THE US, THE UN AND IRAQ VI

Just out of curiosity, do you get liquored up and then post?

Another attack on an "ally."

BBC

No, I'm an operative and I'm standing behind you.

I exaggerated! Almost everywhere.

What you see behind me is a pile of ..... naaaa ..... perhaps that's actually y ....

A taste of the liberated ....

Baghdad Burning

... I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend...
Monday, March 29, 2004

Tales from Abu Ghraib...
At precisely 5 p.m., yesterday afternoon, my mother suddenly announced that we were going to go visit a friend of hers who had recently had a minor operation. The friend lived two streets away and in Iraqi culture, it is obligatory to visit a sick or healing friend or relative. I tried to get out of the social call with a variety of tired excuses. It was useless- my mother was adamant.

We left the house at around 5:40, with me holding a box of chocolate and arrived at the friend's house less than five minutes later. After the initial greetings and words of sympathy and relief, we all filed into the living room. The living room was almost dark; the electricity was out and the drapes were open to let in the fading rays of sun. "The electricity should be back at six…" my mother's friend said apologetically, "That's why we haven't lighted the kerosene lamps."

Just as we were settling down, a figure sitting at the other end of the living room rose in a hurry. "Where are you going?!" cried out my mother's friend, Umm Hassen. She then turned to us and made a hasty introduction, "This is M.- she's a friend of the family… she's here to see Abu Hassen…" I peered hard across the darkening room to get a better look at the slight figure, but I couldn't make out her features. I could barely hear her voice as she said, "I really have to be going… it's getting dark…" Umm Hassen shook her head and firmly declared, "No- you're staying. Abu Hassen will drive you home later."

The figure sat down and an awkward silence ensued as Umm Hassen left the living room to bring tea from the kitchen. My mother broke the silence with a question, "Do you live nearby?" She asked the figure. "Not really… I live outside of Baghdad… on the southern edges, but I'm staying with some relatives a few streets away." I listened to the voice carefully and could tell that the girl was young- no more than 20 or 25… probably less.

Just as Umm Hassen walked into the room with the tea tray, the lights in the house flickered back to life and we all murmured a prayer of thanks. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the glaring yellow lights, I turned to get a better look at Umm Hassen's guest. I had been right- she was young. She couldn't have been more than 20. She was wearing a black shawl, thrown carelessly over dark brown hair which was slipping out from under the head cover. She clutched at a black handbag and as the lights came back on, she shrank into herself at the far end of the room.

"Why are you sitting all the way over there?" Scolded Umm Hassen fondly, "Come over here and sit." She nodded towards a large armchair next to our couch. The girl rose and I noticed for the first time just how slight her figure was- the long skirt and shirt hung off of her thin body like they belonged to someone else. She settled stiffly in the big chair and managed to look even smaller and younger.

"How old are you,M. ?" My mother asked kindly. "Nineteen." Came the reply. "And are you studying? Which college are you in?" The girl blushed furiously as she explained that she was studying Arabic literature but postponed the year because… "Because she was detained by the Americans." Umm Hassen finished angrily, shaking her head. "She's here to see Abu Hassen because her mother and three brothers are still in prison."

Abu Hassen is lawyer who has taken on very few cases since the end of the war. He explained once that the current Iraqi legal system was like a jungle with no rules, a hundred lions, and thousands of hyenas. No one was sure which laws were applicable and which weren't; nothing could be done about corrupt judges and police and it was useless taking on criminal cases because if you won, the murderer/thief/looter's family would surely put you in your grave… or the criminal himself could do it personally after he was let out in a few weeks.

This case was an exception. M. was the daughter of a deceased friend and she had come to Abu Hassen because she didn't know anyone else who was willing to get involved.

On a cold night in November, M., her mother, and four brothers had been sleeping when their door suddenly came crashing down during the early hours of the morning. The scene that followed was one of chaos and confusion… screaming, shouting, cursing, pushing and pulling followed. The family were all gathered into the living room and the four sons- one of them only 15- were dragged away with bags over their heads. The mother and daughter were questioned- who was the man in the picture hanging on the wall? He was M.'s father who had died 6 years ago of a stroke. You're lying, they were told- wasn't he a part of some secret underground resistance cell? M.'s mother was hysterical by then- he was her dead husband and why were they taking away her sons? What had they done? They were supporting the resistance, came the answer through the interpreter.

How were they supporting the resistance, their mother wanted to know? "You are contributing large sums of money to terrorists." The interpreter explained. The troops had received an anonymous tip that M.'s family were giving funds to support attacks on the troops.

