Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak // CIA createdfake mullahs
* Friedensbewegung global aktiv
Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak.
Solidarität mit palästinensischer Intifada
* Laut UN-Studie brauchen 60 Prozent der Iraker
Nahrungsmittelhilfen
* Arzt: Drei Iraker bei US-Angriff nahe Falludscha getötet
* Chirac geißelt USA wegen Irak-Krieges und wirbt für UN-Reform
* CIA created fake mullahs
* Iraqi leaders and American military families speak out:
Bring them home NOW
* US-backed council bars Arab media
* U.S. Troops Kill Three Iraqi Villagers In Fallujah
* US wipes out family in missile attack
* Rivals Closer To Clinch U.N. Deal On Iraq
* On the ground with US troops in Iraq
Friedensbewegung global aktiv
Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak.
Solidarität mit palästinensischer Intifada
Rüdiger Göbel
Die Antikriegsbewegung meldet sich zurück, global und internati-
onalistisch. Anläßlich des dritten Jahrestags der zweiten palästi-
nensischen Intifada am 28....
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Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak // CIA createdfake mullahs
* Friedensbewegung global aktiv
Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak.
Solidarität mit palästinensischer Intifada
* Laut UN-Studie brauchen 60 Prozent der Iraker
Nahrungsmittelhilfen
* Arzt: Drei Iraker bei US-Angriff nahe Falludscha getötet
* Chirac geißelt USA wegen Irak-Krieges und wirbt für UN-Reform
* CIA created fake mullahs
* Iraqi leaders and American military families speak out:
Bring them home NOW
* US-backed council bars Arab media
* U.S. Troops Kill Three Iraqi Villagers In Fallujah
* US wipes out family in missile attack
* Rivals Closer To Clinch U.N. Deal On Iraq
* On the ground with US troops in Iraq
Friedensbewegung global aktiv
Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak.
Solidarität mit palästinensischer Intifada
Rüdiger Göbel
Die Antikriegsbewegung meldet sich zurück, global und internati-
onalistisch. Anläßlich des dritten Jahrestags der zweiten palästi-
nensischen Intifada am 28. September sind in den kommenden Tagen
in mehr als 40 Ländern Protestaktionen gegen die alten und neuen
Besatzungsregimes im Nahen Osten geplant: Israel und Irak. So
heterogen die Antikriegsbewegung weltweit ist, so vielfältig sind
ihre Aktionsformen und nationalen Schwerpunkte. So ist im indischen
Kalkutta am Freitag eine Massendemonstration geplant. »Wir werden
Puppen von Präsident George W. Bush, Premierminister Tony Blair und
Ministerpräsident Ariel Scharon verbrennen«, erklärte Gauri Sankar
Ghatak von der bengalischen Sektion des Antiimperialistischen Forums
in Indien. Auf den Philippinen will die Neue Patriotische Allianz
mit einer »indoor rally« in der Hauptstadt Manila am Samstag gegen
die US-Kriegspolitik und Bushs Besatzungsregime im Irak protestieren.
Auch in Seoul, Inchon und anderen südkoreanischen Städten sind Anti-
kriegsdemonstrationen an diesem Tag geplant. »Schluß mit den Attacken
gegen Nordkorea und Abzug südkoreanischer Soldaten aus dem Irak« ist
das Motto der dortigen Aktivisten. Auch in Japan ruft die Friedensbe-
wegung zu Straßenprotesten auf.
Darüber hinaus finden in praktisch allen arabischen Ländern Solidari-
tätsaktionen mit dem anhaltenden palästinensischen Aufstand gegen
die israelische Besatzung und die US-Militärpräsenz im Irak statt.
Auch in zahlreichen europäischen Städten rufen Kriegsgegner zu
Aktionen auf. In Polen sind Kundgebungen vor dem Regierungssitz,
dem Präsidentenpalast und der US-Botschaft in Warschau geplant. Das
Land hatte erst kürzlich 2500 Soldaten als Besatzungshelfer Bushs an
den Golf verlegt und im Zentralirak mit Hilfe der NATO eine eigene
Besatzungszone übernommen. Auch die spanischen und norwegischen
Antikriegsaktivisten fordern in diesen Tagen verstärkt den Rückzug
»ihrer« Soldaten aus dem Irak. In der türkischen Hauptstadt Ankara
ist für Samstag eine Demonstration gegen die Okkupationsregimes
in den Nachbarländern geplant.
In Deutschland steht in den meisten Städten die US-Militärpräsenz
im Irak im Vordergrund der Proteste, mancherorts, wie in Stuttgart,
wird die seit mehreren Jahrzehnten andauernde Besetzung palästinen-
sischer Gebiete nicht einmal thematisiert. Mit die größte Resonanz
dürfte der Aufruf der »Achse des Friedens« finden, die für Samstag
nachmittag zu einer »blutigen Picketline« von der amerikanischen
zur britischen Botschaft in Berlin-Mitte aufruft und anschließend
auf dem Potsdamer Platz aus Protest gegen den Bau des israelischen
Apartheid-Walls symbolisch ein Mauerwerk niederreißen will. Am
Sonntag findet ab 16 Uhr in der Manege in Berlin-Neukölln (Rütlistr.
2 bis 3) ein Solidaritätskonzert zur Unterstützung der palästinen-
sischen Gefangenenhilfsorganisation Addameer statt.
* Weitere Informationen: www.internationalanswer.org
junge Welt vom 24.09.2003
http://www.jungewelt.de/2003/09-24/006.php
* * *
Dienstag 23. September 2003, 10:18 Uhr
Laut UN-Studie brauchen 60 Prozent der Iraker
Nahrungsmittelhilfen
Rom (dpa) - Rund 60 Prozent der 26 Millionen Iraker sind laut
einer UN-Studie arbeitslos und benötigen Nahrungsmittelhilfen.
Zwar sei derzeit niemand im Irak vom Hunger bedroht. Aber trotz
Kriegsende und Aufhebung der Sanktionen seien Millionen Menschen
noch immer von chronischer Unterernährung betroffen. Der Wieder-
aufbau des Agrarsektors werde noch Jahre dauern. So sei etwa die
Produktion von Düngemitteln noch viel zu niedrig. Auch der Zugang
zu sauberem Wasser sei ein großes Problem im Nachkriegs-Irak,
heißt es in der Studie.
* * *
Dienstag 23. September 2003, 10:54 Uhr
Arzt: Drei Iraker bei US-Angriff nahe Falludscha getötet
(AFP) Bei einem US-Militärangriff auf zwei Wohnhäuser im Norden
der irakischen Stadt Falludscha sind nach Angaben eines Arztes
in der Nacht drei Bewohner getötet worden. Sie gehörten zusammen
mit drei weiteren schwer Verletzten der gleichen Familie an, sagte
ein Arzt des örtlichen Krankenhauses am Dienstag. Augenzeugen
berichteten, US-Panzer hätten die 50 Kilometer westlich der Haupt-
stadt Bagdad gelegene Ortschaft El Sidschr belagert und unterstützt
von Kampfhubschraubern das Feuer eröffnet. Das US-Militär in Bagdad
bestätigte "einen Zusammenstoß" mit Dorfbewohnern. Bei einer
Schießerei sei ein Iraker getötet worden.
* * *
Dienstag 23. September 2003, 18:19 Uhr
Chirac geißelt USA wegen Irak-Krieges und wirbt für UN-Reform
(AFP) Der französische Präsident Jacques Chirac hat seinen
Auftritt vor der UN-Vollversammlung zu scharfer Kritik am
US-geführten Irak-Krieg genutzt und in diesem Zusammenhang
für Multilateralismus und eine Stärkung der Vereinten Nationen
geworben. "In einer offenen Welt kann sich niemand isolieren,
niemand kann allein im Namen aller handeln und die Anarchie
einer Gesellschaft ohne Regeln akzeptieren", sagte Chirac am
Dienstag vor den in New York versammelten Staats- und Regierungs-
chefs. Für die UNO forderte das französische Staatsoberhaupt
eine "tief greifende Reform" und nannte dabei unter anderem einen
ständigen Sitz im Sicherheitsrat für Deutschland.
* * *
CIA created fake mullahs
The CIA installed phoney Muslim leaders and bribed existing ones
to counter the anti-American sentiment in mosques across the Arab
world after the 11 September attacks.
