Shlonkom Bakazay?

Bush gets snuggly wuggly with Canada as he kicks off his Ass Kiss '04

The synopsis of this article published in the nytimes deserves one big, NO SHIT. Imagine having to win back the confidence of the people whose city you destroyed. Is that possible, I ask? If somebody destroyed your little town, would you be so willing to be like, "Yea, I would welcome you to my home and offer you some tea and sweets while throwing flowers in your face so we could talk over this whole destroying my town thing, but my home doesn't exist any longer. Do you have any suggetions as to where I might go? That would be so kind of you."

By ROBERT F. WORTH  10:55 PM ET
As officials prepare to start letting residents return to Falluja, they must figure out how to win back the confidence of the people whose city they have destroyed.

Reconstruction: In Falluja's Ruins, Big Plans and a Risk of Chaos

Please. FOR GOODNESS SAKES...AFRICA IS A REAL PLACE. AND A REAL HOLOCAUST HAS BEEN TAKING PLACE RIGHT BEFORE OUR ALL-PERVASIVE EYES. FURTHER DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN THIS REGION OF AFRICA MUST BE PREVENTED THROUGH DIALOGUE, ATTENTION TO THE ISSUES, DIPLOMACY AND NOTHING ELSE.
Please.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Rwanda announces invasion of Congo

Welcome to the (lucky) Iraqi reality. Coming from Abu Khaleel's Glimpse via Nada writing a letter.

My sister and her immediate family are all now in Amman, Jordan and my other brother and sisters and their children are preparing to leave Iraqs for Syria. At the moment there are about 2 million Iraqi in Jordan and the same in Syria and Lebanon. Some 200,000 Christian Iraqis have fled the country in the last couple of months. This is the freedom and democracy promised to the Iraqis

A Glimpse of Iraq: Mayhem in Iraq

Nicholas Kristof of the nytimes argues,

If U.S. troops leave Iraq too soon, the country will simply fall apart. The Kurdish areas in the north may muddle along, unless Turkey intervenes to protect the Turkman minority or to block the emergence of a Kurdish state. The Shiite areas in the south might establish an Iranian-backed theocratic statelet that would establish order. But the middle of the country would erupt in bloody civil war and turn into something like Somalia.
...
I also have to concede that those calling for withdrawal may in the end be proven right: perhaps we'll stick it out in Iraq and still be forced to retreat even after squandering the lives of 1,000 more Americans. Those of us who believe in remaining in Iraq must answer the question that John Kerry asked about Vietnam: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

The best answer to that question, I think, is that our mistaken invasion has left millions of Iraqis desperately vulnerable, and it would be inhumane to abandon them now. If we stay in Iraq, there is still some hope that Iraqis will come to enjoy security and better lives, but if we pull out we will be condemning Iraqis to anarchy, terrorism and starvation, costing the lives of hundreds of thousands of children over the next decade.

Those hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children, whose lives we placed at risk by invading their country, are the reasons we should remain in Iraq, until we can hand over security to a local force. Saving hundreds of thousands of lives is a worthy cause to risk American lives for, even to die for.

This is a fair enough estimate. I am wavering on the issue now exactly because it's very difficult for me to see any better option. The situation is all-around terrible. What are the solutions? It's hard to say right now which is the right path. But we musn't get caught in complacency. People need to act and create, support the Iraqi voice, and not ignore it. Ask Iraqis what they want. Don't leave them out of the process. That was, and still is, the most dangerous thing. Alienating Iraqis of any race or religious sect. ...

But, yes, I think withdrawal is necessary for a stable Iraq. Yet, I see Kristof's point. I think that Iraqis need to be given assurances that there will not be a permanent American presence. Little steps need to made that might spark some good ideas. We need a streak of positivity combined with some inward criticism and outward accountability. There's too much chaos and too little accountability right now. It's difficult to focus and think properly about a situation when you've been avoiding reality for so long. But it needs to be confronted eventually. The sooner the better.

Saving the Iraqi Children by Dr. Nicholas Kristof

Juan Cole writes,

The London Times reports that nearly 700 persons die under suspicious circumstances (most of them from bullet wounds) every month in Baghdad. These are not, at least mainly, victims of the guerrilla war. They are mostly victims of crime or revenge. I figure that as 8400 murders a year in a city of 5 million, or 168 per 100,000 per annum. The highest murder rate in the US for 2003 was 45.8 per 100,000, in Washington, DC, with Detroit coming in second. That is, Baghdad is nearly four times as dangerous as the most dangerous American cities, more than a year and a half after the fall of Saddam. The US has by its stupid mistakes deprived Baghdad's residents of the basic right to personal security. It is true that Saddam's secret police used to dump bodies at the morgue, of course. But all the polls show that Baghdadis feel themselves substantially worse off in personal security now, and no wonder.

Um, excuse me...who's using chemical weapons now?


Dahr Jamail reports,

BAGHDAD, Nov 26 (IPS) - The U.S. military has used poison gas and other non-conventional weapons against civilians in Fallujah, eyewitnesses report..

”Poisonous gases have been used in Fallujah,” 35-year-old trader from Fallujah Abu Hammad told IPS. ”They used everything -- tanks, artillery, infantry, poison gas. Fallujah has been bombed to the ground.”

Hammad is from the Julan district of Fallujah where some of the heaviest fighting occurred. Other residents of that area report the use of illegal weapons.

”They used these weird bombs that put up smoke like a mushroom cloud,” Abu Sabah, another Fallujah refugee from the Julan area told IPS. ”Then small pieces fall from the air with long tails of smoke behind them.”

'Unusual Weapons' Used in Fallujah

The Daily Outrage: "Iraqi Public Opinion


** Only 33 percent of Iraqis think they're better off now than before the war, as a Gallup poll discovered.


** Just 36 percent believe the interim government shares their values.


** 94 percent say Baghdad is more dangerous than it was before the war.


** 66.6 believe the US occupation could start a civil war.


** 80 percent want the US to leave directly after the January elections."

This is getting so absurd. It's not surprising, though.
Akhhh ya akhhhh...hal wataniya!
LIM
Leading Iraqi Parties Call for Election Delay

I like this. COUP 2K-Lumpen

Good luck trying to discredit Professor Cole. You will fail miserably.

Here's the entry Juan Cole writes about MEMRI's outragous attempt to silence one of the only sane voices of knowledge about Iraq in the US

This is where we are now in Iraq. Get LeVine's take on the current situation. The thinking is perhaps that if they marginalize Sunnah from the elections it will be benificial for the Iraqi 'democracy' they'd like to see...which would be a version of the current "new face" dictat we see rearing its ugly head at the Iraqi population.


Iraq's Lose-Lose Scenario, by Professor Mark LeVine

newkular family is a catalyst for electronic media creation, development, and circulation. Through our electronic media library and community efforts, we seek to expose electronic music and video to a broader audience, and to assist young people with the resources they need to express themselves through these media.

newkular family

This is 'an open forum to discuss network-enabled performance for an international conference in 2006'. I believe this is part of a very important dialogue needing attention and participation. CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE FORUM. (or click any other link to go to the net. performance website)

Please go check it out.

networked_performance: multi-disciplinary research in location aware media

UPDATE: Sorry I didn't post about this earlier. Seems as though the forum is closed as of yesterday. Anyway, there are some great links on both webpages I linked above. So, visit and enjoy!

Robert J. Ambrogi is a lawyer and a journalist based in Rockport, Mass. He is executive director of the Mass. Publishers Association.

Media Law - A blog about freedom of the press.

Robert Fisk site is down. hm...

babble: http://www.robert-fisk.com is down!

So, the still mythical character of Zarqawi (we have yet to see any hard evidence of his existence) is now in Kirkuk according to pukmedia.com?

First off, hat-tip to Kurdo.

Second, I've got family in Kirkuk. And I'm aware of the situation. And if America says Zarqawi is there and go in there and act like they are acting in Fallujah it would be like lighting a nuclear warhead with the HDX the army errantly didn't protect after opening the door to the Al Qa'Qaa complex. Iraq's fate could rest on what happens in Kirkuk in the coming months. No joke.

If the "Coalition Forces" frame Zarqawi like this, attack Kirkuk and mismanage and destroy it--along with most of Iraq--...well I pray (even though I'm agnostic) for the people involved in what could be a very terrible situation. I pray for the people dropping the bombs on Kirkuk and being killed and injured by those bombs. We get into the apocalypse-zone if Kirkuk is managed like Falloojah. Already I'm finding it difficult to comprehend and then comment about the current situation ...I will address the Kirkuk question in more detail soon.

Kurdo's World

What's this? 25,000 US casualties in IRAQ? What if the American public knew this if it is actually true? I wonder. I think it is a sick thing to have to be sent to Iraq to fight more in this insane war. And I am sorry to each family that has endured an injured or killed member of their family because of this stupid stupid war. It is a travesty of enormous proportions. I wish you each peace in your hearts. lim.

via Juan Cole

I seem to have gotten a rise out of some because I am pissed off that so many innocent people are being killed all over Iraq with little hope in sight. This BS is going to repeat over and over again. And what is the result? Less safety for America and Iraq. And that's what you would like? Well, if so, you're crazy and that pisses me off even more... that some of you are so damn ignorant as to the ugly reality now enveloping Iraq. I'll try and refrain myself from using explicitives in the future.

