FEBRUARY2007

Iraqi journalists are outraged over yet another US military raid on the media.US soldiers raided and ransacked the offices of the Iraq Syndicate of Journalists (ISJ) in central Baghdad Tuesday this week. Ten armed guards were arrested, and 10 computers and 15 small electricity generators kept for donation to families of killed journalists were seized.This is not the first time US troops have attacked the media in Iraq, but this time the raid was against the very symbol of it. Many Iraqis believe the US soldiers did all they could to deliver the message of their leadership to Iraqi journalists to keep their mouth shut about anything going wrong with the US-led occupation.

"The Americans have delivered so many messages to us, but we simply refused all of them," Youssif al-Tamimi of the ISJ in Baghdad told InterPress (IPS). "They killed our colleagues, closed so many newspapers, arrested hundreds of us and now they are shooting at our hearts by raiding our headquarters. This is the freedom of speech we received."

Some Iraqi journalists blame the Iraqi government."Four years of occupation, and those Americans still commit such foolish mistakes by following the advice of their Iraqi collaborators," Ahmad Hassan, a freelance journalist from Basra visiting Baghdad told IPS. "They [the US military] have not learned yet that Iraqi journalists will raise their voice against such acts and will keep their promise to their people to search for the truth and deliver it to them at any cost."

There is a growing belief in Iraq that US allies in the current Iraqi government are leading the US military to raid places and people who do not follow Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's directions."It is our Iraqi colleagues who pushed the Americans to that hole," Fadhil Abbas, an Iraqi television producer told IPS. "Some journalists who failed to fake the truth here are trying hard to silence truth seekers by providing false information to the US military in order to take advantage of their stupidity in handling the whole Iraqi issue."The incident occurred just two days after the Iraqi Union covering journalists received formal recognition from the government. The new status allowed the Syndicate access to its previously blocked bank account, and it had just purchased new computers and satellite equipment.

"Just at the point when the Syndicate achieves formal recognition for its work as an independent body of professionals, the American military carries out a brutal and unprovoked assault," International Federation of Journalists General Secretary Aidan White said in a statement. "Anyone working for media that does not endorse US policy and actions could now be at risk."The raid was a "shocking violation of journalists' rights," White said. "In the past three years more than 120 Iraqi journalists, many of them Syndicate members, have been killed, and now their union has been turned over in an unprovoked act of intimidation.

"The Americans and their Iraqi government followers are destroying social activities and civil unions so that no group can oppose their crimes and plans," 55-year-old lawyer Hashim Jawad of the Iraqi Lawyers Union in Baghdad told IPS. "The press is our remaining lung to breathe democracy in this country and now it is being targeted."

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), an independent humanitarian association based in Geneva which seeks to strengthen legal protection and safety of journalists around the world also strongly condemned the US military raid.

The media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders lists at least 148 journalists and media workers killed in Iraq since the beginning of the US-led invasion in March 2003.The group also compiles an annual Press Freedom Index for countries around the world. In 2002, under Saddam Hussein's rule, Iraq ranked 130. In the 2006 index, Iraq fell to position 154.

The same index listed the US at 17 in 2002, a rank that fell to 56 by 2006.

The Brussels Tribunal, a group of "intellectuals, artists and activists who denounce the... war," lists the names, dates and circumstances in which 191 media professionals of Iraqi nationality have been killed.The PEC and the other watchdogs have requested the Iraqi government to launch an immediate inquiry into the attack."I only wish the US administration and our government would stop lying about freedom in Iraq," Mansoor Salim, a retired journalist, told IPS. "How stupid we were to have believed their statements about freedom. I admit that I was one of the fools."

Ali al-Fadhily is IPS’ Baghdad correspondent. Dahr Jamail is IPS’ specialist writer who has spent eight months reporting from inside Iraq and has been covering the Middle East for several
years

FEB.14TH
Neocon Iranian Mortar Ruse Own Goal

Sunday February 11th 2007, 3:37 pm

Is there something wrong with this picture?

