FOX NEWS BRAGS ABOUT CALM IN FALLUJA, IRAQ, BUT IGNORES VIOLENCE ALL ACROSS IRAQ

FOX NEWS is doing their level best to try and sell their audience on the idea that the "surge" has been a roaring success. On Friday, FOX NEWS had one of their reporters touring a market in Falluja, Iraq with a U.S. Army General. The point of the news piece was to give the impression that Iraq is a "sea of calm."

However, FOX NEWS conveniently overlooked what was taking place in the rest of Iraq and Afghanistan in their rush to judgement.

Iraq and Afghanistan are anything but a "sea of calm," and violence continues all across both countries.

Commentary by Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, the blog devoted to telling ALL the facts about Iraq and not Bush White House and FOX NEWS spin.

POTPOURRI OF VIOLENCE AND MAYHEM IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN


War News for Friday, February 15, 2008

The DoD is reporting the death of a soldier previously not reported by CENTCOM. Staff Sgt. Javares J. Washington died in a vehicle accident in at Camp Buehring in Kuwait City, Kuwait on Monday, February 11th. No other details were released and the incident is under investigation.

Security incidents:Baghdad:#1: An IED attached to a civilian car exploded targeting a Sahwa checkpoint in Ghazaliyah this afternoon, killing 2 people, one of which was a Sahwa member and injuring 4, 2 of which were Sahwa members.

#2: 4 bodies were found in Baghdad by Iraqi Police today. 1 in Qahira, 1 in Binook, 1 in Hurriyah and 1 in Saidiyah.Diyala Prv:#1: Diyala Police found 5 bodies in one place in al-Salam neighbourhood, 20 km to the north of Baquba. They were found on the side of the road.

There was evidence of torture and each had several gunshot wounds in the head.Balad Ruz:#1: Gunmen in a police uniforms manning a fake checkpoint kidnapped four people from one family on Friday, including two women, near the town of Balad Ruz, about 70km (45 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Police found the body of a man with gunshot wounds on Friday, a day after he had been reported kidnapped in Balad Ruz, police said.Hawija:

#1: Raids on al-Qaida forces in northern Iraq have left seven insurgents dead, the U.S. military said. But local police said Friday that two women and two U.S.-allied fighters were among those killed. An Iraqi police officer in the area, however, said a house that was bombed belonged to a Sunni Arab and tribal leader, and that six family members died. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said the bombing occurred about 33 miles southwest of Kirkuk and two of the victims were women. Another two of those killed, he said, were part of an Awakening Council, one of the Sunni groups that last year abandoned their support for al-Qaida and began joining the U.S. in its effort to clear out insurgent forces.

Two U.S. helicopters opened fire at a house in al-Zab area, al-Huweija district, (70 km) south of Kirkuk, killing eight civilians of the same family who were inside the house at the time," the source, who did not want his name mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq. " Unidentified persons opened fire at the two U.S. helicopters, which fired back," the source said, not determining whether the attacked house was the source of the fire. "So far we are not certain whether the fire opened at the U.S. helicopters were from that house or another nearby place," indicated the source, adding the fatalities were two men, a woman and five children.

Mosul:#1: in an operation Wednesday in southeast Mosul, the U.S. military said it killed an insurgent wearing a suicide belt who shot at troops as they were targeting the building of an alleged al-Qaida supporter.Tal Afar:#1: At least four people were killed and 13 wounded in northern Iraq when two suicide bombers with explosive vests blew themselves up at the entrance to a Shi'ite mosque during Friday prayers, police said. The bombers struck in the afternoon in Tal Afar, 420 km (360 miles) northwest of Baghdad.#2: A few minutes later, the second attacker ran toward people who were busy in the aftermath of the first explosion. "But police opened fire on him before he reached the people," the mayor said. A police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release information, said the second attacker blew himself up without causing casualties.

Afghanistan:#1: Insurgents ambushed a police vehicle in southwest Afghanistan, and the three-hour gunbattle that followed left four policemen dead. Two other police officers were wounded in Thursday's clash in Nimroz province, said Gen. Mohammad Ayub Badakhshi, the provincial police chief.Taliban fighters attacked a police patrol, killing four policemen, wounding two others and taking away two more in southwestern Afghan province of Nimruz, provincial governor said Friday.

Casualty Reports:Pfc. Wes Hixon of Cody, 22, is in critical condition after his vehicle was struck by a bomb Feb. 8 near Baghdad.Four other soldiers with him in the cab of the vehicle died. Six others who were in the vehicle's transport area are in critical condition, according to family friend Brenda Marchese and other members of Families on the Frontline. As a member of the 25th Infantry Division, he was driving a Stryker on patrol five miles outside Baghdad when it ran over an improvised explosive device that blew the 8-ton vehicle in half.

They may be shopping in Falluja, but the rest of Iraq is a "sea of violence" instead of a "sea of calm."

U.S. HAS PAID $38M TO IRAQIS IT KILLED

You won't hear FOX NEWS or the Bush administration talking about this, but the U.S. has shelled out $38M to Iraqis it has killed.

Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/, the blog of the truth about what is REALLY happening in Iraq.

U.S. has paid $38M to Iraqis it killed

Published: Feb. 13, 2008 at 11:29 AM

http://tinyurl.com/2y8vkt

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- In its efforts to win support from Iraqis, the U.S. military has made $38 million worth of payments to the families of civilians they have killed since 2004.

Most of the money has been distributed in the areas of the country where Iraq's Sunnis live, and some Shiite dominated areas in the south have not received any funds.

The cash handouts, known as condolence payments, are made at the discretion of mid-ranking U.S. officers in local areas and come from a special military fund called the Commanders' Emergency Response Program.

A recent audit of the program carried out for Congress by the Special Inspector General for Iraq found that, of the $38 million paid out since 2004, more than half, $21.35 million, was distributed in Anbar province; $5.5 million was given out in Baghdad, but none was spent in Basra.Pentagon officials budgeted $10.8 million for the payments in 2007 -- an increase of nearly one-third over 2006.

The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, a non-profit that advocates compensation for civilians harmed or killed by U.S. military operations, supports the condolence program but says more information should be collected about the process of distribution.

The payments "aren't just handouts," said CIVIC Executive Director Sarah Holewinski. "They're necessary strategy in a place where the United States needs the support of the population."

Holewinski called the program "a tremendous opportunity to create goodwill among Iraqis" but added that the accounting for the payments was "so vague as to be irrelevant in determining success or failure.""Who was paid? How much? Importantly, who wasn't paid and why?" asked Holewinski."Inadequate records on civilian harm -- and help -- deny the military the chance to prove effective implementation and ultimately the success of the condolence system."

