IRAQ
Occupation and Resistance Report

As the United State and its allies engages in yet another colonial occupation, it is essential that the real nature of this occupation be recorded. Further, as resistance to this occupation spreads, it is critical that information on this resistance be made available from a variety of sources.

[Speaking of and documenting this resistance in no way means that all opponents of US occupation are likeable folks who necessarily have the well-being of the Iraqi population as their priority. There is no reason to believe that the well-being or freedom of the Iraqi population figures in the calculations of the occupying powers, either. In any case, in the post-colonial world, it should not be up to the "occupying powers" to choose the way of life or the rulers of Iraq.]

Interviews with & Writings by Antiwar GIs & Vets

Key Documents

The Occupation

Occupation

Resistance

Analysis

Occupation in a nutshell. Raped and murdered girl was 15: Details emerge in alleged atrocity by U.S. troops. U.S. soldiers at the scene initially ascribed the killings to Sunni Arab insurgents active in the area. (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

Sorry, occupiers: Iraq's Hakim says amnesty should include killers of US troops. (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

Shiite insurgent group makes Iraq debut. (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

Al-Zarqawi's cell phone reportedly yields surprises. (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

Baghdad attacks higher since security crackdown. (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

Al-Sadr demand occupiers go home: Fiery Shiite cleric demands rebuilding of Iraq shrine. (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

No power means a lit when its 109F: Iraqis try not to lose cool amid summer blackouts. (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

Nir Rosen: The Occupation of Iraqi Hearts and Minds. (POSTED: June 30, 2006)

Editor’s note: Truthdig contributor Nir Rosen, an American reporter who has lived for the last three years in Iraq and who can pass as Middle Eastern, describes what it’s like to live under the boot of a culturally callous—and sometimes criminal—occupying force in Iraq. “The occupation has been one vast extended crime against the Iraqi people, and most of it has occurred unnoticed by the American people and the media.”

Insurgents offer to halt attacks in Iraq if occupiers agree to leave in two years. (POSTED: June 29, 2006)

Puppets to sell off Iraq? Private sector fears Iraq investment law. (POSTED: June 28, 2006)

Eleven groups say No: Insurgents Say No to Iraq Peace Plan. (POSTED: June 27, 2006)

Some of the neo-Baathist groups: Seven Iraq insurgent groups seek truce. (POSTED: June 26, 2006)

Iraqi leader offers olive branch to insurgents. (POSTED: June 26, 2006)

US` lawmakers denounce Iraq amnesty plan. (POSTED: June 26, 2006)

By a conservative count, the LA Times estimates: War's Iraqi Death Toll Tops 50,000. Higher than the U.S. estimate but thought to be undercounted, the tally is equivalent to 570,000 Americans killed in three years. (POSTED: June 26, 2006)

Iraqi officials involved in compiling the statistics say violent deaths in some regions have been grossly undercounted, notably in the troubled province of Al Anbar in the west. Health workers there are unable to compile the data because of violence, security crackdowns, electrical shortages and failing telephone networks. The Health Ministry acknowledged the undercount.

Newsweeek reports: Maliki's Master Plan. A national reconciliation plan for Iraq calls for a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops and, controversially, amnesty for insurgents who attacked American and Iraqi soldiers. (POSTED: June 25, 2006)

The distinction between insurgents and terrorists is one of the key principles in the document, and is in response to Sunni politicians' demands that the "national resistance" should not be punished for what they see as legitimate self-defense in attacks against a foreign occupying power. Principle No. 19 calls for "Recognizing the legitimacy of the national resistance and differentiating or separating it from terrorism" while "encouraging the national resistance to enroll in the political process and recognizing the necessity of the participation of the national resistance in the national reconciliation dialogue."

