THE US, THE UN AND IRAQ VI

"Americans don't have a good reputation," Edwards said. "They are not peacekeepers. They are there to kill Taliban, and they'll tell you so. When you see American military personnel, they're in a convoy, driving Hummers, wearing black goggles and tearing through the streets."

Speaking in his office, with a map of Afghanistan above his desk and a handmade rug depicting an AK-47, two Soviet tanks and two Soviet helicopters on the floor, Edwards said the American troops haven't done much better than the Soviets did.

"They've turned the U.S. embassy into Fort Apache, and its secured areas disrupt traffic even more than it already is," he said. "Americans are viewed as arrogant. They behave in away that indicates lack of cultural understanding, and Hamid Kharzai [ the country's interim leader] is viewed as their puppet, not as a forceful leader."



Historically, puppets have not lasted long in Afghanistan, he noted.

"Americans have got themselves boxed in," he said. "The security chiefs are running the show. There's very little understanding of what's going on in Afghanistan. They're so wrapped up in security."

Quote:

Nuff said?

and people wonder why we don't want their help in Iraq

Report says Iraq didn't have WMD
Author: Political pressure influenced intelligence before war
Thursday, January 8, 2004 Posted: 12:52 PM EST (1752 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Iraq had ended its weapons of mass destruction programs by the mid-1990s and did not pose an immediate threat to the United States before the war, according to a report released Thursday.

US pulls out Iraq arms search team

Thursday 08 January 2004, 16:57 Makka Time, 13:57 GMT

Despite contrary evidence, the US continues its WMD search

The United States has pulled out its 400-strong team looking for illegal weapons in Iraq even though another group searching for weapons of mass destruction remains in the country.

"They picked up everything that was worth picking up," a US official told The New York Times on Thursday, referring to the Joint Captured Material Exploitation Group.

Headed by an Australian brigadier, the team's task included searching weapons depots and other sites for missile launchers that might have been used with illicit weapons.

Some military officials are viewing the pullout as a sign that the US has given up hope of finding chemical or biological weapons in Iraq, the daily said.

However, a team tasked with disposing of chemical or biological weapons remains part of the 1400-member Iraq Survey Group that has been searching for weapons of mass destruction since Saddam Hussein was overthrown, a member of the survey group said.

However, he told the paper the team, known as Task Force D/E, for disablement and elimination, was "still waiting for something to dispose of".

No WMDs found

An interim report by Iraq Survey Group leader David Kay in October said his search had yielded no weapons of mass destruction, which the US had cited as justification for the war against Iraq.

The Washington Post on Wednesday said interviews with Iraqi scientists and investigators indicated that Saddam's regime concealed arms research that never went beyond the planning stage, although it engaged in "abundant deception" about its ambitions.

"The broad picture emerging from the investigation to date," said the Post, "suggests that, whatever its desire, Iraq did not posess the wherewithal to build a forbidden armoury on anything like the scale it had before the 1991 Gulf War."

Despite mounting evidence Iraq lacked weapons of mass destruction, the US government insists the search for banned weapons in Iraq is not over and points to thousands of seized documents that it says may yet lead to a hidden jackpot.
AFP

While playing Texas Hold'em the other night I went "all in" with Aces full of Kings, assuming I had the best hand. Turned out; contrary to my beliefs; I was wrong about the strength of my hand. Bummer. I don't feel bad about my decision to go "all in", and will in all likelihood do so again in the future, given such a hand.

Thursday, January 08, 2004
An Iraqi family's tragedy
In the name of God, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful.

Mr. George Bush president of the United States of America,
Mr. Tony Blair prime minister of the United Kingdom,
Mr. Jacques Chirac president of the republic of France,
Dr. Adnan Pachachi president of the Interim Governing Council,
Mr. Paul Bremer American civil adminstrator of Iraq,
Mr. Kofi Anan general secretary of the United Nations,
The Director of the Red Cross Organaziation,
The Director of the Human Rights Organization,

Dear Sirs,

I write to you in a very distressed state of mind and that may burst my emotions and passions because of the weighty calamity that struck me and my husband after losing our oldest son who was at the tender age of nineteen years. He was looking forward with eyes full of hope and optimism to a bright and eventful future, especially after being engaged to marry a relative of his very recently. He moved forward with all his energy to build their future life with firm and confident steps. But Fate stood in his way and seized him unexpectedly leaving a bleeding wound in the hearts of his parents, his fiance, and his friends and family. Please allow me to tell you my story...