READ IT AND WEEP: 2 MILLION IRAQI CHILDREN ARE UNDERNOURISHED

The Bush Administration and their mouthpiece FOX NEWS can continue to brag about the success of the "surge" and how the Iraqi government is coming together, but the truth is over 2 million Iraqi children lack adequate nutrition.

Bill Corcoran, editor, of CORKSPHERE. http://corksphere.blogspot.com/, the blog that tells the inside story of what is REALLY happening in Iraq.

Iraq's children 2007: a year in their life

State of Iraq's Children 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2mozaf

At least 2 million Iraqi children lacked adequate nutrition (according to the WFP assessment of food insecurity in 2006) and faced a range of other threats including interrupted education, lack of immunization services and diarrhoea diseases.Only 28% of Iraq's 17 year olds sat their final exams in summer, and only 40% of those sitting exams achieved a passing grade in South and Central Iraq.

Early estimates from the Ministry of Education show that net primaryenrolment rates may have fallen from 86% in 2004 to 46% in 2006 (although the estimated 2 million refugees and the lack of a current census may have contributed to this decline).

However, millions were able to return to school in November, despite the many challenges.Many of the 220,000 school-aged internally displaced children had their education interrupted, adding to the estimated 760,000 children out of primary school in 2006.One third of children in remote and hard-to-reach areas (28 out of 117 districts) were cut off from health outreach services, including immunization, as a result of insecurity.Only 40% of children nationwide had reliable access to safe drinking water, and only 20% outside Baghdad had a working sewerage serviceAn estimated 600,000 children had been displaced since 2006, the vast majority unable to return home.

By the end of the year, approximately 75,000 children and their families were living in temporary shelters. A fewfamilies did begin to return: 50,000 refugees and 10,000 IDPs were registered between September and December 2007, according to the Iraq Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) and InternationalOrganization for Migration (IOM).

Hundreds of children lost their lives to violence and thousands fell into poverty after their main family wage-earner was kidnapped or killed. A drop in violent incidents was reported by the UN from July 2007,particularly around Baghdad.Approximately 1,350 children were detained by military and police authorities, many for alleged security violations (this includes a small number of detentions that may have occurred in 2006 or previously).

ARMY OFFERS $40,000 DOWN PAYMENT ON HOUSE FOR NEW RECRUITS

The U.S. Army is stretched so thin with deployments to Iraq that recruiters in three states are now trying a new tactic to lure young men and women into the Army.

They are offering up to $40,000 in a down payment for a house if the person enlists in the Army.

The new Army slogan could be: "Be All You Can. Join the Army. Get a House."

It continues to baffle this blogger how the media in the United States avoids writing about the war in Iraq and the long deployments our troops face.

This story from the ARMY TIMES http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_armydownpayment_080213/ is living proof the United States Army is suffering for new recruits and will do anything and pay anything to get someone to sign on the dotted line.

By Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ a blog that tells the TRUTH about conditions in Iraq with the U.S. military.

Recruiters try offering home down payments

By Michael Hill - The Associated PressPosted : Thursday Feb 14, 2008 13:06:07 EST

ALBANY, N.Y. — How’s this for a recruiting slogan? Join the Army, Buy a House.

Faced with the challenge of expanding the Army in wartime, the military is testing an incentive program that pays enlistees up to $40,000 toward a home or a startup business after their commitment. The “Army Advantage Fund” program is being tested here and four other areas —Cleveland, Seattle, San Antonio and Montgomery, Ala., — for the next six to nine months.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, in Albany Wednesday to promote the pilot program, said it will help the Army compete for high school graduates and recognize soldiers in a time of conflict.

“The Army Advantage Fund will ensure that the quality of life of our soldiers and their families equals the substantial quality of service that they give to the nation,” said Freakley, who is responsible for recruiting as head of the Army Accession Command.

Under the program begun Feb. 4, enlistees who commit to five years of active service are eligible for $40,000, while reservists can receive $20,000 for five years. Lesser cash incentives are being offered for three- and four-year enlistments.

The premium is being rolled out as recruiters face challenges attracting enlistees during the war in Iraq. While the Army met its goal of recruiting 80,000 new soldiers in the past fiscal year, officials have acknowledged they face challenges trying to increase active-duty Army, National Guard and Reserve rosters by 74,000 within the next four years.

The Army is already moving ahead with enticements like accredited college hours for training programs so soldiers can earn associate’s or bachelor’s degrees.

Freakley said the Army needs to be creative to compete with businesses and schools for high school graduates, and providing money for housing or entrepreneurship scored high with focus groups. He declined to provide a cost estimate for the pilot program, which will be evaluated later this year to determine whether it will be rolled out nationwide.

On hand for Freakley’s luncheon speech to local leaders were two new recruits who are in line for the money. Armando Rodriguez, of Springfield, Mass., said he would have signed up anyway. But the 22-year-old recruit said he and his wife could use the $40,000 toward a house when they settle to raise a family after his service.

“It’s definitely going to make our lives a lot better,” Rodriguez said, “instead of living from paycheck to paycheck.”

Freakley and other proponents likened the pilot program to the GI Bill of Rights, which has helped veterans pay for higher education since the end of World War II.

“An additional $40,000 can help ensure that the veterans have a place to call home,” said John Brown, national commander of the veterans support organization AMVETS, in a prepared statement.

The GI Bill has become a political issue in recent years, with critics claiming its benefits are not keeping up with the costs of college. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has promised to update the bill to keep pace with inflation as needed if he is elected. Democrat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton says she wants to expand benefits such as education and housing for service members.

MORE PROOF BAGHDAD "SURGE" IS NOT WORKING: BUS BOMB KILLS 5, INJURES 25

Just how much more violence is it going to take in Baghdad before the Bush administration and their puppet mouthpiece, FOX NEWS, admit the "surge" is falling apart in Iraq?

Bus blast leaves 30 casualties in eastern Baghdad

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Thursday , 14 /02 /2008 Time 8:35:29

http://tinyurl.com/35x3yf

Baghdad, Feb 14, (VOI) - At least five persons were killed and 25 more were wounded on Thursday in a booby-trapped bus explosion in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, a police source said.

“A small bus bomb, parked in al-Muredi popular market in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, went off, killing five civilians and injuring 25 others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq - (VOI).“Police cordoned off the area, while ambulances rushed the wounded to nearby hospitals,” he added.

BUSH TURNS U.S. SOLDIERS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN INTO MURDERERS

The repeated return of U.S. troops to Iraq and Afghanistan for sometimes as many as four or five tours, plus the extension of their tours in both war zones, have had a telling affect on U.S. troops who have turned into murderers.

There are also signs the problem is only going to get worse as U.S. troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan find little relief in the way of new recruits to replace them.

Meanwhile, the "surge" appears to be imploding as more and more suicide bombers strike in Baghdad and elsewhere around Iraq.