DID YOU FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR YET ASSHOLES?

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | 'Stunning' arms haul in Falluja

UPDATE: According to AFP, the story being trumpeted all day on Fox Cable News about the discovery of chemical and anthrax weapons labs in Fallujah by Iraqi troops is questionable to say the least. The US military denies it and Hans Blix is skeptical. I smell the troika of Iyad Allawi, Naqib al-Falah, and Hazem Shaalan behind this announcement, which will be remembered even if it is discredit

This is exhaustive research put in one place for you about Abu Ghraib and prisoner abuse in Iraq. It's a good and organized approach to the whole issue. I thought, in the spirit of the times.

Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse - Wikipedia

Thanks Abu Khaleel. This is Disgruntled Americans: A Soldier's View

An image my cousin took in Africa about a year ago. Children soldiers. ...unbelievable.

a partial explanation of the moment at least...

Large Protests Against Fallujah Campaign, Mosque Killing
US Hated From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli

There is another shift underway. Unfortunately, it is in the direction of pure vitriol. As expected by many, the violence injected into Falloojah has spread and continues to spread. It is not some insignificant event that this shooting inside a mosque took place. Iraqis are adding this event to the realm of Abu Ghraib as a blood-curdling pantomime of the recent-past. There will be little chance of any success as mistake after terrifying mistake, like this, takes place. Animosity is increasing with many Iraqis inside Iraq. And animosity is also increasing within myself. What can I say besides this? If I have a rage now brewing inside myself unlike any other I've ever experienced through the quality of insanity American forces continue to display with their reckless use of violence. Then what about the less fortunate Iraqi young person who has been alienated from his own wishes for freedom. We stare at the abyss. And why might I ask this? Because you will not achieve anything with this method of violence. Aren't I pointing out the obvious? Obviously, it's not that obvious to the architects of this madness.

Beyond these words, I am speechless for the moment. And don't give me the "bad-apple" bullshit.



LIM

U.S. to Probe Shooting of Wounded Iraqi

Dahr Jamail writes yesterday, "A man, woman and child died when the public bus they were riding in approached a US checkpoint there when they were riddled with bullets from anxious soldiers. A military spokesman said the bus was shot because it didn’t stop when they asked it to.
...

One of my friends here works on the election commission for Iraq-he stopped by tonight laughing at the new date which has been set for the election of January 30th. “They have this new date for their rigged elections,” he rolls his eyes, “And nobody in Iraq believes their propaganda. Elections? Here? I don’t know anyone who will vote. Perhaps the entire country can vote absentee for reason of car bomb!” "

Iraq Dispatches: More blood, More chaos

"We are deeply concerned by the devastating impact that the fighting in Iraq is having on the people of that country."- Statement by Pierre Krähenbühl, Director of Operations of the ICRC

As hostilities continue in Falluja and elsewhere, every day seems to bring news of yet another act of utter contempt for the most basic tenet of humanity: the obligation to protect human life and dignity. This week it was the killing of a wounded fighter and of yet another hostage – humanitarian worker Margaret Hassan – that shocked the world. Like any other armed conflict, this one is subject to limits, and they must be respected at all times.

For the parties to this conflict, complying with international humanitarian law is an obligation, not an option. There is an absolute prohibition on the killing of persons who are not taking active part in the hostilities, or have ceased to do so. It is also prohibited to torture them or to subject them to any form of inhuman, humiliating or degrading treatment. Furthermore, the parties to the conflict must provide adequate medical care for the wounded – friend or foe – on the battlefield or allow them to be taken elsewhere for treatment. They must do everything possible to help civilians caught up in the fighting obtain the basics of survival such as food, water and health care. The taking of hostages, whether Iraqi or foreign, is forbidden in all circumstances. If these rules or any other applicable rules of international humanitarian law are violated, the persons responsible must be held accountable for their actions.

Regrettably, recent events have again shown just how difficult it has become for neutral, independent and impartial humanitarian organizations to assist and protect the victims of the conflict in Iraq. Once again, the International Committee of the Red Cross appeals for everything possible to be done to allow such organizations to come to the aid of the thousands of Iraqis who are suffering."

Iraq : ICRC calls for greater respect for basic tenets of humanity

I feel exactly the same as Abu Khaleel. So, no need to repeat...as he is there and feels it more than I. into the white, lim

I am at loss because I do not know whom to address or how! Sometime ago, someone wrote that my problem was that I was addressing several Americas at once. This is probably true. Somebody else once wrote that I will find myself repeating myself many times, which is also true.

The other thing is that I was really almost thrown off-balance by the Fallujah campaign. Although I was expecting such an outcome… yet, the grotesque scale of destruction, the total lack of any respect for human life, the short-sightedness of short-term policy gains at the expense of enormous long-term disasters, somehow leave me discouraged and depressed.

Iraqi Letter to America: Fallujah Done... Next!

Why embedded journalists are being taken for a ride, by Peter Beaumont, The London Observer

What could this possibly conjure up? Echoes of Lebanon's past can be heard today on Iraq's streets. I really hate to say this, but enough with self-censorship.
lim


Iraqi civilians gunned down at checkpoint

Powell 'Pushed Out' By Bush For Seeking To Rein In Israel

Here's onegoodmove's video archive of the daily show.

And there's Lisa Rein's as well.




onegoodmove: Daily Show Video Archives

I missed this as it's been busy. It's pretty crazy footage of anti-occupation/"bring the troops home now" protest that happened in LA. I noticed access to this is buggy when tried out with microsoft's internet explorer. Go get firefox 1.0 if you have a problem viewing.tanks-on-la-streets.mov (video/quicktime Object)

Zeyad's latest...

***

Fierce fighting has been going on in several areas of Baghdad for the last 4 hours. I was supposed to leave for Basrah this morning, as soon as I walked out of the front door I was face to face with ten or so hooded men dressed in black carrying Ak-47's and RPG's. They had set up a checkpoint right in front of our door.

Someone barked at me to go inside. Nabil was also about to leave for his school. His driver had just called him and said that he was turned back at the street entrance by another checkpoint. We looked at the main intersection and it was swarming with armed men running about and motioning drivers and pedestrians to leave the area.

...

UPDATE: I had to sleep during the day since I was up all night yesterday. The fighting hasn't ceased yet. I woke up several times to hear nearby explosions and then I drift back to sleep.

Just in case you were wondering. Yes, we did contact the police in our neighbourhood using the public phone numbers they had given out a couple of months ago. Guess what? They were surrounded by insurgents and couldn't do anything about it. In Adhamiya, the police station was set on fire and four policemen were killed in the fighting, the rest seem to have left their posts. The National Guard base in Saddam's former palace near the Adhamiya bridge was also under attack for the whole day.

Relatives calling us from other areas confirmed that the clashes erupted all at once around 6:30 am indicating that this was a coordinated movement. Many say this was in response to the incident yesterday at the Abu Hanifa mosque in Adhamiya which is a sacred Sunni shrine. Apparently storming the mosque during the friday prayers has provoked Arab and Muslim clerics to call for Jihad yet again. Qardhawi reiterated his call for Jihad in Iraq yesterday on Al-Jazeera describing it as a "religious duty", and the International Union of Muslim Scholars based in Pakistan has also called all Muslims to head to Iraq for Jihad.

One can't help but notice that the clerics who usually incite holy wars in Iraq against the US occupation on the expense of Iraqis are based in countries allied to the US such as Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. On the other hand, you have Sheikh Salah Al-Din Kuftaro, son of Sheikh Ahmed Kuftaro, the late Grand Mufti of Syria, publicly denouncing the behaviour of Iraqi insurgents yesterday during Friday prayers at the Kuftaro mosque in Damascus. He described them as the "present day Kharijites" and their actions as "unislamic".

Fierce fighting continues to spread and erupt

Iraqi journalist Abbas Ahmed Ibrahim says,"The war is over, but there is no peace...and the killings go on"

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 - House Republican leaders blocked and appeared to kill a bill Saturday that would have enacted the major recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission, refusing to allow a vote on the legislation despite last-minute pleas from both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to Republican lawmakers for a compromise before Congress adjourned for the year.

I'm so wet with this wave of sadness now. I know...I know very well how sick it is that so many innocent Iraqis have been killed in the seige on Falloojah and then in the fall-out occuring all around Iraq as the violence continues to spread. But Ms. Hassan's story continues to hit me extremely hard...it almost upsets me that this is only one person, but she was so extraordinary. And this tears down so many barriers that will prohibit so much necessary help reaching Iraq and Iraqis in the foreseeable future.

I also believe once Falloojah began this time Ms. Hassan was doomed, but of course how could one say this at the time. We had to keep some hope alive. Tahsin Ali Hassan, Ms. Hassan's Iraqi husband, can be heard in the democracy now video today that's linked below. This man pleads for his wife's body to be returned. And I just couldn't handle hearing and seeing him. It makes me so distraught...I cannot, I dont know... Look, I'm a strong man, but this is becoming too much.

