External articles filtered for: "Iraq"
Most recent publication date first.
The following compilation of articles from external sources is presented in the hope that they will be useful but Clarion is not responsible for their content.
Full article on consortiumnews.comAn attempt was made on Oct. 29 to break into the Ecuadorian embassy, where security has been removed and apparently new surveillance devices installed, reports Joe Lauria.
First paragraph:
An Australian anti-war activist was among the victims of alleged illegal email hacking by UK police, according to whistleblower claims being investigated by the British police watchdog.Full article on www.theguardian.com
Full article on www.theguardian.comGiving practical support to conscientious objectors – as well as to Julian Assange and Edward Snowden – has led to an unexpected recent phase in the life of an activist who cheerfully volunteers that he still looks like “the hippie from central casting”.
...“Most resistance in both the Gulf war and the recent invasion [of Iraq in 2003] came out of the US and also the British military.”
First paragraph:
Plans to exploit Iraq's oil reserves were discussed by government ministers and the world's largest oil companies the year before Britain took a leading role in invading Iraq, government documents show.
Full article on www.independent.co.ukA Birmingham newspaper reports that Abdullah William Webster, a former US Army sergeant, who is the husband of local woman Sue Webster, was sentenced by court martial in June 2004 to 14 months in prison after refusing to fight in Iraq. The article includes interview with his wife, photographs of them and their child, comments from Amnesty International which has adopted him as a prisoner of conscience, and details of how to write in support.
Full articleThe following paragraph is quoted from the website of Palast, not from Harper's magazine:
Within weeks of the first inaugural, prominent Iraqi expatriates - many with ties to U.S. industry - were invited to secret discussions directed by Pamela Quanrud, an NSC economics expert now employed at State. "It quickly became an oil group," one participant, Falah Aljibury, told me. Aljibury, an adviser to Amerada Hess's oil trading arm and to investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, who once served as a back channel between the United States and Iraq during
...
Full article on www.gregpalast.com
An updated version "By special arrangement with Harper's magazine": OPEC and The Economic Conquest of Iraq, Greg Palast, Monday, 24 October, 2005 (PDF) on gregpalast.com
First paragraph:
Article on news.bbc.co.ukThe Bush administration made plans for war and for Iraq's oil before the 9/11 attacks, sparking a policy battle between neo-cons and Big Oil, BBC's Newsnight has revealed.
See also : Secret U.S. Plans For Iraq’s Oil, Thursday 17 March 2005, Greg Palast on www.gregpalast.com
Video, transcript and interview of reporter Greg Palast by Amy Goodman on democracynow.org
Second paragraph:
But here's the difference: no heads rolled. And, it now transpires, the readers don't even get an apology. On 24 July the following brief announcement was buried in the Standard: "A number of readers have expressed concern that our front page picture on 9 April, showing Iraqis celebrating the liberation of Baghdad, had been enhanced to depict a larger crowd than actually existed. As it was taken from TV footage, extra people were added to the image to fill the space left by the removal of logos from the picture. In our opinion this did not alter the clarity or truth of the picture's message but we are happy to make this clear."
Full article:It seems that the US and UK government are still claiming that the 28 March bombing of Shu'ala marketplace, which is being reported as having killed 62 peope, could have been the result of malfunctioning Iraqi air defence equipment.
Full article:One of the central claims of the US administration about the threat of Iraq's weapons - that of 1.5 tonnes of VX nerve agent that are unaccounted for - has fallen apart over the past week.
Full article: local_reports/deceitful_dossier_varsity_14feb2003.htmlThis week national governments were blushing and the headlines of the world's media were screaming after a Cambridge fellow revealed that the British Government's latest dossier on Iraq was little more than a poor copy of out of date and uncredited academic articles.
Full article:"There will not be a safe place in Baghdad," said one Pentagon official who has been briefed on the plan.
The Ministry of Defence announced last year it was to buy a tungsten-tipped, armour-piercing round amid concern over the side-effects of the DU shells, although it continues to deny that the ammunition is the source of cancers contracted by servicemen in areas where it was used in battle since its introduction in 1991.
