IRAQ
Occupation and Resistance Report

As the United State and its allies engages in yet another colonial occupation, it is essential that the real nature of this occupation be recorded. Further, as resistance to this occupation spreads, it is critical that information on this resistance be made available from a variety of sources.

[Speaking of and documenting this resistance in no way means that all opponents of US occupation are likeable folks who necessarily have the well-being of the Iraqi population as their priority. There is no reason to believe that the well-being or freedom of the Iraqi population figures in the calculations of the occupying powers, either. In any case, in the post-colonial world, it should not be up to the "occupying powers" to choose the way of life or the rulers of Iraq.]

Interviews with & Writings by Antiwar GIs & Vets

div class="NewsLink"> Fight To Survive

Key Documents

The Occupation

Occupation

Resistance

Analysis

While known to antiwar forces for many months, the corporate press has finally deigned to report the burgeoning death squads in Iraq. LA Times: Killings Linked to Shiite Squads in Iraqi Police Force. With loyalties to banned paramilitary groups, the fighters have kidnapped, tortured and slain Sunnis, officials and witnesses say. New York Times: Sunnis Accuse Iraqi Military of Kidnappings and Slayings. And: CBS News: Iraq's Sunnis Fear Shiite Militias. (POSTED: November , 2005)

[New York Times:] One Sunni group taking testimony from families in Baghdad said it had documented the death or disappearance of 700 Sunni civilians in the past four months.

Also finally being reported is the torture widely carried out by the new regime: Abuse of prisoners in Iraq widespread, officials say. Among the horrors is rape of women prisoners. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Iraqi authorities have been torturing and abusing prisoners in jails across the country, current and former Iraqi officials charged.

Why would he recognize torture in others when he denies the torture he ordered? Rumsfeld dismisses Iraqi abuse claims. He is also trying to linguistically eliminate the opponent. Will the corporate press cooperate? Don't call it an 'insurgency': Rumsfeld. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Thieves fall out: Bush Antiterror Plans Irk Big Business. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Flash video reminds us who Saddam Hussein is: Thanks! (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Another group suffering in Islamic state: Iraqi prostitutes now live in fear for their lives: Under Saddam women were protected. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

It never is, is it? Marine bully video 'not typical'. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Sunnis Complain of Random Arrests, Torture. iscovery of tortured detainees at secret Baghdad jail ratchets up tensions between Sunni Arab leaders and Shia-led government. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Saddam trial reveals divisions in Iraq. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Private Security Crews Add to Fear in Baghdad. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

In southern Iraq refugees from Iran during the Iran-Iraq war: Ahwazi refugees overlooked by government. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Imagine how many bombs they've dropped already: U.S. reports JDAMS shortage in Iraq. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Iraq turns Afghan "victory" into endless war: Afghans Confront Surge in Violence: Foreign Support Seen Behind Attacks That Mimic Those in Iraq. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

LA Times weighs in: Use of Chemical in Iraq Ignites Debate. Critics say civilians died in incendiary attacks. U.S. asserts white phosphorus was only used on insurgents. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Mental health professional do patch work to keep soldiers in combat. If a solder then dies, are they then an accessory? Where are the professional associations protesting these therapists' role in patching up traumatized patients and send them pack to combat, where they are likely to be retraumatized, or killed? Aren't they supposed to be serving the best interests of the patient? Therapists take on soldiers' trauma in Iraq. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Seymour Hersh: Up in the Air: Where is the Iraq war headed next? See also Seymour Hersh, interviewed on CNN's Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer, says US planning to accelerate air war to allow them to pull out more US troops: Interview With Seymour Hersh. [Scroll 1/4 of the way down] Remember, the October, 2004 study in the Lancet that estimated that 98,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the US invasion, also reported that most of those who died violent deaths, died as a result of US air strikes. Imagine what devastation this new escalated air war will cause. Also in the interview is Hersh's idea that Bush is on a crusade [my word] and is ignoring any realities that get in the way of pursuit of the crusade. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Experience counts: First Job Out of College: Combat-Zone Commander. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

The kind of democracy Bush understands: Egypt police said to impede voting in opposition strongholds. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

More on the killing spree video [see next post]: Video prompts probes into security in Iraq. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Must Watch! Horrifying beyond belief by its banality. Crooks and Liars has the video of contractors in Iraq engaged in random shooting, evidently killing a number of drivers of cars. The video is even set to music! See the blog entry by Hunter: "Trophy Video" of Civilian Shootings By Contractors Emerges and the Sunday Telegrapj article: . 'Trophy' video exposes private security contractors shooting up Iraqi drivers. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Another victim of a corrupt occupation: A Journey That Ended in Anguish. Col. Ted Westhusing, a military ethicist who volunteered to go to Iraq, was upset by what he saw. His apparent suicide raises questions. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Four groups considering talks: Insurgent groups have responded to call for talks: Iraq Prez. See related comments by Juan Cole: Iraqi Guerrillas Made Key Demands of CIA at Cairo Conference. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Riverbend: Assassinations... (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

US to reach out to Iran to subdue Iraq unrest. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Photo op leads to injury: Two Congressmen Hurt in Iraq Vehicle Flip. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

8 Sunnis Arrested in Assassination Plot against Saddam investigative judge. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

A year later, still an enormous concentration camp: Fallujah; a city remains captive. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Iraq Sunni clerics urge U.S. boycott. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

HAkim of SCIRI criticizes Americans for hamstringing their plans to treat the Sunnis the way SCIRI wants to: Iraqi Shiite urges strong hand against insurgents. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Robin Wright of the Washington Post writes of the progress she's witnessed: In Baghdad, Capital Vistas Gradually Shrink With Insecurity. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

On this latest trip to Baghdad, the bubble shrank even more. No roaming the Green Zone. Not even a stop at the convention center. The press corps, including veteran war correspondents, was sequestered in Hussein's old palace for most of the seven-hour stay. We were discouraged from wandering the palace and were provided escorts to go to the bathroom.

"Reduction" being contemplated to avoid "withdrawal", after US suddenly finds Iraqi battalions under Bush's Christmas tree: U.S. Starts Laying Groundwork for Significant Troop Pullout From Iraq. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Dahr Jamail: Life Goes On in Fallujah's Rubble. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Don't desert us now: US presses allies to delay Iraq pullouts: Longer tours sought for coalition forces. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Bombing Al-Jazeera wasn't new in 2004, when Bush suggested it: Neocons Floated Idea of Bombing Al Jazeera Before. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Mercenaries kill, perhaps for sport: 'Trophy' video exposes private security contractors shooting up Iraqi drivers. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

CIA asset Allawi: Abuse worse than under Saddam, says Iraqi leader. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Needed for his popularity, an reputation for not being a US or Iranian puppet: Al-Sadr cements position as key player. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

No longer a surprise in the torture state: Detainees Responsible for Terror Attacks Get Bare Minimum to Ensure They Stay Alive. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Gulag in Europe: US ran Guantanamo-style prison in Kosovo. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Torture just not ok: Dutch foreign minister warns US on human rights abuses. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Front for kidnapping and torture: Tenn. Office Linked to CIA Renditions. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Just what did they talk about? Secrecy gag prompted by fear of new Blair-Bush revelations. But Boris Johnson, MP for Henley and editor of The Spectator says: I'll go to jail to print the truth about Bush and al-Jazeera. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

As in all countries a major, largely ignored division is: Iraq’s economic divide. By Dr Amal Kashf Al Ghitta, a member of the Iraq National Assembly. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

In the face of endless war: US morale in Iraq is marked 'fragile': Seeing friends die, injured is taking its toll on many American soldiers. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Sign of desperation? US says Iraq insurgents can be 'part of solution'. Since when is it the US's business anyway? (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

The 2006 elections begin: 3 Brigades May Be Cut in Iraq Early in 2006: Some US Troops Would Stay 'On Call' in Kuwait. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Bush evidently was concerned about reporting of the first Fallujah attack when he planned to attack Al-Jazeera headquarters in Qatar: UK Press Gagged by Attorney General over Reported Bush Plan to Bomb News Outlet. See also the Mirror's Editorial: Law Chief Gags the Mirror on Bush Leak. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

From the blogsosphere to the (British) press: US intelligence classified white phosphorus as 'chemical weapon'. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Even close allies feign upset with US torture: Straw asks US to answer claims that it runs secret jails for terror suspects. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

A new reports says: Big oil has crude designs on Iraq wealth. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

US wanted to use military force to suppress freedom of the press. We need an independent international investigation into all the journalists killed by US troops in Iraq. This article lends support to those who believe that theses deaths were far from "accidental". Remember, the Al-Jazeera office in Baghdad was bombed Bush plot to bomb his Arab ally. Now they try and suppress it: Legal gag on Bush-Blair war row . See also Al-Jazeera: Memo: Bush wanted Aljazeera bombed. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Young, educated Iraqis think more about fleeing. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

For the second time in six months: Military Body Armor Recalled. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

US Army documents state that "It is against the law of land warfare to employ WP against personnel targets." See George Monbiot: Behind the phosphorus clouds are war crimes within war crimes. Monbiot also reports that the US used thermobaric weapons on its criminal attack on Fallujah, described as having the effect of a tactical nuclear weapon. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

So the question has now widened: is there any crime the coalition forces have not committed in Iraq?

The US itself has classified White Phosphorous as a chemical weapon, when accusing Saddam of using it against the Kurds: Classified Pentagon Document Described White Phosphorus As ‘Chemical Weapon’. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

The New York Times, as usual, is only concerned about the public relations problems use of White Phosphorous poses for the US: Defense of Phosphorus Use Turns Into Damage Control. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

At the Cairo Reconciliation Conference: Iraqi Leaders Urge a Timetable for Eventual Troop Withdrawal. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Also at Reconciliation Conference: Iraq agrees to hear rebels even Ba'athist ones. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

In the slowly unfolding civil war: Sectarian Hatred Pulls Apart Iraq's Mixed Towns. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Another day in Baghdad A&E. What happens to the victims of Baghdad's countless bombings? Ghaith Abdul-Ahad meets the doctors who battle to save them. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

It's all ok now. Sorry we destroyed your town: Talafar families start to receive compensation for damaged property. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

As President Bush arrived in Korea: Ruling Camp Confirms Troop Cut From Iraq. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Techniques that result in death are not torture. So what is torture? Director: CIA does not torture. Goss calls agency's interrogation techniques 'unique'. So why do they so desperately need to be exempted from a ban on what they wouldn't even think of doing? (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

One incident of hundreds gets reported: US troops fired on Baghdad civilians. Five killed, including two young children. (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

The Vice President for Torture Powell aide: Torture 'guidance' from VP. (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

One of the few "successes" against domestic terrorism so fraudulent that: Detroit 'Sleeper Cell' Prosecutor Faces Probe: Grand Jury Considering Indictment for Misconduct. (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

The Scottish Sunday Herald joins those suggesting that US use of White Phosphorous in Fallujah was not simply despicable and nauseating, but also illegal, e.e., a war crime: The Dirty War. There is evidence of 'massive and indiscriminate' use of a weapon banned in areas where insurgents and civilians are indistinguishable. (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

American plan for first troop withdrawals within month. But foreseeable end to occupation. (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

British also taught "Shake and Bake": Tim Collins trained troops to fight with white phosphorus, again contradicting British government lies. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

The continued occupation is claimed necessary to preserve freedom. But the Iraqi government and the militias running wild consist of butchers and torturers, as do the occupation forces: The Dirty War: Torture and mutilation used on Iraqi 'insurgents'. Now we're to have the charade of the occupation forces who helped set up the death squads pretending to try and stop them. The New York Times Sunday has a truly pathetic article by John Burns on the dilemma of the poor Americans who can't stop Iraqi torture because they don't know which rumors to believe! (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

British-trained police in Iraq 'killed prisoners with drills'. See also: Britain launches purge of Iraq police as a prelude to phased withdrawal. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

Frontline police of new Iraq are waging secret war of vengeance . In July, Peter Beaumont revealed the existence of torture squads at work in the new Iraq. Here he reports on a sinister twist - a brutal campaign of political 'disappearances' (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

New 'Iraqi abuse photos' discovered in Scotland when soldiers had their film developed. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

US appointed convicted crooks to US Coalition Provisional authority, just as it was promoting a swindler to be Prime Minister and payed billions to US companies for shoddy or no work. Was the war just to provide employment for crooks? Were the Republicans actually motivated by a deire to rehabilitate swindlers? U.S. Aide Accused of Graft in Iraq Had a Shadowy Past. See also: Former Halliburton employee gets 15 months in Iraq kickback scheme and: Whistleblower's Iraq claims to be investigated: U.S. to examine allegations against Halliburton subsidiary. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

Come join us in the fight. F**k the Japanese Constitution: US asked Japan to change SDF mission in Iraq. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

Treason charge disrupts Iraq reconciliation talks in Cairo: (POSTED: November 19, 2005)

Gilbert Achcar has translated the following discussion from the Arabic: An Exchange Between Sunni Muslims and a SCIRI Leader. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Riverbend on how Iraqis feel to find out the US used White Phosphorous on their compatriots: Conventional Terror.... And on the Iraqi Torture Center: House of Horrors.... (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Few Iraqis ever doubted the American use of chemical weapons in Falloojeh. We’ve been hearing the terrifying stories of people burnt to the bone for well over a year now. I just didn’t want it confirmed. I didn’t want it confirmed because confirming the atrocities that occurred in Falloojeh means verifying how really lost we are as Iraqis under American occupation and how incredibly useless the world is in general- the UN, Kofi Annan, humanitarian organizations, clerics, the Pope, journalists… you name it- we’ve lost faith in it.