It was useless trying to explain that the family didn't have any 'funds'- ever since two of her sons lost their jobs at a factory that had closed down after the war, the family had been living off of the little money they got from a 'kushuk' or little shop that sold cigarettes, biscuits and candy to people in the neighborhood. They barely made enough to cover the cost of food! Nothing mattered. The mother and daughter were also taken away, with bags over their heads.

Umm Hassen had been telling the story up until that moment, M. was only nodding her head in agreement and listening raptly, like it was someone else's story. She continued it from there… M. and her mother were taken to the airport for interrogation. M. remembers being in a room, with a bag over her head and bright lights above. She claimed she could see the shapes of figures through the little holes in the bag. She was made to sit on her knees, in the interrogation room while her mother was kicked and beaten to the ground.

M.'s hands trembled as she held the cup of tea Umm Hassen had given her. Her face was very pale as she said, "I heard my mother begging them to please let me go and not hurt me… she told them she'd do anything- say anything- if they just let me go." After a couple hours of general abuse, the mother and daughter were divided, each one thrown into a seperate room for questioning. M. was questioned about everything concerning their family life- who came to visit them, who they were related to and when and under what circumstances her father had died. Hours later, the mother and daughter were taken to the infamous Abu Ghraib prison- home to thousands of criminals and innocents alike.

In Abu Ghraib, they were seperated and M. suspected that her mother was taken to another prison outside of Baghdad. A couple of terrible months later- after witnessing several beatings and the rape of a male prisoner by one of the jailors- in mid-January, M. was suddenly set free and taken to her uncle's home where she found her youngest brother waiting for her. Her uncle, through some lawyers and contacts, had managed to extract M. and her 15-year-old brother from two different prisons. M. also learned that her mother was still in Abu Ghraib but they weren't sure about her three brothers.

M. and her uncle later learned that a certain neighbor had made the false accusation against her family. The neighbor's 20-year-old son was still bitter over a fight he had several years ago with one of M.'s brothers. All he had to do was contact a certain translator who worked for the troops and give M.'s address. It was that easy.

Abu Hassen was contacted by M. and her uncle because he was an old family friend and was willing to do the work free of charge. They have been trying to get her brothers and mother out ever since. I was enraged- why don't they contact the press? Why don't they contact the Red Cross?! What were they waiting for?! She shook her head sadly and said that they *had* contacted the Red Cross but they were just one case in thousands upon thousands- it would take forever to get to them. As for the press- was I crazy? How could she contact the press and risk the wrath of the American authorities while her mother and brothers were still imprisoned?! There were prisoners who had already gotten up to 15 years of prison for 'acting against the coallition'... she couldn't risk that. They would just have to be patient and do a lot of praying.

By the end of her tale, M. was crying silently and my mother and Umm Hassen were hastily wiping away tears. All I could do was repeat, "I'm so sorry... I'm really sorry..." and a lot of other useless words. She shook her head and waved away my words of sympathy, "It's ok- really- I'm one of the lucky ones... all they did was beat me."



- posted by river @ 11:35 PM

ge-

I don't believe it.

s

That's a chilling story Gelisgesti... and I hope it is untrue. PM me your e-mail and I'll send you the the audio tape reffered to in my sig line. It used to be even worse.

Saddly it is true ...... that and more.
Lends some understanding to the importance of July 1st as far as bush is concerned eh?
As you may know from following the web and morer so with the regular outlets civil war is comin more and more near as people have fewer and fewer freedoms....
As J.J. once said 'when you ain't got nothing you got nothing to lose'

Saturday, March 27, 2004

Raed in the Middle...
Raed of Where is Raed? has started his own blog! You can check out Raed's independent views at Raed in the Middle...

- posted by river @ 3:08 PM

Sistanistan...
The telephone wasn't working these last few days. It will do that every once in a while- disappear coyly. We pick up the receiver and instead of a dial tone, hear nothing but a strange sort of silence laced with static. It almost drove me crazy because I couldn't connect to the internet. I spent the days hovering anxiously around the telephone, picking it up every few minutes and calling out "Allooo? Allooooooo?" E. asked around and learned that the lines in the whole area were down.

I was in Karrada yesterday- a popular area in central Baghdad. It's a mercantile district where you can find everything from butchers to ice cream shops. The stores are close together and it's the ideal area to go looking for something you're not sure you'll find. You'll find it in Karrada- whether it's a gold bracelet or fuzzy slippers or the complete, unabridged collection of the late Al-Hakeem's religious lectures on CD.

