Clipmarks | arifsali's 'iraq war' clips

I raped Iraqi girl, then helped kill her....soldier pleads guilty

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:04:47 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: BTW, the headline isn't mine, this is how it showed up in RSS feed.
Unless he was a criminal before he was a soldier, I do not understand how a human being commits such crimes out of nowhere.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Soldier pleads guilty in Iraq killings

FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (AP) -- One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping an Iraqi girl last spring and killing her and her family pleaded guilty Wednesday and will testify against the others.

Spc. James P. Barker agreed to the plea deal to avoid the death penalty, said his civilian attorney, David Sheldon.

The killings in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad, were among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq.

Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, both members of the 101st Airborne Division with Barker, could face the death penalty if convicted in the case in courts-martial at Fort Campbell.

Former Army private Steve Green, 21, pleaded not guilty last week to charges including murder and sexual assault.

Green was discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder" before the allegations became known, and prosecutors have yet to say if they will pursue the death penalty against him.

The indictment accuses Green and others of raping the 14-year-old girl and burning her body to conceal their crimes. It also alleges that Green and four others stationed at a nearby checkpoint killed the girl's father, mother and 6-year-old sister.

Barker has given investigators vivid accounts of the assault. An investigator testified during a hearing in August that Barker had said the soldiers drank whiskey and played cards while plotting the assault, that Barker, Cortez and Green took turns raping the girl, and that Green shot her and her family.

Tags: iraq war, soldiers, crime, politics, war

Fatal errors in planning for postwar Iraq: British Defence Secretary

Wed, 02 May 2007 22:36:10 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: politics.guardian.co.uk

A catalogue of errors over planning for Iraq after the invasion, and an inability to influence key figures in the US administration, led to anarchy in Iraq from which the country has not recovered, the British defence secretary during the invasion admits today.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Geoff Hoon reveals that Britain disagreed with the US administration over two key decisions in May 2003, two months after the invasion - to disband Iraq's army and "de-Ba'athify" its civil service. Mr Hoon also said he and other senior ministers completely underestimated the role and influence of the vice-president, Dick Cheney.

"Sometimes ... Tony had made his point with the president, and I'd made my point with Don [Rumsfeld] and Jack [Straw] had made his point with Colin [Powell] and the decision actually came out of a completely different place. And you think: what did we miss? I think we missed Cheney."

Tags: iraq, iraq war, britain, united states, politics, war

Why were/are so many in Journalism afraid of the Bush regime?

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:59:09 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: This is from Landay and Strobel Talk Back and Moyers' blog. I'm sure some of you have already clipped parts of it, but the whole piece is worth a read. Visit the source.

Clip Source: www.pbs.org

Why were/are so many in Journalism afraid of the Bush regime? Are we under a government of, by and for the corporations?

Warren Strobel:
Thanks for the comment. One of the things that got left out of the show was how then Knight Ridder, now McClatchy, has given us tremendous corporate backing for our journalism. I know the corporate office got some flack for what we were doing and writing back in 2002, 2003, 2004, but we never felt chill winds from our own company trying to hold us back. Questions wondering whether we were sure we were on the right track, yes. Self-censorship, no.

Also, to get to your first point, we find it kind of ironic to see all sorts of journalists challenging the administration on all sorts of fronts now - I mean, it's good and healthy to have that kind of accountability. But it's a lot easier for a reporter to do that when Bush has low approval ratings, the Iraq war is not going well and the Democrats control Congress...

Tags: bush administration, iraq war, war, politics, journalism

Israeli company to cash in on building separation walls in Iraq

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:32:58 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.arabmonitor.info

Baghdad, 25 April - Following Monday's protest marches in the Adhamiya district of Baghdad against a US project which they feel aimed at herding them into a prison, Iraqi Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr stood up against the project also. Adding his voice to the mainly Sunni protesters against the construction of a 5 km-long wall around the neighborhood of Adhamiya in Baghdad, he condemned the evil intentions of the occupation forces, accusing them of aiming at dividing Sunni from Shiite Iraqis.

The company of Belinski, a German-Israeli Jewish businessman, has a long experience in building barriers in the Occupied Territories of Palestine: with the help of two Palestinian business clans, owners of the Tarifi Cement Companies and the Barakeh General Trade, in the years 2003/4 Zeef Belinski used 390.000 tons of subsidized Egyptian cement and used it for building Jewish settlements and the Apartheid wall in the Occupied Territories of Palestine

Tags: iraq war, united states, war

BUYING THE WAR: Watch the Show

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 04:47:18 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: A must watch show for those who may have missed it.

Clip Source: www.pbs.org

BUYING THE WAR: Watch the Show

Tags: bill moyers, pbs, iraq war, journalists, united states, politics, bush administration

Americans agree with Reid

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 05:06:13 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

So much for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) remarks about Iraq being “un-American.”

Tags: united states, iraq war, politics, poll, harry reid

Knight Ridder Reporters

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 04:39:45 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.pbs.org

Tonight's broadcast, "Buying the War" introduced you to intrepid Knight Ridder (now McClatchy) reporters Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel, who between them have over 40 years experience reporting on foreign affairs and national security.

They are answering your viewer questions live now. To submit a question, simply post it as a comment on this blog entry.