I've got to go. Too much is too much.

Liminal

Democracy Now! | Headlines for November 17, 2004

Iraq Dispatches: More from Dahr Jamail, one of the last remaining independent journalists in Iraq

Iraq Dispatches

HUBBY is coming back in a couple hours!!! I'm so happy for you NIW! Yellah, have so much fun and check back with all your friends.

If people don't mind me speaking for all fellow Iraqi bloggers for a moment...you are a light at the end of the tunnel. And I hope each of us can have such re-unifications of such great emotional significance. We love ya! ;) Our best to HUBBY!!!

Much peace and grace,

Liminal

"So what should we expect in a second term?

A squeeze on North Korea The hawks have been impatient with what they see as the coddling of North Korea, and unless there is progress soon, there will be a push to get tougher and apply sanctions.

A continued embrace of Ariel Sharon With Mr. Powell out, there will be no one in the administration pushing Mr. Bush toward a more balanced policy. Tony Blair will try, but he's too far away.

A collision with Iran When Iran's new agreement with Europe on curbing its nuclear programs falls apart, the U.S. will resume its push for regime change in Iran (ironically, pushing for regime change in Iran and Cuba is what keeps those regimes in power). Then the U.S. will discuss whether to look the other way as Israel launches airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Dithering on Darfur Mr. Powell traveled to Darfur, proclaimed the slaughter there to be genocide and quietly pushed within the administration to get some action. I wish he had done much more, but, by contrast, the White House has been lackadaisical.

A litmus test of foreign policy prospects will be whether John Bolton, a genial raptor among the doves at State, is promoted to be its deputy secretary. For liberals who have been wavering on whether to move to New Zealand, that would be a sign to head for the airport."

Duly noted, Dr. Kristof...adding to the chorus of educated individuals like Dr. Juan Cole that are speaking up about Bush as a revolutionary.

The Bush Revolution

I thought this was appropriate, seeing how Fallujah has sparked violence that has spread beyond. In April complete destruction was the aim, but for political reasons the mission was aborted. Now, well, we have a media blackout, save embedded reporters getting sick footage of an unarmed Iraqi fighter being shot while unarmed and lying on the ground...

[also]

so we've heard enough (I believe) to understand the idea of using a town's destruction as an example is still pervasive. And if you know about Guernica, the aim was to create total destruction of a town in order to serve as a similar example.

Fallujernica

This is to contrast to the data on IQ vs voting tendencies. It's a cartogram that controls for population rather than land mass. And it's just a cool map. There are others, too. Just go here.

I woke up. Got online. Then I went to the BBC and my mind began spinning as I saw the headlines about Mosul and Ms. Hassan. I got extremely nauseous and ran to the toilet, then proceeded to throw up everywhere. It happened within a span of 2-3 minutes. Sorry if I'm grossing you out. But that's what happened. And now I know what's in store for Iraq beyond a doubt. I'm physically sick because of things I feared the most. I didn't post mentions of these two events until I had laid back in bed asking why a million more times while trying to relax my mind. And let's just say the toilet doesn't work anymore. (I know, more detail than you needed.)

Right now, that's all I have to say. This was a grande Madam d'Iraq. And I repeat the people who did this cannot possibly have any sense of what she means to Iraq and Iraqis. And her murder will sicken me for the rest of my life. It is so unacceptable.

I'm still in shock because I thought for sure that she would be released like the four from Un Ponte. It makes no sense. But there are very clear conclusions we may draw upon because of her murder, as I mentioned when she was first captured. And they speak volumes. Check out that post if you like. Right now, can't blog any more about this...I try to do more later.

Peace be upon Ms. Hassan and Peace be upon all Iraqis who disagree with such heinous crimes.

Liminal

Times Online - World

In other words, leave the CIA or fall into line without clear-eyed analyses based upon factual evidence. That's like driving blind when dropping several lit ciggarettes in your crotch while on a curvy mountain pass.

A brave new America, indeed.

The New York Times > Washington > New C.I.A. Chief Tells Workers to Back Administration Policies

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse. Who ever is responsible for this is NOT Iraqi. I will have further comments soon.

Margaret Hassan Murdered

Welcome to America, Where We Keep Our Electorate Dumb:
I hope you live in a blue state, or you might feel really chided by this graphic.

Khalil Ibrahim, an eyewitness in Fallujah...still taking questions live

Abu Laith, an eyewitness in Fallujah

CIA in Turmoil: The New Boss is Meeting Resistence from American Spies...that's at least how the headline reads from the front page. Well, you know what I think? Porter Goss BETTER meet resistence from American spies or else the whole world is up shit-creek. Imagine a president that puts all his men, his neo-cons in all the positions where clear-thinking analysts and others exist. I MEAN ANACONDA as Secretary of State, too??? IMAGINE what these next 4 are going to be like? It almost makes you want to cry thinking about the INSANE possibilites. Unbelievable, unbelievable...

GRRRRRRR....LEAVE US ALONE!!! BASTARDS! WHAT???... R THEY GOING TO DO THIS TO EACH IRAQI CITY AND EXPECT TO BE WANTED TO STAY???

I DON'T THINK SO.

This whole thing , everything that's going on, it just blows my mind.

US launches major Mosul assault

on a lighter note... or is it? Historically, meta/phorical (i.e. symbolic) penis-envy wars lead to real ones. But we can see it lightly now at least! I think.

So, the meta/phorical penis-envy award goes to...

China plans world's tallest tower

Which one?



And I'd like to say Happy Eid, but how can I say that when HNK makes such a poigniant post like the one linked below?

And I cannot begin to tell you how much it breaks my heart to see both her, Najma, and their family going through what they are going through in Mosul and in Iraq in general. And that's just one story. Imagine how many others have gone through this and much more. Well my family has recently been added to this list of being influenced by the chaos. And let me tell you...it does not feel good. But Iraqis will resist. Just as that small Palestinian child who had more balls than anybody like Rumsfeld or Wolfowitz or the President and Cheney for that matter. Unfortunately, in Iraq we have things other than just stones that cause much more damage. That is one reason the real war has just begun. Iraqis are resistance embodied. But we don't have depleted uranium munitions. We don't have cluster bombs and tomahawk cruise missles. We don't have stealth bombers and aircraft carriers. We don't have a lot. But Americans, and yes, I am a part of this as much as I hate it, Americans will have to quit Iraq. And us Iraqis will see self-determination. Who will we thank? Ourselves. History is merely repeating itself. The British couldn't last, nor will this American occupation. The blood that is being spilled in such an inane manner and amount by both Americans and Iraqis will have been for absolutely nothing but the attempted re-colonialization of a people that know all-to-well how this can be stopped. So, please listen to William Polk America...leave, leave Iraq...choose to leave instead of being thrown out. And do this sooner than later.

Here is HNK's post now:

hnk's blog: Talking about me...

But it would be best to listen to Iraqis inside Iraq roar first.

I haven't felt much like blogging lately because of a number of reasons. The situation is developing so I don't want to follow certain things up until matters are conclusive with regard to my family. All I'll say now is that there is a butt-load of money involved and some unsavory characters that do not get an ounce of my sympathy. Unfortunately, the mayhem that has enveloped Iraqi cities was for-the-most-part instigated by Fallujan nightmare II or is it III now?...and added to the list of those who cannot garner a smidgin' of my ameable nature are many of the American military commander Barbarians that are destroying parts of Iraq with cluster bombs like these. I am convinced they knew this violence would spread and that they do not want elections. Iraqi elections, as I said on the Iraqi Agora a long long time ago, threatens America. The real war is just starting. And these assholes are licking their lips to purge the CIA, the State Department, and other intelligence agencies of sentient beings or people of more "moderate" views that do not agree with the way Bush Inc. are neo-conning the world into their evil plans for the region at large. For the lack of a better term...isn't that a quasi-fascist thing to do? Oh, but liberating people by ripping apart their babies bodies in a hail storm of cluster bombs isn't? So forget the quasi...to quote the sex pistols,

God save the queen [or Prez]
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb

God save the queen [or Prez]
She [He] aint no human being
There is no future
In England's [America's] dreaming

.



Anyway, I'd like to offer this site as something to divert your attention to while Iraq goes up in flames because of the foolish behaviour of the mayors of Baghdad, the American administration, and proxy-ruler supreme negroponte. I might put up other interesting sites that might help accomplish this tremendous feat of experiencing pleasure while knowing so much wrong is being done. But I'll see.

And when you know the world's future may be passed on to the Terminator. I say, put a tutu on him and see how he operates before changing the constitution for the expressed purpose of this. I'm all for the change, but I don't want to see Arnold as the next Reagan nightmare. (Seen on the streets of Berlin)



Other questions:

-Where is Sistani?
-Why isn't he objecting forcefully to this massacre and spreading of violence? Maybe I'm missing something, so somebody please fill me in if I'm incorrect.
-What would you do if somebody invaded your country? invaded your home? killed your grandfather? kidnapped your cousin? all in the name of liberating you from ...from what? from even more death? Because American tanks and weaponry are not leaving Iraq anytime soon. And true liberation will only come when this happens.

hasta la pasta, al-kaka la pantalone, re-electum a robot and dark human matter i'd rather put in somebody's rectum to hide from the world through rabid constipation...but not my rectum, thank you.

your meta-pocket-of-resistance,

Lim.



