I guess I am still upset by the encounter with those American college students the other day. They were the students who still believed that Iraq attacked us on 9/11. (OMG it's over 7 years since Mitch died under the South Tower while rescuing injured and innocent civilians on that day that changed my world.)
That they were 'small-town' Americans is no excuse. They have professors, religious and social leaders, parents. Is no one responsible for undoing the lies and seeing that the truth is spread as diligently as the lies were promulgated?
I hope some of Obama's stimulus money is headed for socio-political education, textbook and curriculum revision, and some public awareness in our media. It's about time we ensured that all Americans understand the depth of the lies about the Iraqi people.
What follows:
1) An excerpt from Layla Anwar's blog, and
2) The Incident report for Friday April 10 2009.
The former is included because I love her insights, her style, and her passion for the truth.
The latter because we ought to pay attention to the field of battle in which we sacrifice our young, brave soldiers for the sake of...what? For momentum? For old, long dis-proven ideas?
We set our troops out to be killed. It is certainly not for the Iraqi people. The majority of Iraqis want us gone! Long gone. Completely gone. We put our sons and daughters in the killing zone because...???
1) An excerpt from Layla Anwar's blog
- Layla : Hello again Malcolm, let's continue...
If I "hear"
you right, Americans absolutely had to demonize Saddam to get to Iraq.
I am thinking if it was only a question of getting rid of Saddam
Hussein, they could have gotten rid of him without having to destroy
Iraq and the decades of hard work. Why did they need to destroy the
Iraqi infrastructure, the cultural and historical "patrimoine" and more
importantly why did they need the collaboration of another country on
the axis of evil - Iran - to achieve their aims ?
Malcolm
: The propaganda was all aimed at Saddam, yet some politicians realized
that the country consisted of more than one person. By publicly
demonizing Saddam, it was automatic that the U.S. citizenry would
extend its hatred to Iraqis as well.
The scenario leading up to
the March 2003 invasion was quite bizarre. We kept hearing that Saddam
was a butcher who did not allow students to have pencils. There was not
one word saying that the U.S. would not allow pencils into Iraq during
the embargo. One leftist journalist wrote an article in 2006 titled
"Education System in Iraq Is in Danger." I thought to myself, "Finally,
a look at the reality of the invasion." He began by saying that Iraq
had a great education until Saddam came to power. Then, he ruined it.
The writer claimed that no teacher could leave Iraq for any reason. If
he/she did, the penalty was death. I was aghast to read this. In 1973
and 1974, Iraq sent thousands of teachers overseas to obtain advanced
degrees....[Arab Woman Blues]
2) The Incident report for Friday April 10 2009; 10 bombs, one grenage, one missle strike.
Baghdad:
#1: A Katyusha missile
hit a house in Taji district, a northern suburb of Baghdad injuring two
women and causing extensive material damage to the house.
#2: A roadside bomb targeted civilians in the city of Yousifiyah, 25 km to the south of Baghdad City killing two, injuring four others.
Diyala Prv:
#1: Two people,
including a woman, were killed when a civilian car was damaged by a
roadside bomb in al-Mansorea district, about 35 km east of Baqubah, the
capital city of Diyala province. Five others were also injured in the
bombing, according to the source.
#2: In a separate incident,
at least 10 people were injured by a cycle bomb detonated near a
wedding party in al-Askaree district, about 30 km east of Baqubah, the
source said.
#3: The Diala police chief
announced on Friday that the fourth Operation “New Dawn” started in
central Baaquba. “Police forces started on the wee small hours of
Friday morning (April 10) the fourth Operation (New Dawn) to hunt down
al-Qaeda strongholds in al-Mafraq, al-Katoun and al-Mualameen
neighborhoods in central Baaquba,” General Abdul Hussein al-Shemri told
Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#4: Around 4:15 p.m.
one construction worker was killed and another wounded by an IED inside
Saad Camp for the Iraqi army in eastern Baquba on Thursday.
#5: Thursday Around 5:15 p.m.
a bicycle bomb detonated among people who were attending a wedding
party in downtown Balad Ruz (about 25 miles southeast Baquba). Six
people were wounded, two women and four men.
Amarra:
#1: A roadside bomb
on Thursday went off targeting a police patrol in northern Amara city,
without causing any casualties, said a source from Missan province’s
police. “The incident took place in al-Moalimeen neighborhood, northern
Amara,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion
caused no casualties, but damaged the patrol’s vehicle,” he said.
Basra:
#1: The bomb
which went off in Basra on Thursday targeted the Iraqi army not the
Multinational forces, the media advisor of the U.S. forces said on
Friday. “An explosive charge went off on Thursday (April 9) targeting
an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in Basra,” al-Muqdad Jebreel told Aswat
al-Iraq news agency. A source from Basra Operations Room had said
Thursday a roadside bomb went off targeting a Multi-National Forces
(MNF) patrol in Iraq’s southern city of Basra, without causing any
damages or casualties. “The incident took place while the patrol was
en-route to its base at Basra International Airport,” the source told
Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Riyadh:
#1: One gunman
was wounded while he was attempting to plant a grenade to target a
Sahwa (Awakening) checkpoint, to the southwest of Kirkuk, said a source
from the province’s police. “The incident took place in al-Riyadh
district, 45 km southwest of Kirkuk,” Brigadier Serhad Qadir told Aswat
al-Iraq news agency. “The wounded gunman was immediately arrested by
Sahwa fighters,” he said.
Mosul:
#1: A suicide bomber
detonated a truck packed with explosives outside an Iraqi army and
police base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing one soldier
and wounding 30 other people, police said. The toll of dead and wounded
was only preliminary, and likely to rise, said a police source, who
declined to be named. He said 15 of the wounded were police.
At least
eight people were killed and 20 wounded in a suicide truck bombing in
Iraq's restive northern city of Mosul on Friday, security sources told.
The blast occurred in the southern part of Mosul, Iraq's second largest
city, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed al-Juburi told. An interior ministry
official said at least eight people were killed.
A suicide bomber
detonated a truck packed with explosives outside an Iraqi army and
police base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday, killing two
people and wounding 70 others, police said. The attack killed one
soldier and one policeman, and at least 15 other policemen were among
the wounded, police said. The blast destroyed five Iraqi and two U.S.
armoured vehicles. The U.S. military was not immediately available to
comment.