Clipmarks | pokkets's 'iraq' clips

The fall of the House of Bush

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:07:22 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: The first link. Further links are to other stories that are unlikely to be given as much publicity as they should.

Clip Source: noseconenews.blogspot.com

"The Fall of the House of Bush: The Untold Story of How a Band of True Believers Seized the Executive Branch, Started the Iraq War, and Still Imperils America’s Future”
Investigative journalist Craig Unger is the author of the new book “The Fall of the House of Bush”. The book examines how neoconservatives secretly forged an alliance with the Christian Right during the Bush presidency and helped make the case for war in Iraq.

The Farce of Veteran’s Day; A Holiday For Everyone Except Veterans

US Army desertion rates rise 80 percent since 2003 Iraq invasion; highest rate since 1980

CBS: 'Stunning' veteran suicide rate is twice that of non-veterans

CBS News has now completed a five-month study of death records for 2004-05 which shows that the actual figures are "much higher" than those reported by the VA. Across the total US veteran population of 25 million, CBS found that suicide rates were more than twice as high as for non-veterans

Wounded warriors face home-front battle with VA

U.S. Military Hoped for Virtually Unlimited Freedom of Action in Iraq

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:37:45 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: This was reported in June...

According to Cockburn's reporting, "President Bush wants to push [the security pact] through by the end of [July 2008] so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated." (Note 13) A prime beneficiary of the acceptance of a military agreement that the Iraqi people do not believe respects their rights or serves their interests would probably be the vast, privatized U.S. military/intelligence complex, positioned to profit from repressing the resistance sure to follow. If the Bush administration's goal is achieved through secret deals and pressure tactics it would only confirm the widespread view that its commitment to democracy is primarily self-serving. In Iraq as elsewhere there are many who would welcome a genuine American commitment to liberty and human rights but believe that U.S. actions contradict its rhetoric.
So much to decipher here!

Clip Source: www.gwu.edu

Washington D.C., June 13, 2008 - Recently declassified documents show that the U.S. military has long sought an agreement with Baghdad that gives American forces virtually unfettered freedom of action, casting into doubt the Bush administration's current claims that their demands are more limited in scope. News reports have indicated that the Bush administration is exerting pressure on the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to accept a U.S.-Iraq security plan by the end of July 2008. According to these accounts, the plan would give the U.S. more than 50 military bases in Iraq, provide complete freedom of action to conduct military operations, allow complete freedom to arrest and detain Iraqis, and grant U.S. forces and contractors total immunity from Iraqi law

According to the slides, U.S. requirements for Iraq included:

Use of Iraqi facilities

Contracting

Entry and Exit of forces

Taxation

Security requirements and support

The Current Plan

Likely Fallout

Read the Documents

Tags: war, iraq, freedom

Freeeeeedom! of Information (National Security Archive)

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:28:46 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: So much information, great site!

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Books provide online access to critical declassified records on issues including U.S. national security, foreign policy, diplomatic and military history, intelligence policy, and more. Updated frequently, the Electronic Briefing Books represent just a small sample of the documents in our published and unpublished collections.

A tax-exempt public charity, the Archive receives no U.S. government funding; its budget is supported by publication royalties and donations from foundations and individuals. On March 17, 2000, Long Island University named the National Security Archive as winner of a Special George Polk Award for 1999 for "piercing self-serving veils of government secrecy" and "serving as an essential journalistic resource."

Clip Source: www.gwu.edu

The National Security Archive is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

November 5, 2007
The Record on CURVEBALL
Declassified Documents and Key Participants Show the Importance of Phony Intelligence in the Origins of the Iraq War

Update - June 26, 2007, 1 p.m.
Full Report Now Available

June 21, 2007
The CIA's Family Jewels
Agency Violated Charter for 25 Years

The September 11th Sourcebooks
Primary sources on the War on Terrorism

Nixon Meets Elvis
Documents and photos from the extraordinary meeting

May 14, 2008
Electronic and Classified Records are Overwhelming the National Archives, According to Senate Testimony of Archive Director

June 13, 2008
U.S. Military Hoped for Virtually Unlimited Freedom of Action in Iraq
Drafting of U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement Began Nearly Five Years Ago

Clip Source: www.gwu.edu

Tags: freedom, knowledge

"Stability" in Iraq revives the "good war" myth

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:38:13 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: We can't bring justice to Iraq by continuing to force ourselves on it. We ARE the injustice.

Clip Source: files.tikkun.org

the Republicans wield another symbol of America as a righteous winner: the goal of achieving "stability" in Iraq. It may be the most seductive image of all, because it exerts a strong appeal across the political spectrum

War -- righteous, courageous, and ultimately victorious -- has always been a central theme in the American myth of stability

If Democrats and war critics go on the counterattack against the surge success story, they will keep that mythic drama on center stage in the theater

McCain's campaign survives, and thrives, only by

relying on its mastery of a language of American identity centered on the symbolism of an American "good war." Any debate about military success in Iraq, however contentious, keeps his strong suit in the spotlight.