Representative Poetry On-line: Version 3.0

I don't feel in the least bit inhibited to speak about this incident. I plan on doing so soon, but things are too hectic now. People need to know about these things to understand how difficult life in Iraq has gotten. The violence is spreading. It would be fair to say that I'm terrified at this point. BTW, Raed is doing a spectacular job at keeping up with events going on, so visit his blog. Not to mention the wonderful project the Jarrars are coordinating. Please donate to this effort. You can find out more about it at Raed's or Khalid's.

I have to run now.

Liminal

Yasser Arafat dies

What is going on?

I am surrounded by thick black smoke and the smell of burning oil. There was a big explosion a few minutes ago and now I can hear gunfire. A US armoured vehicle has been parked on the street outside my house in the centre of the city. From my window, I can see US soldiers moving around on foot near it. They tried to go from house to house but they kept coming under fire. Now they are firing back at the houses, at anything that moves. It is war on the streets. The American troops look like they have given up trying to go into buildings for now and are just trying to control the main roads. I am sitting here on my own, watching tragedy engulf my city.

'Watching tragedy engulf my city'

This blog is meant to serve cathartic purposes. After being so silent about so much that was so bothersome, I began blogging because of the inspiration Salam, Riverbend, then Zeyad gave me. Now, because I've had a cold during the past 4-5 days due to little rest and too much work to do...I think I've gone a little over-board. Things have been both incredibly fresh and exciting & horrible and terrifying at the same time. The hot and cold of it and constant travels have worn me thin. Recently morose off of an excruciating election result, Falloojah, and more family stresses...I'm forgetting what I have right in front of my face.

So, I watched a film called "A Taste of Cherry" by Abbas Kiarostami the Iranian director. It's about a man that tries to get somebody, anybody, to help him committ suicide. Yet along the way, he learns a lot about life from total strangers that are not from Iran. It's a poetic externalization of an internal existential battle. The visualizations are breath-taking. I believe it won the Palm d'Or in 1997. I recommend it. Film can be escapism. But it can also serve cathartic purposes and even teach one through stories and method. Though it can torment through allusion, as well.

Speaking of which, I've been watching a lot of war movies lately. You know, the classics like Apocalypse Now/Coppala, A Thin Red Line/Mallick, Full Metal Jacket/Kubrick. And a newer classic of Errol Morris' called "The Fog of War." The first time I tried to watch the film I couldn't handle the powerful allusions to the situation in Iraq. You see, Robert S. McNamera eerily reminds me of Donald Rumsfeld. I was watching it a bit earlier and something he said struck me as interesting. Being wide awake and just finding out my family's ok...I've had a sudden burst of energy & lucidity. Anyway, he says something in a very poigniant part of the movie that I've transcribed,

The U.S. Japanese war was one of the most brutal wars in all of human history. Kamikaze pilots , suicide, unbelievable...what one can criticize is that the human race prior to that time and today has not really grab-bled with what i call 'the rules of war'...was there a rule that said you shouldn't bomb , shouldn't kill, shouldn't burn to death a 100,000 civilians a night. LeMay said if we lost the war we would have all been prosecuted as war criminals. And I think he's right. He, and I would say I, were behaving as war criminals. LeMay recognized that what he was doing would be thought of as immoral if his side has lost. Well, what makes it immoral if you lost and not immoral if you win?

And there are so many parts of the film that serve as an echo-chamber for what I see happening in Iraq today. Comparing Vietnam with Iraq was just done by a commander in Fallujah. "Another Hue city"...I believe. Lyndon Johnson sounds like Dubya, too. The bombs are just bigger...not smarter. Ordinance cannot be smart when involved in urban warfare. And the way peoples bodies are broken are similar, the tools are just a bit more "sophisticated" and destructive.

And then, there's the issue of history. Because of the ignorance of history or the misinformation in history books in the US, Americans have complete misconceptions about entire races of people. We seem to be moving backward over here. How can you continue modernizing an army, and stop modernizing your mind or outlook on the world?

When McNamera talks about using Agent Orange...I think, how ironic...over and over again. That's a chemical weapon. In the movie there are 11 lessons, Lesson #9 In order to good you have to do evil. How much evil must we do in order to do good? he asks...well, this is essentially what the Marine's outlook was that I mentioned in a few posts earlier. I just don't buy it along with all the double-standards that go along with it. What makes America so righteous to make such horror in peoples lives? I don't think it's right. War is not right. And killing people will not help create the example for democracy to thrive. Fallujah will have the opposite effect of the stated intentions that Rumsfeld stated yesterday.

Lesson #11: You can't change human nature.

We all make mistakes. We know we make mistakes. I don't know any military commander who's honest who would say he has not made a mistake. There's a wonderful phrase: "the fog of war". What the fog of war means is that war is so complex ...our judgement and our understanding are not adequate. And we kill people... unnecessarily. Wilson said, we won the war to end all wars. I'm not so naive or simplistic to believe that we can eliminate war. We're not going to change human nature any time soon. It isn't that we aren't rational. We're rational. But reason has its limits. There's a quote from T.S. Elliot which I love, "We shall not cease from exploring. And at the end of our exploration we will return to where we started and know the place for the very first time." Now that's in a sense where I'm beginning to be. [he chokes up with tears]

And I hope that is where Rumsfeld and others in this administration get to at some point. Because they will all be better people for it if they do. Values...

Fallujah and Independent Media:Western journalists quit Falluja

Ghaith left Fallujah a few hours ago. It's getting dark over there.

A must read report from the frontlines of the insurgency. Ghaith reports from Falloojah: 'We are not here to liberate Iraq, we're here to fight the infidels'

See Abbas on U.S. public TV [webpage] Read Abbas' blog too.
Well done!
We should be very proud.
lim

The technical, physiological, and mechanical qualities of kung fu have a philosophical basis.



Thanks to the Wooster Collective and Logan Hicks

Street art is similar.

Enter a new topic.

Bombings in August, October, November: This is what the US war has sown upon Iraqi Christians. If there was ever an indicator of the radicalization of a population and/or allowing foreign fighters to terrorize a minority that stupid people identify with Westerners, here it is. Before this misadventure, I would have never believed an Iraqi would be a suicide bomber or kill another Iraqi (save for Saddam and his thugs). Simply, these things did not happen before the invasion. Saddam was a nightmare, then what is this? Is this the price we have to pay for freedom?

Eight killed in Baghdad Church Blasts

Immanuel Wallerstein quotes then writes,

To suggest that the universal civilization is in place already is to be willfully blind to the present reality and, even worse, to trivialize the goal and hinder the materialization of a genuine universality in the future.

-- Chinua Achebe4

[T]he opposition between globalization and local traditions is false: globalization directly resuscitates local traditions, it literally thrives on them, which is why the opposite of globalization is not local traditions, but universality.

-- Slavoj Zizek5

The story of U.S. and world power can be resumed quite simply at this moment. I do not believe that America and Americans are the cause of all the world's miseries and injustices. I do believe they are their prime beneficiaries. And this is the fundamental problem of the U.S. as a nation located in a world of nations.

Americans, especially American politicians and publicists, like to speak about our ideals. An advertisement for the "bestselling" book of Chris Matthews, Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think, offers this excerpt: "When you think about it, we Americans are different. That word 'freedom' isn't just in our documents; it's in our cowboy souls."6 "Cowboy souls" - I could not have said it better. Our ideals are perhaps special. But the same people who remind us of that do not like to talk about our privileges, which are also perhaps special. Indeed, they denounce those who do talk of them. But the ideals and the privileges go together. They may seem to be in conflict, but they presuppose each other.

Click here for John Williamson’s article on the evolution of the term “Washington Consensus.”

I am not someone who denigrates American ideals. I find them quite wonderful, even refreshing. I cherish them, I invoke them, I further them. Take for example the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - something correctly remembered at all the appropriate ceremonies as incarnating American ideals. Let us, however, recall two things about the First Amendment. It wasn't in the original Constitution, which means it wasn't considered a founding principle. And public opinion polls have often shown that a majority of the American public would change, diminish, or even eliminate these guarantees, in whole or in part, even in so-called ordinary times. When we are in a "war" such as the "war on terrorism," then neither the U.S. government nor the U.S. public can be counted on to defend these ideals, and not even the Supreme Court can be relied upon to hold fast to them in an "emergency." Such defense is left largely to an often timid organization with at best minority support in public opinion, the American Civil Liberties Union, membership in which is often cited as a reason not to vote for someone in a general election. So, I am in favor of freedom of speech and freedom of religion and all the other freedoms, but sometimes I must wonder if America is.

The reason of course is not that there is absent a Voltairean streak in the American public, but that sometimes we fear that our privileges are in danger of erosion or disappearance. And, in such cases, most people place privilege ahead of ideals. Once again, Americans are not unusual in this regard. They simply are more powerful and have more privileges. Americans are freer to have the ideals because they are freer to ignore them. They have the power to override their cowboy souls.