Iraq's government is virtually worthless and many Iraqi citizens are without water and electricity.

In Afghanistan, there are signs the Taliban is growing again and there have been repeated attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The idea that the U.S. could force-feed a democracy on two Middle East countries was not only poorly thought out, but was in itself an idea that had no precedence in any part of the Middle East.

Commentary by Bill Corcoran, editor of this blog and a former reporter and columnist for 40 years for a syndicated chain of newspapers and a former member of the United States Army Combat Engineers.

LONG AND REPEATED DEPLOYMENTS TO IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN HAVE TURNED U.S. SOLDIERS INTO MURDERERS.

By Robert Parry Created Feb 13 2008 - 9:22am

http://www.smirkingchimp.com

By forcing repeat combat assignments to Iraq and Afghanistan and by winking at torture and indiscriminate killings George W. Bush is degrading the reputation of the U.S. military, turning enlisted soldiers and intelligence officers into murderers and sadists.

For instance, on Feb. 10 at Camp Liberty in Iraq, Army Ranger Sgt. Evan Vela was sentenced by a U.S. military court to 10 years in prison for executing an unarmed Iraqi detainee who &ndash along with his son had stumbled into a U.S. sniper position last year.

After letting the 17-year-old son go, Vela's squad leader, Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley ordered Vela to use a 9-millimeter pistol to shoot the father, Genei Nesir Khudair al-Janabi, in the head, an order that Vela carried out.

It was murder, plain and simple, military prosecutor, Major Charles Kuhfahl, told the court.
Janabis son, Mustafa, was allowed to make a statement, explaining how his fathers death had devastated the family and how one of his four younger brothers now avoids their home because he cant stand the sight of his fathers empty room.

Please don&rsquot forget about us, Mustafa told the court.

But Vela's guilty verdict was a rare case of holding a U.S. soldier accountable in the killing or abusing of an Iraqi. Among the infrequent cases that have been brought, most end in acquittals or convictions only on minor charges.

Last November, for example, another military jury acquitted Hensley in the same murder of Janabi as well as in the killing of two other Iraqi men south of Baghdad in the early days of Bush's troop surge. That jury ruled that Hensley was following the approved "rules of engagement," though it did convict him of planting an AK-47 on one victim.

Some of Vela's military comrades complained that it was unfair to single any of them out for punishment because these killings are so common in Iraq.Vela's former platoon commander, Sgt. First Class Steven Kipling, said that if all U.S. combat soldiers in Iraq were subjected to the same scrutiny applied to Vela, we would have thousands of cases. [NYT, Feb. 11, 2008 [1]]

Indeed, the evidence does suggest that the handful of homicide cases from Iraq and Afghanistan that reach military trial represent only a small fraction of the unprovoked killings of locals at the hands of U.S. soldiers.

In another incident near the town of Iskandariya, Iraq, on April 27, 2007, Army sniper Jorge G. Sandoval, Jr. received an order from Sgt. Hensley to kill a man cutting grass with a rusty scythe because he was suspected of being an insurgent posing as a farmer.

Like Hensley, Sandoval was acquitted because the military jury accepted defense arguments that the killing was within the rules of engagement. (Sandoval was convicted of a lesser charge of planting a coil of copper wire on a slain Iraqi, and was sentenced to five months in prison.)

The Sandoval case also revealed a classified program in which the Pentagons Asymmetric Warfare Group encouraged U.S. military snipers in Iraq to drop bait such as electrical cords and ammunition and then shoot Iraqis who pick up the items. [Washington Post, Sept. 24, 2007 [7]]

The U.S. counterinsurgency and security operations in Iraq and Afghanistan also have been augmented by heavily armed mercenaries, such as the Blackwater security contractors who operate outside the law and were accused by Iraqi authorities of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in a shooting incident on Sept. 16, 2007.Though most media criticism has focused on trigger-happy Blackwater security contractors, Bush's military strategy has employed its own indiscriminate firepower from the loose rules of engagement for U.S. troops, to helicopter gun ships firing on crowds, to jet air strikes, to missiles launched from Predator drones.

For instance, the U.S. military acknowledged on Oct. 23, 2007, that an American helicopter killed 11 people, including women and children, after someone allegedly shot at the helicopter as it flew over the village of Mukaisheefa, north of Baghdad.Iraqi police and witnesses said 16 people died, apparently as some rushed to help a wounded man, the New York Times reported.

The helicopter gunners presumed the wounded man to be an insurgent and thus opened fire on the locals who came to his aid, according to witnesses.

The locals went to check if he was dead and gathered around him, said Mohanad Hamid Muhsin, a 14-year-old who was shot in the leg. But the helicopter opened fire again and killed some of the locals and wounded others.

When Iraqis carried the wounded into houses to administer first aid, the helicopter fired on the houses, killing and wounding more people, said Muhsin, who added that the dead included two of his brothers and a sister.

A local police official said the 16 dead included six women and three children, while 14 other Iraqis were wounded.

The incident followed on the heels of an Oct. 21 gun battle in which 49 people died when U.S. forces attacked alleged Shiite militiamen in Sadr City, a crowded slum in eastern Baghdad. Local authorities said the dead included innocent bystanders. [NYT, Oct. 24, 2007 [10]]

Another account of the Oct. 23 incident in the Los Angeles Times quoted residents saying the men who were killed were farmers irrigating their fields in the pre-daylight hours.

Abdul Wahab Ahmed, a neighbor, said the U.S. attack also involved jets that conducted two bombing runs. The dead included two toddlers and four teenagers, he said. [Los Angeles Times, Oct. 24, 2007 [11]]

The U.S. military said one of those killed in the Oct. 23 attack was a known member of an I.E.D. cell, referring to improvised explosive devices that Iraqi insurgents have made their weapon of choice in fighting the U.S. occupation.The American statement added that four other military-age males were killed along with five women and one child. U.S. military spokesmen often justify killings in Iraq and Afghanistan by noting that the dead are military-age males (or MAMs), slain in the vicinity of a firefight.

Vietnam EchoThe shoot-to-kill strategy toward MAMs has a resonance back to the Vietnam War when U.S. helicopter-borne troops sometimes would spot a MAM working in a rice paddy, fire a shot near him and then interpret his running as an aggressive act justifying his killing.

This technique was described approvingly by retired Gen. Colin Powell in his widely praised autobiography, My American Journey.I recall a phrase we used in the field, MAM, for military-age male, Powell wrote. If a helo spotted a peasant in black pajamas who looked remotely suspicious, a possible MAM, the pilot would circle and fire in front of him.

