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Nov 15 2009 Birth defects in Fallujah from U.S. munitions?

"Young women in Fallujah in Iraq are terrified of having children because of the increasing number of babies born grotesquely deformed, with no heads, two heads, a single eye in their foreheads, scaly bodies or missing limbs"...Iraqirabita, Oct 2009 [We decided not to include the photographs with this story.]

We first heard about the sudden rise in birth defects in Fallujah a couple of years ago, but put it down to outrageous exaggeration. Unable to find corroboration we filed it away with other anecdotal material.  After digging around a bit I feel justified in adding my voice to the those who are speaking out about this particular horror the U.S. visited upon innocent Iraqi civilians.

Lisa Holland, of SKYNews UK made a video report of the situation in May of 2008. I believe she should be credited with this latest round of concern. She interviews family members, physicians, and human rights workers directly involved.

Dahr Jamail spoke of the birth defects in Fallujah on TalkRadio in July of 2008. 

Subsequent reporting has included statistical data gathered by pediatrician, Samira Abdul Ghani. Birth records were relatively sketchy since the invasion, and rare during Sadaam's reign, but are back on track. The comparisons are staggering.

[Iraqirabita, Oct 2009]Young women in Fallujah in Iraq are terrified of having children because of the increasing number of babies born grotesquely deformed, with no heads, two heads, a single eye in their foreheads, scaly bodies or missing limbs...young children in Fallujah are experiencing hideous cancers and leukemias. These deformities are now well documented, for example in television documentaries on SKY UK on September 1 2009, and on SKY UK June 2008.

...In September 2009, Fallujah General Hospital had 170 new born babies, 24% of whom were dead within the first seven days, a staggering 75% of the dead babies were classified as deformed...compared with data from the month of August in 2002 where there were 530 new born babies of whom six were dead within the first seven days and only one birth defect was reported.

[UPI Nov 2009] Birth defects and early childhood cancers have soared in Fallujah, site of two major battles after the invasion of Iraq, doctors say.

Doctors say they are unsure what is behind the spike in birth defects, The Guardian reported, but suggest it might be chemicals used during the two periods of intense fighting.

"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Dr. Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically." Studies suggest the rate of birth defects is about 15 times higher than elsewhere in Iraq. Clusters of congenital defects have also been found in Basra and Najaf, also racked by violence after the 2003 invasion.

[The Guardian/UK Nov 2009] reports that British and Iraqi medical personnel and officials have petitioned the U.N. to investigate and help with the cleanup of toxic materials resulting from the U.S. invasion and occupation.

There is still no conclusive link between American weapons, especially white phosphorous and depleted uranium, and the rise in birth defects. No scientific study of the linkage has yet been done.

We hope the U.N. will hear the cries of Fallujah and initiate a thorough investigation. The Obama administration should also support these efforts at finding the truth.

Nov 13 2009 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Marwa in NYC

NYC is soon to host the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and 4 others accused (Khalid actually boasts of his work) of a crime that reshaped our world. One of his victims is heading for NYC this week. It's a long chain of events that led from KSM's planning to Marwa losing her leg, but the steps are clearly connected.

KSM planned, the killers acted, the U.S. was attacked, the Bushmen lied, and we invaded and occupied an innocent nation, terrorizing its innocent civilian population and delivering devastating violence that destroyed lives, limbs, and the cultural fabric of Iraq.

Marwa lost her right leg in a US bombing raid that killed her sister Azra. She was 16 years old.  

Like many Iraqi children, Marwa no longer goes to school. She was flown to Germany where she received her first prosthesis, paid for by Jürgen Todenhöfer using proceeds from his book "Why do you kill, Zaid?"

On the recommendation of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Todenhöfer provided Marwa with some money to enable her to open a small grocery shop. Because Sadr-City is controlled by the Mahdi Army, an Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, fixtures and fittings for the shop had to be smuggled to Marwa’s house in the back of an ambulance.

She needs a new prosthesis, having outgrown the original. The best are in the U.S. and Todenhöfer and the IOM are flying her to New York City so she can receive the best device, and the best medical and rehabilitative care available.