The claim is made in "The CIA at War" by Ronald Kessler, an
investigative reporter and author of several books about the
CIA and the FBI, who also describes espionage activity in
Iraq that supported the March invasion that unseated President
Saddam Hussein.
Kessler interviewed CIA Director George Tenet in May and other
senior CIA officials for his book. The agency supplied most of
the photographs in the book, which was made available to Reuters
news agency ahead of its October publication.
"In Islam, as in many other religions, anyone can call himself
a religious leader," he said in the book. "So, besides paying
mullahs, the CIA created fake mullahs - recruited agents who
would proclaim themselves clerics and take a more moderate
position about nonbelievers."
"We are taking over radio stations and supporting clerics," a
CIA source was quoted as saying. "It's back to propaganda. We
are creating moderate Muslims."
Kessler said the CIA also paid for mullahs to issue fatwas, or
religious edicts, urging Iraqis not to resist American forces.
He did not specify the countries this took place in.
Eyeball on Iraq
He said the CIA planted tiny video cameras to track former Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein, his sons, and other officials, and
monitor the position of Iraqi troops and suspected weapons of
mass destruction facilities.
Electronic beacons were attached to the undersides of cars that
Saddam might use and radar-imaging sensors were dragged across
the ground to look for hidden underground bunkers and storage
facilities, the book said.
He did not say exactly when such activities took place.
Shedding light on how a major pre-war threat was averted - that
Saddam would blow up his oil wells - Kessler says the CIA and US
Special Forces paid Iraqi guards who protected the wells to snip
wires to explosive devices after the war began.
To communicate with Iraqi agents the CIA gave them devices such
as satellite phones hidden in rifles and laptop computers with
programs hidden in innocuous games or graphics that could send
and receive encrypted documents, he said.
Invisible ink
The CIA also used a secret writing technique dating to biblical
days, in which Iraqi agents wrote over innocuous letters to aunts
or mothers through a second piece of paper treated with chemicals,
and the hidden message would show up when placed under a special
light, according to the book.
Tenet was quoted as saying it was up to him to accept responsibility
for any mistakes related to the 11 September, 2001, attacks and not
blame specific employees as some in Congress had requested. Otherwise
it could discourage the risk-taking essential to the CIA's mission.
"If you think this is about protecting your image or yourself, you're
finished. Forget it," Tenet was quoted as saying.
"Nobody is perfect. But guys who have never run anything in their
lives, who have never taken any risk in their lives, who have never
managed a large work force, will tell you how to suck eggs and
how to do your job on a daily basis. If you listen to them, you're
listening to the wrong people," he said.
Kessler said the CIA used operatives from intelligence services
in Arab countries including Jordan, Syria, and Egypt to infiltrate
al-Qaida, develop intelligence, but also sow suspicion so members
of the network would kill each other, the book said. Al-Qaida was
blamed for the 11 September attacks.
Unspecified
Tuesday 23 September 2003 3:54 AM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/
CIA+created+fake+mullahs.htm
* * *
Iraqi leaders and American military families speak out:
Bring them home NOW
S. R. V. Kelley
Al-Jazeerah, 9/23/03
In the last few days, 6 US Soldiers have died for nothing, increasing
Bush's Death Toll to 351 US and British Soldiers, and over 7,800
innocent Iraqi civilians http://www.antiwar.com/ewens/casualties.html
in Bush's Guerrilla Quagmire. Our young men and women are dying, as
are innocent Iraqis, while the Bushies and their corrupt cronies are
enjoying the "high life" ... fat, juicy (top-secret) contracts for
corporate war-profiteers; oil corporations lusting after the 2nd
richest oil fields that belong to the Iraqi People; and, immoral tax
cuts for the "top dogs" and "fat cats".
The lives of our US Military personnel are miserable, and they face
the possibility of death on a daily basis ... but not for L. Paul
Bremer and the Bush Gang, ensconced in palaces, well-fed, well-rested,
and well-protected, in the bosom of their armed guards. In fact,
Iraqi leaders plan to testify before Congress and report the money
wasted by the Americans who are living like neo-emperors: Read "Iraqi
Leaders to Press Congress for Control Over Rebuilding" by Patrick E.
Tyler, on http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/22/international/middleeast/
22BAGH.html?ex=1064808000&en=cef02b9e6d04d39e&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE .
An excerpt:
"The Americans are spending money here to secure themselves at a rate
that is two to three times what they are spending to secure the Iraqi
people," said Ahmad al-Barak, a human rights lawyer and a member of
the council. "It would be better for us if we would be in charge of
how to spend this money and, of course, they could monitor how it is
spent."
"He estimated that in some cases the savings could be a factor of
10. "Where they spend $1 billion, we would spend $100 million," he
said."
"In the spirit of demonstrating such savings, the Governing Council
this month canceled the $5,000-a-day contract that Mr. Bremer
had arranged to feed the 25-member body and its staff and found
a cheaper supplier." One can only wonder the exorbitant amount of
taxpayer dollars Bremer squanders on his own meals. Presumably more
than is being spent on our U.S. Soldiers charged for their daily
meals deducted from their measly incomes, if they are injured in
battle and hospitalized.
The Iraqi people want control of their own country, and a delegation
from the US-appointed Governing Council wants more authority turned
over to Iraq. Refer to "Iraqis Urge Quick End to Occupation", by
Rajiv Chandrasekaran on
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0915-07.htm .
Isn't is ironic that the Bushies don't want the Iraqis to control
their own country after having "liberated" them? Of course not,
because the Iraqi people might not agree to be raped by the Bush
Gang's corrupt cabal of robber-barons like Halliburton, Bechtel,
Carlyle Group & Big Oil-- The Bush Regime won't allow the Iraqis to
determine their own future ... they won't allow them free elections,
just as they won't allow us free elections in America.
Military families are rightly speaking out [http://www.mfso.org/ ],
as they don't want their loved ones massacred, simply to save the
corrupt Bush Gang's fatt rear-ends ... Why should human beings die
for an insane neo-con ideology of global hegemony to enrich the
corporate empire on behalf the rich oligarchy?
A letter from a soldier reads [ http://www.alternet.org ]:
"I am a soldier currently on active duty and my husband is a member
of the Reserves and has been activated since Feb. 13, and is currently
in Iraq, supporting the 4th ID, where he's been since April. We were
both deployed at the same time. I was fortunate enough to have my unit
return earlier this summer.
"Some of the conditions I experienced over there were deplorable.
It sickens me every time I see news articles quoting dignitaries
coming from there saying, "The soldiers are in good spirits,"
"Morale is high." I'm here to tell you, it's all lies. Morale is
at an all-time low. Soldiers are hating life there, so much so,
some are taking their own lives rather than deal with the situation.
It has become that drastic" ... For more access :
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/2003/09/001265.html.
The hypocritical screed and propaganda spewed by the Bush Regime,
must be exposed for the neo-fascist rhetoric full of deceptions,
that it represents. Wolfy Wolfowitz lied over the week-end by
suggesting that Saddam Hussein massacred millions of Iraqis,
which is factually untrue, just as he lied about phony WMDs and
fabricated links between Iraq and Al Qaida
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/22/international/22WOLF.html?ex=10648
08000&en=3d54a6ff144c6 . But Wolfy plays fast-and-loose with reality,
believing that Americans are dumb sheep willing to believe his neo-
con flim-flam.
L. Paul Bremer must have racked up millions of frequent-flyer points,
and is back in Washington DC today to sell another "lemon" to the
rubber-stamp, credulous Congress, in order that he can play neo-
Lawrence of Arabia, by persuading them to hand-over billions into
his dirty, sticky fingers. "Terrorists love state sponsors" ...
"Saddam's Iraq was one of those countries", spits Bremer, except
for the fact, that Al Qaida was not linked to Iraq. The Bush Regime
created chaos and a hot-bed for terrorism ... destroyed their
infrastructure ... and now say "$87 Billion is an important element
in the war on terrorism" and to re-build Iraq.
If Congress can't see past this flim-flam "bait-and-switch" scam,
perpetrated by the arrogant Bush Regime to enrich their Corporate
Cronies, then they are either stupid or corrupt or both. The Bushies
want the poor, low-income, middle-class and fixed-income Americans
to pay-off all their debts. The Bushies don't want their corporate
cronies or their rich campaign contributors to sacrifice any of
their ill-gotten blood-money.
