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Jan 2 2010 Biden in Baghdad: Mujahideen Army [WHO?] attacks Green Zone

Curiosity killed the cat, perhaps, but digging a little deeper into the news may provide us with the means of ensuring that our children live in more peaceful times. Inspecting the results of our occupation of Iraq may yield insights into more effective ways of realistically participating in the world we live in.

U.S. Vice President Biden flew into Iraq and was greeted with 4 rocket attacks targeting the Green Zone. The only reported casualties were 2 innocent civilians killed and  5 wounded when one of the rockets exploded in a nearby apartment complex.

The Mujahideen Army , Jaish al-Mujahideen, claimed responsibility. Who are these killers? What is their self-justification? They are part of the underground Baathist and Islamist militant 'Iraqi Resistance' groups that formed in late 2004 in response to the occupation. They are nationalists and are dedicated to fighting the U.S. presence in the country. [START]

Many of its weapons were originally stolen from abandoned Iraqi army depots. They specialize in small-scale mortar, rocket, IED, and sniper attacks, as opposed to spectacular suicide car bombings. During 2006, its most noteworthy operations were the downing of U.S. Apache helicopters with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.

They have more recently sought to distance themselves from certain other insurgent groups. Their December 2008 press release insisted that they "have neither joined in the Awakening movements, nor in the methodology of fanaticism, of which [Al-Qaida is] the central pillar."

Their 17th of March 2005 Open Letter to the American Public urged the American people to take matters into their own hands and overthrow the "criminals" that currently ran their government. The letter reviewed the lies of the Bush administration and  showed a familiarity with American history and respect for the American people, placing blame entirely on the Bush administration, which it believes rigged the 2004 election.

The Mujahideen Army is dedicated to jihaad, but not opposed to political participation. Overtures to the government to enter the political process have not, however, been acceptable to Iraq's rulers.

Jaish al-Mujahideen issued a statement in May 2006 a condemning needless ethnic and sectarian warfare between Iraqis and blamed the American occupation for the strife between  Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs, Kurds, Muslims, and Christians. It concluded, "We must work courageously and with a sense of national and religious responsibility for the sake of future generations, so that we may spare them of the evils of ethnic and racial extremism and segregation." [Global Terror Alert]

We make no apologies for Jaish al-Mujahideen. They are a fact of life, born of the occupation. They have chosen, for whatever reasons, a violent path that helps nothing, harms the innocent, and prolongs the agony of the Iraqi people.

So what do we get out of this research? Another sets of details that verify that American interference into the lives of other nations, over the past 50 years, has caused more harm than good, has created more enemies than friends, and has made our lives less secure.

We don't need isolationism any more than we need occupationism. We need intelligent, rational, and above all compassionate support for the peoples of the world. We owe it to our children to create more peaceful tomorrows by ending our funding of violent solutions and instead putting our vast resources and creative energies into non-violent strategies and tactics.

Dec 26 2009 News of Iraq - Why tell only part of the truth?

It's question time again. Today the media showed great alarm about the bombing of innocent Shi'ite pilgrims who died from bombs set by ...? Unknown assailants. Some Western media, including the UK's Guardian,  went so far as to label the bombing 'sectarian', although no evidence of the perpetrators has come forth. 

What most of the media failed to let us know about were today's other 10 bomb blasts, 5 of which were in Baghdad. Why would news outlets hide the truth about the other bombs?

I must admit that I am stumped. What comes to mind are rather simplistic answers, none of which really make sense to me, but maybe one will resonate with you...

1) We are so embarrassed by our failure to shape a reasonably safe environment after expending a trillion dollars [and so many, many lives of innocent Iraqis, not to mention the thousands of Americans who died needlessly in this farce of a war] that we cannot speak of the truth of the horrors we unleashed,

or

2) Owners of the media judge that their reading audience is so ashamed of the actions of the U.S. government that they will not buy newspapers that keep telling the sad truth.

Got any other ideas? Add them as comments or send them on to mail@121Contact.org

Peace to you and yours in these waning days of 2009.

Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Also on Saturday, three policemen and two civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb struck a police patrol in Baghdad' southeastern district of Zaafaraniyah, the police said.

#2: An Iraqi police official says a roadside bomb has killed three Shiite pilgrims in eastern Baghdad in the latest round of violence to strike worshippers during a revered Shiite observance. The official says Saturday's bomb was planted near a tent that offered drinks and food to pilgrims. He says 16 people were injured. A medical official confirmed the casualty figures.