If he moved, his movement was judged evidence of hostile intent, and the next burst was not in front, but at him.Brutal? Maybe so. But an able battalion commander with whom I had served at Gelnhausen [West Germany], Lt. Col. Walter Pritchard, was killed by enemy sniper fire while observing MAMs from a helicopter. And Pritchard was only one of many. The kill-or-be-killed nature of combat tends to dull fine perceptions of right and wrong.


While its true that combat is brutal and judgments can be clouded by fear, the mowing down of unarmed civilians in cold blood doesn't constitute combat. Under the laws of war, it is regarded as murder and, indeed, a war crime. Neither can the combat death of a fellow soldier be cited as an excuse to murder civilians. [For more on Powells justification for war crimes, see Chapter 8 in Neck Deep [12].]

In effect, Bush's global war on terror has reestablished what looks like the Vietnam-era Operation Phoenix, a program that assassinated Vietcong cadre, including suspected communist political allies.

The troubling picture is that the U.S. chain of command, presumably up to Bush, has authorized loose rules of engagement that allow targeted killings as well as other objectionable tactics including arbitrary arrests, enhanced interrogations, kidnappings in third countries with extraordinary renditions to countries that torture, secret CIA prisons, and detentions without trial.

This anything-goes approach has been conveyed down to soldiers in the field who believe they have wide discretion to kill Iraqis and Afghanis on the slightest suspicion. With rare exceptions like the conviction of Sgt. Vela the U.S. military has become a law onto itself, an extension of President Bush's megalomania.

Click on link above to read the full story.

Posted on the blog CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ by Bill Corcoran, editor of the blog which brings readers the truth about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan sans the prism of spin by the Bush White House and their propaganda mouthpiece FOX NEWS.

About authorRobert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at secrecyandprivilege.com [14]. It's also available at Amazon.com [15], as is his 1999 book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth.'Robert Parry's web site is Consortium News [16]

WHY AREN'T AMERICAN JOURNALISTS COVERING IRAQ ANYMORE?

Why don't American journalists cover the Iraq war anymore? Is it "Iraq Fatigue," as so many say? Or is it because the big corporate owners of the major media in the United States have collectively decided the Iraq war is not "newsworthy"anymore?

Why does it take a journalist from a newspaper in Great Britain to report on Fallujah, Iraq where U.S. troops are trying to restore some kind of order to the city?

This blogger has found he can't depend on the U.S, media for anything that is happening in Iraq. To find out what is happening in Iraq, you have to have a long list of foreign web sites who everyday publish reports on what is taking place in Iraq.

These are legitimate news stories, but the mainstream media in the United States has turned their back on events in Iraq.

The sad part of it is the United States is now carrying the ball virtually all alone in Iraq and the U.S. still has 160,000 troops in Iraq. Virtually all of the "coalition of the willing" have pulled up stakes and headed home.

So a story like this one from The Independent in Great Britain http://tinyurl.com/2toxfd is especially interesting on two fronts. The first is it is news and the second is not a single American journalist ventured into Fallujah, Iraq to find out firsthand what is going on in the Iraqi city.

We will continue to bring readers of our blog, CORKSPHERE http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ stories and news accounts of what is happening in Iraq.

It seems like the only real AMERICAN thing to do inasmuch as so many young American lives are invested in Iraq.

Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/

Return to Fallujah

Three years after the devastating US assault, our correspondent enters besieged Iraqi city left without clean water, electricity and medicine

http://tinyurl.com/2toxfd

By Patrick Cockburn
The U.K. Independent

The last time I tried to drive to Fallujah, several years ago, I was caught in the ambush of an American fuel convoy and had to crawl out of the car and lie beside the road with the driver while US soldiers and guerrillas exchanged gunfire. The road is now much safer but nobody is allowed to enter Fallujah who does not come from there and can prove it through elaborate identity documents.

The city has been sealed off since November 2004 when United States Marines stormed it in an attack that left much of the city in ruins.

Its streets, with walls pock-marked with bullets and buildings reduced to a heap of concrete slabs, still look as if the fighting had finished only a few weeks ago.

I went to look at the old bridge over the Euphrates from whose steel girders Fallujans had hanged the burnt bodies of two American private security men killed by guerrillas – the incident that sparked the first battle of Fallujah. The single-lane bridge is still there, overlooked by the remains of a bombed or shelled building whose smashed roof overhangs the street and concrete slabs are held in place by rusty iron mesh.

The police chief of Fallujah, Colonel Feisal Ismail Hassan al-Zubai, was trying to show that his city was on the mend.

As we looked at the bridge a small crowd gathered and an elderly man in a brown coat shouted: "We have no electricity, we have no water."

Others confirmed that Fallujah was getting one hour's electricity a day. Colonel Feisal said there was not much he could do about the water or electricity though he did promise a man that a fence of razor wire outside his restaurant would be removed.

Fallujah may be better than it was, but it still has a very long way to go. Hospital doctors confirm that they are receiving few gunshot or bomb blast victims since the Awakening movement drove al-Qa'ida from the city over the past six months, but people still walk warily in the streets as if they expected firing to break out at any minute.

Click on link above to read the full account.

"OUR CRIMES IN IRAQ MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN:" U.K INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER

This blogger has been writing for months about how the mainstream media has turned away from covering the Iraq war, and now comes word out of The Independent in Great Britain that we are not alone in our observations.

It is a sad, sad commentary on the state of journalism in the United States when reporters and editors can spend more time on the latest on the trivial "hi"jinks of Britney Spears rather than devoting a few lines of copy to the war in Iraq where 160,000 young Americans are bogged down in a giant foreign policy mess.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, writing for the U.K. Independent, http://tinyurl.com/2q4l33
spells out in perfectly clear language the mess that has been created in Iraq and how the mainstream media has elected to bury the Iraq war.

If you read nothing else on my blog, CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ I would urge everyone who cares about the United States and the 160,000 troops in Iraq to read this account.

Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/, a blog dedicated to telling the TRUTH about the war in Iraq because nobody in the mainstream media is doing it anymore.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Our crimes in Iraq must not be forgotten

http://tinyurl.com/2q4l33

If the alliance was arrogant at the time of the invasion, it is even more so today

The people responsible for the war have, of course, moved on, and we must follow their fine example. Still they rise, praise be to them. Such self-belief, such resilience, no sign of weakness, no dribble of an apology. Awesome. Instead of being marched off to face war crimes tribunals they are forgiven their trespasses and rewarded generously.

The Catholic Church blesses and receives the deceiver (Mr Blair); fat banks and oil companies welcome them on boards (Jonathan Powell, Mr. Blair et al); they are called to make peace in the Middle East and lecture us on ethics ( Mr Blair and Mr Campbell) and invited in to the Cabinet (Jack Straw).

For some (still) enthusiastic warmongers – boys who never forgot the excitement of running around shooting their toy guns at strangers – the invasion and colonisation is the best thing ever.