The question before Americans is really the following. If American hegemony is in slow decline, and I believe it unquestionably is, will we lose the ideals because we will have less power to override them? Will our cowboy souls erect barbed wire around our national ranch in order to guard our privileges in danger of decline, as though they could not escape through the barbed wire? Let me suggest here another metaphor that comes from the Twin Towers. Towers that are destroyed can be rebuilt. But will we rebuild them in the same way - with the same assurance that we are reaching for the stars and doing it right, with the same certainty that they will be seen as a beacon to the world? Or will we rebuild in other ways, after careful reflection about what we really need and what is really possible for us, and really desirable for us?

And who is the us? If one follows the statements of Attorney-General Ashcroft, seconded by many others in the U.S. government, in the press, and among the public in general, the "us" is no longer everyone in the U.S., not even everyone legally resident in the U.S., but only U.S. citizens. And we may wonder if the "us" may not be further narrowed in the near future. As Zizek points out, globalization is not the opposite of localism, it thrives on localism, especially the localism of the powerful. The "us" is by no stretch of the imagination homo sapiens sapiens. Is homo then so sapiens?

Read the entire essay at Social Science Research Council. "America and the World: The Twin Towers as Metaphor"

More Wallerstein coming up.

When asked about possibly not having a "significant portion of the Iraqi population voting in the upcoming elections"... Donald says, "That's what this is all about." [referring to the operations underway in Falloojah]

Well, I hope so.

And boy, it's all laughs in the Pentagon briefing. Truly amazing. Only in America.

ha ha ha...

William Gibson on Falloojah:

'If American military leaders understood Fourth Generation war, they would slowly, patiently encourage the local Iraqi resistance to go after the outsiders, providing rewards and even assistance, if that was wanted (all done covertly, of course). The first genuine American victory in Iraq would be the day the local resistance asked for our (again, covert) help.

'Unfortunately, our leaders do not understand the Fourth Generation, so it appears we are about to throw this opportunity away. We continue to bomb and shell Fallujah, which pushes our enemies toward each other. We seem to be readying an all-out assault on the city, which will have the usual result when Goliath defeats David: a moral defeat for Goliath. Many Iraqis will die, the city will be wrecked (as always, we will promise to rebuild it but not do so), and any losses the insurgents suffer will be made up many times over by a flood of new recruits. Never was it more truly said that, 'We have met the enemy, and he is us.'

'Our nightly bombing of Fallujah illustrates another important point about 4GW: to call it 'terrorism' is a misnomer. In fact, terrorism is merely a technique, and we use it too when we think it will benefit us. In Madam Albright’s boutique war on Serbia, when the bombing campaign against the Serbian Army in Kosovo failed, we resorted to terror bombing of civilian targets in Serbia proper. Now, we are using terror bombing on Fallujah.

'Of course, we claim we are hitting only Mr. al-Zarqawi’s fighters, but anyone who knows ordinance knows that is a lie. The 500, 1000 and 2000-pound bombs we drop have bursting radii that guarantee civilian casualties in an urban environment. More, it appears we see those civilian casualties as useful.

Click to read more: William Gibson on Falloojah

What's this? Sources say? What sources???

Sources say there will not be a full offensive on Fallujah. Instead, US forces and their Iraqi allies will take the city section by section by clearing houses. The operation is intended to take no more than two weeks.

US begins its biggest urban offensive since Vietnam with long-awaited Fallujah assaults [Independent, UK]

On to less important things...

Allawi just gave his 'authority' to attack Falloojah. Even though things seem to have started a day before. Let the mistakes of April not be made again. Unfortunately, it's difficult to say this will be possible.

Again, see Jo Wilding's account, scroll down to April 12.[in arabic, scroll to April 27]
as well as Rahul Mahajan's "Destroying a Town in Order to 'Save' it".

Other links:

Patrick Graham of the London Observer spent a year with the resistance. Here's the 1) article in Harpers 2) radio show, the connection with dick gordon. 3) Oct 11 radio show in Seattle with Fareed Zakaria, Patrick Graham, and David Brooks 4)an article in WaPo about the article in Harpers 5) "Falluja in their sights" shows how Patrick Graham was tuned to events taking place there.



Reference for photos:
Rahul Mahajan in Falloojah April 2004

Abu Khaleel fills in the enormous gap existing in American knowledge of Falloojah with more lucidity than I can muster at the moment.

"Contrary to popular myth, Fallujah as a town was not on the best of terms with Saddam Hussein. Fallujans did not resist the American army during the invasion. In fact, the taking of Fallujah was quite orderly"


To read on...Iraqi Letter to America: Fallujah Again?

In today's London Independent: This assault on Fallujah risks alienating the entire population of Iraq

Nevertheless, elections remain Iraq's best opportunity to escape the maelstrom of death and insecurity into which it has been thrust. A legitimate government would be much more effective both in providing security and repairing the damage done to Iraq's infrastructure. It would have the authority that Iyad Allawi's American-appointed administration clearly lacks. Perhaps the greatest mistake of the whole US occupation was its failure to call elections immediately after the fall of Baghdad, when the insurgency had not yet begun and when Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most powerful Shia cleric in Iraq, was demanding a popular vote.

Despite its professed goal of introducing democracy to Iraq, the US has consistently proved unwilling to hand over power to the Iraqi people. It likes the idea of establishing an Iraqi-led government, but only if it does what it is told. Needless to say this is not the sort of government the Iraqi people have much time for, as the widespread rejection of the interim administration has shown.

The US urgently needs to change its tactics in Iraq and adopt a more humane approach. Otherwise the country - and its occupiers - risk being plunged yet further into the abyss.

William R. Polk writes a guest editorial on Informed Comment explaining three possible options for the US in Iraq. It is important to point out that he's a former Member of the State Department's Policy Planning Council that was responsible for the Middle East. He was a Professor of History at the University of Chicago and Founding-Director of its Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Also, he has a book being published in March called Understanding Iraq. Here are the options: The first is "staying the course" which includes continued fighting a la Algeria vs. France. The second is "Vietnamization", but the point of contention is that in Iraq there is neither an Army or a government to hand over this war to. And this point is duly noted. Using a proxy militia is also not an option. Because soon after, say, Kurds are used exclusively in this manner, you would have inevitable violent internal conflict.

The third option is to choose to get out rather than being forced. Time is a wasting asset; the longer the choice is put off, the harder it will be to make. The steps required to implement this policy need not be dramatic, but the process needs to be affirmed and made unambiguous. The initial steps could be merely verbal. America would have first to declare unequivocally that it will give up its lock on the Iraqi economy, will cease to spend Iraqi revenues as it chooses and will allow Iraqi oil production to be governed by market forces rather than by an American monopoly. If President Bush could be as courageous as General Charles de Gaulle was in Algeria when he admitted that the Algerian insurgency had “won” and called for a “peace of the braves,” fighting would quickly die down in Iraq as it did in Algeria and in all other guerrilla wars. Then, and only then, could elections be meaningful. In this period, Iraq would need a police force but not an army. A UN multinational peacekeeping force would be easier, cheaper and safer than creating an Iraqi army which in the past destroyed moves toward civil society and probably would do so again, probably indeed paving the way for the “ghost” of Saddam Husain.
A variety of "service" functions would then have to be organized. Given a chance, Iraq could do them mostly by itself. It would soon again become a rich country and has a talented, well-educated population. Step by step, health care, clean water, sewage, roads, bridges, pipelines, electric grids, housing, etc. could be mainly provided by the Iraqis themselves, as they were in the past. When I visited Baghdad in February 2003 on the eve of the invasion, the Iraqis with whom I talked were proud that they had rebuilt the Tigris bridge that had been destroyed in the 1991 war. They can surely do so again.

In its own best interest, the Iraq government would empower the Iraq National Iraq Oil Company (NIOC) to award concessions by bid to a variety of international companies, each of which and NIOC would sell oil on the world market. Contracts for reconstruction paid for by Iraqi money would be awarded under bidding, as they traditionally were, but to prevent excessive corruption perhaps initially supervised by the World Bank. Where other countries supplied aid, they could be given preferential treatment in the award of contracts as is common practice elsewhere. The World Bank would follow its regular procedures on its loans. Abrogating current American policies that work against the recovery of Iraqi industry and commerce would spur development since any reasonably intelligent and self-interested government would emphasize getting Iraqi enterprises back into operation and employing Iraqi workers. That process could be speeded up through international loans, commercial agreements and protective measures so that unemployment, now at socially catastrophic levels, would be diminished. Neighborhood participation in running social affairs and providing security are old traditions in Iraqi society and allowing or favoring their reinvigoration would promote the excellent side effect of grass roots political representation. As fighting dies down, reasonable security is achieved and popular institutions revive, the one million Iraqis now living abroad will be encouraged to return home. In the aggregate they are intelligent, highly trained, and well motivated and can make major contributions in all phases of Iraqi life.