The chaos and rape of America and Iraq, has been instigated on
behalf of Halliburton, Bechtel, Carlyle Group, Big Oil, and other
corporate robber-barons. Meanwhile, average taxpayers and Iraqi
citizens are paying Bush's obscene $166 Billion War Tab, as well
as his record-level $500 Billion Spending-Spree Deficit, all
being squandered on the rich.
Meanwhile, the Bushies are pretending that all is rosy and
everybody in Iraq, is tickled pink-- as Richard Perle spouts the
official propaganda on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, except that
representatives from global aide agencies, as well as reports
showing real people on the streets (not in the palaces) of Baghdad,
starkly contradicts the official Bush Regime's position.
"We the People" have an obligation to contact Congress today to
demand that the war-profiteers' profits be confiscated; tax cuts
for the richest-of-the-rich be repealed; and, liars like Cheney,
Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz be summarily fired for incompetence
and corruption. Bush should also be tried and impeached for
betraying his oath of office.
http://www.aljazeerah.info/23%20o/
Iraqi%20leaders%20and%20American%20military%20families%20speak%
20out,%20Bring%20them%20home%20NOW,%20S.%20R.%20V.%20Kelley.htm
* * *
US-backed council bars Arab media
by Roshan Muhammed Salih
Freedom of speech campaigners have condemned US-appointed authorities
in Iraq for banning television stations Aljazeera and al- Arabiya.
Iraq's Governing Council said on Tuesday the stations were prohibited
from covering official activities in Iraq for two weeks.
It said the action was taken as a warning to broadcasters who incite
anti-US violence.
"Al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya will temporarily be excluded from
any coverage of Governing Council activities or official press
conferences, and correspondents of the two channels will not be
allowed to enter ministries or government offices for two weeks,"
the council said in a statement.
US officials have accused Qatar-based Aljazeera and Dubai-based
al-Arabiya of giving too much prominence to anti-US attacks and
providing a forum for backers of ousted President Saddam Hussein.
Bias
Both channels, which are competitors for the Arab world audience,
strenuously deny charges of bias.
Aljazeera spokesman Jihad Ballut said the station regretted
the decision, but "will continue our work as usual until we
are officially notified".
Al-Arabiya officials have yet to react in detail.
However, Rohan Jayasekera, of London-based Index on Censorship,
said the bans were "blatantly unfair".
"The Americans and the British have had previous experience in
Bosnia and Kosovo of the difficult balancing act between encouraging
democracy and an independent media and preventing incitement to
violence.
Due process
"They managed it quite well there but have failed in Iraq. At the
moment, the Governing Council is basically told what to do by the
Americans. But if they are going to ban media outlets then the
complaints have to be addressed fairly and there has to be a right
of reply."
And British MP and Iraq expert George Galloway said the council
decision was an indictment of the way the American-led forces
were running the country.
"This puts a nail in the coffin of the big lie that the West was
going into Iraq to liberate the country in the name of freedom
and democracy and to rid it of the yoke of dictatorship," he said.
"Aljazeera and al-Arabiya have the right to report news. They cater
to their audience and will obviously favouritise stories their
audience is interested in.
"Other media organisations should protest vociferously against this
decision because today it is Aljazeera and al-Arabiya but tomorrow
it could be them."
Resistance
Galloway also denied the Americans had a right to act against media
outlets to prevent attacks on their troops.
"The Iraqi resistance have a legitmate right to defend their country.
After all, they didn't ask the Americans to invade Iraq with all guns
blazing.
"And in any case, the Iraqi resistance is working underground and
has no access to electricity, let alone TV. The idea that they are
waiting for Aljazeera and al-Arabiya to give them the nod before
they do anything borders on the ridiculous."
And he predicted the censorship would ultimately backfire on the
occupation forces.
"The British Prime Minister banned the Irish Republican Army in
the 1980s and tried to deny them access to all media. But all that
achieved was to reduce the government to the level of the IRA and
to make them a laughing stock," he said.
Aljazeera + Agencies
Tuesday 23 September 2003 2:49 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/US-
backed+council+bans+Arab+TV+stations.htm
* * *
U.S. Troops Kill Three Iraqi Villagers In Fallujah
FALLUJAH, Iraq, September 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) -
U.S. occupation forces, backed by air support, killed three
Iraqi villagers and wounded three others early Tuesday,
September 23, near the hotspot town of Fallujah.
The U.S. military argued, however, it killed one Iraqi in an
incident involving a single "coalition aircraft", claiming its
troops come under fire first and were faced with crowds of local
residents blocking intersections.
Countering the American version of events, eyewitnesses said three
Iraqis were killed and three others seriously wounded in an assault
by U.S. troops and helicopters that damaged a pair of houses in
the village of Al-Sijr, two kilometers north of Fallujah, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
They said American tanks surrounded the village and troops opened
up with machine-gun fire before helicopters launched missiles.
The witnesses reported seeing helicopters circling above and hearing
the roar of warplanes.
An AFP correspondent at the scene said the attack was aimed at one
or perhaps two houses which suffered damage and blown-out windows,
while an Iraqi resident confirmed one of the houses was ransacked
by U.S. troops a day earlier.
Zidan al-Jumaili and Ibrahim al-Jumaili, both residents of Al-Sijr
and relatives of the victims, said U.S. occupation forces encircled
the village about 1:30 am and opened fire a half hour later.
Residents said a 40-year-old farmer was killed and two of his
children wounded while they slept in their home while two other
people were killed 50 meters away from the house.
Dr Ayman Abdel Kader al-Ani of the Fallujah Hospital identified the
dead as Ali Khalaf Mohammad al-Jumaili, Saadi Fakri Fayad al-Jumaili
and Salem Khalil Ismail al-Jumaili.
Hudud Nuri, 24, the sister-in-law of one of the dead and the mother
of three children, said U.S. troops had come early Monday to search
the house but found nothing inside.
Wounded were Tahssin Ali Khalaf al-Jumaili, Hussein Ali Khalaf
al-Jumaili and Abed Rashid Mohammad al-Jumaili, Ani said, adding
that their condition was serious.
Photographing Bedrooms
Three U.S. soldiers were seen later Tuesday morning at the house
taking photos of holes punched in the wall around a garden and two
on the ground, while local women wailed nearby. The soldiers also
photographed the bedrooms.
"I was sent here to take pictures and find the location of the
bombing that happened after dark," said one soldier, a military
policeman who asked that his name be withheld.
Specialist Anthony Reinoso, a U.S. military spokesman, provided
a different account of the incident, which he said started when
members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division came under
attack.
They returned fire while pursuing some of their attackers who fled
into a building, and "a crowd formed. Weapons were seen in the
crowd," Reinoso argued.
The crowd attempted to block several intersections, he went on,
and "one enemy was killed."
"There was a coalition aircraft involved," said the American
military spokesman, but did not give any details.
Asked about the other two deaths, Reinoso said they had no further
information.
The bloodshed came just hours after 250 people demonstrated in
Fallujah, carrying portraits of ousted president Saddam Hussein
and demanding his return to power.
It also came a day after U.S. forces resumed the circulation
of leaflets offering to buy weapons from residents of Fallujah,
where the Americans frequently come under attack.
An-Najaf Handover
In another development, U.S. occupation forces Tuesday handed over
control of the troubled Iraqi holy city of An-Najaf to Spanish-led
troops, including contingents from Latin America, after resolving
a spate of logistic headaches.
Marines commander General John Kelly transferred authority to
Spanish General Alfredo Cardona, head of the Plus Ultra brigade
of Spanish, Salvadoran and Honduran troops at a joint parade in
the military headquarters.
They were deployed in Iraq after reaching an agreement with the
U.S. military for the supply of necessary and accessory equipment.
"The soldiers of Honduras and El Salvador, deployed in An-Najaf,
are not equipped sufficiently for their mission," Cardona said.
U.S. marines have been withdrawing from the province for several
days ahead of the handover.
From Tuesday the holy city of An-Najaf was being patrolled by some
720 Honduran and Salvadoran troops, assisted by some of the 1,200
Spanish soldiers deployed in the region.
"Over the last two days the Salvadorans and Hondurans have received
their vehicles and communications equipment that they needed to
function correctly," Spain's Major Jose Luis Sanchez Falero told AFP.
The Latin brigade will take responsibility for one of Iraq's most
sensitive corners, which is still reeling from an August 29 car
bombing that killed a revered Shiite scholar, Ayatollah Mohammad
Baqer al-Hakim and 82 other people.