The "surge" has worked, they declare – our boys and American soldiers are not dying in the numbers they were, and look!, Iraqis are coming out to play, buy and sell, smoke their pipes in tranquillity, and thousands are returning from exile in Syria. Hip hip hooray. For we're the jolly good fellows.

In the US with the primaries going full blast, John McCain is anointed as the noble saviour, the man who promises to crush all those aliens out there who are plotting to kill the US of A. I attended the BBC Radio 4 Alistair Cooke Lecture delivered by McCain, and what I heard was a man who uses his terrible experiences in Vietnam to justify all future wars he wants his country to wage.

Bill and Hillary both actively and tacitly supported the invasion of Iraq and never once defended the UN route. These candidates are "liberals", we are told. Only in America. None of the above are exactly in the habit of mentioning the caged of Guantanamo or the anguish of Iraqis. Obama did fleetingly touch on these ugly American transgressions, but not for long, and not with intense moral purpose. At least the guy tried, and had the guts to vote against the invasion. The others still seem to believe fervently that the attacks on 9/11 outweigh all other acts of political violence.

If the alliance, its leaders and brass bands were imperiously arrogant when they went into Iraq, they are even more so today. Failure has given them no humility at all and completes the cycle of villainy. They lied and broke international law and appear to have no duty of care towards the innocent inhabitants of that blighted land.

Iraqi deaths are now calculated at around one million. According to international organisations monitoring migrations, Iraq is going through one of the largest and most serious humanitarian crises in the world, with population displacement within and from Iraq.

Last November, cholera figures were the worst for 40 years, says an Iraqi health minister. Childhood diseases are rampant. There are relentless bombardments across the country, for reasons not given, on people unseen and labelled al-Qa'ida.

The current hand-wringing about British journalistic standards concentrates entirely on small, domestic matters.

The real shame and scandal is that air attacks on Iraq go on and on and get hardly any serious coverage. In 2006, there were 229 such raids; in 2007 there were 1,447 raids (dead uncounted and unidentified).

The ghastly, ruthless General David Petraeus says they have now reached a "sustainable level of violence". That is, at least, a truthful assessment and one that explains why we went into Iraq.

If the allies allow Iraqi Sunnis, Shias and Kurds to carry on murdering each other day after day, not so many that it turns into a full-blown civil war, we can steal their oil and control the place.

Meanwhile, here Lord Guthrie, once Chief of Staff, and others of his ilk are furious with Gordon Brown for promising that the consent of Parliament will be sought before any future war is launched by the Government. These generals have become extraordinarily bullish after the lamentable collapse of all their strategies in Iraq – thereby fending off any accountability and reasonable interrogation as to why even Basra became disillusioned with our presence.

There are, thank God, people who keep alive truth and awaken our collective conscience.

On Tuesday there is a public meeting in London (courtesy of the Stop the War Coalition) organised by Phil Shiner, public interest lawyer and an indefatigable campaigner for justice. For years he has tried to expose the brutality of some of our soldiers in Iraq who have committed heinous crimes against the populations and got away with it. At the meeting, which all good people should attend, Shiner will be talking about the British state and how it tolerates the torture, mutilations and killings of Iraqi civilians.

This Thursday the Jordanian Jamil el-Banna and Libyan Omar Deghayes go to court to argue against extradition to Spain to face charges of terrorism. These are the two men who were last year released from Guantanamo Bay, where they were caged and tortured for five years. Imagine the state of their minds and bodies, their fears of incarceration.

Here they were interrogated by our spooks and police officers, and released without charge. Yet Spain clamours for them and we will deliver them into yet another jurisdiction unless the lawyers can win the case. Helena Kennedy and Geoffrey Bindman have spoken up to defend these poor men; journalist Victoria Britten has investigated charges against them for four years and tells me she is absolutely sure they are innocent. Great Britain, Mr Brown? Tell me about it.

Just released too is the film Battle for Haditha by the exceptionally diligent director Nick Broomfield (I must remember him in my prayers). He has bravely brought to the screen an untold story of the war – the massacres of innocents by the allies in Hathida, a middle-class Sunni city where he says "couples would honeymoon on the Euphrates". Fallujah was similarly "punished". Both places at first supported the invasion and learnt to their cost that their saviours had dark intent and too many had lost their own humanity.

If Blair is elected President of the EU and either Clinton or McCain get the US presidency, the final insults will be added to the endless injury suffered by the Iraqis. They will know conclusively that there ain't no justice in the world. And some of them will turn to terrorism. And the peace we hope for will never come.
y.alibhaibrown@independent.co.uk

SUNNI MILITIAS CLASH WITH U.S. BACKED GOVERNMENT IN IRAQ

In still another sign the "surge" is crumbling, the U.S. backed Sunni militias are fighting with the U.S. backed Iraqi government.

The fragile peace process in Iraq is getting more complicated each day as various members of the warring tribal groups battle with each other and with the U.S. led Iraqi government.

There has also been an increase in the number of suicide bombings in Baghdad and even Anbar Province which not long ago was being hailed by President Bush, the U.S. military and FOX NEWS as a model of how well the "surge" is working.

Two suicide car bombings took place in Anbar Province on Tuesday killing 30 Iraqis and injuring scores of others.

U.S.-Backed Sunni "Awakening" Militias Clash with U.S.-Backed Government

By Dahr Jamail and Ahmed Ali, IPS News

Posted on February 12, 2008, Printed on February 13, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/76781/

U.S. backed Sunni militants have challenged the U.S.-backed Iraqi government in Baghdad, and demanded political power after two women were killed by government forces.

Tensions rose earlier this month when men dressed in Iraqi security personnel uniforms kidnapped two women. Their naked bodies were found later.

After the incident, the 'Awakening Groups' in Baquba, 40 km northeast of Baghdad, gave Shia police chief Gen. Ghanim al-Qureyshi until mid-day Friday to apologize and to arrest the men responsible.

"We hereby declare suspension of all co-operation with U.S. military, Iraqi security forces and the local government," Abu Abdullah, spokesman for the Awakening Council in Diyala province announced after the deadline passed.

On Saturday hundreds of members of the Awakening Council shut their offices and held three separate demonstrations in Baquba. The government in Baghdad promised to send a committee to investigate the incident, following which the Awakening Council of Diyala resumed security of the city.

Click on link above to read the full story.

VA; MORE THAN HALF OF SUICIDES WERE RESERVES AND NATIONAL GUARD FROM IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN

The alarming rate of suicide with members of the National Guard and Reserves who served in Iraq and Afghanistan is just another reminder of the tragedy of both wars.