My uncle is planning a trip to Jordan so we had to buy him some luggage. I had been looking forward to the shopping trip for at least 4 days which is how long it takes to get the routine familial permission these days. First, I have to make a declaration of intent; I have to tell the parents that I intend to go out and purchase something. Then, I have to specify the area where I intend to make the purchase, after which comes locating a free male relative with some extra time on his hands to join me in the adventure. The final step is setting the date and time and getting the final household authorization.

For those of you wondering, YES, it annoys me beyond anything that, at my age, I have to get parental permission to leave the house. It's a trend that started after the war and doesn't look like it's going to abate any time soon. I comfort myself with the thought that it's not specific to my household or even my gender- all parents seem to be doing it lately… where are you going? To do what? Who is going with you? What time will you be back? Is it absolutely necessary?

If E. and I are half an hour late, we can come home expecting to see one of the parents standing outside, in the driveway, pacing anxiously and peering out into the street every once in a while. I can't really blame them- with all the abductions, explosions and detentions. On the other hand, if one of the parents are late, E. and I also end up in the driveway, squinting into the night and mumbling about people who never phone to say they're going to be late.

Karrada was quite crowded with people coming and going. Women, of course, were a startling minority. Karrada used to be full of women- mothers, daughters and wives sometimes alone and sometimes dragging along a weary male. As we got out of the car, my confidence and enthusiasm began to wane. I was one of the few women on the street not wearing a hijab, or head-cover. One, two, three women passed by with the hijab covering their hair… the fourth one had gone a step further and was wearing an abbaya or black cloak… I tugged gently at the sleeves of my shirt which were cuffed almost to my elbows. They slid down once more to my wrists and I was suddenly grateful that I had decided to wear a long denim skirt.

We walked the few meters to the display of suitcases on the sidewalk. The suitcases were mostly new but some were used and a little faded around the edges. I wondered if they had been hijacked from some unfortunate Iraqi who had come from abroad. E. and my cousin stood haggling with the suitcase man. He was showing them a Korean knockoff of Samsonite and swearing it was the original. For those who have never shopped in Iraq- nothing costs as much as the first price they give you. If the man says 10,000 Iraqi Dinars, you can instantly challenge him with, "I'll buy it for 7,000" and be quite confident that he'll give in the end with some minor grumbling.

I studied the streets and surrounding shops while I waited. The street was crowded with cars- mostly old ones. Few people dare to drive around in decent vehicles. The traffic flow kept stopping every few minutes and a choir of honking and swearing would instantly start up. Heads would pop out of car windows and eyes would strain to see what could possibly be keeping the long line of cars in front.

There were some strange-looking people in the street- heads covered in turbans, black and white… women shrouded from top to bottom in black cloth… men with long beards and abbayas. I was getting quite a few critical stares- why wasn't this girl wearing a hijab? The rational person in me was asking the same question- why aren't you wearing one? Is it too much to ask for you to throw something on top of your head when you leave the house? Everyone else is doing it… most of the women you know are just flinging on a head-cover to avoid those disapproving glares and harsh words. Ever since the war, even some Christian women have been pressured into hiding their hair- especially in the south. And on and on went the rational voice… The stubborn voice- the one that blogs- tried to drown out common sense with, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... we won't be pressured..."

I focused my attention on the shops around me, staring hard at the displays in the windows. Many of the windows showed posters of the Imam Hussein, Al-Sadr, one or more of the Hakeems and there were so many pictures of Sistani both outside and inside of shops that I decided the area should change its name from Karrada to 'Sistanistan'.

After almost 10 minutes of selecting and bartering, E. and my cousin had decided on one large black suitcase and a smaller one. E. counted out the money patiently as the suitcase man swore he was being robbed by selling the suitcases for such a meager sum. My cousin went to open the trunk of the car and I helped the suitcase man wrap the luggage in a large plastic bag.

Before we got into the car to go home, E. asked me if there was anything else I wanted to get- did I want to see the shops? A part of me *did* want to take a more thorough look around, but another part of me was both physically and mentally exhausted with the rare outing. I just wanted to get back to the safety of our home where I didn't have to feel like some sort of strange outcast.

This time of year is the closest we get to spring. April promises to be hot and sticky... I used to constantly yearn to be outside- not just on the roof or in the garden- but on a street or sidewalk with people coming and going around me. That need hits me less and less of late...
.

- posted by river @ 2:54 PM



Read on ...

http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the link, ge. cobalt put me on to one during the war but I haven't been reading anyone from Iraq lately. I made a shortcut to my desktop and will check in as often as I can remember to.