Full article archived on archive.org from www.theherald.co.uk
Full article on archive.orgAs I traveled through the US, UK, and Iraq to cover this story, I was confronted at every turn by the sad and frightening spectre of "discounted casualties,"- people exposed to depleted uranium and other toxic substances, and now tormented by leukemia and a whole array of chronic disorders.
Full article from srcf.ucam.org archived on archive.orgThere is no case for a war on Iraq. It has not threatened to attack the US or Europe. It is not connected to al-Qa'ida. There is no evidence that it has new weapons of mass destruction, or that it possesses the means of delivering them.
As citizens concerned with the social justice and the situation in Iraq, we have conceived a program that we hope will draw attention to the devastation of war and economic sanction in Iraq, and moral bankruptcy of U.S. foreign policy regarding people in Iraq, especially children.
Full article from www.villagevoice.com archived on archive.comWord got around the department that I was a good Arabic translator who did a great Saddam imitation," recalls the Harvard grad student. "Eventually, someone phoned me asking if I wanted to help change the course of Iraq policy." So twice a week, for $3000 a month, the Iraqi student tells the Voice on condition of anonymity, he took a taxi from his campus apartment to a Boston-area recording studio rented by the Rendon Group, a D.C.-based public relations firm with close ties to the U.S. government. His job: Translate and dub spoofed Saddam Hussein speeches and tongue-in-cheek newscasts for broadcast throughout Iraq.
Full article on archive.org archived from www.alertnet.orgInternational medical surveys have reported a dramatic jump in cancer cases, genetic deformities and abnormalities in children born after 1991, especially in the south where depleted uranium munitions were fired by U.S. and British troops as they drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.
Full article from independent.co.uk archived on archive.orgSecondly, because the envoy was sent to Iraq to arrange the re-opening of the US embassy - in order to secure better trade and economic relations with the Butcher of Baghdad. Thirdly, because the envoy was - wait for it - Donald Rumsfeld. Now you might think it strange that Mr Rumsfeld, in the course of one of his folksy press conferences, hasn't chatted to us about this interesting tit-bit. You might think he would have wished to enlighten us about the evil nature of the criminal with whom he so warmly shook hands. But no.
...The 1148th didn't fight on the front lines, but it hauled fuel into war zones. On the way, members of the unit often passed burned-out Iraqi vehicles and tanks destroyed by U.S. artillery.
In any future conflict in the Persian Gulf, vaccines given to troops in the field would be electronically archived, and the Defense Department would compile data on units' locations and any symptoms reported by soldiers before, during and after deployment, according to Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of the Deployment Health Support Directorate.Full article
Full article from www.independent.co.uk archived on archive.comMajor Scott Ritter, Iraq's nemesis-turned-saviour, was indeed - as an inspector - regularly travelling to Tel Aviv to consult Israeli intelligence. Then Saddam accused the UN inspectors of working for the CIA. And he was right. The United States, it emerged, was using the UN's Baghdad offices to bug Iraq's government communications. And once the inspectors were withdrawn in 1998 and the US and Britain launched "Operation Desert Fox", it turned out that virtually every one of the bombing targets had been visited by UN inspectors over the previous six months. Far from being an inspectorate, the UN lads - though they didn't all know it - had been acting as forward air controllers, drawing up an American hit list rather than monitoring compliance with UN resolutions.
Full article from www.commondreams.org archived on archive.org10. The Department of Veterans Affairs will not be able to care for additional casualties because VA can't even take care of current VA patients. Most veterans now wait six months to see a VA doctor, and most veterans wait more than six months to receive a decision on a VA disability claim. Many of those waiting in line are Gulf War veterans, many with unusual illnesses. According to VA, of the nearly 700,000 veterans who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, more than 300,000 have sought VA healthcare, and more than 200,000 have filed VA disability claims. Two weeks ago, President Bush slashed $275 million from the healthcare budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Full article from news.independent.co.uk archived on archive.comOne opinion poll released yesterday by German television showed only 4 per cent of voters backed German troops being used in a war with Iraq under any circumstances while 41 per cent said they were in favour if it was backed by a UN mandate. Fifty-three per cent were opposed to any involvement by German armed forces. Another poll yesterday by the Forsa group found 85 per cent of Germans supported their government's position on Iraq.