Most vet suicides among Guard, Reserve troops
New government report raises alarm, calls for long-term mental services

The Associated Press
updated 3:39 p.m. CT, Tues., Feb. 12, 2008

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23132421/

WASHINGTON - More than half of all veterans who took their own lives after returning from Iraq or Afghanistan were members of the National Guard or Reserves, according to new government data that prompted activists on Tuesday to call for a closer examination of the problem.

A Department of Veterans Affairs analysis of ongoing research of deaths among veterans of both wars — obtained by The Associated Press — found that Guard or Reserve members accounted for 53 percent of the veteran suicides from 2001, when the war in Afghanistan began, through the end of 2005.

The research, conducted by the department's Office of Environmental Epidemiology, provides the first demographic look at suicides among veterans from those wars who left the military.

Joe Davis, public affairs director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the Pentagon and VA must combine efforts to track suicides among those who have served in those countries in order to get a clearer picture of the problem.

"To fix a problem, you have to define it first," Davis said.
At certain times in 2005, members of the Guard and Reserve made up nearly half the troops fighting in Iraq. Overall, they were nearly 28 percent of all U.S. military forces deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan or in support of the operations, according to Defense Department data through the end of 2007.

Many Guard members and Reservists have done multiple tours that kept them away from home for 18 months, and that is taking a toll, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement Tuesday.

"Until this administration understands that repeated and prolonged deployments are stretching our brave men and women to the brink, we will continue to see these tragic figures," Murray said.

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said the military's effort to re-screen Guard and Reservists for mental and physical problems three months after they return home is a positive step, but a more long-term, comprehensive approach is needed to help them.

Click on link above to read the rest of the story.

By Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ the blog that tells what is really happening in Iraq and Afghanistan and with our troops returning from the wars.

U.S. MILITARY FACES UPHILL BATTLE TO STOP VIOLENCE IN IRAQ

According to this YouTube video there are over 130 militias in Iraq's Diyala Province alone who are now rebelling against the U.S. military.

The situation is grim and the prospects for peace are growing more dire as each day goes by.

As we have been mentioning on our blog, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ there has been a resurgence of violence in Baghdad and all across Iraq as the Iraqi people become more and more discontent with the inability of the Iraqi government to provide even basic services like water and electricity to Iraq.

This YouTube video explains in detail what lies ahead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dA3U6C6e7E&eurl=http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ a blog that provides the latest news from the Iraq war zone.

FOX NEWS SAYS IRAQI INSURGENTS USING "PREGNANT" GIRLS AS SUICIDE BOMBERS

You know things are heating when the "surge" in Iraq is showing signs of collapsing because FOX NEWS, the propaganda branch of the Bush White House, starts licking their chops at the "news" there is a "terror alert" because the insurgents in Iraq are supposedly using young female suicide bombers who wear fake "belly bomber" gear to make them appear to be pregnant.

John Gibson of FOX NEWS' "The Big Story" was practically ecstatic at the thought female "belly bombers" might move from Iraq to the United States.

FOX NEWS has a long history of cranking up scare tactics when things start going "south" for President Bush and the Republicans.

There have been a series of reports indicating the "surge" in Iraq is imploding. Two bombs went off in Anbar Province on Tuesday. Anabar Province was hailed by the Bush adminsitration, the U.S. military and FOX NEWS as a model for the effectiveness of the "surge."

There has also been an uptick in the deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq. Five U.S. troops were killed outside of Baghdad on Monday, and the total for February is 23 U.S. deaths and 80 wounded.

You can expect to hear about more "terrorist alerts" from the Bush administration and FOX NEWS as the race for POTUS (President of the United States) heats up, and the "surge" in Iraq cools down.

The Bush administration used scare tactics to lead the U.S. into war with Iraq. The original "scare tactic" was Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and Saddam Hussein was connected to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.

Neither, of course, proved to be true so the Bush adminsitration and their mouthpiece FOX NEWS started announcing "terror alerts" as a way of keeping the American public on edge.

When the "surge" showed signs of working, the "terror alerts" disappeared. But now that the "surge" is collapsing (see video below in another thread) and so it was expected the Bush White House and their Ministry of Propaganda, FOX NEWS, would come up with female "belly bombers" in Iraq even though there isn't any independent proof there are female "belly bombers."

Remember, a few weeks ago a U.S. General in Iraq said the insurgents were using young girls with Downs Syndrome as suicide bombers, but when the doctors in Iraq took a closer look at the bodies of the victims it became obvious the U.S. General was a little hasty in his announcement that the suicide bombings were carried out by young females with Downs Syndrome.

You are going to be hearing more and mor about "terror alerts" and you are also going to be hearing more and more about how the insurgents are using Iraqi females wearing fake padding to make them appear to be pregnant, but is a way to hide an explosive belt.

The Bush adminstation and FOX NEWS have honed the art of scaring Americans to a fine science and there is every indication they have started the propaganda again.

Commentary by Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ the blog that tells the truth about what is happening in Iraq and not Bush White House and FOX NEWS spin.

SURGE IN IRAQ IS TEMPORARY (VIDEO)

Click on link provided below to see and hear a video interview with Joost Hiltermann.

Joost Hiltermann is the Deputy Program Director, Middle East and North Africa for the International Crisis Group. He writes policy-focused reports on the factors that increase the risk of and drive armed conflict. His specialty is the crisis in Iraq.

J. Hiltermann: Surge may keep Iraq "stable" till US elections but policy leads to more violent civil war

Here is the video of an interview with Joost Hiltermann:

http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=961&thisview=item#

IRAQ CAR BOMBS KILL MANY: TWO CBS NEWSMEN KIDNAPPED

Conditions in Iraq continue to spiral out of control.

At least 22 have been killed in two separate car bombings in Anbar Province, the Province that President Bush, General David Petraeus and FOX NEWS claims is a model of how well the "surge" has been working.

Two CBS Newsmen have also been kidnapped from a hotel in the Southern city of Basra, Iraq.

The events on Tuesday underscore again how violence in Iraq is on the upswing and all the boasting about how well the "surge" ia doing was overblown at best and most certainly premature.

Reported by Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/, the blog that brings readers the latest from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

IRAQ CAR BOMBS KILL 22 IN ANBAR PROVINCE. TWO CBS NEWSMEN KIDNAPPED

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=326586

Big News Network.com

Attackers have managed to penetrate heavy security in Iraq to leave two car bombs near a group of Sunni tribal leaders belonging to the Awakening Council.22 people were killed at the meeting of the U.S allies, in the western Anbar province, where the so-called Awakening Council movement against al-Qaeda emerged last year.

The blasts were also near the offices of one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite politicians, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim. But Iraqi authorities said the apparent target was the Sunni tribal heads.