She'll be staying in Brooklyn, at the house of a generous soul who has opened her doors and extended her family for the duration of Marwa's stay here. Some of New York City's growing Muslim/Iraqi population have volunteered to provide transportation, translation, and much deserved entertainment.

If  you would like to help, make a check out to Bruce Wallace, mail it to:

Bruce Wallace
121Contact
523 72nd Street
Brooklyn NY 11209

and we'll see that 100% of your gift is delivered directly to Marwa.

Nov 11, 2009 Blackwater bribery? A mother's pain? Occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan?

The linkages are clear enough.

When a nation steps outside the law, people lose their foundation of trust. Yeah, I think about getting swept up one day; cut off from communication; lost to the 'free' world...and sometimes it really happens and some families are caught in the maelstrom of unknowing, perhaps forever.

One cannot value the word of a nation that lies its way into occupation, bribes its way past mercenary atrocities, hides it ways of rendition, torture, and assassination. One cannot value the judgment of a nation that pours over 10 billion dollars a month into occupation efforts while 45 million Americans are unable to adequately feed themselves.

It is time to stop the lying--to other and to ourselves.

It is time to end the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is time to end the lawlessness of the U.S. government.

 

Indefinitely Detained

 

By Talat Hamdani

 

 

 “Harsh tactics” or torture, the threat of indefinite detention, whisking people to other countries without recourse, actions that our government has adopted, have left many Americans in a state of acute apprehension and often in outright fear. What happened to Salman Hamdani is still a question in the mind of his mother. Until we can say these actions are completely rejected by our government, the fears will remain.  We must reject extra-Constitutional activities once and for all.

 

 

It’s almost too painful to remember everything; the chaos, my first-born being ripped away from me was too much to bear.  When we couldn’t reach him and he didn’t come home on September 11, we knew that he had gone to the Trade Center to help.

 

He was still fresh at his research job at Rockefeller University in Manhattan . At age 23 he had just graduated from Queens College , was applying for medical school and was in the final throes of an NYPD police cadet training program.   Gentle and caring, he worked as an ambulance driver while studying and, as a certified paramedic, we were certain he went where he could use his skills to aid others.

 

Many calls came from the victim’s family center in the following days; the callers said they were investigators.  They kept asking the same questions over and again, calling sometime late into the night.  ”Where was Salman going?” “Who was he going to meet that day?” “When did he leave the house?”

 

Two weeks later someone came into my husband’s store in Queens and said he had seen our son’s picture on an MTA wanted poster from the “Terrorist Task Force”.  We were stunned.  Salman came here with us as an infant from Pakistan ; his two younger brothers were born here our chosen country.   He was deemed suspect, it seems, because he was a chemistry major in college, was born in Pakistan , and was Muslim.

 

We were overrun by reporters.  For the most part, they were fair and refrained from wild conjecture in their reporting, except for the NY Post, whose sensational headline blared “Missing or Hiding?” under Salman’s picture, and claimed someone saw him later that day uptown.  Then people came from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and searched our house.

 

In early October, exhausted and depressed, our family made the pilgrimage to Mecca to pray.  Returning later that month, we were questioned by our Congressman. Rep. Ackerman, who suggested that Salman might have been detained by the immigration service, giving us hope that he might still be alive and only detained.  Maybe the poster was meant to mislead?  Maybe the government agencies weren’t coordinated?

 

We contacted the White House and the FBI, but only received form letters in return. Only then we learned that Salman’s name was included in an heroic context in Section 102 of the Patriot Act, which was passed on October 26, 2001 .

 

Six months after the event, on March 20, 2002, at 11:30 PM, two police officers came to our house and told us that his remains were identified through DNA testing at about the same time that the Patriot Act was passed, and almost the same day that we had returned from Mecca,… three months earlier.

 

We picked up his remains the next day.  When I asked for proof that this was actually Salman’s remains, the Medical Examiner told us, “Go get yourself a lawyer.” We had two choices: to take the remains and the death certificate, accepting what they told us, or to leave them there and have nothing.  We had been through too much and we chose the former. 