An-Najaf, 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Baghdad, posed a
delicate problem for the Americans, who insisted on disarming
the Iraqi militias that poured out onto the streets after the
bombing and for the funeral three days later.
Washington is seeking to expand its U.N. mandate in Iraq but insists
it will not cede control of the U.S.-led force which has sparked
opposition from many countries, notably France and Germany.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-09/23/article02.shtml
* * *
US wipes out family in missile attack
Three Iraqis were killed and four others seriously wounded in a
US air strike on homes north of Fallujah, hospital officials and
witnesses said.
All six victims were members of the same family from the village of
al-Jisr, according to Falljuah Hospital's Dr Ayman al-Ani on Tuesday.
Al-Ani identified the dead as Ali, Saadi and Salim al-Jumaili.
Relatives in al-Jisr said US occupation forces encircled the village
about 1:30am (2130 GMT) and began using machine guns before the
helicopter missile attack.
Missed target
One correspondent at the scene said the attack was apparently
aimed at two other houses, which only suffered damage, but were
not destroyed.
US military officials in Baghdad and Central Command said they
had no immediate information on any operation
No spokesman was prepared to discuss whether those members of
the al-Jumaili family who survived would be compensated for the
homicides and destruction of property.
A military spokesman in Fallujah was also unavailable for comment
when contacted by Aljazeera.net.
Demonstration
The operation came just hours after 250 people demonstrated
in Fallujah, 50km west of Baghdad, demanding US-led occupation
force should leave Iraq to Iraqis.
A minority of the protesters even carried portraits of former
president Saddam Hussein, and called for his return to power.
But there was no indication whether there was any link between
the two events.
Fallujah and the surrounding area have been the scene of frequent
clashes and attacks on US troops.
Aljazeera + Agencies
Tuesday 23 September 2003 6:48 AM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/
US+destroys+family+in+missile+attack.htm
* * *
Rivals Closer To Clinch U.N. Deal On Iraq
BERLIN, September 22 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - France
said Monday, September 22, it would not veto a U.S.-backed
Security Council resolution on the future of Iraq, as Germany
said it hoped to build bridges with the United States on the
war-ravaged Arab country.
As German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder headed for his first direct
talks with U.S. President George W. Bush in more than a year,
government sources insisted Wednesday's talks, their first since
May 2002, were designed to outline a "political future" and "common
vision" on Iraq, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Germany wants "an inclusive strategy, not exclusive," the sources
added to AFP, on condition of anonymity. They were "all partners"
working on the same dossier.
Nevertheless, Schroeder will also meet Presidents Jacques Chirac
of France and Vladimir Putin of Russia in New York immediately
after seeing Bush.
The three, who all opposed the U.S.-led Iraq invasion, want to confer
on their stance, the sources said.
But they strongly denied suggestions that the three were seeking
some form of European "counter-axis" to Washington, which wants
a UN resolution to share the military and financial burden of
stabilizing and reconstructing Iraq.
The sources said Schroeder wanted to bring his conception
of post-war Iraq closer to the U.S. viewpoint despite their
differences over the war.
Berlin "is not pessimistic" of achieving progress, they added.
Schroeder was due to set off for New York early Monday evening after
talks with Polish leaders.
On Tuesday, he will address the UN General Assembly, coincidentally
30 years after Germany joined the world body.
German diplomats say a weekend summit in Berlin, at which anti-war
allies Schroeder and Chirac met with Bush's closest ally British
Prime Minister Tony Blair, showed that the opposing sides could work
together.
They said their positions were not that far apart and that they all
agreed on the need for a rapid transfer of power to local authorities
in Iraq and a central role for the United Nations.
The critical question is how rapid a transfer, and how central a UN
role. While Chirac wants a specific timetable, Blair, in line with
Washington, does not want to commit himself.
According to AFP, analysts believe Schroeder has nuanced his stance
away from France, a view seemingly supported by the government sources
who said negotiators had to be "realistic" and "not lose a sense of
proportion" over the fact that a transfer of power would take time.
Although it has refused to send troops to Iraq, Berlin has offered to
help train Iraqi police and military independent of any UN resolution.
The German government is already ready to take part in a scheduled
October 23-24 donors' conference in Madrid on Iraq's reconstruction.
Schroeder and Bush are also set to discuss Germany's peacekeeping
role in Afghanistan, the Middle East peace process and the risks of
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, touching notably
on North Korea and Iran.
No French Veto
Within the same context, French President Jacques Chirac has said
France will not veto the U.S.-backed Security Council resolution
on the future of Iraq.
In an interview with the New York Times, Chirac said France would
abstain in a vote on the draft resolution if it failed to include
a firm deadline and timetable for a transfer of sovereignty to
Iraqis.
"We don't have the intention to oppose. If we oppose it, that would
mean voting no, that is to say, to use the veto. I am not in that
mindset at all," Chirac said.
But he said France would only support the resolution if it included
a deadline and timetable for transferring sovereignty in Iraq as
well as a "key role" for the United Nations in the oil-rich country.
If these provisions were not included, France would abstain, Chirac
said.
A transfer of sovereignty should occur "right now", followed by a
"transfer of responsibility" within six to nine months, he insisted.
"We can either abstain or vote yes. To vote yes, we need a clear
long-range political vision and a key role for the UN."
"A clear long-range political vision is one that sets out first,
a precise deadline for a transfer of sovereignty, and second, a
timetable for transferring responsibility," he said.
"What I propose resembles to some degree what we're doing in
Afghanistan," where international involvement continued after
a relatively rapid transfer of power to Afghanis, Chirac said.
"We believe that there will be no concrete solution unless sovereignty
is transferred to Iraq as quickly as possible."
The United States is seeking approval for a UN Security Council
resolution that would authorize the deployment of a multinational
force in Iraq, thus lightening Washington's financial and military
burden in the unstable country.
The resolution proposed by Washington also affords international
acceptance of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and
asks the Iraqis to suggest a clear timetable for the creation of
democratic institutions.
Chirac ruled out for the moment sending French combat troops to Iraq
but said France could be willing to train Iraqi soldiers and police.
In an interview with Fox News television Monday US President
George W. Bush referred to a seven-step U.S. plan for restoring
Iraqi sovereignty that reserves handover of power until last.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-09/22/article09.shtml
* * *
On the ground with US troops in Iraq
by Christian Parenti
An M-16 rifle hangs by a cramped military cot. On the wall above
is a message in thick black ink: "Ali Baba, you owe me a strawberry
milk!"
It's a private joke but could just as easily summarize the worldview
of American soldiers here in Baghdad, the fetid basement of Donald
Rumsfeld's house of victory. Trapped in the polluted heat, poorly
supplied and cut off from regular news, the GIs are fighting a
guerrilla war that they neither wanted, expected nor trained for.
On the urban battlefields of central Iraq, "shock and awe" and all
the other "new way of war" buzzwords are drowned out by the din of
diesel-powered generators, Islamic prayer calls and the occasional
pop of small-arms fire.
Here, the high-tech weaponry that so emboldens Pentagon bureaucrats
is largely useless, and the grinding work of counterinsurgency is
done the old-fashioned way--by hand. Not surprisingly, most of the
American GIs stuck with the job are weary, frustrated and ready to
go home.
It is noon and the mercury is hanging steady at 115 Fahrenheit. The
filmmaker Garrett Scott and I are "embedded" with Alpha Company of
the Third Battalion of the 124th Infantry, a Florida National Guard
unit about half of whom did time in the regular Army, often with
elite groups like the Rangers. Like most frontline troops in Iraq,
the majority are white but there is a sizable minority of African-
American and Latino soldiers among them. Unlike most combat units,
about 65 percent are college students--they've traded six years
with the Guard for tuition at Florida State. Typically, that means
occasional weekends in the Everglades or directing traffic during
hurricanes. Instead, these guys got sent to Iraq, and as yet they
have no sure departure date.
Mobilized in December, they crossed over from Kuwait on day one
of the invasion and are now bivouacked in the looted remains of a
Republican Guard officers' club, a modernist slab of polished marble
and tinted glass that the GIs have fortified with plywood, sandbags
and razor wire.
Behind "the club" is a three-story dormitory, a warren of small one-
bedroom apartments, each holding a nine-man squad of soldiers and
all their gear. Around 200 guys are packed in here. Their sweaty
fatigues drape the banisters of the exterior stairway, while inside
the cramped, dark rooms the floors are covered with cots, heaps
of flak vests, guns and, where possible, big tin, water-based air-
conditioners called swamp coolers. Surrounding the base is a chaotic
working-class neighborhood of two- and three-story cement homes and
apartment buildings. Not far away is the muddy Tigris River.