In such a program, inevitably, there will be set-backs and shortfalls, but they can be partly filled by international organizations. The steps will not be easy; Iraqis will disagree over timing, personnel and rewards while giving the process a chance will require American political courage. But, and this is the crucial matter, any other course of action would be far worse for both America and Iraq. The safety and health of American society as well as Iraqi society requires that this policy be implemented intelligently, determinedly and soon.

I hope Bush administration officials are listening closely to a man of Dr. William Polk's stature. He puts it in a way that is palatable. I see it as the only option if the US does not want an Algeria situation on their hands. The last people Americans would ever be able to tame are Iraqis. And I hate to say it as things get underway, but out of Iraqis, the last people you'll tame are people from Falloojah. It has a long history of resistance that will not fade either quickly or quietly into history. And I'm talking pre-Saddam, even. So, does the violence continue indeterminantly or will enough courage be mustered to leave Iraq eventually?

A verbal committment to leave Iraq is a good start. And it doesn't have to be all at once. But there has to be true committment and visible signs of progress toward self-determination. Attacking Fallojah now will not make leaving any easier, though. And that's why I am being so insistent that it is wrong. This is the beginning of a chain of events. One might actually say we are still in a chain of events that started when Falloojah changed everything back in April. The pace quickens, though. And my heart goes out to all the innocents that continue to suffer.

Informed Comment : William Polk's guest editorial

This is from Dahr Jamail's latest piece Carnage and Martial Law

It’s martial law.

Abu Talat called because he was supposed to meet me tonight, but he can’t get out of Al-Adhamiya because it has been sealed by the military and Humvees are in the main square and roaming the streets.

“I cannot reach you tonight Dahr, we are under martial law,” he says on the phone, “Like that means anything…the invaders have always done whatever they wish to us. But now we are all trapped. This is the justice here.”

My friend Salam, while visiting me today says of the martial law, “So now any policeman can shoot me anytime he wants. This happened before, but now it is even more legal. But this won’t give the government any power. They were already powerless. Let them put on any law they want, it doesn’t matter.”

I asked him how he can live like this. He says, “The hard part is living like this everyday. You don’t go near the windows, don’t do what you want, don’t go anywhere unless you have good reason, be careful driving, watch the roads, it’s very tense all the time now. And there is no hope of it getting better. I want to get married, but I think I better wait. But wait for what?”

He continues…

“My mom tells me to save money for the future, and I keep telling her that I’m a dead man. I’m going to die here, so what’s the use? I try to get her ready for it…but she can’t get used to the thought.”

Iraq Dispatches: Carnage and Martial Law

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Screams will not be heard, Madeleine Bunting: "The silence from Falluja marks a new and agonising departure in the shape of 21st-century war. The horrifying shift in the last century was how, increasingly, war was waged against civilians: their proportion of the death toll rose from 50% to 90%. It prompted the development of a form of war-reporting, exemplified by Bosnia, which was not about the technology and hardware, but about human suffering, and which fuelled public outrage. No longer. The reporting of Falluja has lapsed back into the military machismo of an earlier age. This war against the defenceless will go unreported."

Well here is another journalist, Rahul Mahajan, that was inside Falloojah during the uprising in April. Also see, Jo Wilding's version of events during that time. And here's Nir Rosen's reporting from Falloojah as well. [thanks Prof. Cole] I will try to put up more related links as I see them. Keep an eye on Dahr Jamail. Here's another piece of his from today. He left Falloojah, apparently, and is back in Baghdad.

I feel a depressive state coming on like a bulldozer. We need to make sure information gets out about the events in Falloojah and elsewhere. I've heard that there is Arab media inside the city. I will try to confirm this...of course, whatever Arab media happens to be inside showing horrible images are going to be painted as anti-Iraqi. I just do not buy this in a scenario where you are essentially destroying an entire town with Shia from the south and Kurds from the north, further alienating the Sunnah while trying to take out a few hundred crazy foreign fundamentalists. Why do we constantly have to take the best of worst options? Well, this proves how bad things have gotten. Also here is one BBC correspondent reporting from Falloojah anonymously. And Kofi Annan's letter.

I'll try to be on top of real information coming out of Falloojah.

What ever happened to the separation of church and state? This is scary. Holy War: Evangelical Marines Prepare to Battle Barbarians

Iraq is a state of emergency according to Allawi.[vid] It will be a while before somebody may sing such a song for it. It is not beautiful like Iceland at the moment. watch joga- med-vid sm-vid



all the accidents that happen
follow the dot
coincidence makes sense
only with you
you don't have to speak - I feel
emotional landscapes
they puzzle me
then the riddle gets solved
and you push me up to this

state of emergency
how beautiful to be
state of emergency
is where I want to be

all that no-one sees
you see
what's inside of me
every nerve that hurts
you heal
deep inside of me
you don't have to speak - I feel
emotional landscapes
they puzzle me
confuse
then the riddle gets solved
and you push me up to this

state of emergency
how beautiful to be
state of emergency
is where I want to be

***

This is no doubt done to give occupation troops the gambit of abilities to suppress any resistance and stop violence from spreading easily from one area of Iraq to another. What I fear are more revenge crimes carried out if the violence does infect a city like Baghdad. I hope the lunatics who are launching the attack on Fallujah are really thinking long and hard about the possibilities. I'm going to go throw up now.

One of the few independent journalists remaining writes on 5 November. Here's the card explaining the spiral landing.



Dahr Jamail: Spiraling Into Occupied Iraq

or
this version

Not A Dollarshort: Canada 2.0

I agree to a great extent with what Greg writes here. Yet without the emotion that say Howard Dean injected into hapless democrats, Kerry would have done much worse. I just hope these "lunatics" stop deceiving themselves, while thinking they can continue living in a parallel universe. I'm sure many Iraqi bloggers know what it's like being on the lunatic side of the divide. So, now millions of Americans can join the Arab sentiment of regarding feckless and corrupt rulers with contempt. Lets not forget to mention that this country tis of thee supports some of those piss-ant planted autocrats...and yes, America did support Saddam in the 80s. That last comment was for the over 50 million that voted for Bush II. I suggest you go hide behind some plastics sheets. And don't forget your duct tape. Greg Knauss on the Political Divide

1856 vs. TodayAntigeist: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Professor of philosophy and linguistics at MIT, Dr. Noam Chomsky agrees. "The invasion of Iraq was simply a war crime." Sure, this isn't a surprise, but watch the video.

Watch clip of Bill Maher with Noam Chomsky and Bush-voting (thus, self-hating) lying and delusional gay dude blogger Andrew Sullivan.

The coming act of razing Falloojah is the deliberate planning NOT to have elections in January. I thought American democracy was absurd. This mission is not only absurd...it is downright idiotic. It's funny to consider the role reversal comparison between the US encouraged 1999 uprising and the current uprising. Now instead of Saddam doing the razing, it is the US itself. If the violence spreads to Baghdad, it will be the beginning of the end of the occupation and this death-laced aggressively masochistic liberation America continues to sponser. I also wonder if the Iraqi forces that will be helping to raze Falloojah are mostly Shia and Kurdish. I take it they are, so this could cause more tension between Sunnah and Shia...so this seems like a deliberately orchestrated face-off for not just delaying elections, but for causing religious fragmentation. Divide and conquer in it's most classic form. A perfect counter-insurgency strategy...that will ultimately fail.

The Taguba Report
here too
wikipedia
stanford prison experiment
Hersh Article in New Yorker
the photos
Human Rights Watch Report "The Road to Abu Ghraib"
Riverbend's "Tales from Abu Ghraib"
boykin
"Why Have We Suddenly Forgotten Abu Ghraib?" - Fisk
Lessons of Abu Ghraib -Bowdon
manual
Rape at Abu Ghraib
The Horror of Abu Ghraib
Sworn Statements by Abu Ghraib Detainees
What Abu Ghraib Taught Me
From Texas to Abu Ghraib: The Bush Legacy of Prisoner Abuse
Pentagon Rewards Abu Ghraib Accomplices

The Secret File of Abu Ghraib and here
Widespread Abuse Alleged in US-run jails

Abu Ghraib Probe Points to Top Brass
FBI Saw Inmates Treated Harshly at Abu Ghraib
After Abu Ghraib
Abu Ghraib: The Hidden Story
Remember Abu Ghraib?
Abu Ghraib interrogator tells his story">Abu Ghraib interrogator tells his story
Abu Ghraib, Unresolved (28.10.04)
The road to Abu Ghraib (30.10.04)
US soldier escapes jail term for Abu Ghraib abuse
Further Abuse at Abu Ghraib Detailed
Abu Ghraib abuses tapped to theatre (05.11.04)
The Abu Ghraib Supplementary Documents
Google Blocks Abu Ghraib Images
What, me torture?(boing)
--The End of the Eighth Amendment (Boston Review)

more coming and please email me links. thanks, lim.