Shooting threatens Iraq-Australia trade ties. (POSTED: June 22, 2006)

Why many of Iraq's elite don't flee. (POSTED: June 22, 2006)

7 Marines, sailor charged in Iraqi's death. (POSTED: June 22, 2006)

According to former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage: Iraq: US may be asked to leave. (POSTED: June 22, 2006)

New claim: 13 Iraqis killed by alleged US gunfire at farm. Thirteen Iraqis working on poultry farms in a village near the restive city of Baquba were killed during overnight during US raids in the area. (POSTED: June 20, 2006)

Attempt at maintain honor in pursuit of a dishonorable policy fails: Guantanamo Bay commander has nothing to hide (POSTED: June 19, 2006)

He spoke candidly - sometimes outrageously so - about his relationship with the detainees, "the brothers" as he calls them. "They're nothing short of a damn animal that can't be trusted," he said at one point.

At Guantanamo Concentration Camp: Detainees not given access to witnesses: But in one case, 3 quickly found. (POSTED: June 19, 2006)

A Globe review of the transcripts of the hearings, which were released to the public in March, identified 34 detainees who convinced tribunal officials that their overseas witnesses would provide relevant testimony. But in all 34 cases, detainees were told at their hearings that their witnesses could not be found. Nearly all of those 64 approved witnesses were deemed ``unavailable" because the governments of the country where the witnesses lived did not respond to a State Department request for help in locating them.

Military investigators and State Department officials did not even contact witnesses who were well known to US authorities. In one case, the State Department said that it could not locate Ismail Khan , the well-known minister of energy in Afghan president Hamid Karzai's cabinet, who meets frequently with American diplomats.

White House says troops don't matter. Americans should ignore them if they die or are kidnapped: Snow: There Is Too Much Focus on Kidnapped U.S. Soldiers. (POSTED: June 19, 2006)

'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Details Increasing Danger and Hardship . Read Complete cable [pdf]. (POSTED: June 19, 2006)

Horror show reveals Iraq’s descent. (POSTED: June 18, 2006)

“We’re always having to invent new methods of torturing people to death,” said a 32-year-old airport worker who also claims to command the interrogation section of a militia cell loyal to Sheikh Moqtada al-Sadr.

Puppeteer undercuts puppet: Many Iraqis dismiss Bush visit as stunt. [T]he visit could push away the very Sunni Arabs whom al-Maliki is trying to court. (POSTED: June 14, 2006)

Dahr Jamail reports: Another US Cover-Up Surfaces in Iraq . (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

70,000 to patrol Baghdad. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Armor on Iraq Humvees Is Linked to Deadly Rollovers. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Kurdish independence is 100 million barrels closer: Oil find in Kurdish region of Iraq. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Tom Lasseter: In Iraq, friend and foe can look all too similar. A misperception. Three more Iraqis dead. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Corruption Stains Renewal of Iraq. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Sunnis say Iraq PM must engage with insurgents. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Some Palestinians prefer Iraq border camps to being a target in Baghdad. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Arab leaders reluctant to enthuse about new Iraq. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

In Maysan : Iraq province cuts links with British army after deadly clashes. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

U.S. Seeking New Strategy for Buttressing Iraq's Government. (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

Is this for real? Banning Baghdad falafel. See also: Zealots 'Talibanizing' Iraq ban falafels, goatees at gunpoint. (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

The tragedy is also a farce. There is not a shred of moral fiber left in the military leade: Admiral: Gitmo suicides an act of 'warfare'. "I believe this was not an act of desperation, rather an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us," Harris said.... (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

The suicides should surprise no one because the detainees believe they will be held indefinitely with no chance for justice, said Josh Colangelo-Bryan with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents about 200 of the detainees. "They've been told that while at Guantanamo they have no rights as human beings," he told reporters during a conference call Saturday. Colangelo-Bryan said one of his clients told him during a visit to the facility in October 2005 that he "would simply rather die than live here with no rights."

Another massacre in the offing! US poised to attack Ramadi, city of 400,000, larger than Fallujah where thousands were murdered: Fear of Big Battle Panics Iraqi City. (POSTED: June 11, 2006)

Puppets call for continuation of occupation: Iraq Decides It Still Needs U.S.-Led Military Presence. (POSTED: June 11, 2006)

Michael Smith of the Times of London reports that Zarqawi was kicked to death by the Americans. He has two witnesses, including a policeman: How Iraq's ghost of death was cornered. (POSTED: June 11, 2006)

Once the soldiers had established the man was not a threat, they started to kick him in the chest, said Abbas and an Iraqi policeman also there. “They kept kicking him, shouting, ‘What’s your name?’, but the man only moaned and said nothing,” said Abbas. As the small crowd of Iraqis looked on, the wounded man grew paler and blood oozed from his mouth and nose. It took about a quarter of an hour for him to die from the time when he was removed from the ambulance, Abbas estimated....