Torture by Shia militias: Torture photos fuel scandal of secret Iraqi jail. View: The Pictures (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Democracy Now! Former U.S. Army Interrogator Describes the Harsh Techniques He Used in Iraq, Detainee Abuse by Marines and Navy Seals and Why “Torture is the Worst Possible Thing We Could Do”. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Forgotten here, forgotten there: Iraq's forgotten poor struggle to survive. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

100,000 new refugees suffering as US liberates them from their home: Displaced in the west need more. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Party of Prime Minister boycotts: Two Parties Boycott Reconciliation Conference. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

New barbarism: The US Marines Used Thermobaric Weapons in Iraq. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Iraqi children losing their innocence in the violence of the war. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

One family as their children play with guns: Toy guns, a burned taxi, and daily life in Baghdad. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Rapid Personnel Shifts Hinder U.S. Efforts to Rebuild Iraq. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Australian: Troops may be asked to leave Iraq. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Kiss and make up time: Saudi Arabia Offers $1 Billion for the Reconstruction of Iraq. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Top Administration officials again supporting con man for strong man: A Lightning Rod's Striking Return: Ahmed Chalabi Sparks Support in U.S. Visit. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Let's see. The country with a long record of torturing Iraqis by the thousands and covering it up with fake investigation after investigation will supervise an investigation of Iraqi torture centers? Americans will examine all Iraqi-run prisons. See also: U.S. to Iraq: Curb use of Shiite militias. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Torture jail known months ago! Discovery of abused Iraqi prisoners sparks outrage: Sources say Iraqi PM and US forces had been told about 'torture cells' months ago. See also: Guard shows no remorse over Iraq bunker prisoners. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

The Iraqi Interior Minister, the Torturer-In-Chief: Iraqi Minister: Torture Claims Exaggerated. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

The beginning of revealing the massive corruption that underlies the US occupation: Massive bid-rigging scam alleged in Iraq: U.S. says businessman bribed coalition officials to land rebuilding contracts. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Burning the flesh off people just usual practice, we are now told, after year of denial: US defends use of white phosphorus against Iraq insurgents. See also: UK says white phosphorous used for smoke. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

The Independent has a detailed analysis, with background and a history of US and British lies regarding weapons used in Iraq. It demonstrates that they are serial liars: Incendiary weapons: The big white lie. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

An equal opportunity torturer? Iraq Says Abused Detainees From All Sects . (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

International outcry greets allegations of police abuse, aka, torture. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Must Read! Dan Murphy of the Christian Science Monitor: Iraqi torture practices could be more widespread. Revelations this week that Iraq's Interior Ministry abused detainees in a secret prison may be just the beginning. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

"What's really distressing is that we promised this would stop,'' says Whitson of Human Rights Watch. "What's different? What's changed? The Iraqi people were promised something better."

When not running the new torture centers, the new Iraqi security are running death squads, says Newday: Iraqi guards seen as death squads. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

One such group, the Volcano Brigade, is operating as a death squad, under the influence or control of Iraq's most potent Shia factional militia, the Iranian-backed Badr Organization, said several Iraqi government officials and western Baghdad residents.

Is murder official government policy, or just its practice? Uproar at Threat to Kill Extremist Sympathisers. Sunnis urge resignation of defence minister who threatened to target those who shelter insurgents. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

In the new spirit of democracy: Police, Civil Servants Punished for Not Voting. Policemen jailed and a minister fired for boycotting the constitution poll. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

To vote or to boycott:` Iraq rebel groups see benefit, division in poll. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Feingold helps shape debate on Iraq. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Kurdish victims of Saddam: Anfal Victims See Bleak Future. Relatives of those who perished in Iraqi army massacres feel new political era unlikely to deliver justice. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

83,000 foreigners admitted detained by US in GWOT: War on terror could fill stadium with detainees. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

take from the needy. Congress cuts funds to help sick and injured 9/11 First Responders: 'Promise Broken': N.Y. to Lose 9/11 Aid. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

After getting caught in lie after lie, Pentagon admits: US used white phosphorus in Iraq. Whether or not White Phosphorous technically is a chemical weapon under international law [a subject of debate], it is as horrific as many banned weapons and of the kinds of weapons Saddam has been accused of using. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Just what is it Saddam is to be tried for? Iraq investigating detainee abuse at govt bunker. See also: Iraq Detainee Torture Scandal. Obviously, neither the Iraqi nor US governments have any business trying anyone for "human rights" violations. Any such trials should immediately be transferred to the UN or another international authority. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

"I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beating, one or two detainees were paralysed and some had their skin peeled off various parts of their bodies."

ABC News reports the accounts of two Iraqis who were tortured inside Saddam's Republican Palace, by Americans. Then at the Baghdad airport prison and at Abu Ghraib: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture by U.S. Troops. Notice the NBC News headline: Iraqis say soldiers threw them in lions’ den. Threatened with being fed to lions. Stunned with Tasers. Simulating anal rape. Mistreating the Koran. And, of course, deprivation of food and water and repeated beatings. These are the US tools of "liberation" in Iraq. Note that the torture took place at three different sites. This was in no way the actions of a "few bad apples," but was obviously policy. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

In his legal complaint, he holds U.S. soldiers responsible for "Sexually assaulting and humiliating [him] … by grabbing his buttocks and simulating anal rape by pressing a water bottle against the seat of his pants; putting a hand inside [his] … pants and grabbing his buttocks during a severe beating … (and) brandishing a long wooden pole and threatening to sodomize him on the spot and every night of his detention."

Iraqis worried about wives being kidnapped into prostitution. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Killing breeds killing: Motive Glimpsed in Jordan Attack: Relatives Say U.S. Offensive in Fallujah Radicalized Woman And: Failed bomber lost three brothers in Iraq, two killed in Ramadi, and one in Fallujah. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

[Motive:] In Fallujah, a relative, who would not give his name, said Rishawi became extreme "when she saw the number of people killed by the Marines. Her husband used to bring the wounded and killed to their house. They buried some of the killed in their back yard."

Dirty electoral politics? Iraq speaker's brother freed after arrest. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

War Crimes! The US press essentially considers the US use of flesh-melting White Phosphorous in Fallujah (and elsewhere) to be a non-story, presumably as it puts the lie once and for all of any pretence that the Iraq invasion and occupation is anything but an extended series of almost unimaginable war crimes. Liberation, for US policy-makers, evidently means liberation from your flesh. However, the British Independent and Guardian newspapers have extensive coverage of the US war crimes. Andrew Buncombe and Solomon Hughes: The fog of war: white phosphorus, Fallujah and some burning questions; Dahr Jamail: I treated people who had their skin melted'; and George Monbiot: The US used chemical weapons in Iraq - and then lied about it . (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

[George Monbiot:] Saddam, facing a possible death sentence, is accused of mass murder, torture, false imprisonment and the use of chemical weapons. He is certainly guilty on all counts. So, it now seems, are those who overthrew him.

UN: US detains Iraqis in mass arrests. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Terrorism expert Loretta Napoleoni: Claim: U.S. created al-Zarqawi myth. Al-Zarqawi is now living up to the myth conveniently created for him. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Voter suppression, Iraqi style: Sunnis Want Halt in Iraq Military Actions to allow for Sunni participation in the December elections. Bet they won't get it. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Robert Fisk Torture’s out. Now they call it abuse. No screaming, no cries of agony, no shrieks of pain. Yes, it sounds much better, doesn’t it? (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Con men have a conference: Chalabi meets with Rumsfeld, Cheney: `Little made public about discussions with former Iraqi exile. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Some Insurgents Want a Deal, Politician Says. But the groups making overtures do not include the hard-core militants, many foreign, behind the worst violence, the former official notes. Further, as they want a timetable for US withdrawal, no deal is likely. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Falling in line behind puppet master: Iraq Says Syria Harbors Foreign Killers: Training Camps Cited; Most Suicide Bombers Are Saudis, Top Official Asserts. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

In our America: White House declines to totally rule out torture. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

VA seeks to chisel Iraq war veterans. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Possible. But unlikely: Saddam agents ‘murder defence team’ to halt trial, Iraqi government claims. Others blame government. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

54: Bodies found in Iraq town after US offensive-doctor. This includes women and children. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

First Periodical Report of Monitoring Net of Human Rights in Iraq. The Monitoring Network for Human Rights (MHRI), which consists of more than 20 Iraqi organizations for Human Rights, made this report about the crimes and continuous violations of human rights in Iraq. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

With four crucial Democratic votes, inhumanity triumphs: Senate Approves Plan to Limit Detainee Access to Courts. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

"Reconciliation" Conference not to involve reconciliation: Top Baathists not welcome at Cairo talks -Iraqi PM. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Some good mixed with the horror, as the AP tries to chronicle a day in the life of Iraqis: Fear, freedom part of daily routine in Iraq. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

"In the past, Iraq was a big prison," she says. "Today it is a jungle, and I love living in a jungle."

Bring UN back? UN plea for aircraft in Iraq going unanswered. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Brother runs insurgent cell, Iraqi police claim: Brother's arrest embarrasses Iraq parliament speaker (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

The Spoils! Iraq is Now the Second Largest U.S. Wheat Buyer. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

PTSD: Wounds that go beyond the battlefield. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

After over a year: Vets wait for education aid: Administrative issues tie up money. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

War for citizenship: 23 Stryker Brigade soldiers sworn in as U.S. citizens. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

War Crimes! Way back in 2004, the Washington Post reported the use of flesh melting White Phosphorus as a weapon: WaPo Confirmed U.S. Used White Phosphorus In Fallujah. Now the right is justifying such humanity as nothing unusual! (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Some artillery guns fired white phosphorous rounds that create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water. Insurgents reported being attacked with a substance that melted their skin, a reaction consistent with white phosphorous burns. Kamal Hadeethi, a physician at a regional hospital, said, "The corpses of the mujaheddin which we received were burned, and some corpses were melted."

And who is listening to her? Rice Presses for Religious Unity in Iraq. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Slash targets till you can meet them: Army Meets a Recruitment Goal: October's Target of 4,700 Is Smaller Than It Was a Year Ago. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

War Crimes! More evidence from Army sources of US lies regarding their horrifying use of White Phosphorus as a weapon, NOT to illuminate the battlefield, as they claim. It may not be a technical "chemical weapon", but it certainly should be illegal in all circumstances. The US is obviously aiming to be the world's leader in gruesome organized murder: More proof of WP [White Phosphorus] use. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Continued occupation not so popular: Extension of US-led military mandate draws mixed reactions. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Another mass refugee situation as Iraqis liberated from their homes: Urgent assistance needed for al-Qaim displaced, aid workers say. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Iraq faces $40 million bill to clean up toxic, radioactive waste. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Pentagon ban on torture a farce: Rumsfeld Can Authorize Exceptions To New "Humane" Interrogation Directive. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

War profiteering. Some win, some loose: General Dynamics plant lands $50M Stryker job. And: Textile plant victim of Iraq war. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Juan Cole: Terrorists Strike Hotels in Amman . (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Must Read! Capital Hill Blue reports: GOP memo touts new terror attack as way to reverse party's decline. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Torturers warned: Classified Report Warned on C.I.A.'s Tactics in Interrogation. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Maintaining power at all costs: White House keeps dossiers on more than 10,000 'political enemies'. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Those who have seen the list say it is far more extensive than Richard Nixon’s famous “enemies list” of Watergate fame or Bill Clinton’s dossiers on political enemies....

White House insiders tell disturbing tales of invasion of privacy, abuse of government power and use of expanded authority under the USA Patriot Act to dig into the personal lives of anyone the administration deems an enemy of the state.

“If you want to know who’s sleeping with whom, who drinks too much or has a fondness for nose candy, this is the place to find it,” says another White House aide. “Karl (Rove) operates under the rule that if you fuck with us, we’ll fuck you over....” Using the powers under the act, Rove expanded the list to more than 10,000 names, utilizing the FBI’s “national security letters” to gather private and intimate details on American citizens....

The database of political enemies of the Bush administration is not maintained on White House computers and is located on a privately-owned computer offsite, but can be accessed remotely by a select list of senior aides, including Rove. The offsite location allowed the database to escape detection by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald during his investigation of the Valerie Plame leak. The database is funded by private donations from Bush political backers and does not appear on the White House budget or Federal Election Commission campaign reports.

A rare admission of a daily occurrence: Iraqi Civilians Killed in Rebel-Held House Bombed by U.S. . (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

War Crimes? While official military sources continue to deny that white phosphorous was used in Fallujah as a weapon (as opposed to illuminate the battlefield), military sources, writing in the US Army Field Artillery magazine reported it at the time: The Fight for Fallujah [pdf], as did Darrin Mortenson of the North County Times regarding the earlier fight for Fallujah [Look under the cutely named Shake 'n' bake]: Violence subsides for Marines in Fallujah. Thanks to abriele Zamparini of Cat's Dream for this: BBC and Fallujah: War Crimes, Lies and Omertà. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

[The Fight for Fallujah:] WP [i.e., white phosphorus rounds] proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes when we could not get effects on them with HE. We fired 'shake and bake' missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out

Con job: Controversial Iraqi welcomed at White House. See also Arianna Huffington: Ahmad Does D.C.: An Alternative Chalabi Itinerary. And Justin Raimondo: The Return of Chalabi: Some Democrats are outraged, but both parties sired this scamster "liberator". (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Iraq’s pre-election political landscape proves complex. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Fantasy of Allawi comeback? Iraq May Go Retro in Coming Elections. He was unceremoniously dumped in January elections. But former interem Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Alawi may be on the verge of a comeback. Which could be good news for the Americans. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Amal Kashf al-Ghitta, member of the Iraqi National Assembly, writes of issues ignored in all the brouhaha: Widening wealth gap fueling insurrection in Iraq. For the poor and the powerless who have few skills to find gainful employment, democracy and human rights mean nothing. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Everyone who looks at Iraq sees a nation divided between Shia, Sunni and Kurd communities. But an equally fundamental division -- one that has contributed as much to the ongoing insurrection as sectarian strife and opposition to the American-led military occupation -- is the widening gap between Iraq's rich and poor.