Herb' using nice words that say...idiotic and fear-filled electorate. I don't know about you, but I'm through with this fear-mongered vista of violence. When you flood violence into society with the most sophisticated weaponry and the most sophisticated black ops (psychological warfare), of course you will be seen as the most violent nation on earth. And so, yes, America is the most violent nation on earth. It will be hard to stop the violence that Falloojah will be made to suffer soon. And if it spills into Baghdad things could easily spin out of control. That is what I fear most. Do not raze Falloojah. It is far too risky. Allawi's future rests on the success of it, if carried out. The chances are very slim that it will be successful. So, don't do it. You'll regret it. We'll all regret it. Please please please, use words not bombs.

O.K., Folks: Back to Work: "For all the talk about values that we're hearing, the president ran a campaign that appealed above all to voters' fears and prejudices."

Greg Palast seems to think so. Ahhhh, who needs democracy!

Kerry Won

Behaving like children with a toy that they don't want to share, the chalabis have to go screw up legal proceedings for Saddam's trial. Why the nephew was ever given any authority in the matter is beyond me. Although I think the chalabis should be behind bars or in some dungeon with Saddam, I'm glad Allawi fired Salem from the now shaky Iraqi Special Tribunal over the summer. But still with their magnanimous crook genes the chalabis will stick around and steal as much money as they can from Iraq and then take their leave. They have no future in Iraq. Sound familiar to the role of certain corporations like Halliburton? Anyway, Saddam needs to be given a piece of the Iraqi people's rage after he oppressed them for so long. Did I mention that the Lancet said that with a conservative estimate approximately 100,000+ Iraqi civilians have been killed? Also, the United Nations is holding their ground on making the trial as legitimate as possible. It's so important for reconciliation. I commend this deed. What does CPA stand for again? Can't Provide Anything...right.

The report comes at a time of some uncertainty about the fate of the Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST), the body created in December 2003 by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to take up a range of crimes allegedly committed by the Iraqi ex-dictator, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The IST's administrator, Salem Chalabi, was summarily fired by Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi earlier this summer, apparently for political reasons. Allawi has called for expediting the planned trials of Hussein, who was captured last December, and some two dozen of his top aides.

In a second blow to the IST, the United Nations last month refused a request by Allawi and the administration of U.S. President George W Bush to assist the tribunal in its work.

The world body declined because defendants who are convicted by the IST could face the death penalty and because, in the view of U.N. experts who have worked on war-crimes tribunals for Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, its procedures do not meet minimum international standards of justice.

The tribunal's founding statute, for example, allows for defendants' attorneys to be excluded from interrogations and even court appearances and also permits the admission of testimony obtained under coercion. HRW, as well as other independent human rights groups, have also called the tribunal ''fundamentally flawed.''

Anything having to do with the Chalabis is fundamentally flawed. When will these morons learn. BYE BYE...leave Iraq alone and go gluttonous with the money you stole from it you bastards.

Human Rights Watch, Iraq: State of the Evidence
Pentagon Planners Assailed for Failing to Secure Evidence of Iraqi Abuses

Adding to Juan Cole's Statesman vs Revolutionary piece, here is Paul Krugman trying to make sense of things.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: No Surrender

Saying it loud and clear...from UC-Irvine.

Guest Editorial: Dr. Mark Levine

He's just a four star general. I mean, get him out of the cabinet Mista Bush. He has nothing to offer since you used up all his credibility at the U.N. to justify attacking Iraq. You need new people for the American people to discredit. And who needs Iraqis to fight alongside U.S. troops. All Iraqis are terrorists anyway, right? Why are people so foolish? I mean, I can't wait until Cheney goes into Iran and signs those contracts in person with a 500kg bomb. And Syria is all but mincemeat now that we have an overwhelming mandate. Oh, and Kerry's a pussy.

________

sorry everybody, that was subliminal again. he's really proud of bush for being re-, well elected for the first time. i'll try and shut him up. This is what's really going on.

(left, voter registration...right, employment)

Colin Powell Believes U.S. is Losing Iraq War

You know, I'm just wondering.

The Journal : Current Issue

Stephen Soldz on why The Lancet's estimates should not be taken lightly

"I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president." -Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell

Now isn't that so nice of him.

Diebold CEO promises Ohio to Bush

First off, I'll believe it when I see it. Second, if it actually does happen, who are the replacements going to be?

Trying to escape the indignation of being fired...it's semantically much gentler to 'leave for personal reasons'. Imagine Bush Inc without Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Powell, and Ridge...as suggested in this article. Of course, Master-neoCon Paolo "the brain" Wolfowitzini, Rummy's back-up neoConster Feith, and his groomed successor neo-proto-Con Stephen Cambone should be the new jersey sludge-like material that rises to the top and takes one or two of these positions. But it will be interesting to see who their possible replacements will actually be. Perhaps Arnold will become the Secretary of Defense. How dope would such an appointment be? I'm sure by 2008 if they change the constitution that Arnold could destroy Hillary's chances to be president.

I think if people are so insistant on a two-party system in the US, they should just make it a requirement by law to have one democrat and one republican on each ticket. Then you'll have some "bipartisanship" forced down the wretched throats of politicians. Harhar...as if republicans and democrats are so much different than one another to begin with. So, with this law they will check themselves at least. Or it could serve to prove the therom that they are peas in the same pod to begin with...so that a third party will spring up out of a hole in the ground. Just an idea.

But really, I'm not that optimistic about possible replacements. There are plently of Republican assholes to spread around and terminally destroy democracy in America.


Aljazeera.Net - Bush to reshuffle cabinet

"Sometimes there's truth in old cliches. There can be no real peace without justice. And without resistance there will be no justice. Today, it is not merely justice itself, but the idea of justice that is under attack.

The assault on vulnerable, fragile sections of society is so complete, so cruel and so clever that its sheer audacity has eroded our definition of justice. It has forced us to lower our sights, and curtail our expectations. Even among the well-intentioned, the magnificent concept of justice is gradually being substituted with the reduced, far more fragile discourse of 'human rights'.

This is an alarming shift. The difference is that notions of equality, of parity, have been pried loose and eased out of the equation. It's a process of attrition. Almost unconsciously, we begin to think of justice for the rich and human rights for the poor. Justice for the corporate world, human rights for its victims. Justice for Americans, human rights for Afghans and Iraqis. Justice for the Indian upper castes, human rights for Dalits and Adivasis (if that.) Justice for white Australians, human rights for Aborigines and immigrants (most times, not even that.)

It is becoming more than clear that violating human rights is an inherent and necessary part of the process of implementing a coercive and unjust political and economic structure on the world. Increasingly, human rights violations are being portrayed as the unfortunate, almost accidental, fallout of an otherwise acceptable political and economic system. As though they are a small problem that can be mopped up with a little extra attention from some non-government organisation."

What We Call Peace is Little Better Than Capitulation To a Corporate Coup

Welcome to the jungle of American plutocracy. All power rests with the republican party in the three branches of government. Run for your lives. A mandate? Yea, okay, berlusconilize the american landscape and expect nobody to have dissenting opinions when 49 percent of the people are practically mourning now. A mandate? ...to raze falloojah and have it be the beginning of the end of the American occupation. A mandate? ...to tell a woman what she has to do with her body. A mandate? ...to privitize social security and make my grandchildren pay for the war in Iraq A mandate? ...to allow Halliburtonian fraud and Abu Ghraibian torture methods to continue occuring in Iraq. A mandate? ...to tell the world to go fuck itself. That's the mandate Bush won with a one percentage point victory.

He can stick his mandate where the sun don't shine. Because there are millions of enraged and disenchanted Americans who see the lies and mismanagement of this administration. And they will not be quieted during the next four years.

Maureen Dowd eloquently takes some of the sting out of a defeat by describing the tactics used by Cheney/bush. The voices proclaiming the lies should only increase in their decibal level. And the good fight against these racist war-mongers starts today. Let's impeach BushCroft Inc. and see him out with a famous exit...one similar to that of Nixon, a month after he was re-elected. Let us damn him to such a ignoble fate for using divisive techniques to scare and weaken America and its standing in the world.

W. doesn't see division as a danger. He sees it as a wingman.

The president got re-elected by dividing the country along fault lines of fear, intolerance, ignorance and religious rule. He doesn't want to heal rifts; he wants to bring any riffraff who disagree to heel.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The Red Zone: "

What has been endlessly fascinating to me is how this administration was elected through this twisted alliance of super wealthy (top 1%), the very wealthy (250K /year), and the "hee-haw" masses that think Bush is a farmer/cowboy in Texas.

These freaks of nature that we call our duly elected public servants will not be able to sqaure this alliance with the all-important confrontation of the Palestinian issue. If they deliberately avoid the Palestinian issue along with the Iraqi war, and try to invade other countries like Syria and Iran...we are in for a bloody four years. They are not interested in solutions.

Imagine Richard Pearl coming back to serve in his new cabinet. The project for the new american century has been given a renewed vitality.

In four years this administration has done what Bin Laden & Al Qaida could not have done for another generation or two! I shudder at what they will do with another four.

The extremists won this round. Let us hope the world can take 4 more years of ignorance, greed, fear-mongering and arrogance from these war criminals.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Living Poor, Voting Rich

What is now cemented in the minds of Arabic peoples is that America is to Iraq as Israel is to Palestine. No progress will be made in Iraq or the Muslim world without addressing the Palestinian issue...and doing so expediently.