Tags: bill moyers, knight ridder, reporters, journalists, united states, iraq war

Why I Declined To Serve

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:57:45 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Well worth the read.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Why I Declined To Serve

By John J. Sheehan

Service to the nation is both a responsibility and an honor for every citizen presented with the opportunity. This is especially true in times of war and crisis. Today, because of the war in Iraq, this nation is in a crisis of confidence and is confused about its foreign policy direction, especially in the Middle East.

Tags: bush administration, iraq war, military

COST OF WAR

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 01:38:36 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Above is a live counter, you have to click on the source to see.

Clip Source: costofwar.com

Below is a running total of the U.S. taxpayer cost of the Iraq War. The number is based on Congressional appropriations.

The War in Iraq Costs

$419,159,458,462

See the cost in your community

Or compare to the cost of:

PRE-SCHOOL
KIDS' HEALTH
COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS
PUBLIC HOUSING
PUBLIC EDUCATION

Tags: iraq, united states, iraq war, politics, finance

Canada offers forum for lecturer barred from U.S.

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 21:34:32 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.theglobeandmail.com

VANCOUVER — A highly regarded Iraqi epidemiologist who wants to tell Americans about an alarming rise in cancer levels among Iraqi children will come to Canada instead because he couldn't get a visa to the United States.

Unable to travel to the University of Washington, Riyadh Lafta -- best known for a controversial study that estimated Iraq's body count in the U.S.-led war in Iraq at more than half a million -- will arrive at Simon Fraser University in B.C. this month to give a lecture and meet with research associates.

"The University of Washington wanted him, but the U.S. denied his entry," said his colleague at SFU, Tim Takaro. "They need to be able to collaborate, even if his results are unpopular with the Americans. Now he's at SFU, and the best they're going to get is a video feed."

Tags: canada, united states, iraq, iraq war, health, cancer, children

154 DEAD, 271 INJURED

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:30:45 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.freemarketnews.com

SATURDAY: 154 DEAD, 271 INJURED

Sunday, April 15, 2007 - FreeMarketNews.com

An extremely violent day in Iraq left at least 154 Iraqis dead and 271 injured, with numbers sure to rise in the coming hours. A bombing at a bus station in Karbala and another on a bridge in Baghdad had the heaviest tolls; however, numerous attacks occurred all over the country. At least 26 Iraqis were kidnapped in separate events. No foreign casualties were reported. -antiwar

Tags: iraq, iraq war, humans, dead

Pentagon Says No Evidence Of Al-Qaeda-Hussein Link

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:13:26 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.rferl.org

A newly declassified report by the U.S. Defense Department has found there was little evidence to support the Bush administration's claims of a connection between Al-Qaeda and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The Pentagon report, issued by the Defense Department's inspector general on April 6, quotes a 2002 CIA document that says: "Overall, the reporting provides no conclusive signs of cooperation on specific terrorist operations" between Hussein's government and Al-Qaeda.

Speaking on April 5, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney repeated assertions that such a link did exist before the decision was made to invade Iraq.

Tags: politics, pentagon, united states, 9/11, al qaeda, saddam hussein, iraq, war, iraq war, bush administration, cheney

President Cheney

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 23:48:18 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: So went to Iraq to get Zarqawi? How come I didn't know about this?

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

CHENEY: Sure — well, it’s just flawed thinking. I like Ike Skelton; I worked closely with Ike when I was Secretary of Defense. He’s Chairman of the Armed Services Committee now. Ike is a good man. He’s just dead wrong about this, though. Think about — just to give you one example, Rush, remember Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist, Al Qaida affiliate; ran a training camp in Afghanistan for Al Qaida, then migrated — after we went into Afghanistan and shut him down there, he went to Baghdad, took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq; organized the Al Qaida operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene, and then, of course, led the charge for Iraq until we killed him last June. He’s the guy who arranged the bombing of the Samarra Mosque that precipitated the sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni. This is Al Qaida operating in Iraq. And as I say, they were present before we invaded Iraq.

Tags: war on terror, iraq war, politics, cheney, war, united states

What We Can Do

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:22:42 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: By RORY STEWART

Clip Source: content2.clipmarks.com

We must acknowledge the limits of our power and knowledge in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere and concentrate on what is achievable. The question is not "What ought we to do?" but "What can we do?"

We are learning, painfully, that many of the problems in Iraq or Afghanistan — from violence and state failure to treatment of women — are deeply embedded in local beliefs, political structures and traumatic histories. Iraqis and Afghans do not want their country controlled by foreigners and non-Muslims. A powerful and effective minority is trying to kill us. The majority is at best lukewarm: they may dislike Sadrists or the Taliban, but they prefer them to us.

The American and British people have sensed that their grand objectives are unachievable, and since no one is offering any practical alternative, they are lapsing into cynicism and opposition.

Tags: united states, iraq, iraq war

Accused Over Atrocity - PFc Bryan Howard

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:21:58 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: news.sky.com

A US soldier accused of one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq War - the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her family - is set to go on trial.

Private First Class Bryan Howard, who was initially described as a lookout for the crime, is one of five current and former US soldiers accused over the incident.

Barker and Cortez said they took turns raping the teenager while PFC Steven Green shot and killed her mother, father and younger sister.

Barker said Howard and another soldier, PFC Jesse Spielman, did not participate in the rape and killings.

But he admitted they were at the house when the assault occurred - and had come knowing what the others intended to do.

Tags: united states, soldiers, crime, war, iraq war