#3: A member of the Baghdad local council escaped an assassination attempt when an improvised explosive device that targeted pilgrims in the east of the capital city who were heading for the holy Shiite city of Karbala, the council chief said on Friday. “Sabbar al-Saadi escaped the IED blast in the area of al-Maamil. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and his health condition is stable,” Kamel al-Zaydi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Meanwhile, a source in Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s office in Baghdad said Sheikh Amjad al-Saadi, the office’s relations director, and a driver were wounded in the explosion, adding the local officials were inspecting the Husseini processions that were heading to Karbala, where Shiite Muslims are celebrating the Ashuraa.

#4: Three people were killed and seven others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) attack targeted a Shiite procession in Baghdad on Friday evening, a security source said.
“The IED left three pilgrims killed and seven others injured in the eastern Baghdad district of al-Rashad, when they were going on foot in a procession heading for Karbala,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: Two persons were killed and eight others wounded in an improvised explosive device attack that targeted a procession of Shiite pilgrims heading to the holy city of Karbala to celebrate the Ashuraa. “Two civilians were killed and eight others wounded in the attack that took place near the Baghdad al-Jadida (New Baghdad) area, in the southeastern part of the city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Mahmoud Hussein al-Obiedi, a Sunni chieftain, was killed in a bomb explosion outside his house in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Ghraib, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.


Tuz Khurmato:
#1: Elsewhere, a policeman and four civilians were wounded when an explosive charge hidden in a garbage container detonated near a police checkpoint in the town of Tuz Khurmato, some 90 km east of Tikrit, the capital city of Salahudin province in north of Baghdad, a provincial police source said.


Mosul:
#1: Iraqi forces defused a car bomb that was meant to target security forces in eastern Mosul on Friday, a local security source within the Ninewa Operations Command (NOC) said. “The police managed to dismantle a car bomb that was parked in the area of Bazwaya, on the main street that leads to Bartala district, eastern Mosul city, without incident,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosive vehicle was meant to target the security forces heading for Bartala that has recently witnessed disputes between Christians and ethnic Shabaks,” the source added.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: In separate incident, Mallooky al-Jumaily, a police Lieutenant General, was killed in the morning by a bomb explosion in front of his house in the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, a anonymous source from the city police told Xinhua.

A civilian man was killed on Saturday morning when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near his house in central al-Falluja district, a local police source said. “An IED planted on the roadside in al-Jumhouriya neighborhood, central Falluja, went off right after a civilian man stepped out of his house, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Dec 5 2009 Iraq Christmas, Iraq Muharram, Iraq has no holiday from death,

The winter 'celebrations' of Muharram and Christmas have arrived in Iraq. The former celebrates a month in which fighting is forbidden (haram), and the latter celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. 14 explosions and a spate of assassinations mark the holidays.

Ah, Baghdad, the City of Peace.

Ah, well, sometimes things don't go the way they should. The violence is once again on the rise and the innocent Iraqis continue to pay the price of the destabilization that the U.S. brought to their nation.

[photo from timesonline]

Now the killing is as complicated as ever.

Factions loyal to the Maliki government point to the violence as a reason maintain a U.S. presence, which coincidentally props up their regime. 

Forces opposed to the Maliki government use the violence as proof that the current regime is unfit to protect the people.

Iran loves an unstable Iraqe because it is no longer a containment to Iranian influence in the region.

Al Qaida, remnants of Baathist cells, disaffected disbanded militiamen, gangs of unemployed, gangs of hopeless...pick and choose. 

And the criminals? They are ecstatic. Kidnappings, especially of children, are on the rise with prices of $100,000 common for the return of a beloved child. There's no politics here, only the ease with which criminals can avoid arrest because of the general chaos. Ditto smuggling, child prostitution, theft, and other lucrative activities that at least have the ability of providing sustenance to the masses of unemployed who see no other viable alternatives. Starvation is a real threat in these days of hopelessness. Don't underestimate the effect of rising crime organizations on the reconstruction efforts. Iraq is not the first nation to watch as criminals fill the security void left by departing occupiers.

And how will it sort itself out? We wont know until the invader leaves and the Iraqis settle their own business. The U.S. government has pressured Maliki to build a unity body to rule the nation, but his willingness to let go of power that way seems nonexistent. 

Leave? [URUKNET]The recently passed 636 billion military spending bill (395 members voted for it, 34 against it) only covers operations through September 30, 2010, and doesn't include the monies US President Obama will need for his Afghanistan 'surge.'  Much of it is for high-tech apparatus that is absolutely useless in the war against small terrorist actions. 