I believe there will not be elections in Jan. After Falloojah happens again, free. fair. and all-inclusive elections could become a pipe-dream. Instead the insurgency will strengthen and it will create more unnecessary human consequences while radicalizing more Iraqis that are willing to die because of desparation...because they have nothing to lose. And this ties right into the Palestinian issue. America has created their own very personal and enormous Palestine. And Bush will not be able to ignore Palestine and Iraq at the same time in his second term, while continuing to allow Israel to take more and more Palestinian land and give less and less concessions to Palestinians themselves.

What's even more is that the US admin. knows whatever they instigate in Falloojah could easily ripple out into other regions in Iraq. Of most concern to me is the violence spreading to Baghdad. If this happens then there will be an inevitable chain-reaction of violence with such inertia that the coalition forces will not know what hit them. To supress Baghdad in a Falloojan manner is a death-trap for all. They are gambling the shirts off their back and stoking the flaming coles they already walk upon by razing Falloojah. I hear that there are militias in the south that are willing to send up armies into Falloojah due to the suicide bombings. There's already internal dischord that resembles history post Ottoman breakup. The one thing that could unite these internal and Iraqi elements of resistence are some bombs that kill more innocent civilians. And we could very well eventually see America thrown out of Iraq by force (similar to the British) if this continues to be the "democracy" they offer Iraqis. Meaning 2-3 years. So, tread carefully. Use words, not Stealth bombers. I urge for the sake of both Iraq and America. And don't expect the chorus of questions Iraqis ask, like the following, to stop. Because America does still occupy Iraq and owes Iraqis clear explanations as to who is accountable for the on-going economic, physical, and psychological abuse that simulates a return to the Saddam experience with an American face.

Where is liberation? Who is accountable?

I'm afraid we'll never know either. But it would behoove us all to get answers in order to reach reconciliation.

If bush is re-elected they will attack iran and syria ...and who knows where else.

America will now become a bonafide warfare state. My friends and I are in utter disbelief now. Some very angry, some still shocked. "Where do we live?" I ask. Is this for real?

Does it matter for Iraq? No, not really. And I don't blame Iraqis inside Iraq being indifferent to the results. But many of you inside Iraq know the sowing of unrest throughout the region will continue if bush has indeed won.

pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase... no more years!!!

C-SPAN: 2004 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

(gasp)

Los Angeles Times - election coverage

Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 shows EVs at Kerry with 262 vs Bush's 261. Easy to say how innaccurate this is...

Juan Cole has some indispensable analysis about what's at stake.
The Revolutionary vs. the Statesman

I just voted. It was a really fancy machine. But it was really straight-forward. No paper-trail, though.

It was funny because I went into the voting place with a t-shirt I bought in France that says, "Je t'aime"...and it was cloudy. I came out and a bright sun broke open the sky into little pieces. I felt good walking out of there. It was more than symbolic.

Editor's Cut

An interesting thing happened at the Halloween party I went to last night. Apparently, there was a disagreement between a friend of mine and another person. I don't know for sure, but my friend says there was some harsh talk about race involved. Anyway, offense was taken by my friend (who is not white), and one person jumped the other and they started going at it. I thought nothing of it at first as they wrestled on the ground. I was tired and it was late...and there was some wasted girl trying to speak to me about nothing. Then, it started getting considerably more vicious so I jumped up and ditched the fabulous conversation. At about the same time another other guy with a solid frame was also running to break up the fight. So, the two of us quickly ended it after untangling them.

The guy that helped me said he just got back from Falloojah where he was serving with the Marines. How ironic, I thought. Unbelievable. Fate had it that something like this should happen. He was saying, "I don't want to see my brothers fighting here in the US. That's not what I'm fighting for in Iraq. It really gets to me seeing anybody fighting like this." He then began to tell stories of blood, death, and rescue in Falloojah. 77 of 127 of his company were killed. He told us that they're going into Fallojah soon. (He prefaced it with saying that he couldn't tell anybody about it, but it was true.) Shell-shock was evident (he later admitted to this problem), as his right hand or trigger finger was shaking while holding his beer as if he was shooting a 240. That was really strange.

Another thing that I thought was curious was that he started talking about mustard gas and said that there were chemical weapons in Iraq, but because of the elections the administration didn't want to reveal that now. I find this completely implausible, but he went on about it while never directly admitting to there being mustard gas inside Iraq. He just mentioned its effects. and that there were chemical weapons in Iraq and now they have been taken to Syria. Which, ding ding ding, means that the government could be cooking a case against Syria. This is insane. So the weapons have legs and conveniently are moving to the country that could be attacked next? I find this ridiculous.

But he is sincere about his beliefs in helping Iraq and Iraqis, so I listen and look at him semi-shocked as if he were a ghost. He served 2 tours. He said he was one of the first Marines to cross the border and "kick down doors". And they fought in Nasariya. On his second tour he was in Fallojah. It was chilling to hear how he talked about his gun and how when his friends got wounded he couldn't stop his suppressive fire to help them. He found this to be the most terrible thing about his time there besides having one of his best friends die 3 hours after he rescued him. He told me about how he carried this wounded friend 300 yards. He said he couldn't see in front of him more than two feet because his friend's blood was dripping all over him and was in his eyes.

I posed the question, "Do you think it has been worth all the deaths of your friends, your 77 comrades-in-arms, and the deaths of countless innocent Iraqis to "help" the Iraqi people in this way?" He gave me a non-answer. He couldn't answer...and I understand. But he did think it was a noble cause. He said to me, "It's kind of like...you have to take life in order to protect it." This is precisely the kind of mentality that will get the US forces no-where in Iraq. Attacking Falloojah will be a huge mistake. And I believed him when he said it was going to happen soon. He even told me why. And it makes no sense to me beacuse there will be an enormous loss of lives.

He spoke fondly of Iraqi people, still. And that wasn't surprising to me. He spoke about how good it feels for a little girl to come up to you, thank you for coming, and give you a hug. I even admit his stories were touching. We talked and talked until we were forced to leave. He made it a point to give me a huge hug and I said that I hoped he didn't have to go back to Iraq. He was injured. The shell-shock was overtly apparent in the beginning. And it made me feel bad for him. I didn't know how to react when I first heard him speaking about Iraq. He began shaking uncontrollably at one point right after we broke up the fight and was talking to the guy who had provoked my friend. He convinced that guy that it wasn't worth fighting. In fact, with his reaction he got us all sober real-quick. It affected him greatly to see people fighting over petty verbal infringements of honor here in the US (even if they were drunk).

OTHER OBSERVATIONS:

-I was just remembering a few more things about last night. I was stunned when the Marine said loudly, "What would you do if somebody tried to kill your father?" He was referring to Saddam trying to kill W.'s father. He seemed to empathize with putting American and innocent Iraqi lives on the line to avenge the attempt on his father's life. That didn't make any sense to me. And if it's the case. Bush needs to be out of office. He's using the armed forces to settle personal scores?

-He also mentions when a friend of his got hit by a grenade. "He had frags all up and down his body" It made me cringe when he went on about this...

-The look in his eyes was one of sincerity, but he was obviously disturbed by his actions and the outcomes of many fire-fights. Being a gunner made him worried about the person's who's job it was to switch the 240's barrel. That was the person's only job, he said. And he's unarmed standing behind the gun ready to change it when it gets red hot. I don't know jack about such heavy artillery. So, learning this stuff from a guy who was just in Falloojah is creepy as hell.

-My basic conclusion from this encounter is that there are a lot of people with a lot of delusional visions that are animated by fear of the unknown, still...even after people like David Kay have said there were no weapons in Iraq. Regardless, this Marine cared about the Iraqi people. I just am so appalled that in order to care for somebody you *might* have to kill them or their mother, father, sister, or brother. I can't compute it.

So, while I believed much of what this Marine was saying, I also could not possibly believe some of what he was saying. I felt bad he didn't know a damn thing about things like Depleted Uranium. I felt bad that he had 8 months left to serve and only another week left of rest with his friends and family. I felt bad for the coming storm in Falloojah. I feel bad about it all right now.

All I know is that I have been convinced that the shit is going to hit the fan very soon. I suggest everybody in Iraq do anything possible to be safe in the coming days. And they will have carte blanche because of the inflated Zarqawi issue. Remember everybody, the Lancet's numbers were a conservative estimate. The death numbers could well be in the range of 200,000 not 100,000. So, nobody can tell me that these numbers are not legit.

Where will this all go? Here in the US we will be electing the Emperor tomorrow. Let us hope he'll be wearing clothes. Any change would be good at this point. Even if it would have no immediate effect on the situation in Iraq. I have this hope that if Kerry gets elected that there will be no attack on Falloojah, but I'm afraid the decision has already been made.

Update: Iraqi freelance photographer for Reuters, Dhia Najim, was killed this day in Ramadi by sniper fire. [RSF yahoo/pic]. More and more, Iraqi reporters are becoming unsung heroes in this war. Their deaths are unacceptable.

I expect more about this story in the future. Iraqis are more aware of it than the Western world. And it's finally getting play in the US press. Interesting...

1 day,
lim