 

The months of stress were too much for my husband, who succumbed to a heart attack a few months later.  Without his good counsel, a terrible thought has crept in to my mind since then.  Was Salman detained and tortured?  Where did he really die?  Why was he lauded in the Patriot Act while he was being investigated as a suspected terrorist? Why did the authorities wait six months to tell us his remains were found?  I will live with these doubts and questions until I die.

 

###

Aug 10 2009 21 Bombs, 21 Dead, and Felafal in Baghdad, Iraq

It was reported that in the last 24 hours bombs killed 21 people,and wounded anther 82. 

In Ahmed's neighborhood the police were attacked by a bicycle bomb and 3 died. Ahmed's brother is a policeman so we were naturally afraid to ask about him, but of course we did anyway. He is fine. He was at home when it happened. Two of the officers were under his supervision, and he had warned them just days before not to congregate at the same spot each day.

A bicycle rider detonated himself near a bakery in the neighborhood. The man went to the policemen and asked them to hold his bicycle while he went to the bakery. They said, "OK."  They died soon after when the bomb, hidden in the pipes of the bicycle, exploded.

The entire neighborhood was shut down, closed tight. Later the police stopped Ahmed when he tried to make a delivery of his home-made goods to a restaurant. "We know you very well, Ahmed, and we eat your food and we like you, but you are not allowed to ride the bicycle. They are all banned.

"But the curfew is over now?"

"Yes. But still...no bicycles are allowed."

...

"Now my family is in great trouble. I have no fuel for the car because the station in the neighborhood no longer opens. I have been delivering my baked goods to the restaurants by car until the station is closed. Then I did this by bicycle, but now I cannot do even that. The rumors on the street say these are Iranian plans to kill more people. But you don't know. We think the Iranians use bicycles this way. But you don't know."

"Each ten hours we have electricity only for one hour. I don't know what to do for money now. We are again afraid in the neighborhood. I tried again with the bicycle and the police stopped me again and told me that if I used it again he would take it and break it on my body. They are afraid...even of me."

Aug 5 2009 Iraqi AlQaida: Resistance Turns to Terrorism

It's only one story of two young men, but it says a lot. The similarity of their testimonies makes one wonder how many others found themselves on this path. When confronted with Iraqi-on Iraqi violence we often ask "Why?" and rarely have an answer. You can easily see how these stories serve to explain how so many young Iraqis came to make war on their own people.

They were college graduates of the College of Education when the U.S. invaded Iraq. No one was hiring teachers and professors were being assassinated. They found themselves with no jobs, and little hope for the future. They, like most Iraqis, witnessed innumerable horrors as the invasion morphed into a prolonged occupation. To fight against the invader seemed a noble act; a testament to love of country; a patriotic path.

Separately they joined different AlQaida groups. One was Sunni and the other Shi'a. There was a group of Arabs who gave them their orders; the Amirs. They took pride in their brave fight against the occupiers. They refer to the Arab leaders as AlQaida and state that they came from many different Arab countries. Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lybia were mentioned "among others".

They didn't realize that the nightmare of their situation would seem tame compared to the reality which awaited them.

Their testimony [Yaseen and Uday] was revealed in interviews by  رفاه السعد, Rafah AlAsaad, in one of the Faces and Stories segments of Dubai's El Aan TV. It is striking to hear them speak as educated men, not naive primitive people, but rather those who made rational decisions to take up arms. 

Feeling as outsiders, useless without jobs or future hopes, they wanted to 'do something.'  They became part of the Al Qaida in Iraq, with the initial intent of attacking the invaders. In addition to orders they received money and food. This was the only source of sustenance for them and their families.

[NOTE: AlQaida is not to be confused with Moqawama (مقاومة), the Arabic word for resistance. Moqawama was created with the Iraqi resistance to the American occupation in mind, but it could apply equally to any of the multitude of resistance movements being fought across the world today—in Palestine, in Chechnya, in the Basque Country, in Ireland, in Jammu and Kashmir, in Atjeh, and so on. The Moqawama are not foreign-led.]     

[NOTE: Moqawama is the M in the Palestinian group HAMAS.]

How do you turn a resistance fighter into a terrorist who kills his own people?