 

The fledgling peace movements within Iraq receive no support from the Obama's administration, and the paltry support that NGO's are able to funnel to the pacifists, reconcilliation movements, etc. is not enough to make a difference.

The solution will probably be bloody but it will be their own solution and they will learn to live with it.

Reported security incidents Dec 25, 2009

Baghdad:
#1: Five people were killed and 22 others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City on Thursday, a local security source said. “The IED went off near a funerary gathering in Sector 42, Sadr City district, eastern Baghdad, leaving five people killed and 22 others wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Three people were killed and eight others wounded on Thursday when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in al-Zaafaraniya, southeastern Baghdad, a local security source said. “An IED went off near a Shiite funerary gathering in the area of Sa’eeda, al-Zaafaraniya neighborhood, southeastern Baghdad, killing three and wounding eight others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: One civilian was killed and four others were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in eastern Baghdad on Friday, a police source said. “The bomb, planted by gunmen in al-Shamaiya region in eastern Baghdad, went off, killing a civilian and injuring four,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Unknown gunmen slew on Thursday a prominent figure in Jalawlaa, said a local security source in Diala province. “The victim is Shokor Tayyeb. His daughter, Amal, is a candidate of the Kurdistan Alliance List participating in the upcoming parliamentary election,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said that the armed men stabbed Tayyeb with knives before slitting his throat.


Karbala:
#1: An improvised explosive device went off near a Shiite procession of pilgrims visiting the holy city of Karbala for the Ashuraa but nothing was said about possible casualties, according to eyewitnesses on Thursday. “A blast targeted a Husseini procession in the area of Bab Baghdad on Maytham al-Timar street in Karbala city. The blast, based on initial information, was the result of an IED,” the Aswat al-Iraq news agency correspondent reported.

Twenty-two Shiite pilgrims were killed or wounded when three gas cylinders exploded in the holy Shiite city of Karbala on Thursday, a security source said. “Three gas cylinders that were used to prepare dinner meals for the pilgrims reviving the Muharram 10th anniversary, or Ashuraa, exploded near a Husseini procession, leaving a number of them killed or wounded,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded four civilians in Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad on Thursday night, police said


Shirqat:
#1: Gunmen opened fire on a local pro-government militia checkpoint on Thursday night, killing one and wounding two others in Shirqat, 300 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Unidentified gunmen opened fire southwest of Kirkuk city, killing a civil servant of the electricity department in al-Rashad district, a senior security source in Kirkuk said on Thursday. “Gunmen in a vehicle opened drive-by fire on the civilian who was also in his car,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the chief of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Sinjar:
#1: Three Peshmerga forces were killed on Friday and ten were wounded in a car bomb explosion in Sinjar, according to a security source. “A car rigged with explosives went off on Friday (Dec. 25) targeting A Peshmerga forces vehicle patrol between al-Rabieaya and Sinjar districts, western Talafar, killing three and injuring ten,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

A suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives and killed one soldier from the minority Kurds' Peshmerga military and wounded 14 others near Iraq's border with Syria in northern Nineveh province, said Khaled Abdala, a local leader from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). A different source from the KDP said the explosion was not a suicide attack, but a remotely detonated car bomb, and put the toll at one killed and 10 wounded.


Mosul:
#1: A high-ranking member of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's Baath Party was on Friday fatally shot in a suburb of the northern Iraqi town of Mosul, witnesses said. Ahmed Kamel al-Badrani, a former officer in Hussein's feared military intelligence apparatus, was gunned down in front of his home in the western Mosul district of Amil, witnesses told the German Press Agency dpa.

#2: Update Two people died late Thursday of wounds sustained in the suicide explosion that targeted chairman of the Talafar council, raising the fatalities to four, a medical source said on Friday. “The two bodyguards were seriously wounded in the explosion that took place last Monday (Dec. 21),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: US forces killed an insane man in west of Mosul city, a security source said on Friday. “The forces killed an insane man late Thursday (Dec. 24) in Tal Abta district, west of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The 17-year-old young man appeared in front of the US patrol holding a plastic gun,” he said, noting that the forces thought he is a gunman and killed him.