This company limits patrols to three or four hours a day. For the
many hours in between, the guys pull guard duty, hang out in their
cavelike rooms or work out in a makeshift weight room.
"We're getting just a little bit stir-crazy," explains the lanky
Sergeant Sellers. His demeanor is typical of the nine-man squad we
have been assigned to, friendly but serious, with a wry and angry
sense of humor. On the side of his helmet Sellers has, in violation
of regs, attached the unmistakable pin and ring of a hand grenade.
Next to it is written, "Pull Here."
Leaning back on a cot, he's drawing a large, intricate pattern on
a female mannequin leg. The wall above him displays a photo collage
of pictures retrieved from a looted Iraqi women's college. Smiling
young ladies wearing the hijab sip sodas and stroll past buses. They
seem to be on some sort of field trip. Nearby are photos clipped
from Maxim, of coy young American girls offering up their pert round
bottoms. Dominating it all is a large hand-drawn dragon and a photo
of Jessica Lynch with a bubble caption reading: "Hi, I am a war hero.
And I think that weapons maintenance is totally unimportant."
The boys don't like Lynch and find the story of her rescue
ridiculous. They'd been down the same road a day earlier and are
unsympathetic. "We just feel that it's unfair and kind of distorted
the way the whole Jessica, quote, 'rescue' thing got hyped,"
explains Staff Sgt. Kreed Howell. He is in charge of the squad,
and at 31 a bit older than most of his men. Muscular and clean-cut,
Howell is a relaxed and natural leader, with the gracious bearing
of a proper Southern upbringing.
"In other words, you'd have to be really fucking dumb to get lost on
the road," says another, less diplomatic soldier.
Specialist John Crawford sits in a tiny, windowless supply closet
that is loaded with packs and gear. He is two credits short of a
BA in anthropology and wants to go to graduate school. Howell, a
Republican, amicably describes Crawford as the squad's house liberal.
There's just enough extra room in the closet for Crawford, a chair
and a little shelf on which sits a laptop. Hanging by this makeshift
desk is a handwritten sign from "the management" requesting that
soldiers masturbating in the supply closet "remove their donations
in a receptacle." Instead of watching pornography DVDs, Crawford is
here to finish a short story. "Trying to start writing again," he
says.
Crawford is a fan of Tim O'Brien, particularly The Things They
Carried. We chat, then he shows me his short story. It's about
a vet who is back home in north Florida trying to deal with the
memory of having accidentally blown away a child while serving
in Iraq.
Later in the cramped main room, Sellers and Sergeant Brunelle,
another one of the squad's more gregarious and dominant
personalities, are matter-of-factly showing us digital photos
of dead Iraqis.
"These guys shot at some of our guys, so we lit 'em up. Put
two .50-cal rounds in their vehicle. One went through this dude's
hip and into the other guy's head," explains Brunelle. The third
man in the car lived. "His buddy was crying like a baby. Just
sitting there bawling with his friend's brains and skull fragments
all over his face. One of our guys came up to him and is like:
'Hey! No crying in baseball!'"
"I know that probably sounds sick," says Sellers, "but humor is the
only way you can deal with this shit."
And just below the humor is volcanic rage. These guys are proud to
be soldiers and don't want to come across as whiners, but they are
furious about what they've been through. They hate having their
lives disrupted and put at risk. They hate the military for its
stupidity, its feckless lieutenants and blowhard brass living
comfortably in Saddam's palaces. They hate Iraqis--or, as they say,
"hajis"--for trying to kill them. They hate the country for its
dust, heat and sewage-clogged streets. They hate having killed
people. Some even hate the politics of the war. And because most
of them are, ultimately, just regular well-intentioned guys, one
senses the distinct fear that someday a few may hate themselves
for what they have been forced to do here.
Added to such injury is insult: The military treats these soldiers
like unwanted stepchildren. This unit's rifles are retooled hand-
me-downs from Vietnam. They have inadequate radio gear, so they buy
their own unencrypted Motorola walkie-talkies. The same goes for
flashlights, knives and some components for night-vision sights.
The low-performance Iraqi air-conditioners and fans, as well as the
one satellite phone and payment cards shared by the whole company
for calling home, were also purchased out of pocket from civilian
suppliers.
Bottled water rations are kept to two liters a day. After that the
guys drink from "water buffaloes"--big, hot chlorination tanks that
turn the amoeba-infested dreck from the local taps into something
like swimming-pool water. Mix this with powdered Gatorade and you
can wash down a famously bad MRE (Meal Ready to Eat).
To top it all off they must endure the pathologically uptight culture
of the Army hierarchy. The Third of the 124th is now attached to the
newly arrived First Armored Division, and when it is time to raid
suspected resistance cells it's the Guardsmen who have to kick in the
doors and clear the apartments.
QUOT-The First AD wants us to catch bullets for them but won't give
us enough water, doesn't let us wear do-rags and makes us roll down
our shirt sleeves so we look proper! Can you believe that shit?"
Sergeant Sellers is pissed off.
The soldiers' improvisation extends to food as well. After a month or
so of occupying "the club," the company commander, Captain Sanchez,
allowed two Iraqi entrepreneurs to open shop on his side of the
wire--one runs a slow Internet cafe, the other a kebab stand where
the "Joes" pay US dollars for grilled lamb on flat bread.
"The haji stand is one of the only things we have to look forward to,
but the First AD keeps getting scared and shutting it down." Sellers
is on a roll, but he's not alone.
Even the lighthearted Howell, who insists that the squad has it
better than most troops, chimes in. "The one thing I will say
is that we have been here entirely too long. If I am not home by
Christmas my business will fail." Back "on earth" (in Panama City,
Florida), Howell is a building contractor, with a wife, two small
children, equipment, debts and employees.
Perhaps the most shocking bit of military incompetence is the unit's
lack of formal training in what's called "close-quarter combat." The
urbanized mayhem of Mogadishu may loom large in the discourse of the
military's academic journals like Parameters and the Naval War College
Review, but many US infantrymen are trained only in large-scale,
open-country maneuvers--how to defend Germany from a wave of Russian
tanks.
So, since "the end of the war" these guys have had to retrain
themselves in the dark arts of urban combat. "The houses here
are small, too," says Brunelle. "Once you're inside you can
barely get your rifle up. You got women screaming, people,
furniture everywhere. It's insane."
By now this company has conducted scores of raids, taken fire
on the street, taken casualties, taken rocket-propelled grenade
attacks to the club and are defiantly proud of the fact that
they have essentially been abandoned, survived, retrained themselves
and can keep a lid on their little piece of Baghdad. But it's not
always the Joes who have the upper hand. Increasingly, Haji seems
to sets the agenda.
A thick black plume of smoke rises from Karrada Street, a popular
electronics district where US patrols often buy air-conditioners
and DVDs. An American Humvee, making just such a stop, has been
blown to pieces by a remote-activated "improvised explosive device,"
or IED, buried in the median between two lanes of traffic. By chance
two colleagues and I are the first press on the scene. The street
is empty of traffic and quiet except for the local shopkeepers, who
occasionally call out to us in Arabic and English: "Be careful."
Finally we get close enough to see clearly. About twenty feet away
is a military transport truck and a Humvee, and beyond that are the
flaming remains of a third Humvee. A handful of American soldiers
are crouched behind the truck, totally still. There's no firing,
no yelling, no talking, no radio traffic. No one is screaming, but
two GIs are down. As yet there are no reinforcements or helicopters
overhead. All one can hear is the burning of the Humvee.
Then it begins: The ammunition in the burning Humvee starts to explode
and the troops in the street start firing. Armored personnel carriers
arrive and disgorge dozens of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne to join
the fight. The target is a three-story office building just across
from the engulfed Humvee. Occasionally we hear a few rounds of return
fire pass by like hot razors slashing straight lines through the air.
The really close rounds just sound like loud cracks.
"That's Kalashnikov. I know the voice," says Ahmed, our friend and
translator. There is a distinct note of national pride in his voice--
his countrymen are fighting back--never mind the fact that we are now
mixed in with the most forward US troops and getting shot at.
The firefight goes on for about two hours, moving slowly and
methodically. It is in many ways an encapsulation of the whole war--
confusing and labor-intensive. The GIs have more firepower than they
can use, and they don't even know exactly where or who the enemy is.