On Saturday the 3rd of January 2004, my son and his cousin were travelling back to our residence in Samarra, they were driving a small cargo truck belonging to a third party from which they earn their livelihood in a country torn by wars and sanctions. Yes, they were back from Baghdad yet misfortune followed them from the beginning, their car broke down on the road which caused a delay in their arrival to Samarra when the curfew hour was just about to start in the city...And this is where the first chapter of the tragedy takes place. An American army patrol stood in their way, and after they went through the whole procedure of searching my son and his cousin, and inspecting the cargo load, they tied them up both and led them to an area about three kilometres from the scene and...in front of one of the gates of the Tharthar dam where water flows at its strongest rate and to my son and his cousin's horror, they ordered them to jump into the water, it was midnight and the cold was unbearable, when they hesitated, they were pushed by the soldiers. Unfortunately my boy cannot swim, even though swimming at this time of the year wouldn't have helped. Yet my sons cousin survived miraculously after he got stuck in a tree branch to give us his account of this tragic event which could have went untold. He tried saving my son, but the water current was stronger than him...After days of search we found my sons jacket floating with the stream, it shall remain with me as a memory and a symbol of the injustice brought against him by soldiers of the United States of America's army, who came to our country under the banners of human rights and democracy only to send my son to his demise on his wedding days...

To document the incident, my son's name is Zaydun Ma'mun Fadhil Hassun Al-Samarrai, born in the 1st of June 1984...Yes, they killed him and they broke my heart, try to imagine that dear sirs and ask your wives how hard it is for a mother to see her fruit ripen only to be thrown by sinful hands and to be swept away without any mercy or humanity. Those soldiers have turned everything America has ever stood for into one big lie. I was a victim, and there are and will be many more.

And that is why I turn to you all and to your respected ladies. And especially to Mr. President George Bush to look into my case and order an investigation of the event. I know that anything you may do will not bring me back my boy, but I wish that the procedures may put an end to the suffering of Iraqi mothers, we are reaping misery every day from actions of American soldiers with no regard to our human life, our dignity, and our culture and values. Maybe the procedures will help me trust (again) the validity of those banners and mottos that fly high in American skies, those which we do not perceive in our country, but instead find their opposites. Maybe such an investigation will support the power of law and justice so that day may not come when the conscience of one of the murderers awakens and confesses to its deeds, which will make it then a responsibility on your great nation.

I am assured that you know terrorism and what is regarded as a terrorist act. Pray tell me have you ever seen or heard about a terrorist act that is considered any uglier than this crime, which was followed by crushing the car and levelling it to the ground by American military vehicles?

This is a question I put to you all and to the international community, and I await a peremptory answer.

Yours sincerely,

In grievance for her son,

The mother of Zaydun Ma'mun Fadhil Hassun Al-Samarrai.

Samarra, Iraq.



Take a moment to read this letter twice and think about it if you are as concerned as I am. This was done in the name of your country by soldiers of your national army. This was not an accident or a mistake, this was deliberate action. I do not know the exact details of the event or what Zaydun and his cousin were accused of, that is all irrelevant because even a criminal would not deserve such treatment. This is not just about Zaydun, this is about Iraq, the same could happen to anyone, even to me. But I will keep my opinion out of it for the moment as no words can describe my frustration.

Zaydun's cousin said that the soldiers were drunk and looked tired, and that during their ride they even chatted and joked with one of the soldiers who spoke a little Arabic. After he managed to get out of the water he remained hidden because he could see that the unit was searching for them using flashlights and he was scared to death.

The family met an American official to ask him for an investigation, he yelled at them and started to lecture them about the discipline of American GI's, in the end he promised them nothing. Zaydun's body is yet to be found and the family is broken. Zaydun is a relative of mine so I volunteered to translate the letter and expose this thuggish behaviour to an audience as wide as possible, it shouldn't go unreported. The letter has already been sent to various Iraqi papers and to offices of Arab media in Baghdad. I will stay on top of this in the next few days so I would like to ask my readers to help me and write to their Senators, to the western media, and to anyone that can do something about it. I also need people to translate it to other languages. That is of course if you care about Iraq and Iraqis.

You can contact the family directly at [[email protected]]mailto:[email protected][/URL]
This is Zaydun below, and here are copies of the letter in Arabic, One and Two.