“America today blamed Iran for the deaths of 170 US troops inside Iraq, accusing Teheran of supplying insurgents with increasingly sophisticated bombs,” reports the UK Telegraph, a trusty propaganda tool.

“Senior defense officials in Baghdad said that Iranian-supplied “explosively formed projectiles” were frequently being used against coalition forces” and “the ‘highest levels’ of Iran’s regime were responsible for giving them to Shia militias in Iraq.”

Although the Telegraph does not mention what particular Shi’a group would use the purported Iranian “explosively formed projectiles” against American troops, we must assume they are making reference to Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi army. In general, Shi’a militias are too busy killing Sunnis, and vice versa, although late last month the killing of five American soldiers at a supposedly secure U.S. facility in Karbala was blamed on “Iranian intelligence agents in conjunction with Iraq’s Shiite Mahdi Army militia,” according to the Examiner . For some unexplained reason these militant Shi’ites decided to dump the bodies of their victims in the town of Mahawil, a predominantly Sunni area.

But never mind. As the photo above supposedly demonstrates, the Pentagon has seized a number of 81mm mortar rounds, used as roadside bombs. “These bombs are specially designed to penetrate heavily armored military vehicles and are capable of crippling the US army’s main battle tank, the Abrams M1,” the Telegraph ominously reports, or rather reads from a Pentagon script. “They have killed 170 US troops since June 2004, according to the American officials. They added that some weapons have been captured and they bore the hallmarks of having been manufactured in Iran…. Many were made as recently as last year—ruling out the possibility that they could have been left over from the many arms caches scattered across Iraq by Saddam Hussein’s regime.”

Of course, as this is a sloppy neocon ruse, as per usual, there is a problem here. Can you guess what it is?

If you guessed the date, you win a Cupie doll. For some reason the geniuses at the Pentagon have failed to explain why the Iranians used a date from the Christian Gregorian calendar and not one from the Islamic Persian calendar. According to the Muslim calendar, the date stenciled on this mortar shell should read 1427, not 2006. And why did Iran, a country speaking and writing in Persian, a language written in a version of the Arabic script, decide to label their shells in English? Maybe they thought it would fool the infidels?

I’m not taking the bait. As usual, this attempt to frame Muslims stinks of neocon sloppiness. Once again, the neocons blow it. Not that it particularly matters, as most Americans are oblivious and, besides, millions of them still think Osama and Saddam are twin brothers.

It is believed radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, one of Iraq’s most powerful figures, has left the country and is now
in Iran Financial Times

Feb 4th

Unpremeditated massacre?

UPDATE FROM
ELECTRONIC IRAQ

http://electronicIraq.net

In today's Independent, Patrick Cockburn writes:

"There are growing suspicions in Iraq that the official story of the battle outside Najaf between a messianic Iraqi cult and the Iraqi security forces supported by the US, in which 263 people were killed and 210 wounded, is a fabrication. The heavy casualties may be evidence of an
unpremeditated massacre.

"A picture is beginning to emerge of a clash between an Iraqi Shia tribe on a pilgrimage to Najaf and an Iraqi army checkpoint that led the US to intervene with devastating effect. The involvement of Ahmed al-Hassani (also known as Abu Kamar), who believed himself to be the coming Mahdi, or Messiah, appears to have been accidental. The story emerging on independent Iraqi websites and in Arabic newspapers is entirely different from the government's account of the battle with the so-called 'Soldiers of Heaven', planning a raid on Najaf to kill Shia religious leaders.

"The cult denied it was involved in the fighting, saying it was a peaceful movement."

Here is our own translation of an eyewitness account posted on the Al-Iraq news site:

"It all started at six am on Sunday, January 28, 2007, as the Hatimi convoy reached the outskirts of Najaf for the Ashura celebration. Hatimi is one of the largest Arab tribes of the south. They live between Najaf and Diwaniyyeh.