It was quite a hit. As one former Iraqi solider [sic] put it last week, it was as if “the ghost of death has disappeared”....

In the end it was Iraq that turned on him. In recent weeks he had been squeezed out of one safe haunt after another as ordinary Iraqis grew sick of his killing. In the area around Hibhib there had been a spike in violence in the days before Zarqawi’s killing. Nine severed heads were discovered in fruit boxes and 21 Shi’ites, many of them young students, had been pulled off a bus and shot.

Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers deserting monthly. (POSTED: June 11, 2006)

Bolton says negotiations only a PR stunt: Bolton rejects ‘grand bargain’ with Iran. (POSTED: June 11, 2006)

Their incompetence knows no bounds. How to create a martyr: Was Al-Zarqawi Beaten After Bombing? Neighbor Of Slain Qaeda Leader Alleges U.S. Troops Beat Man With Beard. (POSTED: June 11, 2006)

The witness, who lives near the house where al-Zarqawi spent his last days, said he saw the man lying on the ground near an irrigation canal. He was badly wounded but still alive, the man told Associated Press Television News.

Robert Fisk: Zarqawi's end is not a famous victory, nor will it bring Iraq any nearer to peace. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

US to keep permanent bases, apparently. Congress drops provision to ban them: Iraq war bill deletes US military base prohibition. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Occupation forces not to be cut after all. Surprise! Troop Cuts in Iraq Won't Meet Goal This Year, Officials Say. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Straight from the puppet's mouth: Our Strategy for a Democratic Iraq [Make it a US colony]. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Zarqawi reaction: Joy in the Streets: 'A Day of Festivity': But Sunni Arabs See Loss of a Defender. In the Mideast, Not Sure What to Think. His Agenda Unclear, Zarqawi Has Inspired Admiration, Revulsion and Confusion. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Ex-subcontractor indicted in US for Iraq bribes. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Marines tried to buy silence. This didn't come from the "few bad apples": Families of Haditha victims may have been offered money. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Noone said the cash payments made about a month after the shootings suggested that the command knew of possible wrongdoing well before the Naval Criminal Investigative Service began looking into the case in February.

Must Read! Greg Palast: Unreported: The Zarqawi Invitation. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

The day after, now that all is well under occupation: Baghdad under curfew in fear of Zarqawi successors. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Zarqawi's death: Iraqis speak. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Robert Fisk and Loretta Napoleoni on Democracy Now! Will Al-Zarqawi's Death Fuel the Insurgency or Diminish It?. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Democracy Now! interview with 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada, American hero: Army Lieutenant Becomes First Commissioned Officer to Refuse Deployment to Iraq. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

How many Iraqis did the Americans admit to killing last year? "The fourfold increase in condolence payments raises new questions about the extent to which Iraqi civilians have been the victims of US firepower.... If each of the payments made in 2005 was the maximum $2,500 for an Iraqi death, it would amount to 8,000 fatalities. But it's unknown exactly how many payments were made or for what amount.": New Iraqi government complete with key security jobs. New Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, a Shi'ite, and Defense Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim, a Sunni who until now served as Iraqi ground forces commander, pledged to improve security for all people in strife-torn Iraq. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Kill then pay: Condolence payments to Iraqis soar: Military gave nearly $20m to families of civilians. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

"You want to shoot them". Convinced that kids were spying on them, sick of seeing buddies blown apart, the Marines accused of the Haditha massacre cracked. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

For the women of Iraq, the war is just beginning. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Basra Security Breakdown. Violence on the rise as rival Shia parties vie for power. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Sunni Fury Over Haditha. Many Sunni Arabs see an investigation as futile when they already know who to blame. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Political analyst Saad al-Hadithi said the incident has "broken the last thread of trust between the Iraqi citizen and American troops and the Iraqi government".