UPDATE: It seems the American official is now willing to investigate into the matter after he heard about this letter being sent to GWB and the western and arabic media. That is all the family is asking for, just an investigation. They will meet the family Saturday. I also contacted Chief Wiggles and asked him to look into the matter.

And yes the letters description of the incident is a bit obscure. But I couldn't alter the text, I was just asked to translate. Remember that this is the writing of Zaydun's mother and she is at the moment emotional and confused so you can't expect all the facts, however the family and the cousin can be reached at the email I provided for the full story.

Regarding the crushed truck, its still available for evidence. And as to the handcuffs, according to the cousin the soldiers untied them before asking them to jump in the water. Also the reference to the wedding day, that was an error of translation on my part, the text in Arabic says ayam 'irsuhu which is a bit difficult to translate to English in a meaningful way. I guess I should have seeked the help of a proffessional translator in this.

I was also a bit skeptical to the details but when I heard that the official refused to investigate, I decided to publish the letter as is. Also the cousin can identify the American GI's, it was not a checkpoint unit, it was a patrolling unit. They were not fedayeen disguised in American GI uniforms, thats ridiculous. If it sounds like propaganda to you thats all the more reason to carry out a meticulous investigation, as you know stories like this can inflame peoples reaction and a lot of Zaydun's relatives may want to take revenge by themselves. And would you blame them for that if the Americans in charge dismissed the matter without an investigation?

A creepy coincidence is that just this afternoon I heard that a friend of mine was badly injured by another American unit in Baghdad last night during a wedding when people started to celebrate iraqi style by shooting in the air. It was a mistake yes but the doctors say my friend may not be able to walk again. I am at the moment too overwhelmed with bad news so I may sound incoherent to you.

I will post more updates as soon as I get them.

# posted by zeyad : 1/8/2004 12:37:30 PM
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let's just say our PM is no GWB. Remember the classic photo opp of a smiling Bush, jovially carrying a beautiful turkey, surrounded by happy, proud and grinning US soldiers?

Well, these were the photos that greeted Balkenende on the front pages on his return ... not quite the same thing, huh? (He's the one with the glasses).

Secret photo of a cowering dictator

By BRAD CLIFTON


January 9, 2004

THIS appears to be the moment Saddam Hussein was dragged from his hole and exposed to the world - but it is a snapshot the US military did not want the world to see.

The photograph, apparently taken in the seconds after Saddam's capture near Tikrit last month, appeared for the first time yesterday on a military-related website.

The image shows a US soldier posing for the camera as he pins the bearded dictator's body and face to the dirt.

A clearly-distressed Saddam lies on his stomach as members of the US 4th Infantry Division surround him.

US military officials refused to confirm if the photograph was genuine.

The photo was published on the US website Military.com after it was supplied to one of the site's contributors, former journalist John Weisman.

"This photograph of Saddam Hussein in the moment of his capture was e-mailed to me by a friend in special forces who was damn proud of what his former colleagues in Iraq had accomplished when they pulled the dictator out of his hole," Mr Weisman said. "I thought the photo deserved wide dissemination."

Mr Weisman said he had refused military requests to remove the photograph from the site. The officials had claimed it was a security risk.

"While the soldiers in the field may have loved the idea of showing Saddam au naturel, not everyone felt that way," Mr Weisman wrote on the website.

"In fact, Military.com received a call from an official asking them to remove the photo for national security reasons.

"To me, this official was being myopic and his perception has not been echoed by the guys in the trenches, who obviously know a great picture when they see one.

"I'd like to see this photograph posted in every public building in the US so Americans can be reminded to thank the American soldiers who put their lives on the line every day to keep this nation safe and free."

Military.com spokesperson Anne Dwane insisted the picture was genuine.

"Much of our material comes in anonymously and, given our military membership, we have no reason to doubt it,' Ms Dwane said. "It certainly looks like Saddam."

If the authenticity of the picture is proved, it would have been taken by a member of the 600-strong force that captured Saddam at a farmhouse near Tikrit.

Although official army photographers were on hand to record the moment, the picture may have been snapped by a soldier, many of whom were known to carry small cameras while on patrol.

"In fact, Military.com received a call from an official asking them to remove the photo for national security reasons.

"To me, this official was being myopic and his perception has not been echoed by the guys in the trenches, who obviously know a great picture when they see one.

"I'd like to see this photograph posted in every public building in the US so Americans can be reminded to thank the American soldiers who put their lives on the line every day to keep this nation safe and free."

Military.com spokesperson Anne Dwane insisted the picture was genuine.