Hidden treasures of Iraq. Holders of looted artifacts are lying low, waiting for the right time to sell. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Occupation continues: U.N. extends MNF in Iraq. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Iraq fallout? Deadly explosions rock hotels in Jordan: Dozens are killed in three nearly simultaneous explosions. Related: Rumsfeld criticizes Saudis, Jordan for wait-and-see stance on Iraq. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

And next door in Syria: Is US planning an Iraq-style 'regime change' in Syria?. A new intelligence report, however, says any successor to Assad's regime won't be any friendlier to US. See also: Inside and Outside Syria, a Debate to Decide the Future. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Canon fodder hardly has to walk: Any Soldier Will Do For the Pentagon. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

What has not been known until now is that recruitment shortages have resulted in the Pentagon calling up reservists who are ill or medically unfit. According to the GAO report, this includes reservists who have suffered from heart attacks, those with severe asthma (weather conditions in the desert exacerbates this condition), hernias, severe hypertension, and a woman who was four months into chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. It also includes reservists suffering from sleep apnea who need medical equipment to help them breath, yet large portions of Iraq and Afghanistan lack the electricity necessary to run the equipment.

Reserve forces that are diabetic and require insulin pumps have been called to active duty. A soldier was called up only two weeks after receiving a kidney transplant. Other reservists have required kidney dialysis.

Something's going right, it you're a bean farmer that is: Nelson expects Iraq to reopen bean market. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Protecting oil companies ranks up there with protecting torture: Republicans refuse to swear in testifying oil execs. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

It's OK to kill them by the thousands. after all, every once in a while the survivors win the lottery: $5,000 for loss of wife and son: how US prices death. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

12% of the new occupation army scores "between 16 and 30 points out of a possible 99 on an aptitude test:" Army reaches low, fills ranks: 12% of recruits in Oct. had lowest acceptable scores. Soldiers in a complex situation able to understand and deal with complexity? Or just shoot first and don't ask questions later? (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Incompetence, or.... Official lets slip U.S. spy budget. Imagine what that 44 Billion could do if it was put to useful purposes. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Perhaps legal, but monstrous beyond imagination: US criticised for use of phosphorous in Fallujah raids. US tries to deflect attention from its horrifying barbarism by legalisms: Did the US military use chemical weapons in Iraq? The satellite photos of hundreds of blocks of burned out Fallujah [shown in the RAI documentary] put the lie to the claim that phosphorous was only used "sparingly" to illuminate battlefields. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Christopher Allbritton in Timevisits Fallujah one year after it's destruction: Looking Out on Hostile Territory: Why the Iraqi city the Americans conquered a year ago is still a threat. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

More fascist shock troops to Iraq: Former Serb Red Berets in Iraq. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Much as it pains them: Pentagon: Detainees must be treated well. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Rep. Conyers send Chalabi a letter asking for a meeting: Conyers to Chalabi. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

How can there be fair trials if the lawyers keep on being murdered? If the trial isn't fair, and won't be perceived as such, why bother? Gunmen assassinate another lawyer in Iraq, throwing Saddam trial into jeopardy. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Torture and imprisonment without trial forever, just dandy. But let the public know what's being done in their name and the wrath of God comes down: CIA prison claims 'to be probed'. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Even intelligence czar war criminal: Negroponte won't back Cheney on torture. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Racial divide evident in military. Or is it a poverty divide? (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Bait and switch doesn't work this time: Soldiers will get promised bonus for re-enlisting:Under pressure, Pentagon relents. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

The torture President defends his torture gulags: Bush Declares: 'We Do Not Torture'. What is the meaning of "We", of "do", of "not", and above all, of "torture"? (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

An Italian satellite TV channel reports: US Used Chemical Weapons In Iraq: Veteran admits: Bodies melted away before us. White phosphorous used on the civilian populace: This is how the US "took" Fallujah. New napalm formula also used. Watch the video: here Must Watch!. A larger format [and larger file] version is available here. More details on the horror:: US forces 'used chemical weapons' during assault on city of Fallujah. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

RAI News 24's investigative story, Fallujah, The Concealed Massacre, will be broadcast tomorrow on RAI-3 and will contain not only eye-witness accounts by US military personnel but those from Fallujah residents. A rain of fire descended on the city. People who were exposed to those multicolored substance began to burn. We found people with bizarre wounds-their bodies burned but their clothes intact, relates Mohamad Tareq al-Deraji, a biologist and Fallujah resident....

In the investigative story, produced by Maurizio Torrealta, dramatic footage is shown revealing the effects of the bombardment on civilians, women and children, some of whom were surprised in their sleep.

The investigation will also broadcast documentary proof of the use in Iraq of a new napalm formula called MK77. The use of the incendiary substance on civilians is forbidden by a 1980 UN treaty.

Mass murder and lies go together: The media are minimising US and British war crimes in Iraq . The reporting of the Iraqi death toll - both in its scale and account of who is doing the killing - is profoundly dishonest. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Another catastrophe in US attack: Dozens dead, thousands displaced in west, doctors say.

More grunts blamed for American war crimes: US troops accused of Iraq 'abuse'. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Escalation in Wag the dog! Boston Globe to report U.S. cutting diplomatic ties with Syria. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Must Read! Better late than never: White House Releases Patch for Iraq War 2.0. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Con men hang together: Washington elite bring Chalabi in from the cold. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

(POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Support Our Troops? Canon fodder dispensable when it returns: Many employers AWOL on duty to guard members: Soldiers return to find jobs, benefits and seniority gone. Companies break the law right and left. Surprise! War government does nothing. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Few National Guard members file formal complaints against their employers, however. Those that do often have to wait a year or more until their complaints are resolved by the Department of Labor or other agencies, the GAO found.

Al-Sadr's maneuvers continue: Iraq cleric Sadr withholds party backing. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

As everywhere, immigrants tormented when fear grips: Arab fighters trouble innocent outsiders. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Journalists killed in Iraq in 2005, so far. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Can people be locked up forever with only a show trial? Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case on Military Tribunals. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Time: Outing Secret Jails. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Jan Mayer in the New Yorker: A Deadly Interrogation: Can the C.I.A. legally kill a prisoner? (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch claims that former Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey made up stories of abuses by US troops: Is Jimmy Massey telling the truth about Iraq? (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Prisoner Accounts Suggest Detention At Secret Facilities: Rights Group Draws Link to the CIA. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Denmark takes path shunned by Canada in following US to Iraq. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

What if they held a conference and nobody came: Iraq reconciliation conference to be delayed. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Riverbend: Movies and Dreams... (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

SCIRI head Abdul Aziz Al Hakim and his dead brother Mohammed Baqir Al Hakim were both well-known interrogators and torturers of Iraqi POWs in Iran.

Iraqi politicians condemn US offensive. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Independent reporter: Dahr Jamail Interviewed by Don Nash. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Only the best for those visiting the occupiers: $85m `7-star' hotel set for Baghdad's Green Zone (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

The US put a Polish used car salesman (plus shoes and flowers) in charge of Iraqi defense procurement. Not surprisingly, he now stands accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars, while buying a bunch of crap: Before Rearming Iraq, He Sold Shoes and Flowers. Kind of like picking a failed oil man as President. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

The portrait that emerges from interviews and documents is a Defense Ministry whose members were picked with the care of choosing a pickup basketball team. U.S.-appointed military advisors often selected inexperienced Iraqis and watched as they cut pell-mell weapons deals that eventually totaled one-third of the entire procurement budget.

US troops kill Iraqi civilian in Baghdad. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

20 mile road from airport to Baghdad almost safe, for the moment: Travel in Iraq still risky but improving. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Al-Sadr: Rebel cleric on the rise again, this time in political arena. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

In Najaf, many people die in insurgent attacks: In a Shiite City, Days of the Dead. As mourners descend on a vast cemetery in Najaf, burial workers say it's difficult to cope with the large numbers of victims of insurgent violence. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

War crimes accusations against government: Iraq's Sunni Arab group demands DM's dismissal for calling for murdering innocent civilians in attacks on insurgents. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Darkening mood overtakes Baghdad bookstore. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

British doctors say: Iraq battle stress worse than WWII. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Russia backs Arab League's Iraq initiative. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

American: Civilians in Iraq risk death to earn 'a future, a way out'. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Mark Engler and Tom Engelhardt on a potential business revolt against the Bushcons: Bush's Bad Business Empire: Making the World Unsafe for Microsoft and Mickey Mouse (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Must Read! Thanks to (Un)Patriot Act, FBI now spying everywhere! The FBI's Secret Scrutiny: In Hunt for Terrorists, Bureau Examines Records of Ordinary Americans. Who's that under my bed? (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

UN says US should pay back the hundreds of millions stolen from Iraq by Halliburton: UN Audit: US Should Repay Iraq $208 Million. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

They knew they were telling lies, New York Times reports: Report Warned Bush Team About Intelligence Suspicions. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

The vampires at work: Youths in Rural U.S. Are Drawn To Military: Recruits' Job Worries Outweigh War Fears. But some resist the bite: Black Americans make up smaller share of military. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

The screw the cannon fodder brigade: Guardsman re-enlists, Pentagon kills bonus: Officers from state try to restore $15,000 benefit. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

I hate the guy, but certainly admire his doggedness in this: McCain Vows to Add Detainee-Abuse Provision to All Senate Bills. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Security Forces Face Abuse Claims. Overzealous Iraqi army and police charged with riding roughshod over the rights of local people. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

In Iraq, freedom to secede? Kurds see democracy as means to gain independent state. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Women and Children Suffer From Continued Fighting. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Iraq conference idea resurfaces. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Flee Iraq, Foreign Diplomats Warned. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

As occupying authority: US should repay Iraq for Halliburton work: audit. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

In Syria, as it awaits an uncertain future: Syria's opposition creeps out of the shadows as crisis grows. And: Nationalism Mixes With Dissatisfaction in the Streets of Syria. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Showdown coming? Galloway faces US court action over Iraq cash claims. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

New Iraq? Wrongful incarceration not unusual in Iraq. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Last summer, someone - a neighbor, an angry relative, a crook trying to avoid trouble - told police that he was a terrorism risk. That's all it took. With no evidence to back the claim, police arrested Salen and sent him to prison to await questioning, to see if charges were merited. He understood that he was lucky to be going home after two months. Men near him in the crowd had waited without charges for a year.

Al-Sadr ally: Iraqi Shia cleric slams al-Qaida. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Iraqis must "unite to fight terrorism and to get rid of people like al-Qaida," said the cleric Hazem al-Araji. These groups "sometimes act in the name of Ansar as-Sunna (partisans of the Sunnis), but they are enemies of the Sunnis,” he said on Thursday.

In Britain: Political row as Iraq murder case against soldiers collapses. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Reauthorizing occupation: UN weighs measure extending US-led force in Iraq. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

In Iraq's wild west. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Even Saddam didn't enjoy full control over the far-western tribal belt, so what can the Americans hope to achieve - and what will happen when they leave?...

[T]he rules that prevent me from reporting US battle positions and plans, or naming US casualties before their families have been notified, can't stop me from seeing that the Americans are running into the sand.

Torture just not popular there: European Commission to Investigate Reports of Secret CIA Jails. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Con man extraordinaire back at work: Chalabi announces intentions to play role in Iraq's political process. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

People reluctant to risk death for neocon plans: Despite stakes, Iraq staffing a problem. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Iraq's Sunni-Shiite split shadows holiday. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley: Iraq Pullout Bad for Israel: Bush's Aide. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Torture centers getting bad press: White House uneasy on 'secret' prisons. While, in Europe: Alleged CIA detention camp in eastern Europe sparks MEPs' outrage. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

[To prove the deep respect for human rights:] Senior intelligence sources told the Washington Post that the al Qaeda prisoners are held in complete isolation from the outside world, have no recognised legal rights, and are probably subject to the CIA's controversial "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques".

Oil companies above all: White House opposes oil donations to heating fund. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

After years of war and perpetual threat: Women Yearn for Security: Many women supported the constitution in the hope it will bring an end to violence. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Iraq Fights Occupation with Music. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

US Division Vacates Compound In Heart of Hussein's Home Turf. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Ex-Iraq troops invited into army. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

What's going on? Two US soldiers found dead at bases in Kuwait. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Hidden for months, since July: Top al-Qaida Figure Among Afghan Escapees . (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Wolfowitz, in New Role, Blocked by Iraq Chaos He Didn't Foresee. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Shiite power struggle simmers in Najaf. In Iraq's Shiite heartland, tensions remain high between Moqtada al Sadr and Iraq's ruling party SCIRI. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Crook still hopes to be Prime Minister: Iraqi official aims to refurbish image. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Send more troop? These guys are never pulling out: Rumsfeld hints at more troops in Iraq. He also defended not allowing UN inspectors to visit the torture victims at Guantanamo Concentration Camp. You see, unlike the the ICRC, the UN officials aren't sworn to absolute secrecy over the conditions they find. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Detainee Policy Sharply Divides Bush Officials. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

[Note this amazing sentence:] Advocates of that approach, who include some Defense and State Department officials and senior military lawyers, contend that moving the military's detention policies closer to international law would prevent further abuses and build support overseas for the fight against Islamic extremists, officials said. [Not even a pretence of being a nation "based on laws.]