One effective way is to take videos of his actions against American troops, and these can then be used in threats against his life. Imagine the coercive power in a suggestion that he and the video would be turned over the the occupying forces with the promise of torture and death at the hands of those who fought alongside those he killed.

"They convinced us that if we joined and killed the occupiers this is the path to Jenna (heaven)."

By the time they were  commanded to kill certain Iraqis there were already ample examples of the torture and murder of those who refused such orders.

AlQaida was not on one sectarian side or the other. The Shi'a man in the interview killed Sunni; the Sunni killed Shi'a. These were orders that must be obeyed in the threat of death.In one instance a policeman was murdered when they were told that he was "a chief in the Mahdi Army [the Shi'a militia who killed many Sunni]. The orders came and we killed him."

"I wish Allah would protect the Iraqi law; to be alive and protect the old people in this country, and I hope the law will put extensive punishment on my life. This is my penalty. I deserve that."

When challenged that he killed Iraqis and now asks the government to take care of his parents he had little to say. "It was fear and regret. This is my feeling. I have nothing more to say."

They chose to live, and to kill.

Oday said, "I deserve extensive punishment and I wish the law in Iraq continues to be powerful and save this country."

Both, now sitting in an Iraqi prison, have had time to think, time to grasp the enormous evil in their actions, and express deep regret. 

[Of course I don't know what I would do in such circumstances. I hope I would choose death rather than murdering my own people, but it is easy to be brave while sitting at a desk in New York City looking out at the flowers in my garden.]

b

July 27 2009 a cop in Baghdad: a dangerous job as police and civilians become targets.

[This is based on a story we believe to be true. We have known this person for 5 years and have followed his life closely.]

Our friend Sameer is a cop in Baghdad. He wasn't always a policeman. Once upon a time he worked as the manager of a large market, like our supermarkets here in the states.

At first it was hard getting back and forth to work because of curfews, road closings, checkpoints, etc., but he managed. Then entire neighborhoods were closed without warning. He was often stranded at the store overnight. As the violence increased the store had less and less business and finally, in 2007, the owner could no longer afford to keep it open.

Sameer has a wife and two children. They live in what used to be a mixed neighborhood in Baghdad. It is now almost entirely Sunni, and anyone else had better keep a low profile because the neighborhood has many 'militia' in it.

They began to run out of money last year. Sameer thought about becoming a policeman, but his brothers and sisters forbid this because it was too dangerous. And if he died then the burden of his family would fall to them. About 6 months ago the family found it almost impossible to help them out and he decided to enter the police force.

Policemen have one of highest rates of assassination in Baghdad. sometimes their children are murdered as a warning for them to resign. Sometimes they are killed. Sameer felt he had no choice. He joined the force 4 months ago.

Last month he decided to walk home for his break instead of napping in the house across from the command post that the police had appropriated. The house was raided and 6 were killed.

"It is in the hand of Allah, may he be praised."


And while we're on the subject of violence...how come our media fails to tell us the truth about what is going on in Iraq? And why don't Americans admit that we are responsible for unleashing the madness? And why don't we deliver the humanitarian aid we owe these people. We certainly have enough people on the ground to deliver it.

Have you written your representative lately to ask that these things be done?
Have you sent us a gift of cash so we can send it to a Baghdad widow and her family?
What's up with this?
b

Reported Security incidents July 27, 2009 [War News Today]:

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb killed one civilian and wounded four others in Palestine street, northeastern Baghdad, police said.
The first bombing Monday came in eastern Baghdad, shortly before noon, when a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol but missed, killing one civilian and injuring four others, said an Iraqi police official.

Diyala Prv:
#1: Sunday Gunmen killed two civilians in Nahar alshiekh area north Baquba around 7 p.m.
#2: According to another police officer, gunmen shot dead the brother of a police major outside Baquba, north of the Iraqi capital.

