was made on board a helicopter shooting on three individuals on the ground. It contains all the dialogues between the pilot, the sniper and their officer, who has a live video link to issue orders. The tape, three minutes long, depicts how the three men are shot dead, one after the other with heavy machine guns. The third man, after the death of his two companions, hides under a truck. The video recording shows him crawling. "He's injured" says the sniper. "Good. Fire at him", orders the officer.

[ out of date already, due to current events in Falluja]

A composite photo of George Bush made from photos of 638 individual soldiers killed in Iraq since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

[ source michaelmoore.com ]

More information on US fatalities since the start of war can be found at the washington post website.