A central player in the fight over the directive [to block any change in US policy of torture] is David S. Addington, who was the vice president's counsel until he was named on Monday to succeed I. Lewis Libby Jr. as Mr. Cheney's chief of staff. According to several officials, Mr. Addington verbally assailed a Pentagon aide who was called to brief him and Mr. Libby on the draft, objecting to its use of language drawn from Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. "He left bruised and bloody," one Defense Department official said of the Pentagon aide, Matthew C. Waxman, Mr. Rumsfeld's chief adviser on detainee issues. "He tried to champion Article 3, and Addington just ate him for lunch."

The CIA uses Soviet-era prisons to conduct some of its torture sessions: CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons: Debate Is Growing Within Agency About Legality and Morality of Overseas System Set Up After 9/11. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

[A]s the volume of leads pouring into the CTC from abroad increased, and the capacity of its paramilitary group to seize suspects grew, the CIA began apprehending more people whose intelligence value and links to terrorism were less certain, according to four current and former officials....

The original standard for consigning suspects to the invisible universe was lowered or ignored, they said. "They've got many, many more who don't reach any threshold," one intelligence official said.

Government of, by and for the torturers: Cheney Taps Torture Memo Author to Replace Scooter Libby. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Even car buying doesn't go right: US blows $1 million on 7 lemon cars in Iraq. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

A new source for war information: War News Radio. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

US firing hundreds of millions of rounds of machine gun amo. each shell can rip a person to shreds. What are they hitting with all of these shots? .50-caliber ammo used so much that supplies run low. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

So much for sovereignty: Talabani: Iraq cannot stop US using bases against Syria. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

"I categorically refuse the use of Iraqi soil to launch a military strike against Syria or any other Arab country," Talabani told the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview published Tuesday. "But at the end of the day my ability to confront the US military is limited and I cannot impose on them my will."

Peace opens possibilities: Kurds' Dream City a beacon of hope for a nation weary of war. See also: Minority set to benefit most from election. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Another sign of Iraq's fragmentation, and of the near irrelevance of the "government": Militia ID cards are keys to the city. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Gareth Porter: Reports of Sunni Enthusiasm May Be Premature. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

[T]he overwhelming majority of Sunnis have followed the political strategy urged by the insurgent leadership and anti-occupation Sunni clerics....

The nearly complete absence of violence that could disrupt the poll throughout most of the Sunni heartland, which U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch later credited to the "vigilance of American and Iraqi security forces," was in the fact the result of a decision by the leaders of major Sunni insurgent organizations in August to get out the maximum number of Sunni votes against the constitution....

One of the Sunni politicians who agreed to campaign for the constitution, Mishan al-Jabouri, owns a satellite channel, and he declared confidently that 80 percent of the population of Salahuddin province would vote "yes" on the constitution. But the vote in Salahuddin showed that traditional Sunni power-brokers no longer influence the Sunni voters. Eighty-one percent of the vote in Salahuddin was against the constitution.

Violence in Iraq leads to brain drain. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Interesting maneuver: Talabani offers pilots safe haven. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

US release 500 Iraqi detainees from Abu Ghraib prison. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Speaking from both sides of his mouth: Iraq war dominates Italy-US talks. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

In fantasyland: Auditor urges Iraq corruption crackdown. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Maintenance hobbles Iraq electricity. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

No withdrawal while you're still useful: Chalabi rules out Iraq troop withdrawal. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Our infrastructure legacy to Iraq: US unveils new prison in Iraq. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Continue occupation: Iraq asks U.N. to let US-led force stay. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Mosul Leaders Threaten to Join Guerrilla Movement: Protest Firing of Police Commissioner. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

New mercenary possibilities: Veteran Peruvian Soldiers and Police Recruited for Iraq by US Contractors. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Shades of Vietnam: Hearings open in Iraq 'fragging' case. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Maybe they do learn something at college: Enrollment is low for Army ROTC recruits. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

National enrollment for the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps has dropped 14 percent since 2002

Italy has reservations about Iraq war: defense minister. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Punishment for slimebag: US President Wary of Italian PM, Says Former Advisor. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Protest, Resistance, and Civil War

Occupation

Resistance

Analysis

Tuesday: Top Sunni cleric assassinated in Iraq in Fallujah. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

This hits home: 2 Canadians taken hostage in Iraq worked for Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada. The other two were also from Christian Peacemaker Teams. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

German Is Latest Iraq Kidnapping Victim. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Third Briton dies after Iraq bus attack. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Authorities investigating whether Belgian woman carried out suicide attack in Iraq. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

In Lebanon, Arab fighters are ready to die in Iraq. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Iraq Bus Attack Kills Two British Muslims on way to Shiite shrines. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Monday, leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party assassinated: Sunni official, journalists die in separate Iraq attacks. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Sunday: Four Westerners kidnapped: Briton who went to Iraq on peace mission is kidnapped. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Thursday: Bomb kills 31 outside Iraq hospital. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Senior Sunni Leader Killed in Iraq by men in Army uniforms. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Tuesday: Insurgents kill two U.S. troops in western Iraq. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Iraq Bomber Kills 17; US Toll at 2,100. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Under U.S. Design, Iraq's New Army Looks a Good Deal Like the Old One. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Saturday: Bombings Kill Nearly 50 Near Baghdad. And: Bombs kill five U.S. soldiers in northern Iraq. (POSTED: November 19, 2005)

With 74 killed in Friday bombings: Casualties soar again in Iraq. (POSTED: November 19, 2005)

Among Insurgents in Iraq, Few Foreigners Are Found. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Thursday: US marine killed in bomb attack in Iraq. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Wednesday: Six More U.S. Service Members Die in Iraq . (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Iraq attacks kill nine policemen (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

In western Iraq: Iraq Battle Leaves 80 Insurgents 3 U.S. Marines Dead. And: U.S. Widens Offensive In Far Western Iraq. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Botched bomber confesses: Confession Brings Mixed Emotions In Jordan. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Sunday, three: More US soldiers die in Iraq. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Tanks for army: Iraq army receives second-hand Hungarian tanks. But: Tanks Could Be Impounded. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Saturday: Sniper hunts 2 US soldiers west of Baghdad. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

Explosive devices slow Marines in Karabila. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Iraq gunmen target Oman embassy. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Friday: Five American Troops Killed in Iraq. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

The same story, over and over. When your forces are completely infiltrated, surprise will not work: Hopes fade of trapping many insurgents in western Iraq: Curtain is beginning to fall on joint U.S.-Iraqi operation near Syrian border. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Fight them over where? Al-Qaida Links Jordan Hotel Bombings to Iraq War, Calls Amman 'Backyard Camp' for U.S. Operations. See also: Why Jordan is a target for Islamist militants. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Al-Qaida in Iraq, local insurgents battle over tactics, money. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Iraqi troops find 27 bodies near Iran border`. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Thursday: Baghdad restaurant bomb kills 34. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Progress: In Iraq, the number of insurgents isn't falling: Recruits replacing the dead, detained. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Wednesday: Six dead after car bombs explode near mosque. And: Four Georgian peacekeepers wounded in Iraq. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Parliament speaker's brother kidnapped in Iraq. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Iraq terrorist video shows crashed US copter: Bodies of two Marines seen in footage posted on Internet. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

US strategy, bombs, bombs, and more bombs: US launches offensive on Fallujah insurgent base on Husaybah. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Colonel Stephen Davis, while ordering Abrams tanks to fire, added: "I got bombs, he got bombs. I got more bombs than he got. It's a very primal fight. We don't do a lot of hearts and minds out here because it is irrelevant."

Some militias are in power, others out: Militias growing in power in Iraq. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Rates up, rates down. As usual, only long-term trends have any meaning: Iraq deaths slow down, but wounded rate up. And: US Reports Sharp Rise in Iraq Roadside Bombings. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Bodies in Saddam's fishing hole. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Mohammed al-Nissani is one of the fishermen who now works the lake. He recounts how he often finds bodies floating in the lake, "mostly civilians with their feet and hands bound." "One day I saw a car stop and masked men get out. They carried a body that they dumped into the water."

Monday: Four soldiers killed by suicide bomb in Iraq - US. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Nine dead in Iraq suicide attack . (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Another town being destroyed in order to save it, with 30,000 new refugees: Warplane assault on insurgent stronghold. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

US Iraq offensive meets resistance. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Saturday: Eleven members of one family killed in ambush northeast of Baghdad . US marine killed in western Iraq. And: Iraq's Sunni party member killed in Baghdad. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

.

U.S. mounts offensive in Iraq's west. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Friday: Iraqi police killed in checkpoint battle: 2 U.S. soldiers killed in separate incidents (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

US Navy Sends Helicopters to Help Army in Iraq. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Al-Qaida in Iraq sentences Moroccan hostages to death. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Rumbles of radicalism in Kurdistan: Al Qaeda's presence stunned Iraq's moderate north. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Iraq oil industry bogged down in cycle of violence. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Baghdad attacks kill 11, US airstrikes target Qaeda. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Wednesday, another helicopter shot down: Four U.S. troops killed in crash, bombing. 20+ Iraqis died in a mosque bombing. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Civilian contractors in Iraq dying at faster rate as insurgency grows. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

As of Monday, 428 civilian contractors had been killed in Iraq and another 3,963 were injured, according to Department of Labor insurance-claims statistics obtained by Knight Ridder. Those statistics, which experts said were the most comprehensive listing available on the toll of the war, are far from complete: Two of the biggest contractors in Iraq said their casualties were higher than the figures the Labor Department had for them.

Kidnapped Moroccans face al-Qaida 'trial' . (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Training a New Army From the Top Down: U.S. Military Advisers Struggle to 'Build Leaders'. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Newest Bombs Pose Major Threat to U.S. Troops in Iraq: Shaped Charges Can Easily Cut Through Expensive Military Armor. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Iraq Accuses Moroccan in Sept. Bombing. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Monday: Seven U.S. troops killed in Iraq. And: 20 dead as car bomb tears through market. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Two contractor employees with Huntsville-based center die in Iraq. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Cabinet Adviser, Trade Minister Among 11 Killed in Iraq. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Lack of Armor Proves Deadly for Iraqi Army. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Analysis, Commentary, & Domestic Reaction

Occupation

Resistance

Analysis

Another: A war supporter disillusioned in Iraq. He believed in the fight, his family said, until he entered the war zone. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

So one month after their 35-year-old son's death, John's parents ended up where they least expected: at a Germantown interfaith service organized by antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan and her Bring Them Home Now Tour.

74% of Americans believe the US tortures prisoners: Gallup: Americans Against Torture, But Believe We Do It. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Action Alert! Sent by Gilbert Achcar: The Rulings Issued by Iranian Courts Against Labor Movement Activists Must be Revoked (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Action Alert! Dec 6 - National Day of Counter-Recruitment. Join CINDY SHEEHAN, HOWARD ZINN, DAHR JAMAIL, war resisters PABLO PAREDES and CAMILO MEJIA, Progressive Democrats of America director TIM CARPENTER, Iraq Vets Against the War & Campus Antiwar Network member DAVID AIRHART, and many more in supporting this day of counter-recruitment action on December 6! (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Perhaps I'll forgive Judith Miller. [Just kidding.] The New York Times condemns US use of White Phosphorous! Shake and Bake. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

The United States should be leading the world, not dragging its feet, when it comes to this sort of issue - because it's right and because all of us, including Americans, are safer in a world in which certain forms of conduct are regarded as too inhumane even for war. That is why torture should be banned in American prisons. And it is why the United States should stop using white phosphorus.

Robert Dreyfuss Political Islam vs. Democracy. The Bush Administration's Deadly Waltz with Shiite Theocrats in Iraq and Muslim Brotherhood Fanatics in Syria, Egypt, and Elsewhere. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

More from Robert Dreyfuss on peace initiatives: The Path To Peace. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Military history Professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem Martin van Creveld says the only question is when and how the US will withdraw, not whether they will: Costly Withdrawal Is the Price To Be Paid for a Foolish War. van Creveld is the only non-American author on the U.S. Army's required reading list for officers See the discussion by Brian Whitaker Nowhere to run. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

For misleading the American people, and launching the most foolish war since Emperor Augustus in 9 B.C sent his legions into Germany and lost them, Bush deserves to be impeached and, once he has been removed from office, put on trial along with the rest of the president's men.