Civilians are hiding in every corner, the ground floor of the target
building is full of merchants and shoppers, and undisciplined fire
could mean scores of dead civilians.
There are two GIs on the ground, one with his legs gone and probably
set to die. When a medevac helicopter arrives just overhead, it, too,
like much other technology, is foiled. The street is crisscrossed
with electrical wires and there is no way the chopper can land to
extract the wounded. The soldiers around us look grave and tired.
Eventually some Bradley fighting vehicles start pounding the building
with mean 250-millimeter cannon shells. Whoever might have been
shooting from upstairs is either dead or gone.
The street is now littered with overturned air-conditioners, fans and
refrigerators. A cooler of sodas sits forlorn on the sidewalk. Farther
away two civilians lie dead, caught in the crossfire. A soldier peeks
out from the hatch of a Bradley and calls over to a journalist, "Hey,
can you grab me one of those Cokes?"
After the shootout we promised ourselves we'd stay out of Humvees and
away from US soldiers. But that was yesterday. Now Crawford is helping
us put on body armor and soon we'll be on patrol. As we move out
with the nine soldiers the mood is somewhere between tense and bored.
Crawford mockingly introduces himself to no one in particular: "John
Crawford, I work in population reduction."
QUOT-Watch the garbage--if you see wires coming out of a pile it's
an IED," warns Howell. The patrol is uneventful. We walk fast through
back streets and rubbish-strewn lots, pouring sweat in the late
afternoon heat. Local residents watch the small squad with a mixture
of civility, indifference and open hostility. An Iraqi man shouts,
"When? When? When? Go!" The soldiers ignore him.
"Sometimes we sham," explains one of the guys. "We'll just go out and
kick it behind some wall. Watch what's going on but skip the walking.
And sometimes at night we get sneaky-deaky. Creep up on Haji, so he
knows we're all around."
"I am just walking to be walking," says the laconic Fredrick Pearson,
a k a "Diddy," the only African-American in Howell's squad. Back
home he works in the State Supreme Court bureaucracy and plans to go
to law school. "I just keep an eye on the rooftops, look around and
walk."
The patrols aren't always peaceful. One soldier mentions that he
recently "kicked the shit out of a 12-year-old kid" who menaced
him with a toy gun.
Later we roll with the squad on another patrol, this time at night
and in two Humvees. Now there's more evident hostility from the
young Iraqi men loitering in the dark. Most of these infantry
soldiers don't like being stuck in vehicles. At a blacked-out
corner where a particularly large group of youths are clustered,
the Humvees stop and Howell bails out into the crowd. There is no
interpreter along tonight.
"Hey, guys! What's up? How y'all doing? OK? Everything OK? All
right?" asks Howell in his jaunty, laid-back north Florida accent.
The sullen young men fade away into the dark, except for two, who
shake the sergeant's hand. Howell's attempt to take the high road,
winning hearts and minds, doesn't seem to be for show. He really
believes in this war. But in the torrid gloom of the Baghdad night,
his efforts seem tragically doomed.
Watching Howell I think about the civilian technocrats working with
Paul Bremer at the Coalition Provisional Authority; the electricity
is out half the time, and these folks hold meetings on how best to
privatize state industries and end food rations. Meanwhile, the city
seethes. The Pentagon, likewise, seems to have no clear plan; its
troops are stretched thin, lied to and mistreated. The whole charade
feels increasingly patched together, poorly improvised. Ultimately,
there's very little that Howell and his squad can do about any of
this. After all, it's not their war. They just work here.
Christian Parenti is the author, most recently, of The Soft Cage:
Surveillance in America From Slavery to the War on Terror (Basic)
and a fellow at City University of New York's Center for Place,
Culture, and Politics.
Published in the October 6, 2003 issue of The Nation
Copyright © 2003 The Nation
>----->----->----->----->----->-----> GIV-Archiv: http://www.giv-archiv.de http://www.giv-seiten.de.tt
>> http://home.arcor.de/ge.lange/index.html http://giv-seiten.de
>> http://home.arcor.de/ge.lange/Menue/www.giv.de.cx/index.html
>> http://home.arcor.de/ge.lange/Menue/www.irak.de.cx/index.html
>> http://home.arcor.de/ge.lange/Menue/www.giv-archiv.de/index.html
>> http://soziales.freepage.de/irak/index.htm
>>>-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak // CIA createdfake mullahs
* Friedensbewegung global aktiv
Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak.
Solidarität mit palästinensischer Intifada
* Laut UN-Studie brauchen 60 Prozent der Iraker
Nahrungsmittelhilfen
* Arzt: Drei Iraker bei US-Angriff nahe Falludscha getötet
* Chirac geißelt USA wegen Irak-Krieges und wirbt für UN-Reform
* CIA created fake mullahs
* Iraqi leaders and American military families speak out:
Bring them home NOW
* US-backed council bars Arab media
* U.S. Troops Kill Three Iraqi Villagers In Fallujah
* US wipes out family in missile attack
* Rivals Closer To Clinch U.N. Deal On Iraq
* On the ground with US troops in Iraq
Friedensbewegung global aktiv
Internationaler Aktionstag gegen Besatzung im Irak.
Solidarität mit palästinensischer Intifada
Rüdiger Göbel
Die Antikriegsbewegung meldet sich zurück, global und internati-
onalistisch. Anläßlich des dritten Jahrestags der zweiten palästi-
nensischen Intifada am 28. September sind in den kommenden Tagen
in mehr als 40 Ländern Protestaktionen gegen die alten und neuen
Besatzungsregimes im Nahen Osten geplant: Israel und Irak. So
heterogen die Antikriegsbewegung weltweit ist, so vielfältig sind
ihre Aktionsformen und nationalen Schwerpunkte. So ist im indischen
Kalkutta am Freitag eine Massendemonstration geplant. »Wir werden
Puppen von Präsident George W. Bush, Premierminister Tony Blair und
Ministerpräsident Ariel Scharon verbrennen«, erklärte Gauri Sankar
Ghatak von der bengalischen Sektion des Antiimperialistischen Forums
in Indien. Auf den Philippinen will die Neue Patriotische Allianz
mit einer »indoor rally« in der Hauptstadt Manila am Samstag gegen
die US-Kriegspolitik und Bushs Besatzungsregime im Irak protestieren.
Auch in Seoul, Inchon und anderen südkoreanischen Städten sind Anti-
kriegsdemonstrationen an diesem Tag geplant. »Schluß mit den Attacken
gegen Nordkorea und Abzug südkoreanischer Soldaten aus dem Irak« ist
das Motto der dortigen Aktivisten. Auch in Japan ruft die Friedensbe-
wegung zu Straßenprotesten auf.
Darüber hinaus finden in praktisch allen arabischen Ländern Solidari-
tätsaktionen mit dem anhaltenden palästinensischen Aufstand gegen
die israelische Besatzung und die US-Militärpräsenz im Irak statt.
Auch in zahlreichen europäischen Städten rufen Kriegsgegner zu
Aktionen auf. In Polen sind Kundgebungen vor dem Regierungssitz,
dem Präsidentenpalast und der US-Botschaft in Warschau geplant. Das
Land hatte erst kürzlich 2500 Soldaten als Besatzungshelfer Bushs an
den Golf verlegt und im Zentralirak mit Hilfe der NATO eine eigene
Besatzungszone übernommen. Auch die spanischen und norwegischen
Antikriegsaktivisten fordern in diesen Tagen verstärkt den Rückzug
»ihrer« Soldaten aus dem Irak. In der türkischen Hauptstadt Ankara
ist für Samstag eine Demonstration gegen die Okkupationsregimes
in den Nachbarländern geplant.
In Deutschland steht in den meisten Städten die US-Militärpräsenz
im Irak im Vordergrund der Proteste, mancherorts, wie in Stuttgart,
wird die seit mehreren Jahrzehnten andauernde Besetzung palästinen-
sischer Gebiete nicht einmal thematisiert. Mit die größte Resonanz
dürfte der Aufruf der »Achse des Friedens« finden, die für Samstag
nachmittag zu einer »blutigen Picketline« von der amerikanischen
zur britischen Botschaft in Berlin-Mitte aufruft und anschließend
auf dem Potsdamer Platz aus Protest gegen den Bau des israelischen
Apartheid-Walls symbolisch ein Mauerwerk niederreißen will. Am
Sonntag findet ab 16 Uhr in der Manege in Berlin-Neukölln (Rütlistr.