Full article http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,787812,00.htmlBrigadier General John Rosa, the deputy operations director for the joint chiefs of staff, said that "12 airplanes dropped 25 weapons" on the target.
"We've done that for the last 10 or 11 years and we'll continue to do that," he added.
Full article from news.independent.co.uk archived on archive.comRobin Cook, the Leader of the House, suggested that MPs should be allowed to vote on whether Britain would take military action. But Mr Blair is determined to avoid a formal vote after being warned by government whips that 100 Labour MPs could mount the biggest backbench rebellion since the party came to power in 1997. Such opposition would force him to rely on the support of Tory MPs.
Full article http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0906/p01s02-wosc.htmlCiting top-secret satellite images, Pentagon officials estimated in mid-September that up to 250,000 Iraqi troops and 1,500 tanks stood on the border, threatening the key US oil supplier.
But when the St. Petersburg Times in Florida acquired two commercial Soviet satellite images of the same area, taken at the same time, no Iraqi troops were visible near the Saudi border - just empty desert.
Full article on thenation.comOn no issue is the JINSA/CSP hard line more evident than in its relentless campaign for war--not just with Iraq, but "total war," as Michael Ledeen, one of the most influential JINSAns in Washington, put it last year. For this crew, "regime change" by any means necessary in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority is an urgent imperative. Anyone who dissents--be it Colin Powell's State Department, the CIA or career military officers--is committing heresy against articles of faith that effectively hold there is no difference between US and Israeli national security interests, and that the only way to assure continued safety and prosperity for both countries is through hegemony in the Middle East--a hegemony achieved with the traditional cold war recipe of feints, force, clientism and covert action.
Full article http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/17/1029114031047.htmlThe chairman of the steering committee of the Australian Gulf War Veterans Association, David Watts, told The Sunday Age he did not want to see other young service personnel suffer.
"I think it's very irresponsible of the government to start talking about sending people over for another go when they haven't really looked after the people who went in the first place," Mr Watts said.
Full articleThe disquiet over Tony Blair's backing for George Bush on Iraq was in evidence again yesterday when church figures, including the Archbishop of Canterbury-designate, Dr Rowan Williams, presented a 3,000-name petition to Downing Street questioning the moral and legal validity of a war.
Full article from news.scotsman.com archived on archive.orgFormer MoD chief Sir Michael Quinlan said the justness of any action would be "deeply questionable" and warned it could lead to huge public division.
Writing in the Financial Times, he urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to withhold British support for a "unnecessary and precarious" gamble.
This article was once at http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1028185560401&p=1012571727126Saddam Hussein is a malign tyrant with a history of aggression against his neighbours. He almost certainly has chemical and biological weapons and would like to get nuclear ones, in breach of United Nations Security Council edict. We can place no trust in his denials or his current manoeuvring. The world would be better without him. But starting a war is an immensely grave step and we must still ask whether it would be wise, and right, to take it.
Sir Michael Quinlan was permanent under-secretary at the Ministry of Defence, 1988-92, and is a visiting professor at the Centre for Defence Studies at King's College, London
Full article on www.motherjones.com archived on archive.org"I was being expected to take orders from the US delegation, and to customize the implementation of the convention to the US demands," says Bustani from his home in The Hague. "I was expected to consult Washington on every single issue, which I refused to do."
The head of the world's chemical weapons regulatory body, Jose Bustani, was dismissed yesterday by a United States-led vote.Full article on www.guardian.co.uk
Full article on weekly.ahram.org.egArab legal experts in Camp Zeist were incensed by the verdict. Whilst Libyan lawyers spoke of a trial that is politically motivated, Saber Ammar of the Arab Lawyers' Union criticised "the influence of politicians and the press on the judges." Chairman Bechir Essid of the Tunisian Bar Association said he was disillusioned with the Western judicial system. "How can you sentence someone without any proof? This is abuse of justice.,' he said.'