Abu Ghraib:
#1: Three policemen were killed in an armed attack by unidentified gunmen on a checkpoint in the western Baghdad area of Abu Ghraib on Sunday, an Iraqi police source said. “Unidentified gunmen opened light gun fire at a police checkpoint on al-Amarat street, Abu Ghraib, (20 km) west of Baghdad, leaving three policemen killed,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Hilla:
#1: Unidentified gunmen shot down a child in front of his house in the district of Djerf al-Sakhr, near the city of al-Hilla, a security source in Babel said. “Gunmen in a vehicle opened a volley of fire at a child standing in front of his house in Djerf al-Sakhr, (65 km) northwest of Hilla, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Irbil:
#1: A member of the political bureau of the Kurdistan Islamic Union on Monday said that the union’s headquarters in downtown Arbil city had been attacked by Kurdistan Alliance (KA) supporters. “At 02:00 a.m. today, hundreds of KA supporters attacked the headquarters of the union’s political bureau in al-Iskan al-Jadid area, downtown Arbil, in an attempt to plunder it,” Mohammed Faraj told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Random gunfire in Arbil on Sunday night, after an unofficial announcement of the Kurdistan election results, left one person dead and 10 others wounded, a medic from the city’s hospital said on Monday.

Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi soldier on Monday was injured in an explosive charge blast that occurred in downtown Kirkuk city, according to a local police official. “This morning, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near an Iraqi army vehicle behind a gas station in downtown Kirkuk city, wounding a soldier and causing damage to his vehicle,” Brig. Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Meanwhile, a source from the Joint Coordination Center in Kirkuk said that a body belonging to a policeman was found near al-Ahnaf village, al-Abbasi district (85 km southwest of Kirkuk) on Sunday (July 26) evening.
#3: Four U.S. soldiers were wounded when their vehicle overturned north of Kirkuk city, an Iraqi police source said Monday. “The four soldiers were inside the vehicle during the traffic accident,” Col. Othman Abdullah told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The accident took place near Charman village, (25 km) north of Kirkuk,” he said.

Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Sunday broke into a Pepsi factory in Ninewa province and killed one of its staff, according to a local police source. “On Sunday, a group of unknown gunmen broke into a Pepsi factory on Talkeef road (15 km north of Mosul), and killed a Christian worker before they fled to an unknown destination,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Six Iraqi servicemen on Monday were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) hit their patrol vehicle in Mosul city, according to a local police source. “This morning, an explosive charge targeted an Iraqi army patrol in al-Matahin neighborhood, southern Mosul, wounding six patrolmen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#3: A chieftain on Monday was killed in Ninewa and his driver was wounded when a sticky bomb attached to their car went off in central Mosul city, a police source said. “Sheikh Mohammed Fadil al-Hayiali was killed at al-Dowasa neighborhood, central Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The incident took place near a restaurant in the area,” he said.

Al Anbar Prv:
#1: On Sunday evening, a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew up himself among civilians who were in the mourning ceremonies of alMirawi in Khaldiyah town killing two policemen as they tried to stop him and injuring 13 people.
#2: The director of the emergency police in Amiriyat al-Falluja district has been killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Ramadi city, according to a local source. “On Monday noon, Captain Ibahim Khayrallah was killed when a sticky IED targeted his vehicle near the residential compound in Amiriyat al-Falluja district, southern Ramadi,” Maj. Yasseen Mohammed told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “One of the director’s companions was wounded as a result of the explosion,” the major pointed out.

July 26 2009 Over 4330 U.S. troops lost in Iraq as refugees fear to return home.

Oh man, oh man, oh man. As the US media turns its head away from the violence in Iraq, dutifully reporting about voting in the North, corruption in the South, and general problems for the Iraqi government, the killing goes on. And it isn't just Iraqis who are being destroyed.

Ken Drevnick, the father of Spc. Daniel P. Drevnick, and his wife Julie, right, attend the burial service Saturday, July 25, 2009 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis for 22-year-old Daniel of Woodbury, Minn., who was among three Minnesota National Guard soldiers who were killed last week in Basra, Iraq. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

We don't read much about US casualties in Iraq these days. 4,330 of our men and women have died and over 21,000 serious injuries have been reported. The papers are beginning to fill with reports of Afghanistan deaths of US forces, and the struggle they face as they come up against a resistance that owes much of its education to experiences in Iraq. All well and good, but where is the reportage about Iraq? How can the media fail to inform the American people about the continuing horror we have unleashed by our decision to use force in Iraq?

