THE DREAMS FOR IRAQI WOMEN HAVE BEEN SHATTERED BY U.S. OCCUPATION

Women who do not wear the hijab are becoming prime targets of militias, residents both in Basra and Baghdad have told IPS in recent months.

Many women say they are threatened with death if they do not obey.

"Militiamen approached us to tell us we must wear the hijab and stop wearing make-up," college student Zahra Alwan who fled Basra to Baghdad told IPS last December.

Graffiti in red on walls across Basra warns women against wearing make-up and stepping out without covering their bodies from head to toe, Alwan said.


WOMEN'S DAY-IRAQ:
Surviving Somehow Behind a Concrete Purdah

Analysis by Dahr Jamail

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41479

WASHINGTON, Mar 6 (IPS) - Iraq, where women once had more rights and freedom than most others in the Arab world, has turned deadly for women who dream of education and a professional career.

Former dictator Saddam Hussein maintained a relatively secular society, where it was common for women to take up jobs as professors, doctors and government officials. In today's Iraq, women are being killed by militia groups for not conforming to strict Islamist ways.

Basra police chief Gen. Jalil Hannoon told reporters and Arab TV channels in December that at least 40 women had been killed during the previous five months in that city alone.

"We are sure there are many more victims whose families did not report their killing for fear of scandal," Gen. Hannoon said.

The militias dominated by the Shia Badr Organisation and the Mehdi Army are leading imposition of strict Islamist rules. The Shia-dominated Iraqi government is seen as providing tacit and sometimes direct support to them.

The Badr Organisation answers to the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), the Shia bloc in the Iraqi government. The Mehdi army is the militia of anti-occupation Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Click on link to read full story.

MORE THAN 60,000 IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN VETS DIAGNOSED WITH PTSD

It is known as the "silent killer."

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is afflicting over 60,000 veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Veterans Administration is not equipped to handle the mounting numbers of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe cases of depression.

More Than 60,000 Iraq, Afghanistan Vets Diagnosed with PTSD
Jason Leopold

Op Ed News

Mar 06, 2008- Jonathan Schulze was awarded two Purple Hearts in 2005 after a lengthy tour of duty in Iraq.

But the Marine veteran couldn't escape the war inside his head.

Drugs and alcohol temporarily numbed his pain. Yet the guilt he carried around with him having been one of a handful of soldiers in his unit to survive combat was impossible to run away from.

Schulze was suicidal.

On January 11, 2007, he sought treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. His parents drove him to the VA hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Schulze told the VA staff that he "felt suicidal," his mother, Marianne Schulze, recalled.

The hospital didn't admit him. Instead, he was told to call back the following day. He did. He was given a number: 26. The VA staff told him he'd have to wait at least two weeks to be admitted. Apparently, there were other veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who were also suffering from PTSD. It's unknown whether they met the same fate.

On January 16, 2007, Schulze placed a photo of his one-year-old daughter beside him. He wrapped an electrical cord around his neck and hung himself in the basement of a friend's house in New Prague, Minnesota.

He was 25 years old.

EXPLOSIONS ROCK BAGHDAD: 53 KILLED, 125 WOUNDED

Violence is on the rise in Baghdad and there are now grave doubts "the surge" is working anymore.

Also, all across Iraq violence, death and mayhem are rising and Iraq is well on the way to an all out civil war.

The mainstream media in the United States continues to ignore the growing chaos in Iraq and the American public are being kept in the dark about the serious nature of conditions in Iraq.


Pair of bombs kills 53 in Baghdad, officials say

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/06/iraq.main/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Fifty-three people were killed and 125 were wounded in two bomb attacks Thursday evening in a Baghdad commercial district, an Interior Ministry official said.

A roadside bomb exploded first, around 7 p.m., in the central Baghdad district of Karrada, killing and wounding a number of people, the Interior Ministry official said.

As others gathered to help the wounded, a suicide bomber amid the crowd detonated an explosive vest, killing and wounding many more, the official said.

The majority of causalities occurred during the second attack, the official said.

The U.S. military said Iraqi Security Forces and emergency responders were first on the scene, and coalition forces arrived afterward.

The U.S. military did not provide a death toll in its statement on the attacks.

"This terrorist attack was a senseless act of violence directed against the Iraqi people," Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff of the Multi-National Division, said in a written statement.

The explosions occurred during a busy time as Thursday night is the beginning of the weekend for Muslims.

DEATH, VIOLENCE AND MAYHEM EXPLODES ALL ACROSS IRAQ

War News for Thursday, March 06, 2008

Baghdad:#1: One person was killed and five wounded by a roadside bomb in northern Baghdad's al-Waziriya district, police said.Around 7:30 am, a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol at Al-Kasra of Waziriyah neighborhood near Taliyaa theatre .No casualties of the American patrol as it hit a civilian Kia mini bus killing one passenger and injuring five others including a woman

#2: An explosive charge, planted by unknown gunmen on the main road in al-Aazamiya neighborhood in northern Baghdad, went off, wounding three civilians,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

#3: U.S. soldiers killed three suspected al Qaeda fighters and detained 19 others in raids in central Iraq over the past two days, the U.S. military said.

#4: Two bombs went off within minutes of each other in a Baghdad commercial district Thursday evening, killing 15 people and wounding 35, police and officials at three hospitals said.At least one of those killed died at the hospital, an official said. Karradah neighborhood, which was followed a couple of minutes later by a bomb in a nearby garbage can.Around 6:45 p.m., an IED exploded at Al-Attar Street in Karrada neighborhood and when police and army arrived suspecting of having another IED to be defused a suicide bomber detonated himself in the crowd. (54 )persons were killed (including policemen and soldiers) and injuring 123 others(including three women) See lead story for updated death toll from twin car bombs.

.#5: Police found two dead bodies in Baghdad today: both in Risafa bank; one was found in Bub Al-Sham and one was found in Husseiniyah.