Babil residents protest poor services, demand official resignations. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

A little late: Military General Urging Less Force, More Sensitivity in Iraq. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Kidnappings tear at Iraq's frayed social fabric. Sectarianism appears to be growing motive as numbers rise. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

The first of 2,500: Iraq frees nearly 600 prisoners. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

War going so well, more troops are needed: Delayed US Army brigade may go to Iraq after all. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Oedipal rivalry affects us all: George Bush Sr. asked retired general to replace Rumsfeld. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Practically all of Europe cooperated with the torturers: European Probe Finds Signs Of CIA-Run Secret Prisons. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Sweden, Italy, Britain, Turkey, Germany, Bosnia and Macedonia "could be held responsible for violations of the rights of specific individuals" who were handed over to the CIA or captured by U.S. operatives in those countries, Marty said in a report released in Paris. He also said Spain, Cyprus, Ireland, Greece and Portugal turned a blind eye to CIA-chartered flights that landed on their soil to transfer terrorism suspects within Europe and beyond.

Not enough wasted so far: House panel clears another $50 billion for Iraq. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Army officer says he opposes war in Iraq and won't obey orders to deploy. It's not clear at this time if this is the officer that Iraq Veterans Against the War wrote about over the weekend. (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

Even puppets have to pretend to have a backbone: Iraq's tougher stance toward US. The prime minister takes a hard line on the Haditha case - which may complicate US relations. (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

Mr. Maliki's tough stance suggests a new assertion of sovereignty by the Iraqi government, something that actually works to the US's favor.... "The trick for the US is to boost this guy, because there may not be another one after him."

All the sudden the American press is reporting on a small number of the apparent American murders of Iraqis. This time its a crippled man: Iraqis Accuse Marines in April Killing Of Civilian: Disabled Man's Family Disputes Troops' Story. (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

A-P Interview: Iraqi activist details deaths at Haditha. (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

Only the best killers: What are 5,000 South Africans doing in Iraq? (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

No easy return home for vets: Bringing It All Back Home. (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

Congress? What's that? White House abruptly cancels classified Iraq 'progress' briefing with senators. (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

Arlen Spector, traitor to democracy: Specter Won't Subpoena Telecom Executives. See also: Cafferty: Arlen Specter: a gutless Republican worm. (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

Riverbend on the government mass murders: Bad Day... I never thought I’d actually miss the car bombs. At least a car bomb is indiscriminate. It doesn’t seek you out because you’re Sunni or Shia. (POSTED: June 7, 2006)

This has been happening all over Iraq- mysterious men from the Ministry of Interior rounding up civilians and taking them away. It just hasn’t happened with this many people at once. The disturbing thing is that the Iraqi Ministry of Interior has denied that it had anything to do with this latest mass detention (which is the new trend with them- why get tangled up with human rights organizations about mass detentions, torture and assassinations- just deny it happened!). That isn’t a good sign- it means these people will probably be discovered dead in a matter of days.

And Riverbend on soccer and the New Iraq: Viva Muqtada... (POSTED: June 7, 2006)

Tom Lasseter: For U.S. troops, it's hard to know who is friend and who is foe. (POSTED: June 7, 2006)

The joke expands: Iraqi army takes responsibility over part of restive Anbar from US. (POSTED: June 7, 2006)

British courts says murder just fine: Soldiers cleared of Iraqi teenager's manslaughter. (POSTED: June 7, 2006)

Torture, as British as tea and crumpets: From logistics to turning a blind eye: Europe's role in terror abductions. (POSTED: June 7, 2006)

US troops accused of new murders in Iraq. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

Brian Conley writes of a city controlled by rebels and of indiscriminant killing by American snipers: Ramadi Becomes Another Fallujah. "The American snipers don't make any distinction between civilians or fighters, anything that moves, he shoots immediately. This is a very dirty thing, they are killing lots of civilians who are not fighters." (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

More than 6,000 corpses found in Iraq in five months. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

Basra tribes'' elders asks Arab League''s urgent intervention to halt violence. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

"Humiliating and degrading treatment" to be officially endorsed as acceptable, in violation of Geneva Conventions. No laws to be allowed to interfere with the brutality of empire: Pentagon seeks to omit detainee rules. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

[T]he exclusion of the Geneva provisions may make it more difficult for the administration to portray such incidents as aberrations. And it undercuts arguments that US forces follow the most broadly accepted standards in war.