Democracy Now! Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Seymour Hersh on Where the Iraq War is Headed Next. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Democracy Now! Al Jazeera in the Crosshairs: Did Bush Really Want to Bomb the Arabic TV Network's Headquarters in 2004? (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Scott Ritter defends Bush against Democratic revisionists. However: Former weapons inspector claims WMD never the issue in Iraq. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Richard Cohen also takes on the revisionists who chose to believe obvious falsehoods: More Than a 'Mistake' on Iraq. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Jim Lobe: Realists Tighten Grip as Talks Open with Iran. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Antonia Zerbisias discusses his interview with Robert Fisk: Author Doesn't Give a Flying Fisk About Fisking. (POSTED: November 30, 2005)

Fighting for democracy? Veterans take on new battle: run for office: 'Fighting Dems' see options in the war against terrorism. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Glen Ford and Peter Gamble on the three who defied the Democratic leadership and voted "NO" to war: Three Who See The War Clearly. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Frank Rich speaks his mind on the administration defense of the war: Dishonest, Reprehensible, Corrupt ... (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Simon Jenkins: Blair’s slow, embarrassing death by a thousand leaks. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Testimony from Rove's former assistant may solidify case that he misled leak inquiry, lawyers say. Evidently he told his assistant NOT to log a crucial call from a reporter. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Indian diplomat M K Bhadrakumar : The ties that tangle Iraq and Iran. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Crucial aspect of Congressional vote on war was its timing: Timing Entwined War Vote, Election. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Rami G. Khouri of the Lebanese Daily Star: Five Ideologies, One Middle East. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Ted Galen Carpenter of the Cato Institute takes on those who think internationalization will save the day: America on its own in Iraq war. Meanshile, Raghida Dergham in Al-Hayat dreams the Arabs will save the day: Iraq: An Opportunity for 'Arabization' to Correct the Mistakes of 'Internationalization'. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Another blast from Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah: The War in Iraq Served Iran. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Bush Is Urged to Explain War Plan. Republican senators say Congress and the public should be kept abreast of his Iraq strategy, while Democrats call for a withdrawal timetable. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Time reports: Symptoms of withdrawal. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Paul Craig Roberts on the looming police state: The Detainees are Props in the Terror Game: The Grave Threat of the Bush Administration. (POSTED: November 29, 2005)

Danny Schechter: War on the Media: 'Don't Bomb Us'. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Administration scores direct hit. Overwhelming majority believes war criticism hurts troop morale: Sympathetic Vibrations . (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Arianna Huffington: Russert Watch: "I'm No Bob Woodward". (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Cindy Sheehan on Conscientious Objector and Prisoner of Conscience Sgt Kevin Benderman: Excerpts from war protester Cindy Sheehan's book. And: Having a Great Time, Wish You Were all Here Or Throw the Bitch in the Ditch. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Jack Dalton: He Dared to Challenge Power and the Official Consensus: Part One. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Robert Dreyfuss on the Cairo Conference: Peace Talk. Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis are trying to sort things out in Iraq. Too bad the Bush administration isn’t in on the plan. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Abigail A. Fuller and Neil Wollman say: Let's ask the Iraqi people if U.S. forces should leave. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Jim Sleeper: Why Republicans Are Desperate to Bait the Antiwar Left. They need cover as they cut and run. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Gamil Mattar: Canning reform. In light of Islamist electoral victories, neoconservatives in Washington about face, seeing democracy in the Middle East as not such a good idea after all. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Colin Powell: White House's Murtha Attack 'Disgraceful'`. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Bush support slipping in NH. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Patrick J. Buchanan on rolling the dice and withdrawing: Is Defeat Now An Option. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Bush can't fix thing because he can't admit he screwed up: All disquiet on West Wing front. (POSTED: November 28, 2005)

Daniel Benjamin, who served on the National Security Council staff from 1994 to 1999: Jihadist Iraq Just Won't Happen. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Michael Kinsley: The Phony War Against the Critics to distract from administration lies and mistakes. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

British MP Menzies Campbell says We deserve the whole truth about the lead up to this disastrous war: No more evasions. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Charley Reese is afraid Cheney has: Slipped His Moorings. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Richard Seymour: The Genocidal Imagination of Christopher Hitchens: The Lighter Side of Mass Murder. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Jame Glanz: Saving Face and How to Say Farewell. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

David S. Broder says Democrats finally have: Signs of an Iraq Policy gradual pulldown. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

White House claims Biden plan is its own: White House claims 'strong consensus' on Iraq pullout. Sounds like Clinton's "triangulation". (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

North Adams Transcript, MA: Withdrawal is coming; let's get it right. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

Anti-Iraq War Monument Unveiled at Bush's Hometown. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

In Britain, Parliament may investigate the lies: New crisis for Blair's War. (POSTED: November 27, 2005)

War protesters arrested near Bush ranch: Sheriff enforces new bans on camping, parking; Sheehan due later in week. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Torture not popular: European Probe to Check Suspect Planes. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

According to the Oxford Research Group, the war in Iraq is only in its early stages: Iraq war may go for decades: report. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Ignore all warnings: How U.S. Fell Under the Spell of 'Curveball'. The Iraqi informant's German handlers say they had told U.S. officials that his information was 'not proven,' and were shocked when President Bush and Colin L. Powell used it in key prewar speeches. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Robert B. Reich says: The End Of The War may be sooner than you think. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Jeff Cohen: Hillary, You're Not Listening. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Fool me twice, shame on you: Majority Believe White House Misleads Public, Poll Shows. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

[A]bout 64% of Americans believe the Bush administration "generally misleads the American public on current issues to achieve its own ends," opinion on the topic is clearly divided along party lines. A large majority (68% to 28%) of Republicans say the Bush administration generally provides accurate information. However, even larger majorities of Democrats (91% to 7%) and Independents (73% to 25%) think the information is generally misleading.

Former hsotage [in Lebanon] Terry Waite: Were my captors worse than the Guantánamo jailers? Our leaders' shallowness and short-termism has fuelled the engine of war. We need wisdom to overcome our darker side. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Jonathan Schell and Tom Engelhardt: The Fall of the One-Party Empire. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

In preparation for the war, Condoleezza Rice pressured the New York Times to change its coverage. Soon it did: Times Confronted By Ms. Rice In 2002 But Held Ground. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

10 days after 9/11, Bush was told there was no Iraq-Al Qaeda connection: Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept From Hill Panel. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

An interview with Patrick Resta, New England organizer for raq Veterans Against the War "We've Seen the Inner Workings and Felt the Consequences": Iraq War Vet Pat Resta Speaks Out About the War and Occupation . (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Reidar Visser: Southern Iraq Gears Up for Elections. (POSTED: November 24, 2005)

Democracy Now!: Colin Powell's Former Chief of Staff Col. Wilkerson on Prewar Intel, Torture and How a White House "Cabal" Hijacked U.S. Foreign Policy. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

From an American officer: A Letter from Ramadi--"I Wish Every American Could See This for Him/Herself". (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Lest we forget: 6,644 are still missing after Katrina; toll may rise. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

"Sixty three percent of those surveyed were in favor of bringing US troops home from Iraq in the next year": ore Americans than ever are pessimistic about Iraq's future: poll. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Stephen Uebbing: As son heads back to Iraq, his father says it's time to bring US troops home. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Baltimore Council Calls For End To War In Iraq: Resolution Urges Governor To Withdraw Guard Troops. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

In Denmark: Soldier’s parents join in libel case against Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Pierre Tristam: America's Grossest Domestic Product: The Justice Deficit. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Jim Lobe: Cheney: WMD Criticism 'Dishonest and Reprehensible' also "most corrupt and shameless" and "utterly false". (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Terry M. Neal: Murtha's Reality Check. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Clarence Page: Smear tactics hinder Team Bush. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Ray McGovern: Murtha And The Colonels. See the related: Getting the Lowdown on Iraq from Time. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Helen Thomas: Time for Democrats to get in the game. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Gene Lyons says Bush is Doubling down on a bad bet. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Richard Cohen on lies, lies, lies, who said them and who was fooled: Iraq and the 'L' Word. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Stephen Zunes is worried about what may follow withdrwal: Getting Out: Responsible Withdrawal. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Ivan Eland: The Failure of Nation-Building in Bosnia and Iraq. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Mad dog Cheney: Opening the Door to Debate, and Then Shutting It. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

John Nichols: Cheney unwise to take on Murtha. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Rep. Jean: Schmidt gaffe fallout lingers. (POSTED: November 23, 2005)

Robert Dreyfuss says the US went into Iraq knowing that the Siite fundamentalists would come to power, as the US aided and trained the emerging death squads: Our Monsters In Iraq. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

We toppled Saddam—and in his place we've installed a hundred mini-Saddams.

Gilbert Achcar and Stephen R. Shalom clarify the differences beween Rep. Murtha's position and that of the principled antiwar movement: On John Murtha's Position. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

67 cities call for U.S. Iraq pullout. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Protesting training in mass murder and torture at SOTA: 41 arrested protesting Army school in GA. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

In Parkersburg, WV: Activists erect crosses to protest losses in Iraq war. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Taking care of their own, to prevent him spilling the beans: Top Names Aid Fund for Libby. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

"Marine quoted as attacking Rep. Murtha a radical right operative: Who Is Mean Jean's Marine? And Why Does He Think Murtha's A Coward? (POSTED: November , 2005)

Toledo Blade: The war on war critics. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Jonathan Chait: How to make an honest case for Iraq. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon: Staying the course is no longer an option. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Mike Marqusee: On Common Ground with Bush: Bill Clinton's Hypocrisies on Iraq. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Haven't killed enough for the Iron Lady: Sen. Clinton says immediate withdrawal would be mistake. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Joe Biden says he wants President Bush to succeed in Iraq! At this late date this is the best he can come up with? Biden seeks to articulate Iraq strategy; Senate Democrats resist pullout. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Former Sen. Bob Graham knew from his access to classified intelligence that the administration was lying prior to the war. Why didn't he tell us? What I Knew Before the Invasion. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Many tens of thousands dead, incipient civil war, torture and death squads, women afraid to leave the house, a constitution that says women have less rights than men, an Islamic state: Bush Discusses Murtha and Says Progress in Iraq is 'Amazing'. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

From Vietnam to Iraq: Sen. George McGovern Discusses the Lies of War from the Gulf of Tonkin to Iraq's WMDs. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

New attention to a top propagandist: The Man Who Sold the Iraq War: John Rendon, Bush's General in the Propaganda War. See also James Bamford: The Man Who Sold the War: Meet John Rendon, Bush's general in the propaganda war . (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Bill Danvers and Michael O'Hanlon propose an alternative to immediate withdrawal: Plan a moderate Iraq exit strategy. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

Rob Zaleski: Professor sees Iraq war as tragedy. (POSTED: November 22, 2005)

No Exit Strategy for Bush. Or watch video (Windows). (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

Haifa Zangana, raqi-born novelist and former prisoner of Saddam’s regime: Support for the Iraqi Resistance Is Growing. (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

Jeremy Scahill reminds us how thoroughly bipartisan the war against Iraq was, despite all the claims that only manipulated intelligence led the Democrats to support the war they'd been pushing for for nearly a decade: This War Cannot Be Stopped By a Loyal Opposition. (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

Ron Jacobs: A Pathetic Congress: If It Walks Like a Withdrawal Resolution, and Talks Like One, Then Why Won't You Vote For It? (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

Rep. John: Murtha Meets Russert, Predicts U.S. Forces Will Be Out of Iraq Next Year. (POSTED: November 21, 2005)

The largest Jewish group in the US: US Jewish group seeks exit strategy for Iraq war. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

Furor to protect British officers from being punished from possible wrongdoing: Honour in a time of war: Colonel Mendonca is not the only one on trial in Iraq; the very rule of law is at stake . (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

BuzzFlash Interview: Scott Ritter -- The truth on why we're in Iraq. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

Rep. Murtha's: Call for Troops' Removal Reverberates at Home. Western Pennsylvania constituents react with spirit but are divided on a congressman's appeal. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

One who publicly stated she had no problems with the killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children by US policy is now an expert on stability and freedom? ‘Imposing Democracy Is An Oxymoron’: Madeleine Albright discusses how to bring stability, freedom and investment to the Arab world The US is endlessly forgiving of mass murderers! (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

Cynthia Tucker: Effect of Bush's Iraq lies could linger for years. and what about the effects of the Democrats' lies? (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

The New York Times's Nicholas D. Kristof endorses getting out over two years: Looking at Iraq (and how to get out) in the rearview mirror. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

Iraq War Debate Eclipses All Other Issues: GOP Flounders as Bush's Popularity Falls; Democrats Struggle for a Voice. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

A reminder of just who John Murtha is: White House Plays Chicken with a War Hero. (POSTED: November 20, 2005)

The stunt vote: House GOP Seeks Quick Veto of Iraq Pullout. Meanwhile, the party that supports the criminal maneuvers of Tom Delay: GOP calls for ethics investigation into Iraq war critic Murtha. (POSTED: November 19, 2005)

Hagel and Murtha: Three days that transformed America. (POSTED: November 19, 2005)

According to former CIA Director Admiral Stansfield Turner: 'Cheney is vice president for torture'. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Rep. John Murtha, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran: Hawkish Democrat Calls for Iraq Pullout. Murtha's remarks. The Chickenhawks maul: House Republicans Respond to Murtha. And the Democratic loser goes on attack: John Kerry undercuts Murtha . (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Known as a friend and champion of officers at the Pentagon and in the war zone, it is widely believed in Congress that Murtha often speaks for those in uniform and could be echoing what U.S. commanders in the field and in the Pentagon are saying privately about the conflict.

Cindy Sheehan: Open Letter to George's Mama. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Joan Vennochi says scoundrels trying to get on the right side of history before '06: Poll-watching pols now say no on Iraq. And similar sentiments from Paul Waldman: What We Know Now. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Stephen Zunes details the extent to which nonexistence of "intelligence" on an Iraqi threat was known before the war, and available to those Democrats who now shout "faked intelligence": Libby Indictment May Open Door to Broader Iraq War Deceptions . (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Christopher Preble says grab the last milestone and scoot: U.S. Should Call It a Wrap after Iraq Elections. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Poll: American attitudes on Iraq similar to Vietnam era. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Lies, lies, lies: Vietnam Archive Offers Parallels To War In Iraq. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Democrats Have Evidence That The Bush Administration Deliberately Manipulated Pre-war Intelligence. They were clearly warned not to rely on the Niger claim before the Presidents State of the Union speech. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Some Editorials. San Francisco Chronicle: Growing unease about Iraq. Minneapolis Star Tribune: The Senate finds its voice on Iraq: Republicans show independence from White House. Contra Costa times: Officials finally do job. And Salt Lake Tribune: War In Iraq: Congress must step up to its responsibilities. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Commentary on the Administration counterattack. Margaret Carlson: Bush Tries to Deceive Us About Deceiving Us. Wes: Cheney's New War. Richard Cohen: Ignoring the Facts. And: Marianne Means: President Bush excels at creating fiction. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Democratic analysts propose a "realist" alternative to stay the course or immediate withdrawal: Leaving Iraq, the right way. A strategic reduction and redeployment of forces would make us safer and help stabilize the Middle East (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

James Howarth: The fallout from Amman . (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Election time: Italy's left adjusts Iraq stand, asway from calls for immediate withdrawal. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

New York Times on the anti-Bush Senate vote this week: A timetable for Bush. (POSTED: November 18, 2005)

Scum play the "Patriot Game": Bush backs Cheney: says Democratic questioning not patriotic but "irresponsible". (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

What does Hillary say? Bill Clinton calls Iraq 'big mistake', but not by invading. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Thursday:` Top Democrat on Defense committee to debut 'dramatic' proposal on Iraq. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Robert Dreyfuss sees hope in: The Cairo Peace Process. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

n two days, the beginning of the end of the war in Iraq could be here—that is, if the Bush administration and its Shiite fundamentalist friends in Baghdad don’t mess it up. They’re trying.