#4: Update The final toll of the double explosions in the city of Hilla on Thursday rose to 25 dead and 105 wounded, a police source said on Friday. “A police force managed to defuse a number of bombs in the same area on Thursday (Dec. 24),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosions killed 25, including 14 policemen, and wounded 105, including 35 cops,” he added. A police source had said yesterday (Dec.24) that 12 persons were killed, including member of the Babel council Neaamat al-Bakri, and 50 others were wounded, including Commander of anti-explosive department Colonel Taleb al-Shemri and two of his aides, when a car bomb and an improvised explosive device went off in central Hilla.

#5: Three employees were killed on Friday by unknown gunmen in western Mosul, a police source said. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on a number of the census employees in al-Hay al-Senaai region, western Mosul, killing three of them,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#6: Police found the body of a woman who had been suffocated to death in western Mosul, police said.

#7: An attacker threw an explosive at an Iraqi police patrol, killing one civilian and wounding another in central Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two gunmen were arrested while attempting to plant an improvised explosive device (IED) in central al-Falluja city on Thursday, a local security source said. “The Falluja police forces, acting upon intelligence tip-offs, arrested two gunmen while emplacing an IED near a checkpoint in al-Andalus neighborhood, central Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A sticky bomb exploded on Friday inside a car in eastern Falluja, without leaving casualties, a police source said. “The bomb, stuck to a civilian vehicle, went off on Friday morning (Dec. 25) on a road in al-Karma district, eastern Falluja, without causing casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Anbar emergency police chief survived an attempt on his life on Friday morning in southern Falluja, according to a police source. “Unknown gunmen on Friday morning (De. 25) opened fire on the motorcade of Colonel Ghazi al-Dulaimi using light weapons in al-Aameriya district in southern Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Policemen clashed with the attackers and managed to injure and arrest one of them,” he added. “The colonel was not hurt, while the gunmen fled to unknown place,” he said.

Dec 9 2009 GroundZero in Baghdad

                       

New York City September 11 2001          Baghdad December 8 2009

So you must have some idea of what they are going through now; of what we unleashed upon them;

of what we are about to unleash upon the innocent of Afghanistan.

Violence is not really the answer. The pain and devastation we inflict will not make us safer.

Please, Mr. President, bring our troops home and use the great money for works of peace, not death.

In loving kindness,
Bruce and Noor

Dec 3 2009 Obama fails to learn from Iraq. Let's kill some Afghans next (and maybe some Pakistanis, too).

Let's try not to be distracted by Obama's call for a limit to our Afghanistan involvement. His actions have a recent history of falling far short of his promises, and his logic is much weaker than his charismatic presence in the media.

Winning the hearts and minds of Afhganistan's population will not be accomplished by killing and maiming its citizens.

Iraq provides evidence that the US is incapable of enforcing internal peace in external nations. We might have learned this in Vietnam, but we didn't. In Iraq we have a recent, current, and bleeding example of the futility of trying to impose from the outside what only the people on the inside are capable of.

The initial cause of Iraqis losing their security was our invasion. The initiator of Iraq's plunge into violence was our occupation. Any Iraqi gains in security are the result of Iraqi actions, not US troop violence. The 'surge', without the coinciding attacks on Al Qaida by the tribal leaders in Anbar would merely have been more of the same: more US troop targets for the resistance to aim at; more US killing of civilians for Al Qaida to recruit on; and more denial of the basic truth that the Iraqis must solve their own problems. The Iraqis have a long way to go, but since we've toned down our violence so has their violence been reduced, and now they are beginning to face their own realities. More so each day that we pull more troops out.

Don't be distracted. The 2010 American 'violence-as-solution' in Iraq and Afghanistan is budgeted at about 12 billion US dollars (Afghanistan will cost more than Iraq this year). This doesn't count the billions given to mercenaries who fight without accountability nor the further billions spent by the CIA in its covert, i.e., illegal, actions along the Afghan/Pakistan border. [Older readers and history buffs will be reminded of covert actions in Laos and Cambodia, I'm sure.]

Let's not be distracted by the fact that we may actually be able to secure two Afghani population centers and the single road that joins them. The majority of the population will be unprotected, resentful of our perceived occupation, and more and more willing to join the resistance that is growing every day.

Obama's notion that Al Qaida needs a safe haven in Afghan/Pakistan territory in order to plot our destruction is another weakness in his logic. He ignores the fact that the major planning was done in Europe and the USA, with the scheme only presented for approval to Al Qaida in Afghanistan after it was defined. The pilot training took place in the US!!!!

Each day we fight Obama's wars we enable Al Qaida and its like to become stronger. We provide them with recruits by our actions. We make ourselves weaker by focusing on a specific geographical area when the real danger is disseminated.