Meanwhile, two journalists working for CBS News have been kidnapped by gunmen from the Palace Sultan Hotel in the southern Iraq city of Basra.Hotel staff say they were forced at gunpoint to leave the hotel by a gang of about 10 gunmen.The men in civilian clothes arrived at the hotel during the day and made inquiries about who was staying there, returning later to take away the journalists.

The Association of Iraqi Journalists has appealed to the kidnappers to release the two men.

NO MASS RETURN OF TWO MILLION IRAQI REFUGEES

The lies keep coming out of the Bush administration and then repeated by the Bush administration parrot, FOX NEWS, about how many Iraqi refugees are returning to their homes.

FOX NEWS keeps getting away with pumping out lies about conditions in Iraq because it appears as though nobody in the media is willing to take on FOX NEWS and call them exactly what they are: LIARS.

But this blogger isn't.

We will continue to point out how FOX NEWS is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Bush Administration, and their lack of reporting on the true conditions in Iraq is an insult to every man and woman serving in the United States milary and their families back in the United States.

Commentary by Bill Corcoran, editor and host of this blog.

Iraq: Propaganda Isn't Enough for Refugees to Return

By Patrick Cockburn, Independent UKPosted on February 11, 2008, Printed on February 12, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/76653/

To show that Iraq was safe enough for the two million Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan to return, the Iraqi government organized a bus convoy last November from Damascus to Baghdad carrying 800 Iraqis home for free.

As a propaganda exercise designed to show that the Iraqi government was restoring peace, it never quite worked. The majority of the returnees said they were returning to Baghdad, not because it was safer, but because they had run out of money in Syria or their visas had expired.

There has been no mass return of the two million Iraqis who fled to Syria and Jordan or a further 2.4 million refugees who left their homes within Iraq. The latest figures from the UN High Commission for Refugees show that, on the contrary, the number of people entering Syria from Iraq was 1,200 a day in late January "while an average of 700 are going back to Iraq from Syria."

The reasons people are not going back, despite new stringent visa regulations in Syria, are that they know Baghdad is very dangerous, the chances of making a living are small and there is a continuing lack of electricity and water.

Click on link above to read the full story.

GI WHO ATTEMPTED SUICIDE SENT BACK TO IRAQ

A U.S. soldier who attempted suicide has been sent back to Iraq.

This move by the United States Army underscores why Defense Secretary Robert Gates said after the initial draw down of 30,000 troops from Iraq the Army would have to reevaluate the situation on the ground in Iraq before withdrawing anymore troops.

The problem in Iraq is the there has been a steady increase in the number of insurgent attacks both in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq.

The withdrawal of 30,000 troops will bring the troop level in Iraq back down to 130,000 which was the number of troops deployed to Iraq before the "surge" began.

Sending a GI back to Iraq who has attempted suicide indicates how desperate the U.S. Army is for additional troops in Iraq.

Many of those assigned to Iraq are on their third and fourth rotations and the Army is stretched thin and the equipment is wearing out.

However, the mainstream press in the United States continues to ignore the dire circumstances in Iraq.

It is the job of this blogger, Bill Corcoran, Chicago, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ to not let stories like this one go unreported.


Soldier, After Bipolar Treatment and Suicide Attempts, Sent Back to Iraq

Published: February 11, 2008 7:30 AM ET

http://tinyurl.com/yo42q2

FORT CARSON A Fort Carson soldier who says he was in treatment at Cedar Springs Hospital for bipolar disorder and alcohol abuse was released early and ordered to deploy to the Middle East with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.The 28-year-old specialist spent 31 days in Kuwait and was returned to Fort Carson on Dec. 31 after health care professionals in Kuwait concurred that his symptoms met criteria for bipolar disorder and “some paranoia and possible homicidal

tendencies,” according to e-mails obtained by a Denver newspaper.The soldier, who asked not to be identified because of the stigma surrounding mental illness and because he will seek employment when he leaves the Army, said he checked himself into Cedar Springs on Nov. 9 or Nov. 10 after he attempted suicide while under the influence of alcohol.

He said his treatment was supposed to end Dec. 10, but his commanding officers showed up at the hospital Nov. 29 and ordered him to leave.“I was pulled out to deploy,” said the soldier, who has three years in the Army and has served a tour in Iraq.Soldiers from Fort Carson and across the country have complained they were sent to combat zones despite medical conditions that should have prevented their deployment.

Late last year, Fort Carson said it sent 79 soldiers who were considered medical “no-gos” overseas. Officials said the soldiers were placed in light-duty jobs and are receiving treatment there. So far, at least six soldiers have been returned.

Read the rest of the story by clicking on link above.

U.S. SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ. TWO OTHERS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED

Reuters News continues to report on what is happening in Iraq while FOX NEWS and the rest of the mainstream media in the United States shun reporting on anything to do with war in Iraq.

There continues to be growing signs the "surge" is a smokescreen and violence in Iraq is inching upwards

The shame of it all is the United States has 160,000 young Americans in Iraq but as far as FOX NEWS and the rest of the mainstream press in the United States is concerned it doesn't matter.

There can ONLY be one reason for the lack of Iraq War coverage by FOX NEWS and the mainstream media.

It is because very few people at FOX NEWS or any of the other mainstream news outlets ever served one day in the military of the United States of America, nor do they have a family member serving in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

By Bill Corcoran, editor of the popular blog CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ which brings to readers what FOX NEWS and the rest of the mainstream press refuses to report on the war in Iraq. Former U.S. Army Combat Engineer.

ONE GI KILLED,TWO OTHERS WOUNDED IN IRAQ

Feb 11 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1210 GMT on Monday

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-7BQJEG OpenDocument&rc=3&cc=irq.

DIYALA PROVINCE - One U.S. soldier was killed and two others wounded on Sunday when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in Diyala province, east of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces arrested 25 Shi'ite militiamen during an operation near Sadr city, in northeast Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - Two car bombs exploded in southern Baghdad within a few minutes of each other on Monday killing at least five people and wounding 13 others, Iraqi police said.

NEAR BAIJI - Police found four bodies with gunshot wounds near Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Three gunmen were killed and one Iraqi soldier wounded in clashes in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a military spokesman in Nineveh province said.

MOSUL - A suicide car bomber blew himself up in eastern Mosul, wounding a woman and a child, police said.

BREAKING NEWS: TWO CAR BOMBS ROCK BAGHDAD

Hey FOX NEWS: Let's hear it again about how well the "surge" is working. C'mon FOX NEWS peddle the Bush White House BS.

Perhaps it is events like this why FOX NEWS doesn't have a reporter on the ground in Baghdad or anywhere in Iraq. It is way too dangerous and only getting worse each day.

Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ bringing readers what FOX NEWS doesn't report on the IRAQ WAR.