Iraq is free at last

The evidence of Saddam's atrocities I collected was enough to vindicate invasion, but it wasn't taken seriously

Ann Clwyd
Tuesday March 30, 2004
The Guardian

In December 1979, the Committee against Repression and for Democratic Rights in Iraq, which I later chaired, published the testimony of Barham Shawi, a 22-year-old poet and essayist from the town of Kut in Iraq.
"I thought I would never be able to write again after they came close to cutting off my fingers by burning, stamping or thrashing them with sticks," he wrote. "I was also caned and flayed until my feet were swollen. These rounds of hard group beating were interspersed by orders to leap and trot on the same spot I was in... they crucified me on the floor and nailed me there by stepping on my palms and arms... My thighs were ripped apart violently and they began to rape me."

The torture and execution of political opponents and the hunting down of dissident elements were to be a consistent feature of Saddam Hussein's regime for the next 20 years. And these abuses did not end with the first Gulf war in 1991. On a recent visit to southern Iraq, I saw evidence of the military campaign waged against the Marsh Arabs, which continued right up until the fall of the Ba'athists. Such a regime forfeited the right to be tolerated by liberal opinion.

The marshes are now being reflooded, and the Iraqi water minister I accompanied to the area is one of four ministers who, it has just been announced, will be handed ministerial sovereignty before the end of June because of good practice.

Some will continue to argue that internal repression is not a matter of legitimate concern for other countries. I disagree. There are basic human rights that must be defended. The strict adherence to state sovereignty as the defining factor in international law, far from being a guard against acts of aggression, has become a barrier that allows oppression to continue unchecked by the international community. Who would now say that it was correct not to intervene in Rwanda?

For seven years, Indict, the organisation I chaired, collected detailed witness statements on Iraqi war crimes. Our QC, Clare Montgomery, was firmly of the opinion that we could have indicted the leading members of the regime in a European court of law. Indeed, we were advised that short of getting Saddam to sign a confession in his own blood, we had all the evidence we needed.

We tried to get indictments in Norway, Spain, Belgium and the UK. When the then attorney general referred the case against Tariq Aziz to Scotland Yard, I accused him of kicking the issue into the long grass. The indictment was not taken seriously. But Slobodan Milosevic was indicted while head of state by the UN war crimes tribunal. Why did the UN fail to do the same in the case of Iraq? My understanding is that the US and Britain were blocked at the security council by China, Russia and France.

It has always been a major disappointment to me that we did not manage to indict the regime. But that evidence has been handed to the coalition authorities in Baghdad and will be used in trials for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Most Iraqis now see the moral and political impera tive for the war as overwhelming. As the Kurds remind us, WMD were conventional tools of repression for Saddam. Chemical weapons were used more than 200 times, and the Kurds had every expectation they would be used again.

The regime cost the lives of at least 2 million people through its wars and internal oppression, and 4 million Iraqis were forced to become refugees. According to estimates from USAID, more than 270 mass graves have been found in Iraq. These alone should vindicate the war. That the world should have acted sooner, I have no doubt.

I recently visited the Palais Wilson in Geneva for a human rights conference. In the hallway was a reminder that the most translated document in the world is the UN universal declaration of human rights. The failure to intervene when genocide raged in Iraq, or in Cambodia, or in Rwanda, or in Bosnia, is shocking. The UN and its security council need to be reformed to reflect 21st-century reality and they must have the capacity to act effectively as well as to debate.

Iraq now has a chance for a better future. In less than a hundred days, sovereignty will be handed over to a new Iraqi government. The interim constitution shows what Iraq can become, a nation with a bill of rights and provisions on freedom of speech and assembly. Already a vibrant civil society is emerging from the decades of war and dictatorship. The Marsh Arabs are returning to their habitat; the Shia can celebrate their religious holidays; Kurds are no longer being expelled from Mosul and Kirkuk. And those who committed these crimes are now awaiting trial - Saddam Hussein himself is to be defended by the French lawyer, Jacques Vergès.

As Ali Haidari, the leader of the Baghdad city council, told me earlier this month: "If I had met you a year ago, all I could have said was: 'Hello. Long live the president. Goodbye.' Now I am free to speak."

Mc,
Perhaps it would have been a good thing- if someone had invaded back then when "Ann" was having problems. It is always horrible to read of people being ill-treated, MUCH LESS tortured.

However, we have atrocities in this country that are just as heart wrenching and problems that call for better leadership than we are getting all around.