Don't think for a minute that when we kill innocent civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan that the resentment stays within those borders. Some of it grows right here, in the good old USA. We should take the billions upon billions we spend to kill and maim and use that money to grow friends instead of enemies.

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 3 2009 USS New York: Commemorating US Crimes in Iraq

Just as we burrow deeper into the maelstrom of Afghanistan we are gifted with one of the ugliest warships ever built by any nation.

It is hard to think of a less fitting way to send "a message of America becoming stronger as a result" of 9/11 [Naval Cmdr. Quentin King]. Secretary of the Navy Gordon England announced the naming as to "honor the victims of Sept. 11."                                          

Tragically neither the U.S. Navy nor President Obama evidently understand the enormity of the insult this warship delivers to those innocent civilians lost on September 11, 2001.

America weakened significantly after 9/11. The response to invade and occupy Iraq was a criminal act based on deliberate deceit. The punitive crushing of the Iraqi populace was nothing to be proud of. Our moral standing in the world was greatly diminished. Our civil liberties at home suffered setbacks that may never be recovered.

President Obama will come to New York to commission the USS New York on Saturday. We wish he would stay in Washington and decommission our failed effort in Iraq, and put an end to the inevitable failure of our mission in Afghanistan. We can no more force cultures to adopt the mythical Democratic model than we can forge peaceful tomorrows from weapons of destruction.

We also wish President Obama would stop the lies. We already have more mercenaries in Afghanistan that we have troops, but that fact is never added to official tallies of troop numbers.

Let us honor the innocent civilians who died on 9/11 by stopping the slaughter of innocent civilians by our own hands. This would be a true tribute to the fallen.

Oct 29 2009 Iraq-Afghanistan: U.S. Troops dying in a wasted effort

Whether in Iraq or Afghanistan, American troops are dying and suffering for a false assumption. Social revolution cannot be imposed by external force. When the will of the people rises to the challenge then, and only then, will great change occur. To assume otherwise is to ignore the facts on the ground.

What we actually accomplish is this: we continue to inspire more and more young people to become our enemies, join violent radical groups, and plan revenge against us.

It is time for Americans to wake from the dream of an all mighty USA whose bullets and bombs can transform the world into a unified Eden of Democracy. Our violent efforts push the world away from more peaceful tomorrows.

Obama recently decided to reduce humanitarian/social/infrastructure aid to Iraq while increasing our military presence, and costs, in Afghanistan. He's got a bit of waking up to do himself. And the price we pay for his sleepwalking is the blood of our soldiers, of innocent Iraqis, of innocent Afghanis, and a growing army of people who hate us enough to use violence against us. 

Call your representatives in government today. Let them know you support rapid and complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.

--

The Afghan activist and author Malalai Joya said it plainly:

"Democracy will never come to Afghanistan through the barrel of a gun,
or from the cluster bombs dropped by foreign forces. The struggle will be
long and difficult, but the values of real democracy, human rights and
women's rights will only be won by the Afghan people themselves. So do not
be fooled by this façade of democracy."

--

September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows member Terry Greene was also clear as quoted in  Brian MacQuarrie's Boston Globe piece of October 29, 2009:

Terry Greene of Cambridge had just dropped her son at school when she heard on the radio that a second tower at the World Trade Center had been hit by an airliner. At that moment, on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Greene knew that the tragedy in New York was no accident.

(Suzanne Kreiter for the Boston Globe)

TERRY GREENE, whose brother died in the Pennsylvania crash of United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001

A short time later, Greene heard that United Flight 93 had crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pa. “My first reaction was, ‘Good, it didn’t hit another target,’ ’’ Greene recalled.

But Greene’s world soon began to dissolve when a brother called with the news that another sibling, Donald Freeman Greene, was on that plane. “I can’t really describe how dark and horrible that was,’’ Greene said.

Eight years later, as a roiling debate unfolds about US strategy in Afghanistan, Greene said she feels no need to sacrifice more American troops in a country where the 9/11 attacks were hatched.

“There has to be a way to build more bridges rather than destroy them,’’ Greene said. “I think the media assume that the families want revenge, like that’s respecting the family and the family member’s memory.’’

--

Call your representatives in government today. Let them know you support rapid and complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Aug 8 2009 Things are fine in Iraq--NOT!

The short of it is contained in the myriad changes that have fallen on Iraqis as a direct result of our invasion and occupation of their country. While our media is quick to tell us about 'two new Masguf restaurants are open', and gains of this sort they rarely spell out the pain we have inflicted on individuals.