The United Nations' observer, Hans Kchler, an Austrian professor of Jurisprudence, was alarmed by the decision. He described the appeal as "a rather spectacular miscarriage of justice." He was lost as to how a unanimous decision was reached "in the light of some of the analysis presented and questions asked by the judges."
Doctors link cancer and abnormalities found in children living in the south to depleted uranium contained in bombs that were used in Persian Gulf war, TIMOTHY APPLEBY says
By TIMOTHY APPLEBY
Wednesday, March 13, 2002
Print Edition, Page A4BASRA, IRAQ -- When a baby is born in southern Iraq these days, the mother's first question is not whether the child is male or female. "What she wants to know is whether her baby is normal," says Janan Ghalib, head of the cancer unit at Basra's Maternity and Children Hospital. The doctor needs only to flip open a photo album filled with horrors to explain why. There are pictures of babies without eyes, and some with too many eyes. There are
Local copy of full article iraq.deformities.html
http://www.globeandmail.com : "News stories that were published on this Web site more than a week ago are not retained on the site. To find such stories, or other newspaper material that does not appear on the Web site, please check the options listed below"...
"The immediate concern for medical professionals and employees of aid organisations remains the threat of extensive depleted uranium (DU) contamination in Afghanistan." This is one of the conclusions of a 130-page report, Mystery Metal Nightmare in Afghanistan? (1), by Dai Williams, an independent researcher and occupational psychologist. It is the result of more than a year of research into DU and its effects on those exposed to it.Full article http://MondeDiplo.com/2002/03/03uranium
Full article http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4270014,00.htmlIn the Senate debate whether to approve military action to force Saddam out of Kuwait, seven senators specifically mentioned the incubator babies atrocity and the final margin in favour of war was just five votes. John R Macarthur's study of propaganda in the war says that the babies atrocity was a definitive moment in the campaign to prepare the American public for the need to go to war.
It was not until nearly two years later that the truth emerged. The story was a fabrication and a myth, and Nayirah, the teenage Kuwaiti girl, coached and rehearsed by Hill & Knowlton for her appearance before the Congressional Committee, was in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. By the time Macarthur revealed this, the war was won and over and it did not matter any more.
First paragraph:
The United States government licensed the export to Iraq of anthrax and other highly toxic biological agents which were subsequently used by President Saddam Hussein against allied servicemen during the Gulf war, according to a US senate investigation.Full article
Full article:There has never before been such authentic and detailed material available about the operations of the British secret services and their influence on Whitehall - right down to verbatim copies of their own agents' reports and their internal memoranda.
"In the early 1950s the CIA had been visibly the poor relation in Iraq to British intelligence, which effectively ran much of the Baghdad Pact, the alliance of countries in the region close to the Soviet border. Donald Wilber, a CIA officer who had assisted in the Iran operation in 1953, recalled his experiences in Baghdad"... "The CIA was keen to develop a GLADIO-type network in Iraq and to 'plant communications and demolitions to be used by stay-behind agents' in case the Russians made an advance into the area."... "The hidden hand Britain, America and cold war secret intelligence", Richard J. Aldrich, John Murray, 2001, page 582-3
A documentary about british royal air force bombing and shooting of civilians both in Iraq and Waziristan (near modern Pakistan/Afghanistan border) during the 1920s and 1930s. It includes interviews with some of the perpetrators and some of their surviving victims. David Omissi appears in the credits as a consultant.
Transcript: birds_of_death/transcript.htmlFull article: e/omissi_graun_19jan1991.htmlThis "police bombing" was too much for some air force officers to stomach. In 1924, a distinguished Air Commodore, Lionel Charlton, resigned his post as a staff officer in Iraq after he visited a hospital and saw the victims of British bombing recovering from their injuries. The air force recalled him to England, promising not to otherwise damage his career provided he took his protests no further; but they went back on their word and placed him on the retired list in 1928.
First paragraph:
British officials in Chile are claiming that the dead defence journalist Jonathan Moyle was a sexual deviant who hanged himself while attempting to obtain pleasure. It is understood that members of MI5 have made the same assertion in London.Full article