The title of the topic here, is The U S, the U N and Iraq. But what about the U.S.? WE need some help HERE, too.
Read below:


WSWS News Organization by Jamie Chapman
Hunger and homelessness in the United States continue to rise at double-digit rates in 2003, according to a December 18 report released by the US Conference of Mayors (USCM). In the 25 cities that responded to its survey, requests for emergency food assistance were up 17 percent over last year, while requests for emergency shelter increased by 13 percent on average.

The report cites unemployment and other employment-related problems as the leading cause of hunger, giving the lie to Bush administration claims that an economic recovery is lifting workers out of poverty. While there has been an increase in corporate profits, productivity and stock prices this year, millions of workers remain mired in long-term unemployment and underemployment, with savings and other resources long since exhausted.

Other causes of hunger listed in the report include low-paying jobs, the high cost of housing, medical care costs, substance abuse and mental health problems, reduced public benefits, childcare costs, and transportation expenses.

The leading cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing, followed by the lack of needed services for mental health and substance abuse problems, low-paying jobs, unemployment, domestic violence, poverty and prison release.

Take a look at that LAST paragraph again, in part:

lack of affordable housing, followed by the lack of needed services for mental health and substance abuse problems, low-paying jobs, unemployment, domestic violence, poverty and prison release.

This is our country... Should a presidential leader worry about other countries before he sweeps his own doorstep? Don't come back at me with....."he didn't cause it"---- because he sure took an OATH to make every sincere effort to put it ALL right!!!

couldn't agree more.................. THANKS

And, we are building schools in Iraq while we leave our children behind - shame, shame, shame....

LYING PROPAGANDA Joseph Paul Goebbels style (1897 - 1945)


LYING PROPAGANDA Joseph Paul Goebbels style (1897 - 1945)

LYING PROPAGANDA Joseph Paul Goebbels style (1897 - 1945)



LYING PROPAGANDA Joseph Paul Goebbels style (1897 - 1945)

Considering ican's tearful commiseration with the victims of Saddam's dictatorship - and also his equation of Saddam's secular dictatorship and the Islamist jihadists, I am wondering how he looks upon Uzbekistan.

Under Karimov's secular dictatorship, thousands of dissidents (and random civilians mistaken for such) have been murdered, tortured, gassed and raped.

Much like Saddam in the eighties, Karimov claimed his regime was a bulwark against Muslim fundamentalism - although in fact, extremist violence had thus far occurred only haphazardly, and more often in the context of ethnic strife (Osh) than muslim extremism. Much like Saddam in the eighties, Karimov has lately been supported as a strategic ally by the US.

But now, after a decade of totalitarian abuse, the regime finally faces the beast it has long evoked: gun attacks and (suicide) bombs claimed some twenty lives this week when (presumably Islamist) militants mounted an insurgency and attacked police checkpoints and other targets.

Terror or insurgency in Uzbekistan, US Ally?

The dog that never blows up, uses the below words for a signature:



I do not agree.
The certainty of your spamming topics is evident,
and the probability of "shedding" you is like trying to get rid of "hitchhikers" on flannel pants.
You demonstrate NO compassion in your responses. Just Bushlicking.
It is tiresome, whether you liquor up or not.
Yes, I will get over it. I'm overlooking anything you have to say.

Assuming everything you posted is true, regime change in Uzbekistan is required -- ally or no ally. Absent adequate assistance from other nations to achieve that end, the US must put Uzbekistan on its list of evil empires and do what it can, how it can, when it can, to change that regime.

Problem is ...

- Uzbekistan is at a strategic place near Afghanistan, and has granted the US use of military facilities that it direly needs for its Afghanistan operations.

- The insurgents that are now taking to violence to attack Karimov's hated dictatorship, are assumed to be Jihadist militants. (There's reason for doubt here, but for now thats the theory).

Cruel, secular dictatorship ... vs. popularly supported, but extremist Islamist insurgents.

My take: if we had tackled Karimov's abuses of power at any point in the past ten years (we've had warnings enough), we wouldn't have had to see violent insurgents taking to suicide-bombings now.

But now what do we do?

Your agreement would be nice but unexpected.

But does bark on occassion while relentlessly jetting in search of truth. :wink:

I reserve my compassion for those who are denied liberty, who seek liberty for everyone, who "teach others to fish rather than make them permanently dependent on fish provided by others, and who currently do not know how to fish making their best determined effort to learn to fish.


So far you are not succeeding, are you? Truth can be a real pain to some folks until they learn to treat truth, not hate, as their friend.