The Democrats, however, can turn

by refusing to treat the issue of military success or failure as the central question of the moment

And we can begin to heal from our moral bankruptcy, not to mention our impending financial one.

Tags: war on terror, iraq

Admit it, the Surge worked

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:43:25 GMT

clipped by: cptenaud
clipper's remarks: Click the link for complete story and comments.

Clip Source: www.vetvoice.com

by: Combat Infantry Bunny

Tue Jul 08, 2008

Ok, I'm gonna say it, I'm going to admit to it . . . the Surge worked. Yep, and I'll hold steady with that statement if it means that we'll start pulling troops from Iraq. If the war/surge-lovers are waiting for us surge skeptics to give in, eat crow and say it worked before they are willing to give-up, than so be it. I strongly suspect chickenhawks everywhere aren't willing to take out troops until we(surge skeptics)admit we were wrong. I swear to god they will have nothing against wasting 20, 30 or 100 more American lives just to rub it in our faces that we were wrongo. Combat Infantry Bunny :: Admit it, the Surge worked.

Yep, the fact that we are back down to near 2004/5 levels in troop casualties is truly a success story. Hey, btw, any of you guys who were there in 2004/5 want to discuss how "safe" you felt back then?

Tags: iraq, surge

BBC: $24 BILLION missing in Iraq

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:23:51 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Equal stack of $1's would rise 1500 miles.

Clip Source: www.juancole.com

A BBC investigation concludes that as much as $24 billion has gone missing in Iraq, and much of it may have been embezzled by private companies and corporations brought there by Bush:

Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said: "The money that's gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, its egregious. "It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history." . . '

If you stacked singles up into the air in the amount of $24 billion, it would rise 1500 miles high. That is roughly the distance between New York City and Dallas, Texas-- one dollar bill at a time.

In fact, all the $2 trillion or more that the US will spend on the Iraq War, including a lifetime of medical and psychiatric care for thousands of damaged veterans, will have been spent for no national purpose, but only so as to line the pockets of Friends of George and Friends of Dick. War is welfare for the right wing of the Republican Party.

Tags: war, iraq

Ex-Rumsfeld deputy describes Iraq as 'major debacle'

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:37:08 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

The Iraq war has turned into a "major debacle," a former Pentagon official writes in a report published by the National Defense University in Washington.

"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle," Joseph Collins writes at the beginning of his 60-page article.

Collins, a retired Army colonel, served as a senior DoD official under Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld.

Among the conclusions he reaches in Choosing War: The Decision to Invade Iraq and Its Aftermath:

To date, the war in Iraq is a classic case of failure to adopt and adapt prudent courses of action that balance ends, ways, and means

Globally, U.S. standing among friends and allies has fallen. Our status as a moral leader has been damaged by the war

At the same time, operations in Iraq have had a negative impact on all other efforts in the war on terror

The central finding of this study is that U.S. efforts in Iraq were hobbled by a set of faulty assumptions

Tags: iraq, war, rumsfeld, joseph collins

Iraq war spurs effort to regrow new limbs

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:43:43 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

The Iraq war has triggered a massive injection of US government funds to fast-track efforts to grow replacement ears, noses, limbs, skin, muscles and other body tissue.

Lost limbs, burns and other traumatic injuries suffered by soldiers in war have triggered the US$250million research effort

The US Pentagon this week launched a US$250 million initiative to address its unprecedented challenge of caring for troops returning from war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

US soldiers are returning with amputations, burns, spinal cord injuries and vision loss, many injuries being of the kind that would have been fatal years ago.

A new Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine will develop stem cell and other therapies for burn repair, scar-less wound healing, facial reconstruction and limb reconstruction or regeneration.

US authorities say the effort will also benefit civilians with traumatic injuries and Australian burns expert, Professor Fiona Wood, of the Royal Perth Hospital, agrees.

Official Says Fraud Loophole Was A ‘Mistake’

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:13:44 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: The U.S. has spent about $102 billion on rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan over the last five years. Federal investigators have uncovered about $14 million in fraud.
WTF?--there's gotta be a LOT more than that missing or corrupted.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration inadvertently exempted foreign contracts in Iraq from fraud oversight, a top administration official said Tuesday, resulting in a loophole that Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said could have protected private firms that steal taxpayer money. The admission follows weeks of controversy surrounding the exemption’s mysterious appearance in a new rule guiding contractors being paid billions for government work in the U.S. and in foreign countries around the globe.

The administration removed the single paragraph exemption on Monday, hours before a House panel convened a hearing to question officials about its origin and to debate legislation introduced by Welch to close the loophole and punish fraudulent contractors.