Diyala Prv:#1: Two people were killed and 10 wounded in clashes between al Qaeda and villagers in Tal Asswad near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, police said.

#2: Roadside bombing on Thursday killed a police officer and wounded four policemen in Diala, north Iraq, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off on the main road leading to Himreen dam of Khanqeen district”, Diala security source said.The source pointed out “the explosion killed a lieutenant and wounds four policemen”.

Hilla:#1: Two people were wounded when a bomb exploded inside a minibus in the city of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Amarra:#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were killed in an attack launched by gunmen in Missan on Thursday, a security source said. "Unknown gunmen driving a car opened fire and shot two Iraqi soldiers dead in central Amarra," a security source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of IraqBasra:

#1: In the morning, police found a female dead body at Nuaab Dhibat neighborhood (north Basra).#2: Around noon, gunmen killed a policeman of border guards in downtown old Basra city near Al-Sadiq mosque.

Kirkuk:#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were injured on Thursday when an improvised explosive device went off during a crackdown operation southwest of Kirkuk, an Iraqi army source saidMosul:#1: In the afternoon, a car exploded targeted an American patrol at Al-Noor neighborhood in Mosul city.No US casualties were reported,but the explosion injured 4 people were at the scene .

Irbil:#1: Police found a dead body at Khabat bank river, west Arbil. They found out that the dead man was a Peshmarga member who was kidnapped several days ago.

THE COLLAPSING MYTH OF "THE SURGE"

The Bush Admiistration and their propaganda mouthpiece, FOX NEWS, are shameless in their lies about "the surge."

They boast about the success of "the surge" when there are reports days after day on this blog indicating just the opposite is true.

But nobody ever lost a bet pointing out all the many ways the Bush Administration and FOX NEWS LIES to the American public.

The sad part is their are still Americans dumb enough to actually believe what the Bush Administation and FOX NEWS are telling them.

Commentary by Bill Corcoran, editor of this blog.


The Collapsing Myth of the Surge

By Brian Katulis

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/02/collapsing_myth.html

The easily foreseen consequences of conservatives' surge “strategy” in Iraq are now coming to pass.

The disaffected Sunni groups that turned against Al Qaeda in Iraq are now demanding their due—political power for these “Awakening” groups commensurate with their newfound military clout and their belief that Sunnis should once again be the dominant power in Iraq as they were under Saddam Hussein.

But the fractured Shi'a-led government of prime minister Nouri al Maliki has strongly opposed these efforts, and resisted integrating these irregular forces into the Iraqi government. The looming threat is that the different sides in one of Iraq’s key internal conflicts –supported to varying degrees by the United States over the last year—may start turning their weapons on each other.

That’s the first simmering civil war that could well resume in full force in the coming months.

The second is the Shi’a-on-Shi’a fight, which is also about to get more heated. The reason: Iraq saw a major political setback last week when a key benchmark of political progress—a provincial powers law that set a fall date for provincial elections—was vetoed by the presidency council.

The setback shows that Iraq’s leaders continue to fundamentally disagree about how to share power, relying on U.S. military forces to maintain a haphazard peace while they continue to squabble. When President Bush announced the surge of U.S. military forces, his stated goal was to give Iraq’s leaders some breathing room and space to advance their political transition by making Iraq more stable. The problem with this strategy was that it failed to address the fundamental divisions between different Iraqi factions.

Now, it is increasingly clear that the surge did little more than temporarily mask these divisions by offering support to different factions—support that today further undermines the Iraqi state.

The conservative strategy for Iraq has gotten the U.S. military caught in the middle of these new twists in the old ethnic and sectarian divides that define Iraqi society. The new Sunni militias demand that the U.S. force the Shi'a to grant them their due, and threaten to stop fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq and instead revive the Sunni insurgency. The Shi'a demand that the U.S. limit the growth of these Awakening militias. Both sides are increasingly shooting at American soldiers to get across their arguments.

Click on link to read full story.

SEE UNCUT VIDEO OF MARINE TOSSING PUPPY OFF CLIFF IN IRAQ

There has been a lot of talk all across the internet about the video of the United States Marine tossing what looks to be a live little puppy off a cliff in Iraq. YouTube removed the video, but we have the full uncut version here: http://my.break.com/content/view.aspx?ContentID=463231

This blog received more than 1,400 "hits" to this story on Wednesday alone.

IRAQ: CLASHES BETWEEN U.S. BACKED FORCES INCREASE

By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail, IPS NewsPosted on March 5, 2008, Printed on March 6, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/78557/

The 'Awakening Councils', known locally as the Sahwa, have left their centers in cities and districts around the capital of Diyala province, located 40 km northeast of Baghdad.

After seeing better security and stability brought about by the Sahwa, most of whom are former resistance fighters, residents are concerned about what their absence will now mean.

The Sahwa are protesting against kidnappings, rape, and killing of Sunnis by the Shia-controlled police in Baquba.

On the other hand, Shia politicians of Diyala, like those in Baghdad, have always shown their resentment against the fighters of the Sahwa. They often accuse the fighters of being "terrorists".

Many residents see this as more of the sectarian view of the predominantly Shia government of Baghdad, which does not want to share power with Sunni groups.

According to the U.S. military, 82 percent of the 80,000-strong Sahwa are Sunni.

"Police vehicles are used to kidnap Sunni people, and when asked, the police chief and government members say it is difficult to control the mistakes of all of the police and army," Abu Saad, a member of a local Sahwa group in Baquba told IPS. "We have to put an end to the bad conduct of the police and army. They have done enough bad things to the people of this city. The suffering of this city is because of them."

Click here to read full story.

YOUTUBE YANKS VIDEO OF MARINE TOSSING PUPPY OFF CLIFF IN IRAQ, BUT WE HAVE THE VIDEO

The controversial video of the U.S. Marine allegedly tossing a puppy over a cliff in Iraq has been pulled by YOUTUBE, but we have a report from a TV station in Hawaii which shows a portion of the video as well as comments by viewers.