And while I'm asking questions, what about the Iraqis? They are still  being killed, mostly by unknown forces that seek to ensure an unstable Iraq. Many think these are remnants of AlQaeda, or Iranian mercenaries, or more and more disgruntled Awakening Council members angry about Maliki not following through on his promise of employment.

Many of those killed these days are Iraqi policemen, and their families. Let's not forget their families. A little child was killed yesterday in front of her house in a drive-by shooting intended as a message for her dad, the District Cheif of Djerf al-Sakhr, near the city of al-Hilla. [more]

And for the internal refugees, now numbering upwards of two million men, women, and children the situation is frustrating and dangerous. Security has generally improved in Iraq over the last few months, but it is far from safe.

Abu Ghraib is a clear example. It was a mixed town before the occupation. Subsequent sectarian violence turned it into a Sunni enclave and Shi'a who have returned to their homes there have been killed.
The Chikouk refugee camp is filled with Shi'a refugees from Abu Ghraib. With no electricity, scant clean water, and not enough flat ground for all to sleep on, Chikouk is far from a comfortable place to live, but it is safer than Abu Ghraib for those who take shelter here. Chikouk lacks a functioning sewage system and has no regular rubbish disposal. There are many poorly constructed shelters and many residents have health problems. [more] Iraqi government officials refuse aid to the largely Sunni camp because it is built on goevrnment land without government permits. This, of course, becomes fuel for sectarian anger, easily exacerbated by those seeking violent revenge.

And it not just Abu Ghraib, nor is it just Shi'a. Many areas that were ethnically cleansed while the US forces failed to stop the mini-genocides, some of Shi'a and some of Sunni, are scattered throughout Iraq. Baghdad itself has many neighborhoods that fall into this category, and returning home to them is dangerous for any family that finds itself in the minority in what once was a mixed environment.

Obama should pressure Maliki's government to pay attention to this serious problem. If not attended to it will foster more sectarian violence and these refugee camps will become fertile recruiting grounds for terrorists. The Palestinian camps provide ample examples of such growth.

And the US government is likely to do nothing if the US public remains uninformed about the truth on the ground in Iraq.

b

July 19 2009 Iraqi poorest finding it harder to survive

Hi,
Here's a video of 121Contact's exhibit in Second Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGkRvtWyrHk
The video was made by an beautiful Italian who goes by the name Ipazia Cortez in sl. She and some of her friends helped build the exhibit and have taken part in the discussions held there. 

Hundreds of people from all over the world have visited this exhibit and many have become friends of 121Contact. They help with fund raising efforts and take part in our efforts to disseminate the truth of the occupation of Iraq through the eyes of the innocent Iraqis who suffer the consequences of our decision to use violence in Iraq.

And here is some information to disseminate, should you have the inclination. Our public must be informed so that they can join the efforts to aid Iraqi civilians suffering from our actions. Governments must hear the truth from citizens:

Poorest Finding it Harder to Survive
By Sarah Price and Nizar Latif

Huda, in the cast, will lose her arm if she cannot get treatment soon. (Photo: N. Latif)

Asime is 13 and lives in east Baghdad. He has lost both his parents in the last two years, and is now taking care of a sick uncle. With no job opportunities and insufficient help from the Iraqi government, he has had to turn to crime to survive. He hates to steal, but knows that without this, he and his uncle will starve. [full article: http://iraqsolidaritycampaign.blogspot.com/]
--
In loving kindness,
Bruce and Noor
www.121Contact.typepad.com <- the blog

July 14 2009 Cheney, Assassination: secret (U.S.) or public (Iraq)

There is now talk that Cheney began a secret program (evading scrutiny of Congress, and perhaps even the awareness of Bush) to assassinate those designated (by who?) leaders of Al Qaida without any due process or oversight. CIA-trained assassins would be dispatched at the the whim of Cheney to kill people he named as targets.