“We did not knowingly, thinkingly put in the exemption,” said David Drabkin, the top acquisition officer at the General Services Administration. “The exemption language was a drafting error.”

“It was a mistake. Well, that’s not reassuring

The Myth of the Surge

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:29:19 GMT

clipped by: reganjo1955
clipper's remarks: Nir Rosen is amazing

Clip Source: www.rollingstone.com

The Myth of the Surge

Hoping to turn enemies into allies, U.S. forces are arming Iraqis who fought with the insurgents. But it's already starting to backfire. A report from the front lines of the new Iraq

REALITY CHECK!

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:03:39 GMT

clipped by: ouyangwulong
clipper's remarks: There is a frightening new global trend of denial...

Europeans think that they don't need to limit fishing...

Car companies don't think they need to improve fuel economy standards...

Bush thinks he can increase spending and cut taxes at the same time...

Jingoists think we are winning the war in Iraq...

Democrats think Hillary Clinton has enough experience to win an election...

Polluters think that Global Warming won't really happen...

Evangelicals think Jesus is coming back soon...

Fundamentalists think they can win the war against modernity...

The truth is: we're stuck with this world. The rules DO apply. No free passes. You have to face the music sometime.

We must choose realism over comfortable delusion. Unfortunately, for now, wistful thinking will rule the day until we let it all collapse around us.

Then we'll stand there scratching our heads saying: How could this happen?

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Fishing until all the fish are gone

Sharon LaFraniere showed how mechanized fishing fleets from the European Union and nations like China and Russia - usually with the complicity of local governments - have nearly picked clean the oceans off Senegal and other northwest African countries.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

U.S. agency says 17 states can't set car emission rules

WASHINGTON: The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday denied California and 16 other states the right to set their own standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

US deficit expected to grow even before economic stimulus package is unwrapped

The latest deficit projections from the Congressional Budget Office forecast a sea of red ink that will only deepen under plans to jump-start the economy with tax cuts and government spending.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Published: January 21, 2008

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a funeral tent Monday in a predominantly Sunni village, killing at least 14 people and wounding 17.

Tags: reality check, bush, democrats, big buisness, oil, iraq, environment, global warming, tax cuts

Web Site Assembles U.S. Prewar Claims

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:03:24 GMT

clipped by: spherepet

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Web Site Assembles U.S. Prewar Claims

By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr.

Published: January 23, 2008

Students of how the Bush administration led the nation into the Iraq war can now go online to browse a comprehensive database of top officials’ statements before the invasion, connecting the dots between hundreds of claims, mostly discredited since then

The Center for Public Integrity, a research group that focuses on ethics in government and public policy, designed the new Web site to allow simple searches for specific phrases, such as “mushroom cloud” or “yellowcake uranium,” in transcripts and documents totaling some 380,000 words, including remarks by President Bush and most of his top advisers in the two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks

Warnings about the need to confront Iraq

can be combed line by line, and reviewed alongside detailed critiques published after the fact by official panels, historians, journalists and independent experts.

no startling new information in the archive

Tags: iraq war, the center for public integrity, ethics

The Center for public integrity

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:18:34 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: I found the center for public integrity site through another article, but when I went to the site I found they had been doing investigative journalism projects into things that are frequently described as rumors or hearsay,
They are a non profit organization based in Washington D.C.
When I went to the home page, I thought there were a few more projects that deserved attention.
The investigations are ongoing.

Clip Source: www.publicintegrity.org

Study:False statements led to Iraq War

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:57:52 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.mail.com

DOUGLASS K. DANIEL

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews

at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both

The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction

and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida

second

to Powell's 244 false statements

Senate OKs $70B Dollars for Iraq,Afghanistan

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:36:31 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.mail.com

By ANDREW TAYLOR

The Senate voted Tuesday to provide $70 billion for U.S. military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, handing a victory to President Bush and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill.

The 70-25 roll call paved the way for the Senate to pass a $555 billion omnibus appropriations bill combining the war funding with the budgets for 14 Cabinet agencies.

Bush was ready to sign the bill, assuming the war funding clears the House on Wednesday. Democrats again failed to win votes to force removal of U.S. troops or set a nonbinding target to remove most troops by the end of next year.

"Even those of us who have disagreed on this war have always

agreed on one thing: Troops in the field will not be left without the resources they need," said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The year-end budget dea

disappointed GOP purists who complained the bill spends too much money and contains about 9,000 pet projects sought by members of Congress.

	Baghdad Bonanza U.S. government contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan grew from $11 billion in 2004 to more than $25 billion in 2006, a Center study shows, with KBR topping the list and more than $20 billion in contracts going to unidentified companies. More >>
	Influence: A Booming Business The influence industry in state capitals continues to grow, as state lobbyists and the companies and organizations that hire them spent a record of almost $1.3 billion in 2006, according to the Center for Public Integrity's sixth-annual review. More >>