The United States Marine Corps is investigating the incident and will issue their findings shortly. A statement by the Marines is in this this report.

Video Of Hawaii Marine Throwing Puppy Spurs Probe
Thousands Of People Saw Clip on YouTube.com
POSTED: 9:06 pm HST March 3, 2008
UPDATED: 8:58 pm HST March 4, 2008

http://www.kitv.com/mostpopular/15482127/detail.html

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Hawaii -- The Marines on Monday responded to a video clip on YouTube.com showing what appears to be a Kaneohe-based Marine throwing a puppy while in Iraq.

The video shows two Marines talking as one holds a puppy by the back of the neck before throwing the dog over what appears to be a cliff. There is the sound of a dog yelping as the puppy is seen flying in the air.

The clip has been viewed by thousands of people on the Internet, with several e-mailing Honolulu TV news media.

Marines' Statement

The leadership at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe said they are investigating the case and that they do not tolerate such behavior.

"This is a shocking and deplorable video that contrary to the high standards we set for every Marine. We will investigate this and take appropriate action," Maj. Christopher Perrine said.
Officials said they believe the Marine in the video is a lance corporal who returned to Hawaii in October from Iraq.

Thousands of people viewed the clip that lasted about 17 seconds. Many left messages on YouTube.com saying they were outraged by what they saw.

"The act itself is atrocious and just to see the disregard for life is just troubling," Hawaii Humane Society spokeswoman Kawehi Yim said.

Others said they believed the clip was staged and not real.

The Marines said while they will look into what happened. They want to determine whether the video clip is authentic.

"We need to find out who is this person, is this a legitimate video? Was it edited?" Perrine said.
YouTube.com pulled the clips uploaded onto its site involving the Marine and the puppy by the late afternoon.

Officials at the Hawaii Humane Society said they were horrified by what was on the video.
"People have been e-mailing and calling outraged that one, that the act occurred and secondly that there appears to be little remorse," Yim said.

If the video is authentic, the Marines involved could face judicial charges, a reduction in rank and pay and a court-martial. They could also be discharged.

ANOTHER SUICIDE BOMBING IN BAGHDAD DESPITE "THE SURGE"

There is no let up to the violence in Baghdad despite the so-called success of "The Surge."

Another four people were killed when a suicide car bomber rammed an Iraqi army checkpoint in Ghadeer in eastern Baghdad.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/52A789B8-7847-483E-835A-A3F3C23568E3.htm

Two soldiers were among the dead in that blast, which destroyed three houses and set several cars ablaze. Another 10 people were wounded.

US military commanders blame the al-Qaeda for most large-scale bombings in Iraq but there was no immediate indication of who was responsible for Monday's bombings or whether they were directly linked to Ahmadinejad's visit.

HOW CAN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND FOX NEWS CONTINUE TO SAY THINGS ARE GOOD IN IRAQ WHEN ALL THIS IS HAPPENING?

How in the world can the Bush Administration and their parrot, FOX NEWS, continue to sing the praises of "the surge" in Iraq when all this is happening in Baghdad and all across Iraq?

Iraq is hardly a model of peace and serenity.

This report contains acts of violence which have been happening all over Iraq including a report on two soldiers, one from Philadelphia and another from Northern California, who died in the United States after serving several tours in Iraq.

The people of the United States deserve the truth and the 160,000 troops in Iraq and another 30,000 in Afghanistan, and their families back in the United States, deserve the truth and not Bush White House "spin" and FOX NEWS lies about conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Baghdad:#1: Elsewhere, US and Iraqi soldiers detonated explosives near Ali al-Azim mosque in the southern Zafaraniyah district in Baghdad.

#2: Two civilians were injured on early Wednesday in two simultaneous blasts that ripped through southern Baghdad, said a police source. "Two improvised explosive devices went off simultaneously in al-Zaafaraniya district in southern Baghdad, injuring two civilians," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq. One of the two blasts targeted a police vehicle patrol," he added.

#3: Iraqi soldiers killed two suspected militants and arrested 38 others during operations across Iraq in the past 24 hours, the Defence Ministry said.

#4: Gunmen killed a truck driver and stole his car in Shaab neighborhood in north Baghdad around 1:00 p.m.

#5: Around 12:30 p.m. an IEd attached to a fuel tank exploded. the incident took place in mashtal neighborhood in east Baghdad. The IED explosion caused a big fire. While extinguishing the fire, another fuel tank which was close to the fire exploded. two fire fighters were injured.

#6: Gunman driving a sedan car (Opel) opened fire inuring a civilian who was driving a BMW car. The incident took place in Mansour neighborhood in west Baghdad on Wednesday afternoon. The Iraqi army check point in the area of the incident arrested the gunman.

#7: Two civilians were injured when an IED exploded in nahdha neighborhood in east Baghdad around 3:00 p.m.#8: Police found four unidentified bodies in Baghdad today. Two bodies were found in Amiriyah, one body was found in Sheikh Maroof neighborhood and the fourth body was found in Shaab neighborhood.

