Iraq

By Terry Jones - The Guardian -- March 31, 2007

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this -- allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills. And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world -- have the Iranians no concept of civilized behaviour?

For God's sake, what's wrong with putting a bag over her head? That's what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it's hard to breathe. Then it's perfectly acceptable to take photographs of them and circulate them to the press because the captives can't be recognized and humiliated in the way these unfortunate British service people are.

"This isn't a challenge to some decision that a court makes. This is a challenge to the court itself." --
Prof. Neal Katyal, in front of the US Supreme Court.

bin Laden's driver defeated the US Secretary of Defence in the US Supreme Court. Some sense has prevailed in the US, and the doublespeak of the Bush administration has come to a reckoning. And finally, we see a glimpse of what made Western civilization great: the rule of law.

So-called freedom for Iraqis has been death, poverty and insecurity. The following accounts are not a result of 'insurgent' activity, but rather the work of US/UK allies:

Terri Judd in the Independent UK takes a deeper look at their plight in the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom:

The women of Basra have disappeared. Three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, women's secular freedoms - once the envy of women across the Middle East - have been snatched away because militant Islam is rising across the country.

By Faheem Hussain
The Post, Pakistan

Faheem Hussain is an Italian based Pakistani theoretical physicist who has written for Counterpunch magazine.

In this piece for the Pakistani newspaper POST, Hussain appeals to the American people
saying, Americans "are responsible for their elected leaders and, if they want to save civilisation in the United States, they have to get rid of this terrorist cabal which has taken over the reins of power in the White House before they do any more damage to the world. The criminal gang in the White House should be impeached and tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Only in this way can there be any hope of resurrecting the image of the United States in the world." Hussain suggests the US is rapidly descending into a "barbarity" that shows something "deeply pathological" about the country.

by Zbigniew Brzezinski

courtesy Tribune Media Services International THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2005

Sixty years ago, Arnold Toynbee concluded, in his monumental "A Study of History," that the ultimate cause of imperial collapse was "suicidal statecraft." Sadly for President George W. Bush's place in history but - much more important - ominously for America's future, it has lately seemed as if that adroit phrase might be applicable to the policies pursued by the United States since the cataclysm of 9/11.

Though there have been some hints lately that the administration may be beginning to reassess the goals, so far defined largely by slogans, of its unsuccessful military intervention in Iraq, Bush's speech of Oct. 6 was a throwback to the more demagogic formulations that he employed during the presidential campaign of 2004 to justify the war that he himself started.

BUSH: Thank you for the warm welcome.

I'm honored once again to be with the supporters of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Since the day President Ronald Reagan set out the vision for this endowment, the world has seen the swiftest advance of democratic institutions in history. And Americans are proud to have played our role in this great story.
Russia, Egypt, Pakistan, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia - our best friends are all democratic now!

Our nation stood guard on tense borders. We spoke for the rights of dissidents and the hopes of exiles. We aided the rise of new democracies on the ruins of tyranny.

George Galloway is a member of the UK parliament, known for his candour and truth in the face of adversity. He was expelled from the Tony Blair Labour party, yet he won a seat in Parliament as the sole representative of his Respect Party, defeating a Labour candidate. Here is his statement:

"Senator, I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader. and neither has anyone on my behalf. I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one - and neither has anyone on my behalf.

"Now I know that standards have slipped in the last few years in Washington, but for a lawyer you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice. I am here today but last week you already found me guilty. You traduced my name around the world without ever having asked me a single question, without ever having contacted me, without ever written to me or telephoned me, without any attempt to contact me whatsoever. And you call that justice.

A couple of years ago, we saw Saddam's teeth being examined - the US military determined that it was necessary to show him to his "followers" in that way. Today, a British tabloid published him in his underwear, quoting its US military source of exactly the same logic. Surprisingly, the official US military spokesperson is offended and is 'investigating'.

The BBC reports: "But President George W Bush said he did not think the photos would encourage insurgents in Iraq --

November 1, 2004 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The interim president of Iraq, Ghazi al-Yawar, is reported to have said he totally disagrees with plans by the US-led coalition to launch a full-scale attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. . . . He likened it to shooting a horse in the head to kill a fly that had landed on it.

*Tony Kevin, a former Australian diplomat, is a visiting fellow at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra.*

. . . Falluja is now to be brought to heel by overwhelming military power. As I write this, the US attack on the city has begun. The message to Falluja from the US armed forces in Iraq and from Allawi was brutally simple: submit now to Baghdad's authority or face attack. . . .

The self-described champions of democracy are at it again: After centuries of black suppression, Americans are doing it again. Again, in the typical English-British style, it is OK to do illegal things, as long as you do not get caught.

Here is the op-ed piece, courtesy of the New York Times:

September 13, 2004
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Protect the Vote
By BOB HERBERT

More than 80 percent of the population of Detroit is black. This is very well understood by John Pappageorge, who is white and a Republican state legislator in Michigan. "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote," said Mr. Pappageorge, "we're going to have a tough time in this election."