"The convoy included 200 persons from the tribe and who came from all over the country to participate in Ashura. When they arrived in Zerqa, northeast of Najaf, they were greeted by the Kazaal tribe. The Kazaals and the Hawatmis - members of Hatimi tribe - are tribes known for their
resistance to the British colonization last century and their fierce opposition to the US occupation this century. They were among the first Shiite tribes that joined hands with Hareth al Dari - head of the Association of Muslim scholars - to unite Iraqis against the US occupation.

"The procession of the tribe to Ashura was led by the head of the tribe, Saad Nayef Al Hatimi and his wife, who, because they were old and could not walk, came in a white car.

"Iraqi police - who had warned before that no cars are allowed in Najaf during Ashura - immediately shot at the car and killed the head of the tribe, his wife and the driver - Jaber Rida al Hatimi. The outraged convoy attacked the checkpoint of the Badr Brigade without firing at it at all - though we had guns to protect ourselves for the two night walk to Najaf. The police started to shoot
at us again and 20 of us died. The Kazal tribe came to rescue us since we have close ties with them and we back each other in peace and war. After ten minutes of exchanging fire, the checkpoint called the police station in Najaf, claimed that they had been attacked with heavy weapons by Al Qaeda from all sides, and called the American troops for back up.

"After fifteen minutes, Iraqi police with American troops besieged us. And US helicopters started to shell us with leaflets saying give in or be killed...The Badr Brigade knew we were not Al Qaeda but Shiites and fabricated the story of the "Soldiers of Heaven." As a result of the US shelling and the attacks by Iraqi police and US troops, 120 of the Hatimi tribe and 30 from the Kazal tribe were
killed. We are not soldiers neither of the sky nor of the earth."

It is difficult to know exactly what happened in Najaf. Unfortunately, followers of Iraq news are often forced towork as detectives and search western media and Iraqi media alike for clues. The above account cannot be confirmed yet, but it deserves to be shared.
eIraq willfollow this story closely.

Salah ad-Din
The violence in Salah ad-Din has caused the displacement of thousands of residents. Throughout the province there are about 2,850 displaced families – or some 12,000 individuals - living in abandoned government buildings, parks, mosques or staying with relatives, according to Thawra Baker Abid, director of the Iraqi Red Crescent branch in Tikrit.

"These families came from Baghdad and from the southern provinces of Kut [now known as Wasit] and Basra after the explosion at the Shi’ite shrine in Samarra. Others came from the nearby religiously mixed cities of Balad and Tarmiyah," Abid said.

"It's not easy all the time to get assistance from Baghdad or from NGOs because of the security situation. Because of that, we depend largely on donations from locals. We are in dire need of beds, warm clothes, blankets and the most important things are medicines for chronic diseases such as cardiac diseases, blood pressure disorders and diabetes," she added.

We are dying here. Not enough food, not enough medicines. I can't go to work and my three sons can't attend their classes. We don't know what to do.

Mohammed Sahib Ali is a 48-year-old government employee who was forced to drive north with his five-member family after being threatened by Shi’ite militants in Baghdad’s Hurriyah area.

"We are dying here. Not enough food, not enough medicines. I can't go to work and my three sons can't attend their classes. We don't know what to do," said Ali, who for the past five months has been living in a school with his family.

Poor services

Like many in other parts of Iraq, the residents of Salah ad-Din province have to make do with poor municipal services. They have electricity for about six hours a day, there are no sewage networks in most areas and they can only buy oil products on the black market.

Salam Hashim Salih, a 36-year-old taxi driver living in Tikrit, said he has to store his family’s waste and sewage in holes in the ground next to his house and then call the municipality to collect it.

"We have to call these tankers nearly every two months. Of course, we have to pay for them to come. I have to pay about 50,000 to 60,000 Iraqi Dinars [$47] and of course this is not official," Salih said. "Because of having to store our sewage, we have insects and a foul odour all over the house."

Local officials said the deteriorating security situation was preventing companies and contractors from doing their jobs.

"We can't attract contractors and companies as the security situation is getting worse day after day. And if they start their work, they can't do it easily and it often takes a long time to do simple things," said Amir Qandel, projects director for the province.
........................................



