Stop the Propaganda / Feed the Truth » Iraq

Iran announces war games plans

BlackListed News — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:00:00 +0000

(Reuters) - TEHRAN - Iran's armed forces will begin three days of war games on Monday involving anti-aircraft defense systems, Iranian media said on Sunday. The exercises will be held amid persistent speculation about a possible U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, which the West and Israel say are part of a clandestine bid to [...]

Are Contractors in War Zones Above the Law?

Daphne Eviatar, Washington Independent — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:00:01 +0000

(AlterNet.org) - In January of 2008, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, was electrocuted while showering in his Baghdad barracks. His death prompted last week’s congressional report concluding that defense contractor KBR, (until a year ago a subsidiary of the oil services giant Halliburton)

Iraq and Oil: Will the Corporate Media Ever Make the Connection?

Nick Turse, Tomdispatch.com — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:00:01 +0000

Now that the New York Times has made the shocking discovery that the Iraq War may be related to oil, how will corporate media address the issue?

Iraq to US: No Deal Without a Timetable for Withdrawal

Middle East Online — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:00:01 +0000

"We will not accept any memorandum of understanding if it does not give a specific date for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops."

A War on Iran Would Be Like Another War on Iraq

Patrick Cockburn, Independent UK — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:00:01 +0000

With covert operations against Iran poised to be carried out from Iraqi territory, Iranian retaliation would target the already embattled country.

Bob Herbert - ‘Oh Happy Day’: The Oil Giants Move Into Iraq

kladner — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:30:02 +0000

"It’s getting harder and harder to remain deluded. With each day comes new facts to drag our heads out of the sand. Two weeks ago, The Times reported that four Western oil giants were on the verge of signing no-bid contracts that would return them to Iraq, the third-most bountiful petroleum playground on the planet. The deals, expected to be finalized in the next 30 days, were the kind of news that big oil lives for. Giddy executives singing “Oh Happy Day” could be heard in the corporate offices of Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP, which had been shut out of Iraq for three and a half decades."

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Welcome Home, Soldier: Now Shut Up

Sparrows — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:15:02 +0000

Massey has just participated in a checkpoint massacre of civilians. His sense of decency, his sanity, is still in tact. Like any normal human being, he is distraught. The carnage of the war, the imbalance of power between the biggest war machine in history and a suffering people devoid of tanks and air power — the sheer injustice of it all — begins to take its toll on Massey’s conscience. In the wake of the horrific events of the day, his captain is cool. He walks up to Massey and asks; “Are you doing all right, Staff Sergeant?” Massey responds: “No, sir. I am not doing O.K. Today was a bad day. We killed a lot of innocent civilians.” Fully of aware of the civilian carnage, his captain asserts: “No, today was a good day.” Relatives wailing, cars destroyed, blood all over the ground, Marines celebrating, civilians dead, and “it was good day”! The Massey incident goes beyond the mendacity of military life. It concerns the control, the dehumanization of the psyches of our troops. As one Vietnam veteran put it years ago: “They kept fucking with my mind.”

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Japan: Guilty of doing good

kladner — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:30:02 +0000

"Here in Tokyo, Japan, 3 peace activists, Toshiyuki Obora, Nobuhiro Onishi and Sachimi Takada were found guilty on April 11, 2008 by the Supreme Court for putting anti-war fliers into the mail boxes of the families of the Japanese soldiers who were dispatched to Irak on the orders of Uncle Sam to assist the shameful U.S.-led coalition in its illegal invasion and occupation of Irak to free it of its oil." Note: the first link in the story did not work. The next two did. More details there.

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State-Sponsored Terror: British and American Black Ops in Iraq

GlobalResearch.ca — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:31:00 +0000

Giving the CIA the broadest and most lethal authority in its history

Going Out of Business: How Much Longer Will Iraq Be for Sale?

populist101 — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:35:02 +0000

Proponents of the Congressional legislation to ban contractors are correct in pointing out that this war and the interrogation of Iraqi prisoners ought to be the responsibility of highly-trained military personnel, not poorly-prepared contractors whose only goal is to make profits.

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Democrats Give White House Another Blank-Check For Iraq

Jason Leopold — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:59:40 +0000

A Democratic engineered emergency supplemental bill to continue funding the occupation of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan to the tune of $162 billion is expected to win bipartisan support, aides to leaders in the House said late Wednesday. The bill, as currently drafted, does not contain any conditions for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq nor [...]

Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater is Still in Charge, Deadly, Above the Law and Out of Control

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:00:01 +0000

Think Blackwater’s days are numbered? Think again. Jeremy Scahill explains why its slaughter of Iraqis has not stopped the notorious mercenary firm. On June 3, Jeremy Scahill’s bestselling Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army was released in fully revised and updated paperback form. The new edition includes reporting on the now-famous Nisour [...]

Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater is Still in Charge, Deadly, Above the Law and Out of Control

Antonia Juhasz, AlterNet — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:00:01 +0000

Think Blackwater's days are numbered? Think again. Jeremy Scahill explains why its slaughter of Iraqis has not stopped the notorious mercenary firm.

Legalizing Occupation: Bush’s Last Manoeuvre in Iraq

GlobalResearch.ca — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:53:00 +0000

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Iraq Ain’t No Insurgency, Says Former Petraeus Aides

Stop the Propaganda — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +0000

Iraq cooled from a raging boil to a slow simmer, thanks mostly to tactics taken from the military's counterinsurgency manual. Or, at least, that's the accepted wisdom. But a group of military thinkers and Iraq veterans says the established narrative...

Status of Forces Agreement will Decide Whether Iraq is Independent or “a Client State of the US”

Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now! — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:00:01 +0000

Veteran reporter Patrick Cockburn broke the story of Bush's secret Iraq plan. He explains its terrible implications for Iraqi sovereignty.

Bush’s Word Games on Permanent Bases

Gareth Porter, IPS News — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:00:01 +0000

American promises made to the Iraqi government on the question of military bases have been revealed as carefully-worded ruses.

Revealed: Secret Plan to Keep Iraq Under U.S. Control

Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:00:01 +0000

Bush wants fifty military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors.

Why the Antiwar Movement Can’t Budge the Dems to Leave Iraq

David Sirota, Crown Publishing — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:00:01 +0000

If the anti-war movement can't find a way to hold Dem politicians accountable, then don't expect anything more than the status quo.