Diyala Prv:Mahmudiya:#1: A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded three others near Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.Baquba:

#1: A member of Sahwa council in Kan’an area south of Baquba city was injured in an IED explosion.Kut:

#1: 3 security guards of the Water Resources Management in Kut were wounded on Wednesday, in an explosion at their office.According to a source that spoke to Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq on condition of anonymity, "The explosion took place at the search-room of the Water Resources Management in Kut city, causing injuries to 3 security guards," the source said, adding, "the wounded guards have been transferred to Al-Karama hospital in Kut."Samarra:

#1: A bomb in a parked car killed two people and wounded six others, including four members of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood security unit, near a checkpoint in Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Another police source put the death toll at one and said the attack was by a suicide car bomber

.#2: Two Sahwa councils members (awakening councils members) were killed and four other people (two Sahwa and two civilians) wounded when Sahwa members shot a suicide car bomb tried to attack a check point for Sahwa near Samara drug factory downtown Samara city north of Baghdad around 7:15 p.m.Tuz Khurmato:

#1: Gunmen killed two people and wounded three other family members in an attack on a house in Tuz Khurmato, 220 km (135 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.Salahuddin Prv:

#1: A source in the joint coordination center in Salahuddin said that at least four Syrian truck drivers were kidnapped on Baghdad- Kirkuk Street north of Baghdad on Wednesday morning. The truck were taken to Sleman Bik police station.Udhaim:

#1: A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded two others near Udhaim, north of Baghdad, police said.Kirkuk:#1: According to police and witnesses, gunmen stormed a house in a village near Kirkuk, 250 kilometers north of Baghdad on Wednesday, DPA reported. The police said that the assailants killed two people and injured three others by using automatic machine guns.

#2: One civilian was killed and two others were injured on Wednesday when an improvised explosive device went off targeting their vehicle in southwest of Kirkuk, said a police source. "An explosive charge was detonated targeting a civilian vehicle near al-Azim region, southwest of Kirkuk, killing a civilian and wounding two," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq on condition of anonymity.

#3: Gunmen killed Abdul-Sattar Tahira, a professor at Kirkuk University, police said. Tahira held New Zealand citizenship, they said.

#4: A roadside bomb wounded one civilian in an attack against the convoy of Major-General Hazim al-Khazraji, a senior police officer in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.Mosul:

#1: A civilian was injured in an IED explosion in Sinjar town west of Mosul city on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

#2: Police found three bodies in al Wihda neighborhood in south Mosul. One of the bodies was headless, police said.#3: An IED exploded targeting a police patrol in al Jammasa neighborhood in east Mosul city on Wednesday afternoon. Five people were injured (three policemen and two civilians)Kurdistan:

#1: A Turkish television station reports that Turkish aircraft have bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq. Private NTV television cited officials of the rebel Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PKK, as saying Turkish helicopters bombed region of Sidekan in neighboring Iraq. The Turkish military has not yet confirmed or denied the report.

Afghanistan:#1: The joint forces were patrolling northeast of Helmand province's Gereshk district Sunday when Taliban fighters fired on them with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, a coalition statement said. The Afghan and coalition troops returned fire and called in airstrikes, killing "several insurgents," the statement said. It did not give further details.

TWO SOLDIERS WHO SERVED IN IRAQ DIE IN THE UNITED STATES

#1: Sgt. Matthew J. Rhoads, a 29-year-old paratrooper from Philadelphia who served seven months in Iraq, was found dead Sunday in his residence at Fort Bragg, N.C. Maj. Thomas Ernhardt, spokesman for the 82d Airborne Division, said that a preliminary investigation did not indicate foul play, but that an autopsy was under way.

#2: A former North Monterey County High School student who survived two tours of duty in Iraq was killed Sunday in a two-car accident in Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood, the Army base where he was stationed. Sgt. Rodolfo "Rudy" Maldonado Jr., 23, died from injuries he suffered at 2:49 a.m. Sunday when the 2004 Honda Civic he was driving crossed the median for unknown reasons, skidded sideways through the northbound traffic, and collided with a 2007 Chevy Avalanche that was stopped legally at a yield sign onto Highway 195. The driver of that truck, a 17-year-old Killeen girl, was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where she reportedly was in stable condition.

ANGELINA JOLIE TO TALK IRAQ ON CAPITOL HILL?

The House Armed Services Committee is being asked to invite actress Angelina Jolie to testify — not to gain more media attention, which certainly would happen, but to talk about how Operation Iraqi Freedom is going.

By Rick Maze - Staff writer

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/03/military_angelinajolie_030108w/

Jolie, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, wrote in an opinion column for Thursday’s Washington Post that she has seen improvements in Iraq as the U.S., U.N. and Iraqi government “have begun to work together in new and important ways.”

Jolie said the buildup of U.S. forces appears to be working and that troops she spoke with on a recent visit wanted to see the mission through.

“When I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as soon as possible, they said that they miss home but feel invested in Iraq,” she wrote.

That column prompted Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., to ask the armed services committee chairman to invite Jolie to testify.

“Sadly, Ms. Jolie’s positive perspective on the current security situation in Iraq has gone largely unnoticed by the mainstream press,” Drake said in a letter to Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the committee chairman.

A spokeswoman for Skelton said the chairman had not yet seen the letter.

30 PERCENT OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS SUFFER FROM PTSD, DOCTOR SAYS IN HEARING

The nation's foremost authority on post-traumatic stress disorder testified in federal court Monday that up to 30 percent of combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are likely to be diagnosed with the ailment and that the Veteran's Health Administration is not doing enough to help them.

John Koopman

San Fracisco Chronicle

Mar 04, 2008

Dr. Arthur Blank, a psychiatrist who has worked with troops and veterans with PTSD since 1965, said the disorder is treatable, but it requires a "human connection" with a therapist, and that's something the VA is ill-prepared to support.

"With hope and with help, recovery is possible," he said.

Dr. Blank testified at a hearing in connection with a lawsuit brought by veterans advocacy groups against the VA, claiming that the federal government's health care system for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan illegally denies care and benefits.

The plaintiffs, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, are seeking to make the case a class action on behalf of 320,000 to 800,000 veterans or their survivors. The hearing Monday concerned a request by the veterans groups that the judge issue a preliminary injunction ordering the VA to provide immediate mental health treatment for veterans who suffer from stress disorders and are at risk of suicide.

Click on link to read full story.