Creating killers: Thrill of the kill: the other tragedy in Iraq. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Syed Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia Times Online, sees a change in resistance leadership from the Ba'ath: Al-Qaeda tightens its grip in Iraq. The result will be a world-wide jihadist movement. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Anthony Arnove: Iraq Under U.S. Occupation: "It Was Never As Bad As This". (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Rep. Jane Harman: Needed: A strategy for an exit from Iraq . Its called ships and planes. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Jim Lobe: Republicans Cut and Run from Iraq and Bush. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Tide Turning in GOP Senators' War View: Bipartisan Amendment Is Rebuff to Bush. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Gabriele Zamparini calld the BBC to task for its reporting on US use of White Phosphorous: The BBC, of course! (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Republican Hagel takes on Administration lie and smear campaign: Hagel Defends Criticisms of Iraq Policy: Administration Calls Statements by Democrats Harmful to War Effort, Troops. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

In Plamegate: National Security Adviser was Woodward's source, attorneys say. (POSTED: November 17, 2005)

Former Alaska gubernatorial candidate and: Mother quietly protests war as son clings to life. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Daniel Ruth: The Graves Are Filled For This? (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Did my late father fly 50 combat missions during World War II, putting his life on the treetop line over places such as the Ploesti oil fields of Romania, sacrificing his youth, so that someday a sitting president of the United States could lobby Congress to support torturing people?

Washington Post: Dealing With Detainees. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Comments on Bush and lies. New York Times: Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials. Thomas Oliphant: Bush's magnificent deception. E. J. Dionne Jr.: Another Set of Scare Tactics. Tennessean.com: White House twists truth about war in Iraq: President Bush should admit that U.S. went to war based on bad intelligence. And: Fred Kaplan: I Was Wrong, but So Were You: Parsing Bush's new mantra. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Eric Margolis: Americans are Running Out of Patience With Their War President. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Anthony Lewis on the history behind despicable vote to remove habeas corpus: Prisoners of the Senate. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Jimmy Carter: This isn't the real America. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Rhode Island Senate candidate: Brown challenges Dems to debate over Iraq war. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Michael Massing on the management of the "news": The End of News? (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

The auditors' report, which followed a year-long investigation, presents chilling evidence of the campaign that officials in Washington have been waging against a free and independent press.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Chalabi's visit: Iraq War: Behind the curtain. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

The Bush administration apparently would give a warm welcome to the Wizard of Oz, even knowing full well that Dorothy had exposed the old faker.

Paul Rogers: Jordan Catches Iraq's Fire. And much more than Jordan, as the Iraqi resistance inspires militants throughout the region. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

In the ongoing attempt to shift the blame: Rumsfeld quotes Clinton officials in justifying decision to invade Iraq. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

62 Congressional: Democrats have a plan for Iraq. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

This is radical! Senate actually asks for a little info, nothing more. Also, develop "compromise" allowing a few rights to gulag inmates: GOP Senate Blocks Timetable On Iraq, But Passes Plan Requesting Progress Reports: Lawmakers also vote to give Guantánamo Bay detainees more rights to challenge their imprisonment. For a more positive view, see Dan Froomkin: Republicans Want Answers, Too. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Seventeen myths and distortions about the Graham amendment. (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Michael T. Klare and Tom Engelhardt: Wag the Dog: Crisis Scenarios for Deflecting Attention from the President's Woes (POSTED: November 16, 2005)

Were the allies really that different from the Nazis? Dresden, Hiroshima, colonialism, concentration camps, and torture centers: Revealed: UK wartime torture camp. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Some are also alleged to have been starved and subjected to extremes of temperature in specially built showers, while others later complained that they had been threatened with electric shock torture or menaced by interrogators brandishing red-hot pokers.

On at least one occasion, an MI5 officer noted in a newly declassified report, a German prisoner was convicted of war crimes and hanged on the basis of a confession which he had signed after he was, at the very least, "worked on psychologically". A number of people who appeared as prosecution witnesses at war crimes trials are also alleged to have been tortured.

A new book of photographs: Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq. See: Images from Unembedded. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Wanting to run for President, one of the most pro-war unprincipled Senators tries a new tack: Bush 'tricked' Americans into going to war, Biden charges. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Bush takes pot shots at Democrats. they deserve it, but not from the Liar-In_Chief: Bush quotes Democrats to counter Iraq war critics. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

Rediscovered testimony given by CIA director in 2001 suggests manipulation of pre-war intelligence. (POSTED: November 15, 2005)

How dare the Washington Post do reporting, says the right: CIA Article Sidebar: A Story of Deja Vu. Some Critics See a Plame Parallel. While critics less beholden to power criticize right of arbitrary detention forever: Bush's prison powers 'worrying'. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

William Frey Confessions of a Repentant War Supporter. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

John Kelley: The Ghosts of Viet Nam Haunt a President: A Protester Contemplates Veteran's Day. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Three sons are veterans. Two served in Iraq: Father convinced Iraq war is about oil (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

The speaker accused the Bush administration of planning a long-term occupation all along, something he's believed since learning of a 10-year, $11 billion contract with a private company to build barracks in Baghdad. Syverson also criticized the government's ban on showing flag-draped caskets returning home, saying the fallen "must make their last trip home under the cover of darkness...."

Syverson said he received a correspondence from Branden, a career soldier, that said anyone who brands his father as unpatriotic could kiss his (posterior).

In Canada: War dodger wins hearing. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

In Sacramento, California: Tense Moments At Local Veterans Day Parade. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Will he be punished? Blair faces new inquiry into Iraq war. Impeachment campaigners claim former ministers will join 200 supporters to force Commons probe. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Bob Herbert: Army On The Verge Of Snapping. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

“You go to war,” he said, “and you could lose your heart, your mind, your arms, your legs — but you cannot win. The soldiers don't win.”

Editor & Publisher: 'Wash Post' Story Rejects Bush Claims on Pre-War Intel . (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

R. J. Eskow: Conference Debacle Confirms: Iraq War Hurts Democracy in Middle East. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Bev Conover: Another foul chapter in the history of The New York Times closes with Miller's departure. (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Arianna Huffington: Chalabi on Misleading America to War: Dude, It's An Urban Myth, Totally! (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Very funny, but not a joke: President furious about summit preparations because he had to stay up past his bedtime. Rumor has it he canceled a meeting the next morning, refusing to work "overtime". (POSTED: November 14, 2005)

Did Shrub allow aides to "protect" him from National Security Council memo stating 500,000 troops would be needed in Iraq? Ex-Powell Aide Suggests Pre-War Memo Was Kept From Bush. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

Hero’s survivors rue war: Mom says son ill-equipped. Wants troops brought home. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

“I used to be a Republican until they killed my son,” Hart said. “Killing my boy was the last straw.”

Cindy Sheehan: Activist says leaders without family in Iraq lack personal stake. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

John Edwards makes the confession: The Right Way in Iraq. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

95: Methodist Bishops Repent Iraq War 'Complicity. (POSTED: November 13, 2005)

From the old playbook: Bush calls war critics 'irresponsible'. But, unlike previous times, the corporate press and Democratic politicians fight back: Asterisks Dot White House's Iraq Argument. And: Kerry Chides Bush For 'Fear And Smear' On Veterans Day. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Battle of the vets: Five arrested for trying to remove display on Veterans Day eve. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Bums found out: Poll: Most Americans Say Bush Not Honest. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Tom Galvin in the Belfast Telegraph reviews Robert Fisk's new book: The Great War For Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East: The war that Fisk sees. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Henry Frederick, City Editor, Taunton Gazette [MA]: Fighting the politics of war. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

The rallying cry in each of these wars has been Democracy. But one could question whether they were really more about capitalism?

Abdul-Ilah Al-Bayaty and Hana Al-Bayaty in Al-Ahram: What political process? Talk about reconciliation is empty until the division between the illegal occupation and legitimate resistance is recognised as the core rift in Iraq. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Bill Van Auken discusses Judith Miller's LONG involvement with the American right. She's always been a partisan "reporter": Judith Miller and the New York Times make a deal. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

John P. Gramlich of UPI: U.S. 'can't maintain Iraq troop levels'. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

"It has become clear that if we still have 140,000 ground troops in Iraq a year from now, we will destroy the all-volunteer army," said the a report written by the center's Lawrence Korb and Brian Katulis.

Prewar CIA report doubted claim that al Qaeda sought WMD in Iraq. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

WSJ poll: 69% hold Cheney responsible for Plame leak; 60% want public hearings. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Iraq War is Top Concern for Americans. (POSTED: November 12, 2005)

Mike Marqusee: A name that lives in infamy. The destruction of Falluja was an act of barbarism that ranks alongside My Lai, Guernica and Halabja. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Join the Nation in the pledge: Democrats and the War. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

The Nation therefore takes the following stand: We will not support any candidate for national office who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq a major issue of his or her campaign. We urge all voters to join us in adopting this position. Many worry that the aftermath of withdrawal will be ugly, but we can now see that the consequences of staying will be uglier still. Fear of facing the consequences of Bush's disaster should not be permitted to excuse the creation of a worse disaster by continuing the occupation.

Robert Dreyfuss: Chalabi And AEI: The Sequel. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Joshua Frank: Talking Points Propaganda: The Liberals’ Ridiculous Defense of President Bill Clinton. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Jihad el Khazen in Al-Hayat: I Have Good News, Not About Killing. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Fox News find Bush declining 5 percentage points in one month! FOX Poll: President Bush's Ratings Continue to Suffer. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

McCain again calls for more troops and more money to impose American will: McCain urges changes in Bush's Iraq strategy. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: House International Relations Committee Once Again Shuns War Oversight Duties. (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Biting the bullet: Edwards: Iraq vote "a mistake". (POSTED: November 11, 2005)

Hunter at Daily Kos: Melting the Skin Off of Children. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Colin Powell hinted he was lying before his famous UN speech: Powell conversation with senator suggesed he had concerns about pre-war intelligence, sources say. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Milan Rai interviewed by UK Watch: The Occupation (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

I do not accept, in fact I vehemently reject, the slogan ‘support the resistance’ – unconditionally.

Secondly, what does it benefit anyone fighting in Iraq if someone here in comfort and safety says, ‘I support the resistance’ or ‘We all should support the resistance’? If someone truly supports the resistance, they would be involved in directly assisting the resistance, or going to Iraq to fight. I find it distasteful to see, particularly, white people living in comfort urging brown people living in terrible danger to fight and die in the cause of ‘anti-imperialism’. If you really believe killing British and US soldiers is the way forward, then go and take the risks yourself, and do not rely on others to win your war for you.

Ibrahim Al-Marashi: Iraq's imperfect Constitution is nevertheless a step forward. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

The prospect of a civil war in Iraq is still a matter of debate, but a "civil war of words" has definitely emerged within this process. The violence that has gripped post-Saddam Hussein Iraq prevented the emergence of a stable political process, creating a vacuum that forced Iraqis to seek refuge, protection, and representation via their sectarian and ethnic parties. While the media has oversimplified Iraq's social divisions along the lines of Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd, the postwar chaos has preordained Iraq's destiny, where misperceptions are slowly becoming reality.

The second setback embodied in the Constitution is the Arab Shiite political parties' ensuring that the document allows them the option of forming a federated entity in the south. Observers fear that this will satisfy a hidden Shiite agenda to form a mini-Iraqi Islamic republic based on the Iranian model. However, a more realistic explanation for the Shiites' desire to form their own state within a state is the American failure to secure Iraq's center (the notorious "Sunni triangle") or protect Shiites from insurgent attacks. Iraqi Shiites have seen the entire nation as theirs in the past and were unwilling to entertain such notions of dividing the country. This recent development indicates that some factions among the Shiites have given up on the idea of an undivided Iraq. It this trend does lead to Iraq's disintegration, it will be America's fault, not that of the Constitution, for failing to secure the country and protect this community.

Four reflections on the French riots. Olivier Roy Get French or Die Trying and: Mark LeVine: Why Paris is Burning; Juan Cole: The Problem with Frenchness; and: Daniel Williams, Washington Post: Violence Erupts As Its Roots Are Debated in Plaza: 'I Am Not a Terrorist, I'm a Victim,' Youth Says Before French Police Move In. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Paul Roberts: Over a Barrel. Experts say we're about to run out of oil. But we're nowhere near having another technology ready to take its place. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

Iraq observations cut to the bone: Review of Contact Wounds A War Surgeon's Education Jonathan Kaplan (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

A. Carl LeVan: Be careful Libby case doesn’t lead to more secrecy . (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

A little late: Senate asks Pentagon to probe Feith role on Iraq. (POSTED: November 10, 2005)

In Madison: Enough Signatures Found for Referendum to bring troops home. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Republican circular firing squad: G.O.P. Leaders Seek Inquiry on Leaks of Government Secrets about CIA torture gulags. But: Trent Lott says GOP Senator guilty of leaking story re: secret torture prisons. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

[Q]uote from Lott; "We can not remain silent. We have met the enemy, and it is us."