Iraqi jailed for life over killing of Margaret Hassan. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

No deal on Iraq ministers amid new atrocity. (POSTED: June 5, 2006)

New Evidence of Cover-Ups in Alleged Atrocities? (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Military Clears Commander in Raid That Killed 9 Iraqis. In response: Furious Iraq demands apology as US troops are cleared of massacre. Police in Ishaqi say five children, four women and two men were shot in the head, and that the bodies, with hands bound, were dumped in one room before the house was blown up. The US cleared troops of any wrongdoing in the killing of nine instances of "collateral damage". You see, killing Iraqis is official policy, not wrongdoing. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Press Accounts Suggest Military 'Cover-up' in Ishagi Killings . (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

What will those capital punishment fanatics think of this? Shouldn't Iraqi victim testimony be entered at US trials? Iraqi survivor wants U.S. troops executed. "We did not do anything to them," said Iman Walid Abdul-Hameed, who lost her parents, a brother, her grandparents and two uncles in the shootings. She said only she, her brother and a sister survived. "Because they hurt us, we want the Americans to be executed," said Abdul-Hameed. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Attacks on Iraq Oil Industry Aid Vast Smuggling Scheme. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Protest, Resistance, and Civil War

Occupation

Resistance

Analysis

Another day, another horror: Blast kills 66 in Baghdad Shiite district. (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

17 0f 85: Hostages grabbed from Iraqi factory rescued. (POSTED: June 22, 2006)

Four US marines killed in Iraq. (POSTED: June 22, 2006)

And suffer the children: Children Among Dead in U.S.-Led Iraq Raid . (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Four killed, 43 wounded, in Iraq fuel station blast. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

British Military Base In Iraq Comes Under Rocket Attack. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Gunmen kidnap Iraq official in Baghdad. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Al-Zarqawi is dead: U.S. Strike Hits Insurgent at Safehouse. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Iraq says tip on Al-Zarqawi''s whereabouts provided by natives, with pvs. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Insurgent attacks on Iraq's oil sector. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Police find 9 severed heads in Iraq. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

Monday, over 50 Iraqis trying to leave the country kidnapped: Gunmen kill 11 Iraqi students. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

Either firefight or police massacre of Sunni worshipers: Iraqi police storm Basra mosque. (POSTED: June 5, 2006)

Students "executed" as Iraq violence rages on. (POSTED: June 5, 2006)

Diplomat killed as Russians abducted. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

As Basra explodes: 28 die in suicide car bomb blast. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Analysis, Commentary, & Domestic Reaction

Occupation

Resistance

Analysis

A third way: Iraq Freedom Congress Rejects Violence of Occupation and Insurgency. Web site of: Iraq Freedom Congress. (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

Boycott Cobblestone! Some see Army pitch in preteen magazine. Editors of Cobblestone say that wasn't intent (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

Titled ``Duty, Honor, Country," the issue depicts a soldier in Iraq manning a machine gun on its glossy cover and includes articles ranging from what it's like to go through boot camp -- ``You're in the Army Now" -- to a rundown of the Army's ``awesome arsenal," to a detailed description of Army career opportunities.

Murray Waas reports: Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic. (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

An empire on decline: Britons tire of cruel, vulgar US: poll. (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

The YouGov poll found that 77 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement that the US is "a beacon of hope for the world". As Americans prepared to celebrate the 230th anniversary of their independence on Tuesday, the poll found that only 12 percent of Britons trust them to act wisely on the global stage. This is half the number who had faith in the Vietnam-scarred White House of 1975.