COST OF IRAQ WAR NOW BEYOND HUMAN COMPREHENSION

How far off were they? Well, it depends on which figure you choose to start with. Here's the range: According to key officials in the Bush administration back in 2002-2003, the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq was either going to cost $60 billion, or $100-$200 billion. Actually, we can start by tossing that top figure out, since not long after Bush economic advisor Larry Lindsey offered it in 2002, he was shown the door, in part assumedly for even suggesting something so ludicrous.

By William D. Hartung, Tomdispatch.comPosted on March 5, 2008, Printed on March 5, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/78683/

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz championed the $60 billion figure, but added that much of the cost might well be covered by Iraqi oil revenues; the country was, after all, floating on a "sea of oil." ("To assume we're going to pay for it all is just wrong," he told a congressional hearing.) Still, let's take that $60 billion figure as the Bush baseline.

If economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes are right in their recent calculations and this will turn out to be more than a $3 trillion war (or even a $5-7 trillion one), then the Bush administration was at least $2,940,000,000,000 off in its calculations.

That definitely qualifies as a ballpark figure for an administration that never saw a budget estimate for one of its imperial dreams that it couldn't hike. Take just one of its major "reconstruction" projects: getting the vast U.S. embassy staff out of a former palace of Saddam Hussein and into a brand-new, almost Vatican-sized "embassy," a genuine mother ship, being built from the ground up inside Baghdad's heavily fortified (and often heavily shelled) Green Zone. Originally scheduled to open in mid-2007, what will undoubtedly be the largest "diplomatic" mission on the planet was initially budgeted for $592 million. Predictably, its price tag soared another $144 million, and now comes in at $736 million, as yet unopened.

In December 2007, the State Department officially certified it "substantially complete," but, as with most Bush administration construction projects in that country, it remains in a state of staggering unreadiness; two of the State Department employees who worked on it are now "under criminal investigation"; and the State Department is dragging its feet about handing over relevant documents to Congress. Ho-hum.

Nothing, of course, has been cheap for American taxpayers who are financing the Bush administration's war policies. It's been like putting up money for an administration staffed by shopaholics let loose in Neiman Marcus or gambling addicts freed to roam Las Vegas with no betting limits.

Bo back to link to read the full story.

IRAQI PSYCHIATRIST: VIOLENCE HAS SCARRED IRAQI CHILDREN FOR LIFE

The fallout from the war in Iraq continues to spread to areas of Iraq with no let up in sight.

A leading Iraqi psychiatrist has said the violence and mayhem the children of Iraq have seen since the United States invaded and occupied Iraq has left the children mentally damaged for life.

Iraqi Psychiatrist Ali: Iraq’s Future is Wounded

According to Ali, the whole of Iraqi society, but especially the children, bear psychological scars from witnessing violence and death every day: “Iraq needs psychological help, too.”

Bıa news centre
04-03-2008
Tolga KORKUT

http://tinyurl.com/2v5rbb

Iraqi psychiatrist Numan Serhan Ali has been studying societal trauma in Iraq for years. In November 2006, he had to leave the country, and now works with Iraqi refugees in Amman, Jordan. His family is still in Baghdad. “We talk over the Internet and the phone.”

Ali had come to Istanbul as a speaker at the fifth International Meeting for a World without War at the weekend.

Ali believes that Iraqis need not only food aid, but also psychological support because the occupation has left deep traumas and invisible wounds: “They need to be listened to, they need to talk, and they need to learn rules.”

Multiple traumas lead to increase in violence

“40 percent of Iraq’s population are experiencing five different traumas. More than three traumas usually means the risk of death and heart attack.” Ali emphasises the frequency of stress, fear, depression and anxiety, and points to an increase in suicide, drug use, armed robbery, kidnappings and murders.

Death is a daily possibility

He does not have to look far to give examples: “I have lost four relatives. Five colleagues have been murdered. They were close friends, two of them my students. One was killed the day he got his degree. All the murders are unsolved. Three or four of my neighbours have been killed, two of them children who were shot when they were at home.”

“Going to work takes half an hour, but it is a traumatic journey. When you have avoided an explosion, you feel lucky, but also guilty.”

Children and women most affected

The situation of women and childre is worst: “There are many nightmares and a fear of going outside. This is a real fear. Many children do not go to school anymore because of it. Also, it is said that US soldiers are detaining 200-500 “child convicts.”

“Domestic violence has increased, as has the number of widows. Since the occupation, the number of premature births and miscarriages has doubled. The number of caesarean births has increased because people are scared of uncontrollable situations. Women are weighed down with life and the stress of daily life has increased.”

Lack of psychological support

Despite all these problems, there are only 40 psychiatrists ofr 25 million Iraqis. The number of psychological experts has dropped by a third because doctors and academics have been primary targets of kidnappings and unsolved murders.

For Ali, the effects of the occupation are like those of torture, forcing people to live in inhumane conditions and humiliating them. He said that he knew about the torture at the Abu Ghraib prison before it became public knowledge, but was too frightened to say anything.

Like the US psychologists in Guantanamo Bay, there are also psychological experts who become part of the torture process. “In Abu Ghraib and in Guantanamo Bay, the health experts did not report the evidence of torture. This is shameful.”

Too many say "I did not know that"

For Ali, anti-war meetings like the one at the weekend are important: “There are still many people in the world who do not know what is happening in Iraq. Often, when I speak at a panel, people from the audience say, ‘I did not know that.’” (TK/AG)

FOLLOW-UP ON MARINE HURLING PUPPY OFF CLIFF IN IRAQ

Since the introduction of this blog two months ago, not a single post has captured the interest of readers as the story and accompanying video apparently showing a United States Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff in Iraq.

The United States Marine Corps has issued a statement and will be investigating the case.

Marine seems to hurl puppy off cliff in video

By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writerPosted : Tuesday Mar 4, 2008 19:29:38 EST

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/03/marine_puppy_video_030308/

A video that appears to show an armor-clad Marine hurling a small puppy off a cliff and joking with his buddies as it smashes against a rock-strewn desert landscape has sparked outrage online and an investigation by commanders in Hawaii.