2 bis 3) ein Solidaritätskonzert zur Unterstützung der palästinen-
sischen Gefangenenhilfsorganisation Addameer statt.
* Weitere Informationen: www.internationalanswer.org
junge Welt vom 24.09.2003
http://www.jungewelt.de/2003/09-24/006.php
* * *
Dienstag 23. September 2003, 10:18 Uhr
Laut UN-Studie brauchen 60 Prozent der Iraker
Nahrungsmittelhilfen
Rom (dpa) - Rund 60 Prozent der 26 Millionen Iraker sind laut
einer UN-Studie arbeitslos und benötigen Nahrungsmittelhilfen.
Zwar sei derzeit niemand im Irak vom Hunger bedroht. Aber trotz
Kriegsende und Aufhebung der Sanktionen seien Millionen Menschen
noch immer von chronischer Unterernährung betroffen. Der Wieder-
aufbau des Agrarsektors werde noch Jahre dauern. So sei etwa die
Produktion von Düngemitteln noch viel zu niedrig. Auch der Zugang
zu sauberem Wasser sei ein großes Problem im Nachkriegs-Irak,
heißt es in der Studie.
* * *
Dienstag 23. September 2003, 10:54 Uhr
Arzt: Drei Iraker bei US-Angriff nahe Falludscha getötet
(AFP) Bei einem US-Militärangriff auf zwei Wohnhäuser im Norden
der irakischen Stadt Falludscha sind nach Angaben eines Arztes
in der Nacht drei Bewohner getötet worden. Sie gehörten zusammen
mit drei weiteren schwer Verletzten der gleichen Familie an, sagte
ein Arzt des örtlichen Krankenhauses am Dienstag. Augenzeugen
berichteten, US-Panzer hätten die 50 Kilometer westlich der Haupt-
stadt Bagdad gelegene Ortschaft El Sidschr belagert und unterstützt
von Kampfhubschraubern das Feuer eröffnet. Das US-Militär in Bagdad
bestätigte "einen Zusammenstoß" mit Dorfbewohnern. Bei einer
Schießerei sei ein Iraker getötet worden.
* * *
Dienstag 23. September 2003, 18:19 Uhr
Chirac geißelt USA wegen Irak-Krieges und wirbt für UN-Reform
(AFP) Der französische Präsident Jacques Chirac hat seinen
Auftritt vor der UN-Vollversammlung zu scharfer Kritik am
US-geführten Irak-Krieg genutzt und in diesem Zusammenhang
für Multilateralismus und eine Stärkung der Vereinten Nationen
geworben. "In einer offenen Welt kann sich niemand isolieren,
niemand kann allein im Namen aller handeln und die Anarchie
einer Gesellschaft ohne Regeln akzeptieren", sagte Chirac am
Dienstag vor den in New York versammelten Staats- und Regierungs-
chefs. Für die UNO forderte das französische Staatsoberhaupt
eine "tief greifende Reform" und nannte dabei unter anderem einen
ständigen Sitz im Sicherheitsrat für Deutschland.
* * *
CIA created fake mullahs
The CIA installed phoney Muslim leaders and bribed existing ones
to counter the anti-American sentiment in mosques across the Arab
world after the 11 September attacks.
The claim is made in "The CIA at War" by Ronald Kessler, an
investigative reporter and author of several books about the
CIA and the FBI, who also describes espionage activity in
Iraq that supported the March invasion that unseated President
Saddam Hussein.
Kessler interviewed CIA Director George Tenet in May and other
senior CIA officials for his book. The agency supplied most of
the photographs in the book, which was made available to Reuters
news agency ahead of its October publication.
"In Islam, as in many other religions, anyone can call himself
a religious leader," he said in the book. "So, besides paying
mullahs, the CIA created fake mullahs - recruited agents who
would proclaim themselves clerics and take a more moderate
position about nonbelievers."
"We are taking over radio stations and supporting clerics," a
CIA source was quoted as saying. "It's back to propaganda. We
are creating moderate Muslims."
Kessler said the CIA also paid for mullahs to issue fatwas, or
religious edicts, urging Iraqis not to resist American forces.
He did not specify the countries this took place in.
Eyeball on Iraq
He said the CIA planted tiny video cameras to track former Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein, his sons, and other officials, and
monitor the position of Iraqi troops and suspected weapons of
mass destruction facilities.
Electronic beacons were attached to the undersides of cars that
Saddam might use and radar-imaging sensors were dragged across
the ground to look for hidden underground bunkers and storage
facilities, the book said.
He did not say exactly when such activities took place.
Shedding light on how a major pre-war threat was averted - that
Saddam would blow up his oil wells - Kessler says the CIA and US
Special Forces paid Iraqi guards who protected the wells to snip
wires to explosive devices after the war began.
To communicate with Iraqi agents the CIA gave them devices such
as satellite phones hidden in rifles and laptop computers with
programs hidden in innocuous games or graphics that could send
and receive encrypted documents, he said.
Invisible ink
The CIA also used a secret writing technique dating to biblical
days, in which Iraqi agents wrote over innocuous letters to aunts
or mothers through a second piece of paper treated with chemicals,
and the hidden message would show up when placed under a special
light, according to the book.
Tenet was quoted as saying it was up to him to accept responsibility
for any mistakes related to the 11 September, 2001, attacks and not
blame specific employees as some in Congress had requested. Otherwise
it could discourage the risk-taking essential to the CIA's mission.
"If you think this is about protecting your image or yourself, you're
finished. Forget it," Tenet was quoted as saying.
"Nobody is perfect. But guys who have never run anything in their
lives, who have never taken any risk in their lives, who have never
managed a large work force, will tell you how to suck eggs and
how to do your job on a daily basis. If you listen to them, you're
listening to the wrong people," he said.
Kessler said the CIA used operatives from intelligence services
in Arab countries including Jordan, Syria, and Egypt to infiltrate
al-Qaida, develop intelligence, but also sow suspicion so members
of the network would kill each other, the book said. Al-Qaida was
blamed for the 11 September attacks.
Unspecified
Tuesday 23 September 2003 3:54 AM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/
CIA+created+fake+mullahs.htm
* * *
Iraqi leaders and American military families speak out:
Bring them home NOW
S. R. V. Kelley
Al-Jazeerah, 9/23/03
In the last few days, 6 US Soldiers have died for nothing, increasing
Bush's Death Toll to 351 US and British Soldiers, and over 7,800
innocent Iraqi civilians http://www.antiwar.com/ewens/casualties.html
in Bush's Guerrilla Quagmire. Our young men and women are dying, as
are innocent Iraqis, while the Bushies and their corrupt cronies are
enjoying the "high life" ... fat, juicy (top-secret) contracts for
corporate war-profiteers; oil corporations lusting after the 2nd
richest oil fields that belong to the Iraqi People; and, immoral tax
cuts for the "top dogs" and "fat cats".
The lives of our US Military personnel are miserable, and they face
the possibility of death on a daily basis ... but not for L. Paul
Bremer and the Bush Gang, ensconced in palaces, well-fed, well-rested,
and well-protected, in the bosom of their armed guards. In fact,
Iraqi leaders plan to testify before Congress and report the money
wasted by the Americans who are living like neo-emperors: Read "Iraqi
Leaders to Press Congress for Control Over Rebuilding" by Patrick E.
Tyler, on http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/22/international/middleeast/
22BAGH.html?ex=1064808000&en=cef02b9e6d04d39e&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE .
An excerpt:
"The Americans are spending money here to secure themselves at a rate
that is two to three times what they are spending to secure the Iraqi
people," said Ahmad al-Barak, a human rights lawyer and a member of
the council. "It would be better for us if we would be in charge of
how to spend this money and, of course, they could monitor how it is
spent."
"He estimated that in some cases the savings could be a factor of
10. "Where they spend $1 billion, we would spend $100 million," he
said."
"In the spirit of demonstrating such savings, the Governing Council
this month canceled the $5,000-a-day contract that Mr. Bremer
had arranged to feed the 25-member body and its staff and found
a cheaper supplier." One can only wonder the exorbitant amount of
taxpayer dollars Bremer squanders on his own meals. Presumably more
than is being spent on our U.S. Soldiers charged for their daily
meals deducted from their measly incomes, if they are injured in
battle and hospitalized.