Trouble in the Banana Republic. (POSTED: July 4, 2006)

Robert Fisk: When art is incapable of matching life . Our political world is now represented on the stage weeks after the real thing . (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

Howard Zinn: Put away the flags. (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

Seymour M. Hersh: Last Stand: The military’s problem with the President’s Iran policy. (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

New poll, Bush down 2 points. Boy, Americans hate a looser: Poll: Good News Fails to Boost Bush's Job Approval. In a new TIME survey, Americans say the President is performing poorly and that the country is increasingly on the wrong track. (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

Spy Agency Sought U.S. Call Records Before 9/11, Lawyers Say. (POSTED: July 3, 2006)

Tom Engelhardt: Green Zoning It All the Way. (POSTED: June 26, 2006)

Reading the Imperial Press Back to Front: A Tomdispatch Interview with Tom Engelhardt (Part 1). (POSTED: June 22, 2006)

Les Roberts responds to criticism by Iraq Body Count. (POSTED: June 20, 2006)

!5 year-old's Peace With Courage Original Animations lead to death threats. (POSTED: June 20, 2006)

Stephan Smith-Said:` Why Neil Young Is Wrong. (POSTED: June 20, 2006)

James Carroll: Sending Shameful Signals in Guantanamo Bay. (POSTED: June 20, 2006)

Robert Dreyfuss: Permanent War? Dealing with Realities in Iraq and Washington. (POSTED: June 19, 2006)

Gabriele Zamparini: Darkness and Light: When international law and science are silenced, the only outcome is darkness. (POSTED: June 18, 2006)

` + Bob Boldt: Bush In Baghdad. (POSTED: June 18, 2006)

Image of U.S. falls again. (POSTED: June 14, 2006)

After Zarqawi assassination, this poll finds slight decline in Bush approval, 35% to 33%: Poll: Zarqawi Death Has Little Impact. Most Americans Still Say War's Going Badly; Bush's Ratings Remain Low. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Hassan Al-Haifi in Yemen Times: The carnage in Iraq and elsewhere: The heretical Zerqawi phenomenon. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

John Cranfill: The permanent occupation of Iraq. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Eric Zorn: Displaying foes' dead hurts cause. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

"The purpose was purely political," Sledge said. "Symbolically, possession of the body represents power not only over the body but over the spirit that body represents."

Retired U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Herbert Friedman studies psychological operations in warfare, and he maintains that the images of al-Zarqawi were publicized not to discourage insurgents but to boost the flagging morale of Americans. And in that effort, the vast majority of U.S. media outlets--including the Tribune--gladly participated. Al-Zarqawi's villainy in life cost him his dignity in death.

Neil Clark: Things could get even worse in Iraq. Only the withdrawal of coalition troops will mark a genuine turning point. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

With al-Zarqawi - who recently released an audio tape urging fellow Sunnis to kill Shias - now out of the way, things could get even worse for the coalition. The ultimate nightmare for Bush and Blair is a united Sunni-Shia anti-occupation front: al-Zarqawi's death doesn't make that likely, only more possible....

By inflaming Sunni-Shia tensions and eschewing the al-Samarri approach, al-Zarqawi was actually doing the invaders a favour. Prominent neo-conservative Daniel Pipes, who had boldly predicted in 2003 that "the war in Iraq will lead to a reduction in terrorism", argued in February that while a Sunni-Shia civil war would be a humanitarian catastrophe, it would not be a strategic one. "The bombing on February 22 of the Askariya (Shia) shrine in Samarra was a tragedy, but it was not an American or a coalition tragedy. Put differently, when Sunni terrorists target Shiites and vice versa, non-Muslims are less likely to be hurt." Pipe's assessment might seem brutal to some, but it is at least honest.

Zachary Katznelson: A tunnel without end. The US version of the Guantánamo suicides is disgraceful. The cause of death was gross injustice. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

UK and US attempts to tackle al Qaida and Iraq terror war slammed in a new report from the Oxford Research Group. (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

Justin Raimondo reflects from his unique perspective on the Yearly Kos gathering and the presence there of war supporter Harry Reid: Your Netroots Are Showing: The left side of the blogosphere: rising force or sellout? (POSTED: June 13, 2006)

The one Democratic presidential aspirant who might reflect the antiwar and pro-civil liberties views of the archetypal Kossack, Sen. Russ Feingold, did not attend the YearlyKos confab. However one explains his absence, one can only hope that the true voice of the "netroots" – not Harry Reid's – is waiting to be heard.