We do see, increasingly, lists of violent acts that take the lives and limbs of innocent Iraqis, but we rarely glimpse the smaller devastating differences in everyday Iraqi life.

Today we got this note:

So , I went to a church yesterday ... Wanted to light a candle for Marriam (pbuh) .. Yet I wasnt able to get in .. It seems that they r too afraid to let ppl inside anymore .. It felt really sad cos thats not how it used to be ...

Even under Sadaam one could go to pray to one's own god, whatever god that was.

[Seventh Day Adventist Church-Baghdad]

And when I asked Sameer what he had heard from his sister today he said, "Still you ask and still there is little electricity. No fuel, little food. And no work. Nothing changes."

And from another: "Today six pilgrims were killed and 24 were injured in three explosions in Baghdad aimed at pilgrims returning from Karbala.

I offer a prayer to the almighty to spare their lives – and to spare this fatigued country more woes."

It is time for the U.S. to muster its might and intelligence to deliver what the Iraqis need most: a great deal of help in areas like reconciliation, political management of internal conflict, basic services delivery, and training of civilian government workers. We poured billions into violent solutions. We could be putting money into things that will actually help the Iraqi people.

We have the expertise. We can afford the effort. We owe it to the Iraqis. Have you asked your government representative about this? Why not send them a note supporting real aid to the Iraqis, in a form that will provide them more peaceful tomorrows.
 
The long of it is reported daily on the internet, but rarely fully in most U.S. media:
Reported Security incidents: [Iraq Today]
Baghdad:
#1: A parked car bomb targeted a police patrol in al Jemiyah open air market in Khadhraa neighbourhood, western Baghdad at 8.30 p.m. Friday killing three policemen, three civilians and injured at least 30 civilians. The explosion also caused material damages to the shops and houses nearby.
 #2: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians in Amil district in southwestern Baghdad, police said.
 #3: A bomb hidden in a motorcycle killed six people and wounded 35 in a market in the mostly Sunni Muslim district of al-Khadhraa in west Baghdad on Friday, police said.

Diyala Prv:
#1: A sahwa (awakening) tribal fighter was killed and four others wounded in an attack by gunmen on their checkpoint in the district of Baaquba on Friday, a security source in Diala said. “Gunmen suspected members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) network attacked a sahwa checkpoint in the area of al-Othmaniya, Baaquba, and opened a volley of fire at the guards on duty there, leaving one killed and four others wounded,” the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Unidentified gunmen killed an owner of a money exchange store and wounded two others in central Baaquba district on Friday, a security source in Diala province said. “The gunmen later stole large sums of money from the store and escaped to an unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Thi Qar Prv:
#1: Seven Katyusha rockets on Saturday were found in Thi-Qar province, according to a local police statement. “In cooperation with the 8 th Emergency Regiment, a force from the Souk al-Shoyookh Police Department seized seven Katyusha rockets of 155mm caliber in al-Nawashi village of Souk al-Shoyookh district (30 km southeast of Nassiriya City),” read the statement that was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Sulaimaniyah Prv:
#1: Insurgents attacked a checkpoint in Darbendikhan district, near Darbendikhan dam at 1.30 a.m. Friday killing one traffic policeman and injuring two others.

Hawija:
#1: An attacker threw a grenade on a U.S. patrol. Three civilians were wounded in the attack in Hawija, 210 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad on Friday, police said.

Kirkuk:
#1: A police patrol found the burnt body of a man believed to be an Iranian at a graveyard in northern Kirkuk on Friday, a senior police official said. “A patrol of the Azadi police station found on Friday evening the burnt body of a man with an Iranian passport at the Abu Alluk graveyard in the northern Kirkuk area of al-Musalla,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the director of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: One cop has been wounded in an armed attack in Kirkuk City, according to a source from the Joint Coordination Center. “During a late hour on Friday evening, unknown gunmen opened fire on a bomb squad policeman in Baroud Khana area, northern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Mosul:
#1: policeman was killed by gunmen fire in a crowded marketplace in central Mosul city on Friday, a security source in Ninewa said. “Gunmen opened fire at a policeman on a leave in the pedestrian-crammed area of Bab el-Toub, central Mosul, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Two policemen were killed in an attack by gunmen on a checkpoint southeast of Mosul city on Friday, a security source in Ninewa province said. “Gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint in the district of al-Nimrod district, southeast of Mosul, leaving two policemen killed,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

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.]

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