The Iraqi people want control of their own country, and a delegation
from the US-appointed Governing Council wants more authority turned
over to Iraq. Refer to "Iraqis Urge Quick End to Occupation", by
Rajiv Chandrasekaran on
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0915-07.htm .
Isn't is ironic that the Bushies don't want the Iraqis to control
their own country after having "liberated" them? Of course not,
because the Iraqi people might not agree to be raped by the Bush
Gang's corrupt cabal of robber-barons like Halliburton, Bechtel,
Carlyle Group & Big Oil-- The Bush Regime won't allow the Iraqis to
determine their own future ... they won't allow them free elections,
just as they won't allow us free elections in America.
Military families are rightly speaking out [http://www.mfso.org/ ],
as they don't want their loved ones massacred, simply to save the
corrupt Bush Gang's fatt rear-ends ... Why should human beings die
for an insane neo-con ideology of global hegemony to enrich the
corporate empire on behalf the rich oligarchy?
A letter from a soldier reads [ http://www.alternet.org ]:
"I am a soldier currently on active duty and my husband is a member
of the Reserves and has been activated since Feb. 13, and is currently
in Iraq, supporting the 4th ID, where he's been since April. We were
both deployed at the same time. I was fortunate enough to have my unit
return earlier this summer.
"Some of the conditions I experienced over there were deplorable.
It sickens me every time I see news articles quoting dignitaries
coming from there saying, "The soldiers are in good spirits,"
"Morale is high." I'm here to tell you, it's all lies. Morale is
at an all-time low. Soldiers are hating life there, so much so,
some are taking their own lives rather than deal with the situation.
It has become that drastic" ... For more access :
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/2003/09/001265.html.
The hypocritical screed and propaganda spewed by the Bush Regime,
must be exposed for the neo-fascist rhetoric full of deceptions,
that it represents. Wolfy Wolfowitz lied over the week-end by
suggesting that Saddam Hussein massacred millions of Iraqis,
which is factually untrue, just as he lied about phony WMDs and
fabricated links between Iraq and Al Qaida
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/22/international/22WOLF.html?ex=10648
08000&en=3d54a6ff144c6 . But Wolfy plays fast-and-loose with reality,
believing that Americans are dumb sheep willing to believe his neo-
con flim-flam.
L. Paul Bremer must have racked up millions of frequent-flyer points,
and is back in Washington DC today to sell another "lemon" to the
rubber-stamp, credulous Congress, in order that he can play neo-
Lawrence of Arabia, by persuading them to hand-over billions into
his dirty, sticky fingers. "Terrorists love state sponsors" ...
"Saddam's Iraq was one of those countries", spits Bremer, except
for the fact, that Al Qaida was not linked to Iraq. The Bush Regime
created chaos and a hot-bed for terrorism ... destroyed their
infrastructure ... and now say "$87 Billion is an important element
in the war on terrorism" and to re-build Iraq.
If Congress can't see past this flim-flam "bait-and-switch" scam,
perpetrated by the arrogant Bush Regime to enrich their Corporate
Cronies, then they are either stupid or corrupt or both. The Bushies
want the poor, low-income, middle-class and fixed-income Americans
to pay-off all their debts. The Bushies don't want their corporate
cronies or their rich campaign contributors to sacrifice any of
their ill-gotten blood-money.
The chaos and rape of America and Iraq, has been instigated on
behalf of Halliburton, Bechtel, Carlyle Group, Big Oil, and other
corporate robber-barons. Meanwhile, average taxpayers and Iraqi
citizens are paying Bush's obscene $166 Billion War Tab, as well
as his record-level $500 Billion Spending-Spree Deficit, all
being squandered on the rich.
Meanwhile, the Bushies are pretending that all is rosy and
everybody in Iraq, is tickled pink-- as Richard Perle spouts the
official propaganda on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, except that
representatives from global aide agencies, as well as reports
showing real people on the streets (not in the palaces) of Baghdad,
starkly contradicts the official Bush Regime's position.
"We the People" have an obligation to contact Congress today to
demand that the war-profiteers' profits be confiscated; tax cuts
for the richest-of-the-rich be repealed; and, liars like Cheney,
Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz be summarily fired for incompetence
and corruption. Bush should also be tried and impeached for
betraying his oath of office.
http://www.aljazeerah.info/23%20o/
Iraqi%20leaders%20and%20American%20military%20families%20speak%
20out,%20Bring%20them%20home%20NOW,%20S.%20R.%20V.%20Kelley.htm
* * *
US-backed council bars Arab media
by Roshan Muhammed Salih
Freedom of speech campaigners have condemned US-appointed authorities
in Iraq for banning television stations Aljazeera and al- Arabiya.
Iraq's Governing Council said on Tuesday the stations were prohibited
from covering official activities in Iraq for two weeks.
It said the action was taken as a warning to broadcasters who incite
anti-US violence.
"Al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya will temporarily be excluded from
any coverage of Governing Council activities or official press
conferences, and correspondents of the two channels will not be
allowed to enter ministries or government offices for two weeks,"
the council said in a statement.
US officials have accused Qatar-based Aljazeera and Dubai-based
al-Arabiya of giving too much prominence to anti-US attacks and
providing a forum for backers of ousted President Saddam Hussein.
Bias
Both channels, which are competitors for the Arab world audience,
strenuously deny charges of bias.
Aljazeera spokesman Jihad Ballut said the station regretted
the decision, but "will continue our work as usual until we
are officially notified".
Al-Arabiya officials have yet to react in detail.
However, Rohan Jayasekera, of London-based Index on Censorship,
said the bans were "blatantly unfair".
"The Americans and the British have had previous experience in
Bosnia and Kosovo of the difficult balancing act between encouraging
democracy and an independent media and preventing incitement to
violence.
Due process
"They managed it quite well there but have failed in Iraq. At the
moment, the Governing Council is basically told what to do by the
Americans. But if they are going to ban media outlets then the
complaints have to be addressed fairly and there has to be a right
of reply."
And British MP and Iraq expert George Galloway said the council
decision was an indictment of the way the American-led forces
were running the country.
"This puts a nail in the coffin of the big lie that the West was
going into Iraq to liberate the country in the name of freedom
and democracy and to rid it of the yoke of dictatorship," he said.
"Aljazeera and al-Arabiya have the right to report news. They cater
to their audience and will obviously favouritise stories their
audience is interested in.
"Other media organisations should protest vociferously against this
decision because today it is Aljazeera and al-Arabiya but tomorrow
it could be them."
Resistance
Galloway also denied the Americans had a right to act against media
outlets to prevent attacks on their troops.
"The Iraqi resistance have a legitmate right to defend their country.
After all, they didn't ask the Americans to invade Iraq with all guns
blazing.
"And in any case, the Iraqi resistance is working underground and
has no access to electricity, let alone TV. The idea that they are
waiting for Aljazeera and al-Arabiya to give them the nod before
they do anything borders on the ridiculous."
And he predicted the censorship would ultimately backfire on the
occupation forces.
"The British Prime Minister banned the Irish Republican Army in
the 1980s and tried to deny them access to all media. But all that
achieved was to reduce the government to the level of the IRA and
to make them a laughing stock," he said.
Aljazeera + Agencies
Tuesday 23 September 2003 2:49 PM GMT
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/US-
backed+council+bans+Arab+TV+stations.htm
* * *
U.S. Troops Kill Three Iraqi Villagers In Fallujah
FALLUJAH, Iraq, September 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) -
U.S. occupation forces, backed by air support, killed three
Iraqi villagers and wounded three others early Tuesday,
September 23, near the hotspot town of Fallujah.
The U.S. military argued, however, it killed one Iraqi in an
incident involving a single "coalition aircraft", claiming its
troops come under fire first and were faced with crowds of local
residents blocking intersections.
Countering the American version of events, eyewitnesses said three
Iraqis were killed and three others seriously wounded in an assault
by U.S. troops and helicopters that damaged a pair of houses in
the village of Al-Sijr, two kilometers north of Fallujah, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
They said American tanks surrounded the village and troops opened
up with machine-gun fire before helicopters launched missiles.
The witnesses reported seeing helicopters circling above and hearing
the roar of warplanes.
An AFP correspondent at the scene said the attack was aimed at one
or perhaps two houses which suffered damage and blown-out windows,
while an Iraqi resident confirmed one of the houses was ransacked
by U.S. troops a day earlier.
Zidan al-Jumaili and Ibrahim al-Jumaili, both residents of Al-Sijr