In Iraq, today, there is a much more public, more sinister, and more astonishing effort to promote assassination. And it is being spearheaded by al Mutamar, a Baghdad-based daily run by associates of Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi. You may remember that this is the organ the U.S. was paying to publish 'news' articles favorable to the American occupation (back in '05), according to the Los Angeles Times.

Al Mutamar have now published a list of names and addresses of employees in the General Directorate of Security that has been disbanded. Along with this list comes inplications that these people are guilty of terrorism and are now actively engaged in sabotage so that they 'might return to power in Iraq.'

They offer no proof, no due process, no evidence of individual involvement at all. Just a list published at the whim of ??? And in some instances there are, along with the addresses, directions to their homes and offices.

I often hear, from Iraqi friends, that our culture has too much freedom. Abortion, gay rights, and sex-without-marriage are held up as examples of 'freedom gone astray'. "This is not freedom, but desire." But they all seem to love the freedom of the press. Al Mutamar has gone too far astray. It is immoral to blanket a group of people as individual terrorists without any proof. It is immoral to imply, no matter how subtely, that these people are deserving of revenge.

Freedom of the press should be a right of all newspapers. And as with all freedoms, there comes with it a moral responsibility. But maybe this is just my old-fashioned-senior-self intruding upon a world in which responsibility is less and less part of the social equation.

And as always, our U.S. press is free to ignore the continuing violence we unleashed in Iraq: 

[suicide bombing in Taza, Iraq,(Photo: Reuters) where at least 72 people died and 200 were wounded]

Reported Security incidents, July 14, 2009:
Baghdad:
#1: Seven persons on Monday were wounded in an explosive charge blast that occurred in southern Baghdad, according to an Iraqi police source. “A roadside improvised explosive device (IED) went off in al-Jadriya area near al-Zawya intersection, southern Baghdad, while a police patrol vehicle was passing the location,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Three patrolmen and four civilians were wounded in the explosion,” the source noted.
#2: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed one policeman and wounded 10 people, including four policemen, in the capital's central Karrada district, police said.
#3: A sticky bomb attached to a car killed the driver and wounded four others on Sunday in Baghdad's southern Saidiya district, police said.
Dhi Qar Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded near a convoy carrying U.S. ambassador to Baghdad Chris Hill in southern Iraq, but the envoy was unhurt, the U.S. embassy said on Monday. Hill was traveling in Dhi Qar province, about 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, on Sunday when the bomb struck his convoy, U.S. embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh said. "No personnel were injured or hurt. An investigation into the incident is taking place," she said. 
Basra:
#1: The U.S. base at Basra International Airport on Monday was hit with Katyusha rockets, said a security source from the province. “Two Katyusha missiles hit the base, 25 km west of Basra,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.There was no word on casualties or damage.
Al Sharqat:
#1: A blast outside a local council meeting in northern Iraq wounded seven U.S. troops and a linguist, U.S. military officials said Monday. The incident Sunday in Salaheddin Province was the first known major attack on U.S. troops since U.S. combat troops completed their withdrawal from urban centers on June 30. Maj. Derrick Cheng, a spokesman for the U.S. military's Multi-National Division-North, said Sunday's explosion happened around 1 p.m. outside the Al Sharqat Qa'da council building. The troops were walking back to their vehicles after a meeting with district government officials about civil capacity projects to help the citizens in the region, Cheng said. 
Mosul:
#1: Three children on Monday were injured in a car bomb blast that occurred in front of a Shiite mosque in Mosul city, according to a local security source. “During an early hour this morning, a booby-trapped car detonated in front of a Shiite mosque in al-Faysaliya area, eastern Mosul, wounding three children and causing damage to the mosque’s front façade,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The blast also caused damage to the nearby Virgin Mary Church, a building and two civilian vehicles, according to the source. “The blast occurred at 05:30 a.m. while U.S. personnel were leaving al-Nasr police department,” the source noted.
#2: One Iraqi soldier on Monday was killed when a sticky improvised explosive device (IED) targeted his car in Mosul city, according to a local security source. “The soldier was off-duty in al-Rashidiya area, northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. 

July 11 2009 Michael Jackson 10, Iraq 0 as Iraq no longer exists in the media.