Truth or spin? Dubya-Cheney ties frayed by scandal. Also Jim Lobe : Cheney under siege. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Linda Heard: Fall of the Titans. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Abdel-Wahab Badrakhan in Al-Hayat The Only One Benefiting from America's War on Terrorism, .... (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Robert Scheer: Lying with intelligence: Who in the White House knew about DITSUM No. 044-02 and when did they know it? (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Kevin Zeese Mainstream American Military, Foreign Service and Intelligence Leadership Says No to the Iraq War. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Dan Froomkin dissects: Bush's Tortured Logic. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Bush's Tortured Logic... News outlets all over the world reported Bush's words as if they were definitive. But they are in fact enigmatic at best, because it's not at all clear what the president's definition of torture is.

Richard Cohen: Torture, Shaming Us All. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

New York Times Editorial: President Bush's Walkabout. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

After President Bush's disastrous visit to Latin America, it's unnerving to realize that his presidency still has more than three years to run. An administration with no agenda and no competence would be hard enough to live with on the domestic front. But the rest of the world simply can't afford an American government this bad for that long.

Dishonoring the Dead at the American Enterprise Institute: Group Hosts Major Misleader of American People on Iraq. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Leslie H. Gelb and Anne-Marie Slaughter: Declare War: It's time to stop slipping into armed conflict. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Ivo Daalder supports the mission, but just wants to win: An Alternative Strategy for Iraq. (POSTED: November 9, 2005)

Attacks on Cheney start with out-of-office surrogate: Graham says Libby didn't act alone in CIA leak case. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Larry Johnson on Cheney's penchant for torture: Man on Fire--Not! (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Antiabortion is just fine, but antiwar, no way: Antiwar Sermon Brings IRS Warning. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

In my home state of Massachusetts: Bringing Home the Guard. Help out if you can! (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Desperately selling the used car: Pro-War Ad Campaign Begins This Week. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Victoria A. Bonney, senior at Endicott College: Antiwar Activists, Where Are You? (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Yes, E-Marches are the newest way to protest your government. All it takes is a double click and you will be part of a simulated march on Washington. Oh, dear, sweet, well-intentioned youth, don't you see? Just as easily as you signed up to electronically protest your senators, they can delete you from their inbox. The Internet is a resource for sports scores, CliffsNotes, and porn -- not a venue for modern dissent.

James Carroll: Deconstructing Cheney. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Microsoft Makes Offer for Iraq. See also: Rumsfeld Accuses Saddam of Camping. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Missy Comley Beattie: The Cheney Effect: Trent Lott's Untroubled Sleep. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Robert Parry: So Iraq Was About the Oil. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

Want to keep on occupying? Then withdraw some troops to buy off the home front: Reselling the Wars: Are Troop Withdrawals the Price for Further Commitment in Afghanistan and Iraq (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

The realist persuasion. When it comes to war and peace, foreign policy ''realists'' from Metternich to Kissinger have been seen as cold-blooded, calculating, and amoral. But there's another realist tradition - a distinctively American one - and it's time to revive it. (POSTED: November 8, 2005)

David Ignatius says the US is learning from Vietnam: In Iraq, they're revisiting Vietnam-era counterinsurgency. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Juan Cole: Bush and the 7 Deadly Sins. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Maureen Dowd says Men Are In Over Their Heads: Fashioning Deadly Fiascos. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Why not? Should the U.S. Withdraw? Let the Iraqi People Decide. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

William S. Lind, Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism for the Free Congress Foundation, proposes an exit plan: Exiting Iraq. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Former British Ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, speaks out: Blair's litany of failures on Iraq - ambassador's damning verdict: Meyer says PM failed to exert any leverage on Bush and was seduced by US power . Two articles by Sir Christopher: Seduced by the glamour of American power and: How Britain failed to check Bush in the run up to war. Tony Blair's full throated support of the US led to the PM failing to exert any leverage on the White House - UK support was simply taken for granted (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Senate Democrats defend demand for prewar reports. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

In Britain, lies being challenged: MPs unite for inquiry into Blair’s conduct over Iraq. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Only in America. Topless protesters may be forced to register as sex offenders: If Topless, They'll Be Busted: Peace group's members are told to keep shirts on at Capitol or they might be deemed sex offenders. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Voter Anger Might Mean an Electoral Shift in '06: Public Voices Dissatisfaction Over Iraq War, Economy. But Democrats might have to give people some reason to vote for them. (POSTED: November 7, 2005)

Time thinks Karl Rove will be gone within a year, even without indictments: A White House Without Rove? Meanwhile Cheney is leading Bush's charge to the right, signaling no surrender: Tough-guy stuff: Bush's No. 2 gives no quarter and plays for all the marbles . (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Blair suffers defeat of part of his attempt to remove British rights: Blair prepares to surrender on terror laws: U-turn over 90-day detention · Judges lead attack . See also: Iraq DID raise terror danger, says our former man in Washington. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Bush went to Latin America. The big debate there: Is he "[T]he most disagreeable man on the planet," or simply "human trash"? Bush rebuked by the hand of God. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Arizona soldiers in Iraq: U.S. prepares for a long stay. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Building a permanent infrastructure is a sign the United States has intentions of remaining in Iraq for years. That's how GIs from Fort Huachuca stationed here at Camp Anaconda in Iraq see it.... "I see us being here a very long time, at least a decade," Spc. Paul Webber said.

L.I. soldier recalls his hell in Iraq. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

One man's tale of war: From soldier to objector to prisoner to activist. (POSTED: November 6, 2005) Some call Camilo Mejia a coward for refusing to return to Iraq. He says it took more courage to obey a higher law.

No longer fooling the people: Bush's Popularity Reaches New Low: 58 Percent in Poll Question His Integrity. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

The CIA leak case has apparently contributed to a withering decline in how Americans view Bush personally. The survey found that 40 percent now view him as honest and trustworthy -- a 13 percentage point drop in the past 18 months. Nearly 6 in 10 -- 58 percent -- said they have doubts about Bush's honesty, the first time in his presidency that more than half the country has questioned his personal integrity....

Americans give the administration low scores on ethics, according to the survey, with 67 percent rating the administration negatively on handling ethical matters, while just 32 percent give the administration positive marks. Four in 10 -- 43 percent -- say the level of ethics and honesty in the federal government has fallen during Bush's presidency, while 17 percent say it has risen.

The questions asks if Americans support Congress considering the impeachment of President Bush if he “did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq.” One has to be careful, it does NOT mean, as the headline implies, that a majority support Congress considering impeachment, as there is that huge "if" clause. One wishes they had asked if people thought Bush lied about his reasons for going to war. Without the latter number, these results are hard to interpret, as have been those in two prior polls on this topic: New Poll: Majority of Americans Support Impeachment. See my comments on this survey on my blog: New poll on impeachment: Interesting, but reported incorrectly. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Carter Blasts GOP On Iraq. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Joshua Holland: The Quiet Oil-for-Food Scandal. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

We aren't going to hear much about the corporations that paid bribes in the Oil-for-Food scandal because Bush's family, friends and closest advisors are in it knee-deep, along with some Democrats.

Celeste Zappala, mother of Sgt. Sherwood Baker of Plymouth, who was killed in Iraq in April 2004 and Anne Roesler, mother of a soldier currently serving in Iraq: Death milestone should raise questions. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

It was only months before he was redeployed for a third tour. Before he left, he said, “If I come home this time, it will take me years to get over it.”

Leon Hadar: My Weekend With the Wonks: Lots of talk, but no real solutions. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

While I'm prohibited by the off-the-record ground rules from revealing the names of the conference's attendees or what exactly was said during that retreat in Virginia, I can convey to you my main and very depressing impression: American foreign policy in Iraq, the larger Middle East, and elsewhere is in a mess, and no one really knows how to get out of it....

There are some signs of the emergence of a foreign policy debate in Washington – clearly reflected in the discussions at the conference – which pits Kissinger-style realpolitik types against Wilsonian idealists. But taking into consideration some of the comments and predictions I heard during the weekend, the idealists – that is, the neoconservative ideologues who hijacked U.S. foreign policy after 9/11 – have not lost their momentum....

Most of the policy intellectuals I met over the weekend are still relatively young and are marketing their ideas as part of a strategy to win professional benefits, and challenging the conventional wisdom on Iraq ("stay the course") and other issues wouldn't help advance that goal. They might have found something more interesting in life than sex – but it's not an exit strategy from Iraq.

William Rivers Pitt: It's Still There. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

If the Democrats and the media expect Bush to accept responsibility and admit fault, they must first do so themselves. The stain of their actions is still there, still with us. They must find the courage, today, to admit they were wrong.

Eugene Robinson on CIA torture: Out of a Bad Spy Novel. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

To interrogate these prisoners who don't exist, the spy-novel men use practices that international agreements classify as torture. Again, they tell us not to worry. They produce legal opinions, written by lawyers from the pages of a bad spy novel, proving definitively that torture is not, in fact, torture. Besides, the spy-novel men outsource the really messy business to cooperative regimes for which the word "qualms" has no meaning.

Matthew Rothschild: Rosa Parks, Hillary Clinton, and Iraq. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

On the pivotal issue of her day, Rosa Parks rose to the challenge. On the pivotal issue of our day, Hillary Clinton has shrunk from it.... How many lives is she willing to sacrifice on the altar of her ambition?

Andrew Greeley expresses the bitterness of many: Lying's just the tip of the iceberg. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Since it is apparently not a crime to deceive the American people into supporting a foolish and unjust war, one must be content with the indictment of I. Lewis Libby for perjury and obstruction of justice. The indictment is an example of a mountain laboring two years to bring forth a molehill. Libby will have the best trial lawyers money can buy and stands a good chance of acquittal. If he is convicted, the president will surely grant him a pardon before he leaves office....

There is nothing in the American legal system that permits the indictment of public officials for war crimes. Thus, perjury and obstruction of justice must suffice as a substitute. Yet it seems evident that both Cheney and Libby are war criminals. They fed the country false information to seduce it into a war that was both unnecessary and incompetent. And there is very little the American people can do to end the war for several more years.

Jim Reed claims the way out of Iraq leads through Iran: It's time to talk with Iran. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

The Americans are sitting on the sharp horns of a dilemma: Sooner or later, they will have to choose:

Option One -- Leave Iraq and let the Iraqis decide their future even if that means civil war. That would give Shiite-dominated Iran a very strong voice in future Iraqi affairs (given its close relationship with Iraq’s Shiite majority). This option would need to involve Iran

Option Two -- Hunker down as a long-term occupying authority until the time comes when, if ever, the region as a whole finds a kind of political equilibrium.

The real challenge for American policy-makers is how to turn this awful dilemma into a rational solution, which would end the killing of American soldiers and bring some stability to both Iraqi society and the region as a whole.

What's that about closing the barn door after the animals have escaped? Bush Orders Staff to Attend Ethics Briefings: White House Counsel to Give 'Refresher' Course. What would the White House Counsel know about ethics? (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Rotten apples stick together: Bolton's chief of staff gave information on outed agent to Libby, lawyers involved in leak case say. (POSTED: November 6, 2005)

Latest Italian claim: Behind the Iraq-Niger connection. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson says Cheney torture King, even countermanding Bush orders: Former Powell aide links Cheney's office to abuse directives. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Iraq focus imperils US, ex-Pentagon official says. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Bush War Policy Is Now in Play. Democrats renew their criticism as public opposition solidifies, the body count grows and prewar intelligence is under a new assault. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Seattle protest: Hundreds protest Iraq wars. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Police estimate that up to 1,000 protesters took part Wednesday afternoon in a student rally against the Iraq war and military recruiting in high schools. The brisk pace of the march downtown and up Capitol Hill, coupled with occasional high-spirited shrieks of excitement, were giveaways that it was a youthful crowd....

Maggie Rose, a chemistry and biology teacher at Ingraham, said she took a day of leave to attend. "I couldn't encourage students to come — it's not professional and I couldn't do it," she said. "But I would certainly tell any student to follow their heart. "I'm really proud of all these kids," she added.

Vigils outside Connecticut Congressman's offices: War protesters converge on Shays' office and those of the state's other congressmen. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Protests in New York: City High School Students Stage Walk-Out To Protest Bush Policies. And: Protesters converge in Times Square for anti-Bush protest. (POSTED: November , 2005)

Hundreds of city high school students staged a walkout Wednesday, gathering in Union Square as part of a national day of resistance against the Bush administration.

Pushing an antiwar position in Reform Judaism: A Grass-Roots Effort Pushes Action on Iraq. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Surveys last year showed that support for the war is lower among American Jews than non-Jews. Yet no mainstream Jewish organizations have joined the antiwar movement, which has been plagued by a strong anti-Israel undertone that has dismayed even long-time Jewish leftists....

The grass-roots initiative seems to have been spurred by a Rosh Hashanah sermon by M'kor Shalom Rabbi Barry Schwartz. "It wasn't about the war, it was about the need to approach our Judaism with passion, with a concern for social justice," Schwartz said of his sermon, which was titled "Judaism on Fire." "But within hours, a small group of people came to me and said, 'We need to do something about our movement and the war.' Within a few days, the whole thing materialized," he relayed.

55% say Bush lied us into war: Poll: Bush Approval Sagging to New Lows. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

M. Junaid Alam: What Moral Values? (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

James Petras: Israel and the Neocons: The Libby Affair and the Internal War. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Arianna Huffington has a good word for someone in the press: Chris Matthews and the Power of Repetition. While Andy Ostroy tells off David Brooks: David Brooks' Incredibly Misguided NY Times Op-ed. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Milwaukee Paper Apologizes for Accepting 'Cooked' WMD Evidence . (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Conn Hallinan of Foreign Policy In Focus: Who’s Next I—Iran & Syria? (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Syria is an easier target than Iran . With the exception of its northern border, the country is a flat plain, less than half the size of Iraq and with a population of only 16.7 million. It is also reeling from the UN investigation. This may make Syria look like fruit ripe for the picking, and an invasion would certainly divert attention from the chaos in Iraq and Afghanistan . It would also be a logical extension of the Bush administration's mythology that all our troubles in the Middle East are caused by foreign Islamic terrorists. For the outcome of such a strategy see the war in Southeast Asia.