Dahr Jamail with Jeff Pflueger: Propaganda and Haditha. (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

In payoff, US admits killing thousands of civilians. Will the press keep this in mind as they report Pentagon propaganda, asks Greg Mitchell : The Cost of Killing Civilians in Iraq . This week's chilling revelations in The Boston Globe and now The New York Times about the common practice known locally as "solatia" -- U.S. payoffs to thousands of families of civilians we have killed or maimed in Iraq -- should cause newspapers and wire services to re-think the way they report military claims. (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

Ferry Biedermann: Splits in society 'permeate Iraq government'. (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

Iraq: Worse than Vietnam? (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

(Good) Catholics’ views on Lt. Ehren Watada, Iraq war. (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

Tom Hayden: Will Iraq's Natonalist Insurgents Miss Zarqawi? (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

Dateline D.C., a Washington-based British journalist and political observer America, the corroded? (POSTED: June 12, 2006)

Support Lt. Watada! Watch Lt. Watada explain why he will refuse illegal orders to deploy to Iraq Military Families support Lt Watada at Tacoma press conference. And: Military attempts to stop Lt. Watada from speaking against illegal war. Support him: Thank you Lt. Watda for Resisting an Illegal War. (POSTED: June 11, 2006)

Bush regrets. (POSTED: June 11, 2006)

Dahr Jamail: Countless My Lai massacres in Iraq. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Amin Saikal: The Iraq war will seriously damage the US. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Ahmed Hashim: A turning point in Iraq? (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Over the past several months, Sunni Arab tribes in Al Anbar came to the conclusion that Zarqawi and his group were doing serious harm to their aspirations, demands, and visions of the future. At a major meeting of Sunni Arab tribal elders and politicians in early March, there was unanimous condemnation of Al Qaeda's indiscriminate targeting and strategy of killing innocents. The killing of tribal sheikhs and members by Al Qaeda was the last straw.

‘His Work Was Done’. A Middle East expert discusses why he believes that Zarqawi's death will have little effect on Iraq—but might disrupt terror networks in Europe. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Eric Garris|: Good News for al-Qaeda? and a Prophetic Post. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Rosemary Bechler: Fighting Iraq’s new Taliban. As women face escalating violence and exclusion in Iraq, activist Hanaa Edwar Busha brings news from the frontlines to a major international conference on women in reconciliation and security. Rosemary Bechler hears about a nation divided against itself. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Philip Kennicott: A Chilling Portrait, Unsuitably Framed. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Zarqawi is gone and good riddance. But there's nothing in the image of his face that deserves a frame. It's a small thing, to be sure. But it suggests a cynicism about this war that is profoundly distressing. Our political and military leaders simply can't resist packaging the war and wrapping it up in a bow.

Frida Berrigan and William D. Hartung on the Iran-US dance of death: Bush's Atomic Two-Step. (POSTED: June 10, 2006)

Father of beheaded Nick Berg on Zarqawi's death: Michael Berg on CNN: Not what Soledad expected. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

U.S. Disapproves of War in Iraq: 59 Percent of Americans Say U.S. Made Mistake in Going to War in Iraq, ""the highest level yet in AP-Ipsos polling." (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Al Kamen: Mimi, Don't Dial 911. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Allen L Roland: The Fish Rots From the Head Down. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

H.D.S. Greenway: Heeding British ghosts. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Jim Lobe on the US defeat in Somalia: Bush Hawks Down. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Iraqi Ties to Iran Create New Risks for Washington. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Likudniks defeat criticism. Juan Cole denied Yale appointment: Middle East Wars Flare Up At Yale. (POSTED: June 9, 2006)

Sami Ramadani: The bloody iceberg's tip. Haditha is in the spotlight. But such an atrocity is unexceptional in occupied Iraq. (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

I have come across scores of stories in the Iraqi press of unarmed civilians killed by US-led occupation forces, some backed up by video footage. But few make it into the western media....