The headlines rarely speak of Iraq these days even though we still have 134,000 US soldiers and about 132,610 military contractors on the ground. This despite the fact that 73 percent of Iraqis oppose the presence of US forces.[Mideast Dispatches]

We certainly don't get the details anymore. [see list of today's incidents at the end of this post]
And we get barely any reporting on the ongoing suffering of the innocent Iraqis who pay the largest price for our invasion and occupation of Iraq.

"In the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Index Iraq failed to reach the top ten in any media format for the four full weeks of June 2009. Iraq has continued to fade from America’s attention. In May 2009 for example, Iraq not only did not make the top stories for the four weeks of the month, but in two of those weeks did not make the top ten in any media format. June has now topped that. This was despite the number of mass casualty bombings that racked the country, and the preparation for the American withdrawal from Iraq’s cities." [Full story at Ground Truth in Iraq]

The U.S. is still on patrol, with the expected results for Iraqi civilians. Today in Tikrit a truck driver was mistakenly killed by American forces outside the northern city of Tikrit, as reported by the US Army. And in Diyala yesterday  the driver of a car was killed in a head-on collision with a U.S. Army Stryker vehicle.

Almost all the Iraqis I know in the U.S. have the same reaction when they first arrive. "There's no war here!" It is shocking to them that the American public has so little an idea of what is going on in their country. Many of them risked their lives to help the U.S. forces. All of them have lost family and friends to the violence we unleashed. None of them can understand, at first, the massive denial they encounter.

[July 4, 2009, Mother Jones]

 

Reported Security incidents, Saturday July 11 2009:
Baghdad:
#1: Friday Gunmen attacked a checkpoint of a local Awakening council, American formed militia, in Al Amil killing one and injuring one around five a.m.

Diyala Prv:
#1: The driver of a car was killed in a head-on collision with a U.S. Army Stryker vehicle outside the city of Al Khalis in western Diyala province at approximately 9:20 p.m., July 9. The car struck the lead vehicle of a combined U.S. forces and Iraqi Army convoy as it was returning to Forward Operating Base Grizzly after a routine patrol. According to reports, the convoy slowed its speed to approximately 30 mph and moved to the shoulder of the road to allow the on-coming car room to pass. However, the car hit the lead vehicle head-on, killing the driver and injuring at least one Soldier inside the Stryker.

Abu Ghraib:
#1: Gunmen on Saturday killed one civilian in al-Wadi village, northern Abu Ghraib suburb (west of Baghdad), according to a security source. “The incident took place at noon,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The gunmen were driving a small saloon car,” he said.“They opened fire on a civilian in the village,” he added.

Jurf al Sakhar:
#1: Gunmen killed one member of a government-backed militia and wounded another in Jurf al-Sakhar, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Amarra:
#1: Three Katyusha rockets landed Friday on al-Batira airstrip northwest the city of al-Amara with no casualties or losses reported, a security source in Missan province said. “Al-Batira military landing strip, (5 km) northwest of al-Amara, came today (July 10) under an attack with three Katyusha missiles, but caused no casualties or losses,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Tikrit:
#1: A truck driver was mistakenly killed by American forces outside the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, the US army said on Saturday. The troops had stopped along a highway between Tikrit and Balad, north of the capital, after one of the vehicles in their logistics convoy broke down early Friday. They signalled for the truck, which was approaching the convoy from the rear, to stop but it sped up as it closed in, according to a statement. A soldier then fired on the truck after the driver did not respond to the warnings, killing him. A teenage passenger was unharmed, and the incident is under joint US-Iraqi investigation.

Kirkuk:
#1: Two persons on Saturday were arrested while trying to plant an explosive charge near Kirkuk city, according to a local security source. “This morning, Iraqi army forces arrested two men while they were trying to plant an improvised explosive device (IED) on the main road linking Sulayman Bik to Touz Khormato (80 km south of Kirkuk city),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Mosul:
#1: A policeman was killed when an improvised explosive device went off near a checkpoint west of Mosul city on Friday, a police source in Ninewa said. “The explosive charge went off near a checkpoint in al-Shifaa neighborhood, western Mosul, leaving a policeman killed,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.