A 22-year-old lance corporal from Seattle was named in several online postings as the “puppy killer” and accused of being a “sociopath.” A home address for the Marine was posted on several sites, with at least one urging readers to “make him pay.”

Marine Corps Times could not confirm his identity.

Marine officials on Hawaii have also been unable to confirm that the rifleman based at Kaneohe Bay is the Marine shown in the pixilated, undated video.

“We’re still looking into it. We’re trying to confirm that this is our Marine,” said Maj. Chris Perrine, a spokesman for 3rd Marine Division on Hawaii.

Later Monday, officials at Marine Corps Base Hawaii issued a statement condemning the video.
“The video is shocking and deplorable and is contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine,” the statement said.

“This video came to our attention this morning, and we have initiated an investigation. We do not tolerate this type of behavior and will take appropriate action.”

“The vast majority of Marines conduct their duties in an honorable manner that brings great credit upon the Marine Corps and the United States. There have been numerous stories of Marines adopting pets and bringing them home from Iraq or helping to arrange life-saving medical care for Iraqi children. Those are the stories that exemplify what we stand for and how most Marines behave,” the statement said.

Various postings of the video had been viewed more than 32,000 times as of Monday afternoon, according to the Web site YouTube. See video in post on the this blog here: http://corksphere.blogspot.com/2008/03/us-marine-tosses-puppy-off-cliff-in.html

Some experts say the dog may have been dead before being thrown.

“We think he may have already been dead, but we’re not exactly sure,” said Kristin Dejournett, a cruelty caseworker with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, in a telephone interview.

The puppy appears motionless as the Marine holds it by the scruff of the neck.

“It seems kind of stiff,” Dejournett said. “As the [Marine] pulls his arm back in preparation to throw the puppy, the puppy stays in that same position; it doesn’t move around.”

PETA has received more than 40 phone calls and e-mails complaining about the video over the past few days, Dejournett said.

The group has assigned an audio-visual expert to analyze the recording, she said. “They’re trying to see if they can slow it down and take some stills from it to see if that puppy was actually alive,” she said.

As the puppy flies through the air, the video’s soundtrack features a distinct yelping sound, but Dejournett said that could have been edited in afterward. She noted that the squealing sound does not diminish as the puppy appears to fade in the distance.

To some degree, she said, it doesn’t matter whether the Marines were torturing the puppy or playing with a dead animal.

“Regardless, it is horrifying and it’s not the kind of behavior that we want to see our troops engaging in,” Dejournett said.

"IRAQ WILL SWIM IN A LAKE OF BLOOD," CLERIC WARNS

A leading figure in the movement led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said the group would not pardon anyone if their leader is harmed.

"In the event Sadr is harmed, Iraqi will them swim in a lake of blood," warned Sheikh Sadeq al-Hasnawi.Hasnawi is one of the top officials leading the movement in Sadr's absence.

Cleric: Iraq Will "Swim in a Lake of Blood" if Sadr is Killed

By Nidhal al-Laithi, AzzamanPosted on March 3, 2008, Printed on March 4, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/78336/

He said the cleric was currently in Iran "studying and mediating" in the religious city of Qom, which is the Iranian equivalent of Iraq's holy city of Najaf where Shiite clerics are educated and trained.

Hasnawi made the remarks in response to unconfirmed reports that Sadr was poisoned and was being hospitalized in Tehran.

"These reports that Moqtada al-Sadr has been poisoned are merely rumors spread by those who would like to see him disappear from the arena by having him assassinated," said Hasnawi.

Click on link for complete story

SOLDIER ON SIXTH TOUR TO IRAQ INJURED: U.S. SERVICEMEN KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH IN IRAQ

The death and casualties of American military personnel continues in Iraq. Below is the story of Staff Sgt. Scott Adams who was on his SIXTH tour to Iraq when a bomb ripped through his vehicle, and in Northern Iraq a U.S. service member was killed in a helicopter crash.

Iraq is still a cauldron of death and destruction and the American public are being misled by a media who no longer figure the Iraq war is worth covering.

Here is just a sampling of what took place in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN and back in the United States on Tuesday, March 4.


SIXTH TOUR OF IRAQ GI WOUNDED AND IS IN REHABILITATION

Staff Sgt. Scott Adams Last January, on that sixth tour, Adams was on patrol near Baghdad when a bomb ripped through the vehicle he was in. In the moments after the Humvee caught on fire. "That didn't work for me because I was doused in diesel (fuel), and the white phosphorus was on there, plus all the uneven gear that was on there," Adams said in an interview from his temporary home in San Antonio. "One of the soldiers tackled me and put me out with a fire extinguisher." The last thing Adams remembers was the nurse and doctor arguing over taking his temperature. "And I don't remember anything from that point until the end of February, because I was in a coma," said Adams. When Adams woke up, he was burned over 47 percent of his body. His back was broken in eight places. A blood clot ran the entire length of one leg, and that's just the start. Adams developed sleep apnea, can't remember things, and has post-traumatic stress disorder. And his arms were so limited, he couldn't feed himself without extra-long utensils.


Reuters is reporting the death of a US service member in a helicopter crash in Northern Iraq on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven other passengers were killed according to the U.S. military. The AP is reporting that the helicopter was carrying six Iraqis and two foreigners.Security incidents:

Baghdad:#1: Five U.S. soldiers were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack that targeted their patrol in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Multi-National Force (MNF) said. "The IED attack also wounded one civilian who happened to be near the explosion site," Abdul-Latif Rayan said in exclusive statements to Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

Diyala Prv:Baquba:#1: Gunmen killed a civilian as he was leaving his house in Baquba.Buhruz:#1: Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms kidnapped a civilian in Buhruz. His dead body was found today.