Ray McGovern: The Torture Test. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

New York Times Editorial: The Prison Puzzle. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

The rigid ideologues blocking this reform say the Geneva Conventions banning inhumane treatment are too vague. Which part of no murder, torture, mutilation, cruelty or humiliation do they not understand? The restrictions are a problem only if you want to do such abhorrent things and pretend they are legal. That is why the Bush administration tossed out the rules after 9/11....

The Times reports that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, favor changing the detention policies. [Why don't they resign rather than serve a regime of torturers?] So we can only conclude that President Bush has decided to expend the minimal clout remaining to his beleaguered administration in a fight to put the full faith and credit of the United States behind the concept of torture.

Brian J. Foley: The Denial of Basic Legal and Human Rights: Why Most Americans Don't Care About Gitmo (and Why They Should). (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

[T]he lax rules give no incentive to the FBI, CIA, military, and police to conduct serious investigations. Why bother, when they can "win" a case at the tribunal by pounding a "confession" out of a prisoner? In this way, we'll fail to develop the anti-terrorism investigative abilities we need to thwart terrorism. As time goes by, we'll become weaker rather than stronger; like unused muscles, our skills will atrophy. In a few years, we might lack any meaningful anti-terror investigative abilities at all. We might merely have goon squads who beat "confessions" out of people.

Five Kuwaitis Head Home From Guantanamo after over 3 years in gulag. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Must see picture of Libby arriving at court Thursday. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Congress send Cheney two letters in one day: Congressman Want Cheney to Testify and: Democratic senators call on Cheney for 'thorough housecleaning' as aides in leak scandal are promoted. See also: Cover-Up Congress Refuses to Investigate Iraq War Abuses, Says Pelosi. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Seeking out illusion: Senators Seek Evidence Of Progress In Iraq: Both Parties Represented In Private Meeting With Ambassador. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Russ Neal: We need to end the sacrifice in Iraq. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

A War Without Winners. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

Richard Cohen: Italy warned uranium dossier on Iraq was fake. Or so they claim now.` (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

One could almost forgive President Bush for waging war under false or mistaken pretenses had a better, more democratic Middle East come out of it. But just as the 1991 Persian Gulf War introduced an element of instability in the region -- the rise of al Qaeda in response to the stationing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia -- so might this one do something similar. A Shiite arc is forming, Iraq is infested with terrorists and coming apart, Syria might be going from bad to worse, and Saudi Arabia is complaining loudly that the war's only winners are the Shiites and Iran. From here, it looks like a war that is already going badly for America could go even worse for much of the Middle East.

The tide has turned: Daschle calls for troops pullout by 2008. (POSTED: November 4, 2005)

All over America, students walked out of school yesterday to protest war: Nov 2 Reports. And: Student protesters attack Iraq war. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Capital Hill Blue: Bush's Increasing Mental Lapses and Temper Tantrums Worry White House Aides. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

An uncivil war rages inside the walls of the West Wing of the White House, a bitter, acrimonious war driven by a failed agenda, destroyed credibility, dwindling public support and a President who lapses into Alzheimer-like periods of incoherent babbling.

For amusement: Is Rove a Security Risk? Because he disclosed Plame’s CIA identity to reporters, the Bush aide could lose his clearance. See also: Rove's Future Role Is Debated: White House May Seek Fresh Start In Wake of Leak. Also: Press Secretary on Trial in the Briefing Room. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Killing not as popular as it once was: FX network ends Iraq war drama 'Over There'. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Bush's approval down to 35% in CBS poll: Poll: More Bad News For Bush. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Sacramento City Council Calls for U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Iraq. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Janet Hook and Ronald Brownstein of the LA Times: Challenges to Bush's Iraq Policy Gain Dramatic Momentum. See also from Financial Times: Debate on case for war in Iraq comes back to top of agenda. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Tony Benn: It's no good blaming Blair. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Georgie Anne Geyer: Considering America's Future. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Michael Schwartz discusses the low-key Shia resistance in Maysan province, as a model for the rest of Iraq: Forgotten Iraq: The war we don't see in the mainstream media. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Andrew J. Bacevich: War powers in the age of terror. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Buzzflash: Democrats in Senate Act as An Opposition Party: Republicans Dumbstruck. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Andy Ostroy: Why Reid's "Rule 21" Action is Huge for Democrats. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Rep. Adam Smith, representing Washington's 9th Congressional District: Congress must investigate lies, leaks. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Jihad el Khazen in Al-Hayat: Failure is a Synonym for President. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Speaking of scumbags: Bolton's chief of staff gave information on outed agent to Libby, lawyers involved in leak case say. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Exclusive: Senate Democrats consider pressing for appointment of special select committee to investigate administration's pre-war intelligence claim. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Senate Intelligence chairman quietly 'fixed' intelligence, and diverted blame from White House over Iraq. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Challenges to Bush's Iraq Policy Gain Dramatic Momentum. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

A profile of Sgt. Kelly Dougherty of Iraq Veterans Against the War: Iraq vet works against war: Former soldier's doubts grew as conflict wore on. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Open the Door, Richard: Kristof Again Presses Cheney to Explain or Resign. (POSTED: November 3, 2005)

Why Reid did what he did. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Spine transplant? Reid's Statement is actually impressive: Democrats Force Senate Into Iraq Meeting. See: Statement by Senator Reid: Troops and Security First; and: Holy shit, put on CNN [AmericaBlog]. See also Mark Schmitt's interpretation: Power Shifts. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Why not? Cindy Sheehan for President: Or Senate. The Anti-War Left Seeks a Challenger for Hillary Clinton. See Cindy Sheehan: The Costs of War: We who have made the "ultimate sacrifice" know the true cost of war. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

More on Kent State's attack against an anti-recruitment protestor: Kent State Student and Marine Corps Veteran Remains Defiant, Slams Iraq War. And: An Interview with Kent State's Dave Airhart: "I was in the Marine Corps Infantry. I Learned Absolutely Nothing of Value in the Rest of the World.". (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Trial Could Pit Libby's Interests Against Bush's. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

E. J. Dionne Jr.: What the 'Shield' Covered Up. Facts that would have changed the election. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Francis A. Boyle, Professor of Law at the University of Illinois: Iraq and the Laws of War . (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Chicago Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News: A vote on torture. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Richard A. Alicea: Is This My America? (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

John R. MacArthur: Pro-war liberals frozen in the headlights. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

In journalism, the current handwringer-in-chief is the New Yorker writer George Packer, whose book The Assassins' Gate has met with high praise from handwringers, hawks, and a subset of pundits I call trimmers.... I think a better description of George Packer is "useful idiot," as invoked by some Western anti-communists when they ridiculed liberals sympathetic to the ruthless Soviet state. Too harsh, you say?... But Packer's book is nothing if not the autobiography of a liberal dupe.

Russ Baker: The World Can't Wait. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

One difficulty with opposing the current malefactors of power is that they are so venal, so mean-spirited, so incompetent on so many fronts that it’s hard to focus the public’s attention on the true magnitude of the threat, which dwarfs any single instance of wrong-doing, as egregious as this or that outrage may be. Essential to any successful anti-Bush campaign is the constant reminder that the president and his cronies are dangerous across the board, from the selection of a science textbook in a small town in Kansas to the mobilization of the “shock and awe” war machine for political purposes.

Jihad el Khazen in Al-Hayat: They Want Syria, Not the Killers of Rafik Hariri. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Linda Heard: Arabs Shouldn’t Abandon Syria. See related: A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Even the report on the UN investigation into Hariri’s assassination signed off by the German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis was far from absolute in its findings and we now know that its main witness against Syrian officials is an embezzler, who recently phoned his brother, saying: “I’ve become a millionaire”. The report asks that Syria continue with its own investigation, which Bashar says he is committed to doing.

But just as the neocon cabal did not want a compliant Saddam Hussein, who did open Iraq’s doors to UN weapons inspectors, albeit belatedly, it does not want a compliant Syrian leader. And, unfortunately, for Syria’s detractors Bashar cannot be accused of “gassing his own people” or of launching a series of wars against his neighbors. Instead, he is a mild-mannered, soft-spoken eye doctor, who has been struggling to reform and modernize his country despite opposition from his father’s old guard and a series of Western criticisms.

Walid Khadduri in Al-Hayat: The US oil policy and the Foreigner's "Scarecrow". (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Come Carpentier de Gourdon: By the Rivers of Babylon: Iraqi resistance is not a disorganised act of defiance. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Even more ominously, the Pentagon’s secret Strategic Support Services (the P2OG), rely more and more on para-military forces, recruiting mercenaries and killers in many countries to fight ‘‘unconventionally’’ in Iraq. The methods seem to include, according to several converging testimonies, remotely activated car-bombs, used to wreak random havoc among ordinary Iraqis , thereby hoping to turn them against the resistance by demonising it as an ally of ‘‘Al Qaeda in Iraq’’. That shadowy body gives some indications of being either a product of Anglo-American counter-intelligence ‘‘black operations’’ or a thorougly compromised and manipulated agency, used to keep both ordinary Iraqis and Americans hostile to the terrorist insurgency and supportive of Washington’s ‘‘War on Terror’’.

2005 Nobel Prize for Literature awardee Harold Pinter: Torture and Misery in the Name of Freedom. Remarks adapted during Mr. Pinter's acceptance speech on winning the Wilfred Owen Award earlier this year. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Bush and Cheney's church: Sweet Victory: United Methodist Church Calls For Withdrawal. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Stephen Zunes: Fear-Mongering. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

VP Cheney has clearly violated the: The Starr standard for impeachment. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

Beginning on January 21, 1998, the President misled the American people and Congress regarding the truth of his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky. […] The President himself spoke publicly about the matter several times in the initial days after the story broke. On January 26, the President was definitive: "I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time. Never. These allegations are false."

The President's emphatic denial to the American people was false. And his statement was not an impromptu comment in the heat of a press conference. To the contrary, it was an intentional and calculated falsehood to deceive the Congress and the American people.

In one-party state, Delay judge disqualified for being a Democrat: Judge Removed From DeLay's Criminal Case. (POSTED: November 2, 2005)

In this piece on Seymour Hersh is a a brief critique of the Mehlis report on Syrian involvement in the Hariri assassination. I would like to know more: The Washington Gadfly: Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh is No Longer a Lone Voice in the Wilderness. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Paul Krugman: Ending the Fraudulence. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Der Spiegel reviews the German press reaction to Libby's indictment: Bush Version 2.1 Crashes. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

John Mueller, professor of political science at Ohio State University: Why this unpopular war has no tipping point. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

What's unprecedented about this war is how fast support is eroding. Casualty tolerance in Iraq is clearly much lower than it was in Vietnam. Using comparable poll questions, support levels for this war when 2,000 American soldiers have been killed are about the same as they were in the Vietnam War when well over 20,000 perished. This strongly suggests that the public places a much lower value on the stakes in Iraq than it did in Vietnam.

George the Brash Hearted: Opening the Floodgates of Military Spending carries Disastrous Consequences. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Gwynne Dyer: Milestones in Iraq are not as solid as they seem. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Norman Solomon: After the Libby Indictment, the Press Is Acquitting Itself. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

A lot of media outlets are now scrutinizing some of the lies told by the Bush administration before the invasion of Iraq. Yet the same news organizations are bypassing their own key roles in the marketing of those lies. A case in point is the New York Times.

Robert Higgs: Our Greatest Criminals Are Never Charged With Their Greatest Crimes. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

All right: so far, so good, Mr. Fitzgerald. You’ve gone the first yard. Still, you have miles and miles ahead of you if justice is to be served.

Dennis Kucinich: Democrats: It’s the War. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Tom Maertens, a U.S. Foreign Service officer for 28 years: US blunders provoke burgeoning civil war. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

This series of outcomes makes Bush's invasion of Iraq a fiasco without parallel in American foreign policy since Vietnam. And the end is not in sight.

Marshall Helmberger: Wellstone’s voice sorely needed as Democrats lose their way: (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Rep. Ron Paul, speech before the US House of Representatives, October 26, 2005: We Have Been Warned that a wider Middle East war is coming, with an attack on Syria. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

A National Security Agency report concludes "that its officers deliberately distorted critical intelligence during the Tonkin Gulf episode that helped precipitate the Vietnam War": Washington hid damaging Vietnam finding. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Mr Hanyok believed the initial misinterpretation of North Vietnamese intercepts was probably an honest mistake. But after months of detective work in the agency's archives, Mr Hanyok concluded mid-level agency officials discovered the error almost immediately, but covered it up and doctored documents so that they appeared to provide evidence of an attack.

The Register-Guard: Iraq's fractured republic. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Palm Beach Post: The silence in Congress dishonors dead in Iraq. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Richard Mial, LaCrosse Tribune, WI: It’s time to think about ‘Iraqization’. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Steve Hammons: 'Intelligence failures' prior to 9/11, Iraq war: Planned strategies?. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Vice President lied as White House sought to defuse leak inquiry. See also: Cheney's Clintonian Lie About Joe Wilson... (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Circling the wagons: Cheney Promotes Individuals Named In Indictment. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Senator Christopher: Dodd calls for Cheney to fess up. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Another Chickenhawk? Alito: Where were you in '72? (POSTED: November ,1 2005)

Robert Parry: Letting the White House Walk? (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Great way to distract us: Bush turns to Iraq to deflect critics. (POSTED: November 1, 2005)

Previous Month Archive: October, 2005

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