Engagement with War/Editorial
Kathy Kelly, Electronic Iraq, 30 January 2007

AMMAN - Earlier this week, I received a joyful phone call from Baghdad. Members of a family I've known since 1996 announced that one of their younger daughters was engaged. Broken Arabic and broken English crossed the lines -"We love you! We miss you!" My colleague here in Amman, who also knows this family well, shook her head smiling when I gave her the happy news. "What an amazing family," she said. "Imagine all that they've survived."

A few hours later, the family sent us a text message: "now bombs destroy all the glasses in our home - no one hurt."

No one was home when the explosion shattered every window and damaged ceilings and walls. This was exceptionally fortunate given that they are a family of nine living in a very small dwelling. The family has moved into an even smaller home where one daughter lives with her husband and newborn baby. It happens that their aunt and her three children are also with them. The aunt had traveled from Amman to secure needed documents in Baghdad. Seventeen people are crowded into an apartment the size of a small one car garage. This family suddenly joined the ranks of over a million people in Iraq who are homeless, displaced. I watched television coverage of the gruesome carnage at the intersection of the street where they had lived. The blood-spattered streets, charred vehicles, and desperate bereavement are part of everyday footage filmed in cities throughout the region, whether in Iraq, Lebanon, the West Bank, or Israel. The humanitarian crisis that mounts as a consequence of the catastrophic explosions and attacks is more difficult to portray.

"We need...everything," said the visiting aunt when I asked what they
needed. A displaced family needs food, water, clothing, blankets, fuel and housing.

Every family in Baghdad struggles with fuel and energy crises. In Baghdad, there is one hour of electricity every 12 hours. Only the more well-to-do families can afford a generator for back-up electricity. The price of fuel for transportation has risen so high. Families with no income in a society that has 50% -75% unemployment find themselves scrounging for basic necessities and not at all prepared to offerhospitality to newly displaced families.

Families that receive the dreaded knock on the door giving them 24 hours notice - leave or you will be killed - often travel to other regions of Iraq where they no longer have access to the rations distributed in their former neighborhoods. Many families are hungry and cold. Disease sets in and they have no access to health care. Children aren't easily accepted in overcrowded schools when families move into a new area. Sewage and sanitation systems are stressed by
unexpected rises in neighborhood populations. A family might be welcomed by relatives who couldn't bear to turn them away, but how are the host families and communities to manage continued hospitality with very little international relief or support available?

Consider, for instance, that over a third (38%) of Iraq's people depend on the ration system for the meager allotments of lentils, rice, flour, salt and tea. If a family is displaced by an attack on their home, distance or personal safety often prohibits returning to their former home to pick up these supplies. Too often the agent who delivers the supplies can't even approach the warehouse to collect them, because it is located in a "hot" area now controlled by a sect
or militia to which he does not belong and which may kill him. In those cases, whole neighborhoods, already struggling and suffering, must go without a month's supply of food. There should be massive convoys traveling into Iraq on a regular basis to meet the rising humanitarian needs. There should be, but there aren't. Families that can manage to reach the Jordanian or Syrian borders flee with the hope of being allowed to cross into the two countries that have allowed Iraqis to enter. But now, Jordan's official policy is that they'll only allow Iraqis with permanent residence in Jordan to enter, and the Syrians are also clamping down.

We should insist that decision makers in the U.S. come to grips with the consequences of the past four years of military invasion and occupation and demand that U.S. wealth be directed toward humanitarian concerns, unhinged from U.S. military control. We should welcome and support diplomatic means to resolve crises.We who claim the right to free speech, far beyond the imprisoning borders of Iraq, should join our strengths and wills to visit every congressional and senate office over the coming weeks, exercising nonviolent civil disobedience to cut
funding for the wasteful, cruel, illegal and immoral U.S. addiction to war. (See vcnv.org to learn more about joining such a campaign.)

Kathy Kelly (kathy@vcnv.org) is a co-coordinator of Voices for
Creative Nonviolence

"Notre passé est triste, notre présent est tragique, mais dieu merci nous n'avons pas d'avenir."

proverbe kurde