Basra:#1: Gunmen killed a police officer from Nassiriyah police and three of his body guards in centralDour:#1: Two members affiliated to local anti-Qaida Awakening Council armed groups were killed and three others injured in shootings in Salahudin province on Tuesday, a provincial police source said. The two anti-Qaida fighters were killed Tuesday when unknown gunmen showered their car with bullets while they were driving in the al-Dour town, 15 km east of Tikrit, the capital of the province, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.Yathrib:#1: In a separate incident, three more anti-Qaida fighters were wounded when another armed group attacked their checkpoint on Monday night in the town of Yathrib, 70 km north of Baghdad, the source said.Al Hassan:#1: Gunmen killed two civilians in Al Hassan village; the deceased were relatives of a leader of an awakening council.

.#3: Three policemen were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Mosul on Tuesday, a Ninewa security spokesman said. An improvised explosive device (IED) went off next to a passing police patrol in al-Jammal neighborhood, east Mosul, leaving three policemen and two civilians wounded," Brig Khalid Abdel Sattar, spokesman for Ninewa operation's command, said.#4: Meanwhile, the security official noted "an IED blew up targeting a U.S. troop patrol in Suq al-Maash neighborhood, west Mosul, causing no casualties to either military forces or civilians."

Afghanistan:#1: A suicide attack on a government office guarded by Afghan and NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan left two alliance soldiers dead and four more wounded, a U.S. military spokesman said Tuesday. The bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gates of the building in the Yaqoubi district of Khost province on Monday, causing a guard post to collapse and trapping soldiers inside, officials said. The explosion also killed two Afghan civilians and wounded three Afghan policemen, said provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub.

#2: A suicide car bomber attacked a government building Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan, killing a policeman. The car bomber tried to hit a government building in the Tani district of eastern Khost province, but Afghan guards opened fire toward the car, said Khost Gov. Arsallah Jamal.A policeman was killed and five other people, including an Afghan soldier, were wounded in the explosion that followed, said district police chief Guldat Hamim.

ON THE HOME FRONT MILITARY PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN VARIOUS CRIME ACTS.

#1: A soldier killed two other soldiers -- including a New Hampshire native -- and poured acid on their bodies in an attempt to dispose of them, a prosecutor said Monday.more stories like this.

Spc. Ivette Gonzalez Davila, 22, of Bakersfield, Calif., was ordered held without bond for investigation of aggravated first-degree murder as well as kidnapping. She was accused of taking the married couple's 6-month-old girl. The victims were identified as Timothy Miller, 27, originally of Nevada, and Randi Miller, 25, of Laconia, N.H. Timothy Miller was apparently shot in a bathtub at the couple's suburban Parkland home, while Randi Miller was shot on a bed and then moved to the bathtub, police said in court documents.

#2: Some Arkansas National Guard members were injured when a severe thunderstorm struck Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The guard members are training at the facility in preparation for deployment to Iraq.High winds and a possible tornado damaged a barracks building at Camp Shelby. Fourteen guard members suffered minor injuries. All were treated and released from local hospitals

U.S. MARINE TOSSES PUPPY OFF CLIFF IN IRAQ (SEE VIDEO)

No story has caused more of on an outrage in the United States and all across the world as the video of a U.S. Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff in Iraq.
The video shows the Marine smiling after tossing the puppy off the cliff.

However, this type of behavior is not an isolated case and we have listed other videos of similar behavior toward dogs in the Iraq war zone by U.S. military personnel.

MSNBC news just ran this video with a warning to viewers about the graphic details. MSNBC also reported the Marine in the video is now stationed in Hawaii.

Smiling US Marine throws puppy off Iraq hill

By Bonnie Malkin
Last Updated: 12:30pm GMT 04/03/2008

http://tinyurl.com/24qq2r

The American army is investigating shocking footage of a grinning Marine throwing a yelping puppy into a gully in Iraq.

The clip, which has prompted fierce criticism of the military, appeared on video sharing site YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP1fgVST2vA

It showed two Marines dressed in combat gear, one holding the young dog by the scruff of its neck.

The dog, which looks about eight weeks old, is motionless.

"Cute little puppy, huh?", one Marine can be heard saying.

"Oh so cute, so cute little puppy," the other responds in a child-like voice.

The Marine holding the dog then turns and throws it into the ravine below. The animal can be heard yelping until it hits the ground.

A spokesman for the American military condemned the video as "shocking and deplorable" and said an investigation was underway into the incident.

Marine spokesman Major Chris Perrine said the culprit was believed to be based in Hawaii.
"We do not tolerate this type of behaviour and will take appropriate action," he said.

As the Marine investigation continues, there are already YouTube videos suggesting it was a fake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0xjY-4CMdI

Torture of dogs in the Iraq war zone is not an isolated case:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i60f3vnlDw

Here is another one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Vns7_20k8

WHEN A REPORTER WRITES WHAT HE SEES IN IRAQ

Stars and Stripes has long been considered the voice of the United States military all across the world. And yet when Stars and Stripes reporters report on what they have witnessed with their own eyes in Iraq, they are taken to task by some readers.

Here is an explanation of such an instance as printed in Stars and Stripes http://blogs.stripes.com/blogs/readerscorner/when-reporter-writes-what-he-sees


A Feb. 10 article by a Stars and Stripes reporter, written from Iskandariyah, Iraq, inspired two letters to the editor. Both expressed shock. One writer was shocked that Stripes would publish a report that supposedly made American soldiers look bad. The other was shocked by what the soldiers did.

Reporter Michael Gisick followed GIs into an Iraqi home and recorded what happened. A woman and her teenage daughter were in the home; on the wall was a poster with the face of controversial Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. When a sergeant showed irritation at seeing the poster, the teenage girl was dirisive, her words "dripping attitude." The story said some of the soldiers and their interpreter started calling her "a bitch," and one of them cut al-Sadr's countenance from the poster.