Why we should welcome an inquiry led by Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon is a mystery, given its determination to avoid investigating the involvement of senior officers in the torture and killing of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.

How about before the US election in November? Another Terrorist Attack Coming Soon? (POSTED: June 8, 2006)

Tom Engelhardt puts recent American atrocities in context: Collateral Damage: The "Incident" at Haditha. (POSTED: June 7, 2006)

Craig Unger: The War They Wanted, The Lies They Needed. The Bush administration invaded Iraq claiming Saddam Hussein had tried to buy yellowcake uranium in Niger. As much of Washington knew, and the world soon learned, the charge was false. Worse, it appears to have been the cornerstone of a highly successful "black propaganda" campaign with links to the White House. (POSTED: June 7, 2006)

Philip Kennicott: Unblinking Observer: Photographs Show a War Beyond Investigations. Again and again throughout this war, amateur photographs have exposed the flaws of the military's carefully constructed image of discipline. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

Cindy Sheehan: From My Lai to Haditha: The Abominations of War. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

Iraq Veterans Against the War calls for support for first officer to refuse deployment to Iraq. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

Seattle Post-Intelligencer praises civil disobedience: Civil Disobedience: Tilting at War. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

The American Bar Association may defend democracy, something the "Democrats" can't be bothered to do: Bar group will review Bush's legal challenges. (POSTED: June 6, 2006)

An excerpt from Peter Laufer's Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq: When AWOL Is the Only Way Out. (POSTED: June 5, 2006)

Susan Lenfestey: Prime Minister Maliki Shows Us the Door. There is nothing we can do now but come home and apologize to the world. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Robert Fisk: The shocking truth about the American occupation of Iraq. Could Haditha be just the tip of the mass grave? The corpses we have glimpsed, the grainy footage of the cadavers and the dead children; could these be just a few of many? Does the handiwork of America's army of the slums go further? (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

I remember clearly the first suspicions I had that murder most foul might be taking place in our name in Iraq. I was in the Baghdad mortuary, counting corpses, when one of the city's senior medical officials, an old friend, told me of his fears. "Everyone brings bodies here," he said. "But when the Americans bring bodies in, we are instructed that under no circumstances are we ever to do post-mortems. We were given to understand that this had already been done. Sometimes we'd get a piece of paper like this one with a body." And here the man handed me a U.S. military document showing with the hand-drawn outline of a man's body and the words "trauma wounds.".

What kind of trauma is now being experienced in Iraq? Just who is doing the mass killing? Who is dumping so many bodies on garbage heaps? After Haditha, we are going to reshape our suspicions....

I suspect part of the problem is that we never really cared about Iraqis, which is why we refused to count their dead. Once the Iraqis turned upon the army of occupation with their roadside bombs and suicide cars, they became Arab "gooks," the evil sub-humans whom the Americans once identified in Vietnam. Get a president to tell us that we are fighting evil and one day we will wake to find that a child has horns, a baby has cloven feet.

Sophie McNeill: Normalizing the Unthinkable. John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Charlie Glass, and Seymour Hersh on the failure of the world’s press. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

John Walsh writes of another "progressive" organization biting the dust: Stooping to New Lows to Sabotage the Antiwar Movement: MoveOn Rigs Its Own Vote; Betrays Its Membership. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Joshua Frank: Leftists for Occupation: The Neocons' Unlikely Bedfellows. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Robert Dotson: Couch Time for America: A Review of Death's Dream Kingdom. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

According to this TIME article, its the damage to "Marine Corp honor" that really matters to top Marines, not the 24 dead Iraqis: After Haditha: What Makes Top Marines Worry. Among senior officers in the corps comes a wave of shame and resentment in the wake of an alleged massacre. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

In Britain, Military Families Against the War speaks out: Bring our boys home: Mothers say war was 'based on lies'. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Steve Hammons: American troops are cracking under horrors, deception and lies of Iraq War. (POSTED: June 4, 2006)

Previous Month Archive: June, 2006

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