US Occupation Supresses Study

<a title=”US occupation authority suppresses study of Iraqi civilian casualties” href=”http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/iraq-d15.shtml”>US occupation authority suppresses study of Iraqi civilian casualties</a>

In a crude effort to cover up the extent of its crimes in Iraq, the US occupation authority has brought pressure to bear on the countryâ??s health ministry officials to halt a count of civilians killed and injured during the US-led invasion in March and subsequently.

Head of the ministryâ??s statistics department Dr Nagham Mohsen told the media last Wednesday that she had been summoned by the director of planning Dr Nazar Shabandar last month and told to stop a survey of hospitals aimed at tallying civilian casualties. He had also ordered her not to release any of the partial information that had been collected to date.

Leftover Turkey

This is the best wrapup I have read about all the aspects of Bush’s trip to Baghdad on Thanksgiving. Sorta like when his Daddy visited Desert Storm and they made all the soldiers unload their weapons and turn in the bolts, an insult to a warrior in a dangerous place. The only thing not in here is Bush’s apparent pandering to the camera by holding a display turkey, which I have never seen in a messhall on Thanksgiving. I guess they got that with some of the 60 million Brown&Root overcharged us for fuel. <a title=”A Baghdad Thanksgiving’s Lingering Aftertaste (washingtonpost.com)” href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57870-2003Dec11.html”>A Baghdad Thanksgiving’s Lingering Aftertaste (washingtonpost.com)</a>

A Baghdad Thanksgiving’s Lingering Aftertaste

By Dana Milbank

Friday, December 12, 2003; Page A35

Stars and Stripes, the Pentagon-authorized newspaper of the U.S. military, is bucking for a court-martial.

Combat – Godfather Style

WARNING: Here is something to see:

<a title=”Take No Prisoners” href=”http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5365.htm”>Take No Prisoners</a>

This is an explicit video that I sure didn’t see run on CNN, though it was obviously shot by them. If you do check it out, you will see letters on the same page from people purporting to be marines castigating the website owner for showing this. They try to say it was okay – here is the text of the letter I sent in reply:

I saw both the video on the front page and read the letters from the Marines. Disgusting.

I too, am recently returned from seven months in Iraq, with a Division Cavalry unit. I see nothing to defend in that video and am glad that you have archived it so that others can see it. As a scout with over twenty years in the Army, mostly in combat units, I would say that what is captured on the video appears to be murder and in violation of the Law of Land Warfare. This is not how warriors behave but how thugs operate. If the Iraqi man was indeed laying in ambush or setting an IED, then it is entirely appropriate to shoot him and to shoot him until he is no longer a threat. Once he ceased combat operations however, it became the soldiers’ job to treat him and give him the same aid they would have one of our wounded soldiers receive. That’s how the Law of Land Warfare works. To use him as a target and appear so joyful about it demonstrates that murder occurred and not combat operations. That is not a reflection of how callous all the soldiers are or what is encouraged or allowed in units. That unit has a problem. Any commander that glosses over that incident is neglecting his duty.

In the opening days of the war, our medics treated many Iraqi casualties, sometimes heroically. That’s what you do. Its the law. I have no love lost for Iraqis, especially after watching the ones so happy to get a handout dance so gleefully in soldier’s blood. Our troops killed plenty, engaging in combat actions. My instructions to soldiers on missions almost always included the words – “if at anytime you feel threatened, shoot, shoot first and shoot center mass.” But at no time were any of our soldiers instructed, allowed or countenanced to murder an injured person, be he combatant or not. I took pride that my commander insisted we “keep our mean faces on. We are not here to make friends” but also insisted on the humane treatment, even recommending our PA for an award solely for working heroically on an Iraqi casualty. This man had attempted to engage our forces, was shot and shot bad and eventually died. No one was happy that a human died. We understood that if we are to expect to be treated a certain way upon injury or capture, then we must treat the enemy the same way. That’s what warriors do.

Of concern too, is what this war and the situations that soldiers are forced into each day doing to their heads. This is a PTSD legacy that will have to be dealt with. There is no way the young men that murdered that man will come back to the US the same way they left. Rumsfeld’s war on the cheap puts soldiers in situations they shouldn’t have to be in every day – letting pilgrims die without food and water, stuffing EPW into over-crowded pens or shooting youths that may be a real threat.

The threat is here – on Capitol Hill and should be excised as soon as possible.

Take No Prisoners

True Colors

This is one of the few articles I have seen detailing what is a daily occurence at Camp Caldwell (KMTB). It seems a little far-fetched to believe that they will be able to train 40,000 a year when they can’t get 1,000 to stay six months. It also shows the mercenary spirit of the Iraqis at large and how far out their hands are. These guys were living in the lap of luxury. Of course, there are no thoughts of ending this program – it is paid to James Baker’s old company – Vinnel. While the US Army struggles on in their barracks with few amenities the Iraqis continue to suck up the cororate grease left over by the tycoons.

<a title=”Greenwich Time: Iraqi soldiers deserting new army” href=”http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/nationworld/chi-0312090088dec09,0,629082,print.story?coll=sns-newsnation-headlines”>Greenwich Time: Iraqi soldiers deserting new army</a>

Iraqi soldiers deserting new army

Most complain about low pay and death threats

By Christine Spolar

Tribune foreign correspondent

December 9, 2003

KIRKUSH MILITARY TRAINING BASE, Iraq — The first battalion of the new Iraqi army, once celebrated as a key symbol of Iraq’s recovery, has been abandoned by more than a third of its soldiers a week before the battalion is set to begin working alongside U.S. military units.

Bait and Switch

Much like he’s done with so many other topics, changing the reasons we’ve gone to war, or cutting AIDS programs the same night he said he’d fund them, the Bushies have ignored the Halliburton contracts even as they said they’d end them. I think their motto should be, get it out of the public eye and move on!:

<a title=”Reuters | Breaking News from Around the Globe” href=”http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=3927960″>Reuters | Breaking News from Around the Globe</a>

Pentagon delays award of Iraq oil contracts again

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military said on Tuesday it had again extended a deadline for awarding two new contracts to repair Iraq’s oil fields, giving Vice President Dick Cheney’s old firm Halliburton more time under its no-competition deal.