The first letter, from Sgt. Stephen Tressler in Baghdad, accused Stripes of "smearing our troops" by reporting what the soldiers called the girl and by showing them cutting the poster. The second letter, from Sgt. James P. Hallberg, of Support Area Anaconda, Iraq, did not complain about the reporting, but criticized the actions of the U.S. party. "Is this the behavior that's going to teach Iraqis about democracy and freedom of speech?" he asked.

Reporter Gisick wrote what he saw. Should a reporter always do that? The military poses few restrictions on embedded reporters; they are told to observe security considerations but otherwise their reporting is little fettered, or should be. In practice, most reporters avoid reporting gratuitous statements or actions they encounter -- those with no context of the circumstance being covered.

What the Stripes reporter witnessed, it seems to me, had context: Troops regularly interact with Iraqis, sometimes with some tension, and they can react to such episodes. The article in question was straightforward, without characterizing the troops' actions one way or another.

I asked the Middle East bureau chief, Joe Giordono, for his take on it. "We emphasize to our reporters: write what you see, without passing judgment on it, and putting it into context," he said. "So,l ironically, we sometimes get it from both sides: readers (mainly civilian) who think that embedded reporters are limited in what they write, and readers (mainly military) who think that embeds report too much."

INNOCENT IRAQI TEENAGER KILLED BY U.S. APACHE HELICOPTER

It is a story that happens all too often in Iraq. An innocent civilian is mistaken as an insurgent and they are gunned down by U.S. military forces.

Only this time it was an innocent Iraqi teenager who was the victim of U.S. military air strike by an Apache helicopter.

Is this any way to win the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people?

US Regrets Killing Innocent Teen Near Samarra
An Iraqi teenager was killed during an attack by coalition forces south of Samarra , officials said.

Apache pilots attacked six people digging on a road known to have a past history of bomb attacks on Iraq and coalition forces, according to a news release issued Saturday by Multi-National Corps—Iraq. Iraqi and coalition soldiers were ordered to take a look at the area.

Forty people in a nearby house said six boys were digging roots for firewood. No one was detained and no evidence was found of bomb materials, officials said. [Their “regrets” will not stop them from doing it again and again….. and the vast majority of the air strikes in Iraq were not against “insurgents” or “terrorists” but against ordinary Iraqis trying to survive.

US military has made videos of bombing Iraqis who were just as innocent (as far as the video shows) as this teenager. The real terrorists are the ones dropping the bombs. – dancewater]

THREE HEART-BREAKING STORIES OF U.S. SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN IRAQ

FOX NEWS will never report on these three brave young Americans who have sacrificed so much in Iraq fighting in the ill-conceived war concocted by President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Casualty Reports From the Iraq War:

Matt Keil--One sniper's bullet in Iraq left Matt a quadriplegic.

Josiah Blystone was on his first tour of duty near Baghdad when he was seriously injured during a routine patrol. He was “just walking along and all of a sudden the IED exploded,” Blystone's sister Christin Porter said. Shrapnel flew into his right arm, tearing apart the nerves. It landed in the side of his face and in his right eye. “They're not expecting him to be able to see out of it (his right eye) again,” Porter said. Blystone is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Blystone was injured by the homemade bomb Feb. 16. He had only been in Iraq for about four months.

Lee Jones, 25, suffered a brain injury and severe burns in combat, he has survived three strokes that have slowed his speech.

ELSEWHERE IN BAGHDAD AND ACROSS IRAQ VIOLENCE, MAYHEM AND CHAOS CONTINUES WITH NO LET UP IN SIGHT

Monday: 79 Iraqis Killed, 105 Wounded
Sunday: 33 Iraqis Killed, 41 Wounded
Baghdad bombings kill 23
British missiles kill 2, wound 4 in Basra

Young Iraqis are losing their faith in religion
After almost five years of war, many young Iraqis, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach. In two months of interviews with 40 young people in five Iraqi cities, a pattern of disenchantment emerged, in which young Iraqis, both poor and middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives. "I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over us," said Sara Sami, a high school student in Basra. "Most of the girls in my high school hate that Islamic people control the authority because they don't deserve to be rulers." [If this is true, why did 7 to 10 million people go to the latest religious event in Najaf? – dancewater]

War News for Monday, March 03, 2008
Baghdad:#1: In Baghdad, a parked car bomb killed at least 21 people and wounded 43 in central Baghdad's Bab al-Mudham area. The car was parked on a road leading to the nearby Housing and Municipality Ministry, police said. The dead included one police officer, while another four were wounded. The district is a commercial area on the eastern side of the Tigris River.

#2: In the suicide attack, a man drove a minibus into the headquarters of the Interior Ministry's 4th Brigade, a special quick reaction force based in Baghdad's eastern Zayouna neighborhood. The blast killed at least two police officers and wounded six other people.

#3: Two civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in a third incident in the Iraqi capital on Monday despite strict security measures over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit, a police source said. "The new bombing occurred on Monday afternoon when a roadside IED planted by unidentified gunmen on the main road in al-Waziriya area, northern Baghdad, went off, inuring two nearby civilians," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

#4: The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that a South African man has been killed in Iraq. Spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa says the department was contacted by the man's employer who sought assistance with bringing the body back home. Foreign affairs agreed to assist in this regard and they are in contact with the family to finalise the repatriation. Mamoepa said he could not give any further details on the circumstances surrounding the man's death.

#5: Five unidentified bodies were found on Monday in the Iraqi capital Baghdad by police patrols, police said.

#6: Three Iraqi army soldiers were injured on Monday in a bomb blast in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said." A roadside bomb was detonated this afternoon targeting an Iraqi army patrol near an al-Shurta tunnel in western Baghdad, injuring three soldiers," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

Diyala Prv:#1: A Katyusha missile fell on a residential compound in the district of al-Saadiya, (100 km) northeast of Baaquba, wounding four civilians and destroying a house," the source, who did not want to be named, told Voices of Iraq – Voices of Iraq