11 killed in Baghdad car bombings

(AFP)11 February 2008

http://tinyurl.com/2cagmt

BAGHDAD - Two car bombs rocked Baghdad on Monday, killing 11 people and wounding 30, as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was winding up a two-day visit to the violent Iraqi capital, officials said.

Witnesses said the bombs exploded in the southeastern neighbourhood of Jadriyah around noon (0900 GMT) as Gates was about to leave the country.

A security official said the two car bombs exploded almost simultaneouslyat the busy Al Huriyah square.

Gates was greeted on his arrival on Sunday by a powerful car bomb triggered by a suicide attacker that killed 25 people at a market in the village of Yathreb near Balad, north of Baghdad.

The defence secretary said on Monday the security situation in Baghdad remained ‘fragile’ and that he was in favour of a short pause in troop drawdowns from Iraq after about 30,000 soldiers have been sent home by July.

NEW STUDY SHOWS BUSH AND ARMY BURIED FAULTY PLANS FOR IRAQ WAR

Not that anyone needs further proof that there was a rush to get us into war with Iraq by the Bush administration and the Pentagon, but now the New York Times on Monday, Feburary 11 is reporting a study by the Rand Corporation was buried by the Bush White House and the Pentagon even though the report was not classified.

The Iraq war has been going on now longer than it took the United States to fight World War II.

For all the chest-thumping President Bush, General Petraeus and FOX NEWS have been doing about the success of the "surge," there are mounting signs violence in Iraq as on the upswing.

Two bombs went off Monday in Baghdad and there were a series of car bombing over the weekend that left scores of Iraqi citizens dead as well as the death of FIVE members of the United States military.

The mainstream press continues to focus entirely on the upcoming election in the United States and the Iraq War is no longer a topic in both the electronic and print media.

That is why my blog, CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ has become so popular not only in the United States but all across the world. The blog is devoted to telling the TRUTH about what is happening in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.



Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning

http://tinyurl.com/yvq3p5

By MICHAEL R. GORDON
THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — The Army is accustomed to protecting classified information. But when it comes to the planning for the Iraq war, even an unclassified assessment can acquire the status of a state secret.

That is what happened to a detailed study of the planning for postwar Iraq prepared for the Army by the RAND Corporation, a federally financed center that conducts research for the military.

After 18 months of research, RAND submitted a report in the summer of 2005 called “Rebuilding Iraq.” RAND researchers provided an unclassified version of the report along with a secret one, hoping that its publication would contribute to the public debate on how to prepare for future conflicts.

But the study’s wide-ranging critique of the White House, the Defense Department and other government agencies was a concern for Army generals, and the Army has sought to keep the report under lock and key.

A review of the lengthy report — a draft of which was obtained by The New York Times — shows that it identified problems with nearly every organization that had a role in planning the war. That assessment parallels the verdicts of numerous former officials and independent analysts.

The study chided President Bush — and by implication Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who served as national security adviser when the war was planned — as having failed to resolve differences among rival agencies. “Throughout the planning process, tensions between the Defense Department and the State Department were never mediated by the president or his staff,” it said.

The Defense Department led by Donald H. Rumsfeld was given the lead in overseeing the postwar period in Iraq despite its “lack of capacity for civilian reconstruction planning and execution.”

The State Department led by Colin L. Powell produced a voluminous study on the future of Iraq that identified important issues but was of “uneven quality” and “did not constitute an actionable plan.”

Click on link above to read the full story.

OIL AND PERMANENT BASES IN IRAQ GOAL OF PRESIDENT BUSH

Contrary to how President George W. Bush has tried to justify the Iraq war in the past, he has now . . . admitted that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was aimed primarily at seizing predominant influence over its oil by establishing permanent . . . military bases.

He made this transparently clear by adding a signing statement to the defense appropriation bill, indicating that he would not be bound by the law’s prohibition against expending funds: “(1) To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq,” or “(2) To exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq.” -- Ray McGovern

McGovern was a mid-level officer in the CIA in the 1960s where his focus was analysis of Soviet policy toward Vietnam. McGovern was one of President Ronald Reagan's intelligence briefers from 1981-85; he was in charge of preparing daily security briefs for Reagan, Vice President George H.W. Bush, the National Security Advisor, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Cabinet.

Later, McGovern was one of several senior CIA analysts who prepared the President's Daily Brief (PDB) during the first Bush administration.

Upon retirement, McGovern was awarded the Intelligence Commendation Medal from Bush (which he later returned, see below) and worked for Washington-based non-profits before becoming co-director of the Servant Leadership School in Washington.

BREAKING NEWS: CAR BOMB KILLS 23 IN IRAQ

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates got a first hand look at how conditions are worsening in Iraq when he visited Baghdad on Sunday.

Shortly after Gates' arrival a car bomb exploded in nearby Balad killing 23 Iraqi civilians and injuring scores of others.

The latest episode underscores the reason many are saying the "surge" is no longer working and violence and mayhem are on the rise in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq.

Reported by Bill Corcoran, editor of this blog devoted to telling the truth about events in Iraq and not Bush White House "spin."

Car bomb in Balad kills 23, U.S. military says

U.S. defense secretary in Baghdad to talk about future relations
MSNBC News Services

BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed 23 people and wounded 25 more in a market in the Iraqi town of Balad on Sunday, the U.S. military said.

A spokesman said the blast occurred near an Iraqi army checkpoint, adding the wounded were being rushed to hospital. Balad lies north of Baghdad.

The violence came as the U.S. military said impatience with slow improvements to basic services like electricity and water could reverse recent security gains in Iraq, especially Anbar province, a former al-Qaida stronghold.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Iraq on Sunday for meetings with Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders to discuss U.S. troop levels in the light of improving security and to prepare talks on a pact that will define future relations between Washington and Baghdad
.
Villages attackedInsurgents stormed two villages in northwestern Iraq on Sunday but were repelled by U.S.-allied fighters and Iraqi security forces in clashes that left at least 22 people dead, according to local authorities.

The attack began about 5 a.m. when about 25 carloads of heavily armed gunmen drove into the villages of Khams Tlol and al-Madina, about 50 miles west of Mosul, said Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba, a Sunni lawmaker and the head of the anti-al-Qaida group in Mosul.

He said villagers fought back against the militants, who were wielding rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and assault rifles, prompting clashes that lasted about five hours.

An Iraqi army officer in Mosul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information, confirmed the attack and said the fighting ended after Iraqi soldiers joined the battle.

Those killed included 10 militants and six members of the so-called Awakening Group in the area, as well as four women and two children, the officials said, adding that 10 civilians were wounded in the clashes.

The U.S. military in northern Iraq did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'Essential services' lackingWith Iraq's Shiite-led government deadlocked on the 2008 budget and other major measures, U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Greg Smith said that Iraq needed to take advantage of security gains to improve the lives of Sunni Arabs.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23096440/